One Thing Leads To Another

“CARMEN!” Carmen rushed to get out of her chair and ran to the little girl she was babysitting; who was sitting on her swing.

“What’s wrong, Emilia?” But the second she finished her sentence, Carmen realized the problem. Emilia was licking a red popsicle that was now melting and dripping on Emilia’s white shirt.

“Carmen, it’s STICKY!” Emilia was starting to cry, but Carmen immediately wiped the tears away. 

“Let’s go inside and get you changed, okay? You can wear your unicorn outfit. Come on.” Carmen took the popsicle stick from Emilia, then picked Emilia up and put her on her hip.

“Thanks, Carmen.” Emilia put her head on Carmen’s shoulder and Carmen sighed. This was why she loved babysitting. The kids loved her just as much as she loved them.

Carmen carried Emilia into the bathroom and sat her down on the counter. While reaching under the sink for the stain cleaner, Carmen listened to Emilia talk about how much she loved unicorns.

“They’re super pretty, and their horns are like magical wands. Right? And then they have special powers, and all of that.” Emilia rambled on and on as Carmen took her shirt off and sprayed it.

“Alright, let’s go change into your unicorn outfit.” Emilia grabbed Carmen’s hand as she jumped down from the counter and ran into her bedroom.

“Carmen! I can’t reach my outfit! It’s way at the tippity top!” Carmen laughed as she walked into Emilia’s bedroom and grabbed her unicorn outfit off of the top shelf in her closet.

“Here you go, Em. Do you want help putting it on or do you want to putit on yourself?” Emilia answered the question by immediately putting the shirt on. Carmen laughed again and went into the kitchen.

“Hey, Emilia? Since you didn’t get to finish your popsicle, I’ll take you out for ice cream. Okay?” Carmen grabbed her wallet and car keys.

“Okay! One minute!” Carmen walked into the mud room and quickly put her sneakers on.

“I’m ready! Let’s go!” Emilia bounced into the mud room and was about to walk out the door when Carmen grabbed her arm.

“Shoes first.” With a sigh, Emilia sat down on the tiled floor with a thump! and put her white sandals on.

“Now I’m ready. Let’s go, Carmen!” Carmen opened the screen door and Emilia ran outside with Carmen following her (after she locked the door).

“Get in your car seat, please.” Emilia jumped into the back of the minivan and got into her car seat, buckling it by herself.

“Let’s go already!” Carmen looked at Emilia and raised her eyebrows; Emilia shut her mouth.

“Can we sing along to Frozen 2 songs, puh-leeeeeezzzeee?” Emilia put her hands together and looked at Carmen with her bottom lip out. 

“Yeah, sure.” After changing the radio to connect to her phone, Carmen played Frozen 2 songs for Emilia.

“Where the north wind meets the seeeaaaa! There’s a river full of memory! Sleep, my darling, safe and sound! For in this river all is found!” Emilia sang along to every song that Carmen played for her, all the way to the ice cream shop.

“Are you ready for some ice cream?!”

---

Licking her ice cream cone, Emilia still sang along to the Disney songs.

“Hakuna matata! What a wonderful phrase! Hakuna matata! Ain’t no passing craze!” Carmen sang the next line, and they went back and forth. Soon, they were back at Emilia’s house, and were in the turning lane, ready to turn into the driveway.Carmen looked up and down the road multiple times, and only when she thought the coast was clear that she went to turn.

BAM!

Everything went black for Carmen.

---

“If we let her off of the oxygen tank, she won’t be able to breathe. At this point, she’s not able to breathe on her own. It’s your choice.” Emilia pressed her ear up to the door and listened to what the doctors were telling Carmen’s (and her own) parents. Emilia didn’t know what any of those big words meant; but she knew they were bad.

Emilia rushed back to her chair and sat down as the door started to open. Her mother and father came out. Her father came to her and kneeled in front of her.

“Now listen to me when I say this, okay? None of this was your fault. As you get older, you might think so. But none of it was. Carmen is going to go meet God up in Heaven, okay? She may not be here with us, but she will be happy up there, okay? Just like when Grammie went up there. Okay?” Emilia started crying, but nodded. Her father enveloped her in his arms and she sobbed into his shoulder.

---

Emilia followed her mother and father into the church building, all the way to their seats in the third row. She sat down in between her parents, and leaned on her mother's shoulder. Her father rubbed her back as they waited for the pastor to come in to speak. It was only minutes after they sat down that he came in and stood in the front of the room.

"Thank you all for being here today. We are here to comfort friends and family of this beautiful young woman. She was strong, and the best babysitter that every child could ask for.

"For her parents, she was the best daughter they could ask for. For her brother, she was the best person to mess around with. For her friends, she was the one they could come to with anything. For her family, she always had a place in each of their hearts." The pastor continued, but Emilia didn't hear it. All she heard was her mother sniffling, and her own quiet sobs.

3 Years Later…

“So, do you want to go out for ice cream or somethin’?” Emilia was getting “babysat” by her older second cousin, Carly. It was more of them just hanging out.

“I’ve told you, Carly. The last time I went out with a babysitter for ice cream, she got killed. I’m not chancing it. I haven’t left the house with a babysitter since. I don’t intend to change that.” Carly knew about everything, so she knew where Emilia was coming from.

“I’ll drive on the back roads, and go slow. We’ll be fine. I’ll triple-check the roads every time I come to an intersection, and we’ll be okay.” Carly put her hands on her hips, but Emilia still shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Carly. It’s not happening.”

---

Emilia walked up and down the rows of dogs, looking for one that caught her eye. So far, none of them were too exciting. Adorable, but nothing out of the ordinary.

She was in the last row, almost giving up when she got to the last cage. The dog was adorable; a black labrador puppy. At first Emilia thought that she was just a normal puppy, but then she looked at the little card that explained what breed the dog was, her age, and her name. 

Carmen.

Once Emilia read that name, she knew that was the dog for her. She was getting Carmen back; even if it wasn’t in the way she expected.