It's us {Dani and Jamie}

A Sleepover

3

••• So there's some changes to the parents backstory, as you'll see. There's a reason for that lol, I didn't just screw up ;)

There had been begging, there had been pleading, and most of all, there had been big, round puppy dog eyes that were impossible to argue with.

A sleepover. In the cozy parlor of Bly Manor.

After yet another one of Owen's delicious dinners, the cook had warmed up six mugs of cocoa for everyone. This, paired with the late hour, inspired Miles to suggest,

"A sleepover!"

Flora beamed, a chocolate milk mustache coating her upper lip, "Oh, how perfectly splendid that would be! Can we, Miss Clayton?"

Dani glanced around at the other adults for any protests, but was met with only raised brows and smiles, "Sure, why not?"

So now, thirty minutes and one pillow fight later, the six of them sat across the scattered piles of blankets and the couches, exhausted and covered in feathers.

Flora lay draped over a sofa armrest, panting through her grin, "I haven't done a pillow fight since mummy was still here."

Miles sat up, "No, Dad and Uncle Henry used to do them with us all the time."

Dani glanced up from her spot on the floor with nervous eyes. Uh oh. When the subject of their parents came up, sometimes there were a few... emotions. And it could be even worse at bedtime.

"I'm sure you guys had lots of fun, how about we-"

"Miles, are you sure you ever even met Dad?" Flora grinned, "He was far too proper for pillow fights. And Uncle Henry is the same."

He squinted at the floor, stretching his mind, "Hmm, maybe you're right..."

Dani frowned. She always felt a little sad, remembering the story Henry had told her about Miles and Flora's parents when she had first gotten the job. So tragic.

Their mother had died when they were very young - natural causes. And their Uncle came to stay at Bly once she was gone, to support their dad with raising the kids. But it turned out, he wouldn't need support for too long...

Their father's death was a bit more mysterious. Fell into the lake, Henry had told her. Drown on a sunny midmorning afternoon, just like that. Something about the story gave her the creeps.

So did Henry, if she were being honest. He sent her off to Bly with directions and a chauffeur and she hadn't heard from him since - it had been months.

Hannah informed her that the children's Uncle had been increasingly absent from their lives since their father's death - still a little shaken, Hannah said.

The au pair turned her attention back to the sleepover. Miles and Flora had roped Owen into playing some sort of card game. Hannah dozed on the rocking chair.

That only left the gardener, sitting on the couch right beside her. Dani turned her head and realized with a jolt that Jamie was staring right at her. That confident, intimidating stare.

She stretched her legs across the couch and rested her feet on Dani's thighs like they were the oldest of friends, "So tell me," She said, stirring her hot cocoa with a spoon, "What were your parents like?"

Dani tried to stay utterly still so she wouldn't move her legs, "Uh, they weren't around too much actually. My boyfr-fiance-well, ex-fiance's family sorta raised me."

Jamie raised a brow ever so slightly, "Ex fiance? Sounds complicated."

"You have no idea..." She said through a tired smile.

"Yeah well... my parents weren't around too much either. Mum was psycho, Dad was down 60 feet under digging for coal. I didn't have no one to raise me, so I had to be the one to do it. And not just me, my brothers too."

Dani couldn't think of anything to say, "That sucks."

That sucks? she thought with a cringe, really Dani?

Jamie laughed, adjusting herself so more of her weight rested on Dani's legs, "People suck, that's why I prefer plants. They can't flake out on you. You give 'em your love and nourishment and you're guaranteed good results. Can't say the same for people, now can you?"

Dani smiled and squinted at her skeptically, "You're pretty wise for a gardener."

She cocked a brow, "I'm a lot of things, Poppins."

There it was. Another train to the heart.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"A philosopher," She said through a grin, causing Dani to laugh, "A gardener, a poet. I'm really just a mystery."

"I think your outfit ruins the effect. Not very mysterious overalls."

"Hey!" She laughed, jabbing Dani in the side with her foot, "Don't judge me, it's not like you've got any secret talents up your sleeve."

"How do you know that?"

Jamie raised her eyebrows, "Well do you?"

Dani grinned a wide grin, lifting the legs off of her to stand up, "Hey Owen?"

He looked up from his card game, "Yeah?"

"You can play piano, right?"

"I can..." He glanced at the wooden piano in the corner.

"Well get over there and play me a tune, would you? I've got to prove a point."

Jamie smiled, "What is this?"

Dani grabbed both her hands, helping her up from the couch, "I'm a woman of many talents."

As Owen struck the first key, Dani took one of the gardener's hands and placed it gingerly on her own waist. She took the other in her own, smiling at the nervous grin on Jamie's face.

And with years of dance class knowledge burning in the back of her mind, she swayed her partner to the tune, relishing in the warmth of their closeness.

The kids laughed hysterically as the women spun across the living room, tripping every few seconds over the scattered pillows. Miles took a still sleepy Hannah by the hand, getting her to dance with him after a few reluctant eye rolls.

"You're pretty good, Poppins." Jamie said, pulling her closer.

"You really think so?" She smiled in return, catching herself glancing down at the gardener's lips.

The blue green eyes turned serious in a way Dani had never seen before, "You're incredible." Jamie whispered.

Dani raised her brows, taken aback, but before she could see if she would be brave, if she could finally conquer her demons, a little gremlin scurried at her feet.

"No fair, I want to dance too." Flora whined, squeezing between both pairs of legs. She grabbed Jamie's hand off Dani's waist, "Dance with me Jamie."

She reluctantly let herself be pulled away, keeping her eyes locked with Dani's as she spun the little girl around the room.