Page 19 of The Accidental Nanny (All Of You #1)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Gemma

“ A ce, get up.” I knock loudly on his door. There’s no answer. “I’m coming in.”

Eden is standing behind me. “Ace, get up,” Eden calls.

“Eden,” I say, giving her a stern look.

She pouts at me, the little madam.

“I’m coming in,” I tell Ace for the last time.

Turning the handle, I step in. His room is a disaster. It looks like a bomb exploded in it. I have to clean it up. I find Ace hiding under his quilt.

“Get up, Mister. You don't want me to call your dad.”

“I’m sick,” Ace says in a muffled voice.

I pull the cover back and place my hand on his head. He feels fine, and he looks fine. I have a sneaky suspicion he's trying to get out of going to school, but there must be a reason for that.

“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” I say, placing my hands on my hips.

Eden pokes her head out from behind me, but she keeps quiet for a change .

“What’s the easy way?” he asks.

“You tell me the real reason why you don’t want to go to school," I offer.

"Or?" he asks, raising his eyebrow and looking so much like his father.

"Or I call Father Christmas and tell him you're being naughty.” My eyes go wide.

“No,” he groans. "Please don't."

“Thought so. Spill, kiddo.” I sit on the edge of his bed. Eden stands next to me, watching.

“Go away,” Ace orders her.

I look at Eden. “Please go to your bedroom so Ace and I can have a private conversation.”

“Why?” she whines.

“I need to speak to your brother alone,” I say.

“That’s not fair.” Eden stomps her foot.

“No tantrum. Life isn’t fair,” I reply. She walks off, but the footsteps stop far short of her bedroom door.

“Eden,” I warn. I hear her stifle a giggle.

“I’m in my room,” Eden says trying to be quiet. She thinks she's got one up on us.

Ace and I look at each other. “No ice cream after school,” I call. We can hear her footsteps getting further away as she runs off.

“Dad said no more ice cream anyway,” Ace points out. He's trying to distract me, but it won't work.

“Your dad isn’t in charge of you while he's at work, and what do we say if he asks?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Gemma gave us a carrot stick and an apple until dinner was ready.” Ace can't help his smile.

“And?” I prompt him.

“We only get ice cream as a treat," he finishes off.

“Well done. Now, what’s going on? And don’t lie to me. I can smell a liar a mile off. Is this because of the fight you had at school? Why did you push that boy?” I stroke the back of his head.

“He was making fun of me because my mum left.” Ace's voice drops, and I can tell by the way he avoids my eyes that there's more to it.

“I see. Who was it?” I ask.

“George.”

Penny's child .

“And?” He was still holding back. I can tell.

“Everyone is mean to me. I’ve got no friends. They call me names and don’t let me play with anyone.” Ace's voice breaks as the words tumble out of his mouth.

The way he looks up at me with those big eyes makes my heart break. This needs to be dealt with now. On the outside I’m calm, but on the inside, I’m a raging maniac.

“Look, sweetie. This is what’s going to happen.

I will deal with this, I promise. What I need you to do is go to school today, but I will put an end to it.

By tomorrow, everything will be fine, and those bullies will get what's coming to them,” I promise him.

"But you need to go to school for me to be able to do that. Can you manage it?"

Ace nods, but I can see he’s worried. “Are you going to tell Dad?”

“Not unless you want me to.” I pull him in for a hug.

“No.” He sniffs and wipes his eyes.

Sitting next to him, I kiss his head. “Get dressed for school, and I'll arrange something special for dinner tonight, I promise.”

“You will?” Eden’s little voice squeals by the door.

“Eden!” I scold her.

I drop them off at school and go back, trying to tackle Ace's room first. I check Eden's room and it's just as messy. I groan and tidy her room as well, throwing the toys in the closet and under the bed.

After school, I collect Eden first. I will need more time with Ace and his pick up. When I get there, he looks so depressed. I motion to him, and Ace comes over to me.

“Come on, let’s sort this mess out.” I take his hand, spotting Penny in the mums group. I hate these women.

“Penny, a word,” I spit my words out at her.

“How can I help?” she asks, looking surprised at my tone.

“George is bullying Ace and making Ace's life miserable."

“No, he’s not. They are best friends.” She looks at George, who has conveniently become shy.

“Really? I’ve got an eight-year-old who’s telling me George is being mean to him, and the reason he has no friends is because he doesn’t have a mum.” I let go of Ace's hand, crossing my arms.

“Prove it,” one of Penny’s minions says. “You’re taking one child’s word for it.”

“What has this got to do with you? I’m talking to Penny,” I snap at her.

“He pushed my Teddy over,” she snarls at me.

I glare at her, ready to put up a fight. “I’m glad.”

Oh, God! Why would I say that?

“I think Alex should be dealing with this, and not his nanny ,” Penny sneers.

Eden pulls her hand away from mine, crossing her arms in front of her.

“He pushed him over first. I saw it. Ace pushed him back. They were calling him names.” She points to Teddy.

“Of course she’s going to say that.” Teddy's mum shakes her head.

“It’s true. I saw it too,” another little boy speaks up.

“Arty? Is that true?” When he nods, she says, “I think we should go to the teacher about this.”

