"What about this one?" Claudia asked, pointing at the computer screen as Steve read through the list of daycares in the area.
Steve shook his head "Do you see that rating?" he asked.
Claudia hummed "Oh, yeah." She remarked.
"Why don't we think about private daycare?" Steve asked.
Claudia scuffed "Expensive, expensive, expensive." She retorted.
They both were silent for a moment, looking through the online list of daycares; slowly losing hope of finding a place for Harper.
"I know the perfect place." They heard from behind them.
Steve and Claudia jumped before turning around to see Mrs. Frederic behind them, a small smile escaping her lips.
"Did you really think you were going to do this without me?" Mrs. Frederic asked.
"Well, we are her parents." Claudia argued.
Mrs. Frederic nodded "Yes, well, I found a daycare for Harper. And I have her documents right here." She said, handing several papers to Steve.
Steve looked through all of them "Social Security Card, Birth Certificate, and an application to…Happy Times Daycare?" he said before looking up at Mrs. Frederic.
"You can make fun of the name all you want, but it's a good daycare." She said.
Steve and Claudia looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Mrs. Frederic "We'll look into it." They both said in unison.
They fought it as long as they could before they finally gave in and applied to Happy Times Daycare and immediately got in.
Steve was literally dragging Harper inside as Claudia stood behind Harper to make sure she couldn't run away; this was proving to be much harder than anticipated.
The three of them finally entered the bright foyer of a colorful building, Harper held onto Steves' leg for dear life as a woman came from around the corner and smiled at them.
"Hi!" she said, walking up to the both of them.
Steve smiled "Hi, we are new to the daycare." He said, shaking her hand.
The woman smiled "Oh." She said, looking over at Claudia and then down at Harper.
"Well, hello there." She said to Harper.
Harper hid behind Steve as the woman looked back up at Steve and Claudia "Shy one, isn't she?" she said.
Claudia smiled "Yeah."
The woman nodded "Well my name is Molly, and I'm the director of the daycare." She said.
Steve smiled "I'm Steve, this is Claudia; and…" he looked down at Harper who was still hiding behind Steve "…this is Harper." He said.
"Harper, oh, such a pretty name." Molly said.
Steve smiled as he kneeled down at Harper "Alright, we're going to go now." He told her.
Harper held onto her fathers' shirt "Please don't leave me with these people." She begged.
Steve huffed "Oh, don't be so dramatic! We'll be back." He told her.
"Why can't I just stay with you and mommy?" Harper asked.
Steve sighed "Because, sweetie, you need to get out of that place and play with kids your own age." He told her.
Harper huffed, looking over at Molly then back at Steve "How long?" Harper asked.
Steve looked at his watch "Okay, it's 9 o'clock now, yes?" he asked Harper, who nodded "Okay…we will be here at 5 o'clock, alright?" he assured her.
Harper sighed "Okay." She said.
Steve pulled Buddha from his jacket pocket and handed the bear to Harper "Here's Buddha, he'll keep you company." He said.
Harper hugged Steve "Remember what mommy and I told you?" Steve whispered to Harper.
"Don't talk about the Warehouse…and as far as anybody is concerned, you and mommy are special agents." Harper said.
"Atta girl." Steve said, pulling away from the hug.
Claudia leaned down and hugged Harper "I love you Jelly Bean." She said, pecking her on the cheek before standing back up.
Steve and Claudia both watched as Harper walked around the corner and disappeared from them, Steve put an arm about Claudia as they both left the daycare.
They were driving in silence for at least 5 minutes before Claudia finally huffed "Now I have guilt!" she proclaimed.
"It's only 8 hours!" Steve said.
Claudia turned to Steve "Yeah, but that's 8 hours of not having my eyes on her." She said.
Steve smiled "She'll be fine!" he said just as Claudias' Farnsworth went off.
Claudia opened it "Yes, Dracula?" she asked.
Artie furrowed his brow for the moment "Have you dropped Harper off at daycare yet?" he asked.
Claudia nodded "Yeah, we're on our way to the Warehouse now." She said.
"Don't bother! I need you two to in Minnesota, I got a ping about a bright light making people disappear." Artie told them.
Claudia sighed "Okay, we'll go; but you've got to pick up Harper at 5!" she hissed.
"I'll have Pete do it when him and Myka get back from tackling that giant Tarantella in South Dakota." He said before hanging up.
Claudia looked up from her Farnsworth before shaking from the thought of a 'giant' Tarantella.
"…at least we get the non-disgusting job." Steve said, trying to assure Claudia.
Claudia seized in her chair "Giant Tarantella." She muttered to herself.
They took a flight out to Minneapolis, Minnesota to make things a little quicker; they knew that this wasn't going to be an overnight stay so they could only hope that this task went as painless as possible.
The police department was filled with missing persons reports, all varying in age and gender as multiple people had gone missing every day.
"…maybe it's Jack Rippers Lantern?" Steve asked.
Claudia shook her head "No, it's in the Warehouse; plus it doesn't have the power to just make people disappear out of thin air." She said.
Steve nodded "Right." He said, looking at every ad up on the wall.
"Okay, so a bright light and people disappear. Do they die, are they transported somewhere else?" Claudia asked herself.
Steve shrugged "Well, no time to just stand around…lets go talk to somebody."
"I don't want to be up front about it; I mean maybe we should snoop around the town a little? I mean, multiple of these things are happening maybe we're bound to catch one in the act?" Claudia suggested.
Steve nodded "Alright, lets go!" he said, walking out of the police department, Claudia following suit.