Part 1

“I’ll be fine, B!” Nick exclaimed for the sixth time, watching his two year old niece, Erica, playing silently upon the floor with her jumbo sized building blocks. He couldn’t help but notice that other than a small mess of the blocks surrounding her, the house was almost spotlessly clean. She seemed too caught up in what she was doing to even notice her mama was about to leave and her uncle Nick was going to take over for a little while. Nick smiled at the child, whom looked very much like her mother. He’d only seen her twice in his life before with his busy schedule, those being the day Erica was born and then again on her one year birthday party, “She’ll be a sweetheart. Everything will go great.”

Nick’s oldest sister, BJ looked at him cautiously, almost as if she didn’t believe him. After all, Nick wasn’t exactly the best suited for the job, but he had been her only hope as a last minute resort. There was an audition for a movie in town that she’d just found out about and since she was trying to further her career as an actress, BJ knew she had to get there quickly. Time was running out though, she realized, looking down at her watch. Were there any other options? Anything at all? Should she trust her brother?

“Maybe I could call Ursula from next door...” BJ offered with a weak smile, her stomach in knots over this, “She could help you.”

“Isn’t Ursula like, eighty?”

“Um, yeah..but she usually watches Erica while I’m out.”

Nick shook his head, “Old people compared to me?” Nick gave his sister a big, cheesy grin, holding his arms up as if trying to prove his point, “Lady will put poor Erica to sleep...or she will fall asleep and who knows what will happen. I on the other hand, am young, and full of energy, and can keep an eye on your precious daughter.”

“I don’t know, Nick...” BJ sighed and nibbled on her bottom lip as if trying to make up her mind, “She knows all of Erica’s favorites. She could help...”

Nick scanned his brain for something, anything, for his sister to just believe in him. He was getting the feeling that he wasn’t trusted and wasn’t really wanted there. That feeling hurt, and he wanted to prove once and for all he could be a good babysitter. Why did everyone always think he was so incapable of handling everything by himself?

“C’mon...the old bat probably scares the hell out of Erica. I mean, Ursula? Isn’t that the wicked witch from The Little Mermaid?” Nick questioned.

At the mention of her favorite movie, Erica’s head shot up. Her lip was quivering slightly though, her body frozen in place for a second.

“NO Ursula!” she pouted, “No!”

BJ rolled her eyes, “Thank you Nickolas. You’ve probably just made her fear about the kindest old lady in the world.”

Nick shrugged, “Ah well...had to happen sometime,” he stated. This caused his sister to give him a firm slap on the arm. He yelped as he drew back cowardly, nursing the place she’d struck, looking back down at his niece. She was back to playing again, “She’s forgotten all about it already.”

“Yeah, until the next time Ms. Ghetty comes over...” she used the old woman’s last name this time so that Erica wouldn’t know whom they were speaking of.

“Don’t you have an audition to get to.”

“Oh shit.” BJ yelped, looking down at her watch. She should have left five minutes ago, “Um..oh God...Feed her at around seven...emergency contacts are on the fridge. Her favorite books are the My Little Pony series...so pick one to read before bed. Ummm...G rated movies Nick, I mean it...”

“I’ll be fine. We'll have fun,” he interrupted her, following his sister to the garage door of her home, “You’ll come back and feel like a total tard for worrying so much," He gave her an assuring smile, " Have fun and good luck..”

“I feel like a total tard leaving her with you.” BJ muttered to herself as she grabbed her keys from her purse and slipping through the door. Then she was gone.

Sighing in relief, Nick watched out the window until his sister pulled out of the driveway and her car was out of sight. He smiled as he turned around, seeing Erica still busying herself with the blocks, concentrating hard on stacking them up. Walking over to her with a much felt confidence, Nick, knelt down next to her

“Hi there,” He stated, “Want me to help you with that?”

Erica smiled sweetly at Nick, handing him a big red block. Nick gladly accepted, feeling that everything was going to turn out alright. Little did he know, Erica had other plans in store for him...

Many plans.

please let me know what you think so far. It will get way funnier. I promise!

Part 2

“Erica!” Nick cried out, ducking his head as something nearly hit it, “Bad girl! Sit! Behave!” he yelled in fearful frustration, demanding her as if she were a puppy in training.

