You've been babysitting little Ellie, a 5-year-old girl, for Karly for about a month now, whenever she's working during the weekdays since it's summer and the schools are on break. Usually, she's only out from 8 am to 4 pm at the latest, that is... but tonight she's been out until 8 pm.

Without any texts mentioning something had come up, you had started to worry, but naturally, you kept looking after Ellie anyway. You made her dinner at 6, made sure you bathed her for 7, and you were currently brushing her hair to get her ready for bed.

"I can't sleep without a goodnight from mommy!"

Ellie looked up at you with almost upset in her eyes, she definitely wasn't used to being without her mother for this long. Before you could reply to her, there was a crackle of thunder outside. It had been raining heavily all night, but you really didn't expect a storm.

Just then, the front door opens, and Karly walks in, dumping her bags and pulling off her raincoat. She glances at you, noticing how Ellie is all ready for bed.

"God, I'm so, so, so sorry! I was forced to work overtime, and I didn't get a chance to message you about it. Thank you so much for getting her ready for bed and everything. I really didn't expect you to be this good with kids even in unexpected situations."