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Chapter 25
SADIE
Another month went by, the chill of the early spring giving way to a tentative warmth. Noah and I had slipped into a strange routine, the two of us taking care of the children, and each other.
Our lovemaking was something that we gave into when the kids were down. I’d grab him or he’d grab me and we’d make love madly and passionately as if our passion were a small world that we escaped to when we needed it.
And we needed it often.
“So, let me ask you this,” I said. “What is it about being a nanny that you love?”
Monica, the fifty-something woman seated across from Noah and me in the living room of our home, glanced aside, giving the matter some thought. Monica was bright-eyed, with a narrow face and trim body, her hair worn short and her clothes stylish. She looked to me like any of the many hip, wealthy mothers I’d seen around the neighborhood at the parks or shops.
We were interviewing her to be our new nanny. I was back to work, Marta still letting me work remotely as I eased back into things. All the same, even with my home office it was hard to juggle the demands of work and the kids. To that end, Noah had suggested a nanny.
At first, I’d been totally against the idea. What kind of mother would I be if I wasn’t even able to tend to my own kids, after all? But he set me straight, letting me know that Monica, or whoever we ended up hiring, would be there during a daytime retainer. If we needed her, she’d come. Otherwise, she was just a phone call away.
Monica nodded, ready to answer.
“Well, it’s a bit awkward to say, but I was a teen mother.”
“Is that right?” Noah asked, leaning in.
“That’s right. I and my now-husband ended up becoming parents at the ripe old age of seventeen.” She shook her head and smiled, and I could sense she was mentally back in that day. “God, we were just kids. Anyway, after a little back and forth about what to do, we decided to keep it and get married. We had Sammie, our little girl. And not too far after that came Aiden, our boy.”
The way she talked about the two children left no doubt that she cared for them like crazy.
“Being a teen mom had its ups and downs. But the biggestdownwas one that neither of us had expected – it went by way too fast. Before I knew it, Dan, my husband, and I were in our late thirties, and Sammie and Aiden were both off to college. Dan had gotten into web design while I’d been a stay-at-home mom, and we were comfortable. But once the kids were gone, I got bored. So, being a nanny sounded like the best thing I could imagine! I’d get to spend time with amazing, adorable little kids, help out new moms, and get a chance to savor watching the kids grow up, knowing how fast it goes.”
She smiled. “Because believe me, it goesfast.”
I loved listening to her talk about parenthood, about what Noah and I had to look forward to.
“You’re damn right about that,” Noah said. He was seated next to me, his arm draped over the couch, the other on my leg. “The twins aren’t my first – got an older daughter that was born one day, off to law school the next.”
Monica smiled. “Then you get it. Every day is magical, and every day goes by too fast.”
The kids weren’t even four months old, and already I agreed with her.
The rest of the interview went amazingly well. My babies, who were both pretty good with strangers, each seemed to take a shine to Monica. And she was a natural with them, patient and funny and warm. When she left and it was just me and Noah with the twins once more, it seemed as if we didn’t even need to have a conversation to know we were on the same page.
“Well, she was pretty damn perfect,” Noah said, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of sparkling water. “Didn’t see a single thing wrong with her. What about you?”
“Same here.” I ran my hand through my hair, letting it all process. “Are you sure about this, though?”
He took a sip of his water. I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down in a way I could never seem to take my eyes off of. It was just one of the many little details about him that drove me crazy with desire.
“Sure about what? You’re back at work, and we need someone to watch the kids.”
“It’s just…I don’t know. With what she said about how time goes so fast when you have kids…”
He nodded, conceding the point.
“Monica was right about that. Kids are like little time machines. One minute they’re babies, the next they’re walking, then driving, then they’re off to college.”
“That’s what I mean. What if I’m in such a rush to get ahead in my career that I end up missing out on them growing up?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the twins. Both were asleep in their bassinets; both already having grown so much bigger than I could hardly believe.
