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Because what would she do?
“Well, I’ll... read,” she spluttered. “You know how much I like to read.”
God that sounded lame!
A horn sounded outside the house, and Em breathed a sigh of relief that her taxi had finally arrived.
She hurried the children back to the playroom with a final kiss and a hug, before rushing out of the door, swiping at her tears as she got into the vehicle that would take her away from the only place she really wanted to be.
“WHY DID YOU SEND EMIE away?”
Xander, Kyros and Coll exchanged a look. They’d known this would be an issue, so while none of them were surprised, it didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
Coll lifted a sobbing Nicky onto his lap and the little boy tucked into his broad chest and stuck his thumb in his mouth - something he rarely did anymore - while Coll rubbed the child’s back in soothing circles
“We didn’t send her away,” Xander replied to his son, trying the voice of reason, even though he knew all too well that didn’t always fly with a five-year-old. “We gave her a holiday. Emalee has worked every single Christmas since you were born, do you not think she deserves some time to herself?”
“She didn’t want to go,” Kira said stubbornly, deliberately standing off from the adults to communicate her displeasure.
“Now, matakia mou, I know you didn’t want her to go, but that doesn’t mean Emalee didn’t want to,” Kyros disagreed.
“I’m sure she’ll have a wonderful Christmas with her family. We can’t be selfish and make her stay with us,” Xander added.
“They on a ruse,” Nicky took his thumb out of his mouth long enough to answer.
“A what?” Coll questioned in confusion, peering down at his son.
“A cruise,” Alex corrected. “Her parents have gone on a cruise, so she’s not going to be with them.”
“Well, she has a brother and nieces and nephews,” Xander replied confidently. “I expect she’s going there instead.”
“No, her brother’s getting a divorce, that’s why her parents have gone away, because he’s not going for Christmas with them like usual.”
Kyros narrowed his eyes at his daughter. “And how exactly do you know that, Kira? Because I’m pretty certain it’s not the kind of information Emalee would have shared with you.”
Kira’s face heated and she shuffled her feet. “I heard her on the phone,” the little girl admitted.
Ky frowned, and when he spoke his voice was sharp and stern. “You know better than to eavesdrop, Kira. That’s an invasion of privacy. How would you like it if I snooped around listening to your personal conversations with your friends?”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she denied. “Not on purpose. But I heard Em crying and I was worried. I didn’t mean to listen; I just wanted to see if she was okay.”
The men shared a worried glance. But at the end of the day, Emalee’s private life was just that - private.
“And she was crying because she didn’t want to go away for Christmas!” Kira accused. She wanted to spend it with us.”
“Now, Kira, you can’t know that,” Xander chided. “She might just as well have been upset about the situation with her brother.”
“I do know!” Kira shouted, with a stamp of her foot. “She said she was going to spend Christmas reading! Who wants to do that?”
“Look, I know you’re all upset, but the fact remains that Emalee is your nanny, not your mother. She deserves a little bit of time to herself.”
“Well, I wish she was!” Kira sobbed, before she whirled away and stormed out of the room.
The twins nodded their solemn agreement, then ran after her, and even little Nicky climbed down off his father’s lap and toddled after them on his little chubby legs, towards the playroom.
Kyros rubbed his hands over his face then dragged his fingers through his hair as he stared after his daughter.
“Good luck there, man,” Coll said, half humorously but also half serious. “That daughter of yours is thundering in on adolescence at one hell of a pace!”
