The Kid, the Boss, and the Incorrigible Nanny

Part One

Kid Shelley swept a rusting yellow mop across the floor and straightened to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. She looked over her shoulder in the direction of the sound of the talking vegetables coming from the television hanging on the wall over a circle printed rug. On the rug sat a boy, almost four years old, staring up at her.

"He here?" He asked her, his eyebrows scrunched up on his forehead. For almost four, his speech was very, very limited.

Kid dropped the mop back in its bucket and gritted her teeth in annoyance. The clock on the wall to her left said it was 6:15. Definitely past time for the boy's father to be there.

"Not yet, Bubba." Kid pushed the mop bucket to the side and wiped her hands on her pants. "But how would you like me to sit with you while we wait?"

At this he smiled. He loved snuggles, and, as Kid had to admit, he especially loved snuggling with her. She walked over and sat down by him, instantly becoming his chair as she did so.

"What are Bob and Larry up to now, huh?" She kissed him on his cheek and turned her attention to the screen.

He didn't answer her; he never did. He simply smiled up at her again and went back to watching his movie.

She sighed. Thank You, Jesus, for this boy. And thank You for the great plans You have for his life. And as she sat there, her shoulders aching, she prayed, and thank You for this day. As much as I've grumbled, I am grateful for all my blessings. Amen

It had been a rough one. The A/C had gone out just after morning snack, making the kids cranky as all get out. Then the old fridge finally decided to shut down in the kitchen and one of the toddlers got sick, all over the floor. Someone fell off the slide outside and someone else decided it was time to take their pants and underwear off when parents started showing up. Kid laughed inwardly thinking about that one. It was daycare; someone was bound to take their pants off eventually. Nobody was perfect. Well, nobody but little Aiden here, that is.

He was the picture of well behaved: friendly, helpful, polite. The only problem was his speech, something Kid had tried time and again to talk to his father about. Except that every time she tried, he effortlessly managed to blow her off.

"Aiden." A soft male voice came through the door behind them. The boy's gaze instantly snapped toward his father. He leaped out of Kid's lap to the floor and ran at him. Kid got up as well and turned to meet the man in the weathered leather jacket at the door.

To his credit, Adrian Lawson obviously adored his son — even if his lack of punctuality made one think otherwise. It was quite possibly his one redeeming quality.

Kid made it a point to never judge anyone. The Bible says that how you judge, you too will be judged. Which, she thought, was all fine and dandy, except for the small fact that Adrian was completely intolerable in every way, shape, and form. His attitude was terrible, he never took the time to actually stop and talk to Aiden's teachers about, well, anything. And he always smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, which meant that Aiden was getting to breathe in all of that junk second-hand. That still kind of counts as judging.

"Say bye-bye, Aiden." Adrian turned to go out of the room without glancing Kid's way, and she almost had to run to catch up with him before he left.

"Um, Mister Lawson? Could you --"

He turned back toward her, his steely gaze meeting hers. The thought occurred to her that this was the first time they'd actually ever made eye contact. "Yes? What is it?"

He looked almost angry at her for interrupting his day, and Kid found herself blushing in embarrassment.

"Well, you see, the thing is... it's almost six-thirty, and..."

"So? What's your point?"

She bristled a little at that but fought to keep it contained. Jerk.  "My point is, we close at six. And as much as I love Aiden and I don't mind watching him when you might be running late to pick him up..." Yeah, right. Might be running late, Kid thought. That was putting it lightly.

Adrian's face morphed into a scowl. "Is there a problem we need to discuss, Miss Shelley?" His words were like ice, and Kid almost buckled under the weight of his anger.

"No!... that is, I only wanted to say..." Kid took a deep breath before spitting out, "I'm afraid I'm terribly busy tomorrow evening, and I really can't stay any later than six, so if you could try to make sure you're here by that time to get Aiden, I would very much appreciate it..." she felt her voice get smaller with every word as his expression simultaneously grew more overbearing.

Aiden peered up at her with confused eyes as he wrapped his small arms around his father's legs, oblivious to the tension between the two adults. Finally, his father sneered at the teacher.

"Such a shame. I actually won't be able to pick Aiden up until late again tomorrow. Of course, the daycare will be compensated for the extra time you will be required to remain open. Terribly sorry." And with that, he turned and left, not behaving as if he was sorry at all.

For a long while, Kid couldn't decide if she was angry or just... incredulous. Was it possible that that man was really as ridiculous as he seemed to be? Eventually, she just sighed under her breath and left to dump the mop water, muttering as she went.

"God, bless that man."

...

"So what should we have for dinner tonight, Aiden? Pizza sound good to you?" Adrian glanced at the little boy out of the corner of his eye before turning out of the parking lot onto the road.

"Miss Kid bye-bye." Aiden was looking out the window at the woman in a little silver car behind them.

"Yep, Miss Kid is going home, just like us."

"I wuv." Aiden grinned up at him.

Adrian scoffed inwardly at that. "Sure you do." Odds were the kid wouldn't even remember her when he was older and she'd moved on to some other low-income job. That was the way people like her were. He sighed and pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket.

"Pizza it is."

---
A/N:

Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to read the first part of The Kid! I hope you enjoyed it. I know that right now Kid is a mite judgemental, but please don't let that deter you from following the story! Anyway, if you do decide to stick it out with me, I would really love that! If you have any comments/editing suggestions, please let me know!

Update 09.04.19: 

Some minor changes today including edited text for clarity. Please note that Aiden & Adrian's last names are now "Lawson" as opposed to the previous "Law."

-j

Update 09.11.19:

Grammar editing. Thank you for reading!

-j