Nanny

30

Kate

Adam didn't beat me in the second game, but it was close. Too close. I needed to brush up on my skills.

I was distracted, I thought after he had left. It's tough to focus when my body is full of sex hormones.

When I woke the kids from their nap, Barry looked at me funny. "Are you sick?"

"What? Why would I be sick?"

"Your face is all red," he said. "One time I had a fever, and my face was very red. Like yours."

"I promise I'm not sick," I replied. "Let's start the afternoon German lessons!"

Barry focused more on his lessons today. He squinted with concentration and tried really hard to pronounce every German word. I gave him lots of positive reinforcement, which made Allie try even harder than she had before. The twins fed off each other's energy, and soon they were competing to say each new word before the other.

After the lessons, we went into the kitchen to get their afternoon snack. Claudette was rubbing a pork loin with spices while humming to herself. She gave me a big smile.

"I know what you did," I said.

She continued humming and preparing the pork loin.

"You think you're really clever," I said. "Don't you?"

Without taking her eyes off the food, she asked, "Did it work?"

"Maybe."

She grunted. "Maybe? There is no maybe in love. If your answer is maybe, then it must not have been very good."

"No! It was great!"

Claudette smiled and nodded to herself. "As I suspected. Adam is a sweet boy. Out of the three of them, I like him most of all."

"Wait a minute," I said. "Are you aware of what's going on?"

She turned and gave me a knowing grin, and hummed even louder.

I looked over my shoulder to make sure the twins weren't paying attention, but they were busy eating their apple slices on the table. "Okay. What's your honest opinion of the whole thing? It's crazy, right?"

"Why should this be crazy?" she replied.

"Because... I don't know. It just is?"

She let out a dismissive harrumph. "Throughout all of history women have been told to remain meek and quiet. Especially here in America. Women pretend like they do not enjoy sex, for fear of being called a slut. Such prudishness! Why should we hide what we want? Hmm?"

I glanced at the twins again, and lowered my voice to a whisper. "But there's a difference between enjoying sex and... Being with three men."

"In my opinion there is no difference." She flipped the pork loin over and began coating the underside with olive oil. "If a woman is allowed to explore her sexuality, then that must include being allowed to explore multiple love partners. The logic is quite basic. A man must recover himself before making love again, but a woman can go forever. And so a woman should have multiple partners, if she so desires."

"You think it's really that simple?"

She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to me with a patient, grandmotherly smile. "I believe that everyone should live their life. We should do what feels good, no matter what others may think! This is simple to me, yes."

Allie got up from the table and tugged on Claudette's dress. "Claudette, do you ever sleep with daddy?"

She whirled around. "What did you ask me, Allie?"