“Daddy?” the voice was a loud whisper.

JC ignored it and tried to sleep.

“Daddy?” the voice was louder now, almost panicked.

He opened his eyes and turned his head to the side. There was Emma-Claire standing next to him, her blue eyes piercing his in the dark. Her pajama top was swathed in something he couldn’t detect until he took a whiff of what was most definitely vomit. His stomach churned and he sat up, looking next to him at a sleeping Lauren. The sheet had fallen off of her and her breast was exposed. Quickly and deftly, JC pulled the covers on top of her, then turned on the lamp next to his bed. Emma-Claire was covered in vomit and her face was flushed a bright pink.

“Daddy, I threw up,” her lower lip quivered and she began to cry. Lauren stirred next to him, rolled over and let out a sigh in her sleep. JC glanced at Lauren and then back at Emma-Claire.

“Um. Yeah. Ok. Let’s, um, let’s go find Annie,” JC was thankful he’d pulled on his boxers again so that he didn’t get out of bed naked in front of his daughter. As he pulled on the closest pair of jeans he could find, he reasoned with himself that going to get Annie made the most sense. After all, he was leaving early in the morning. He had to be up in three hours. Emma-Claire could just go and sleep over at Annie’s and they could worry about cleaning everything up the next day. He grabbed a t-shirt hanging off of the plush chair next to the door and threw it on, as Emma-Claire followed him out of the bedroom.

“Who was that lady?” Emma-Claire asked, as they walked into her room.

“Nobody,” he muttered. Her bed was covered in her sickness and JC felt his stomach toss back and forth. He sequestered it as best he could, found a clean pair of pajamas, then walked back to the door. “C’mon. Let’s go get you to Annie’s.”

“Am I gonna stay at Annie’s?” Emma-Claire followed her father downstairs as fast as her little legs could carry her. “Daddy, do you have pink medicine? Mommy always gives me pink medicine when I’m sick.”

JC paused and sighed. He was exhausted and he wanted to get back in his bed before his alarm would go off, signaling a long day of travel. “No, I don’t. Sorry,” he told her, his tone short and to the point. “Maybe Annie does.” Truth was, JC had no idea what he had in the medicine cabinet. There could have been Pepto Bismol, which was the medicine he assumed Emma-Claire had been talking about. He opened the sliding glass doors and walked outside with Emma-Claire behind him. The night air was cool but felt nice to JC as he’d felt somewhat queasy smelling the vomit on his daughter. The pool house was dark and JC almost felt bad about what he was going to do. Nonetheless, he had an early morning and it just made the most sense.

Annie had been sound asleep in her bed when she heard a pounding on the door. Her eyelids flew open and her heart began to race. There wasn’t anyway an intruder had gotten past the security gate at the entrance of the neighborhood, was there? She gulped and tried to get her heart rate back to normal. She wasn’t about to go answer that door in the middle of the night. The pounding continued, this time with a familiar voice on the other end.

“Annie! Open up. It’s JC!”

She grabbed her phone that rested on the nightstand by her bed and tapped on the touch screen. It illuminated the small loft space and the time was nearing three in the morning. What could he want at this hour of the night? Throwing the covers off of her, Annie came down the set of stairs as fast as she could. Maybe there’d been a fire in the main house? No. Maybe he’d been up most of the night and wanted to apologize to her? A fire was more likely to have happened then for him to apologize and she knew it. She walked to the French doors and saw JC and Emma-Claire, covered in something she couldn’t detect. The little girl looked absolutely miserable and Annie couldn’t blame her. It was three in the morning and her father had her outside in the middle of the night!

“What’s going on?” Annie asked as soon as she opened the door.

“Emma-Claire threw up all over her bed. I’ve got to be up in three hours so it just made sense to bring her to you and let her stay here tonight,” JC said this as he and Emma-Claire walked into the pool house. “I’ve got her a pair of extra pajamas.” He held them up and smiled as though he had just won the award for Father of the Year.

