Page 22 of The Nanny and the Nerd
Penelope wrung her hands. “I know we just met, and you probably get this a lot. But I must have watched Brennen Bergen propose to you on TV a million times. It was so romantic.”
He stared at his googly-eyed nanny. Not only was she a paper-hoarder. She was also a romantic.
The teacher grinned. “And now we’ve got a two-year-old at home. It’s like night and day. But I wouldn’t change a thing. Now,” the woman said, her expression growing serious. “I’m grateful to have you both here. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
Rowen prepared himself. This was his third after-school teacher chat in as many months.
“What happened this time?” he asked, glancing at his watch.
“We’ll get to that. First, I thought we could talk about a few academic issues,” Mrs. Bergen replied.
This was not good!
Multiple issues equaled more lost time—time that was running short on sorting out AI-77 issues. He’d have to pull an all-nighter. At least he had childcare for Phoebe now. “All right, what’s going on?” he pressed.
The teacher opened a folder and inspected a sheet of paper. “I was going over Phoebe’s literacy assessment and wanted to suggest some at-home ideas for helping her improve her reading and writing fluency.”
Penelope perked up. “I can help with that. I’m a writer.”
Mrs. Bergen cocked her head to the side. “I thought you were a nanny.”
“I guess I’m both now,” Penelope replied, doing that nervous lip nibble.
“That’s terrific!” the teacher offered with a wide grin as she jotted something down on the sheet of paper.
Score one for the nanny!
It was helpful that Penelope had these skills, but he needed to speed up this meeting.
“Is there a computer program or online tutorial program I can buy for Phoebe? That format would work best for us,” he rattled off. Pop the kid on the computer with a pair of headphones, and boom! Instant tutoring session. At least, that’s what he thought until the teacher’s brows knit together.
Crap! That wasn’t a good sign either.
“At this age,” she began, and Christ, he was in for a lesson! He should have let the nanny handle it. “Oral language is so important in planning and ordering. These skills strengthen a child’s ability to read, write, and comprehend. There are many things you can do at home to strengthen these skills. Cooking together and following a recipe or making up a story and reciting it out loud is a great way to bridge that gap.”
Penelope pulled her messy monster of a planner out of her tote, then fished a pen from the depths of her bag. He peeked inside, and… “Holy Shit!” he exclaimed. The bottom of the bag was as bad as the planner from hell! Stuffed with more papers and every Post-It note color under the sun. It looked as if a rainbow had decayed in there.
The teacher and Penelope stared at him. The nanny’s jaw dropped as the teacher recovered.
“Those naughty words you used are a helpful transition to the other issue I’d like to chat about,” Mrs. Bergen offered.
He felt his cheeks heat. Nice going, Gale! Drop an s-bomb in front of Phoebe’s teacher! Why don’t ya!
“Sorry.” He pointed to Penelope’s purse. “It’s a disaster in there. It caught me off guard.”
Penelope reared back. “It’s not that bad.”
“It is, Penelope. It really is.”
She held his gaze, and that zing was back, electrifying his system.
“No, it’s not. I know where everything is, and that’s what matters,” she replied, standing her ground—seriously attached to all that shit.
“How about we agree to disagree and move on?” he offered, catching the teacher in the corner of his eye.
Penelope straightened in her seat, then nodded.
“What’s the other issue?” he asked the teacher.
