This is it. He’s going to fire me. Not only have I lost my angel and will be forced to watch her “move on”, but I’m going to lose my job. I sit up straight and start to plead, “Mr. Fischer?—”
He holds up a hand to stop me. “I’m not going to fire you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
I slump back.
“You haven’t been here long, but you came highly recommended, and from your results so far, you’ve outperformed expectations.” He puffs his chest out with pride. “As does Autumn. If it’s a matter of conflicting personalities and all that, which I don’t fault either of you for—I’ve dealt with my fair share over the years—then we’ll shuffle some things around.”
It’s not. Our fight isn’t a matter of conflicting personalities, though lord knows we have plenty of that going on. It goes, in some way, so much deeper. That much is clear by both Autumn’s and my reaction to her trying to end things between us.
Sherman turns with a disappointed sigh. “I’ll have Barbara arrange the meeting.”
Autumn didn’t return to the office for the rest of the day, communicating to me through Barbara that she would finish the day working from home. I’m keyed up while thekids and I have dinner, expecting, surely, at any moment, that I’ll receive a text from Autumn or a knock at the door. She might think she’s done with me, but after the way she barged into my hotel suite Friday night just so she could check on the kids, I can’t imagine she could or would so easily “move on” from them. They mean more to her than she wants to let on.
With the kids bathed and dressed in their pajamas, I’m not the only one who keeps drifting toward the front as the night wears on, peeking through the blinds at the houses across the street. My sweet Josephine looks up at every noise she hears from outside, holding her hairbrush on her lap. The closer we get to bedtime, the more disheartened she becomes… The more disheartened I am as well.
Maybe it would be for the best if Autumn “moved on” before the kids become any more attached to her than they already are. Yes, it’ll break Josephine’s heart, but surely time would heal that wound. Eventually. Hopefully.
As the clock ticks down, the four of us sit on the couch, cuddled close, while listening to Josephine read aloud a chapter from the third book inThe Babysitter’s Clubseries. Sebastian is already nodding off toward the end, and Benjamin’s eyes are starting to droop.
With one last peek at the darkened street, seeing no movement, I sigh. “Think it’s time for bed.”
Josephine shoots a worried look toward the front door, abandoning her book in favor of her hairbrush. “Please. Just five more minutes?”
Finally addressing the elephant in the room, I tell Josephine, “I don’t think Autumn is coming.”
Her chin begins to quiver. “Can’t you call her and ask?”
I give Josephine a searching look as her eyes turn watery. I want to give in and see Autumn as much as she does. But it’s best to get this over with. I squeeze her knee. “I know you care for her, but she’s not?—”
The beeps coming from the front door’s electric keypad have us both turning to face it, and Josephine’s expression lights up brilliantly.
“I didn’t miss bedtime, did I?” Autumn asks, rushing into the house before I have the chance to so much as rise, her cheeks flushed with exertion. Did she run here?
“Autumn!” Josephine shouts and bounces off the couch, startling Sebastian awake.
“Tum Tum!” Sebastian says, sliding off the couch to follow his sister, both of them wrapping their arms around Autumn.
I gape. “How do you know the code to my lock?” And why does it please me that she waltzed right in, as if she lives here?
Dressed in a silky black robe over her pajamas, wearing a brand-new pair of slippers on her feet, Autumn waves to the kitchen. “You have it written down and stuck to the refrigerator.” Then she bends and says to the kids, “Sorry, I’m late. I had to watch Brady until my parents got back from dinner.”
“You coulda brought him with you,” Josephine says, grumpy that she had to wait so long.
Autumn and I meet each other’s eyes over her head. “I’ll, um, ask him next time if he wants to come,” she says.
So there will be a next time. My shoulders relax at the thought.
Autumn nods at Josephine’s hairbrush with a smile. “Let’s get the boys to bed first. I want to try out a new braid I learned.”
“Okay!” Josephine takes off toward her bedroom. “And I can show you my new painting!”
As soon as she’s gone, Autumn’s smile moves to Sebastian, whom she lifts and settles on her hip, turning away from me without a word. Inside the nursery, she doesn’t pay me a lick of attention as I give Benjamin one last diaper change and shetucks Sebastian into bed, bending to kiss his cheek. The back of her robe rides up high, and I kick myself for forgetting my phone on the coffee table.
Autumn settles into the rocking chair and lifts her arms. “Come here, big boy.” She’s not talking to me, unfortunately.
“I’ll tell Josephine it’ll be a few more minutes,” I say quietly.
Autumn nods, humming when she reclines the chair and arranges Benjamin on her chest. “Don’t let me fall asleep,” she sings, rubbing the baby’s back. When I don’t say anything, because I absolutely do want her to fall asleep and accidentally spend the night once more, she kicks off her slippers and says, “And no sneaky pictures of my feet unless you plan on paying me for them. You still owe me for the other pics.”
