Sikudhani McCoy let out a small plaintive wail as she watched her father get ready to leave. The two-and-a-half year-old child quickly rant to her daddy and put her chubby arms around his legs in an attempt to impede his progress. "Daddy no go. Siku come too." Looking up into Hanks's eyes, she gave him a watery smile, and held up her arms wanting to be picked up.

Hank promptly answered her request, and lifted her high into his arms. He swung her over his head, eliciting an excited giggle from Siku, and settled her in the crook of his arm. He looked down at her sweet little face, thinking she was the most beautiful baby he had ever seen, and once again explained to her why he had to go. "Siku, Daddy doesn't want to leave his darling baby, but I have to. You can't come because you won't have any fun, there won't be anyone for you to play with, and Daddy will be very busy. But you know what, someone very special is going to look after you tonight, and I know you'll have tons of fun, so you won't even miss me."

Hank was going to an important dinner being given by the Society for Scientific Research on Mutagenics. He would be presenting a paper on the effects of mutation caused by factors other than the X-gene. If the dinner wasn't a big step in correcting public opinion of mutant research, Hank would gladly have put off going at the sight of Siku's tearful face. Unfortunately, none of the other X-Men were in residence tonight to watch Siku. Half of the team was on a mission in Japan, and the others all had important prior commitments. Hank might have been in a serious bind, if not for one young woman currently on spring break, with nothing on her schedule except watching re-runs of the Gilligan's Island and sleeping till noon. She was the only available candidate for the job, and Hank believed he could depend on her to behave responsibly, at least he hoped he could count on her.

Jubilee wasn't too enthused at the prospect of babysitting on a Saturday night, but since she had nothing else to occupy her time, she agreed without too many demands. All Hank had to promise her was, an "A" on her Anatomy mid-term, the answers to all of the tests in the Bio-mutations class, fifty dollars for services rendered, and his immortal soul. All things considered, not a bad deal.

Jubilee heard Hank talking to Siku in the foyer, and decided on taking matters into her own hands. If she didn't interfere, Hank would end up feeling guilty all evening for leaving Siku upset. "C'mere ya little rug-rat." Reaching up, Jubilee took Siku out of her father's arms, and settled her on her hip. "Go on Blue, Siku and I are gonna have a great time." Siku smiled as Jubilee tickled her tummy; turning to Hank, Jubilee gave him a look that told him that Siku would be all right once he left.

"Are you sure you can take care of her Jubilee? I can probably arrange for Charles to present the paper in my stead." Suddenly, Hank was feeling a little apprehensive about leaving Jubilee in charge of his precious little baby.

"Relax, Blue. I got this gig completely under control. When I was a kid I used to read The Babysitter's Club. Those books are manuals for how to babysit."

"Jubes, you don't know how much that reassures me", Hank responded dryly.

"I don't know why you're so worried, Beast. You were the one who wanted me to take care of Siku. Besides, how hard can watching a two-year-old be?

After giving Hank a brave smile, as he walked out the door, Siku looked up at Jubilee, ready to have an exciting night. "Jubie, we watch Simba?" Since The Lion King was her favorite movie, Siku never missed an opportunity to get someone to watch it with her. Maybe Jubilee would pretend to be Mufasa, and let Siku ride on her back? Siku hoped she could convince Jubilee to do it, because she had a lot of fun when her Daddy gave her such rides.

"Yeah kiddo, we'll watch yer movie, but first we need to make supplies. Let's head into the kitchen an see what we can find in the junk food department." Leading the way into the kitchen, Jubilee stopped at the pantry, and let out a gasp of horror when she saw the contents. "Oh no, no this can't be. What have they done? How can people live in a house without potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, Twinkies, doughnuts, and Ding Dongs? Siku, I think I'm going to pass out, quick lead me to the refrigerator, there still might be some hope." Jubilee slowly cracked open the freezer door, half afraid at what she might find inside. Spying the contents, she let out a triumphant shout, half scaring little Siku in the process.

"There is a God! I knew I wouldn't be punished forever. Siku, look, there's ice cream!" Jubilee lifted Siku into her arms to show her the wondrous sight of a pint of chocolate fudge brownie flavored ice cream.

"Jubie give me a big bowl?" Siku knew how yummy ice cream tasted, and hoped Jubilee wouldn't be as firm as Hank usually was when he rationed out small portions of junk food.

"You got it, kid. We're gonna split this treasure 50-50. Let's see, I saw the popcorn earlier today, and I know there's a stash of soda behind the flour..." Rummaging through the contents of the pantry, Jubilee kept up a running commentary of her search. "This is kinda fun; it feels like a slumber party, only I'm hangin' with a two- year-old, instead of my buds", she thought. Jubilee finally made it out of the pantry with an armload of goodies. While looking through the contents of the cupboard she noticed that there were many hidden treats inside, all she had to do was look harder. "It's all probably Drake's. Siku, d'ya think "Uncle" Bobby will mind if we steal his jelly beans?"

