One Year's Time

Chapter 2

This chapter is dedicated to LovelyOwls for the amazing cover! :) 

__

The whole entire orphanage threw me a going-away party. It wasn't exactly what I would call a "party", but I mean there was a balloon and I got leftover pizza instead of soup, so I guess it was pretty good afterall.

After all of the little kids had given me a hug and I said goodbye to the only other person my age, June, Lincoln showed up. He pulled up in a sleek, black limo and stepped out before his driver could open the door. He was wearing a suit again, along with his shiny black shoes that he probably had a million pairs of. 

I walked out to meet him with my bag, which he eyed. Finally, he said, "Is that all you're bringing?" 

"Who do you think I am, some celebrity? Of course this is all I'm bringing. It's all I have." I opened the limo door and got in before he could say anything more. 

As I slid down one of the leather seats, I couldn't help but find myself in awe, staring at the interior of the limo. Never, in my 18 years of life, had I ever seen something as high-tech as a car with a flat screen TV, refrigerator and mini-bar in it. 

"Like the car, eh?" Lincoln said. I snapped my head back to look at him, making my neck pop ridiculously loud in the process. Lincoln's lips twitched while he held back laughter.

"It's cool," I said causually, like I had seen something this awesome five minutes ago and it didn't impress me.

"Uh huh. Just wait till you see this," He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small rectangular item, then held it out for me to see.  

"Uh...a cell phone? Yes, I have seen those. I'm not that dumb," 

Lincoln laughed. A sound so perfect, it sounded like angel's music. "Correct, it's a cell phone, but I have put camera's in each of Daniel's rooms-"

"Each of his rooms?" 

"Shh, don't interupt me when I talk. Now when you press this button," He turned on the phone and touched something on the touch-screen, pulling up a picture of a baby's nursery. "It show's you all of his rooms. This way, you can watch and hear Daniel at all times, no matter where you are in the house or in the world," He smiled, obviously proud of his little toy. "Here, take it. It's yours."

He reached out and placed the cell phone in my hand, also accidentally brushing his finger on my palm. His touch left an electric burning feel, like his fingers were irons. 

"Ouch!" I said, grabbing my palm and glaring at Lincoln. He knit his eyebrows together. 

"What did I do?" He asked.

When I realized how stupid that probably had looked, I let go of my hand. "Oh, sorry. Must have been a...nerve or something," I grabbed the phone and quickly turned it on so I wouldn't have to look at Lincoln's smirking face. 

Finally, we pulled up onto Lincoln's street. I put the phone into my bag and looked out the window.

"Holy..."

I was greeted with the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. An old-fahsioned, yet modern mansion stood at the top of a small hill. In front of the mansion was a circle brick drive, and just like I had pictured, a fountain, probably 3 times the height of me. The house looked like a Victorian house, a castle and the White House had a baby. On one side of the house their was a giant pool, which I was informed started at one inch deep, then slowly declined to 12 feet. Palm trees, beach chairs and a full on covered kitchen sat poolside. Behind the pool was a playground, equipped with the latest, greatest and eco-friendly slides, swings, monkey bars, tunnels, etc, etc. I was also told that there was an inside pool, heated, of course, just for when it got too cold to swim outside. Oh, and a tenis court, a movie theater, two kitchens, a library (Which I could NOT wait to see), and behind the mansion, an entire horse ranch. 

"Why is this neccecary for a single man?" I asked Lincoln as we got out of the car. 

"I wasn't single until a short while ago, remember? Plus, I have a son now, so...it's perfectly neccacary." He explained, taking my bag for me and striding up to the front doors. 

"I mean, why waste money on something that you don't need?" 

"I'm not wasting the money, my parents are. This-" He spun in a circle with his arms out, indicating the whole property, "was a gift for when I moved out of my parents home. They hoped that in buying me this, I would settle down and start a family. It worked, sort of." 

"So, they bought you the biggest house they could find, loaded it with crap in hopes you would find a wife?" I threw back my head and laughed. "What kind of wife do you think you'll get with this? Well, I'll tell you what kind of wife. A gold-digger. Yup. I said it. Go ahead and shoot me now," 

Lincoln's lips did that weird twitching thing again. Whether it was in amusement or irritation, I'll never know. 

"Now let me in or I'll melt. You do realize it's, like, 4,000 degrees outside, right?" I said. Lincoln's nostrils flared and he turned to open the front doors. 

My jaw dropped to the floor. I cannot even begin to describe how incredibly well the inside of Lincoln's house was decorated. I felt like Elizabeth in Mr. Darcy's mansion in Pride and Prejudie. 

"Come on, I don't have all day," Lincoln called. I snapped out of my day dreaming and followed him down a series of complicated halls, through countless doors and up two flights of stairs. By the time we got to what I was pretty sure was Daniel's room, I was out of breath. "Oh, and there's also a gym in the basement...just in case." Lincoln smirked. 

"So, do I get to meet Daniel or are you just going to stand there and stare at my out-of-shape-ness?" 

Lincoln turned towards the door and held a finger to his lips. "Oh, and don't worry. I had my sister come and stay with him while I was out." 

I nodded, then motioned for him to hurry up the process before I died of old age. 

We walked into the dark room, being as quiet as possible. I accidentally stepped on a creaky board, making Lincoln and I both pause and wince. Daniel let out as soft sigh, then started to cry. 

"Oh, now look what you did, you woke him up!" Lincoln said, picking up a small lump wrapped in a blue blanket up out of the crib.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, now let me see him. He'll never calm down if you're doing an Irish jig while holding him," I took the tiny baby from him and cradled him in my arms, looking down on his face for the first time. 

Daniel looked exactly like his father. He had the same, black hair and the same features. The only difference was his eyes. Dark, dark blue, they were, like the deepest part of the ocean. I rocked him gently back and forth, immediately stopping his crying. He cooed softly and reached one of his tiny hands up towards my face. 

"I have never seen someone calm him down so fast," Lincoln said quietly. "I guess he really likes you." 

"The ladies who worked with the babies at the orphanage said I have the magic touch," I said smiling. Daniel had already drifted back to sleep, but for some reason, I didn't want to put him back in his crib. "Is it okay if I just sit in here and rock him for a while?" 

"Sure," Lincoln said. "I have some paper work to do anyway. When he wakes up, go down to the front door again. From there, go down the right hall. The kitchen is the first door you come to on the left." 

Lincoln left quietly and left me in the dark room with Daniel. 

And so, my work as a nanny began.

-----------------

So...what did you all think?? I really hope you guys liked it :) Sorry it's kinda short...but I didn't have much time to write because today is my little brother's birthday. Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to leave me a comment! And, if you really liked the chapter, don't forget to vote! Thanks!! Love you guys!