Page 22 of Knox
“But I’m also home for half the season,” he clipped.
“We’ll have to figure something out,” Mallory said firmly. “Maybe it’s my chance to get to know some of the families on the team or something.”
Crew gave her a small nod. “Whatever you need, we’ll take care of it.”
Mallory looked down at her son, who was flipping through the pages of his picture book. “I know I won’t be ready to be alone with him all the time, but I want Grady to be with Crew as much as possible.”
“I’ve been thinking about options,” he advised her. “Knox and I can continue to take care of Grady while you’re here, and we’ll work on finding a live-in nanny who will be ready to start when we leave for spring training. We can also find some home healthcare options for you as well.”
“A live-in nanny? I’m not sure. I want to do as much as possible for Grady on my own.”
“Of course,” he agreed. “We can make sure whoever we find lets you take the lead, but they’ll be there and available for whatever you need.”
She smiled. “That would work. You two have done so much for me and for Grady. I owe you big time.”
“Hey, you’re family,” I said, taking a little pleasure in noting that in front of Debra. “We’ll always be here for you.”
“If you’re staying in Portland, then I’ll stay too,” Debra announced. “At least until you’re able to be on your own.”
Mallory smiled at her mom. “Thank you.”
“Okay.” Crew let out a breath. “Sounds like we have a plan. We’ll start looking for someone and once we have a few solid picks, we’ll have you make the final decision.”
Mallory leaned back on her pillows. “Sounds good to me.”
Three days later,we started interviews.
Crew had reached out to an agency recommended by one of our teammates whose wife had their fourth kid this off-season. It didn’t take long for them to send us a list of fifteen applicants. After reviewing resumes and conducting phone screenings, we invited eight candidates to meet with us in person.
Crew and I headed to Mallory’s house. Since that’s where the chosen candidate would be staying, it seemed like the right place to do the interviews. We got Debra and Hank to take Grady to the park for the afternoon.
“I feel like we’re drafting a player for our team,” Crew muttered from the couch while reading through the questions we’d prepared.
I chuckled. “We are, and this one’s responsible for your kid.”
He groaned. “No pressure or anything.”
The first candidate arrived ten minutes early, carrying a tote bag full of activities and a binder containing reference letters. On the surface, she seemed polished and professional, but it feltas though she was trying too hard. When Crew asked how she’d handle a child going through big changes, she launched into a clinical explanation about emotional trauma that sounded good but lacked compassion.
The second person was friendlier, but had less experience. She stumbled over a few answers and admitted she wasn’t sure how she would handle a situation where Grady refused to get dressed or eat breakfast.
The next two we eliminated right away. One asked if we really monitored Grady’s screen time, as she checked her phone twice during our conversation. The other was clearly there for a paycheck and didn’t even pretend to like taking care of children.
“At this rate, we aren’t going to find anyone,” Crew grumbled as we waited for the next interviewee to arrive.
“Don’t give up hope yet. We still have three to meet.”
A few minutes later, Archer Harrison walked in.
He was tall and built like he could play on the field with us, but had a calm presence about him that immediately put me at ease. When we first went through the list, I’d done a double-take at his name because somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I was holding onto the idea that the job came with certain gender expectations.
Crew had called me on it.“Don’t be so quick to judge. You know how people make assumptions about gay athletes and whether they should play or not. Let’s not turn around and do the same thing here.”
I remembered that conversation as Archer shook our hands. He didn’t bring a bag of tricks or a list of credentials, but he came across as friendly and confident, which I preferred anyway.
“We have a few questions for you,” Crew began as we sat at the dining room table. “First, how did you start working as a nanny?”
Archer smiled and settled back in his chair. “It started as a part-time job in college. I was majoring in early childhood development and needed flexible work hours. I ended up loving it.”