Erica grinned evilly as she toddled at him as quickly as she could, bending down to pick up a block along the way, chucking it at Nick’s head. This time, she got him square in the forehead. Erica cooed in glee, her perfect aim just egging her on to try for another. What made it even better was that the man was trying to hide from her, obviously afraid an unknowing of how to handle the situation instead of yelling at her and putting her in her crib.

“Damn child, you got an arm on you.” Nick breathed, rubbing a sore spot as he squinted. He’d only been alone for five minutes and chaos had already struck. Why was it that the younger generations always felt they could take advantage of him, and succeeded? Nick didn’t have time to think, as his eyes grew wide as Erica had her arm back, a block clutched within her tiny fist, “Erica, noooo!” he cried, but was too late, as the block was already sailing through the air. With delayed reaction, Nick tried to jump out of the way, but this one clipped his chin with a corner. He stood in shock for a moment before saying, “Ouch.”

Erica clapped her hands, giggling loudly. Nick scowled, afraid to near the toddler, eyeing her cautiously as if she had a gun aimed right at him. She did have weapons though, and plenty of them. In Nick’s eyes, those blocks were lethal. He’d already been struck in the back of the head, the forehead, the cheek, his chin and one in the chest. And here she was, ready to try again for lucky number six.

“Eirca, put it down!” Nick whimpered, “Please...just put...the block doowwwn!” Nick ducked as one cruised through the air.

This time, it hit the wall, falling to the ground with a thud. Enough had been enough. He was going in. Nick got up slowly, just looking at his niece smiling at him, her eyes full of anything but innocents. He slowly started to make her way towards her, smiling kindly at him, hoping that she couldn’t read his fear. When Nick was only seven feet away though, Erica caught on, running right past him, her honey colored curls bouncing with every step that she took. Nick spun around, amazed at how fast those little legs were carrying her.

“You just couldn’t be two months now, could you?” Nick muttered, knowing then that the child would be doing nothing but just lay there and cry at the worst.

He started to chase after her, but was stopped short when he stepped on a block, causing him to stumble before falling to the ground hard on his butt. Nick winced, not noticing Erica stop to turn her head to look at him. She giggled in delight before taking off again, Nick still on the ground in a daze. This was not going well for him. He refused to give up though. The night was still very young. There was still hours left to fix things. Maybe she was just high on energy for the time being?

As Nick rolled on to his knees, he rubbed his sore tail bone as he stood, glancing down the long, narrow hallway that he’d last seen Erica. She was nowhere to be seen. Nick groaned, spinning in a circle to see if she was anywhere in sight. No such luck. The small girl was gone, somewhere in the large house. The question was, where? There were quite a few rooms, many closets, beds she could be under. He didn’t even want to think about the not so obvious places. The places that only small children thought of to hide in.

“Erica,” Nick called out, choosing a hallway, “Come out...please.”

He knew his voice was panicked, but this was definitely a panic-worthy situation. Nick entered the first room on the right, which happened to be the bathroom. He looked in the tub, behind the door, under the cabinet. Even in the towel closet. There was nothing. No sign of the two year old who was on a war path to make Nick’s life harder than it had to be. Nick by now was convinced that Erica was out to get him.

Leaving the room, Nick decided to be silent. Knowing the way this girls mind worked, if she heard him getting closer, she would only hide further to ensure that she was not found. Nick next searched her bedroom though, already knowing that was the place she would least likely be, as it was too obvious. He had to try though, looking everywhere in the room that he could think of, including under a huge pile of clothes in the corner of the closet lying next to an empty laundry hamper. Nick guessed that Erica had something to do with that one.

“Where is she...” Nick muttered, scratching his head as he thought. If he were a small child, where would he hide from his babysitter at? He knew she wasn’t outside, for the doors were all locked and bolted shut so she couldn’t escape. So it was somewhere in the house....where though?

Nick suddenly shot up, quickening his pace to the laundry room. He flung open the dryer, expecting to see his niece curled inside, hiding in the tight place. There was nothing though, and Nick sighed. He’d been so sure that Erica would have been hiding in there. It would be a good hiding spot...apparently he wasn’t searching in adequate places. If he were, then he would have found her by now.

