The buzzer rang from the lobby, and Goldie picked up the house phone. They weren't expecting any deliveries.
"A Ms. McFaddon is here for Mr. Ormonde," the doorman announced.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Ormonde isn't home right now," Goldie told him, turning around to look at the girls as she spoke.
"She'd like to speak to you, Ms. Sorenson," the doorman said next.
"Um, okay," Goldie answered, mystified.
"Hello, there, are you the new nanny?" Kylie McFaddon's voice was brisk and energetic, like the photographs Goldie had seen of her.
"Yes, I'm Goldie."
"Goldie, that's right," Kylie responded with a tinkling laugh. "Listen, is Jeff gone for long?"
"No, he should be back within an hour or so. He just sent me a text not to put the girls down for their nap until he came back." Goldie waved to Genie, who was looking at her alertly.
"Wonderful. Would it be okay if I came up and waited for him, then? I really wanted to see him. I need to ask him a quick question."
Goldie was silent. What was she supposed to do? It wasn't her apartment, after all. But Kylie McFaddon wasn't some stranger, she was famous, and Jeff's friend.
"I'd love to see the babies as well," Kylie added, a shade impatiently.
"Okay, sure, come on up," Goldie said, shrugging, though no one could see her but the girls.
"Great. See you in a sec."
Goldie waited near the door to let her in, throwing the bolt and opening the door when she heard the knock.
Kylie McFaddon was a model who had recently branched out into cosmetics and acting, basically becoming her own brand and very rich and famous in the process. It was a little intimidating to see her in person. She was tall, dark haired, with miles of long legs, very chic. She made Goldie feel more like a little round Dutch doll than ever.
"Hello there, you must be Goldie," Kylie said, extending an elegant hand.
"I am, nice to meet you," Goldie responded.
Kylie went to the kitchen and got herself a bottle of water before sitting down on the sofa, while Goldie went back to her spot on the floor with the babies.
Pippa had pulled the blanket around herself and gotten twisted in it. Goldie laughed and untangled her, straightening out the blanket before laying the baby down on top of it again.
"There you go," she said, patting Pippa's little bottom.
"Isn't she a cutie?" Kylie remarked. "Now which one is that? Genie?"
Goldie shook her head. "No, Genie is the blonde. This is Pippa, brown hair, blue eyes."
"And what's the other one's name, again?"
"That's Jemma, brown hair, brown eyes."
"Right." Kylie laughed. "I don't know how you keep them straight. I mean, triplets, you know?"
"Well, it's not like they're identical or anything," Goldie said mildly. "They look no more alike than regular sisters."
"But all girls, all the same size? All babies look alike to me," Kylie said, unscrewing her water and taking a sip.
"Surely not Jeff's?" Goldie asked, staring at the other woman. Why had she asked to see them if she felt this way?
"Well, no, of course not Jeff's. I mean, these aren't like most, are they? Most babies are just smelly and cry all the time, but Jeff does a marvelous job keeping them quiet and clean, and now of course he has you—" Kylie smiled at Goldie.
"Babies can't help crying, it's their only way of communicating," Goldie said, feeling irritated and defensive. She picked up Jemma and smoothed her lovely brown hair down on her head. "And they can't very well clean themselves, you know?"
"Oh, I know, I know," Kylie assured her. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything, and like I said, these babies don't bother me at all."
Jemma pointed a chubby pink finger at Goldie's eye and said, "Goop."
Goldie kissed the finger and put Jemma down.
Pippa began to fuss a little, the cries she made when she was getting tired.
Goldie hoped Jeff came home soon, the babies needed their naps. She decided to get their bottles ready to save a few minutes, and went to the kitchen.
"Wait a minute, where are you going?" Kylie asked. "You have to stay here and watch them, you can't leave me alone with them."
"I'm just going to the kitchen to get their bottles ready," Goldie assured her. "Don't worry, they're safe." What did she think they were going to do, explode?
She measured out the formula and added the water, making sure everything was the right temperature and shaking them.
"How much longer are you going to be?" Kylie called. "One of them just rolled over, twice, she's nearly off the blanket."
"Oh? Which one?" Goldie lined the bottles up on the counter.
"I don't know which one, I told you, they all look the same to me." Goldie could hear panic in Kylie's voice. "Now please, hurry and come back here!"
Goldie came back.
"Genie, you clever girl, where were you trying to go, hm?" Goldie asked as she put Genie back on the blanket. She looked over at Kylie. "Would you like to hold one of them?" she asked, gesturing to the girls.
Kylie shook her head. "No," she said decisively. She gestured to her sweater. "This is Italian cashmere, you see."
"Oh. I see."
Pippa continued to fuss, so Goldie picked her up, checking her watch. "Don't worry, Daddy will be home soon," she assured the baby, hoping her words were true.
Just then they heard the key in the door, and both women looked toward it with expressions of relief.
"Guess what?" Jeff said as he opened the door. "I never do stuff like this, and I hope you don't think it's too much, but I got you a surpr—" his words died on his lips as he saw Kylie seated on the couch. He caught the small, velvet box he'd tossed in the air and carefully put it back in his pocket.
