Nanny

25

Kate

I went to bed feeling like Alice after tumbling down the rabbit hole. This couldn't be happening to me.

Could it?

Braxton was polite and friendly the next morning. He played with the twins once they were awake, then left for the office.

But before getting on the elevator, he gave me a long, sensual kiss.

"Have a great day," he said.

I was too stunned to move until the elevator doors had closed and I heard the hum of machinery in the wall.

Fortunately, I had the twins to distract me from my love life. After breakfast we played in their room for an hour to get some energy out, and then we sat down in the library and began the first German lesson.

"You mean the silly language that Unkie Mat talks?" Barry asked.

"That's right. But it's not silly—it's just different!"

We began with the basic words and phrases used on a daily basis.

Good morning. Guten morgen.

Good day. Guten tag.

Good evening. Guten abend.

Please. Bitte.

Thank you. Danke.

You're welcome. Bitte.

The fact that please and you're welcome were the same word didn't confuse the twins like I expected it to. After practicing these phrases for fifteen minutes, I switched to inquisitive language. Basic questions they could ask when they needed to use the bathroom, or wanted a snack, or wanted to watch TV.

Allie was an excited, attentive student who wanted to do well and impress me. She carefully repeated every word, enunciating each syllable until she got it right.

Barry, on the other hand, was bored within five minutes. It was difficult to keep his attention. He needed several tries to repeat even the simplest words, and when we circled back around to say them again he had forgotten.

But it was the first day, and they were only four years old. I ended the lesson after forty-five minutes and took them to the kitchen to get a snack. That gave Barry the incentive he needed to learn the phrase, and he quickly began repeating it under his breath like a prayer.

"How was the first day?" Adam asked during lunch.

"Goat!" Allie proudly said.

"It's pronounced gut," I said patiently. "It rhymes with boot."

"Goot," she said slowly. "It's going goot."

"Very nice!" Adam said enthusiastically. "You two will be speaking German in no time."

Allie beamed at him, while Barry played with the crust of his sandwich.

I paused to play a Scrabble word on the board. "Twenty-nine points. So, how did the subject of last night's meeting come up?"

It took Adam a moment to realize what I meant. He narrowed his eyes at me and said, "Mathias texted us, actually. Apparently your date left a big impression on him."

It felt strange discussing the night with a different man, but I made myself push through the awkwardness. "It was a nice date. But I don't know how I left an impression. He did all the work, I just sat there and chatted with him."

"You went on a date?" Barry suddenly asked.

"I meant date, like a date on a calendar," I told him. "Eat your crust."