Our babysitter had been with our family for nearly two years, and I trusted her completely. Then I discovered my husband had quietly doubled her pay for months. The look on her face when I asked why made me realize I was the only person missing part of the story.
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I only noticed the payments because I was looking for something completely unrelated.
Billy and I have a joint checking account for household expenses.
So, I was trying to find a charge from the plumber when I saw Megan’s name.
She had been receiving $1,200.
I frowned. Megan was our babysitter.
She had watched our eight-year-old daughter, Sophie, for almost two years, mostly after school and on the occasional Saturday.
We paid her $600 a week, not $1,200.
I assumed Billy had accidentally doubled a payment.
Then I checked the week before, and she had still been paid $1,200.
I kept scrolling and realized that for four months she had been paid double the agreed rate.
Every single week, Billy had been sending Megan twice what we had agreed to pay her.
I sat at the kitchen table staring at the screen.
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It added up to thousands of dollars.
At first, I tried to come up with innocent explanations.
Maybe Megan had started working extra hours. Maybe Billy had asked her to run errands.
Maybe there was some agreement I had forgotten.
But four months? And why had nobody mentioned it?
The next afternoon, Megan picked Sophie up from school as usual and brought her home around 5:00 p.m.
Sophie ran upstairs to change before dance practice.
I waited until I heard her bedroom door close.
Then I said, “Megan, can I ask you something?”
She looked up from her phone. “Sure.”
“Why has Billy been paying you double?”
She looked confused. “What?”
“You’re supposed to get $600 a week. He’s been paying you $1200.”
“What do you mean double? That’s what we agreed on.”