Siku looked at the colorful jar that Jubilee was holding, and excitedly cried, "Red, red, Siku like red. Gimme red jewwy bean."

Taking out a handful, Jubilee filled Siku's small fist with the candy. "Okay, I think we're all set. The supplies should last us the night, but remember, no hogging the goodies. We're partners so we share. Now follow me, we're gonna go watch the movie." Somehow Jubilee managed to carry all the food in her arms, so they were settled in front of the television with relative ease. True to her word, Jubilee split the ice cream evenly with Siku. With the huge bowl in front of her, Siku didn't know whether to concentrate on the movie or the ice cream. Ultimately the ice cream won out, and she had the time of her life spooning huge mouthfuls into her face. Jubilee sat on the sofa, concentrating on her own bowl, so she didn't see the manner in which Siku was feeding herself.

When she finally did look up from her bowl, it was to see Siku standing in front of her covered from head to toe in chocolate. "Oh my God! Siku, the ice cream's supposed to go in your mouth not on your body." Jubilee quickly got up from her seat, and led Siku into the bathroom. Settling Siku on the counter, Jubilee wiped her face, hands, arms, legs, feet, and dabbed at the mess on her clothes. "I can't believe I was so unthinking. How could I have let you feed yourself ice cream? Okay Jubilee it's time to turn on your brain." The little lecture she was giving herself was met by a nod of approval from Siku. "I'm glad you approve, kiddo. Now do you wanna go back and finish the movie?" Picking her up, Jubilee walked her to the rec-room, and put her down on the sofa with a cup of juice to keep her occupied. "Now don't spill any on yourself or the couch, or else I'm gonna make you clean it up." Surprisingly, Siku obeyed with little protest, and Jubilee moved to clean the area where Siku had been eating her ice cream. Finishing that, she came back to the sofa, and sat on the opposite side, stretching her feet, so that her head was cushioned against the armrest. In such a relaxed position, Jubilee fell asleep within a matter of minutes. Leaving Siku to finish the rest of the movie by herself.

Half an hour later the credits rolled across the screen, and Jubilee's soft regular breathing was the only sound that could be heard in the room. From the doorway, Siku watched Jubilee, and, noticing that her babysitter was quite unaware of anything, left the room. The sugar from the ice cream, candy, and juice had given her a substantial boost of energy, so she decided to explore the Mansion. Usually, she was only allowed in certain areas without supervision, and some places were absolutely forbidden to her, but now she had the perfect opportunity to do whatever she liked. And being two and-a-half years old, that just meant going upstairs without her Daddy or Aunts, or Uncles watching her. Siku thought climbing up the stairs was much easier when she was carried in her Daddy's strong arms, so when she reached the top of the stairs, she sat down to catch her breath.

Getting up, Siku walked down the hallway to the door on the left. She knew this room belonged to Uncle Bobby, so she reached up on her tippy-toes and turned the knob. The door swung open, and Siku walked in. Uncle Bobby's room was a mess; the bed was unmade, clothes cluttered the floor, the door to his closet stood ajar, revealing an even greater mess. Siku had come into this room for a reason; there was something she wanted to play with, and spying it on the floor next to the nightstand, she made her way towards it. The life size Yoda doll, stood about three feet in length, wore a tunic, and held a small staff. Standing in front of it, Siku noticed that it was a little scarier than it had seemed during the day. "Hi, Yoda. Siku come to play. You come to my room and have tea party with me?" Not getting a response, Siku tried to pull the doll towards the door, but as hard as she pushed, the doll refused to budge. "Why Yoda not come? Siku ask nicely, and have lots of dolls to share with Yoda." Still she didn't get an answer. "Okay, you come later, when Unca Bobby come home." Siku hoped Uncle Bobby would decide to let her play with his favorite toy. Giving Yoda a hug, Siku noticed that the staff was removable, so she decided to take it. That way Yoda would have to come and play with her, if he wanted it back. "Bye-bye Yoda." Holding the staff like Yoda had, Siku left the room.

Jubilee didn't know what woke her up. She thought she heard a loud bang, like something falling over, but when she looked around the room, everything was in place. Well almost everything, but she couldn't remember what didn't look right. Something at the back of her mind teased her, but she had no idea what that niggling doubt could be. Then, it hit her. "Oh my God, I forgot the baby! Siku, Siku are you in here? Of course she's not in here Lee, or else you would have seen her. Oh God, I'm scolding myself, that's a sure sign that I'm losing it." Scanning the room, Jubilee hoped to see some sign of Siku, but she knew it was a futile hope. She quickly left the rec-room. Calling out Siku's name she searched downstairs, hoping Siku would be there.

