"Connor, are you ready to go?" I looked up at the sound of my husband, Jacob's voice as he came into our bedroom.
"Yeah. Just putting on my shoes." I sat on the edge of our bed, feeling it dip behind me as Jacob crawled on, resting his chin on my shoulder. "What are you doing?" I laughed.
"Nothing. I just love you. That's all."
"I love you too." I promised, turning my head to kiss his lips softly. "Is Lily here?"
"Yeah. She got here ten minutes ago. She's in the living room with Penny 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 Penny?" He 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 his hand and we left our room, stopping in the living room on our way out.
"Papa!" Penny 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 Lily, 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 Lily, 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. Penny and I will have a great time." I smiled and took a step towards the garage door.
"Okay. See you later on." Jacob took my hand as we went out to the car. He slid into the driver's seat and started up the car.
"Stop worrying. It'll be fine." He looked over at me.
"I'm not worrying." I could see the knowing smirk on his 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 Tim had been a little bit more aware, it would never have happened." Last time we'd left Penny with a baby sitter, she'd slipped over in the kitchen and hit her head on the counter, which lead to her needing ten stitches. The sitter, Tim, hadn't been in the room at the time, he was too busy texting his girlfriend. It was safe to say, Jacob and I never hired him again and we never recommended him to our friends.
"Connor, Lily isn't just some college kid looking for a bit of extra cash. She's actually with an agency who couldn't recommend her highly enough. She is studying to be a children's social worker. There is 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 state, in terms of academics but the school wanted to put a bit more focus on the arts so they wanted teachers who were passionate about the arts to try and bring in 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 Jacob was coming with me. I guess the school wanted to know who the teachers they'd possibly be hiring really were.
