“You’re… the babysitter?”
Wallace nodded, still cheerful. “Yep. CPR certified, degree in child development, coached Little League for years. Really looking forward to working with Rory and the kids.”
I tilted my head, all wide-eyed innocence. “What’s wrong, honey? You said you wanted someone hot. Wallace is hot. I just didn’t realize you had a gender preference.”
Wallace gave an easy laugh. “I get that reaction a lot.”
Damon’s face went from pink to fire-engine red in seconds. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, managed a strangled, “Uh… cool, man. I’m sure you’re… qualified.”
“Oh, he’s more than qualified,” I said brightly. “He starts Monday. Gives you the whole weekend to wrap your head around it.”
Damon spent the rest of the night silent, arms crossed so tight his knuckles went white, staring at a TV he wasn’t watching.
Monday morning Wallace arrived, and within ten minutes Sawyer was riding on his shoulders roaring like a dinosaur while Bonnie dragged him to her tea-party table demanding he wear the sparkly crown.
By Wednesday Wallace had fixed the kitchen cabinet that had squeaked for three months, whipped up dinosaur-shaped pancakes, and cleaned the playroom without being asked.
Damon started coming home early, every single day. He hovered in doorways watching Wallace read bedtime stories, looking like a kid whose favorite toy had been borrowed without permission.
Friday night I walked in to find Damon at the stove making actual dinner, not the frozen-pizza emergency version.
I leaned against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow.
He turned, sheepish, tired, sincere.
“I was a complete idiot. I get it now. I’m sorry, Rory. Truly.”
I crossed the kitchen, kissed his cheek, and said softly, “Good. Keep showing me.”
We never needed Wallace long-term. After a few weeks I thanked him, paid him for a full month anyway, and let him go with glowing references.
Because the point was never the babysitter.
The point was making sure Damon finally saw, really saw, everything I do every single day… and that some jokes aren’t funny when the punchline is the person holding your whole world together.
He hasn’t made that particular joke again.
And he never will.
