Nanny Diaries 3 - Pride and Prejudice

Singing with the Stars

"Someone is nervous methinks." Miss Stewart laughed after checking my wet diaper, quickly lifting me up onto the changing table in the vestry. "She is absolutely soaked..."

"We have about five minutes...and three hundred thousand people are watching the live feed right now." Miss Davenport said, looking at her phone as the rest of the litter stood around her waiting to sing. "She really can't help herself any more, can she? That is her fourth change this morning!"

"Prunes and stage fright...the perfect combination...sometimes, I still can't believe that this little girl really is Daphne." Miss Stewart replied, rapidly folding back the skirts of my white dress to get at my diaper. It was just nerves, of course. I had never liked performing in public and had always avoided it like the plague. But the singing sisters were promoting the church to a new audience, and I had become part of the show, appearing in photographs posted on social media along with the others. Henrietta, Georgina and Philippa were the ones with the real talent but we were part of their story, so we had to appear with them. I had no choice in the matter and no one seemed to care about my nerves. And they certainly did not care about me wetting myself.

"I just hope Mrs Hughes doesn't rush her...if you ask me, she is nowhere near ready to leave us yet." Miss Davenport sneered, as she slipped her phone into her apron pocket. Nicola moved to my side and took my hand, offering some support as Miss Stewart went to work with the wet wipes. Nurslings naturally empathise with each other, and she smiled around her pacifier to try to make me feel better.

"Oh, Bella was like this not so long ago...and she is getting married in June. Daphne is doing fine," Miss Stewart sighed, offering me just a flicker of a smile. She could still be Annie, my friend, when she felt like it. I had annoyed her by rejecting her offer of help, when Mrs Hughes first put me under discipline, and she sometimes seemed to take great delight in humiliating me since, because she thought that I was an idiot, but she still really cared about me. I smiled back, shyly and rather pathetically, and she winked at me. "And days like today will really help convince everyone that she has learned her lessons."

Everything happened in a rush, after that. I was soon back on my feet and almost immediately the Pastor gave us our cue to walk out behind him, holding hands in pairs, whilst he finished his sermon, shamelessly playing to the cameras. The nannies had removed our pacifiers as we left the vestry, and I started chewing on my bottom lip, trying not to look at the congregation as the organ started to play. And then I forgot my nerves as Henrietta started to sing, her lovely voice strong and clear, soon joined by Georgina and Philippa. My harmonies were background noise, really, but I think I hit all the right notes, and the three girls were wonderful, filling the great church with their angelic talents. I was so proud of them, and so desperate not to let them down, but it all went fine. The congregation actually applauded and I walked off with Nicola and Caris, holding their hands and hoping that Annie was right. In that moment, hugging my sisters as we all escaped back into the vestry, job done, I felt elated, and so close to those seven little girls, who were just like me. I swelled with love, even as our eager nannies rushed to push our pacifiers back into our mouths, as the service was still continuing outside, and remembered why I was putting myself through such hell to be with them. It was love.

"Everyone is a little bit excited," Helen smiled indulgently as she tied a bib around my neck an hour or so later. We were sitting at the kitchen table for our lunch, which would be served before the adults ate. No highchairs for once, but as we were all in pristine white, Mama was being particularly careful about protecting our clothes. "Come on, Nanny D, we might as well tell them what the world thinks!"

"Well, the service was watched by over half a million people live...and the performance was the favourite bit...I think we can say," Miss Davenport told everyone, leaning back against the counter as she scrolled through her phone. "Although perhaps we had better not tell the Pastor that!"