Continuing his search, Nick felt sick to his stomach. He had lost his sisters first and only child. What if she was never found? What if she was stuck somewhere, or hurt and she couldn’t cry out for help and would never be found? This made Nick all the more determined to find her and quickly. He couldn’t believe he’d been so irresponsible as to let a two year old take control of him. And within fifteen minutes yet. This was just too unbelievable to be true. Maybe this was why BJ had been so hesitant to leave him alone.

Before Nick realized it, he’d looked through four more rooms, including his sisters, finding things in his search that would leave his mind scarred for a few months. There was one room at the end of the hallway with the door closed to all but a crack. His heart accelerated as he made his way towards it, wondering what the room was and what he would find within it. Outside the door, Nick closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before pushing it open.

“Oh shit...” Nick managed to choke out as he stood in shock at the scene that was before him. He could only hope that it was just a hallucination.

Part 3

Nick closed his eyes and shook his head and for the first time hoped that when he opened them, nothing more than the norm would be in front of him. Upon opening his eyes though, he had no such luck and he just stood and stared in complete shock for a few moments, not knowing what to do or how to handle this. How could one little girl cause so much damage in such a short period of time?

Nick just continued to look all around him, wondering if there was anything in his sisters work area, of all places, was completely destroyed. It seemed like it, as he didn’t see one single corner that hadn’t been touched. Drawers were thrown open with their contents strewn everywhere. Some of them were crumpled, others ripped. The scanner was on the floor, flipped upside down, the cord ripped from the wall and the printer was hanging at the side of the desk, the cord stretching to its limit. Then there were the filing cabinets, open with the files everywhere around the room. Nick winced, knowing his sister took pride in her filing system and organization and now all of that was in an ruinous manner, everything mixed up. Erica was now happily walking around the room with a purple marker, drawing a line on the walls, stopping every now and then to make a large scribble.

“Erica!” Nick moaned out loud, quickly walking in to the room.

Erica stopped dead in her tracks and stared up at Nick before plopping her body to the ground. She new she’d done something wrong, however she didn’t appear to feel bad about it. She just smiled up at Nick innocently. Nick didn’t care though. The room would take hours to clean up, not including the now destroyed walls. He hoped that nothing was broken. He was just proving to be so responsible. First he’d lost his niece only to find her making the den a complete calamity.

“Maybe I do need old Ursula here.” Nick said aloud.

“No! No Ursula!” Erica screamed, her tone ear piercing and Nick winced, covering his own hoping that her pitch wasn’t going to deafen him, “Nooooooo”

“Okay, okay...no Ursula...you win.” Nick moaned and sighed, “Come here...lets get you cleaned up...and give me the marker.”

Nick held his hand out to Erica’s purple marked body, seeing she’d scribbled all over herself too. Erica held the marker out to him, passing his hand and putting a large line down his face, giggling gleefully. It was all Nick could do not to lose is temper as his nerves were shot. He didn’t know how to handle this girl. So he did what he had too, snatching the marker from her hands and tossing it in to the garbage can. Erica’s bottom lip started to tremble as Nick scooped her up in to her arms, carrying her to the bathroom.

“We’re going to wash you off and you’re going to behave, deal?”

Erica said nothing as Nick grabbed a washcloth, putting it under a stream of hot water. He then gently took Erica’s arms and legs one by one, rubbing them lightly in soft strokes until the marker was off. Erica watched him with intensity, sighing in defeat. She didn’t fuss, and for that, Nick was thankful. Once Nick was done, he neatly hung the washcloth back up and picked her up, carrying her, knowing that they had to get out of the house.

“How does ice cream sound?”

“Ice cweam!”Erica repeated

Erica’s entire body perked up hearing that word and she started clapping her hands excitedly. Nick laughed, kissing her cheek. He took her reaction as a good thing and at least if she made a mess, it would be somewhere where they were paid to clean up the restaurant. He’d had his piece of Erica’s monstrous side. It was somebody elses turn.

So making his way out to this car, Nick set Erica down on the driveway as he dug around in his pocket for his keys. His eyes grew wide as he realized that they weren’t there. Nick cursed under his breath, wondering if he could do anything right when it came to watching her.

