Where the Heart Is |Virgato|

Chapter 10

Chris doesn't get back home until a quarter to nine. It's largely due to heavy traffic along the highway leading out of Downtown Los Angeles, but also partly due to the fact that he actually did it. He managed to get the job and the film producer, Mr. Fischer, liked him so much that he offered to buy Chris a drink and continue their discussion in a more relaxed setting. Thankfully, he took no offense when Chris declined the offer and explained that he needed to get back home as soon as possible, and now here he is, home at last.

The house is unusually silent when Chris steps through the front door, which is surprising because the girls still have half an hour to play before bedtime. It's only when he enters the family room that he's able to understand the silence. He finds the cutest sight of all: his daughters curled up on the sofa on either side of Joel, fast asleep while the Spongebob Squarepants movie plays on the television. Joel glances up from his phone when he notices Chris enter the room, and a welcoming smile instantly makes its way onto his face.

"Welcome back," he whispers just loud enough for Chris to hear, but still quietly enough so that he won't wake the girls.

Chris easily returns the smile and carefully lifts up the white box in his hands.

"I brought cake. Want a slice?"

That's essentially what leads Joel to wiggle out of the twins' embrace and stand up from the sofa to follow Chris into the kitchen. Chris sets the cake box down in the middle of the kitchen island and retrieves a couple of plates, forks, and a knife for them to cut it with. It's just a plain white, two-layered cake with buttercream frosting, since Chris has yet to discover what flavor of cake Joel enjoys. But he seems to have made a wise decision because Joel hums in delight as the first forkful touches his tongue.

"So how was everything here? It doesn't seem like you ran into any problems."

"Nope, no problems at all," Joel confirms. He licks a bit of frosting from his bottom lip and grins. "We played Jenga for ages, and then I tried out the spaghetti recipe that you linked to me. It must have turned out pretty nicely, since the girls didn't complain and neither did Benny. They helped me clean up after that, and then I put Benny to bed a little early because he kept falling asleep on my chest. Afterwards, I put Spongebob on and the girls ended up falling asleep halfway through it. So to sum it up, I guess I'd say that things went perfectly."

Chris listens to all of that in pure amazement. The twins actually helped him clean up after dinner? Liliana didn't throw a fit about having to eat spaghetti and meatballs? It sounds a little too good to be true, but Chris can tell that Joel isn't lying. He has no reason to lie, after all. Therefore, the only plausible explanation is that he really is the super nanny that Chris has been dreaming of hiring.

"How did it go at the studio?" Joel asks, just like Chris figured that he would.

Not wanting to make a huge deal out of it because he's always been the modest type, Chris merely shrugs and raises the fork to his lips again. Just before taking a bite of the sweet cake, he answers casually:

"It went pretty well, I think."

Joel arches his brows. "You think?"

"Yeah," Chris glances up at him and smiles. "I got the job."

For a moment it looks as if Joel is ready to give a loud cheer, but at the last second, he remembers that Liliana and Ana are still sleeping in the other room. So instead of cheering loudly, he grins from ear to ear and holds up his palm for a high-five, which Chris gladly delivers.

"I knew that you would," he says afterwards, licking his fork clean. "Didn't doubt it for a second."

That humble, borderline insecure side of Chris begins to flare up again, and he takes a moment to close the box of cake and store it within the refrigerator before replying to those words.