Nurse Or Nanny?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Davids POV

Watching Ashley with the kids in the kitchen has put a feeling in my heart that I haven't felt in a long time.  Honestly thought I would never feel like this about anyone ever again, but there is something different about Ashley, even though I have only known her a couple days I just have this feeling about her.  And she is already do great with my kids, so patient and kind, these pancakes took probably three times longer to make then it would have been if she'd just whipped them up, but she took the time to let them do it.  Watching Lauren measure out the ingredients and Joe mix everything up, Ashley pouring the batter in the hot pan and showing them how to tell when they are ready to flip, and helping Joe figure it out.  There were a few pancake casualties but she never made them feel like they were doing anything wrong, and told them these things are easy to clean up.  I'm starting to realize Ashley is reminding me of my late wife.  She has this kind nature about her, she is calming to be around, easy going, patient, and my kids must feel that too since they have taken to her so quickly.  She's the first woman that I have felt any kind of spark towards, literally in a sense, she did shock me when we first met.  
"Do I smell pancakes?" I hear a sleepy voice say from behind me taking me out of own thoughts about Ashley, good I thought. Jackson has made it out of bed, and just after nine, that has to be some sort of record.
"Yes, Ashley and your cousins are almost done making them I think." I tell him.
"Cool." Is all he says before me moves to the kitchen island and takes a seat, I hear Ashley say coffee and Jackson nods his head and she fills up a cup for him.  These kids are already spoiled, and good, they haven't been in a long time.

After breakfast I tell Ashley that I am going to take the kids to see their Grandma Rose for lunch and because I'm not working today there isn't much for her to do and give her the day to get herself settled in since she hasn't really had a chance to since she got here.
"And we'll pick up something for dinner on the way home so don't worry about making anything." I tell her.
"Well, what do you want me to do all day?" she asks, looking a little lost.   This is a part of where we need to figure our out rolls here.
"Nothing, take some time to get settles in, head into town, down to the beach, the day is yours." I tell her hoping to make her feel better.
"I just started yesterday, you can't already give me a day off." She tells me sort of  matter of factly.
"Well okay, here," I pull out my credit card, "go to the store and grab some groceries for the week, and whatever else you feel we need in here." She doesn't take the card right away, and I almost have to force it into her hand.
"Anything else?" She asks.  I don't know why she wouldn't be happy, she has the day off.
"Nope, that's all. I'll call you if anything comes up, we should be back around six, and we'll bring you some dinner." I tell her so she doesn't feel left out.
"Oh, that's okay, I can just make something here, don't feel you have to get me anything." She tells me and it almost makes me kind of sad, why wouldn't she want us to get her anything, I can't figure this girl out.
"No, it's fine, I'm picking up dinner for everyone and we'll get some for you too." I tell her and leave to go to my office to get a few things done before we head over to grandma Rose's house.

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Ashley helped me get the kids into the car and ready to go, Jackson said he was going to hang out with a couple of his friends and he'd keep in touch with Ashley if he needed a ride.  Having Ashley around was so much more helpful than I could have imagined, these little things I never thought of that are coming up that help so much.  As we are driving to Rose's the closer we get the more excited the kids get.  They love coming here, they get spoiled by their grandparents and aunty.  We didn't come as much the first year after Julie had passed, it was too hard for me, too many memories here to remind me of her and I know that wasn't fair to my children but Rose understood and never punished me for it.  Now we come once a week on Sundays and I think its the kids favourite day of the week.  We are pulling up into the driveway and Rose is out of the front porch, waving as we pull in, as soon as I am parked the kids are already at their seatbelts trying to get out so they can run in the house and find the goodies.
"Hey there my little beauties!" Rose says and they come running up for hugs. I relish in this, I hope they remember these days. 
"Hi Rose, how are you doing?" I ask.
"Better now that my babies are here." She says enthusiastically and the kids are now inside and I know exactly where they are going.
"So what's this I hear about you hiring a nanny?" She asks.  How did she even know? Chris, I bet she called and told her after meeting Ashley.
"Chris?" I ask and she nods her head.
"Yes, I did, and she's amazing, I think you'll really like her." I tell her, and I believe it, how could anyone not like Ashley.
"We'll see, why didn't you bring her over here with you today?" She tells me as she raises her right eyebrow and stares me down.
"I didn't want to overwhelm her, she just started, I want her to get settled in and get to know us a bit better." I tell her in a tone I don't recognize. I sound defensive.
"Uh huh." She says and she walks back into the house.

