Date Night

After caring for his baby daughter on his own for almost two years, a widower decided it was time to find the girl a new mother. It was difficult as it was raising the tiny spitting image of her biological mother, but work had become far more demanding as of late, and he could only ask family to watch over her for so often – they didn’t seem too interested in helping their struggling relative, likely out of self interest.

Babysitters had become the norm, and not only did it seem wrong for his baby girl to not be raised by a woman she would grow to call “mom”, but it was putting a strain on his dwindling pocket paying for the caretakers every night.

He began saving some money, taking time off work more than usual just to save up for a one night date. Then he searched around online, messaging what seemed like an endless number of women in an attempt to find “the one”. Eventually, she appeared.

They traded messages for a few days before agreeing to meet and go on a blind date. The man was ecstatic. He hired what he thought would be the last babysitter he’d need for a while, and went out. The two met at a bar, exchanged information about one another, flirted here and there, and overall they were enjoying their time together.

But as the night went on, the woman seemed to be getting more irritated, and the man eventually asked if something was bothering her.

“Oh… it’s just, pretty loud here, don’t you think?” she shouted in response over the music.

The man had to agree – for a bar, even this was pretty loud.

“Well… I don’t know if you’d accept, but perhaps we could head to my place and I’ll make some dinner? It’s not far from here, we could walk.”

The woman smiled and nodded, and after paying their tabs, the man led her to his home. The babysitter seemed awfully shocked to see them home early, but the man explained and paid her, then wished her a good night as she collected her things and left. He then turned to his date. “Please, this way.”

They entered the kitchen, and the woman took a seat at the table while the man prepared a rotisserie chicken for dinner, hidden from view to surprise his date. As the chicken cooked however, there was a crying coming from down the hall. His baby girl! In his loved fueled glaze, he’d forgotten his child. He rushed from the kitchen, apologizing to the woman, to his daughter’s crib.

She seemed fine as can be, likely just missing company. Her father picked her up, patting her back, and carried her out to the kitchen. ”I’m sorry, I was going to bring this up, but-“

“It’s fine,” the woman replied with a kind smile. “You said you had a kid on your profile anyways.”

“O-oh, I did? Heh… guess I forgot,” he replied chuckling. But he was relieved – this woman knew that he was a father. She must like kids.

The woman held her arms out. “May I?”

The man nodded, and slowly handed his child over to her. His date rocked the baby in her arms, and not long after the baby had fallen asleep.

“Well, seems she likes you,” the man stated in amazement, returning to the kitchen. He began to chop up some vegetables, his mind wandering around, dreaming about a future with this wonderful girl he’d met tonight.

He returned to the dining table with the vegetables, only to drop the bowl to the floor. His baby girl was lying on the table, her neck cut open, and his date feasting on her flesh by fork and knife. The woman looked up, a gooey red smile appearing on her face. “Oh… did you want some too?”