Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 64617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“Why would I want to make you cry?”
“Because they’re happy tears and crying with happy tears is like super romantic.”
“Oh… Okay then. I’ll ask you in a way that will make you cry happy tears.”
“Okay good, but don’t make me cry in any other way than happy tears. Ever. You promise?”
“I promise.”
She leaned her head on my shoulder, whispering, “I trust you.”
She did?
Good, because for a reason I didn’t understand, I trusted her too.
But it was the smell of her strawberry hair that was doing all sorts of things to my body. I hoped she didn’t notice, I didn’t want to scare her away. Not when I’d just found her.
Or did she find me?
“Oh, Aiden!” She threw her arms around my neck and jumped into my lap, sending the plate of food flying. I hesitated until she added, “I’m so happy I found you! You’re better than that stray cat I fed that keeps coming back! So much better! I don’t have to feed anymore strays because now, I have you! Finally! I found you! I found my family like my mom said I would!”
I hugged her back, holding her as close as I could to my body. Her heartbeat next to mine would now be my favorite feeling in the whole world.
Today had been the worst day of my life but meeting her has turned it into one of the best.
Thank you, Momma.
“I promise you, Bailey Button. We won’t ever be alone again.”
And I meant it with my whole heart and soul. Even though I didn’t know what that was, it still sounded like everything I ever wanted.
And that was good enough for me.
Chapter 4
<>Camila<>
Now
__________
“Your resumé states you have experience with children but doesn’t specify when or how many children were under your care,” the young woman interviewing me questioned as she skimmed through the papers in front of her. Fixating her bright blue eyes on me, she added, “Can you clarify?”
“Yes, of course.” I eagerly nodded, clearing my throat. “I have siblings. Lots of them. I can’t remember a time where our home wasn’t filled with kids. You’d think my parents didn’t own a television or something.” I nervously laughed at my own joke. “I swear my biological clock is ticking inside my mother’s body. She loves kids now as much as she did back then. All she wants is a team of grandbabies. My father is the same.”
The woman laughed, and her smile lit up her entire face. I had only just met her, but I swear I knew her from somewhere.
Where do I know you from?
“I take it you don’t have kids?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t, but I love kids. Especially babies. There is nothing better than holding a little babe in your arms, snuggling them close to your heart. Don’t get me started on their soft skin, cute feet, and baby smell.”
“That’s how they get you,” she chuckled. “Then they start walking and talking, and it all goes downhill from there.”
I scoffed out a giggle. “My siblings were definitely a handful. They still are.”
“I bet it’s nice to come from a big family, though. I was an only child, and I always wished I had the same luck as you. But now”—she leaned back into her chair, lovingly holding onto her growing belly through her white sundress— “I just keep getting knocked up with my own.”
We laughed, easing into a comfortable conversation with one another like old friends. I liked her. She seemed genuine, and that was hard to find amongst women these days. Particularly the one I could possibly be working for.
“My husband is adamant about knocking me up with triplets.”
“Three more babies? All at once? You must have the patience of a saint. I mean, you already have three kids—”
“No, no, no!” she chimed in, chuckling. “The nanny position you’re interviewing for isn’t for me.”
“Oh… I thought… I just assumed … you’re interviewing me, so I just… I mean … never mind.” I shifted in the leather chair across from her, wringing my clammy hands together in my lap, trying to gather my composure.
My eyes glanced all around the room to look at anything besides her. It was only then I noticed a couple broken picture frames on the mantle in the office we sat in. Even though the glass was shattered, someone had set them back up.
What’s that about?
I thought to myself, biting my tongue, struggling with my English like I always did when I was nervous.
“It’s alright. That would have been my assumption as well. But no, I’m just a good friend of the family.”
My mind immediately swarmed with an endless list of questions about said family.
Where were the parents?
Why aren’t they here?
Will I be meeting them today?
However, I knew it wasn’t my place to ask. I ignored each and every one of them, simply grateful that my uncle happened to overhear someone talking about hiring a full-time nanny.