"Kylie, what are you doing here?" he asked, shock making him blunt.
"Surprise," Kylie said with a small smile, finishing Jeff's word.
Goldie just looked back and forth between the two of them, blue eyes huge. Once again, she wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't just leave, she was supposed to be taking care of the girls, and three was just too many for her to just pick them up and go.
"Well, it's a nice surprise," Jeff said, recovering and coming forward to hug her as she rose from the couch.
"I wanted to ask you something, and I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd just pop by and ask in person, you know?" Kylie explained. "Then Goldie said you were gone but that you'd be home soon, so I thought I'd wait, and visit with your daughters. We've been having a great time, haven't we?"
Goldie could only nod.
"Yes, Genie rolled over and everything," Kylie added.
"Did she?" Jeff asked rhetorically.
Now Genie, too, had begun to fuss, adding to the general uncomfortable atmosphere of the room. It was by now well past time for their naps.
"Well, it's the girls' nap time, so if you can wait about half an hour, let us get them down, then I can give you my undivided attention, yeah?" Jeff said to Kylie.
"What? Why? You have her now, can't she do it?" Kylie asked, gesturing toward Goldie.
"No, it takes both of us to feed three of them their bottles," Jeff explained. "She's only here to help me with them, it's not as though now I have her I'm free to do as I please."
Kylie stared at him. "Well, I guess that's my question answered, then. I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me to the Bahamas next month. I got an invitation from that Sheikh, remember, the one we met at the party? Yeah, he invited us to be his guests aboard his yacht for a week. It's supposed to be really nice, super luxurious, you know, good food, all that? And a lot of the same people would be there, music and movie people, the kind of people you want to know." Kylie huffed out a small breath. "But if you can't leave 'your girls', then I guess I came over for nothing."
Jeff sighed. "No, you're right. I can't leave, especially for that long. Taking care of the three of them is a two person job, you must see that. Please thank Sheikh Moustapha for me, I'm sure he'll understand."
Kylie nodded and headed for the door, where she stopped. "Don't forget to give Goldie her surprise."
Jeff turned to Goldie as soon as the door closed, but she shook her head. "No, first let's take care of these guys, we can talk after."
He nodded, and they grabbed the bottles and headed upstairs with the babies, getting them into clean diapers and sitting down with them in the rockers with smooth efficiency. Soon the room was quiet, filled only with the sound of the girls drinking and the chairs moving.
After they were downstairs, Jeff turned once more to Goldie. "I'm so sorry you got caught up in that situation," he said contritely, his words spilling over each other in his rush to get them out.
"Don't be ridiculous, nothing really happened, and none of it was your fault, anyway," Goldie assured him. She looked at Jeff as they sat on the couch. "Are you, uh, seeing her?" she asked.
Jeff stared at her, shocked. "No, of course not! You think I'd be dating her and kissing you at the same time?"
"Well, I hoped not, but the truth is that I don't know you very well," Goldie said frankly. "I mean, you come from a different world than I do, you know? Who knows, maybe for you, it would be completely normal to be dating a world famous supermodel and trying to get some from the nanny on the side. You hear about that kind of thing all the time in the tabloids, don't you? And we never defined what we were doing, did we? All we said was that we were going to kiss from time to time." Goldie shrugged. "Maybe that means more to me than it does to you," she finished, her voice small.
Jeff grasped her shoulder and turned to face him more squarely. "I assure you, here and now, that no matter what world I come from, never would I engage in anything as sordid as dating a world famous supermodel and trying to 'get some' from the nanny on the side." He made a mouth of distaste as he said the words. "Now obviously, I'm not
in a position to be starting anything serious at the moment. I barely have enough of myself to give my girls, and they have to be my priority. I know you understand that."
Goldie nodded.
"But you're a lovely person, and I feel—something—for you," Jeff continued. "I didn't think I would, so soon after losing Maggie." He twisted his head toward the front door. "There's absolutely nothing between Kylie and me, though I know she's interested. Basically, what I'm saying is that, whatever is left after I give my all to my daughters, I'd like to give to you, if it's enough."
Goldie looked at him and nodded. "I'm not seeing anyone, either, and I like you, Jeff, very much. What you're describing sounds—nice." She smiled, leaning forward to hug him.
She whispered in his ear. "So, what's my surprise?"
Jeff reached in his pocked and pulled out the box, handing it to her with a grin. "I don't know your taste, so I guessed."
Goldie opened the box and a smile blossomed on her face as she looked at the necklace. "Oh, Jeff, it's gorgeous! I love it! Sapphires are my favorite." She lifted it out on tented fingers and turned around.
"Do the clasp for me?"
Jeff clasped it on her, loving how her blonde hairs grew short and fine on her beautiful neck. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on top of the clasp when he was finished, and Goldie bent her neck so he could have better access.
Then she turned around, reaching for him, and they kissed like teenagers, holding each other tight, tipping over on the couch, wrapping themselves up in each other, making sounds of eagerness and joy.