An Unexpected Nanny. Constance Masters
“It can’t be,” she said, barely able to choke the words out. “My baby can’t be gone.”
“Look at the profile picture,” Lillian said. “It’s an older woman. I don't think it’s the little girl who died.”
Vi scrolled down all the comments. There was one from a man who must be the father. Wait. The post on Facebook wasn’t from the father of her baby it was from the grandmother.
Rose and I miss her too, Kath, every day.
This comment was from the man who must be the adoptive father. There was no reply to his comment from the mother? Mother in law? The man’s profile picture was the little girl. She was alive. Vi felt an overwhelming sense of relief, followed very quickly by a wave of guilt. How could she be happy that a young woman had died? Because it meant that her daughter was still out there somewhere living her life, hopefully happy. Her daughter’s name was Rose. “I won’t be going to work today after all,” she said.
So much information all at once, she knew nothing of her baby’s whereabouts, now all of a sudden, she knew her name, her father’s name and she knew the poor little girl, Rose, had lost her momma. She didn't know where or what to do. She had no clue where to start or if she should start looking at all.
“What are you going to do?” Lillian asked.
“I have no idea,” Vi said. “I made promises, but I only made them because I truly felt that was best for my baby, for Rose. Now, she’s lost her mother. I'm so confused, part of me wants to stick to the agreement and the other part thinks all bets are off, I have a right to know what’s happening with my child. What do you think, Grandma?”
Lillian shook her head. “I don't know, my darling, only you can make this decision. We have his name though, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find him. Maybe call him and tell him how you came to know what happened.”
Vi nodded her head. “Yes, that sounds like a plan to me.” For about the millionth time, she thanked God she had her grandma, she always knew what to do.
Curtis Stonehouse slammed the car door and ran into his house, panic rising in his throat at the sound of his daughter screaming. “What’s wrong?” he yelled as soon as he had the door open.
“Nothing’s wrong, really,” a woman in her late twenties said.
“Then why is my daughter screaming, Ray?” Curtis had already picked up Rose and was comforting her as he spoke. The little girl covered her face in her father’s shirt.
Rose lay her head on his shoulder and sniffled. “She said she was gonna cut my hair off,” she said.
Curtis looked at the nanny with disbelief. “You said what?”
“I didn’t say that, not exactly.”
The woman looked guilty to Curtis. “What exactly did you say to Rose?”
“She wouldn’t let me brush her hair, it was full of knots.”
“The brush was hurting,” Rose said. “She’s mean, and she was hurting me.”
Ray stood there saying nothing.
“I asked you what you said to my daughter?” Curtis was losing patience. He was a fair man and wanted to give this woman a chance to explain, but he wasn’t going to give her much longer.
“I told her if she didn’t let me brush out the knots then I would have to cut it all off, but I didn't mean it literally. I wouldn’t cut her hair without asking you.”
Curtis stared straight through the woman, he could barely contain the anger that welled up in his throat. He wanted this woman out of his house and away from Rose. At first, everything had seemed okay, but it was obvious of late that Rose didn't like Ray, he was starting to see why. Was he overreacting? Where Rose was concerned he didn’t care, she was his top priority, his only priority. “Take a seat in my office please, I’m just going to get Rose a snack, some juice and turn the TV on.”
Once Rose was settled, he returned to his office, making sure to stand in the doorway where he could keep an eye on his daughter. “Please go and pack anything you have here; I’ll write you a check for the month.”
“You’re firing me?” Ray asked. “On the word of a three-year-old?”
“Yes, you scared her, but that isn't the only reason I’m letting you go. My daughter isn't happy with you, Ray. Rose is a small girl who has lost her mother. The person that looks after her on a daily basis needs to be extraordinary. They must have a balance. To be able to keep her routine, while giving her all the loving attention she needs. That person needs to love Rose and care about what’s best for her. I'm sorry, but you are not that person.” He watched as Ray packed up her things and walked out the door. “Now what?” he asked himself out loud.
Back to the drawing board. He was going to have to find a new nanny for Rose. He had hoped that Ray was the answer to his prayers. She wasn’t a teenage babysitter, she seemed nice and loved children, supposedly. Her references were impeccable. Who knew she would turn out to be so lacking in patience? He wasn’t an idiot, he knew how stubborn his child could be and he didn't allow her to overpower him. He believed in discipline when warranted but that wasn’t discipline. Scaring a child with threats or anything else was just cruel. If he did have to punish Rose, he preferred a time out. Really if she was getting difficult it was for one or two reasons; either she needed one on one attention or she needed a nap. If only he could just stay home and take care of Rose himself, but he was the only doctor in their small town, he had a practice to run. Right now, though, he would pick up the pieces and spend some time with Rose and while he was in town he would put an ad in the general store window. Maybe he would have more luck with someone close by or passing through than just by using an agency.
“Hey, poppet?” he said. “Daddy thought you might like to go to town and have some ice cream, would you like that?”
“Is Miss Ray gone?”
“Yes, she is,” he said. “What about some ice-cream?”
The little girl nodded enthusiastically. “I love ice-cream,” Rose said, her problems seemingly gone with Ray’s exit.
“I know you do. I even know your favorite flavor, you like pink.”
“Pink is a color, Daddy, not a flavor.” Rose giggled happily.
Curtis smiled, so relieved to hear his daughter’s tinkling laughter again. It never ceased to amaze him how articulate Rose was for her age. He put it down to her mom being a teacher. She had read to their baby from the moment they brought her home with them from the hospital. “Aren’t I silly?” He took the little girl’s hand and walked her to the bathroom. “Let’s get you fixed up and then we’ll get some ice cream and go see Trish.”
“I like Trish,” Rose said. “She ain’t mean.”
“Isn’t,” Curtis corrected, “and no, she is not mean.”
Curtis walked into the old house that served as his doctor’s office with Rose in tow. The child’s hands were covered in strawberry ice cream. “Hi, Trish.”
“I thought this was your afternoon off,” the middle-aged woman said. Trish worked for the doctor before Curtis and had stayed on after the older man retired.
“I thought it was your day off as well, but I knew you’d be here,” he said with a smile.
“Just taking the opportunity to get some paperwork done while I don’t have patients trooping through every five minutes. What’s your excuse as if I have to ask? Hello, my little Rosie bear!” She gathered the sticky little girl into her arms, not caring at all about getting messed up herself.
“I