Page 7 of The Accidental Nanny (All Of You #1)

The day is hot, so I put on my little pink and white summer dress and matching pumps.

I need to unpack my belongings at some point, but there isn’t much room for me to put anything away as Alex’s ex-wife’s clothes are in the wardrobes.

I walk down the stairs to one very excited little girl and a very chatty boy eating breakfast and asking his father questions as to why I am here.

“What room is she sleeping in?” Eden wants to know.

“The spare one,” Alex replies, his voice a little too gruff.

“Why not with you? Like Mummy did?” Eden asks, innocence radiating from her face.

A strange feeling runs through my body, making me tense. Alex doesn’t answer quick enough.

“Because I’m here to look after you when Daddy is working. Sometimes, he works late or has to go in early, so it makes sense if I sleep in the spare room. However, the weekends are when your daddy is in charge.”

“Coffee?” Alex asks, looking thankful.

“Please.” I smile at him before he turns away.

“Sit next to me,” Eden demands.

She is making a huge mess with her food, spilling the milk over the sides and chomping away, while talking with her mouth full. How is it even possible for someone so small to make so much mess?

“What do you want to eat?” Alex asks me as he sets the mug of steaming coffee in front of me.

“I’ll go shopping today and get my own food.”

Alex nods, narrowing his eyes in thought. “I’ve got bananas,” he says. He picks them up. The bananas are brown and mushy. He gets his bank card out, placing it on the table. “Can you go food shopping for us at the same time? No… Actually, wait for my mum and she will go shopping with you.”

“I can buy food,” I retort.

“But you have never cooked before.” His eyes widen in an almost humorous way.

“Fine, I’ll wait for your mum. How many days do I need to buy for?” I take a sip of my coffee while I wait for his answer.

“The rest of this week.” Alex looks down at his sad bananas.

“I want a lasagne,” Ace says, voicing his food choice.

“I’ll make a note of it,” I tell Ace.

“I have to get going. I need to shower before I go to work. I’ll send you the PIN for my card.” Alex runs off, leaving me with the children.

“We have half an hour before we have to go. I think we should walk today, it’s a beautiful day.”

The kids both groan at the prospect of going on foot to school, but I need to get my steps in. Once I help Eden get dressed and Ace do his teeth properly for the third time, we grab the school bags and head to the end of the street.

“Wait,” Eden screams.

“What?” I ask. Both Ace and I stop.

“I forgot Alfie. ”

“Who’s Alfie?” I question, nobody has mentioned Alfie. My heart skips. Is there a third child no one told me about?

Ace groans. “Her imaginary horse.”

“We have to go back for him,” she insists.

“Look, he’s here,” I lie, relief filling me as I point to the air next to me. “He followed us.”

“No, he didn’t. He’s locked in the shed.” She crosses her arms.

“You’re kidding me, he’s imaginary.” I look at Ace for help.

“Won’t work,” he warns.

“Seriously, we have to go back for an imaginary horse?” I put my hands on my hips.

“Yes,” Eden screams.

We manage to get to school just in time, although the kids had forgotten about Alfie by then.

I had underestimated how long it would take with a five and eight-year-old.

They were arguing over the same hand to hold, as they both wanted to walk on my right.

We show up just as the gates are closing.

I rush them in, leaving Ace to go to his classroom, and then take Eden to reception.

Outside, a group of mothers are talking by the gates. They’re standing right in the middle of the path and making it difficult for me to pass. Stupid people .

“Excuse me,” I say in my most sarcastic voice, giving a false smile.

“Sorry,” the mums reply, parting slightly so I can get past. They aren’t sorry, and I’m sure that I am nothing more than an inconvenience to their conversation.

“Did I see you with Ace and Eden?” one of the mothers asks.

I want to roll my eyes, but I don’t. This is the kids’ school. “Yes, you did.”

“I’ve not seen you here before. Are you a babysitter?”

God, this woman is nosy. “I’m their nanny,” I say .

I don’t want to divulge too much information to this person. Alex seems quite private; I’ve already pissed him off and I’m on my last warning. Getting the sack after day two isn’t part of my plan.

“George and Ace are best friends. George was asking about a play date this weekend.”

“You’ll be best messaging Alex about that. I only work Monday to Friday,” I tell the nosy woman.

“Could you give me his number? I only have Julia’s.”

“Umm, you give me your number, and I will pass it on.”

This woman is in her mid-thirties. I notice no wedding ring on her finger, which is something that somehow doesn’t seem right.

I don’t think she is after a playdate—at least not for George.

I get my phone out, typing in her name and number as she rolls it off her tongue—I store it as ‘bitch face’ rather than Penny.

“I’ve got to go,” I tell the women, and head away quickly. When I look behind me, the four of them are all still staring at me.

Jill is in the kitchen when I return home.

“Hello, darling,” Jill greets me, a comforting tone to her voice. “Alex said you need some cooking, washing, and ironing lessons. That man can’t cook either.”

“Hi, Jill.” I smile at her. “I need to go shopping as well. Ace wants…”

“Lasagne.” She nods, then searches through the cupboards to see what else might be needed. She already has an extensive list on the kitchen unit that she has written down.

“We’re good to go,” Jill proclaims. She grabs Alex’s bank card. “I’m not paying. I do enough.”

Shopping with Jill is more fun than I imagined it would be. She’s funny, kind, and doesn’t treat me like a child. Loaded with several shopping bags and everything we can possibly need, and I drive us back home.

“Let’s make a start,” Jill says after we put the shopping away.

I follow her instructions bit by bit as we assemble and mix the ingredients for dinner. It’s amazing to think I made a meal.

“See, it’s easy,” Jill says as we put the food in the fridge, ready to be cooked later in the oven.

“I couldn’t do it without you.”

“If nobody has shown you before, how do you expect to learn? Tomorrow, we’ll tackle the ironing.”

She leaves me to clean up the mess as she has an appointment.

After collecting the children from school, we head to the park and buy an ice cream.

“Right. I need to do a new video for my online account. Are you going to film me?” I ask them.

“Do we have to? I want to play,” Eden moans. She licks her lips, searching for the last bits of chocolate which has covered her face.

“Ace?” I ask, hopeful.

“Sure,” he agrees half-hearted.

After several minutes, Ace looks over at the slide, he sees Eden running up and down on it.

He turns back to me holding the phone up and I do some lip syncing to a new song with a little dance routine, but I sense he’s bored.

I check on Eden; she’s busy laughing and playing,so I take my phone from Ace.

“Go. I can do this later,” I tell him with a smile.

He runs over to his sister, following her as she runs back up the slide.