“Okay, everyone be careful!” Jihoon calls after the excited seven year olds. “Do you want to play Landon?” Jihoon could feel the younger boy shake his head as it rests on his back. Jihoon tries to put Landon down, signalling the end of the piggyback ride but Landon doesn’t let go of Jihoon’s shoulders. Landon will not let go of his grip on Jihoon’s shoulders. This one little act melts Jihoon’s heart and helps him feel a little less awkward taking care of three small children by himself. “Okay, you can stay with me here at the bench while your brother and sister play,” Jihoon keeps his head turned to the side to speak to Landon.

            “Okay,” Landon agrees quietly. Twenty minutes go by before Landon lets go of Jihoon and decides to sit on the bench next to him.

            “Ow!” Jihoon hears Landon’s tiny voice. He quickly turns his attention to the crying child next to him.

            “What’s wrong Landon?!” Jihoon’s voice is filled with panic as he looks down at the crying child next to him.

            “I… got… stung by a… bee,” Landon tries to speak between spurts of crying.

            “Kaeden! Audrey! Let’s go!” Jihoon calls as he stands from the bench. He quickly picks up Landon to carry him home.

            “What happened?” Audrey and Kaeden ask at the same time.

            “Landon was stung by a bee so we need to go home,” Jihoon explains.

            The four of them walk back to the house as fast as they can, Landon still unable to control the tears streaming down his face.

            As soon as they open the door, Jihoon rushes to the kitchen and sits the boy he’s been carrying down on the countertop. He quickly finds a plastic bag and a tea towel. He opens the freezer door and puts a handful of ice in the plastic bag, wraps it in the small towel, and hands it to Landon. I hope this helps, Jihoon thinks to himself. He watches the small boy hold the bag of ice on his opposite hand and try to slow his tears. “I don’t know what else to do,” Jihoon mumbles to himself. Having never taken care of kids by himself, he’s mentally panicking.

            Jihoon looks around the kitchen, hoping to think of something. “Jihoon!” he hears Audrey’s voice. “Speed dial number six. Our parents told us if anything goes wrong to ‘speed dial six’.” She hands him the phone as it rings.

            Hoping anything could help him and trying to fight back tears, Jihoon takes the phone from Audrey and mumbles a small thank you as he presses the phone to his ear.

            “Hello?” a voice asks as they answer the call.

            “Hi,” Jihoon’s voice is shaky.

            “Are you okay?” the woman on the phone speaks.

            “I don’t know what to do!” Jihoon panics again. “I’m watching Daniel and Eryn’s kids for a few days and Audrey told me you were an emergency contact if anything goes wrong.”

            “I am; what happened?” the woman’s voice remains calm.

            “Landon got stung by a bee but his whole hand is swollen now,” he wipes some of the tears that remain on Landon’s face away with his thumb.

            “Okay, you should bring him to the hospital and I’ll meet you there soon.” Jihoon thanks the woman before hanging up.

            “To the hospital,” Jihoon announces as he picks Landon up again and carries him to the car.

-

            “I hate waiting,” Kaeden speaks as he swings his legs back and forth off the front of a chair as they wait in the waiting room.

            “I know it’s not fun but we have to wait for your younger brother,” Jihoon tells him. “And I couldn’t leave you and your sister out here alone,” he adds.

            “Madisen!” Audrey yells as she runs up to a woman walking into the waiting room.

            “Audrey!” Jihoon yells after her. Audrey takes the woman’s hand and leads her back to where her twin brother and Jihoon wait.

            “Hi, I’m Madisen, who you called,” she introduces herself quietly. “You must be feeling very panicked right now but it’ll be fine, Landon will be fine,” she speaks as she approaches the still tense man, then taking a seat in the chair next to him.

            “This is Jihoon,” Audrey introduces him to Madisen.

            “Nice to meet you,” Madisen smiles at the man before taking his hand in hers. “I understand you’re worried but you have to remember to breathe.”

            Jihoon sighs quietly before showing Madisen a small smile. He feels more relaxed now that he’s not alone. He’s not sure why, but Madisen’s simple gesture of holding his hand is somewhat comforting to him.

-

            “I didn’t know he was allergic to bees,” Jihoon comments as he reads over the list of allergies and things that he should know that Eryn and Daniel left. As soon as they returned to the house, Jihoon intensely reads through the notebook of information. “Also, thank you Madisen for helping me today,” he looks up at her. She thought it would be best to stay with Jihoon and help him take care of the three children for the rest of the day.

            “No problem at all,” Madisen smiles kindly. “I have a question though… Why did you agree to watch three kids by yourself for a few days?” She’s been dying to ask this question specifically since she met this man.

            “I was the only one available on short notice,” he tells her honestly. Madisen simply hums in response.

            “Madisen,” Audrey breaks a brief silence as she lightly taps on Madisen’s arm to get her attention. She looks down at Audrey with full attention, “Where’s Lacie?”

            “She’s at her grandmother’s for the weekend. But don’t worry, you’ll see her at school on Monday,” she smiles as she speaks.

            Jihoon was still not one hundred percent all there yet but he was getting close to being completely calm once again. Mostly, he was confused. One, he was still trying to get comfortable with the idea of taking care of three kids and trying not to mess up, anymore; two, who are they talking about now? “If you don’t mind me asking, who is Lacie?”

            “My best friend,” Audrey beams before returning to the living room to watch a movie with her brothers.

            Madisen turns her attention back to Jihoon, “Lacie is my daughter,” she adds.