Of course we find the kids in the cookie jar and when they see us they run out back to the back yard to hide, they love it out there, everyone does.  Rose has done an amazing job back there and it feels like you're in another world.  We have lunch and Sarah comes in for a quick visit.  The kids love to see their aunty, she's a bit younger and lets them do and have whatever they want, which is what she keeps telling are what aunties do.  
"So I've heard you hired a nanny." Sarah tells me and she has a wicked grin on her face.
"Yes, did Chris call you." I say annoyed, I know Chris probably told Sarah that she is young, and pretty, and she caught me staring at her a few times over dinner.
"She did, and she said that she seems really nice." Sarah says with a sly smile. "And she's young, and pretty." She says and she laughs. Rose looks a little shocked but doesn't say anything and Lauren overheard us talking and chimes in,
"Yeah, she is really pretty, and smart, and she beat Jackson in a basketball game!" They all look at my questioningly,
"Yes, she played a one on one game with Jackson and kind of kicked his butt." I say with a smile and everyone laughs.
"Well good to know she has some talents."  Rose said, not seeming impressed.  This is not a normal tone I see from Rose, I wonder what is going on with her. I defend Ashley.
"She does have talents, she's a very good cook, speaks fluent french," Rose perks up at this, "and she has some sort of advanced first aid." I say and sort of trail off into my own thoughts about the other day when she was seemingly a totally different person.
"Well thats good she speaks french, she will be able to help the kids get back on track." She says and this time with a playful tone.
"Hey, I've been doing the best I can." I tell her and she smiles at me.
"I know honey." She says and pats my arm and looks at me for along while and we share a moment.

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After the interrogation from that side of my family I have the kids packed up, pizzas riding shotgun and on my way home.  Once we get out of the car I hear loud music coming from the house, and its not Jackson's music, it sound kind of like indie maybe, I think that's what it's called.  
"Dad who's playing that music that loud?" Joe asks. 
"I don't know, doesn't sound like Jackson's, must be Ashley." I say and am now very curious as to what is going on inside my house.
We walk inside and I now recognize the song, its a Lumineers song I believe and the house smells very clean, like the windows have been open all day, laundry has been going and I see Ashley sweeping the kitchen, dancing around singing loudly with the music.  She has her hair up in a messy bun, is wearing shorts, which I have never seen her in and a tank top and no bra.  Oh my, I should leave before she see's me and gets embarrassed but I have the kids and they are already halfway to her.  
"Hey Ashley!" Lauren yells and Ashley lets our a small scream and puts her hand to her chest over her heart as though that would slow it down.  She scurries over to her phone and turns the music off. 
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry I must have lost track of time." She says very quickly and looks for me.  When she see's me she sort of looks down on her self and realizes that she's half dressed and looks very embarrassed.  She tries to play it off though.
"So, did you guys have fun at your grandmas house?" She asks as the kids make their way to the stools on the other side of the island.
"Yeah, we ate so many cookies." Joe said and Lauren and he laughed together.  She looked at asked if they wanted anything to drink and they both said milk in unison.
"I brought some pizza home for dinner." I say and walk into the kitchen to set it down. I can see her trying to hide her body from me but not having any luck in what she is wearing and I seriously need to calm down or I'll need a cold shower pretty quick.  She looks incredible even though shes been working all day from what I can assume.  Her legs are long and curvy, and her breasts and just the perfect size, and I can see her nipples starting to show through the thin shirt. Her hair is falling out and grazing her neck, she isn't wearing any makeup and I could get lost in her eyes, I see the blush forming and noticed she saw me looking at her and says that she will go and get freshened up for dinner.  Good, I hope she takes a shower and is gone for a while because I cannot be seeing my nanny that way and thinking of her in that way.