“It’s one of the sounds you’ll need to become familiar with,” Coach replies. “But I’ll give you a freebie. That’s a happy sound.”
“Why does the school even have this baby simulator?” I ask Coach.
“We have twelve,” Coach replies. “They’re for students enrolled in the early childhood development class. They are also available to health classes, but we haven’t added it to the curriculum for a couple of years. We were unhappy with what messaging it was actually providing for the class.”
“But you’re happy for Milo and I to deal with this?” I question.
“You two are smart and capable young adults,” Coach says proudly. “And you can contact me via the student portal if you need any help or support.Now, I’ve got to get going across town. I need to help out at the senior football game.”
Milo gently places the baby in its carrier, and I sling the baby bag over my shoulder.
“You two will be fine,” Coach says, walking us out of his office. “Just make sure he stays alive.”
I give him a horrified look. “Does that mean we can kill it?”
Coach pats my shoulder. “Just make sure he gets what he needs.”
“Oh, brother,” I say glumly. “This will be tough.”
Coach laughs. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a piece of cake. He will need a lot of attention. And, by the way, the wristbands are tamper-proof, so there’s no getting them off until Sunday afternoon.”
Milo flexes his arm, hanging the carrier inside his elbow. “It’s okay. We got this.”
“It goes without saying, you don’t need to be at the game on Saturday,” Coach tells me.
The wind is knocked out of me. “What? But you’ve always said, even if we’re a benchwarmer, we need to show up at every game or there are consequences. Like keeping us out of future games.”
“There are always exceptions,” Coach replies. “Like when Dominica missed a game for her grandfather’s funeral. Your grades are important enough to miss a Saturday morning of bench-warming.”
“But I can watch a robot baby and sit on the bench at the same time.”
Coach shakes his head. “No. You can look after the baby and also complete your other assignments.”
I give him a defeated huff and slump forward.
“See you Sunday,” Coach says.
I frown and wave. “See you Sunday.”
“I’ll order an extra-large pancake stack to make up for your tiring weekend.”
“It’s funny how after we strapped on these wristbands, you started skewing this assignment to the negative.”
He laughs, waving me off. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”
I catch up to Milo, thankful the hall is emptying as he carries this baby carrier with zero context.
As we walk through the foyer, I glance at the carrier and ask, “Are you okay carrying that?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Even if we walk to the cafe?”
“Yeah, it’s no sweat,” Milo answers. “At least we’ll be in the same house for most of this assignment.”
“Yeah, but I was hoping when I wasn’t working, I’d be at the skatepark with Kai.”
“Maybe you can take him with you?” Milo suggests. “It can’t be as hard as Coach Anders made out.”
