Matthew's stomach twisted, making him think that he'd made a terrible, terrible mistake.
Surprisingly heartfelt goodbyes opened the sunny Monday morning with Toby and Liza coming out to his parked blue Bug. Hugs and pats on the back were interspersed with things sounding like he was going off to war – "Good luck, be safe, call when you can."
He'd nearly contemplated phoning Mr. Yang to let him know he couldn't take the job. He didn't. He couldn't.
Matthew backed out of the apartment's parking lot and drove off.
Upon arriving on the estate on Cherry Street, early, with two suitcases in hand and the rest rammed onto the luggage rack on Lloyd's roof, Mr. Yang himself met Matthew at the front door.
He would've been touched by the gesture if the older man hadn't opened with –
"You're not driving my children in that," clearly staring daggers at the little car sitting just across the way.
Before Matthew could muster a reply, Mr. Yang turned on his heels and headed inside.
The first bedroom considered for him was being used as storage; another was without furniture. The third bedroom, on the opposite side of the house by the kitchen, was caked in a visible layer of dust. Both the back and the bedroom doors, clearly aged, allowed a wet breeze to blow through.
"If this is unsatisfactory for you, there are two others down the hall," Mr. Yang noted, gesturing towards the end of the service wing. "However, unfortunately, without a devoted housekeeper, these rooms have not been as thoroughly clean as I'd like them to be," Mr. Yang explained, hands clasped behind his back. "I'm sure you'll find the time to clean them, however." Nodding, he left Matthew to unload Lloyd of his things, reminding him that his trial work period had officially started.
'Shouldn't I be happy about all this?' he wondered as he unloaded his third backpack loaded with his books. 'I finally have my own room. I don't have to share. I have a paying job in a...' He popped another piece of nicotine gum and chewed it slowly. 'How long will this last?' Matthew swallowed back the angry nerves in his gut and returned to unloading his car. 'How long will this last?'
By the time everything was in the small, sparse room, the air hung so thickly with dust and humidity that Matthew couldn't breathe. He pulled off the top cover of the bed and unleashed the thickest cloud he'd ever seen. The windows refused to open. The sheets felt stale between his fingers. "How long have they been here?"
"Matt?" called Lilliana.
He withheld a groan and, wiping his hands on his shirt, moved into the kitchen.
The girl beamed when she saw him. "You're here! Hi!" She skipped over and hugged the new nanny before pushing herself back. "You smell weird."
"Thanks...Lilly," Matthew sighed, trying not to think about the darkened, musty void behind him.
"I'm hungry."
He glanced at the digital clock on the oven, only to find it not on. "It's after ten. Didn't your dad make anything? Mrs. Weiss?"
Lilly shook her head. "Daddy doesn't make breakfast, and Mrs. Weiss is all done working so she went back to her...wherever she goes when she's not here," she explained. "She'll come back if Daddy doesn't like you, and we need another nanny. But I hope you stay because Eli and I found my sticker page yesterday after you left – "
Matthew clenched his jaw.
" – so can we have pancakes with sprinkles?"
Licking his lips in thought proved to be a dreadful idea, his tongue collecting whatever mixture of sweat and dust from his mouth. "S-sure. One second, okay?"
YOU ARE READING
It's Definitely Not All Mary Poppins
General Fiction[A Slice-Of-Life LGBTQ+ Story about Found Family] Matthew Robinson's career as a teacher seemed to have stalled, yet when the winds in the East suddenly lands him in the employ as a nanny, Matthew realizes he's probably signed up for more than he ba...