“You brought her to me because you didn’t want to take care of this yourself?” Annie had already lost her cool with him earlier that night and in her tired state, she certainly didn’t care how she was coming off right then. “JC, all you had to do was change her pajamas, change her sheets, and put her back to bed.”

“Annie, I’ve got to be up early! I don’t have time for cleaning up puke!” JC looked at her as though she were clueless. “I’ve got her clean clothes. What more do you want?”

Annie rubbed her eyes and groaned. That was a loaded question and she knew she must tread carefully. Nannies were a dime a dozen in L.A. and although he needed her more than she needed him, she would not let herself get fired and make Emma-Claire lose someone else she loved yet again. “What more do I want?” she repeated his question. “I want you to realize that I’m a nanny, not a parent substitute.”

So much for treading lightly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” JC glared at her.

“It means….nothing. Never mind,” she wouldn’t lose her cool. It was the middle of the night, she was exhausted, and she needed to get Emma-Claire out of her vomit -ridden pajamas. “You could have at least changed her. Was that too hard?”

“I was feeling sick,” JC admitted honestly. “I can’t really stand to be around puke. It makes me feel like I’m going to have to hurl next.”

Annie shook her head. “Well, welcome to parenthood, JC.” She turned to Emma-Claire. “Come here, honey. Let’s get you out of those clothes.”

“I need the pink medicine, Annie,” Emma-Claire rubbed her eyes and whimpered.

“I know, girl. I think I’ve got some in my bathroom,” she looked at JC. “Change her into her pajamas and I’ll go find her some medicine for her stomach.” Annie didn’t give him a chance to answer, only went into the bathroom and began to look through her medicine cabinet above the sink.

JC tried his best to take off Emma-Claire’s pajama top without getting anything on him. He made a face as he pulled it over Emma-Claire’s head and threw the shirt to the floor.

“Daddy, my stomach feels bad again,” Emma-Claire leaned in towards JC.

“I know. Annie’s getting you some medicine,” JC took the clean pair of pajamas and began to put them on her. Just as Annie walked back into the room, Emma-Claire lurched forward, opened her mouth, and threw up on JC’s shoulder.

Serves him right, Annie thought to herself and went over to Emma-Claire to begin cleaning her up. JC made a face and closed his eyes, breathing in and out slowly. He stood to his feet and went over to the kitchen. He threw the t-shirt off of him and into the sink.

“Okay, girl, I want you to take your medicine and then Daddy’s going to help me make a bed on the couch for you,” Annie said, directing everything at JC.

JC turned and shook his head. “What part of ‘I have to get up early’ did you not understand? No, I can’t help you. I’m going back to my house and-“

“Daddy has a lady spending the night,” Emma-Claire said as Annie wiped off her face and bare stomach.

Annie caught JC’s eye then went back to Emma-Claire. She didn’t want to draw attention to what the little girl had said so went back to JC’s comment. “You can help me make her a bed on the couch since you woke me up in the middle of the night. I’ll wash your t-shirt for you. I think it’s the least you can do. I’m pretty sure I’ll be tending to your sick child the entire week.”

Well, she had him there. He sighed and quickly washed his hands and went back into the foyer where Annie was just finishing dressing Emma-Claire. “There are some extra sheets in the linen closet in the bathroom,” she told JC. She looked up and caught a glimpse of him shirtless for the second time in less than a week. Jerk or not, he had a nice physique and there was no denying that. She ignored it and went into the living area with Emma-Claire. JC walked in carrying a stack of sheets and set them down on the coffee table. He watched as Annie went into the kitchen, took a spoon from the cutlery drawer and came back to give Emma-Claire her medicine.

“Two big spoonful’s, okay?” Annie coaxed the child, smiling at her.

Emma-Claire nodded and opened her mouth, taking in the spoon.

“Good. Go sit over there while Daddy and me make your bed, okay?” she turned to JC and he sighed, handing her the sheets. Though it really only took one person, Annie didn’t want to let him off the hook so easily. He’d woken her up in the middle of the night and for something that he was quite capable of managing himself if he’d only stop being a jerk about it all. She’d seen him be completely different for People. She knew he couldn’t have just acted all of that. He had to have some sort of feeling for this adorable little girl. Annie knew it all boiled down to the fact that JC was mad that his schedule had been thrown off. His world, in fact, had been thrown off. And he wouldn’t accept it. That was the hardest part of it all.

