Nanny Series - Andy Barber 💜

Chapter 33

"All done Julie."

Juliette looked up at Jacob came into the kitchen from the stairs. "Thanks for changing the bedding in the guest room bud."

He nodded, "of course." He smiled, "nervous about your dad coming to visit?"

She sighed, shrugging, "a bit? I didn't know him growing up. So we're sort of trying to make up for lost time." She handed him a pastry bag, "finish frosting these cupcakes? Squeeze gently as you pull up."

Jacob nodded, "okay."

Juliette watched him for a moment, a look of concentration and determination on his face as he attempted to work the frosting bag. She chuckled, going to the oven to pull out some food as she heard Emily wake up from the other room. She went into the sitting room and pulled her out of the playpen she had been napping in.

Emily giggled, holding her arms up to Juliette, "mama."

Juliette laughed, "sweet girl."

"Julie, can I talk to you about something?"

Juliette nodded as she leaned against the counter next to Jacob while she held Emily. "Sure bud. Anything you want."

Jacob sighed, "I wanted to talk about not having to go to my mom's anymore. She ends up cancelling half the time anyway."

She hesitated, "well Jacob. You're going to be 17 next month. So I think it should be your choice, but I also think you should be talking to your dad about this."

"I know. I was hoping you could talk to him about it." He fidgeting nervously, shifting on his feet. 

Juliette laughed, "there's going to be lots of times as you grow up when you have to talk about something you don't want to. But you do it anyways. No matter how tough. I can be there when you talk to him if you like. But I can't talk to him for you. I'm sorry Jacob."

Jacob groaned, "okay. Fine. Thanks Julie."

Juliette nodded as she laughed, "of course." She looked up as the front door opened and Andy and Dan entered. She met them in the entryway, kissing Andy on the cheek.

"Dada!"

Andy laughed, taking Emily from her. Juliette smiled, "hey Dan. Happy Fourth of July. I'm glad you could make it."

Dan smiled, "thanks for inviting me. I'm happy to get to spend some time with you and your family."

She nodded, motioning to Emily, "well this is Emily." She walked into the kitchen as Jacob turned to face them, "and this is Jacob. Andy's kids from his marriage."

Jacob smiled, offering him his hand, "it's nice to meet you Mr. Morris."

Dan chuckled, shaking his hand, "no need to be so formal. Call me Dan, please."

Jacob nodded before going back to frosting cupcakes.

"There will be some people arriving in a bit. Let me show you to the guest bedroom." Juliette grabbed his bag and went up the stairs and opened the door to the guest bedroom. "Jacob just changed the sheets. Not that anyone sleeps in here. Peter, my brother, is the only one that usually stays here when he visits."

Dan nodded, "thank you Julie."

She nodded, hesitating before wrapping her arms around his torso, hugging him. "Thanks for coming."

He sighed, resting his head on hers, "it's been nice talking to you on the phone and FaceTime the last few months. I've been looking forward to getting to see you here at home and get to know your family."

She pulled away, smiling. "We've been looking forward to it too. Andy's parents are gone. And Laurie's live in Connecticut so they don't really get to see them. Come on."

Dan followed her back down to the main floor as he looked around. He noticed the guitar in the front sitting room, "who plays guitar?"

"Oh. That's me. Andy got it for me for my last birthday. I started playing as a teenager" Juliette smiled at her father as he picked it up from the stand, "do you play?"

He nodded, chuckling, "I do. It has been a while though."

She sat and listened to him play as Emily waddled in to her. Juliette smiled, leaning down to pull her into her lap. She looked up as the door opened to see Brie enter, followed by Neal and a few other people. She greeted Brie, "hey!" She motioned to Dan as he placed the guitar back on the stand, "this is my dad." She motioned back to Brie and Neal, "these are friends of Andy and me. Brie and Neal."

Neal smiled, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek, "how are you Juliette?"

She nodded, "I'm okay Neal. Thanks for coming."

~~~

Dan sat looking at Andy and Juliette, "so you never really told me about the dynamic here. How you guys met or ended up together." He saw Juliette hesitate, "please don't think I'm going to judge. After all, you are my illegitimate child from a one night stand."

Juliette laughed, "true. Well, I was hired as a nanny for Emily. Andy and Laurie were already having troubles. Um, we started seeing each other before they were technically divorced, but they were done. Anyways, some other stuff happened and I ended up moving in here after the first of the year."

Dan nodded, "what stuff happened?"

Andy sighed, placing his hand on her thigh, "there was a case I was working on. A man taking girls. He got Juliette in his sights and kidnapped her. But we were able to find her before he killed her. "

"Jesus. I had no idea." Dan shook his head, "I'm sorry Julie."

She shrugged, "I'm okay. I've been in and out of therapy pretty much my entire adult life. But," she leaned against Andy, "I'm okay. Andy takes good care of me. And Peter was here for a while afterwards too."

"We take care of each other. And she takes excellent care of Jacob and Emily."

Dan smiled, "I'm glad. You guys seem great together. Love comes unexpectedly. So you said you had just graduated and passed the bar. Are you working at a law firm?"

Juliette nudged Andy, "actually, we opened up our own practice together. Andy used to be an ADA with Neal but quit after I was taken. He took some time off for a while and we just opened up our own practice."

Dan nodded, "that's so great. I'm really proud of you Juliette."

"Thanks dad."

He grinned at her calling him dad but didn't bring it up as he returned to eating. "So do you see your brothers a lot?"

"Oh." Juliette shook her head, "no. I don't really get along well with my other two brothers. But Peter and Aimee live in New York and we see each other quite a bit. Especially over the last 6 months or so. We've always been close."

Dan nodded and smiled, "that's great. I'm glad. I'm glad you're doing so well. After everything."

She rested her head on Andy's shoulder, "I was lucky to find Andy. For once, I feel like I have everything I could ever want."

Andy grinned, kissing her head, "me too love."