The Nanny

Chapter 6

~Blake's POV~

“Okay, little man. This is your room,” I place Andrew's bag in front of the closet. I'll let Delia unpack for him later.

“Whe is my bed?” Andrew asks, worry clear in his voice. I furrow my brow. What does he mean where is my bed? Isn't it obvious?

“That is your bed,” I say, pointing toward the bed with the navy-and-blue striped cover.

“DEE!” Andrew shouts, running from the room. What the hell did I do now? I walk out of his room, right behind him.

“Yes buddy?” she asks.

“Whe aw you going to sleep? Thew is only one bed in ouw woom and Blake said it is mine! So whe aw you going to sleep?” Andrew rants. At his words, I immediately realize why he is upset!

He probably grew up sharing a room with Delia.

Delia picks up Andrew and explains to him, that she has her own room. I notice that she flinched when picking him up, but I'm not going to order her around. That is sure to cause unwanted tension between us.

“But what about dad. The othe wooms aw pink and puple. Dad is going to be mad if he doesn't have his own woom,” he sniffs, “I don't want him to huwt you again.” Andrew says. At his words, I almost lose it. How can one man be so cruel? Does he not see the pain he causes his children? I look at Delia. She is silently crying. I just know she is not the type to cry in front of people; though I do think she cries herself to sleep at night. I realized this the day she came for the interview. I saw the tears in her hazel eyes that day when we talked about her dad, but she refused to let them fall. Seeing her tear-streaked cheeks, I know she won't be able to explain this to Andrew; that is why I take charge. After explaining to Andrew, I have this overwhelming urge to comfort Delia, unlike I've ever had before.

It is a strange feeling, comforting someone. I've never really gathered enough courage to comfort someone. We are currently seated on her bed. She sobbed into my chest for some time, but her breathing has calmed down by now. She pulls away and wipes her eyes again. She gives me a sad smile, “I'm sorry! I probably ruined your shirt,” she says in a soft voice. She is probably right, but I won't tell her that.

“Its fine,” I reassure her. I study her face for a moment; contemplating on whether I should ask her about it or not. She probably won't tell me anything, but I'm too curious to let this opportunity slip.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask tentatively.

“About what?” she asks.

“Uhm…” How should I put this? I swallow, “About your father?”

She shakes her head, “There's not much to talk about. He is a drunk and he ruined our lives about three years ago,” she looks down at her hands; “It's just…” she sighs deeply, “Andrew doesn't deserve this! He shouldn't live in fear.”

I place my hand lightly on her shoulder, “You don't deserve this either,” she clearly blames herself for all of this, “It's not your fault, you know.”

“I know I didn't cause this, but I had a part to play and I also know that I can't give Andrew the life he deserves. I blame myself for the fact that I had a nice childhood and my brother has a crappy one”

“You shouldn't blame yourself, Delia. Andrew is lucky to have someone like you.”

She doesn't say anything after that. We sit there in silence for a while longer, before I get up from the bed.

“You should get some rest. I'll wake you for dinner,” I as I slowly walk to the door.

“Blake?” she calls. I turn around just as I reach the door. “Thank you!” she smiles sadly.

I return her smile and leave the room.

Why do I have the urge to protect her?

***

~Delia's POV~

“Delia. Delia! Wake up,” I push my head further into the pillow, trying to get away from the deep voice, disturbing my sleep.

“Just a view more minutes,” I reply groggily. That probably didn't sound very attractive, but I'm tired and thus I don't really care. I expect the person to try and wake me again, but lucky for me, I am left alone. I slowly drift back to sleep, thanking the person for leaving me be. Minutes later my slumber is once again disturbed by whispers.

“On three…” a masculine voice says, “One… Two… THREE!”

“DEE! WAKE UP!” the chorus of voices causes me to sit up quickly. I'm greeted by two, very excited, giggling kids, jumping up and down on my bed; as well as Blake laughing his ass off. I glare at him, realizing what he did, he is so going to regret this.

“Your…your FACE!” he laughs pointing at my face.

Meredith, Jessica and Mrs. Anderson, come rushing into my room; each of them looking at Blake like he grew a second head. They look at me, confusion clear on their faces. I shrug my shoulders and look back at him. I have no idea why he finds this so funny. I for one don't think this is amusing at all. He woke me by having to kids jump on my bed, shouting at the top of their lungs.

“I told you!” Meredith beams, “Delia makes Blake laugh,” she looks up at a shocked Mrs. Anderson and then turns to me proudly, “You're Awesome!”

I frown. I still don't get why they find it so odd that Blake laughs. Judging by the stunt he just pulled, he loves making fun of people. So, I don't get why he doesn't laugh that often. If someone asked me I'd tell them he laughs as much as any other person.

***

“Jessica! Use your cutlery!” my eyes widen at Mrs. Anderson's remark. Are you kidding me? Pizza with cutlery! I quickly look over at Andrew; he looks at me with a worried expression.

“Mom!” Jessica drags out the word, “It's Pizza for goodness sake!”

