Autumn
By the time I came out of the bathroom, Emmett had left for work. I walked down to find Pen and Paul in the kitchen, throwing raisins at one another. As soon as I opened the door, one bounced off Paul’s nose. Pen covered her mouth and giggled. “We’re seeing who can catch the most in their mouth. And so far, I’m winning.”
“Only because I’m such a good shot, and you have a big mouth.” Paul stuck his tongue out at her, and the two laughed.
“I do not!” Penelope said.
“Yes, you do. Just like your mother.”
“I beg your pardon.” I walked over to the counter where the box of raisins was spilled and armed myself with the dried fruit.
“Oh, you want to gang up on me, huh?” Paul grabbed a pot lid from the stove and held it up as a shield.
“Take back what you said, Paul. Or I’ll tell Pen what we used to call you when you were a little boy.”
He put the shield down where I could see his face. “You would not.” He searched my eyes as if to see if I were bluffing.
“Oh, I so would. I mean, I do have a big mouth, don’t I?”
“Tell me, Mama!” Pen looked up at me with a gleam in her eye and her hand back, ready to throw the next raisin.
“No, don’t Princess. I’ll stand down, and we can call a truce.”
“And you’ll take back what you said?” I readied my next raisin.
“Yes, yes. Geez, you girls don’t know how to play fair.”
“No, I want to know, Mama. Tell me what you used to call Paul.” She jumped up and down.
Paul lowered his shield and Pen tossed another raisin at him. “Stop it!” he cried. We were all laughing so hard that we forgot we were in a battle, and he charged Pen, picking her up and swinging her around.
I put the raisin back on the counter, not knowing where it had been before I came into the room, and from the looks of it, most likely the floor.
“I guess I just missed Emmett.” I walked over to the coffee machine and popped in a little cup, along with my coffee mug.
Paul picked up a few raisins that he and Pen left on the floor. “No, he’s been gone for an hour now.”
“Well, he won’t get to take this little one to her playdate.” I had arranged a surprise for Penelope, and she screamed at the top of her lungs and cheered.
“Really, Mama?” Her eyes ringed red, and I thought she might cry, she was so excited.
“Yes, now you better go and get ready.”
“Can I use your phone and call Paisley? I need to know what she’s wearing.”
“Are the two of you still color coordinating?” I thought they’d stopped that months ago, and I’d been praising her individualism.
Pen rolled her eyes and giggled. “No, but if she wears her kitten shirt, I don’t want to wear mine!” She ran to the stairs and then hurried up to her room.
“I don’t see how you do it,” Paul said.
I picked up my mug, which was now filled with steamy coffee and gave it a blow. “Want to come along and find out? I’ll pay for your manicure at the Sparkly Spa.”
Paul’s lip curled in a smile. “I’ll have to pass. I dated Fiona, remember? Her mother owns Sparkly Spa, and she works there on Saturdays.”
“Oh, it didn’t end well, did it?”
“It didn’t really start well, either.”
I thought it was a good time to ask him about Kaye. “What do you think about Pen’s new nanny?”
His back straightened a bit, and I could see a little blush around his ears, which is where he always showed his blush when he was trying to hide his emotions. As a kid, he’d always told on himself with it, and it was even worse when he was mad.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged and tossed the raisins into the trash.
“Oh, come on now, Rosie. Tell me what you think.” I knew using the nickname was only going to make him redder.
“Stop it. And if you tell Pen that stupid nickname, I’m going to make sure I get sweet revenge on you.” He was smiling, but I knew he was serious. “Maybe I’ll tell Pen about the time you wet yourself, and how you stole my mother’s razor to shave your legs when you were in Kindergarten.”
I could imagine him giving Penelope plenty of bad ideas, like I’d had at her age. “Fine, truce. I only want to know if you’re into Kaye.”
“She’s nice, pretty, smart; what’s not to like?” He lifted a shoulder and went to the door.
“I was thinking of asking her to come along on the playdate today.”
“Yeah? Will she be stopping by here later?” His devilish smirk told me all I needed to know about his interest, but the fact that he’d had a date the night before, most likely with another woman, had me concerned.
“Look, don’t play her, okay? I need this woman to stay around, and I don’t want her to quit because you’ve broken her heart.”
“Is that what you think of me? I can assure you, I’m not a heartbreaker.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You had a date with another woman last night. What happened with her?”
“Do you really want the sexy details?”
“No, I mean, what are your intentions with her? Are you going to keep multiple girlfriends or are you trying to settle down?” He was most definitely the player of the Burke men.
