Babysitting Supers

By Hailey Huntington

Mrs. Smith smothered the flames bursting from Cade’s hair with a dishcloth. Brushing back her messy curls, she studied me out of the corner of her eye. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Kyle?”

I grinned at her. “Of course I do! I may only be eleven, but I take care of my younger siblings all the time for Mom. And I watched a thing about babysitting kids with powers!” I held out my arms to Cade. With a resume like mine, Mrs. Smith would be completely at ease letting me look after her baby.

Mrs. Smith didn’t let Cade go. “The city’s babysitting class covers caring for supers?”

“Nah. I learned that part from a movie!”

Mrs. Smith blinked. “A movie.”

I nodded and made a goofy face at Cade. “Yeah! It was about a family of heroes. This girl, an ordinary person like me—except she was a girl and I’m a boy, obviously—watched the baby who had a ton of superpowers. And it went just fine! I’ll do exactly what she did. Except I won’t give Cade away to a supervillain. That would be horrible. I won’t let him out of my sight! You don’t need to worry, Mrs. Smith!”

Mrs. Smith sighed and rubbed her forehead. She leaned against the doorway. “I don’t really have time to find another sitter…”

“Nope.” I shook my head.

“And Dale’s busy, and I can’t really take Cade with me…”

I shook my head again and smiled. “I guess that means you’re left with me. But like I said, you don’t need to worry about anything!”

Mrs. Smith’s phone beeped insistently. Panic flashed across her face. “I’m going to be late!” She bit her lip and looked between me and Cade. “Promise you’ll call me right away if something goes wrong or you don’t know what to do?”

“Scouts honor.” I made a quick, kind-of-sloppy salute.

Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Smith put Cade in my arms, then sprinted down the front steps. She disappeared down the road in a blur of superspeed.

I adjusted my hold on Cade and walked inside. “Ready to have some fun, buddy?”

When I’d learned that a family of superheroes had moved in next door, I was determined to become best pals with their kids. I’ll admit I was disappointed when I discovered they only had one kid, and a baby at that. But I bucked up and decided that it was never too soon to become a baby super’s mentor. Volunteering to mow the Smiths’ lawn—as mind-numbing as it was—allowed me to get to know the family. And Mrs. Smith’s last-minute meeting with the mayor gave me the perfect opportunity for some bonding time with little Cade.

I carried the slobbering super-kid into the living room and set him down among his toys. “All right, little dude. Let’s start this superhero training. Clearly, you have fire powers. I mean, your hair is still smoking. But I want to see some real action!”

I pulled out an index card I’d sketched a flame on earlier. “When I show you this, make some fire. Got it?”

Cade wasn’t even looking at me. He slobbered all over a teething ring.

I sighed. “Babies. Always drooling.” I picked up a rag and wiped off his chin.

Looking back at the flashcard, I snapped my fingers. “I forgot to grab something to put out accidental fires! I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, Cade!”

I ran into the kitchen. But… there wasn’t a fire extinguisher anywhere. Mrs. Smith must be a better cook than Mom.

Shrugging, I filled up a glass of water. It would have to do.

“Okay, Cade! I’m ready now, so—”

I froze in the living room archway. A man with a beard, sunglasses, and grungy black clothes bent over Cade.

Panic jolted through me.

“Bad guy!” I screamed and sprinted toward the villain. No one was going to kidnap Cade! I’d told Mrs. Smith that I wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

The man straightened right as I flung the water in his face and sprang toward him—careful not to hit Cade, of course. I slammed into the fiend and wrapped my limbs around him in a tackle hug. He stumbled backward.

“You won’t take him!” I shouted, whacking him with the plastic cup.

The villain held up his hands, trying to block the attacks. “W—wait, Kyle!”

“You know my name?” Obviously he’d been planning the kidnapping for some time. I doubled down on my attacks.

“Kyle, it’s me!” The man’s face changed before my eyes. The beard and sunglasses vanished. His clothes shifted into a t-shirt and jeans.

Shocked, I let go and fell back onto the couch. “Mr. Smith?”

Mr. Smith wiped the water out of his eyes. “Yeah.”

“But I thought you were gone! I mean, aren’t you working? Mrs. Smith said you couldn’t watch Cade.” I glanced between Mr. Smith and Cade. The baby seemed oblivious to his almost not-kidnapping.

Mr. Smith straightened the coffee table knickknacks I’d bumped. “I was doing undercover work.”

“Oh. Right.” My face heated. I’d forgotten Mr. Smith was a human chameleon—but way cooler. I frowned. “But why’re you home already?”

Mr. Smith stopped Cade from chewing on the remote. “I’m undercover as a henchman for hire, and the villain we’re targeting decided to do my interview over Zoom.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Huh.” I gnawed my lip.

Mr. Smith sat down next to me. “I have to say, I am really impressed with you, Kyle. You were ready to jump into action and fight to protect Cade. Not everyone would do that.”

I sat up straighter.

Mr. Smith continued. “I think that Cade could use a good role model as he grows up. Someone to show him how to be brave and protect others—to be a hero. Would you want to act as a ‘big brother’ to Cade?”

My eyes widened. “Would I ever!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailey Huntington loves adventures, and she’s always ready for another one—whether it’s discovering Narnia, traveling across Middle Earth, hiking a mountain in Iceland, or simply going on a walk with her family. Aside from adventures, Hailey also loves board games, music, ice cream, laughter, witty characters, fantasy, emojis, and Jesus—though not in that order.

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