One day, in the house of the Casagrandes, Bobby Santiago receives a phone call from an unknown number. Curious as to who might be wanting to talk to him, he presses the "Answer" button and puts his phone up to his ear.

"Hola, Roberto Santiago of the Casagrande Bodega, at your service! How may I help you?" Bobby answered with the cheerful tone that his uncle Hector taught him.

"Hello there, sir. I...um...this is actually kind of embarrassing but...we actually have a favor to ask of you." The person on the other line said. Bobby seemed confused by this and inquired further: "Sure thing! Would you like to try our special 2% milk? Freshly milked by the finest cows in-"

"No no. We aren't looking to go shopping, young man. We...actually would like to ask if you would look after our daughter."

Bobby was now even more confused. Why would any stranger want to pick him to look after anyone? "Really? Why would you want me to babysitter your hija?"

"Well, my baby girl's friend's sister referred us to you saying stuff like 'Oh, Bobby boo boo bear is *sooo* mature and responsible! He'll take on any job and never let you down with his dependable spirit and strong, handsome physique. Oohhhh, he's so dreamy!' Erm...her words not mine. I think her name was...Lori? In any case, would you be willing to take the job?" The person inquired. But he hardly received a reply as Bobby himself was simply too awestruck in her infatuation with his beloved to think straight.

"Oh, babe! You really meant that?" Bobby shuddered dreamily before holding his hands to his heart. He simply couldn't believe his ears.

"Uh...sir?"

Her beautiful girlfriend actually handpicked *him* to be the brave and strong soldier to look after a little girl.

"Are you still there?"

Bobby felt his heart sore as he began to think of taking on an entire mountain with nothing but his-

"BOBBY!"

The preteen Latino was then snapped back to reality as he realized that he still needed to answer his caller. "Oh! Sorry about that mister! Of course I'll help look after your daughter. But may I ask what your name is?"

"Oh. Please excuse me. I'm Mr. Homendollar and my daughter's name is Darcy. She is just so precious and innocent; you are going to just adore her!"

"Well, then I look forward to it!" Bobby announced as he puffed his chest and pounded to assert how ready he truly was.

"Oh thank you so much!"

About two hours after the call, Roberto found himself standing outside of his appartment building and out onto the noisy street when he spots a white CrossTrek SUV drive up right next to him. The back door swung open and a cute little girl hopped out of the car.

"Hi there, mister! Are you gonna be my babysitter?" The little girl said while jumping in place.

Bobby then answered back: "Depends. Is your name Darcy?"

"Yep! That's me!" Darcy said before the window of the front doors lowered revealing the faces of her parents.

"Thank you again for this, Roberto! We'll be back in around five hours after our appointments." Mr. Homendollar said as he shifted the car back into drive while Darcy's mother looked back at her daughter one last time. "Take care of yourself and don't run off into trouble!" And with that line, they drove off down the road.

"Oh boy! I can't wait for the day I'm gonna have with you Rob!" Darcy exclaimed with unbridled enthusiasm.

"Uh...it's actually 'Bobby', but I'm excited too mija! So what should we do first?" Bobby replied before realizing something that was critically missing from the equation.

He didn't have so much of a plan as to what exactly what he planned to do with little Darcy. All Bobby could think to do was stammer on the spot and think on the seat of his pants. "How about we go to the park?"

"Woow...I've always wondered what a park in a huge city would be like!" Darcy giggled before heading off to the right of the Bodega.

'*phew* Good save.' Bobby thought to himself before he realized that Darcy was running off to the opposite direction the park was in. Quaking at the thought of failing his mission before it even began, Bobby ran off after her while screaming: "W-wait! Darcy, not that way!"

Ten minutes later, Bobby and Darcy were holding each other's hands as they entered the park right smack dab in the middle of the city. Both of them closed their eyes as they took in the scenery and fresh air of the lush green field that lied before them.

