Authors: Sadie Grubor
"A Nanny Swear means it's our secret." I winked at her and took her hand. "We do need to get back to the house though. I've got dinner to make and you have math to do." She groaned and I laughed. "I promise we will make math fun tonight." She nodded and we skipped back to the car together. A leaf had turned over for the both of us.
Once we were home and Victoria was changed, I threw her uniform in the washer and started dinner. Victoria sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen with her math paper while I cooked.
"Urghh! I can't get them!" She pouted and tossed her pencil down onto the counter top.
"Let me see." I slid the paper across the marble top so that it was in front of me. "Ah this is easy. I know what you need." I walked to the cupboard and pulled out a bag of M&M's,
opened the bag and dumped them on the counter in front of Victoria. "Okay, so count out eight M&M's for me." She looked at me like was crazy. "Go on."
"One, two, three," her tiny fingers slid the multicolored circles into a pile of eight, "four, five, six, seven, and eight."
"Good. So, your math problem is eight minus three. So, take away three M&M's from the pile of eight." She raised her eyebrow at me and I laughed. I leaned forward on the counter and grouped her pile of eight in between us. "So we have eight M&M's here, right?" I looked up and she nodded. "Eight," I took three M&Ms, "minus three," I popped them in my mouth, "is what?"
She counted the remaining M&Ms.
"Five," She said with a giggle.
"Exactly! See you got it. Try another one." I pushed the paper back over to her and turned back to the stove.
"Nine minus five," I heard the crunch of the M&Ms in her mouth. "Is four!"
I laughed and nodded. Looking over my shoulder I saw her writing her answers down on her paper. Victoria finished her math practice and we sat down for dinner. Once we were done eating, she helped me clean up the dishes and I hung her uniform up to dry before heading up to her room.
"Well, its Friday night, so no school tomorrow." I sat down on her bed. "What do you want to do tonight?"
"Can we watch a movie?" She climbed up on the bed next to me.
"Sure. What do you want to watch?" I already knew the answer.
"The Little Mermaid!"
I laughed and stood up to put in the movie.
"Go get your pajamas on and I'll hurry and get mine before it starts. We'll race." I set up the DVD and tossed the remote on the bed before rushing to my room to change.
I threw my clothes into the hamper and slid on some yoga pants and a tank top. Then I hurried downstairs and popped some popcorn in the microwave. I tossed the bag after dumping out the super buttery treat into a large yellow plastic bowl.
"I brought popcorn," I shouted as I opened the door, "And drinks!" I held up the bottles of water. Then I heard Sebastian speaking and looked at the screen. "I can't believe that you didn't
wait for me." I put the popcorn and water down before running over to Victoria's bed, tackling and tickling her.
"I'm sorry," she laughed out loudly. "Stop please, I'm sorry." She laughed. I let her go with a laugh and pulled the popcorn bowl onto the bed with us. We sat eating as we watched Ariel try to get Eric to kiss her, and Ursula tried to seduce him away.
When I woke up it was pitch black in Victoria's room. I sat up and looked down at Victoria's sleeping form next to me. I didn't remember turning off the movie or the TV, and I sure as heck don't know what happened to the popcorn bowl. Deciding to not worry about it, I got up and headed to my room. A few hours later I felt a shift of my bed and jerked my head up.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up," Victoria was bouncing next to me. I laughed and grabbed her, pulling her down onto the bed and tickling her.
"You go brush your teeth and I will meet you at the top of the steps in five minutes. Okay?"
She nodded and ran out of the room. My bladder was begging for relief, so I went to my bathroom. Once that was taken care of I washed my hands and then my face. As I patted my face dry I looked into the mirror.
My skin looked drastically pale and I hoped it was just the harsh bright light of the bathroom's vanity. I leaned in closer and examined my face. No new breakouts, just the same pale skin, blue eyes, and long dark brown hair. I huffed and tossed my hand towel next to the sink. Most people complain about how unattractive they are; however, I didn't think of myself as unattractive, just common.
"Sophia, are you ready yet?"
With one last sigh at my reflection, I shut off the bathroom light and went to meet Victoria at the top of the steps.
In the kitchen we had music playing while Victoria mixed the pancake mix and I finished the bacon. We were both singing and laughing when I heard someone walk into the kitchen. Quickly I turned around, sighing in relief when I saw Mrs. Baker standing there with a wide smile on her face.
"Good morning lovelies," she smiled.
"Good morning Mrs. Baker," Victoria and I said in unison. She laughed.
"Did you wash her uniform yesterday?"
I felt Victoria tense up. I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I had to wash some things for myself, so I just threw it in. You don't mind do you?"
"Heck no!" She chuckled. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a uniform."
"You hungry?" I motioned to the bacon on the plate in front of me. "We have plenty." I practically sang it out.
"Oh, I really shouldn't, I have a lot of…"
"Oh, come on." I grabbed an empty plate and placed it on the counter.
"Okay," Mrs. Baker smiled and sat down. "Are you making the pancakes Victoria?"
"Yep!" She smiled brightly at Mrs. Baker. "It took two cups of mix, one egg, one tablespoon of oil, and one cup of milk."
"Good remembering," I patted her butt lightly. "I think it's all mixed up. I need to get those on the griddle." I pulled at my hair to get it away from my face.
"Let me help you with that." Mrs. Baker took my hair into her hands and twisted it into a knot.
"Thank you," I breathed out and picked up the bowl to start pouring the batter out into even circles.
"No problem," she waved off my thanks. "I remember when I was younger and my hair was long like yours."
I glanced to her with a small smile as she reminisced.
"Of course, my hair was never that straight or soft. Have you ever died it or anything?"