“There,” Annie said, once the bed was made. “Come on over here and get in, Emma-Claire.” She turned to the little girl who had fallen asleep in the chair next to the couch. Annie went over to her and collected the child in her arms. JC watched as Annie expertly pulled the sheet back and laid Emma-Claire beneath it. She pulled it up to her shoulders and kissed the girl’s temple. For a split second, JC wished he’d been the one to have done it all and felt ashamed that he had dragged his daughter all the way over to the pool house.

“Um, thanks,” he cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly at Annie.

Annie said nothing, only stood to her feet and walked into the bathroom. She came out with a small trashcan and placed it next to the couch. JC followed her back towards the foyer. Annie turned to face him, her hands on her hips,  and her eyes in an icy stare.

“I hope you have fun in New York. And I hope that while you're gone, you miss your little girl so much that you will wish for her to come wake you up in the middle of the night again,” Annie spat. “This isn’t what I signed up for. I’m a nanny, I’m not supposed to be a parent!” She was on a roll and didn’t stop. “I love your little girl which is the only reason I’m not going to quit and I know you know that I’m the only stable thing she’s got right now and you’d be a fool to fire me. But this is the last straw. You’ve got to learn how to do some of this shit yourself or else I don’t know how long I can take it. I realize you have to be awake soon. I realize you’re a big music producer and you’ve got your own life to attend to. But you’ve got to realize that there’s a little girl in there who’d do anything for you to pay her some attention. You’ve got to realize that life doesn’t always turn out the way you planned it to turn out. Things change, roll with the punches!”

JC couldn’t believe everything she’d just spewed. He watched her waiting to see if she was finished and when she stood there glaring at him, he finally spoke.

“Are you finished?” his voice was soft, just above a whisper, but his tone was sharp.

“I am,” she countered. They were both in a standoff and Annie felt her heart racing. She’d not been this angry in a long time, maybe ever, in her life.

“Good. I’m sorry I brought her over here and woke you up. But I honestly had no idea what to do!” he snapped at her. His chest heaved and he was trying not to shout. “You seem to always have the answers. You seem to know what to do and how to do it and I have a long day tomorrow and just figured this once it wouldn’t be such an issue!”

“Just this once?!” Annie scoffed. “I can’t even respond to that, JC. You’ve missed tucking her in, you’ve missed taking her to preschool, you’ve missed out on so much with her. She’s going to become a stranger to you and she’s your daughter!”

JC felt his heart and stomach switch places. A stranger. Like his own birth father was to him. A stranger. And here he was, living down the hall from her. He shook his head. No. He wouldn’t think about it. He didn’t want to think that he was turning into the one person he’d despised since he could remember.

“I’ll call you tomorrow when we get settled,” was his cold response. “I need to go.” He left without looking back and shivered as he stepped into the chilly night air. He wanted to throw something or hit someone. Her words echoed painfully in his mind. You’re becoming a stranger to her.

Annie had forgotten about the fact that JC was supposed to have called her that next day. She had spent the morning taking care of a sick Emma-Claire in the pool house and by the afternoon, all she’d wanted to do was sleep. Emma-Claire made that easy on her as the child only wanted to do the same. Annie found a recipe for chicken soup and tried to see if Emma-Claire could stomach it after not throwing up for a few hours. After the first bowl, her stomach seemed to settle. Annie grabbed a few overnight items and took Emma-Claire back to the main house.  By seven that evening, the little girl was out cold in her bed. Annie quickly freshened up and turned on the television to look at the movies available on JC’s Netflix account. She found a bottle of wine downstairs and grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinet in the kitchen. At nine sharp, Doug called from the front gate of the neighborhood and Annie let him through. He was at the door five minutes later.

“Hi,” he greeted her. “I brought a bottle of wine.” He held up a bottle of Pinot Noir and Annie chuckled.