"Aahhhh, this sure beats the musky smell of the store" Bobby thought out loud before turning to Darcy. "All right, do you have any idea of what you'd like to do here?"

Darcy then scanned the vicinity around her, looking for something fun to do. That was when she spotted something that was rather unexpected for a little girl to enjoy. "Ooh ooooh! Let's go to the basketball courts" Darcy cried as she looked as if she was raring to go posthaste. But Bobby seemed pretty hesitant on the idea as he replied back: "Basketball? Darcy, I dunno if-" But before he could even think about refusing her request, Darcy was already zooming off towards her destination as Bobby mentally slapped himself for letting her go free again.

Deciding not to throw himself a pity party just yet, Bobby gave chase to her posthaste as he witnessed Darcy about to get in the middle of a game that two adult men were having.

Bobby's eyes shrank in fear as he desperately cried out: "Darcy! NO! Get away from them!" That was when the unpredictable happened; that was when Darcy zoomed right in between the players' legs, swiped the ball right out from under them, and ran towards one of the nets. However, when she attempted to shoot the ball, her little arms could do no more than launch it a foot off the ground.

The players then looked at the little girl as Darcy made a little bit of a whimper at the thought that she failed to get the ball through the net.

"Hey, what gives, man?!" The first player said to Darcy while sporting an angry look on his face. "I was about to school this fool before you showed up!"

Darcy then looked back to see the face of an angry man looking down upon her. She quivered in her sneakers as she shakenly replied: "I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-sorry, sir. I-I just couldn't help myself."

Bobby then sprang right in between them as she grabbed Darcy close to his chest while hooking her legs and chest within his arms. "I'll take it from here, bros." Bobby stated with authority at the two players as they stepped back a tiny bit while the first one still looked pretty cross. "Mija, that was not appropriate to do! You should know better than to just run up to strangers and interrupt their game like that! Now you say you're sorry."

Darcy, while still being carried by Bobby, looked at the two players before her and said: "I'm sorry, sirs. I only wanted to play some basketball. Can you ever forgive me?"

At first, the player she stole the ball from wouldn't have thought to forgive her so easily. But then moment he looked into the puppy dog eyes of the remorseful girl, he simply couldn't help himself. "A'ight, man. Just this once I'll let it slide. But don't you go messin' with our business, ya hear?" Darcy nodded rapidly in response as she clung onto to Bobby tighter as the Hispanic stud walked away from the courts.

"Man, that girl was seriously swift. Hmm...maybe I shoulda told her that..." Player one said as his compadre went up to him and slapped his shoulder while laughing: "Yeah, and also how she just wasted you there!" All the first player could do was glare at him in disdain.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Darcy were back to walking hand in hand in awkward silence, neither daring to break the ice after what had happened. Eventually, Bobby was the one to say the next word: "Darcy, you know I'm pretty disappointed in you, right?" Darcy's sorrowfully nodded while still gripping onto Bobby's hand. "Did you even realize what could've happened to you?"

The last line in particular piqued Darcy attention as he turned towards her babysitter. "Wh-what?"

"You could've been hurt by those guys! Then what would I have done?!" Bobby replied to her query in a stern manner, causing Darcy to start tearing up as Bobby looked down at her and staring feeling bad himself. "Aw, come on. Don't be like that..." Bobby said as thought for some way to lighten up the mood. That was when he spotted an ice cream cart roll straight towards them, and the adolescent immediately thought of an idea.

"Hey, Darcy! If you promise to be a good girl from now on, *I've got a little treat for you*." Bobby told his companion while adding a sing song voice on his last phrase and nudging towards the cart chock full of frozen treats.

Darcy looked up from her sorrows and her heart immediately soared with excitement once again as she jumped up and down with the same joy as when she first arrived. "Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Darcy repeated over and over at the thought of getting some delectable frozen dairy.

Bobby smiled in pride as he hoisted little Darcy onto his shoulders in a piggy back fashion and shoted with pride: "Then it is settled. Away we goooo!" The two then sped off straight towards their target, hungry for frozen happiness.