"I thought about it. You know like highlights or something. I even considered getting one of those chin length bobs at one point." I shrugged.
"Don't you dare," Mrs. Baker scolded with a chuckle. "Your hair is gorgeous and it's perfect on you. That dark brown hair really making those baby blues stand out, and the porcelain skin you have…whew…what I wouldn't give to be your age with that combination."
I laughed lightly.
"Oh, you just wait when you're an old woman like me."
"Non-sense," I snapped at her playfully. "You are one hot mama." I winked.
Victoria giggled and I bumped hips with her.
It didn't take long to cook the pancakes and we soon were all seated together in the kitchen eating stacks pancakes and bacon. We were all laughing loudly when a stiff throat clearing made me flip around in my seat. I was met with the cool gaze of Dr. Bishop.
"Collin dear…" Mrs. Baker stood up and walked over to him. "How are you this morning?"
"Good and you?" His eyes didn't leave mine, but I tore from his gaze and turned back to my plate.
"Well, thanks to Victoria and Sophia, it has been a very wonderful morning," I could hear the smile in her voice and saw it on her lips when I looked up to smile at her, "Thank you for breakfast dear."
"No problem." I smiled back to her before turning to Victoria. "Let's get this cleaned up, okay?" She nodded uneasily and we stood to clean things up.
"Were you hungry Dr. Bishop?" I turned and looked over my shoulder at him, shocked his eyes were still on me.
"No, thank you. I just came to grab some coffee." His cool melodic words almost felt like the first winter frost against my spine. I shook it off and finished cleaning up the breakfast mess in the kitchen.
"Good morning Victoria," I watched her eyes widen before she turned around with a smile.
"Good morning daddy." He walked passed her and poured his coffee before leaving the room. Her face fell.
"Why don't you head up to your room and get dressed? You have Karate class in about three hours, so just put on something you can easily change out of later." She nodded and ran toward the stairs.
"Don't run in the house." I felt the shiver against my spine again. I could have sworn he left the room, but when I turned I discovered he was in the door way of the kitchen watching me.
"Is there something you wanted Dr. Bishop?" I had given up waiting for him to say whatever it was he needed to say.
"Did Victoria have her Spanish lesson yesterday?" He sipped his coffee, practically leering over the rim.
"No sir, Roberto cancelled due to an illness." I wiped off the counter where Victoria had mixed up the pancake batter.
"So, what did the two of you do yesterday?" He raised one eyebrow at me. I was really starting to hate that little patch of hair above those stone cold emeralds.
"I took her to the park for some physical activity before we came home and practiced her math." I smiled and turned back to the sink.
"The park?"
"Yes," I answered shortly.
"I don't think that is necessarily educational, Miss Ashwood." He had his condescending tone, just like in my interview. The bubbling of irritation started to rise inside of me.
"Roberto's cancellation was very last minute, so I went with a physical activity that would allow her enough time to practice her math before dinner." I stood facing him from behind the counter.
He looked as if he were trying to read my face before he abruptly turned around and walked away.
Good God, he is such a…a…ugh! I tossed the cloth into the sink and headed toward Victoria's room. If I ever got my hands on clippers at night that condescending eyebrow was getting buzzed off.
September passed and October arrived with a full color palate of orange, red, yellow, and brown. Hints of green still peeked out in some places. Victoria was coming along in her math, but still seemed to be struggling just a little. Though, I swear the level of math that they forced on first graders was absolutely ridiculous and was just used to stress out the poor kids.
Today was her piano lesson with Pierre and it was amazing how good she was. I could only dream of playing like that; however, just like everything else, she was pushed for perfection. It frustrated me to watch her drive herself to such extremes. After Pierre left she sat at the piano for another hour practicing on her own. When I couldn't take it anymore I pulled her away to get a bath and ready for bed.
"Tomorrow is my big math test," she sighed heavily as I tucked her into bed.
"You know what?" She looked at me. "If you get an A on your math test I will let you dress me up however you want for the day."
She laughed.
"Two different shoes?" I nodded, even though that remark was making me nervous about the deal.
"They can't be like one heel and one tennis shoe though. I have to be able to walk." She giggled and nodded. I kissed her head and turned off her light on the way to my room.
When I picked her up from school the next day she was bouncing all the way toward me. She stopped right in front and held up a white paper with a large green A on it.
"I guess this means you are dressing me up?" I raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned while she nodded.
We got home and I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner with some apple slices before we had to leave for horseback riding.
Victoria insisted on cashing in her dress up reward, so she dug through my closet and even through hers before she assembled my outfit. I ended up being allowed to wear my jeans since it was chilly out, but I had to wear a large cotton candy pink fluffy sweater my dad sent to me one year for my birthday. I swore someone else picked it out for him, but he wouldn't admit it. Along with the sweater, I had on one green sock and one red sock, one black tennis shoe and one white, and then she tied one of her fluffy pink tulle tutus around my waist.
"Are you serious?" I laughed and she giggled at me.
Then she slid fingerless rainbow striped gloves on my hands, a purple scarf around my neck, and pulled out a bright blue and white polka dot snow hat on my head. You know the kind with the puff ball on top and the long strings that hang down from the ear covers; oh yes, she went all out.
"Is the hat necessary?" I bent down onto my knees and she pulled it onto my head.
"Yes, the hat draws attention to your blue eyes." She smiled large.
"Oh, really? So, does my hair look so bad it needs a hat on it?"
She placed her hands on her hips and got very serious.
"Of course not silly!"
"I was just checking." I stood up and looked into the mirror. "Really?" I laughed at my reflection.