The drive to the daycare was the most painful 20 minutes of Beca's life. She knew she needed to have someone watch Skylar, but a part of her wasn't ready to part with her with some stranger. After all, Sky was all she had now. Skylar on the other hand was excited. She never stopped babbling about how she and Bella were going play and color all day long.

Beca sat nervously in the parking lot of the Daycare. She glanced at the clock which read 12:55pm, and glanced in her rearview mirror to look at her now silent, curly headed brunette,

"Alright girly, are you ready to go meet some new friends?"

Skylar shrugged back into her seat and eyes began to swell. Reality had struck in for her and like any other child about to be separated from her mother, she cried. Beca had expected this so she calmly removed the girl from the car and calmed her down before proceeding in.

The duo made it inside and were greeted by a young woman at the front desk. Her nameplate on the counter read 'Jessica'. The blonde had a smile that lit up the entire room,

"How may I help you?" She spoke energetically.

"Hi, yes I am Beca Mitchell and this is miss Skylar Jade. We are here to meet with Aubrey."

The blonde smiled, "Oh yes, Ms. Posen is expecting you, I'll let her know you're here." As Jessica stood to find Aubrey, the entrance door had opened and in walked Aubrey with an arm load of mail.

Jessica smiled her at her boss before receiving the mail from her, "Ms. Posen, Beca Mitchell and her daughter Skylar are here." She said motioning to the brunettes.

Aubrey turned to greet them and Beca froze taking in the pure sight of this woman, Stacie was right, she was a gift from god.

"Well hello! I'm so sorry it's been a crazy morning, I'm Aubrey and welcome to Little Duckling's Daycare. I'm so glad you came." Aubrey announced enthusiastically. "You must be Beca Mitchell and that must make you Skylar." Aubrey said bending down to Skylar's level. Skylar just latched onto Beca's leg and tried to hide.

Beca still hasn't moved. How could she? Aubrey had her brain functions all screwed up. The only thing that got her back on track was the added weight of Skylar latching onto her leg with a death grip,

"I'm sorry! Yes, I am Beca and this little monster is Sky." Beca finally said dragging her occupied leg forward revealing Skylar again.

Aubrey found these two to be quite the pair. Skylar was adorable, and her mother was intriguing Aubrey more and more.

"If you two ladies are ready? I'll show you around the place." Aubrey stated holding the door open for them.

Aubrey showed the pair around the Daycare. She showed them the classroom, playroom, restrooms, cafeteria, and the outside playground. Aubrey made it an emphasis to show Beca how safe the kids were, and all the safeties put in place to protect the children. Beca was impressed.

The ladies made it back to the large playroom. There were about 12 other kids playing and the lady from the front desk, Jessica, was supervising them.

Aubrey squatted down next to Skylar again, "Hey Sky? Won't you go play with the other kid's for awhile while me and your mommy talk in my office? We will be right across the hall if you need us. Just tell Ms. Jessica if you need anything ok?"

Beca was extremely impressed with Aubrey's behavior and tone towards her child. However, Skylar showed no interest of moving so Beca stepped up,

"Hey Sky, look over by the window."

Skylar did as her mother asked and she jumped up and down in excitement. It was her best friend Bella playing with the most adorable little blonde headed girl Beca ever saw.

"It's Bella! Mommy can I go play?"

The older women just giggled at the girl's excitement, "Yes sweetie you can. I'm gonna talk with Aubrey for a bit ok? Stay out of trouble."

And with that, Skylar shot off across the room and interrupted Bella, who began to jump and giggle wildly. The two hugged and jumped around in excitement. Aubrey and Beca watched on for a moment, just to see if Skylar was comfortable.

Seeing Skylar and Bella jumping around was really starting to make Beca cry. But it was when the blonde stood awkwardly by herself, Beca felt bad. It seemed like they forgot about her until Bella introduced Skylar to the little girl. They both shared a hug and both her and Bella took Skylar into their game.

Both women walked away satisfied and went to Aubrey's office.

"That went well don't you think Beca?" Aubrey asked trying to get a read on the girl.

"You have a truly wonderful place here Aubrey. I believe Skylar will love it here."

"What about you? Are you ok with her being here?"

Beca hesitated for a moment, "No mother is ever comfortable being away from their child. But after seeing you with Skylar and the staff you have, I believe I will be ok with her here."

Aubrey was pleased with that answer, so she continued. She gave Beca the weekly and daily schedule.

"We begin each day with music time. It let's the kids let loose and get them all woke up. Then we move into the studies. I read to the group each day and I help them with their early writing and reading skills. Then we move into team building exercises."

Beca cut off Aubrey, "Team building exercises?"