“Stay there, Erica....Nicky will be right back. I just have to get the keys, okay?” he explained to the child looking up at him with big, bright eyes, walking backwards a few steps before turning and dashing back up to the door. He ran in to the living room, where he knew he’d put his keys on the coffee table, grabbed then and dashed back outside, locking the door behind him. He was too late though, as he watched Erica sitting by his car causing even more destruction. He could feel tears of frustration welling up in his eyes as he covered his face with his hands, mumbling a pathetic, “Oh no...”

Part 4

“Son of a fucking bitch.” Nick cursed, kicking the ground in attempt to kick a stone, but he stubbed his toe instead, hopping around on his good foot as he cursed out in pain. He wanted to strangle Erica, whom he could hear giggling again. Did this demon offspring really get pleasure out of torturing him? Was this payback for all of the pranks he had pulled on his friend and family? Nick didn’t know, but this was twisted. This was just too much for him to handle.

Once the pain in his foot subsided, he took in a deep breath, turning to face his car. His face paled again though as he realized it hadn’t been some sort of mind game. Tears caught in his throat as his bottom lip started to quaver. He dove down to ground level, softly running his fingers over the once perfect paint job.

“My c-c-car..”He cried out.

“Pwetty Awt!” Erica grinned, taking the rock back to the vehicle.

Nick ignored her though as he just stared in a trance at his car, the drivers side completely ruined. Erica had taken a rock, scratching back and forth, up and down, as hard as she could, scribbling a series of deep scratches in to the red paint. It was a mess and Nick couldn’t help but wonder if it could even be fixed and how much it would cost. Not like that was an issue, but his car looked trashed.

“You are like something out of the Exorcist.” Nick mumbled, unable to move, for he was paralyzed by anger and frustration. He wondered where Erica’s usual babysitter was or if he were to just leave, if somebody would pick her up and hold her until his sister got home. Nick knew though that he couldn’t do that, and panicked when he looked down and Erica was gone, “Oh God!” Nick moaned, looking around in a frenzy. He saw her already out of the driveway an walking down the sidewalk. Nick sighed, running after her. Erica’s pace quickened, but not fast enough, for Nick caught up to her and scooped the laughing girl in to his arms, “You, little one, are nothing but trouble.” Nick told her as he carried her back to the car. He was desperate to get her out of the house.

Nearing the car, Nick unlocked the door with his remote key, buckling Erica in to the back seat before getting in himself. He looked back at her in the rearview mirror, wondering if he should tie her hands and feet together so she couldn’t do anything to the inside of the car. He had nothing though, and figured that the little girl was clean too. Turning on his music, Nick ignored the child in the back seat, not even thinking of the explicit lyrics coming from the artists mouth. He sang along, turning the music up to try and work out his nerves. Music always did that, but one look in to the back seat and he tensed again, his fingers gripping the steering wheel.

Nick didn’t know where he was going or how far he would drive to get there. All that mattered was that he was away from the house. Erica couldn’t destroy the place any longer. What was on his mind now though was how he was going to clean the place before his sister returned home or explain to her what had happened. In BJ’s mind, Erica was nearly the perfect little angle. To Nick, she was th spawn of Satan. Then again, Nick was still convinced that Erica was out to get him.

After about fifteen miles, Nick spotted a Dairy Queen. He sighed in relief, pulling in to the parking lot, hoping that if he treated the rotten child, she might actually behave for him for the rest of the night, if not, a few minutes. He didn’t even stop to think that injecting sugar in to the already hyper-active child’s system might do even more damage. So without that in mind, he got her out of the car and carried her in to sugar infested restaurant and up to the counter.

“Want chocolate or vanilla?” Nick asked her.

“Nilla!” Erica cried out in excitement.

Nick ordered each of them a bowl of vanilla ice cream and the cashier handed them to Nick. Erica immediately started to throw a fit though.

‘Spinkles!!!” she shouted.

“No, no sprinkles today.” Nick told her.

Erica started to thrash her body around in her arms, knocking both cups out of Nick’s hands. They landed upside down on the floor making a mess for somebody to clean up. Nick wondered if there was anywhere they could go without her causing chaos. He guessed that any type of store was out of the question. Especially someplace that had class within

“Wan spinkles!” Erica screamed in a high pitched shriek, causing Nick to wince and looks to shoot in their direction from all around. Everybody looked disgusted by the fit the toddler was throwing, “I WAN SPINKELS!”

