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I laugh. "You are. Almost four."
"I want a party."
"Sure thing."
"But I don't have that many friends." Carmen looks momentarily worried.
"Sure, you do. You play with Peter, Max, and Johanna all the time."
"That's not that many friends."
"OK, we were thinking of finding you a playgroup where you can make more friends, would you like that?"
"Yes!" Carmen lights up immediately and I feel a pang of guilt. She plays with kids all the time at the park, but there are only those three she sees regularly and a few others she meets with here and there.
I hear a soft knock on the half-open door and Maddie enters, teacup in hand. "Hi guys, mind if I join you?"
"Maddie!" Carmen shouts. "Play!" She rushes off to get some of her stuffed animals and I sit down on the rug on the floor, where some pillows are scattered. Maddie sits down next to me.
"Still feeling all right?" I ask.
"Much better, but the throat is still sore."
I nod. "Happy you're not worse from..." I let my words trail off and give her a mischievous smile.
Maddie laughs. "No, seems to have helped my recovery."
Carmen comes bounding up to us with her animals. "Let's play zoo," she says.
Maddie picks up a giraffe while I settle for a giant frog, and Carmen holds her zebra.
"I have a pink house at the zoo," Carmen says, putting the zebra on a pink pillow. "You have to come to visit me."
Maddie and I play with Carmen for a while, but when she goes to fetch a doll in her dollhouse, she starts playing there by herself instead.
As Carmen becomes engrossed in her dollhouse, rearranging tiny furniture and acting out scenes with her dolls, Maddie and I exchange glances and I know we need to discuss what's happened between us.
"Look," I say, pulling my hand through my hair. "Carmen likes having you around a lot. I don't want to do anything to disrupt that. I also feel we have... chemistry." I raise an eyebrow almost sarcastically because chemistry is the understatement of the century.
Maddie nods, blushing.
"I'd love to find out what that chemistry is, but I know from my past with Sofia that it's not always wise to mix business with pleasure, but I guess if we take things slow..."
"I agree. I'm not looking to throw myself into anything with anyone and you're my boss on top of that. And, as you say, there's Carmen to consider. If I keep working here, we're bound to get attached to each other."
I smile. Just the fact that she acknowledges that she would get attached to my daughter is a nice change from the last couple of nannies. Not to mention–Sofia's attitude toward having a child. But then Maddie raises her brother. She's already taken on the role of a mother.
"I appreciate you considering Carmen's feelings."
Maddie shrugs her shoulders. "Anyone dating someone with a child should. Oh, by the way, my brother, Damien, apparently went for a class trip to your factory. He'd love to meet you."
I smile. "It'd be my pleasure."
"Great." Maddie beams at me. "You know when I first met you, I thought you were a turd. A pretty attractive turd, but a turd nonetheless."
I burst into laughter and Carmen turns around. "Shh, Daddy. The dolls are going to bed now."
"Sorry, baby. But if your dolls are going to bed, will you come with me and Maddie to have dinner in the kitchen? I know Gina has made chicken soup and by the smell of things, there's freshly baked bread too."