"Yes. I find it important that pairing the kids in groups and having them solve problems together will help lead to a better future. The best time for a person to learn the struggles of working with other's is at an early age. If we start now, then when they join the workforce, they will be ready to face any challenge."

"Wow. I never thought about that." Beca said impressed.

"As you've come to know Beca, children are the building block of the future. So by planting these skills into their head now, we can trust that when they are of age, they can be successful in life."

"Do other Daycares do this? I mean I've never heard of this before?"

"Of course they don't." Aubrey giggled. "My techniques are unorthodox, but they produce, and parents appreciate the qualities and discipline I instill in their children. Tough love but fair. I allow the kids to learn the basics of life and even the punishments of bad choices. But I award them by playtime, educational movies and finishing the afternoon with nap time. All these together build and character Beca. It's up to the child to determine what character they choose to be. I just help guide and mold them.

"Isn't that a bit much for 3 and 4-year old's?" Beca asked.

"What else do they know? They wake up, make messes and do practically what they want. For some it's a change of life sure, but after a while, they fall right in step and never look back. Just ask Stacie. She will tell you my techniques work."

"Stacie was bragging actually. That's what turned me to you." Beca added. "May I ask another question?"

"Sure. Ask as many as you would like."

"Do you get physical with the kids? Like punish them."

"Sometimes they need to be, but no. I never spank them. I just mentally punish them. If they act up, I take away an award. At such a young age, you would be surprised on what taking away snack time does to a child's attitude." Aubrey added with a laugh.

"So, what's the deal on like lunch? Do I need to fix her a lunch everyday or?"

"We have a cook actually. He fixes the kids lunches every day. It's figured into the weekly total. However, if you want to fix her lunch every day, we can take the amount off the total."

Beca laughed, "I'm not sure, she is a picky eater."

Aubrey looked at Beca with a complete understanding, so she handed her the monthly menu. Beca glanced over it and noticed that the majority was Skylar's favorites.

"Wow Aubrey, these are Skylar's favorites. How could you possibly know all of them?"

"Lot's of children nutrition's research. That and the fact I have a very picky eater myself." Aubrey said as she turned a photo on her desk around to face Beca. It was a picture of Aubrey and the little blonde girl in the playroom with Skylar and Bella.

"Wow dude! That's your daughter?"

"Yep. That's little Ava Posen." She said proudly.

A million more questions flooded Beca's head. One was if Aubrey was married, and another was why was she running a Daycare. She chose the more appropriate one,

"May I ask why you decided to open Daycare?"

"I get that a lot actually. I was raised in a military household all my life. So naturally I was well educated and disciplined to the extreme. Strict was being easy on most days. I went to college and got my degree in sociology." Aubrey didn't want to get too personal with her love life, or the lack of and jumped to the conclusion. "So, after that I had Ava and I was like you a few years ago when she turned 2. Do I really trust someone with my child? The answer was no. So I decided that I would just care for her every day. And soon after, the neighbors had me watching their kids and two years later it grew into this."

Well that answer almost answered both of Beca's questions but decided best to leave it alone. The two talked about pricing and payment. Beca signed the papers and they both went to check on the children. Jessica had them in nap time and it warmed Beca's heart and Aubrey's to see Ava, Bella, And Skylar all snuggled together.

"I'll go get her Beca." Aubrey stated as she quietly glided to the trio. Beca was drooling over this woman and her abilities. Even when Skylar raised her hands to be carried, Aubrey obliged and packed the sleeping girl to Beca.

"Well I hope you enjoyed your afternoon Sky. I'll be looking forward to seeing you Monday." Aubrey said patting the girl on her back. Aubrey showed them out and Beca strapped the now awake Skylar into the car and headed home.

"Did you like that baby?" Beca asked softly.

"Yeah! I made a new friend. Her name is Ava. She looks like that pretty lady Aubrey you were flirting with."

Beca's jaw dropped. Surely, she wasn't flirting? And how would her three-year-old even knew what that meant?" She pushed the tempting thoughts aside and continued with Skylar, "Do you know who Ava's mommy is?"

The little girl shook her head in denial. "Her mommy is miss Aubrey." Beca added earning a delightful squeal from her daughter.

"Do you like miss Aubrey?"

"Yes! She calls me Sky. Only you and Aunt Stacie call me that. So that makes her cool. Isn't she cool mommy?"

"She's the coolest baby. Now let's get home and fix supper."

That afternoon was all the assurance Beca needed. Skylar was going to be fine and Aubrey was going to be good to her. But still one question nagged at Beca. The woman never went in depth about any of her personal life? Beca made it a mission to fish all the information she could about the blonde because quite frankly, she adored her.