Nanny Undercover

Chapter 12: Thanksgiving

"Goldie!"

Goldie couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. She hadn't seen her brother in nearly a year.

"Grant! Look at you, you skinny thing!" Goldie leapt up into her brother's arms and kissed him soundly on the mouth. "I'm so happy to see you, you ugly thing!"

And Grant, who was a very handsome young man, smacked her on the bottom before releasing her. "Smart aleck," he said. "Did I hear you brought your job with you? Your boss and babies?"

"Yes, I did," she responded, grabbing Jeff by the arm. "This is Jeffrey Ormonde. Jeff, my brother Grant."

"Pleasure to meet you," Grant said, holding out a hand. "I've heard of you, of course. I actually went to one of your concerts when I was in college with a girlfriend of mine. It was a great show."

"Thanks," Jeff answered. "Thought you looked familiar."

The two men laughed.

"And please introduce me to your daughters? Or are they leery of strangers?"

"They can be, but they've settled in and are very comfortable with your mother and father already, so probably they'll be fine. They're napping now, but should be waking up soon," Jeff explained.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Grant asked.

"Store," Goldie responded. "Come on, we're supposed to be doing prep in the kitchen while they're gone, getting stuff ready for tomorrow."

"Let me put my stuff away, and I'll come help in about five minutes."

"Bro, be quiet upstairs, okay? The girls are sleeping in the spare room."

Grant gave her a thumbs up as he left with his duffel bag.

"He seems nice," Jeff mentioned as he chopped onions.

"He really is, now, though he was a real asshole to me when we were little," Goldie answered. She was rinsing vegetables at the sink.

"All older brothers are assholes to younger sisters, it's our job," Jeff said with a grin.

"He's right," Grant agreed as he entered the kitchen. "Besides, you're here, you're in one piece, what are you complaining about?"

"What kinds of things did he do to you?" Jeff asked curiously.

"Well, he cut my bangs straight across my hairline once, on picture day, no less," Goldie remembered.

"Oh yeah," Grant recalled fondly. "We should pull out that picture later and show him."

"Do it and lose a testicle," Goldie said, turning from her place at the sink. "And what about when you made me eat soap?"

"I didn't make you," Grant protested. "You wanted to!"

"You told me it tasted like 'flowers'!" Goldie retorted. "You said it tasted exactly how it smelled, and that I should take a bite, you dick!"

"Yeah." Grant held his stomach as he laughed. "You barfed all over the back porch, remember?"

"I remember," Goldie said darkly. "I still can't stand that particular brand of soap."

"And what about the magic umbrella incident?"

"The 'magic umbrella incident'?" Jeff repeated, forgetting to chop. "I must hear about this."

"He made me jump off the barn roof with an umbrella. He told me it was magic, and that I could fly if I was holding it." Goldie's mouth twitched as she backhanded her brother in the stomach. "We'd been watching Mary Poppins, you know?"