When his alarm went off in the morning, it was all Cameron could do to not slap it off and roll over so he could go back to sleep.

He was exhausted. He’d only gotten about three hours of sleep, and now he had to get up, get the kids ready, and get them off to school.

He rolled out of bed and hastily pulled on the first things he could find that seemed clean, giving a silent prayer of thanks that most of what he owned was neutral and solid colors because he was too tired to care what his clothes looked like.

When he was dressed, he went into his bathroom to brush his teeth and splashed some cold water on his face. Cameron looked about as rested as he felt, and as he headed downstairs, he was glad that he’d remembered to turn on the coffee pot timer so it would have started brewing as he’d gotten ready.

Cameron didn’t know if the kids realized he was tired, but all three of them were in moods. Logan didn’t want to get up, and Cameron had to pull his blankets off and physically haul him out of bed and drag him into the bathroom he shared with his brother. After he’d gotten Daniel up and brought him into the bathroom, he’d found Logan curled up on the floor in front of the bathtub, fast asleep.

He managed to get Daniel to brush his teeth, but when he’d sent him to go get changed, he’d been forced to stand beside Logan and watch him as he brushed his teeth and washed his face. Then he’d had to pull out Logan’s clothes and watch as he’d gotten dressed.

Eventually, he’d gotten both boys downstairs to start their breakfast. Then he’d gone to wake up Kaitlyn.

That had been an adventure. She hadn’t been sleepy or grumpy like her brothers, but she’d decided that she wanted to wear a princess dress to school and have her hair done up in a tiara.

Eventually, Cameron convinced her to put on a pair of pink pants and a pink princess shirt, and wove her hair into a braid with a pink ribbon tying it off. Thankfully Kaitlyn seemed satisfied with that, and she was ready to go with no more fussing.

Then there was the situation that had been breakfast. The boys hadn’t come down and started their cereal as he’d asked. They’d come down and gone through their lunches and decided they didn’t like a single thing he’d put in them, so as he’d fixed them their food he’d had to repack their lunches and get their books and bags together.

Thankfully it was still warm enough they hadn’t needed jackets, so after they’d put their shoes on, he walked them to the bus stop.

No one talked to him as they waited for the bus, and when all three kids were on board and had waved to him through the window, he hurried back to the house. It was as he was locking the front door that he realized he’d never poured himself that coffee.

With a sigh, he went to the kitchen and shut off the machine. He could always reheat it later.

Cameron made his way up to the second floor and paused outside Nathan’s room.

He’d tried to keep himself from thinking about the night before. There was a part of him that was worried Nathan had made a mistake and didn’t feel what he said. It could have been the moment, and what if he didn’t actually want Cameron to come to his room now?

Cameron pulled in a deep breath and knocked on the door. The worst thing that could happen was Nathan turning him away. He was willing to risk it.

“Yeah,” Nathan called out as he rolled over.

He’d heard the kids that morning, and he’d been going in and out of sleep since they’d woken him up, waiting for Cameron to get there. He was a little surprised he knocked, but when Cameron opened the door, he couldn’t help smiling.

“Hi.” He grinned as he pulled back the covers.

“Hi.” Cameron smiled as he closed the door behind him.

“Wait.” Nathan stopped Cameron just as he was about to climb into the bed.

“What?” Cameron stopped dead, a worried look washing over his face.

“The clothes.” Nathan winked as he pushed his hair back off his forehead. “Off with them.”

“The bed is a clothes-free zone?”

“Most definitely.” He nodded, grinning as Cameron pulled off his shirt. “I might make the whole room a clothes-free zone,” he added as Cameron stripped off the rest of his clothes and climbed into bed with him.

“Morning,” he said softly as he pulled Cameron against his body.

“Morning.” Cameron smiled against his chest as he snuggled up to him.

“It would have been nice to wake up like this.” Nathan sighed. “But I understand why it can’t be that way.”

“Yeah, I wish it was different.” Cameron sighed. “I still think about that night, when I stayed here.”

“I think about it too,” Nathan said softly as he kissed Cameron’s hair.

“I know this is wrong. That it’s breaking the rules,” Cameron said softly as he traced his fingers over Nathan’s chest. “But it doesn’t feel wrong.”

“It’s not wrong.” He pulled Cameron closer and kissed his hair again. “We’re adults. We should be able to choose who we’re with.”

“In the real world. But I’m not a part of your world. I’m the nanny.”

“Cameron.” Nathan looked down at him. “I don’t think of it as my world and your world. We’re just Nathan and Cameron, and we love each other.”

Cameron smiled at his words, his relief apparent in his eyes. “I like the sound of that better.”

“Good, then think about it that way.” Nathan kissed him gently and grinned wickedly as he pulled away. “Tired?”

“Very.” Cameron nodded.

“Too tired?” he asked, his grin deepening as he traced his hand up Cameron’s smooth back.

“No, not too tired.” Cameron shook his head and reached out to pull Nathan down for a kiss. “Never too tired.”