IN THE CLOSET
Disclaimer: The Mummy and The Mummy Returns belong to Stephen Sommers, and to Universal Studios. I own nothing but my idea for this story, and maybe not even that.
It was a weekend, and no one seemed to notice that there was a little boy wanting attention. Alex’s parents were going out for the evening, and Jonathan was also going out, which meant that he had to stay with a baby-sitter, a new one, and he was not happy about that.
In their room, Rick and Evelyn were getting ready for the evening at hand. Evelyn had just stepped into the bath, and Rick was standing in front of the mirror trying to get his tie straight. He loved going out with his wife, but the one thing he hated about it was trying to get his tie fixed straight. “Hell this isn’t worth it,” he mumbled, not knowing that Alex was standing at his door.
“Daddy you said a naughty word,” Alex announced.
Rick closed his eyes and took the tie off, deciding instead of getting in a bad mood, because he couldn’t get it on, he would let Evie take care of that part. “Your right pal, I did, and I need to watch what I say don’t I?” Rick asked as he knelt down.
A smile spread across the little boys face, and he ran into his father’s waiting arms. He was already dressed for bed, in long cotton pajama pants, light weight since it was summer, and a short sleeved button down pajama shirt. “Daddy I don’t want a new sitter. I’m not going to be nice at all when she comes here,” he said as he pulled away.
Those words were not surprising, new sitters never lasted with Alex, and Elaina was the only one who had ever been able to handle him. “Will you be good for me? If your good, I promise we will go out tomorrow and get a new toy,” Rick said, hoping that bribe would work.
Alex seemed to consider that offer. “But I don’t like baby-sitters, less its my Laina,” he said standing up. He ran over to where Rick’s boots where and sat down slipping them on, then stood up. “I’m like you now daddy,” he said.
Rick was about to comment on that when the bathroom door opened, and Evie walked out wearing a full length creme colored slip. Her skin was still rosy from the hot bath she had taken, and all of Rick’s attention was focused on her.
Feeling left out as his parents began to kiss, Alex walked out of their room and went downstairs to see what he could find to do.
~*~
Promptly at ten minutes till 6pm, there was a knock at the front door. Alex and Rick had been making a tower with his blocks and continued to do that as Evelyn, who was dressed in a long flowing black evening gown, went to get the door. When she opened it she found an older woman standing there. “Are you Miss Simons?” Evelyn asked.
The woman nodded her head. “I have references,” she said and gave Evelyn her papers.
Since Elaina had gotten sick, and Jonathan wasn’t available, Evelyn had called a Nanny agency, and now they had their sitter. “Well Miss Simons, these references look very impressive,” Evie said as she handed them back to her, hoping that she would survive her son. She led their sitter down the hall, and into the Parlor where they found Rick laying on his back while Alex sat on his tummy.
Alex was wrestling with his daddy, a game he loved. “I got you now,” he said, then laughed as Rick tossed him in the air.
Evie shook her head. “Rick, Alex, this is Miss Simons,” Evelyn said.
Rick got up, and went to the couch getting his coat, while Alex looked over his sitter, then all at once he had attached himself to Evie’s legs. “No Mummy don’t go,” he said. Something about his new sitter made him worry. Perhaps it was that she wasn’t the type to put up with his antics, and Alex hated not getting his way in things.
Evelyn knelt down and hugged him close. “I’m sure if you mind your manners, and do as your told, then you and Miss Simons will get along wonderfully,” Evie said, trying to reassure him.
Sensing that the little boy was worried, and though she was strict, Lydia Simons also loved caring for children, and softened. “Alex do you have books you like to read?” she asked.
It was inevitable that his parents were going to leave him, so Alex resigned himself to that fate, and went with his new sitter to find a book.
Once the two of them were upstairs, Rick took his wife’s hand and the two of them headed out to his car to start their date, feeling that they would actually have a nice evening, with Miss Simons around.
~*~
Reading stories was the only good part about Alex’s evening. He got to play for about an hour after his parents left, then the evil witch told him it was time for bed, and Alex fought that with all he had.
Now he was in bed pouting because Miss Simons had yelled at him, something his parents only did, and he didn’t like that someone else had. “I’m not going to stay in my bed,” he said to himself, and defiantly he got out, going to the door of his room. When he opened it the bad witch was standing there.
Lydia had dealt with little boys like Alex before, and had known he wouldn’t stay in his bed. “You better get back in your bed,” she said with her arms folded over her chest.
Bravely Alex stood his ground. “I will not go back to bed and you can’t make me,” he said, then he turned and ran to his closet going in. He tried to shut the door, but she was too fast and grabbed him by the arm. Suddenly Alex pulled away and got out of the closet, shutting the door, and locked it tight.
The click from the lock got Lydia’s attention fast. “Alex please unlock the door,” she said, trying to keep calm. She found the string to the light and pulled it, and found a crate to sit on, having a feeling that Alex was not going to let her out.
A big smile spread across his face. “I have you trapped now you mean old witch, and I’m not going to let you out. I’m going to get a Wizard and tell him to cast you to the furthest reaches of Hell,” he said, then ran out of his room realizing he had the whole house to himself.
~*~
The kitchen was his first stop, and Alex took a chair from the round oak, kitchen table and pulled it over to the counter. Marie had made a triple layer chocolate cake, and Alex had wanted a piece of it all day, but his mum had said it was for a party. Now alone, Alex had his chance and took it. He crawled up on the counter and sat down then pulled the cover off of the cake holder and eyed the cake. Without any hesitation he reached his hand out and grabbed a huge hunk of it stuffing it into his mouth.