It took almost all of Bobby's spare change to pay for the ice cream, but the young man and his companion found themselves sitting on a park bench, eating away at their treats. Bobby looked at Darcy and said in pride: "So how's the ice cream, Darcy? You feeling much better now?" Needless to say, Darcy immediately said: "Yeah! This ice cream is soooo goood!"

Bobby sighed in content as he thought of a few more, family friendly actuvity they could do together when an idea came to him.

"Hey, Darcy." Bobby said to Darcy in order to grab her attention. "I know that basketball isn't really the best thing for a little girl like you. But how about we try some hide and seek!"

Darcy almost dropped her ice cream as she gasped in excitement. "That sounds great! Can we do it now?! Can we?! Can we?!"

Bobby laughed a little to himself before replying: "Sure can, mija! Now you just gotta close your eyes for 50 seconds while I go and hide somewhere. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Darcy replied before hastily finishing up her ice cream, cone and all, before covering eyes with her hands. "One...two...three..."

Bobby then made like a tree and left as he scoured the area for a place to hide. Eventually, he thought to hide behind the trunk of a large and bushy tree as his time had run out.

"Ready or not, here I come" Darcy yelled out as she eagerly jumped off the bench and searched every nook and cranny of the area in order to find her temporary guardian. She kept searching and searching for five straight minutes while Bobby was snickering to himself while keeping a close eye on his predator.

"I'm not over there Darcy! Ya gotta come this way," Bobby quietly laughed as he closed his eyes for the briefest of moments to chuckle a little to himself. But the moment he opened his eyes again, she was gone!

Bobby internally screamed as he'd lost sight of Darcy once again. His mind then began to explode with numerous different questions. How would he be able to explain that he lost a defenseless little girl? What would his girlfriend think of him now that he messed up this badly? Would she break up with him? Would she not want to go to the same college as him? Would-

"Hi!" A voice rang from behind him as Bobby jumped in surprised and turned around to see Darcy standing right there behind him. "Haha, I found you!" Darcy laughed as she ran up to Bobby and pulled his legs into a tight embrace. Bobby felt his heart melt to goo as he picked up little Darcy and cradled her in his arms.

In the middle of his cuddle fest with Darcy, Bobby heard a heard a soft yawn come from his precious cargo, and Darcy began to slowly close her eyes and fall into a deep slumber. That was when Bobby's wrist watch began to ring, indication that it was time to go home and let Darcy be picked up by her parents. With no time to waste, Bobby held onto Darcy tight as he made haste back to the Bodega and stood in front of his humble abode once more.

Once there, however, he felt a tiny pair of hands grab onto his shirt as he looked down to see Darcy clinging onto him and quietly whisper: "I love you, Bobby..." All Bobby could think to do now was just let his ego skyrocket through the roof. Here he was, defending a small girl from the clutches of the cold, cruel universe. And now, the little life he looked after was now dreaming about him as he watched her, and the thought of that completely warmed Bobby's heart.

Before he could think too deeply upon that line of thought, the SUV returned as the front window lowered yet again to reveal the proud parents of Darcy.

"Oh, my baby girl! You're back!" Mrs. Homendollar exclaimed as Bobby handed Darcy over to her. Her husband then looked over her shoulder as he gave a big smile and said: "Bobby, words cannot describe how grateful we are to you. We are truly in your debt."

Bobby blushed in response. "Aw, it was nothing, sir. I was just doing my job as a babysitter."

The father simply laughed at the preteen's humility when a thought came to his mind. "Actually, if this isn't any trouble towards you, do you think that you could possibly be willing to look after her again sometime. We might have to come back here in a few months and we need someone to look after our baby girl again."

In response to this, Bobby simply looked at Darcy once more, sleeping idly in her mother's arms, as he proudly replied: "Yeah...I think I can do that."