"Nick, are you ready to go?" I looked up at the sound of my wife, Imogen's voice as she came into our bedroom.
"Yeah. Just putting on my shoes." I sat on the edge of our bed, feeling it dip behind me as Imogen crawled on, resting her chin on my shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I just love you. That's all."
"I love you too." I promised, turning my head to kiss her lips softly. "Is Amber here?"
"Yeah. She got here ten minutes ago. She's in the living room with Abby already."
"And you're sure her references are good?"
"Yes. Do you really think I'd let someone I didn't trust completely look after Abby?" She teased, pulling me to stand on my feet.
"I guess not." I sighed and reached for my phone. "Okay. Let's go."
"Lead the way." I took hold of her hand and we left our room, stopping in the living room on our way out.
"Papa!" Abby dropped the doll she'd been playing with and ran over to hug me. "You look pretty papa."
"Thank you, baby girl," I kissed the top of her head and hugged her back, "You be good for Amber, okay? We'll be back after you go to sleep."
"Yes, papa. Will you kiss me goodnight? When you get home?"
"Of course," I ruffled her hair and looked up at Amber, the babysitter for the night, "Don't be afraid to call us if anything goes wrong, okay?"
"Sure. But I think we'll be fine. Abby and I will have a great time." I smiled and took a step towards the garage door.
"Okay. See you later on." Imogen took my hand as we went out to the car. She slid into the driver's seat and started up the car.
"Stop worrying. It'll be fine." She looked over at me.
"I'm not worrying," I could see the knowing smirk on her face and sighed, "Okay, maybe I am. But can you blame me? Remember what happened last time?"
"Last time was an accident. You know that."
"But if Harry had been a little bit more aware, it would never have happened." Last time we'd left Abby with a babysitter, she'd slipped over in the kitchen and hit her head on the counter, which lead to her needing ten stitches. The sitter, Harry, hadn't been in the room at the time, he was too busy texting his girlfriend. It was safe to say, Imogen and I never hired him again and we never recommended him to our friends.
"Nick, Amber isn't just some college kid looking for a bit of extra cash. She's with an agency who couldn't recommend her highly enough. She's studying to be a children's social worker. There's nobody out there who is better qualified."
"I guess."
"She'll be fine. You have to focus tonight anyway." I sighed and nodded. We were on our way to an open night of sorts at the school I was hoping to be hired at. I'd been teaching at our local high school for years now and wanted a change. So I'd applied at a private boarding school a bit further away. The students who went to the school were ranked highest in the country, in terms of academics but the school wanted to put a bit more focus on the arts and sports so they wanted to hire dedicated sport and art teachers to bring that focus.
"I know. Are you sure I look okay?"
"Very sure. You're going to make a great first impression." Tonight was the first time I'd meet any of the other teachers at the school as they were holding a sort of 'get-to-know-you' evening for everyone who'd applied. Which is why Imogen was coming with me. I guess the school wanted to know who the teachers they'd possibly be hiring really were.
