The phone call on a Tuesday afternoon was unexpected, to say the least. Hunter was in full work mode: sending correspondence, sifting through emails, and handling all of the stressors of  a company better than ever. 

But the call cut through his focus. 

He would’ve let it go to voicemail if he didn’t see River’s name flashing on the caller ID. 

“Hey, River. What’s up?” he asked. He sounded calm despite having just scrambled up from his office chair to answer the call. 

“Hunter, hi. Thanks for picking up.”

Hunter was glad to hear the older man’s voice but grew uneasy by how nervous he sounded. River was never the most expressive person, but the nerves coating every word brought a frown to Hunter’s face.

“Look . . . I need to ask you a huge favor.”

“Yeah. Of course, River, whatever you need.”

“Can you watch Melodie tomorrow afternoon?”

What?

“Both of my managers are going to be out of town tomorrow so I need to stay until closing and Melodie’s babysitter is busy.”

“Oh, uh-”

“She gets out of school at 3:30 and heads straight over to her after school program. I can let them know you’re coming so you can pick Melodie up at anytime before 6. . . ”

River continued to describe how he would go about watching her but Hunter struggled to see how he could do it. Hunter was swamped with work these days. Even going to Adonis for lunch felt like a stretch but missing half a day of work would be impossible. But Hunter’s position as a CEO prepared him for moments like these. He had tough conversations all the time. He would just tell River no.

“ . . . please?” the man whispered. “I don’t know who else to call.”

So Hunter agreed. There was no world in which he could have said no to that. To River, showing so much vulnerability and honesty. To River, just trying to make sure that his child was okay. Hunter’s protector mode switched all the way on and someone would have to tie him up to stop him from helping River’s little family. They made plans to discuss the details more the next day when Hunter came in for lunch, ensuring that Hunter couldn’t use that time to catch up on work either. 

An hour ago, Hunter enjoyed the rush and the challenge of manning a company. Currently, he stressed to figure out how to watch Melodie without screwing himself over for the next several days. He first thought of taking his laptop so he could work while he watched her, but Melodie was an energetic child. Hunter never forgot the action-packed day they had only a few weeks ago. Between the coloring and the movies and the board games, he barely had time to check his phone, let alone finalize an animation project. 

Returning to his desk, Hunter filed through his drawers hectically until he found his old stress ball. He hadn’t touched it in a year but the firm foam sphere seemed perfect for the occasion. Squeezing it, he went through his other options. His next idea was to just handle the missed work when he got back to the office again. The problem? Hunter didn’t do a normal amount of work. 

His normal was getting into the office an hour before anyone else and leaving when most stores were already closed. His normal made it easy for him to spend the night at the office. Why go back home to sleep in his bed when his office couch felt just fine? Picking Melodie up at 4 would be more than a change of schedule, it would be missing up to 7 hours of work. 

His arm felt sore and when Hunter looked down, he saw that his nails threatened to burst through his stress ball. Slowly, he released his grip. This left him only one option, an idea that made Hunter’s skin crawl. 

He would have to–God.

Hunter needed to ask for help.

—————

Driving at a speed his mother would have wrung out his neck for, Hunter raced to the daycare. He wasn’t late, not in the slightest. The place would be open until 6 but Hunter felt horrible about leaving Melodie there longer than he had to. So the second it hit 3:30, Hunter was on his way. But what if her daycare was farther than he expected? 

What time is it again? 

He glanced down at his wrist to check the time but cursed, releasing that his watch was gone. He took it off, thinking a watch was too formal to wear around a child. His entire outfit was much more casual than Hunter’s daily suit choice. His simple pair of jeans were from college. He’d thought about coming in a graphic tee but Hunter’s soul could not rest without layering. So he had a white T with a flannel thrown on top. He didn’t look like the CEO of StickFigure Animations. He looked like a normal guy picking a kid up from daycare. 

Hunter didn’t know if Melodie cared about fashion. Maybe she would have enjoyed telling her friends about the guy in the suit who watched her for the day. But Hunter really wanted to make her feel comfortable and hoped that his choices would help with that. 

A few minutes later, Hunter pulled up to the address. His heart was logged in his throat and clammy hands pushed open his car door. He almost wished he’d let Mike drive him today. At least he wouldn’t be doing this super scary thing alone. But River was already trusting one man to be around his daughter alone, Hunter didn’t want to force him to accept two. 

The young woman who greeted him at the front was nice and it took a few seconds to confirm his ID and get Melodie brought over. Yet Hunter’s heart still thumped when he saw the little girl run over, her steps slowing when she saw this random white dude waiting for her. Was he smiling okay? Did he look weird? Then, surprising everyone in the room, she sped up, wrapping her arms around his legs in a hug. 

“Are we spending the whole day together?” she asked, her hand reaching for his paler one and dragged him out the front door. The tight curls in her ponytail bounced as she skipped ahead and Hunter struggled to keep up. “Daddy said we would.”

“Yeah. Does that sound fun, Melodie?” he asked her breathlessly, still in shock.

“Yes, I want to show you the new markers Daddy bought me. Come on!”

Melodie spoke a mile a minute from the backseat, erasing any fears Hunter had that she would be disappointed to see him. In between her stories about her classmate’s melted gummies and her teacher’s new puppy, Hunter imagined what it would be like to be in the office at that same time. He would be answering emails, probably. Or checking up on animation progress. It was weird to be gone and to know you aren’t needed. At least not like you thought.  

Yesterday, Hunter dreaded asking his department heads to cover some of his work. They would be angry and frustrated, he thought. Surely they were as drowned in work as he was. But they would agree, begrudgingly, and Hunter would feel so guilty. Yet as he went around the office, dividing up his tasks, his subordinates accepted it without a problem. They just seemed glad to see him, even after he’d dumped the work on them. In no time, 7 hours worth of work was out of his hands.

And Hunter didn’t know how to feel about that.   

“Yay! We’re home!”

Melodie recognized the street immediately and Hunter was grateful to be pulling up to her house. For once, he didn’t want to think about work anymore. He didn’t want to think about what this meant for him as a CEO. He wanted to spend a day with an awesome kid and have a good time. The spare key under the potted plant out front worked like a charm and while Melodie went to her room to find those amazing markers she’d been bragging about, Hunter checked the message on his phone.

River❤️

She’s allergic to peanuts

And shellfish

Chinese food is kind of a nightmare with her

Chuckling, Hunter looked away from his phone, trying to see if Melodie came back when the little device vibrated again.

River❤️

And she needs to eat vegetables

She can only leave a plate if half the veggies are gone

Also, if she has 1st grader homework, please make sure she finishes it. Teachers can actually get on your ass about that.

Hunter refrained from telling River that he’d said all of this at lunch earlier today. Then Hunter wrote it down on his phone. Then River handed him a sheet with this information printed in Times New Roman font. River was painfully nervous about this, which made Hunter more nervous too. But Melodie entered the room again, beaming with a box of sparkly sharpies in her hands and Hunter couldn’t help but match that smile. 

As long as Hunter didn’t make some peanut covered shrimp appear out of thin air, he thought that they would be just fine. 

You

Don’t worry

I’ll take good care of her