“I could stand a relationship if that’s what happens. Don’t worry, Autumn. I won’t make you lose your nanny.” He gave me a reassuring pat on the back and then left the kitchen.
I called Kaye to invite her to the mall with us, and an hour later, we met up outside the Sparkly Spa after I’d picked up Paisley from her house.
“There’s my nanny, Kaye,” Penelope said to her friend.
“It’s nice to see you again, Paisley.” Kaye smiled at the little girl and shook her hand.
“You’re pretty,” Paisley said. “Are you getting your nails done, too?”
Kaye looked up at me like she wasn’t sure if she wanted to get her nails done at the Sparkly Spa.
“I’m having mine done,” I said. “They’re not bad, and you can get them with or without glitter.”
“I think you should get glitter, Mama.” Pen took Paisley’s hand, and they walked into the store.
“We’ll see.”
Kaye laughed as I sighed. “I’m not sure I can do glitter polish,” she said.
“I usually do one nail on each hand to make her happy.”
“That sounds good.”
While they were playing in the virtual fashion show, I sat with Kaye and watched the screen.
“This is a nice place,” she said. “The last family I worked for had three kids. Two boys and a little girl. They preferred to go to monster truck shows and wrestling matches. I never got to go anywhere like this.”
“I appreciate you coming along. I wanted you to spend a little time with the girls together, and well, I needed to talk to you.”
She looked concerned. “Is everything okay, Autumn?”
“It’s fine. It’s just, well, I know we hired you to watch out for Pen, and while I know you’ve had experience with older children, I was wondering how you felt about looking after infants.”
“Are you expecting?”
I looked to see if Pen was listening, but she wasn’t. “I’m considering expanding the family, and well, we like you, and you’re doing a great job.”
“Well, an infant, of course, would be a full-time job.”
“And we’d take you on full-time if that’s what we need. I just need to know if you’d be interested. I hope that when the time comes, I’ll be able to stay home a bit more or maybe work from home, but I have a feeling I’ll still need to go in, and it will be easier if I have you in place so I can come and go.”
“I’d love the position. As you know, I’ve had to take on a job at a boutique to fill in the morning hours, and full-time would be perfect.”
“How was it working with the larger family?” I asked.
“It was fun, but a lot more challenging.”
“I’m a bit unsure about growing my family.”
“You and Emmett will be just fine. You’re great parents to Penelope, and it’s obvious that the two of you are very much in love, which is the most important part of parenting.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah, if kids see their parents getting along, it makes them feel secure. If they see them showing affection, being happy, and setting good examples, it sets the tone for their entire future. You two have that better than any other couple I’ve worked for. I can honestly say I feel like a helper with the two of you and not like you’re dumping your kid on me like in other households.”
“Thank you for saying that.” It wasn’t every day someone told me I was doing a good job with my daughter.
“I mean it, and when you’re ready to expand, let me know. I’d love the full-time position.” She turned her head to look at the next outfits the girls had chosen.
A young girl walked in, catching my attention, and I recognized her from being here before and stopping by the house when she dated Paul. Luckily, Pen hadn’t met her.
She took one look at me, and even though she smiled, she headed to the back.
“How are you getting along with Paul?” I turned to see her reaction, and she seemed a bit surprised I’d asked.
“He’s nice and a lot of fun. We laugh a lot together.” She shrugged. “I actually wanted to ask you if you had any objections to us talking. He’d asked for my number, and we talked once three nights ago, but if it’s a problem, I’ll let him know my job comes first.”
“I’m sure he knows that. And I don’t think he’d do anything to put Pen in a weird situation.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t either.” Her tone was reassuring, and I felt better that she’d let me know.
“He’s a good guy,” I said. “I just didn’t want there to be any tension if things went south with you two.”
“Of course, and I totally get that. I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Well, then you should stay some nights for dinner and maybe get to know him better.” It would be nice to have her company, considering I didn’t have any other women to talk to. Pen didn’t count because I couldn’t discuss certain things with a seven-year-old, especially my seven-year-old daughter.
Fiona walked out from the back as soon as the girls finished, and she helped them to the counter where they could choose their fancy slush drinks. She didn’t bother making eye contact with me, but she was very pleasant to the kids, which was all that mattered. I wasn’t sure that she recognized me from the short visit to my home, but even so, she might have thought that Kaye was with Paul now.
I was thankful that the day was conflict-free, and I not only felt better about Kaye being the nanny but was grateful that she was going to be around a while, no matter how large the family got.