The Kid, the Boss, and the Incorrigible Nanny

Part Thirty-Seven

Several Months Later

Kid swept a mop across the sealed concrete floor before straightening to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She glanced in the direction of the talking vegetables coming from the television over the rug before she propped the mop up in the bucket.

"Aiden?" She asked.

"Yes?" He asked, his head whipping around so he could look at her.

"You want to come with me to dump the mop water? Or stay here and watch the show?"

He shot to his feet. "I'll come with you."

She grinned. She loved it when he chose to come with her. It was a sweet reminder of the time they'd shared when she was his nanny.

Now, back at the daycare, they had to share each other with the other kids. It had been a difficult transition to make. But it was one she thought was worth the trouble.

They made the short trek down the hall toward the utility closet, where she dumped and rinsed the bucket and rinsed, wrang out, and hung the mop to dry.

"Think he's here yet?" She asked him.

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. When they returned to Aiden's classroom, she turned the television off and flipped the lightswitch.

"Let's wait in the office, huh?"

He nodded.

Adrian was late.

He was always late.

She sat behind the office desk, sorting applications into piles by age group. Had a baby boom happened recently, and had she missed the news about it? It seemed the daycare would be flush with little ones by the new year.

Kid glanced at Aiden, who was now playing a game on her phone. She couldn't help but think of the way he held her that day in the hospital. When he woke up to see that Adrian had gone, he had bolted down the hall. He called and called for her - so much that she could hear him even in the middle of crying into Adrian's chest.

When the charge nurse led him to her, he wanted to be right in the middle of her and Adrian's arms. And it had been perfect. For one moment, just perfect.

For a moment, she had been able to block out every thought of Peter Smith.

She hadn't even cared when a terrible picture of her face had appeared in a gossip magazine, alongside a beautiful shot of Adrian. Rags To Riches? Billionaire Nanny Bags Boss was the title. It appeared the same morning she woke up un the hospital.

It would have been clever, she guessed, had it been accurate. Little did the writer or their anonymous source know that Adrian would be firing Kid the same day. Well, not firing - letting her go.

It felt then like he had sucked all of the air out of the room. His excuse was that Aiden needed to be around kids his own age again. She supposed she didn't disagree with him.

She just thought... well...

She didn't know what she had thought.

But now, months later and with cold weather coming in, the sting didn't feel as powerful. She missed seeing her favorite boy first thing in the morning, sure. But at least she got to see him at work. And Adrian?

She saw him in the evenings when he came to pick up his brother from daycare.

She tried smiling at him when he came through, tried to ask him how he was - she tried sending him memes and checking in on them occasionally on the weekends. He was always polite. But he never engaged with her beyond questions about Aiden.

Aside from Peter Smith's impending trial for attempted murder, it was like her time working for the Lawsons hadn't even happened.

The door opened, and a chime rang out.

"Aiden? You ready, bud?"

Kid had to suck in a breath of air. He looked, well, wonderful. She couldn't lie to herself there. Even from where she stood behind the secure, short window of the office, she could tell he looked like he'd just finished a long day. He looked worn, but firm.

"Hi," He said. His eyes didn't reach hers.

She cleared her throat. "Hi."

She opened the door for Aiden, allowing him to run out the security door into the entry room.

"Hey, man." Adrian stooped, giving his brother a squeeze. "How was your day?"

Aiden started rattling off a list of things he had done, just as Adrian stood and turned to go. Kid's heart squeezed at the image of their hands in each others' - Aiden's small, and Adrian's large and protective.

"Goodnight," Adrian called.

"Wait." She grabbed her keys, and slipped into the entry room as quickly as she could. "You're late."

He stopped at the front door, a quizzical look on his face when he turned to look at her. "Excuse me?"

"You're late. Third time this week."

He stared at her for a brief moment without offering a response.

"It's nearly six-thirty. The daycare closes at six." She refused to look away.

"I-I'm sorry." He swallowed. "It, um, won't happen again."

So completely different from the way he responded when they'd had the first version of this conversation. But he was holding her gaze just as she held his.

"That's not true."

He shook his head. "No."

"No." She took a steadying breath. "I... miss you."

His eyes closed then. Silence fell for a short moment. Her confidence faltered.

Before she could take another breath, he was directly in front of her, less than an inch away. She looked up at him then, and found herself transported to nighttime on the beach.

He tucked a hand underneath her chin, lifting her face to his, before his lips landed on hers. They were gentle, like he was afraid she might break. Then, they were firm, like he was desperate for more.

Suddenly, much too soon, he pulled himself away from her, leaving her gasping for breath. His hand remained under her chin.

"Would you..." he cleared his throat. "Would you want to have dinner with us? Tonight."

She felt more than willed herself to nod.

A smile spreak across his face. "Good. Good. Um... what would you like to eat?"

Aiden responded before she could.

"Pizza?"

---

Author's Note

I never thought I'd come to a place where I thought I was ready to tie up the ends of Kid's story. I never felt like it would be good enough.

But here we are. An ending!

I want to thank you for reading my first book. I want to thank you for being patient, for taking the time to vote on the chapters and comment on the things you liked (or didn't).

Thank you so much again for joining me. I hope you enjoyed the story.