When Lara’s six-year-old son calls her in the middle of the day, whispering that he’s afraid, she races home, only to find their babysitter unconscious and her past clawing its way back. As panic rises, Lara must confront the one memory she’s tried to bury: the day she and Ben found his father dead.
You don’t expect your world to tilt at 2:25 P.M. on a Friday afternoon. You expect emails. Maybe a vending machine coffee. But not your six-year-old son’s voice, whispering fear into your ear like it’s the only thing holding him together.
I’m Lara, 30, a single mom trying to keep it all together, full-time job, full-time chaos, like I’m carrying a tray of glass that’s always on the verge of tipping.
My son, Ben, is the center of my entire universe. He’s the kind of boy who doesn’t just feel his own emotions, he absorbs everyone else’s too. He’s soft-hearted, wide-eyed, and the type to bring home worms in his pockets because he didn’t want them to be lonely in the rain.
Ruby, our babysitter, is 21. She’s gentle, with a kind of calm that made Ben feel safe instantly.
She’d become a part of our rhythm. She was careful with him. Attentive. Generous. Loving beyond anything. She even remembered which dinosaur phase he was in. Right now it was Allosaurus.
Ruby was my go-to. If anything came up with work, Ruby was the first person I’d call. I had no reason to doubt her.
No Caller ID. A missed call. Then another.
I was reaching for my coffee when my phone lit up again, and something made me answer.
“Mommy?” Ben’s voice was so faint I barely caught it.
My whole body went rigid.
“Ben? What’s wrong?”
There was breathing. And something else. Silence, stretched too long.
“I’m afraid,” he whispered. His voice cracked in the middle like something had split inside him.
“Where’s Ruby, baby? What’s she doing?”
“I don’t know… she was standing, and then… she wasn’t.”
My heart plummeted and my hands shook. I put the call on speaker.
“What do you mean? Is she hurt?”
“I think so. She fell. I tried to help but she won’t wake up.”
Oh, good Lord.
“Where are you right now, baby?”
“I’m hiding in the closet. I didn’t know what else to do. The glass of water spilled from her hand, and she didn’t move. Her eyes were open, but not like normal.”
“Ben, stay where you are. I’m coming right now, okay? You’re not alone. Just hold on.”
I didn’t log off. I didn’t tell my boss. I just grabbed my bag and ran. Every light turned red. Every second stretched too long. I drove like I could bend time if I pushed the gas hard enough.
When I pulled into our street, everything looked… still.
Door locked. Curtains drawn, which wasn’t new. It’s what Ruby and Ben did when they wanted to watch something.
For a moment, the world felt… different.
I burst through the front door.
“Ben?! It’s Mommy!”
Silence.
I tried again, louder, completely forgetting that he’d said he was in a closet. Panic crawled up my throat.
Then I heard it. Faint. Croaking.
“In the closet…”
I found him curled up in the hallway closet, hugging his stuffed dinosaur like it was the only solid thing left. His knees were pulled to his chest. His little fingers trembled. I dropped to the floor and wrapped him in my arms.
“I didn’t know what to do,” he said, voice muffled in my shoulder. “I tried to help her.”
“You did everything right,” I whispered, brushing his hair back, trying not to fall apart.
He smelled like sweat and fear and that earthy little-boy scent that always reminded me of playdough and crayons. His body was shaking. But he hadn’t cried.
Not then. Not yet.
“Where is she, baby?”
He pointed me toward the living room. And everything in me shifted.
I stood, heart pounding in my throat, and moved slowly, like one wrong step might wake a nightmare.
Then I saw her.
Ruby.
Why hadn’t I called for an ambulance? In my rush to get home to Ben, I had completely forgotten about that. Now, I felt useless.
She was collapsed on her side, one arm twisted beneath her, the other flopped against the carpet like it didn’t belong to her. Her eyes were shut, but her mouth was slightly open, like she’d been trying to say something.
Read More Full AITA Story: https://thecelebritist.com/i-left-my-son-at-home-with-a-babysitter
