The Nanny

One

Phillipa

"I thought this would make you happy, I don't get the big deal."
I sighed frustrated, of course my husband wouldn't understand. Lately, he seems physically incapable of understanding what I want.

"Steve, that's not the point. The point is that you don't help with Lily at all. She's your child as well, and yet I feel like a single mother."
"You're being dramatic, Phillipa. You told me you wanted to go back to work, this is the solution. Child care is perfectly normal."
"You know what else is perfectly normal? The dad helping out every once in a while." I glared at him.
"She's a year old, Pippa. She mostly needs her mother, I can't exactly provide the feminine comfort she requires at this age."
I just stare at him in shock. Lily just turned two, not that he stayed for her entire party.
"Look, I promise you this will make everything easier, and maybe we can have some more time together, you know alone time..." Steve told me lightly rubbing my arms.
"Are you actually going to help me with finding a nanny, or will this be yet another thing I have to do myself?"
"Of course I will help, Pip. I already have an idea of who our perfect nanny could be. We need an older woman, the grandmotherly type that I had growing up, and that Maddie had when she was young."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, and turned and saw Lily run into the room.
"Well good morning, baby." I smiled at her.
I looked pointedly at Steve urging him to make some sort of effort to his daughter.
"Hi Lily." Steve said as if she was a random stranger he just met.
Lily shyly waved at him and ran to hug me.
"What would you like for breakfast?"
"Eggies."
Steve sighed, "Lily, they are called eggs, not eggies."
"Steve, she's two, relax." I said with a warning tone to him.
Steve got up toward the fridge and passed me an egg wordlessly.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, so Pip, I've set the interviews for today. The candidates will be here in an hour or two."
I widened my eyes, "You're kidding right? I didn't even say yes until today. How do you already have everything set up?" I crossed my arms.
"I knew it was what was best for us, so I took the liberty of putting the request in with a respectable agency a week ago. Aren't you glad that we can just get a nanny right away, and get Lily better acclimated with her?"
I raised an eyebrow but said nothing as I scrambled Lily's eggs for her.
"I'll see you in a bit, I've got some work to do." Steve said heading up to his office.
I served Lily her eggs and some star shaped toast, and sat with her when my phone rang.
I put it on speaker seeing it was my manager, Amanda, not taking my eyes off Lily.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Pippa. How are you? Have we made a decision yet on Into the Woods?"
Jordan Roth had called me and offered me the role of Cinderella in the new revival of Into the Woods on Broadway. It would be my first role back on Broadway since having Lily.
"Actually, yes, you can tell him that I would be delighted and honored to join."
"Great! Rehearsals start next week! I'll send you a schedule and contract, check your email! I'll let you go since I'm sure you're watching Lily." Amanda hung up.
Lily looked up excited, "Cinderella?"
I smiled at her, "Yeah, baby."
________
The doorbell rang just as I got Lily down for a nap, I sighed hoping it wouldn't wake her up. A cranky toddler would not be the best impression I wanted to make on the new...nanny.
I called for Steve and told him the candidates were here and opened the door greeting a young redhead named Jane.
I invited her in and we sat on the couches when Steve finally graced us with his presence.
Jane was pretty impressive and reminded me of my friend, Anna. She also had incredible references, I was about to offer her the job right then and there when Steve cut me off.
"It was great to meet you, Joan, but I think we're looking for a more...maternal figure for Lily."
Jane looked crushed, and thanked us for our time before getting up and leaving.
"Steve, what the hell? She was perfect. And her name was Jane, you were rude."
"We already know our ideal nanny, remember? And that twelve year old was hardly the grandmotherly type I had told you was best for Lily. Look Pippa, this shouldn't take long, just do what I would do. I have to run out and rework some scenes. Can I trust that I'll be coming home to a suitable nanny?"
"Steve, you promised you would stay and help. I don't even want a nanny for Lily, my dad had offered six times to come and help us, and you said no each time. Who's better than a former doctor to watch our child?"
"Right because you and Michael are shining examples of perfect children."
"Excuse me?"
"I don't have time to unpack all your issues right now, Pippa because frankly, we would be here until Lily is ready for kindergarten."
