Kevin smiled. He knew this was going to be great. "That's what SHE said!!!" he giggled like a school girl. Stacey said she didn't think that he was good enough with Abby and said that if he wasn't good with kids, she would move out and call the wedding off. The smiled faded from his face. He'd show her he was good enough!

"Kevin, get your ass over here!" Creed yelled. "I'm an old guy, I can't post decorations everywhere by myself! Get yer lumbering ass over here!"

Kevin didn't think he had ever seen Creed that angry. Maybe he hadn't gotten enough sleep. "Oh, what's the matter Creed, did you not get your juice today?"

Creed bared his teeth and Kevin backed off. "Hey, take it easy, we're going to be watching a whole bunch of other kids. We can't swear, talk about you-know-what"--Kevin's perverted smile was back--"and we need to know when one of the kids gets a poopie. That's what we're doing. We're running a daycare centre. Not putting up a Christmas tree!"

Creed rolled his eyes. "Ok, ok it's not just about the decorations. I don't know why you asked me to do this. Oh yeah!" Creed smiled. Kevin backed away further. This was creepy, like watching Sybil changing personalities. "My grandson's coming."

Kevin scratched his head. "Is he, normal?"

Creed stopped what he was doing. "What do you mean?"

"I mean not like y--" he stopped. "er, never mind." 

Creed looked at his watch and swore loudly. "I haven't finished blowing up the pool or putting up the decorations...AND I have to pick up my grandson in an hour. Aww, dammit! The day care starts in an hour doesn't it?!"

Kevin nodded slowly. "I have to go get some snacks for the kids. Kids like sugar, right? And you should probably get all your swearing out of your system. There's no way you can swear in front of a three or four year old without consequences...a lot of consequences."

Creed nodded and ducked under the pool, assuming the fetal position. There he listed every swear word he could think of and yelled them at the top of his lungs. Many of them were in Chinese.
Kevin stumbled away from the scene of the crime and headed to Sugar Mountain with a fifty dollar bill in his hand.

Pam knelt down to meet her daughter's eye level. She couldn't really look right into them, as the little girl had pulled her sun hat down, shielding her face. Pam grinned at her. "Come on, Lily! Show me your smile!" Little Lily shyly looked up at her mother and smiled, with a few front teeth missing. Her eyes twinkled, and this made Pam smile. They were the exact same golden hazel as Jim's eyes. Pam pushed her chin up gently with her thumb and looked her in the eyes. "You're going to have a good time at camp, sweetie!" Lily looked a bit doubtful.

Jim stepped out of their SUV and kneeled beside Pam and Lily. "Hey princess, you're going to have loads of fun! Just behave and listen to your teachers. No monkey business." He playfully bopped Lily on her nose with his thumb. As she giggled, her parents got up and went into the car. The second the door slammed , Lily's smile faded. Her eyes got big and wide and she looked as if she was going to start bawling. Pam looked out the window, at her daughter who had never been away from her before, and wondered if she had made a mistake enrolling her. She voiced her fears to Jim as Lily looked frantically between them, silently begging them not to leave.

Jim sighed. "There's no way she'll be ready for kindergarten next year if she's never been away from home before. She needs to be seperated from us."Pam raised an eyebrown doubtfully.

Jim added quickly, "Think of it as a chance to let Lily be Lily. I would love to see her make some new friends." Pam nodded and wiped away a tear. This was as haard for her as it was for Lily. One last time, Pam got out of the car, kissed Lily goodbye and promised her once more, "You'll have fun, you'll make friends, we'll be back soon," and Lily settled a bit. She trusted her parents and Pam and Jim were more than happy to follow through. As they left, Pam wondered, "When am I going to stop being Super Mom?"
Jim chuckled and answered, "Probably around age thirteen."

When the car had gone out of sight, Lily bravely marched over the stone steps and walked toward the house, clutching her Carebears lunch box, her colouring book, and holding onto her hat all the way.