Page 34 of The Nanny Game Plan
I grin. “I like your honestly about sharing, Bella.”
“I don’t want to share at all right now,” Ava says. “Notmybread. No way.”
Dean stands, smiling as he chews. “I can see why. That’s really good!”
I shrug, self-conscious at all the praise. “Well, thank you, but it’s just frozen garlic bread and shredded cheese. I didn’t do anything special.”
“I think you did,” Dean says in a softer voice. He glances down at the girls, smile widening as he watches them eat. “Beena while since I’ve seen these two so relaxed and happy about a meal.”
“We had a good day and played with toys the whole time,” Ava says, stifling a yawn before she adds, “But it’s almost time for Bella’s nap, so we have to take a break. But I don’t take a nap anymore, do I, Daddy? I’m too big for naps.”
Dean arches a brow. “Not unless you need one. Seems like you’re kind of tired. A nap might feel good.”
Ava shakes her head. “No, it wouldn’t. And no, I’m not. I’ll have storybook time with my headphones, instead. I’m not tired.”
Dean nods. “Okay. When you two are done with lunch, we’ll do nap and storybook time.” He glances my way as he adds, “And then we can have afternoon coffee and a talk?”
I nod, ignoring the nervous cramp in my stomach. “Sounds good.”
Itdoessound good.
It sounds like maybe I was wrong about getting fired. Why would he be showing me the ropes if he’s planning to let me go? My heart lifts even as my stomach balls into a tighter knot, one half of me excited at the possibility of sticking around, while the other insists this is a bad idea.
The kind of bad idea that ends with falling in keeper-level love with people who aren’t mine to “keep.”
Ten
DEAN
GettingBella down takes five minutes. Maybe less.
She goes from upright to out-cold in record time for my nap-resistant kiddo. She’s not as bad as Ava, but she’s close, and I have a feeling naptime will soon be a thing of the past, no matter how much the pediatrician insists a nap is still necessary to meet her sleep needs.
Though, I could be wrong about that, I guess. Maybe big play mornings with Clover are all it will take to have Bella back on her nap schedule like clockwork.
She’s certainly dead to the world right now…
Still, I linger outside her door after I close it, pretending I’m listening to make sure she’s staying down. But I know she is. The kid’s out like someone pulled her plug.
I’m not listening, I’m stalling.
I’m stalling so hard that I consider heading down the hall to make sure Ava’s set up for storybook time, but that would be ridiculous. If Ava’s pink bunny headphones weren’t already delivering “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” directly into her ears while she lounges in her pillow-filled canvas teepee, I would know about it.
Ava isn’t shy about making sure her rest time needs are known and met. And she usually remembers to plug the headphones in to charge herself when she’s done using them. Four years old, and she’s already more organized than I was in college.
I don’t know whether to be proud or…depressed.
She shouldn’thaveto remember to plug in her own headphones. But after I forgot for the fifth time, she stopped complaining about my failure and took matters into her own hands. When I’m being “gentle with myself,” the way the girls’ therapist encourages, I understand that I had a lot on my plate those first few weeks after their mother died. When I’m frustrated with my own learning curve, I wonder how a man with such poor multitasking skills ever managed to become one of the top players in the NHL.
But as far as skill sets go, I guess hockey and homemaking don’t have a ton of crossover.
Idoknow how to be part of a team, though. I know the value of teamwork and the foolishness of thinking you can get the win on your own. That’s why I decided to hire a nanny.
I need help. Good help.Specialhelp, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a more perfect caregiver than a bright, bighearted woman who knows what’s it’s like to lose a parent at a young age. If only that bighearted woman wasn’t also the woman I stripped half-naked in my truck.
The woman I swore I would steer clear of from here on out…
There are so many reasons to steer clear. Clover is my captain and good friend’s surrogate little sister. She’s young—too young for a man staring down thirty-six. And now, she’s my nanny.