“I have one as well. Come on in,” she opened the door and he stepped inside. He settled on the couch and Annie went into the kitchen to open the first bottle of wine she’d swiped from downstairs. She heard her phone ringing in the living room.

“It’s JC. Should I answer?” Doug called to her.

“Sure. Tell him I’ll be there one second,” Annie replied.

“Annie’s phone. This is Doug,” Doug said, answering the call.

JC did a double take. The guy from the other night was back? “Um, hi. This is Annie’s boss. Is she around?”

“Sure. She’ll be here in one second,” Doug replied. “Hey, Annie?”

“I’m here,” Annie came into the living room holding a glass of wine in each hand. She gave one to Doug and set the other down on the coffee table as she sat down on the couch. Taking the phone from Doug, she said, “Hey, JC.”

“Who’s that?” was his first response.

Annie made a face. “Um, a friend. I’m allowed to have friends over while you’re gone, right?” It was sarcastic but she didn’t care. After last night she was quite over being polite to him anymore.

JC grimaced. Of course she was allowed to have friends over. And after he’d had Lauren spend the night, who was he to judge. It was just the thought of what she might do later with that friend that made him…he shook the thought quickly. What was he thinking? Why did he care that Annie the Nanny had a male friend over?

“Hello? Are you there?” Annie said into the phone after a long pause.

“Oh. Yeah, I’m here and yeah, you can have whoever you want over,”

“Is that why you called?”

“I called to check on my daughter,”

“Good to hear you calling her that,” Annie couldn’t help that last remark. It was bold but again, she was beyond caring anymore.

“Wow, you’re certainly bitchy when you want to be,” JC mumbled.

“Emma-Claire is fine. She’s been asleep since seven and hasn’t thrown up since two this afternoon. I’m pretty sure it’s a 24-hour bug,”
“Good to hear,” JC let out a sigh. “Um, look. About last night.”

“You mean this morning?”

“Whatever. Fine. This morning. I’m sorry. I know I came off wrong. I really don’t want you to quit. We, I mean, she needs you. I mean, I need you too because I don’t know what to do with my own kid,”

Annie softened and couldn’t help but smile. “When you come back, maybe we can work together on a few things. It’s not hard and she’s not a difficult kid.”

“I’d like that,” JC let out a breath.

“But you have to be around more. You at least have to give yourself a few days with her if you really want this to work.”

“I want it to work.”

“Good. Then your first lesson is on Sunday,” Annie told him, as she leaned back into the couch. Doug settled next to her and draped his arm across her shoulder. She looked up and winked at him.

“Fine. Sunday. Tell Emma-Claire I said hello. And tell her I miss her.”

“Do you really?”

JC had to admit he did. Earlier that day when they’d walked past the Toys R Us on Times Square he’d immediately thought of her. That was progress wasn’t it? “I do. I’m not just saying that.”

“That’s good to hear,” Annie smiled. “And a relief if I’m honest.”

“I have to run. Thanks again, Annie. I’ll check in tomorrow. Have fun.”

“Bye, JC.”

She hung up and looked at Doug. “So, what movie did you want to watch?”

Doug shrugged his shoulders and took the remote from the coffee table, scrolling through the options. “The Breakfast Club is always a good option,” he suggested and Annie nodded as Doug hit “Play.” She felt a weight being lifted from her recalling her conversation with JC. He sounded genuine and perhaps he was turning a new leaf. Maybe what she’d said had made somewhat of a difference. Settling herself near Doug, she watched as the opening credits of the movie began to play.

An hour later neither Doug nor Annie were paying any attention to the movie. He was on top of her, his hands underneath her shirt and hers clinging to his neck. His lips were attached to her neck and every now and then, Annie would let out a sigh or a moan, pushing him even further.

“Annie, I could change my plane ticket,” Doug said, kissing her lips, then her jawline. “You could make me do that.”

Annie giggled beneath him. “Oh really? Do I have that much power over you?”

“You just might,” he reached behind her and unhooked her bra, then looked at Annie. “Should we take this upstairs?” His hand caressed her back as he moved them to her bra strap.

