Page 38 of Nanny for the Rockstars

“She went to Mags, I told you,” Terry says.

“What do you think, Jeanette? You’ve been quiet this whole time. You must have some sort of thoughts on this,” I ask.

“I think she wants you,” Jeanette says.

“Me?” I ask.

“No, I mean, all of you. I think she wants to basically come in here and be one big happy family with you three and Hendrix. Basically, I’m scared she’s here just to be a replacement for me,” Jeanette says, her tone flat.

She seems to be trying to control her emotions, and I feel for her.

“Don’t worry about that one,” Caleb says. “You aren’t being replaced by anyone.”

“Not a chance of that,” I chime in. “Like, over my dead body.”

“You’re sweet,” Jeanette tells us, but the way she looks down at Hendrix with such sadness in her eyes tells me she doesn’t fully believe us.

“I wouldn’t replace you if you were the last woman on this planet,” Terry says.

“Duh,” I tell him. “How the fuck are you going to replace her if she’s the last one? There’d have to be at least one other woman or you wouldn’t have anyone to replace her with.”

“Good, because I wouldn’t replace her anyway,” Terry huffs back.

“Not to mention what would Hendrix do without you? You’ve been his mom for the past few weeks. I don’t know how much babies pay attention to things or wonder where anyone is, but I would have to say with his age, he’s gotten pretty attached to you since you’re the one who’s here with him,” Caleb says. “I think he’s aware enough of what’s going on to know that you’re the most important woman in his life.”

“Do you know that?” she asks Hendrix. He stares at her for a second with his wide eyes, then his face melts into a grin. Jeanette smiles at him in return. “I hope he does. I mean, I think you three know how much I’ve gotten attached to you in the past few weeks, but honestly, I’m not sure Hendrix realizes how much I’ve gotten attached to him. Like, I don’t know if I can rightfully say I’m his second mom, but I really feel like his mom.”

“There’s nothing wrong with calling yourself his second mom, or even his only mom in my book,” I say. “What would anyone expect from you? His real mom just dumped him off in some dressing room, but you stepped up and took care of him, and have taken care of him like he’s your own for the past few weeks.”

“Even still. I guess I’m just scared.” Jeanette sighs. “I don’t want to lose you or Hendrix or any of this. I didn’t know I would enjoy this life so much, and it wasn’t until that woman showed up saying that she’s the mom that it made me realize just how much I don’t want to lose him.”

“No one is losing Hendrix!” Caleb replies adamantly.

“Well, that’s easy for you to say since you’re his dads, but what about me? I’m just the nanny, and that doesn’t come with any level of security. Like, if she’s his mom and she told me I couldn’t ever see him again, that’s her right, and there’s jack shit I could do about it.” Jeanette is almost in tears.

“Alright, this is getting out of hand,” I announce. “I’m talking to Mags first thing and telling her not to let anyone come backstage. Period. She might have thought it was okay with the woman saying she was Hendrix’s mother, but if Clarissa Washington really wants to get in touch, she can get a lawyer and we’ll do it that way.”

“It seems like the smartest way to go about this,” Terry agrees, but Caleb shakes his head.

“What’s wrong?” Jeanette asks.

“I just don’t want this to blow up into something it doesn’t need to. We don’t need this to turn into a freak show or get any kind of unwanted publicity from it. Let’s just roll with the punches and see what happens,” he replies. “We’re not ignoring shit, and I’m telling you right now no one is going to interfere with the family unit we’ve built, but if we can avoid it turning into a public scandal, I’d appreciate it.”

“That’s fair,” Jeanette says. “We don’t want it to turn into one of those public circuses and have that be the only reason people want to listen to your music.”

“I think this whole damn thing is a publicity stunt or a way for her to get money. I don’t know how else to put it, but that’s what I’m seeing in this,” I say. “I don’t see any other reason why she’d dump him off like he was nothing, then turn right around a few weeks later and just show back up. At one of our shows, no less.”

“Thank god she didn’t make a scene during the show,” Caleb says.

“I bet you that’s coming,” Terry interjects. “I bet you anything she’s going to pull that after I scared her off by yelling at her.”

“Up the security,” Jeanette suggests. “That’s the only way I can think to keep her at bay.”

“Even then, we’re going to have to keep an eye out. I doubt she’s done with us,” I say. “In fact, I bet she’s just getting started.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Caleb says. “So brace yourselves.”

I shake my head. This is already turning into something way bigger than anything I want to deal with, but we’ve got no choice. Clarissa showed up. Uninvited, sure, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t exist.

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