Euijoo

“Thank you so much for doing this, Euijoo,” Mrs. Wang says again, riffling through the notes she’s already gone over twice

“All the meals for the twins are labeled in the fridge and the pantry,” she tells me, “What else...what else.”

She places her hands on either side of her temples, looking slightly stressed.

“I know I’m forgetting something,” she says. “What am I forgetting?”

She looks around the kitchen where we're standing, not finding it.

Mrs. Wang moved here five months ago, and she’s barely been home since––She’s a writer, constantly traveling for signings and readings.

Mr. Wang, the twins’ dad, was supposed to be home with them this weekend but got an urgent case recently and won’t be able to make it home tonight.

The first time I babysat for them was a few weeks after they arrived. They were already busy with work and didn’t have time to hire anyone and were in a bind.

Mrs. Wang came to me desperate for someone to watch them, and I was the only one they knew in the neighborhood, since we were next-door neighbors.

The twins loved having me as their sitter so much, Mrs. Wang asked if I could be their permanent babysitter.

I usually only watch the twins three or four days a week, depending on Mr. and Mrs. Wangs’ schedules. That’s still from the time they get home from kindergarten till just after dinner.

This is the first time I’ll be staying with them overnight.

“You can either sleep on the couch or in Nicholas’ room,” she says, then her eyes suddenly go wide.

She scurries over to the calendar and starts flipping through her planner until she lands on the day she’s looking for.

“Oh,” she panics. “That’s what I forgot.”

I look at her, concerned. “What is it?”

“It’s the weekend Nicholas is coming to live with us. Remember a few months ago when I told you he would be coming?”