Meanwhile, Siku had made it into another room, and was busy looking at all the treasures displayed on the vanity table. She thought she heard someone calling her name, but was preoccupied with a tube of lipstick that had a bright red color. Siku twisted the bottom of the tube until it wouldn't turn anymore, and marveled at how long the lipstick was. She looked at herself in the mirror, and began to apply the lipstick on her lips. What she ended up doing was getting the lipstick on the general region of her lips, but the majority of it wound up in the surrounding area, the chin, cheeks, and upper lips. Seeing her face all colored, Siku had to admire herself. "Siku look pretty. Put on lipstick and look pretty." She put the cap back on the tube, and pushed until it was shut. Then, she rummaged through the drawers of the table and found a bottle with a sparkly cap. She took the cap off and saw that something inside the bottle smelled very sweet. Siku poured the contents of it onto her hands, and rubbed them all over her body. When all of the liquid was gone, she replaced the cap, and put the bottle on top of the vanity. "I smell good." Completely satisfied with what she had found in the room, Siku left in search of more fun.

By this time Jubilee had searched the entire downstairs area of the Mansion, and not found any sign of Siku. "Okay, okay, think. If I were a two year-old, where would I be? The kitchen! Looking for cookies. No, no Lee. Don't think about your stomach at a time like this. God! This never happened in The Babysitter's Club. Beast is gonna flip if I don't find Siku. I better check upstairs, I hope she didn't go into anyone's room, or else I might be in for some serious lectures on responsibility." Jubilee ran up the stairs, and began to hurriedly search the east wing intent on finding her missing charge.

Siku had slowly made her way around the upstairs of the Mansion. She didn't find anything else to interest her, so she decided to go back down and see if Jubilee was awake. Siku found that getting down the long staircase was a lot easier, because she slid down on her bottom. She reached the foot of the staircase in no time. Siku walked toward the rec-room, but when she got there, she saw that Jubilee wasn't in the room. What she did see though, caught her attention. A spot of red was visible underneath one of the chairs. Siku quickly crawled under the chair, and emerged with a pair of high-heeled shoes. Setting them down on the floor, she put her feet in them, and started to walk. Luckily for her the heels weren't too high, and she was able to maneuver fairly well, although she hobbled quite a bit. "I wear big girl shoes." Siku's satisfaction was immeasurable. None of her aunts ever let her wear their shoes, and now she could walk in them as long as she wanted.

Once again, Siku left the rec-room, and decided to look for Jubilee in the kitchen. Earlier in the evening it seemed like that was her favorite room. However, on her way across the front hall, Siku saw that the door to the bathroom was open. Changing her intended course, Siku went into the bathroom. She knew she wasn't supposed to be in here without anyone watching, so she was very careful about keeping quiet. She walked straight to the toilet bowl, and peered inside. All she saw was clear water, so she put her hand in to see if it was safe. Her Uncle Bobby had told her that a little green monster lived in the toilet bowl, and when little kids played in it, he tried to eat them. But at this moment, Siku didn't see the monster. She let her other hand play in the water too, and still the monster didn't appear. Thinking that Uncle Bobby probably didn't have the story right, Siku took off her high heeled shoes, and climbed in the toilet bowl. She splashed around and proceeded to get herself completely wet. "Siku's swimming, tell Daddy that I go swimming." The only time she got wetter than this was when she was taking a bath, but this was a lot better than getting washed. Siku forgot all about keeping quiet, and shrieked with laughter. "I having fun!"

When Siku got out of the toilet bowl, she noticed that the floor was very wet, so she moved very carefully, because she didn't want to slip. She reached for the towel that rested on the counter, and dried her face. Her clothes were drenched so she struggled to pull of her T-shirt. With that done, she sat on the ground, and kicked off the sweat-pants she was wearing. Dressed only in her wet underwear, Siku caught sight of the toilet paper roll, and figured out a way to solve her clothes problem. "I make dress, pretty dress." She tugged at the roll, and tucked the edge into the elastic band of her underwear. Then, she turned round and round in a circle, causing the paper to wrap around her small body.

Siku's homemade outfit was finished when the toilet paper ran out. Patting her chest, Siku was happy with her creation. "Siku like her dress."

