Johnny and I ride back to my house, and he stops in my driveway.

Alright I’ll see you later dude. Sorry it was a bust.”

“It’s all good. I’ll see you tomorrow."

As I walk towards my front door, I see the lights on. As I open the door, I expect to see Marilyn with Roland, but instead I see the last person that would’ve come to mind. She hadn’t noticed me yet, but she was wearing black leggings, long batman socks, and a blue sweatshirt that made her layers of hair stand out, cascading down like a waterfall. She and Roland were sitting on the floor of our living room staring at the TV. Completely oblivious, I knock on the wall to get their attention and they both look up.

Roland immediately runs up to me, screaming, “ Mason!!!!!”

“Hi Ro!” I yell back sweeping upside down over my shoulder. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

“At the Pier, on a date.” So they went out after all.

“I see. Are you on a date too Ro?” I tease, putting him down.

“No I’m nottt. This is Rosemary, the babysitter!”

“Ohhh so she’s not your date.” He nods in reply. “Yeah you’re way too good looking for her.”

As I look over, Rose stands up. “Hi Mason.”

“Hi Rosemary. So I see my Mom got hold of you, when did they leave?”

“About an hour and a half ago. I was driving into my driveway when all of sudden she chased me down and asked me to babysit.”

I smirk. “That sounds like her.”

There’s an awkward pause.

“You know you can leave if you want, I can take care of Roland.”

“Yeah I know, but I promised your mom I would stay. Plus it’s been awhile since I’ve been here anyways.”

“Okay if you say so.”

“Mason!!!! Let’s play! I’m bored!!!!”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know!”

“Do you wanna play with your Transformers or Legos?”

“Nooooo! Make a game up!!!”

Crap. Alright let’s just back up for a second. Whenever Ro wants to make a game up, it becomes a disaster. I’ll make up rules for a game, and he just breaks all of them and makes his own. Although, when he’s in a cranky mood, he just gives up and throws a fit. I don’t know why, it just kind of happens. Also I’m terrible at making games up, I always forget what’s happening and lose interest too fast. Anyways, at this very moment Rosemary gets up and walks over to Ro.

“Hey can I make up a game?”

“Is it a fun game?”

“Of course it’s a fun game, why would I make a boring one?”

“I don’t know. What is it?”

“Well you’ll have to just wait and see.”

All of sudden she grabs grabs all the blankets on the couch and throws them at me. Rose creates a path with our cushions towards the center of the room, where she throws Ro’s toys in a manmade couch pit. She takes one of the blankets and ties two corners around her neck, creating a cape. Then she speaks. “This is the game of superheroes and villains. The toys of Roland Jaxon have been put inside the pit of darkness by the evil Mason and so Roland, you must put on your cape of manliness and save your toys, so we can bring happiness back into the Jaxon home!” She looks over at me.

Getting the hint, I take the darkest blanket I can and tie it around my neck. “You’ll never save them Ro! They are mine for the taking and I will keep them trapped forever! Mwahhahaha!” I grab Ro and carry him all the way across to the other side of the room. “Roland, you must follow the path towards the center of the room! That’s the only way you can save them! You just have to watch out and not fall into the lava and get caught by Mason!” I put Ro down, and he beams at me and starts to run. He makes his own tiny cape and takes on a superhero pose. “Let’s do this.” Ro runs across the room as I chase him, but Rose tag teams with him and pushes me away from him.

Throughout the night, Rose, Ro, and I play around, combating each other during Ro’s quest of saving his toys. From superheroes, to pirates, to knights in shining armor we played around until the clock struck 10 and he passed out. Exhausted from all the work of taking care of a toddler, Rose and I slump into the couch.

“That was so much fun! haha Your little brother is so cute!”

“Well he is related to me,” I smile.

“You dork, “ she says smiling back. “Man I haven’t had this much fun in ages. He’s gotten so big!”

“Yeah, he used to be such a little dude.”

“Haha yeah, I remember seeing him follow you around, crawling all over the place.” There’s a pause. Rose stands, “I should probably go huh? You probs want to pass out too after running around like that.”

“Yeah that was pretty tiring.”

“Maybe I’ll stop by and we can hang out with Roland again. It was really fun.”

“Maybe.” I wonder if she means it. “ My mom misses having you around anyways.”

“ Your mom has always been a good judge of character. Anyways, I’ll see you later Mason.”

“Bye Rose.”

She walks out the door.

I guess she isn’t so bad after all.