“MMMM good,” he said around the cake. When he finished off the first big bite, he went for another, then another, until the cake was practically gone. Now he was thirsty, so the messy little boy got off the counter, leaving a trail of cake crumbs all over the floor as he went to the Refrigerator. He opened the door and reached up, easily taking down the glass bottle of milk, then sat down on the floor. It took some doing, but Alex finally got the cork out and drank straight from the bottle. He finished off what was left of the milk and ran out of the kitchen leaving the door to the refrigerator standing wide open.
~*~
It was very late when Rick and Evelyn arrived home, both oblivious that their sitter had been locked in a closet for six hours. As he stopped the car, both of them stayed where they were. Rick held Evelyn in his arms and began to kiss her neck again. “God do you know how beautiful you are?” he asked as he breathed in the sweet smell of her hair.
All night Rick had been telling her that, and Evie smiled, reveling in the warmth of his love. “I feel beautiful,” she whispered then turned her head to kiss him, when he pulled away. “Rick?”
Just as he had been about to receive her kiss, he saw his son run across the front lawn and disappear around the house. “Evie Alex is outside,” he said getting a sinking feeling in his heart.
Both of them got out of the car, and split up, one of them going on one side of the house, and the other of them going on the other side.
~*~
All night Alex had played, and now that it was time to sleep, he had found a pretty white lace blanket with which to build a tent. In the back of their house, he had managed to drape the blanket over two sticks he had pushed into the ground, and had just gotten his teddy tucked into bed. “Shh teddy it’s time to sleep,” he said. Alex was a mess to behold. The chocolate cake was still all over his face and front, and his hands were sticky and had fuzz all over them from different things he had picked up. It was his mothers voice that got his attention.
When she had arrived around the back of the house, and found her mother’s tablecloth torn and put over two poles her happy thoughts left her. “Alexander Jonathan O’Connell you come out here this instant,” she said.
Quickly he did as he was told crawling out in time for dad to see him as well. Unlike Evie, Rick was having a difficult time not laughing at finding their son a mess, then he noticed that the sitter wasn’t around. “Hey big guy where is Miss Simons?” Rick asked, still amused.
Suddenly Alex knew he was in very, very, big trouble and looked down at his feet. “She’s a mean witch so I left her in my closet,” he said.
The color drained from Rick’s face, and he ran as fast as he could into the house followed by Evelyn. When they got to Alex’s room and opened the door Miss Simons was sitting on a crate reading a book. “Oh god I’m so sorry, he will be punished,” Rick said.
Angry that parents would let a child push them around so, she spoke her mind. “You should take a switch to his legs,” she said putting the book down. “That child will grow up thinking he can get away with murder,” she added then she pushed past both of them and left without a word.
Both Evie and Rick looked at one another, then at the door which their sitter had just left. “I guess we need to find him and get him cleaned up,” Rick said.
“EVIE RICK,” Jonathan yelled. His yell brought them quickly. “Someone broke into the kitchen,” he said as he led them to that area of the house. When they walked in they found the refrigerator door open and on the front, dirty hand prints.
Evie found her cake ruined, and that topped off her night. “Wait until I find him,” she said as she stormed out.
Jonathan looked at Rick, both shocked because Evie usually didn’t punish him past putting him in time out, and from the tone of her voice, both guessed Alex was in for a rude awakening.
After surveying the scene, Rick enlisted Jonathan’s help and though it took almost an hour the two of them got the kitchen clean, and threw out the food that had gone bad. Once they had cleaned the kitchen, Rick headed upstairs to see if Alex and Evie were all right. He walked into their son’s room and found Alex asleep on his bed, all clean, and Evie sitting next to his bed with her face against her knees. “Hey,” he said as he walked to her and knelt down.
When she had found her son, after chasing him down, she had spanked him, and had cried with him. After that she had brought him upstairs and gotten him clean then rocked him to sleep, both of them needing the cuddle time. Now she felt like the worst parent in the world. “Rick I hit my baby,” she said looking up at him.
Knowing how it felt when he had spanked his son, Rick took her hands and stood her up then held her. “Evie, I think he will know not to lock any more sitters in his closet. Sometimes he does things that has to be dealt with stronger than a time out,” he said trying to comfort her.
Evie knew he was right, but it had broken her heart when Alex had cried, and asked her to stop. She had given him four swats to the bottom, but it had seemed like more. “We are good parents aren’t we?” she asked having doubts.
Rick left her side for only a moment to kiss his little boy, then he led her to their room. When they arrived he closed the door then lifted her into his arms. “Evie we are human, and even the best parents make mistakes, though spanking him was what I would have done had you not done that. Maybe we need to be more strict with him, but the point is we are still learning, and I think he is turning out to be a good boy. What that sitter said was a load of, well you know what I want to say,” he said as he laid her ont their bed then moved to lay beside her.
The sitters words had hurt, and put doubt in her heart, but her husbands words were the ones she believed and now in his arms she began to relax. “I think...” Before she could finish their door opened and a sad faced little boy walked in.
“Mummy,” he said as he sniffed, and a little tear rolled down his cheek. “I’m sorry I was a bad boy,” he finished, then walked to their bed.
Evelyn lifted him up and laid him in between she and Rick. “Alex your not a bad boy, and don’t you think that. What you did was very naughty, and you knew better than to do that didn’t you?” Evie asked.
He nodded and snuggled closer to her.
Tired, and ready to sleep and put the night behind them, Evie sang softly, stroking her hand over his soft cheek. Alex’s eyes grew heavy and in a few minutes they shut, and he was asleep.
While she sang, Rick watched her, feeling his heart tug. Evelyn was a good mother to their son, and he had no doubts in his mind that Alex knew he was loved, even the times that they punished him. Once both his wife and son slept, Rick snuggled close to them, and shut his eyes taking in a deep breath and letting it out. This was the life he loved. Other men could have all the cold and silver in the world, but none of that could compare to the love he felt for the two people he held in his arms.