"Will it just be the two items, Mr. Sinclair?" asked the Ace Hardware clerk.
"Yes, that's all," he responded.
"That will be three dollars and twenty five cents," the clerk replied.
Mr. Sinclair paid with exact change and the clerk put the items in a bag with the receipt.
As Mr. Sinclair left the store, he started thinking.
Mr. Sinclair.
That's the only name that people actually called him anymore, except for his wife. Even she rarely called him by his actual name. It's usually Honey or Sweetie, unless they were arguing and, since she was always right, they didn't argue much.
Now that he was a manager at work, all of the people reporting to him called him Mr. Sinclair, and his bosses usually just called him Sinclair. He and Chief Hopper would also address each other by their last names, recalling their military days.
It was a big responsibility being Mr. Sinclair, especially to all of the kids in his life.
He didn't realize when they had Lucas that he would not only have a son, but he would also be involved with all of his friends, since they spent so much time together. At first, it was just Will, Mike, and Dustin. A year ago, to his surprise, Max joined the 'Party' and then a few months ago, Jane, Hopper's adopted daughter, started showing up at his house.
He knew that, other than Mike, the rest of the kids came from single parent families or, for Max, a blended family. In Mike's case, Ted Wheeler was so uninvolved that he might as well be from a single parent family. It was very important for Mr. Sinclair that the kids could see a family that had a father and mother that loved each other and worked together to raise their children.
When the kids had dinner at their house, he tried his best to be there and ask each of them how their day had been and what was going on in their lives. He always helped his wife do the dishes and clean up the kitchen afterwards. When the weather was nice, he would fire up the grill and cook hamburgers and hot dogs.
He made sure that the kids saw that he and Mrs. Sinclair did things together like watching television or just talking to each other. He would join the kids in their games, if they asked, without a grumble. They also saw him reading stories, playing with dolls, or having a tea party with Erica.
He would find out what each kid's favorite snack was and make sure they always had some on hand. For Dustin, there were always Three Musketeers, and now that Jane had joined the party, Eggo's were in the freezer.
When the girls started to come over for sleepovers, he found a nice used sleeper sofa to put in the basement. The girls could sleep on it and the boys on the floor. That way, the rest of the party's parents wouldn't worry about any "funny business" going on.
It seemed like he would hear his name, Mr. Sinclair, hundreds of times whenever the party visited. They were always asking questions, asking permission, thanking him for something, saying goodnight, or saying goodbye.
He had a special soft spot for Max, not just because she was Lucas' girlfriend. He liked her spirit and sassiness. She was funny, fiercely loyal, and smart as a whip; all things that reminded him of Mrs. Sinclair when they met in high school.
He was also worried about her more than the others. She was skittish around loud noises and he could tell that she was in pain sometimes. She would never admit that anything was wrong when he asked. Erica, who loved her like a sister, once asked him why Max had bruises on her arm that looked like fingers. She always seemed to have long sleeves on whenever he saw her, but Erica must have seen her when she was changing into pajamas.
He noticed that sometimes the sofa in the basement looked like it had been slept in when the kids had not been over for a sleepover. He also found some footprints on the roof by Lucas' window when he was cleaning the gutters.
When Mr. Sinclair saw Max at the dinner table the evening after he visited the hardware store, he asked if he could see her for a few minutes in his office. She looked nervous, but nodded that she would.
After dinner and finishing up the dishes, he and Max went to his office and he closed the door. On the desk was the Ace Hardware bag. They sat down across from each other.
"Max, I have something for you," he said, sliding the bag across the desk to her.
She opened the bag and found a key and a keychain.
"That key will work on any of the doors in this house, including the basement door. The shingles are hard on your jeans and Lucas' window is a little small to be used as a door. There are always fresh sheets for the sofa bed and towels in the basement bathroom. Also, whenever you are here, please join us for breakfast. I'm sure we always have some extra bacon, eggs, and cinnamon toast, which I believe, is your favorite.
She looked at him horrified at first, then relieved, and then her eyes began to tear up. She got up and ran over to him and hugged him as tightly as she could.
"Thank you so much Mr. Sinclair!"
He hugged her back just as tightly, his eyes tearing up as well.
Being Mr. Sinclair was a lot of responsibility, but it was worth it.