Nick took in a deep breath, his face flushing red in complete humiliation. This was a total nightmare and he knew that Erica would not let up unless he gave her her own way. Nick knew that giving in to her was not the way to teach the girl, but he was desperate. There was plenty of time to not spoil the child. Besides, she was still young. She wouldn’t remember this in a week. Nick’s only goal was to survive the rest of the day...not teach his niece right from wrong.

“Fine....” he turned to the cashier whom was glaring at Nick and the kid, “One small, one large...again....small with sprinkles.”

The girl rang them in and Nick paid, slipping in a ten dollar tip for the trouble. While they were being made, Nick carried Erica to an empty table, strapping her in to a high chair. He then went back and wiped up the mess on the floor as best he could before grabbing the ice creams and carrying them back to the table. Erica immediately dug in to hers, it getting all over around her face, ice cream goo dripping on to her clothes. Nick shook his head, wondering if he could have anything else go wrong.

That’s when he had an idea. It had to work, as that’s what they were there for. Helping people in emergency situations. To Nick, this was definitely an emergency. So he whipped out his cell phone and keyed in the well known three-digit number, bringing the phone to his ear just as Erica flung a spoon-full of ice cream through the air, it hitting the wall with a messy splat.

Part 5

The phone rang only one time before his call was answered. Nick took in a deep breath, hoping that his prayers would be answered and he could finally get some help with this child. She was making his life a living hell.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” came a calm, polite female voice.

“Yes...hi...my name is Nick...my niece is...she’s...”

“Sir, calm down please. What is wrong with your niece.”

Nick gulped and took in a deep breath, wondering how he was going to explain this. There was just so much wrong and not enough words to explain it. How could he fit it all in and what if he left something out? He absolutely could not leave anything out. Every thing that she’d done was crucial. His car, the blocks to his head, the mess in the restaurant, the mess at the house...the list went on...

“Sir, are you there...is your niece okay? What does she need help with?”

“She’s okay...I’m not...I need help!” Nick exclaimed in a panic, “Help me, please.”

There was a long pause and Nick could almost feel himself start to cry. He wondered if he was going to have white hair by the end of the evening. Nick could almost feel his hairline receding from the intense stress he was facing. Did Erica give her mother this much trouble? Or was this a first for the child, starting her terrible twos on his own poor soul? Either way, it didn’t matter. She was a terror to Nick and that was all his mind was on.

“I need help!” Nick repeated, “I’m babysitting and need help. Please, send someone out. I beg you.”

The response Nick got wasn’t what he expected. In fact, the receptionists voice was coming out in a soft coo as if she were talking to a child. Nick felt tears of frustration welling up in his eyes at the next series of questions.

“Little boy, does your mommy or daddy know that you’re calling?”

‘Huh?” Nick replied in confusion

“Where are your mommy and daddy?”

“What are you talking about?” Nick asked, “I need help.”

“This number is for emergencies only.” The receptionist told him, “Did you know that?”

‘This is an emergency!” Nick cried out, “I need help.”

There was another pause and Nick wondered what was going on as the emergency dispatcher just breathed on the other end of the line. The faint sound of typing he’d heard in the beginning had stopped. Erica shrieked in the background and Nick winced, wishing that this dispatcher would just help him already. Suddenly, he wished he were anywhere but there and had visions of being on stage with the Boys, singing and dancing. At least that was a good stress, which to him, wasn’t even hardly stressful at all. In the midst of Nick’s thoughts, the voice came again.

“How old are you, little boy?”

“Twenty-five...” Nick’s voice trailed off as if he thought the question was completely irrelevant to everything. Another pause. Nick hated those and he was getting rather annoyed with them, “Are you there?”

“Do you realize prank calling 9-1-1 is a federal offense?”

“It’s not a prank! My niece is too much for one to handle. I need help!” Nick defended himself loudly, his voice showing hints of disbelief.

“It isn’t a real emergency. Please hang up the phone or else I will send an officer over to escort you to jail.”

Nick tried to protest, but was greeted by the sound of silence as the dispatcher hung up on him. He closed his cell phone, sighing in defeat. He was back at square one and felt he was out of options. If not even trained professionals in emergencies would help him, then he honestly didn’t have any hope for anything else. Or did he?

