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The next thing I knew, Banks and I were sitting there in complete silence as we watched Rhys explore the little world around him. He reached for the brightly colored toys and waved his arms around as he held them. Banks and I watched him with an avid fascination for a bit.
But eventually, Banks broke the silence and asked, “So, I started thinking after you left Harper Security Ops yesterday, and I quickly realized I should have asked some rather pertinent questions before we got to this point.”
Oh no.
Was he already reconsidering the job offer?
Not wanting to make a big deal about it and jump to any conclusions, I replied, “Well, I’m happy to answer any questions you have now. Was there something specific you were concerned about?”
He shrugged. “I mean, I know I asked how you felt about kids in general, and I’m relieved to know you love them, but I guess I probably should have confirmed that you had some experience in this capacity.”
Crap.
I wondered if I should just get up and walk out now.
“I won’t lie and say that I’ve got official experience as a nanny when I don’t, but I did have a couple of jobs as a babysitter when I was a teenager,” I revealed. “I’m not sureif that counts here, though.”
Banks tipped his head to the side and asked, “How old?”
A huge rush of air left my lungs. “Oh, gosh. I guess I was… maybe fourteen or fifteen. Something like that.”
Shaking his head through a soft laugh, Banks clarified, “No. I wasn’t referring to how old you were. I was wondering how old the children were that you were watching.”
I could feel the flush creep over my skin. I was already embarrassing myself, and it wasn’t even my first day on the job. “I’m sorry. Um, well, I didn’t watch anyone as young as Rhys. Most of the kids were toddler aged, maybe three, or older. But I did have one family I used to babysit for on occasion that had three children. There were two older sisters and a younger brother. The girls were five and three, I believe, when I first started watching them, but the boy was ten months old. And I should also note that I do have a niece. Her name is Ruby, and I spent a lot of time with her from the time she was born.”
The moment I’d shared that information, I saw something shift in Banks’s expression. It looked as though he was relieved to know I had some experience watching children.
“So, you really do love children, then?”
“I do,” I confirmed.
He nodded several times, his eyes roaming over my face. “I’m really sorry if I seem to be a bit out of sorts here. We’ve not had to do this before, and it’s always been my mom or dad who watches him. Rhys has never been left alone with anyone who isn’t family.”
I didn’t know why, but something about seeing the waythis was affecting Banks helped me. Maybe it made me realize that I wasn’t the only one who was nervous about this, even if our reasons for feeling that way were different.
It was heartwarming to see just how much concern Banks had for his son. There was a part of me—the part still hurt by my own father’s absence—that couldn’t fault the guy for wanting to make sure he didn’t make any mistakes when it came to his son’s care. Of course, I knew I wasn’t any sort of threat and would be a reliable choice if he decided to hire me officially.
“I can imagine it’s not easy, but I’m happy to answer any questions you have and help to ease your mind,” I insisted. “I understand you want to make the best decision for your son, so I’ll do what I can to make sure you know you’d be doing that.”
No sooner had I gotten those words out, a set of colorful plastic keys landed in my lap. I dropped my eyes to the keys, lifted them in my hand, and focused my attention on Rhys. I held the keys out in front of him, shaking them slightly, and said, “Hey, little man. Are you missing a set of keys? Or was this your way of telling us you want some attention?”
For the first time since I entered their home, Rhys smiled at me. His chubby cheeks and mostly toothless grin made my heart melt.
“Look at those two teeth you have starting there,” I noted. “I’ll bet it feels to your dad like you were just born, and here you are with two whole teeth, throwing around some keys.”
Rhys cooed at me, offering a bunch of baby gibberish in response.
“No way!” I replied. “Tell me all about it.”
Rhys continued with the sounds coming out of hismouth as he leaned forward on his hands, attempting to find a way to get closer to his keys.
“You want these keys, don’t you?” I asked him. “Are you crawling yet? Can you come over here to get them?”
Rhys was still sitting on his butt as he leaned forward on his hands, but that didn’t stop him from wiggling around and fighting to figure out how he was going to make it over to me, so he could get his keys.
I set the keys down right in front of me, reached both hands out to Rhys, and said, “I should probably just help you over here, if I want you to like me, shouldn’t I? How do you feel about meeting new people, Rhys? Would it be okay if I picked you up?”
Rhys managed to balance himself on one hand while he lifted the other up toward one of my hands. I took that as a sign he was okay with me picking him up.