"Oh, fuck you."
"I'm just being honest. Look, I have to go or I'll be late. You'll do great, just follow what I told you, and everything will be fine. Bye babe." He leaned in to kiss me, and I turned my face and he kissed my cheek instead.
"Hey...you'll see. This is truly the best thing for us, I promise."
_______
I had already interviewed five more candidates, and none had felt right. Only two had fit Steve's specifications, but they both seemed cold and uncaring. They cared more about the benefits of the job and the hourly rate than asking me about Lily. I sighed, Jane was the only one who had seemed to genuinely care about children. I saw there was one more from the agency left, a man named Andrew Burnap.
I sighed, Steve definitely didn't want a male nanny, but...he was expecting me to choose a nanny by the time he returned. If Andrew wasn't a good fit, then I don't really know what other options I'm left with.
I opened the door when I heard a knock and saw a surprisingly handsome man at the door.
"Mrs. Pasquale, I presume? I hope I didn't wake Lily up in case she was napping, I figured knocking would be safer than ringing the bell."
I smiled at the thoughtfulness he showed.
"Come in, Andrew right? And just call me Pippa. And thanks, Lily is down for a nap, but she is quite the heavy sleeper."
Thank goodness for that, actually. I don't have to worry too much about Lily hearing some of the fights Steve and I have been having lately.
Andrew turned out to check off all my boxes for a nanny for Lily, had great references...but I knew this wasn't going to go over well with Steve.
Andrew seemed to sense my hesitation, "You're probably wondering why a guy would want to be a nanny."
My eyes widened, great he thinks I'm sexist.
"No. That's not it actually."
Andrew laughed softly, "It's alright. I was a lawyer for many years, but I felt I needed a change. To be completely frank, the law was sucking my soul and I didn't like the person I was becoming. I missed working with children which is what I did before law school. I want to help you guys and I know I would care for Lily as if she were my own."
I bit my lip debating on whether or not I should hire Andrew. Steve was quite clear on who he thought would be best for Lily, but then again he wasn't even here. Whatever, when he meets Andrew, he'll know instantly like I did that he's perfect.
"Ok. Andrew, I think you'd be a good fit for Lily. You've got the job."
Andrew smiled, shaking my hand, accidentally shocking me.
"So I start rehearsals next week, I'm hoping to have you start immediately so that we can get Lily more used to you."
Andrew nodded, "I can start as soon as today if needed."
That wouldn't work. I had to talk to Steve and ease him into this new arrangement.
"No uh, it's ok. We can have you move in tomorrow if that's fine?"
I saw him nod and heard Lily come into the living room and settle on my lap.
Andrew smiled at her, "Well hello there. You must be Princess Lily."
Lily smiled and nodded.
"Lily, baby this is Andrew. Can you say hi?"
"Hi." Lily waved looking at him curiously.
"Will I be meeting Mr. Pasquale as well?" Andrew asked, looking around.
I tightly smiled, "Tomorrow, probably. Anyways, thank you, Andrew. I think we're all going to get along great."
_____
Andrew had left over a half hour ago and Lily had already drawn a picture of him. I think I made the right choice, hopefully Steve feels the same way. I know once he meets Andrew, he'll agree.
I heard the door unlock, Steve was back.
"Hey. Did you pick a nanny?"
"Yes. You're going to love him, he's perfect."
"That's great sweetie." Steve said furrowing his brows looking down at Lily's drawing.
"Lily, you can't make people purple, this isn't Barney. Wait... him?"
I held back a scoff at the fact he hadn't been listening to me in the first place.
"Yes. The nanny, Andrew."
"Phillipa. Did you seriously pick a male nanny because you were mad I didn't stay? It's a bit early in the evening for one of your temper tantrums."
I wasn't going to take the bait for the obvious fight he wanted to start and ignored him.
"I picked Andrew because he was the best candidate. You would know that if you had been here. Look, just give him a chance please."
"Pippa. It's weird. Another guy living with us..."
I raised my eyebrow, "Ok? And it's not like I'm inviting him to share our bed, he's just here to watch Lily. Also, if we had chosen a female nanny, by your logic, I would be uncomfortable with her staying with us."
"It's different. Fine, whatever. I'll give him a chance. I don't want to fight, baby. I was hoping we could have a nice evening celebrating. I'm really happy for you and know how badly you wanted to go back to work."
I smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him.
"Thanks, baby. You're going to love him, I promise."