Nanny

17

Kate

Adam wasn't the only person I flirted with as the week went on.

On Thursday night, Braxton's personal trainer Mathias came down to dinner. Claudette made lasagna with ground lamb that was so good I wolfed down my first helping and eagerly served myself a second.

"She approves of the meal!" Mathias boomed happily. A grin split his chiseled face. "Claudette's lasagna is my favorite. She made it especially for me."

"I was not aware you would be here," she said. "If I had known, I would have prepared a microwave dinner for you."

Mathias pounded the table with a fist and roared with laughter. "A chef such as yourself could never cook a microwave meal! Your hand would cramp while pressing the button!"

"Daddy, what's a microwave meal?" Allie asked.

"A meal for savages," Claudette said, turning up her nose. "Food should not be treated so."

"Not everyone has a private chef," Braxton said calmly. "Some people need to make dinner quickly, so the grocery store makes meals that you pop in the microwave."

"Like popcorn!" Barry exclaimed.

"Like popcorn," his dad agreed. "But more healthy."

"Popcorn is healthy," Barry said.

"That's debatable," I said. "I've had plenty of nights where I've been too lazy to cook something, so I tossed a TV dinner in the microwave."

"TV dinner?" Allie asked.

"Oh!" Mathias said while grinning at me. "You've done it now!"

"What's a TV dinner?" Allie asked.

"That's another name for a microwave dinner," I explained. "I think they're called that because you eat them in front of the TV."

Braxton winced.

Barry's eyes opened wide. "Can we eat dinner in front of the TV?"

Suddenly I realized my mistake. "No. Definitely not."

"But you ate them in front of the TV," Barry said, like a four-year-old lawyer cross-examining a witness. "Didn't you?"

"I never did," I said. "That would be awful manners."

"Terrible manners!" Mathias agreed.

Allie ate a bite of lasagna and said, "Can we have popcorn later?"

"Popcorn is only for movie night," Braxton said. "Maybe this weekend."

That derailed the kids away from the topic of eating while watching TV.

"This lasagna is amazing," I said. "I need to start exercising again."

"Why?" Allie asked.

"Because if I don't, then I'm going to gain a hundred pounds!" I said. "I won't be able to fit through the elevator!"

The twins both giggled at the image.

"I think you look fantastic," Braxton said to me. "You don't need to worry about your figure."

I blushed at the unexpected compliment. "Maybe now I do. But a few more weeks of eating this amazing food... No, I need to get back into a workout routine."

Mathias carefully put down his fork and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "I shall help you," he said solemnly.

"You'll what?" I asked.

"I can be your trainer!" Mathias replied. "If you truly are interested in a workout routine."

I gawked at him. I was only talking out loud. I hadn't had a normal exercise routine in years. Talking about getting back into things was more rhetorical than anything. A goal that would never really happen.

"Aren't you busy with Braxton? And your other clients?"

"Other clients?" Mathias barked a laugh. "I work for Brax exclusively. And a few of his managers, but they are too lazy to utilize my services!"

"You would have time for that?" I asked.

"I make Brax sweat in the morning," Mathias said. "I make Brax sweat in the evening. Everything in between? I have free time."

"He's not wrong," Braxton said. "Only one of my employees has been making time with him in the morning, before the market opens. He has plenty of time outside of that."

Mathias leaned across the table intently. "What time are you free? Evening? Morning, while the little ones sleep? Tell me what you need, and I shall accommodate!"

"I actually have a big chunk of time while they're napping," I admitted. "It's right after lunch, and I'm always kind of sluggish then."

Mathias clapped his hands together. "Then it is settled! While the little ones nap, we shall sweat!"

"I want to sweat too!" Barry said.

Mathias boomed with laughter. "When you are old enough, I will train you to run a five-minute mile! But now you are just a tiny baby person."

"Nuh uh!" Barry argued. "Last month I grew one inch."

"One inch?" Mathias gasped. "How is such a thing possible? One inch! Soon you will be tallest boy in the city of apples!"

"The big apple!" Allie corrected with a giggle.

Mathias got up from the table. "Since you will soon be a giant baby person, I must carry you around while I still can!"

He threw Barry over his shoulder and jogged around the living room while the child squealed with excitement. Braxton and I laughed and smiled at the sight.

I thought about it more that night while getting ready for bed. I wasn't unhappy with how I looked, but I knew that a little bit of exercise would be good for my overall health. The last time I had a good exercise routine was three years ago, when my translator coworker Beth started jogging after work. I would never have gone by myself, but she always managed to drag me with her. Being accountable to another person made it much more difficult to not exercise.

Maybe that's what I needed. Someone like Mathias to keep me on track.

Adam and I played Scrabble during lunch while the twins watched. That was fun because every word was a learning opportunity for them. Expanding their vocabulary while Adam and I enjoyed our game.

I ended up barely edging him out. I put the twins down for their nap, and then Mathias emerged from the elevator.

"HALLO, MY NEW CLIENT!" he boomed.

I quickly put a finger to my lips and shushed him. "The twins just started their nap. If they know you're here they won't be able to sleep!"

Mathias ran a hand through his blond hair and nodded. "I cannot blame them," he whispered. "I am tremendous fun!"

The food I had eaten at lunch was sitting heavily in my stomach, and the thought of catching my own nap was tempting. But Mathias was here and raring to go...

"We don't have to start today," I said. "If next week is better for you..."

"Nonsense!" he said in his loud-whisper. "Today is the best day to begin!"

"I don't know if I'm ready to start," I said. "I'm kind of tired, and I don't have all my workout clothes..."

His bright face darkened with seriousness. "Kate. You are my new client. This means it is time to get sweaty. If you resist, I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you into the gym. I do not think you weigh more than young Bartholomew."

I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but based on the way he ran around with Barry over his shoulder last night, I didn't want to test him.

Although the idea of being carried around by a big, strong man was exciting in a cavewoman sort of way.

I rummaged through my bag for something to wear. I didn't have my workout clothes with me, but I did have a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt that would do. I changed and went down the hall, tip-toeing past the twins' room.

I have my own personal chef and now my own personal trainer, I thought as I entered the gym. Being the nanny for a billionaire certainly has its perks.