The Steff Pearce Series - Babysitting
“Steff, thanks a lot for doing this.” Rosita smiled gratefully as she allowed the skunk inside her family's apartment.
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, Rosita!" She replied before quickly lowering her voice. "Always happy to give you guys a breather.” Ever since hearing about Gunter’s hectic first time taking care of them, the Moon Theatre Troupe had all agreed to take turns babysitting Rosita and Norman’s kids. And this evening was Steff’s turn.
“We’ll be home around 9pm." Norman added, pocketing his phone. "Remember, call us if there’s any problems and…”
“No candy even if they ask ‘pretty please’.” Steff finished with a giggle. “I got it covered. Now you two go have a nice evening to yourselves.”
“Thanks, Steff." Rosita said, grabbing her purse before heading out the doorway with her husband. "We’ll see you later!”
With one final nod, Steff shut the door before quietly making her way up the stairs. She loved every opportunity she got to interact with the piglets. When they weren’t hyped up on sugar or attempting to try on her glasses, they were a very sweet bunch. Ash would have joined her, but decided that being around 25 excitable piglets with her still-healing wrist wasn't the best combo.
Reaching the top, the skunk tiptoed over to the piglets' bedroom door and quietly pushed it open. She poked her head inside to see all 25 tucked in and sound asleep. Satisfied, Steff began closing the door behind her; this evening would be a breeze.
"Auntie Steff?" A little voice piped up.
Freezing mid-step with a wince, the skunk turned around to see Vida, one of the girls, fully awake and staring from her top bunk with eager eyes. One by one, the rest of the children followed suite.
So much for a breeze. Steff thought before putting on a smile. "Hey, kids."
Instantly the entire bedroom was abuzz with happy chatter. A few piglets clambered out of bed to tug excitedly on her hands and dress.
"Where's Mommy and Daddy?"
"Is Auntie Ash here too?"
"Can we have some candy?"
"Are you and Auntie Ash gonna get married?"
Blushing at that last question, Steff pointed to each piglet with a respective answer. "They'll be back later. Her wrist still hurts very badly, so she's resting until she's all better. No, you can't. Maybe someday."
She knelt down to pick up them all up in her arms before they could charge out the door, setting them back in their beds.
“Now come on, Mommy and Daddy want you guys to be fast asleep, and I'm sure Auntie Ash would too. Kids like you need their rest."
"But we're not tired!" One of the boys, Oscar, whined.
"Well… would a bedtime story help you go to sleep?" The skunk asked. "Maybe… The Three Little Pigs?”
“Aww, Mommy’s read us that one already.”
“Yeah, can we have a new story?”
“A new one, huh? Umm…" Steff glanced at all the other storybooks on their shelf, having a strong feeling all of them had been read. Just then, an idea lit up her mind. "Sure.”
Grabbing a children's chair from the foot of the bed, she pulled it to the bedroom's centre and sat herself down.
“Where’s the storybook?” Caspar tilted his head in confusion.
“There is no storybook." Steff grinned. "This bedtime story is different… because we’re gonna make it up ourselves.”
All the piglets looked puzzled. Whoever heard of a bedtime story without a book?
“I used to play this with my parents when I was your age." The skunk explained, her smile growing in anticipation. "One of us starts telling a story and then we all take turns telling it. And the best part is you get to use your imaginations! You can tell your part of the story however you want! So whoever goes last gets to decide how it ends! Does that sound like fun?”
Every piglet in the room was now beaming at this idea. “Yeah!”
“Should we give it a try?”
“Yeah!”
“Want me to start it off?”
“YEAH!”
“Okay, okay, settle down." Steff chuckled at their enthusiasm. "Here goes." Thinking for a moment, she then began the improvised tale.
"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was… a brave and beautiful knight. And she was on a quest to rescue a princess who was trapped in a… big scary castle."
"Wait." Adeline interrupted. "The knight is a girl?"
“Yep. Girls can be knights too.”
The young piglet looked like her mind had been blown. “Whoa.”
Smiling, the skunk continued. "The journey was long and dangerous, but the knight was sure she could do it on her own. 'I don't need help from anyone', she said proudly. But then she came across… a giant river with no bridge. 'Oh, no! How will I get across?', she thought."
Steff then gestured to a piglet on one of the lower bunks. "Okay, Gail, your turn."
"Ooh, okay, okay!" She giggled eagerly, taking a moment to think. "But it's okay because there was a… big robot! And he was, uh… stuck in a muddy puddle! And the robot said, 'If you help me out of this puddle, I'll carry you over the river'. So the knight pulled him out and then the robot carried her across. 'Can I come with you?', asked the robot. 'Well… okay', said the knight."
The rest of the kids took to the game very quickly, each of them adding their own imaginative details to the story. And Steff avidly listened to them all. Twenty minutes has passed by the time they reached the final part, and nearly all 25 piglets had fallen asleep. A few were just barely keeping their eyes open to hear the ending.
“And so the robot, the flower, the gummy worm, the ninja, the football and the building block monster all helped the knight…" Asa paused to let out a big yawn. "…find the key to free the princess. Then she and the princess got married. And they all… lived…”
The piglet's words gave way to light snoring. Finally rising from her seat, Steff gently pulled the covers over him.
"Happily ever after." She whispered. With a tender smile, she tiptoed around each bunk to tuck the other kids in.
“That was… the best bedtime story ever, Auntie Steff.” Nelson said before he too drifted off.
"I'll say." With a yawn of her own, the skunk massaged her eyes as she closed the door behind her. She was sound asleep on the couch by the time Rosita and Norman came home.