Nick tried as hard as he could to wait patiently for Erica to finish her ice cream, and once she did, he wiped the melted mess off of her before picking her up and putting her in the car, strapping her in to the seat. Nick got in the drivers seat and as he backed out of the parking lot, he pulled his cell phone back out, dialing the number of one of his best friends. He was more relieved than he ever thought possible when he heard the mans voice, knowing that he had experience with young children now, as he had an almost three year old son. Erica wasn’t much younger.

“Brian?” Nick exclaimed, “What the hell do you do when Baylee wont behave?”

“Excuse me?” Brian asked, “Is that you Nick?”

“Yes...I called 911, but they wouldn’t help me...”

“Wait, wait, wait...”Brian stopped Nick, “You called 911 over babysitting problems?”

“Yes...what’s wrong with that?”

Brian laughed softly and Nick wondered what his facial expression was like, “They probably thought you were retarded.”

“Thanks...that does so much for my confidence.”

“Well, that number is for serious emergencies.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Nick questioned, completely oblivious to the meaning behind it.

Brian ignored Nick’s naive comment, deciding to just look past it and try to forget that he’d just said and done something so stupid. Did Nick honestly not have more common sense than that? “So you’re having problems babysitting...what has the kid done?”

“The question is more like what hasn’t she done,” Nick looked back in the rear view mirror at her and saw a devilish glow in her eyes. He lowered his voice, hoping that Erica didn’t know that he was talking about her, “She’s wrecked the house...my car...I need help. Where can I get some holy water?”

“What?” Brian asked incredulously, “Nick...you’re being ridiculous. You are overreacting.” he told his younger friend.

“She’s about to end up in an orphanage if BJ doesn’t come home soon because I’m about to abandon the heathen alongside the fucking street.”

‘Nick, calm down...” Brian laughed, enjoying seeing or rather hearing Nick in such a panicked state, “Just sit her in front of a movie that she likes, or read her a story or take her to the park.”

“That won’t work. She is out to get me...” Nick embellished, “She was sent straight up from hell to get me.”

“Well then why don’t you read her the bible to bless her soul.” Brian suggested with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, rolling his eyes at Nick honestly thinking that the small two year old was seriously out to torture him. Sad thing was, Brian knew that Nick was definitely serious, not joking in the least bit.

“Read her the bible? Brian...that is so boring...it will put her to slee...Hey! That is perfect. It’ll bore her to sleep.”

“Nick...” Brian warned, offended at Nick’s slam, “Just...she can’t be that bad, alright. Just take in a few deep breaths and show her who is boss. Children only walk all over you if they know that they can.”

Nick thought about this, but found it nonsense that he was letting Erica walk all over him. There was no way, for he was being a good sitter. Erica was just a little out of control. So as he hung up the phone with Brian, Nick wondered what else he could do because his friend hadn’t helped much at all. Nick knew though that he couldn’t drive around all day, so he headed back towards the house praying silently that Erica would be asleep in the back seat by the time that they got there. If she wasn’t, he could only imagine what else she had in store for him.


Please let me know what you think! There will probably be 1 more part after this...although we'll see how things flow with Part 6.

Part 6

Nick sighed in relief upon returning back to the home of his sister and Satan. It was all he could do not to throw Erica out of the window and he honestly asked himself why he didn’t, for she’d shrieked in such a high pitched tone the entire car ride that Nick had feared that the windows would crack. He knew that he couldn’t take that in to public. No, that would have gotten him banned from several places. Nick didn’t want to be forbidden to go anywhere, so he decided that it was just best to go home. Surprisingly, he was glad to be back. There would be less area to cover if the child got in to anything she shouldn’t be in...and Nick knew that she would cause more chaos.

Getting out of the car, Nick went to the back seat and got her out, carrying the child in to the house and placing her on the couch. He then went and selected the first movie that he saw, Chucky, hoping that it was suitable for her, or if nothing else, scared her in to behaving...

Or it could give her ideas for him...

Nick dismissed that thought though as he put the DVD in to the player, starting it from the beginning. He turned down the lights and he shuddered when he thought he saw Erica’s eyes glowing at him in the dark. Nick quickly turned away, shaking his head. His mind was just playing tricks on him...wasn’t it? Nick honestly didn’t know, but this babysitting mess had started out as a nightmare and would end just the same.