“No,” Annie shook her head. She gasped as he cupped one of her breasts in his hand. “No, Doug. Wait.” She pushed him off of her gently and bit her lower lip. She’d wanted to continue with every fiber in her being, but she couldn’t bring herself to carry on. “I’m sorry. I know you probably think I’m a prude, but I just don’t think we should do anything else until we go on a date first.”

Doug’s face was flushed and he wiped his brow, then smiled assuredly at her. “No. It’s fine. I totally understand,” he buttoned his shirt up quickly. “So, how about Saturday night?”

“You’re leaving on Friday,” Annie reminded him, fastening her bra.

“I already told you could make me change my ticket,” he winked at her and she smiled at him.
“Saturday is a date,” she replied and cuddled next to him.

By the time he left, Annie was already feeling much better about everything. Before she fell asleep that night in the guest bedroom, she’d texted Megan to let her know that she had a date with Doug. Megan had only texted back a lot of exclamation points and happy face emoticons, which Annie took as a positive response. She fell back against the pillow, glad that the day was finally done.

By Thursday, Emma-Claire was back to her normal self and went to preschool. Annie had talked to Doug almost non-stop for the last two days and Annie was enjoying herself very much. He’d come over a few times and even played with Emma-Claire, who relished the time with anyone new.

“What are these?” Annie pulled out a box of Lucky Charms from the shopping cart. The threesome had gone to Safeway to get a few items for dinner that evening. While Annie had gone to pick up some fresh produce, Doug and Emma-Claire had ventured over to the cereal aisle.

“She said it’s her favorite,” Doug looked down at Emma-Claire.

“Emma-Claire, we have a whole box of these at home, silly,” Annie tousled Emma-Claire’s hair and placed the box back on the shelf where it belonged.

“But it’s out of marshmallows!” Emma-Claire whined, her lower lip protruding into a pout.

“That’s because you take them all out when you eat a bowl of it!” Annie rolled her eyes. “Let’s go. Unless you’ve got other items in here I need to know about.”

“Sorry,” Doug apologized to Annie.

“Oh, it’s fine. She’s got to learn to finish a box of cereal before we buy a new one,” Annie pulled the cart into the Ten Items or Less lane and stood with Doug behind her and Emma-Claire staring at the gum and magazines. Suddenly, Emma-Claire gasped and pointed to the latest issue of People.

“It’s me and Daddy!” she squealed, causing a few people to turn around and stare. Annie smiled nervously and took the magazine from the shelf. There was a small picture of JC in the right hand corner with Emma-Claire on his shoulders. The caption of the article read The Real Story of My Daughter. She threw it in the cart and made a point to read it before he came home.

“Can I see it, Annie?” Emma-Claire begged as they pulled out of the parking lot. Annie nodded and turned to Doug, who was in the passenger seat.

“It’s in the bag with the produce,” she said and Doug reached down to take the magazine from the bag of groceries. “Actually, why don’t you read it to us. Is that okay, Emma-Claire? And then you can look at your picture.”

Doug opened the magazine and began to read aloud. The article started off with a small sequence about JC’s home, the toys that were now strewn across the back patio and the living room, the guest room that had been turned into a bedroom, and that JC was smiling about all of the changes in his life now.

“That’s a lie,” Annie muttered to herself. “Sorry. Go on.”

Doug continued and the article went into a short interview whereupon JC was talking about how much time he spent with his daughter and that he had hired outside help for a few days a week. Annie nearly slammed on the brakes when she heard that line.

“A few days a week?! When does six out of seven days constitute a few days a week?” she groaned and shook her head.

“Should I go on?” Doug asked, looking from her to the article.

“Sure. Let’s see what other bull he’s spewing,” she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes when Doug read that he and Emma-Claire spent many a day at the park.

“Really? That’s interesting. He’s been maybe once with her,” Annie glanced at Doug. “That’s enough. Really. I can’t take that anymore. Emma-Claire, you can look at the pictures.”

