Linda Porter Carlyle
Trevor Paul Monroe lay in bed and watched the ceiling fan slowly turn around and around. Summer was almost over. It was almost time to go back to school again.
Trevor sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t like school. It just didn’t seem fair that he should have to start school when the days were still so long and hot and filled with fun things to do. Maybe Dad would take him and Brad and Ben to the river again before their vacation was over. Maybe they could even go on a jet boat ride again before school started!
Trevor heard a tap on the bedroom door. Mom peeked in. “Hey there, Sleepyhead!” she said with a smile. “Maybe we should set the alarm clock and get you used to waking up early again. Then it won’t be so hard on you when you have to get up for school.”
Trevor slid down in bed and pulled the sheet over his head.
Mom laughed. She sat on the edge of the bed. “I need some help,” she said. “Mrs. Cannon called. She has to go to the doctor this morning, and she asked if I would watch Baby Nathan for her. I told her I would, but I was really counting on you to help me watch him. I’ve got a lot of cooking to do. We’re having company for dinner tonight.”
Trevor pulled the sheet down as far as his nose so he could see Mom. “I don’t want to watch a baby,” he muttered crossly. “It’s one of the last days of my summer vacation!”
Mom pulled the sheet down as far as his chin. “I don’t think I heard you correctly,” she said. “I thought I heard you say you didn’t want to watch a baby. Did you forget that you really like babies?”
Trevor frowned. “But what if Joseph or Matthew or somebody calls and invites me to do something fun? Like swimming at the river or something. I’d have to say, ‘I can’t go because I have to watch a baby!’”
Mom took a breath. She looked at Trevor. “Could you possibly be the same child who told me just last night after reading his Sabbath School lesson that he thought Dorcas was a really great woman because she helped so many people? Could you possibly be the same child who told me just last night that he wanted to be a more helpful person?”
Trevor stared at Mom for a minute. Then he grinned. “I forgot,” he said.
Mom ruffled Trevor’s hair. She stood up. “Get dressed then,” she said. “Baby Nathan will be here in ten minutes.”
Trevor suddenly looked worried. “I won’t have to change his diapers, will I?”
Mom smiled. “No. I’ll take care of that part,” she assured him.
Very soon the doorbell rang. Mrs. Cannon handed Baby Nathan and his huge blue diaper bag to Mom. “Thank you so much!” she said with a sigh. “I’ll be back in about an hour and a half.” She leaned over, kissed Baby Nathan on his cheek, and hurried back to her car.
Mom shut the door. She put the diaper bag on the floor and held Baby Nathan up high. “My, you’re getting to be a big boy!” she exclaimed.
“Let me hold him!” Trevor said eagerly.
“He’s pretty heavy,” Mom said. “Why don’t you sit down on the carpet to hold him?”
Trevor plopped down. Mom put Nathan on his lap. Baby Nathan looked up at Trevor. He smiled and spit big bubbles of drool out of his mouth. Trevor’s eyes shone. He tried to make bubbles with his saliva too. “Ah-h-h-ghee-e-e!” Baby Nathan said, reaching for Trevor’s face.
“Well, you two seem to be getting along just fine,” Mom said. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”
Baby Nathan twisted and wiggled. Trevor was surprised to feel how strong he was. When Trevor put him down on the carpet, he scooted away on his hands and knees. Trevor got on his hands and knees, too, and crawled alongside. Baby Nathan laughed. He tried to crawl faster.
When Nathan got to the couch, he reached up as high as he could and pulled himself to his feet. “Ah-h-h-ghee-e-e!” he shouted. “Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah!” He swayed from side to side and then suddenly collapsed on his bottom. His face scrunched up.
“Don’t cry!” Trevor said quickly. “Look at me! Bzzz! Bzzz! Buzz!” Trevor pretended his finger was a bee. “Look out! I’m going to get you!” He tickled Baby Nathan’s stomach. Nathan shrieked and giggled.
Trevor crawled over to the big diaper bag. He looked inside. He pulled out a funny red rubber dog-bone-looking thing with bumpy places all over it. He held it out to the baby. “Ee-eee-ee!” Baby Nathan shouted. He grabbed the toy and started to chew on it.
It didn’t seem long at all until the door bell rang once again. Mom hurried to answer it. Trevor looked up. That couldn’t be Mrs. Cannon already, could it?
It was. “Was he any trouble?” Mrs. Cannon asked anxiously.
Baby Nathan heard his mother’s voice. He gurgled happily and crawled toward her, drooling on the carpet all the way.
Trevor scrambled to his feet. “He’s a really strong baby!” he exclaimed. “And he sure talks a lot!”
Mom wrapped her arm around Trevor’s neck and pulled him close to her. “Strong and talkative?” she asked. “It sounds as if he’ll be just like you when he grows up!” she teased.
“Can I pay you something for watching Nathan?” Mrs. Cannon asked Trevor. She began to open her purse.
“No. That’s OK. I had fun playing with him,” Trevor said.
Mrs. Cannon raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure?” she asked.
Trevor nodded. He looked at Mom. “I don’t think Dorcas took money for helping people, did she?”
Mom smiled. “I think you learned a lot from your Sabbath School lesson this week,” she said.
