Page 3 of Nanny Crush
“Where we going, Dad?” Xander asks me as I help him into his coat.
“You and Sissy are going to Grandma’s!”
“Yay!” he cheers, jumping up and down.
“Maddy, baby. Let’s get your jacket on.” I bend down to her level and help her get her arms through her sleeves.
“Baby! Baby!” she yells, running back into the living room and getting her baby doll.
“Alright, are we ready?”
“Yeah!” Xander yells.
“Yeah!” Madison copies.
I take her hand and open the door. Xander runs out into the rain and straight over to my truck. He spins in circles as he waits for me to open the door. I open it and set Maddy inside. Xander climbs up, and I buckle him up before walking around to the other side to buckle Maddy into her seat. Finally, I’m able to climb behind the wheel and make the drive over to my mom’s house.
Sometimes, I regret the choices I made that got me to where I am now. I mean, I love my kids, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything, but sometimes I wish I had never married their mom. That I had found someone else, someone who wouldn’t run off. I hate that they were abandoned by their mother. Maddy doesn’t even remember her, but she’s only three and Miranda took off months after she was born. Xander, though, he remembers, since he was three when she left. It took some time, but he finally moved past her rejection. I’ve done the best I can with what I have, but I know it isn’t enough.
I drop the kids off at my mom’s, and I go back home to get some work done while it’s quiet. I go directly up to my office and sit behind my desk, trying to get myself back into the right headspace to work. A few years back, I started a company that creates learning games for kids. I never imagined it would take off the way it has. While I run my part from my home, I have a whole team working in an office a few towns over. We stay in constant contact through phone calls and emails, but I really miss being able to leave the house and go to work. Now that I’m working from home, I no longer have the option to escape. One day blurs into another, and another, and so on. I’m tired from trying to manage both sides of my life, and it would be great if I could find someone to pick up the slack around the house so that I could focus on my work.
I shake the thoughts from my head and get busy on testing every aspect of the newest game I created. A lot of our games are apps for phones and tablets, but this one will be the jackpot of them all. It has every game we’ve created all in one program that covers children from preschool to high school. Of course, as curriculums are updated in the school system, we’ll release updated versions of the game, and it will continue to make us money.
I lose myself in my work, and I don’t pull out until I hear the front door open and the kids screaming. I quickly look at the clock and see that it’s five-thirty. I was supposed to pick the kids up at five.
Shit.
I get up and rush down the steps.
“Daddy!” both kids yell as they run over to me and hug my legs.
Mom gives me a disappointed look. “Five o’clock, huh?”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I got caught up in work. I didn’t realize it was so late already.”
“Mmm-hmmm,” she says, walking over. “Give Nana hugs.” She drops down to her knees and hugs and kisses both kids. “I love you.”
“I love you, Nana,” Xander says, turning and rushing off to the couch where he turns on the TV.
“Wuv yew,” Maddy says, toddling to the corner of the living room where her toys are piled.
“Thanks, Mom, and I really am sorry.”
She stands up and heads for the door. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I reply, following her over and locking the door behind her.
Walking back into the living room, I ask the kids, “Who’s ready for dinner?”
“Me!” Xander yells.
“Me too,” Maddy says.
Alright. Time to find dinner.
I walk into the kitchen and look through the fridge. I don’t have any real food, so I pull out the frozen chicken nuggets and turn on the air fryer. I dig out a bag of French fries and then make a box of mac and cheese. While everything cooks, I unload and reload the dishwasher. I pour them both a glass of milk and then get out their slotted plates. Maddy gets four nuggets, some fries, and mac and cheese and Xander gets the same, except six nuggets. I set everything onto the table and call them into the room.
Xander hops up into his seat and immediately begins eating. Maddy rushes over to me with her arms up, needing me to put her in her highchair. I pick her up and set her in and she immediately sticks her fingers into the ketchup and licks them clean.