“You know those magazines make up half that shit,” Doug said quietly, when Annie pulled into the driveway of JC’s house.

“Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure all of that was JC,” Annie replied and got out of the car, helping Emma-Claire out of the backseat.

“Annie, look! It’s me and Daddy at the park!” Emma-Claire thrust the magazine in Annie’s hands. Annie looked down to see a grinning JC pushing Emma-Claire on the swings. Emma-Claire was laughing heartily.

Too bad that doesn’t really happen, Annie thought to herself. She forced a smile and looked down at her charge. “That’s a cute picture of you, sweetie,” she managed to say and walked towards the house.

JC called later that evening to let Annie know he’d be back around eleven the next night. Annie didn’t say much, only agreed to staying in the house that night and watching Emma-Claire on Saturday while JC slept. Besides, she was going to give him a good lesson on Sunday and that was the lesson of doing it all on his own for the whole day.

“Oh by the way, your magazine article is out,” Annie said nonchalantly.

JC cringed. He’d read the article earlier that day. “Um, yeah. About that. I know some of it came across a little exaggerated-“

“Some of it?” Annie scoffed. “Yeah, some of it did come across that way.”

“Fine. All of it. I wasn’t prepared. I should’ve waited a few more weeks.”

“It is what it is,” she sighed.

“I’m really sorry. I know you already think I’m a horrible father,” he said, in hopes that she’d disagree, but she didn’t. “So, yeah, I’m really sorry about that. I know it was all exaggerated and-“

“It was lies, JC,” Annie said softly. “Just admit it. You lied in that entire article. And saying that you had outside help a few days a week? That’s kind of insulting to the person who’s your outside help!”

“I know, Annie. I was, I was caught off guard and I just said the first thing that came to my mind,” JC was sitting on his hotel bed and looking out at the New York skyline slowly lighting up the evening. “Look, I can get my publicist to call them and schedule another interview and-“

“No. It is what it is. You can’t take it back. It’s in print. And maybe one day you’ll be the father you claimed to be in that article,” Annie yawned and looked at the time. “It’s almost midnight here, okay? I have to get up early with Emma-Claire tomorrow. Oh and by the way, I was hoping you’d be okay to take over Saturday around eight PM?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Because I’ve got a date and the guy I’m going out with is leaving on Sunday afternoon to get back to Texas,” Annie felt as though she were divulging too much information about her personal life to him lately but she didn’t care. Their employer to employee relationship had been different from the beginning.

He didn’t know why he felt chills going up and down his spine when she told him what she’d told him but he did and JC wanted to tell his emotions to halt.

“Oh. Um. Well, that’s great,” he finally said. “Yeah. That’s fine. No problem. Okay, I have to go. Tell Emma-Claire I’ll see her on Saturday morning, then.”

Annie took the phone away from her ear and looked at it as though it were JC and made a face. He had ended the call abruptly and hung up. She rolled her eyes and placed it next to her, immediately falling asleep.

JC looked at his phone after he’d hung up and felt that familiar feeling of jealousy returning to him. Why did he seem to feel like that towards her lately? He still really didn’t know her and yet whenever she’d mentioned the guy her friend had set her up with, he felt himself filling up with envy and jealousy towards this stranger. He could call Lauren. Maybe a bit of phone sex would do him good. He went to find her number in his phone and then decided against it.  He laid back on the bed, knowing that he had to meet the girls and Jimmy downstairs for a late dinner in a half hour but for some reason, not feeling hungry or excited at all about it. His thoughts were jumbled and he wanted to forget how he’d felt when Annie had mentioned she was going on a date.

He stood to his feet and walked over to the dresser staring at himself in the mirror. It suddenly dawned on him and he wanted to hit the reflection he was staring at.

“I’m an idiot,” he said aloud. “I’m not going to have a crush on my daughter’s nanny!” At that instant, his phone buzzed with a text message from Jimmy telling him that the dinner had been moved and they were leaving in fifteen minutes. JC was thankful for the distraction. He needed a few beers and he needed to have fun tonight.

And he needed to get over the fact that he was falling for Annie Leighton.