Chapter 20: Jack’s Babysitting Adventure

 Who comes to the rescue? Of course, Emma and Renee both call up Jack to ask if he wouldn’t mind volunteering his babysitter skills. Jack thinks how hard can it be to take care of a 7 ½ years old and 16 month old baby? Both are delightful little girls. Besides, Sue is coming over to have dinner at his house. So this is perfect. He tells both moms to send over their bundle of joy at 6 PM.  Now, Sue is in the kitchen making tuna noodle casserole. He hears the doorbell, goes to open the door and sees Renee drop Grace off. He waves to Mark who is waiting in the car. Renee tells, “Grace to be a good girl and listen to Jack”. She hugs Grace and thanks Jack for babysitting. All her toys are in her bag. See you at 10 PM.  Renee leaves and Jack closes the door.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rings again, he opens it, and sees Emma carrying Jenny. Tara has Jenny’s huge diaper bag on her shoulder and Jenny’s high chair. Stanley is carrying Jenny’s port-a-crib. Emma says “Be a good girl for Jack, mommy will see you at 10 PM. Thanks again for doing this, Jack”.  Now that the little guests have arrived, Jack closes his front door and locks it. Just then Sue walks into the living room and sees Jack holding Jenny in his arms. Sue tells him dinner is ready and goes over to Grace.

After dinner, Sue cleans up the kitchen. Jack is busy playing with Grace in the living room. And Jenny is taking a nap in her port-a-crib. Just as Sue enters the living room, Grace tells her and Jack she would like to have a tea party. Grace takes out her tea cups and tells Jack to sit next to her and Sue sits on the other side. Then Grace holds her tea cup and sips it like an English royal sips her tea. Jack and Sue pretend to sip tea as well. After the tea party, Grace is playing with her dolls as Jack and Sue look on.

Then Jack puts on a puppet show for Grace. Jack is really good with sock puppets. Grace is laughing, smiling, and having so much fun.  Just then Jenny wakes up and starts crying for mommy.  Jack picks her up and cradles her in the crook of his arms. He walks around the room carrying Jenny. He gently rubs her back and kisses her soft hair. Then Jack lifts Jenny up high in the air and makes airplane noises for her. Jenny giggles and Jack kisses her stomach. He sits down on the couch and Jenny snuggles against his chest. Grace comes over and asks if she can hold Jenny. Jack tells Grace, “I’ll let you hold her a little while”. Now Jenny is sleeping soundly, Jack gets up and puts her back in her port-a-crib. Then he turns his attention to Grace.

And he pretends to growl like the wolf but not too loudly because he doesn’t want to wake up Jenny. Grace goes to her backpack and takes out her book. She comes over to sit on the couch in between Jack and Sue. He opens the book and begins to read to her. Jack uses his hands and makes funny faces so Grace won’t be too afraid of him playing the “bad wolf”. Grace is so enthralled listening to Jack read to her. Even though she has heard the story many times from her mommy, tonight it was like she heard it for the very first time.

Sue is watching Jack interact with Grace. He is a natural and so wonderful with her, it’s easy to see that Grace adores him too. When Jack gets to the last page, he and Grace read it together. Then Grace goes to her backpack and pulls out another book. This time she crawls onto Jack’s lap and ask him to read "The Little Engine That Could" .  He says okay and begins to read to Grace.

When he gets to the part where the little train is trying to get up the big hill, Jack makes Choo! Choo! noises just like a train and Grace laughs. Jack and Grace read the last page together. Then Grace puts her book away and plays with her favorite doll.

Grace: Yes, please. Wow! It’s the Hillsdale miniature dollhouse collection. I told mommy I wanted one just like this. Is it really mine to have? (shy smile)

Jack: Yes. I know you were very sad when your dollhouse broke. So I thought you might like to have this one. And if you want to help me, we can build your dollhouse together. What do you say? (megawatt smile)

Grace: That would be so cool. I can’t wait to show mommy my new dollhouse. (smile)

Jack: Good. But first we have to read the directions and then we can assemble it; maybe get it done before your mom picks you up. Let’s start now. (megawatt smile)

Sue: After you build your dollhouse do you think I can play with it too? (smile)

Jack: Only if you help Grace and I build her dream dollhouse. (megawatt smile and laughs)

Sue: It’s a deal. This should be fun. (cheerful smile)

How to build a dollhouse? Jack reads the instructions and the three of them start constructing the numerous tiny features of the dollhouse together, piece by piece. The dollhouse is coming together nicely. In a little while, Grace and Sue add bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, furniture, and other accessories to make the dollhouse stand out. And right before Renee rings the doorbell, Jack puts the finishing touches on the Hillsdale miniature dollhouse.

Grace’s completed dream dollhouse consists of a two-story with four spacious rooms, one staircase, and a wrap-around gazebo porch with a tiny doorbell on the front door. Grace smiles and hugs Jack and then hugs Sue. Then Renee and Mark walk into Jack’s living room and see the Hillsdale miniature dollhouse. Grace runs over to her mom and starts talking a mile a minute. She tells her mom she helped Jack and Sue put the dollhouse together.

With all the excitement, Jenny wakes up and cries out for her mommy. Jack picks up her and gently rocks her back and forth. He goes over and looks out the window, just as Stanley’s car pulls into the driveway. Jack goes to open his front door and let everyone inside. Emma holds out her arms to take Jenny. Jack returns her little bundle back to Emma.

Emma gives Jack a kiss on the cheek and carries a sleeping Jenny in her arms. Stanley carries the port-a-crib out to the car. Tara grabs the diaper bag and high chair. They all say goodnight to Jack and Sue. Renee thanks Jack again for the dollhouse and for pulling babysitting duty. Renee gives Jack a hug and tells Grace to say goodnight to Jack. She runs over to give Jack a hug and kiss him on the cheek. Mark is attempting to carry the Hillsdale miniature dollhouse out the front door. It is going to require some fancy footwork but Mark somehow manages to get the dollhouse into his car without any problems. They are on their way back to Renee’s apartment. Now Jack and Sue are finally alone at his house.