I look at Andrew again; he picks up the piece of pizza on his plate with his hand. I glance back at Mrs. Anderson. I don't want to upset her.

“Yeah mom, it is Pizza; we're at home, not in some fancy restaurant, and it is a Saturday night! Let us eat it with our hands!” I glance at Blake. He's looking at me with a knowing smirk.

Mrs. Anderson looks at me; I shrug my shoulders. It is not like I care how they eat. I want to eat with my hands a well. Who eats pizza with cutlery?

“Fine,” she finally says and continues eating with her cutlery. She clearly has class and style; but hey, if she wants to eat pizza with cutlery, I'm not going to stop her.

During dinner, we discussed some details about the following week. The girls and Andrew still have a week's school before they can enjoy their summer vacation. We discussed all the girls' activities, but it is the minimal since the holidays will start at the end of the week. Jessica will finish her sophomore year, while Meredith is wrapping up sixth grade and Sophie will finish second grade. Andrew will finish Kindergarten. Some people think he is younger than he really is, because he struggles to say 'r' and because he is rather small for his age.

Sophie told me very proudly that her birthday is in two weeks' time. Mrs. Anderson informed me that the invites have already been sent out but that I would have to organize the party since she won't be here for the time before the party. She will, however, be back for a few days, around Sophie's birthday, so she will join us for that. She told me that ten of the twenty children have already confirmed that they will attend. Five kids won't be able to make it but there are five that haven't RSVP'd yet. The theme for this party is Pink Butterflies, perfect for the eighth birthday of a girl. After dinner, I discussed some other details concerning the party with Mrs. Anderson while Blake finished some work and the girls and Andrew made popcorn. Apparently, Saturday night is movie night.

The Andersons would all gather in their home theatre every Saturday at 8 pm to watch a movie. This is like their weekly family time, no excuses unless it is really important!

“Popcorn's ready!” Jessica's voice rings through the house; and shortly after we all make our way to the home theatre.

Even though I saw the room earlier today, I am still in awe. The room has a massive flat screen TV on the left wall, from where I'm standing at the door. At the far end of the room, there is a mini-bar with a mirror behind it. The mirror gives the room a spacious feeling but is positioned so it doesn't reflect the images from the TV. In front of the TV, there are couches arranged in a U-shape. The cream-colored walls and couches match the dark brown table and pillows perfectly. The room is comfortable yet classy; just like the rest of the house.

Each member of the family takes a seat, and Andrew and I join them.

“It's my turn to pick!” Sophie beams when Mrs. Anderson turns on the TV to select a movie.

“Barbie! I want to watch Barbie!” Sophie shouts immediately, afraid that someone might take her turn from her.

“Argh Sophie!” Jessica and Blake groan at the same time.

“Sophie, we watched a Barbie movie last time you picked. You promised us that you won't pick a Barbie movie the next time,” Meredith stats calmly, obviously the level-headed sibling.

“Fine!” Sophie states angrily. In the end, she chooses The Parent Trap, which is a rather funny movie. It is quite relaxing to watch a movie, not worrying about bills and my father. We all laugh at the ridiculous tactics the kids use in the movie, well everyone except for Blake. Maybe it really is rare for him to laugh. I mean who doesn't laugh at a movie like this?

After the movie, we all go upstairs to bed. It is quite a struggle to get Andrew through the bath; he keeps falling asleep, which is not the safest of ideas. Eventually, I give up and just bath him myself, which I haven't done in quite some time.

“Come on Andrew! You have to go to sleep,” I whisper since the others are already asleep. Now that he is in his new, really big bed in a really big room, he refuses to fall asleep. After struggling for almost fifteen minutes, I finally convince Andrew to sleep. I don't understand kids. They fall asleep in the bath but when you put them to bed, they don't want to sleep. My power nap from earlier gives me enough energy to last a while longer. I walk over to Andrew's bag and quickly unpack it. The small amount of clothes makes the closet look extremely big, which it is, but it looks even more so. I should buy Andrew some new clothes as soon as I get my first check. I walk to my room just a few feet away and unpack my bag as well, once again noticing the large emptiness in the closet. After unpacking I take my old Samsung out of my handbag and put it on charge. Now it is time for a long and relaxing bath. Just as I turn to enter my bathroom, Andrew's voice calls to me in a frightful tone. Great! I quickly run to his room. I just hope he didn't wake anyone. Andrew is sitting upright with wide eyes.

“Dee! He huwt you! Aw you okay?” he asks, looking extremely worried. He probably had a nightmare about the mornings' events. I calm him down and finally, I just take him to my room. He refuses to stay in his own room, so it seems like I'll have to share the huge bed with him after all. I put Andrew to bed in my room and then walk into my bathroom with a sigh. I run myself a warm relaxing bath, and then I just relax in the tub until the water turns cold. I climb into bed, falling asleep quickly. For once I fall asleep, not afraid that my dad might barge into the room and hurt Andrew, while I'm sleeping.