Jubilee had looked through every room in the Mansion, and was beginning to seriously worry. She knew Siku couldn't have left the house, but anything could have happened to her. "What if she fell, or hit her head somewhere. I gotta find her fast, or else I'm gonna be toast. Siku, Siku, where are ya? D'ya wanna play a game? If you come out I'll give you some more ice cream. Daddy's gonna be home soon, and we have to get you all clean and tucked into bed, so why don't you come to Auntie Jubie." She didn't get any response, so she went down stairs, ready to look for the phone number Beast had left. She knew she was in for it big-time, but her only concern was that Siku was all right. As she walked down the stairs, she noticed a strong scent of magnolia in the air. "I wonder where it's coming from? This night is just getting too weird." Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Jubilee was about to go into the rec-room, to get the number, when she spotted the light on in the bathroom. A moment later Siku emerged from the bathroom doorway, and Jubilee stopped dead in her tracks at the sight that assaulted her eyes.

In front of her stood Siku, dressed in toilet paper, fur and body soaking wet, face covered with lip stick, and wobbling on a pair of red high heels. "Hi Jubie, I make dress." Siku was oblivious to Jubilee's stunned reaction, and tried to walk towards her.

"Siku, where have you been? I was worried about ya, brat." Rushing over to her Jubilee placed a reassuring hand on her head, since she was a little reluctant to hug Siku's wet body. "Are you okay? Look at you, you're a mess, and that lip stick, trust me kid, although red is definitely your color, you need to take a lesson, in getting it on your lips." Jubilee knelt down so that she was eye level with Siku, she wanted to make sure the little one was completely unhurt. "Well, it sure looks like you had an adventure, and by the smell of things, I'd say someone will want their perfume replaced. D'ya think I'll have to pay for it?" At Siku's nod, Jubilee concurred, "Yup, I'm gonna be shellin' out the dough. So are you ready to get all cleaned up and hop into bed?" While Jubilee was talking, she noticed that Siku was dancing from one foot to another. A stray thought in the back of her mind told her that she should know what this meant. She looked at Siku, and saw that she was staring at Jubilee expectantly.

"Jubie, I go potty." Siku was being potty trained, and for the past few weeks, Hank felt comfortable enough to allow her to just wear regular underwear, instead of the underwear style diapers, although she still wore those to bed.

Jubilee took a moment to process Siku's words. It seemed as though she couldn't understand what Siku was saying. "Okay, are you telling me you have to go potty, or that you already went potty? Please, please let it be that you want me to rush you to the bathroom, because I can not deal with the other alternative." Not waiting for Siku's answer, Jubilee hurried her into the bathroom. But the moment she entered, she thought her worst fears were realized. "No, no this can't be happening. Siku did you already go potty on the floor over here?"

"Jubie, I go potty. I go potty." Siku's response was as ambiguous as before, but Jubilee wasn't taking any chances. She threw the semi-wet towel, lying on the counter, to the floor, quickly unwrapped Siku from her toilet paper out-fit, and sat her down on the toilet bowl. She was relieved when a few seconds later she heard Siku go about her business.

"Ya had me worried there, rug-rat. I thought I was gonna have to clean up a bigger mess than the one ya made in here. You certainly have been busy." Very much relieved that Siku was able to hold in her bodily functions, Jubilee sent up a small prayer of thanks. At least someone up there was giving her a break, if not looking out for her.

***

"I sleep in big-girl bed. Jubie, tell Siku story of thwee little pigs?" Jubilee had speedily cleaned up the mess downstairs, and taken Siku upstairs to give her a bath and put on her pajamas. Everything had gone surprisingly well, with Siku splashing her only a little during bath-time. However, she ran into some problems, when she tried to put Siku in her crib. Apparently Siku believed that she was too old for the it, and wanted to sleep in a regular bed. Since there was no place to put her in her room, Jubilee took her to the room she was using, which had two twin beds. Jubilee was lying on the bed next to Siku in an effort to get her to sleep. It was way past the bedtime that Hank had decreed, and she hoped that he would come home after she accomplished her final babysitting task. "I have totally earned this money. I don't think I've ever worked this hard in my life. Next time Hank asks me to do this, I'm going to raise the price. I think $100 is a nice round number," Jubilee thought as she tried to get Siku to sleep.

"I'll tell ya the story, but this is the last time. I already told ya two other ones." Jubilee didn't really mind telling Siku another story. This was the most relaxing time she'd had all evening. She just didn't want to fall asleep again, or else she would really be in for it. Half way into the story, Jubilee noticed that Siku had stopped interrupting, and was breathing quite evenly. Looking over at her, she saw the Siku was sleeping. A bemused expression passed over Jubilee's face as she thought about what this meant. "It's over, and I lived to tell the tale." She stretched her arms over her head, and yawned quietly. "I am really tired. This stuff seriously wears a body out, even one as fit as mine." Turning on her side, she decided to rest a bit more before she went to check on the damage Siku had caused in some of the other rooms. Five minutes later, she was soundly asleep.