“I do as well,” I agree. I like this Arty kid.

“Teddy, we’re going.” Penny’s minion walks off with her son .

Eden pokes her tongue out at George. I don’t even tell her off.

“Fine, let’s go see the teacher,” Penny agrees.

We go to the boys’ teacher, and Arty explains what has been going on. George leaves school crying, with Penny telling him off. I fight a smug smile to see how sheepish she’s gone.

“Thank you...” I say to Arty's mum as we walk out of the school gate, realising I don’t know her name.

“Lorna. Alex has my number if the kids ever want a playdate.” She walks off with Arty, and I’m left thinking I might have found my first mum friend.

“Milkshake?” I ask the children.

When we get home, I make sure we all wash our hands and get started on the kids’ homework. Alex is coming home late, so I order us a pizza to share. We cuddle on the sofa while we eat it watching a film.

Alex

I’m meant to be working, but I want to find something out.

It has taken a lot of digging, but I have found what I am looking for, even if it did take a few weeks.

I now have contact details for Ben, Julia's first husband—the one she divorced after irreconcilable differences.

This in turn, leads me into finding out about Jason, her current boyfriend.

Ben and I have exchanged messages and now I have the information I need.

Closing the lid on my laptop, I sit back in my chair.

I don't know how to feel right now. What I do know is everyone is waiting for me to go out and celebrate.

The new app is working, and my team want to go out for drinks.

I'll have to throw some sort of party for the official launch, but all I want to do is go home to my family.

I told Gemma earlier in the day that I was going to be late home tonight, so when I walk in, I’m surprised to find Ace and Gemma cuddling on the sofa.

Eden must already be in bed, which is strange because Ace and Eden have the same bedtime, he just gets to stay awake a bit longer.

There is an empty pizza box and ice cream tub on the coffee table.

“Hey.” I kiss both their heads, they stir and look up. I can see by Ace’s face he wants to ask me something, but he doesn’t. Not until Gemma starts touching my hand.

“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” He rubs his eyes.

“We are very good friends,” I reply. “Why are you still down here?”

“We need to talk to you.” They both look at me, and I’m worried.

“Ace, shall I tell him?” Gemma asks.

“Tell me what?” I wish one of them would tell me what’s going on.

“Teddy and George have been mean to me about Mum leaving. Teddy pushed me, so I pushed him back,” Ace says. He sounds scared of how I will react.

I am instantly angry that my child has been bullied. “Go on,” I say.

“I’ve dealt with it,” Gemma tells me.

What the hell does she mean, she has dealt with it? “Ace, we will talk in the morning, I’ll be up soon.”

“You’re angry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You haven’t upset me,” I reassure him.

He looks back at Gemma. “You’re mad at her.”

“No,” I give him my hand, helping him off the sofa. He doesn’t want to leave.

“Don’t shout at her, Dad. She made it better,” Ace says, looking distressed.

“I won’t,” I say, unsure I can keep that promise. My eyes feel like they are bulging. Ace leaves the room, and Gemma gets up to dispose of the pizza box and ice cream container.

“Don’t,” I say in a deadly voice. She stops and turns to me. “My son is being bullied, and I’m just now finding out about it,” I hiss at her. "You have no right keeping this information from me."

“I only found out today,” she replies in a calm manner.

Crossing my arms, I seethe inside. “Why didn’t you ring me?”

“He asked me not to tell you, so I didn’t.” She picks up the items and goes to the kitchen. She chucks the cardboard in the bin.

I take it out and put it in the recycling bin, when I return, I stand in her way. “So, you’re keeping secrets from me.” I stand in her way.

“Yes, but I persuaded him it was for the best that you knew, so he stayed up to tell you. So, everything is fine.” Her steady look bores into me.

My voice rises slightly. “I had a right to know. You should have told me as soon as you found out.”

“I will not break my promise. They've had enough of that,” she snaps back at me.

I run a hand through my hair. “He’s eight. He doesn’t get to keep secrets from his dad.”

“No, but if he knows he can trust us, then he'll be more willing to come to you.” I don’t notice that she is standing next to me until her hand is stroking my arm.

“Us?” I ask, shocked.

Her head tilts sideways. Now she’s pissed. “I’m his nanny.”

“You’re more than that,” I retort.

“Am I?” She bites her bottom lip and she gives me a cheeky smile.

“Don’t mess around with me.” I cage her against the kitchen unit, stealing a long kiss. “Why were you eating pizza again?”

“Because I need more cooking lessons,” she says, stroking my chest softly.

“And cleaning. ”

“Alex.”

“Yeah?”

“Ace.” She raises her eyebrow and tilts her head to the left.

Looking over my shoulder, I see Ace staring at us. I release Gemma, who goes to load the dishwasher, while I take Ace's hand and lead him upstairs.

As he climbs into bed, he looks up at me. "You are girlfriend and boyfriend." It isn't a question.

I kiss his head. "It's complicated. Get some sleep. I'm glad your problem is sorted. Remember, you can always come to me with anything."

"I know, Dad," he says. "But this one Gemma had to fix. Girl to girl with the other mums."

"Goodnight, Ace,” I say, wondering if he’s right.