“Sit here and watch the movie...” Nick told her, his voice slightly shaky. He wanted to slap himself. He was afraid of a toddler for crying out loud. This wasn’t just any baby though. Nick was still convinced of this, “I’m going to make us some diner, okay?”

Erica just stared at Nick and he could swear that he saw her eyes glimmer. Nick backed away, quickly retreating to the kitchen to fix up something quick, deciding Macaroni and Cheese would be the way to go and something that would be eaten at that. He only got the water boiling on the stove though before he heard a crash coming from another room. Nick closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as another crash was heard.

‘You’ve got to be shitting me.” he murmured under his breath, quickly dumping the noodles in to the pot to cook as he went to see what had happened.

Not to his surprise, Erica was not in the living room watching the movie. Nick should have seen that coming from a mile away, but did he ever learn? Nope! He just kept on letting somebody twenty-three years younger than him walk all over him again and again, thinking that just maybe she would wear down on energy and just sit still. Nick was starting to see that Erica would never grow tired and was convinced that she ran on a Duracell battery.

“Erica,” Nick cried out, “Where are you?”

He walked around, finding immediately where she’d been, finding all of her toys knocked off of the shelves and pulled out of the toy boxes in her room...just as the garage door was opening. Nick’s eyes widened as he let out a long, slow breath of panic. BJ was home...and her daughter was missing. In a frenzy, Nick started to tear through the house in search of his niece, knowing that he only had a minute, if not less, to find her. He knew that he was too late though when he heard his sisters voice coming from the front of the house.

“Oh my God.”

Nick winced, stopping in his tracks. He was caught, and found himself mechanically walking slowly to the plank to meet up with BJ and face his sentence for the crime he’d committed. And when he saw his sisters face, Nick knew that she was not happy, as her hands were crossed over her chest, her face contorted in to an angry glare.

“I can explain...” Nick guilty piped up without even being asked, then wanted to kick himself for sounding so shamed.

“What?” BJ asked, “That you left the stove on?” she didn’t give him the chance to reply, “There is water boiling over all over the floor! The house could have burned down. What the hell were you thinking?”

Nick blinked, looking towards the pot. His breath caught in his throat as he saw that sure enough, water was spilling over the edge of the pot and streaming on to the floor. BJ swiftly turned it off and right away, the madness on the stove stopped and went calm again. Nick cringed though, as now she would ask where Erica was, and to be honest, he did not know. His sister was already going through the house though looking, and Nick followed, ready to explain everything. BJ didn’t give him the chance to, as she flipped the light on, looking at the TV.

“I thought I told you a G rated movie, Nick,” she sounded annoyed, “I swear, you can’t do anything right.”

She turned the movie off, shaking her head as she turned around and smiled, walking over to the couch and sitting down. Confused, Nick walked around himself to see what BJ was smiling at. He let out a huff of air, as it was Erica, curled up on the couch in a small ball, fast asleep...or pretending to be was Nick’s guess. Was this for real?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Nick grunted, “She’s been a holy terror all night.”

“Shhh,” BJ scolded, “She’s sleeping like an angel. Erica has never misbehaved. I told you Ursula should have helped you.”

“But..” Nick tried

“Erica is a well-behaved child. Trust me...I have raised her.”

Nick rolled his eyes, knowing that BJ was set on thinking that Erica was the perfect little princess who would never do bad. Nick knew better though. As soon as her mommy left, she turned in to something immortal.

“Whatever you say...” Nick let his voice trail off as he ran a hand through his hair.

BJ picked Erica up, letting her head rest on her shoulder. It was obvious that his sister was going to put the small girl in to her bed. Nick’s eyes widened, not wanting any part in what BJ found around the house.

“I’m going to go,” he said, backing up, “It’s late and I have stuff to do tomorrow...” he nearly tripped over something on the floor.

“Okay...” BJ raised an eyebrow quizzically, “Thanks for watching her for me.”

“No problem..hope the audition went well...” he was still backing up, “Bye!” and with that, Nick turned and ran full force out of the house, digging his keys out of his pocket on his way out before his sister found the mess and he was blamed for everything.

Here is the final installment of Nick's adventures babysitting....lol. Hope you enjoyed the story and please let me know what you thought!