Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
H ayden thought the new manny was going to work out pretty well.
When he’d made the call to his friend Declan about getting a nanny who would work with his location and his particular set of challenges, he’d told Declan he didn’t want a super nanny, he didn’t want an obvious dragon, he didn’t want any kind of super magical creature Mary Poppins.
He wanted Jacks to be able to grow up knowing what it was like to be human.
The conversation had been short and a little frustrating, mostly going along the lines of, “Why on earth would you want a nanny who can’t handle his dragon side?”
“I think it’ll be fine. I just want him to have a person, someone who is easy to emulate.”
“Look, Hay, I know you haven’t ever had a kid before, but I’m not sure this is the way it should play out.”
“Yeah, I know. You have two kids of your own. Blah, blah, blah. This is not the same situation, Dec.”
And they’d gone back and forth on that until Declan had agreed to call an agency for him and set up this interview.
When it came right down to it, Declan had done great.
He thought Daniel Pinkney was exactly what he’d asked for.
Medium height, lean, with a square jaw and freckles, Daniel was a redheaded, blue-eyed dude.
One who looked like he was mostly perfectly normal.
He may be a little intimidated by the house and the fact that they had staff and such, but he looked like he would handle things well enough.
And he’d signed the contract, so he didn’t have to worry about the guy blabbing all over the place if something weird happened.
If that happened, he’d just show the little human what a fire-breathing dragon could do.
It was bad enough that Shark and Blade had ended up bringing him the baby out of the blue.
“Don’t worry,” they’d said. “We know that you wanted to be a father and you didn’t have access to very many omegas.”
“Don’t worry,” they’d said. “You are going to be great at this.”
“Don’t worry,” they’d said. “He’s going to grow so quick, and you are going to be so excited.”
Don’t worry—except he worried.
He did work from home, and he worked a lot. He didn’t have the most patient of temperaments. He was a little set in his ways. He did like the finer things in life, and he did want things just so.
Of course, the first time he held Jacks, that had all flown out the window. That little boy had looked at him, and he had immediately fallen in love.
This was the son of his heart, and Hayden was going to protect him and support him in every way possible. That didn’t mean, however, that he was going to be able to be with this little one twenty-four-seven.
Even if he’d been your garden variety human wealthy person, he would have hired a nanny.
The fact that they were dragons didn’t mean a thing.
Besides that, it didn’t matter. The second that Jacks had latched on, his blue eyes focused, the electricity almost obvious to Hayden’s dragon, he’d known it was a good idea.
Then when little Jacks had gone mine.
Now that was that.
Every dragon needed a human.
He thought that at one point dragons had thought humans were pets. Then, of course, the times had changed and humankind had changed.
He needed help, and so had dragonkind. Humans were brilliant and creative and so much better at adjusting to different situations.
With his kind, such things were so much harder, way more of a challenge.
Jacks was so pure and young and wonderful, and he was one of their own.
He and Daniel would roll along perfectly well together.
He settled back behind his desk, having told Mrs. Lee to make sure she made enough food for Daniel to join him at dinner. He wanted to just check in after Daniel had spent some time with Jacks and see where his head was at. It never hurt to be a little bit vigilant.
Hayden saw no reason that Daniel shouldn’t be truly happy in his quarters.
There was a sitting room, a bedroom, and ensuite. Everything was functional, with a lovely view. There was a television, a decent queen bed, and a tub to soak in.
It was close to the nursery, right across the hall, so there shouldn’t be any problem hearing Jacks, and he had a baby monitor so that when Jacks woke up and he needed something, Daniel could hear it and get him what he required.
There was even a very small refrigerator and a single convection burner in the cabinet should Daniel need to cook, or warm bottles.
It didn’t matter, so long as he didn’t interfere with the kitchen. That was not his to mess about in.
Mrs. Lee was brutally clear about that.
He watched the young man carry in a duffle and a guitar case on the first trip up. His second trip was two boxes.
On the third trip, there was a clear plastic tote full of something— he wasn’t sure what exactly, but it was black. The second one he did recognize.
It was yarn. An entire tote of yarn. How odd.
The fourth box—and how did he fit all this nonsense in a car—plus a big carpet bag were taken up, and these seemed to have brightly colored toys and games in them.
As if he couldn’t provide them. All this little human had to do was ask.
He would buy everything he needed for his own family. He wasn’t in need of assistance in that area.
Also, they were going to have to find a place to park that car. It was close to falling apart.
He did have a big garage, so he would make sure either Roger, the gardener, or his handyman, Allen, would park the car for him.
The snows would come soon, and then it wouldn’t really matter if the kid wanted to go down the mountain.
He wouldn’t be able to unless he got chains for the tires and cinderblocks to put in the back of that little car.
Sighing, he went back and got to work, knowing he needed to get as much of it done before dinner as possible. He’d probably have to go back to work after that, but he always tried to spend an hour or so after supper with Jacks.
His phone rang, and Hayden rolled his eyes, trying not to growl when he answered the call. “What do you want, Declan?”
“Oh, hey man. I just wanted to see if your nanny had shown up today like he was supposed to.”
“He’s here right now unloading all of his crap. I’m assuming Jacks is having a little nap.”
“How much crap can a nanny have?”
“He filled up quite a bit of space in his little bitty car. Don’t you have a nanny yourself?
” He hadn’t been to Declan’s place since the man had started having babies with his omega, but that didn’t mean anything.
He was pretty sure Declan was fully staffed, including a few non-human familiar types.
“Yeah, I have two nannies. I have enough kids that they need to have some extra help, so they take turns having days off.”
“You’re a freak of nature. I can’t imagine having more than one of these tiny terrorists.”
Declan laughed at that, the sound hearty and full. “You’ll get used to it, I promise. Give yourself some time, and make sure you don’t miss any of his major milestones.”
“I’ll do my best. You know how much I love him already. I’m just not a demonstrative dragon.” It didn’t feel like that was just making excuses. It was the truth. He’d been an island for a very long time.
He loved Mrs. Bronson and Mrs. Lee. In their own way, they were his family.
But they didn’t expect flowery words or hours spent together in a family room or anything like that.
Mrs. Bronson watched a lot of crime shows on TV, Mrs. Lee did Tai Chi, and he wasn’t sure what else.
Something that involved yarn and a crochet hook, maybe?
He knew it wasn’t knitting because that took two needles.
“I know you will, my friend. Call me if you need anything else. And maybe we’ll come in the spring to meet Jacks.”
“Lovely,” he teased in a deadpan voice.
Declan laughed. “Talk to you again soon. Bye.”
“Goodbye.” And he ended the call.
Hayden sighed, blowing out an aggravated breath that held a little scent of brimstone.
He didn’t need this nonsense. He needed to focus on being with Jacks after dinner and enjoying him, not thinking about all the other claptrap.
He put his eyes to his screen, and by the time the chime sounded throughout the house announcing supper, he was feeling much more like himself.
He stood, brushing off his slacks and nodding—all in all, it had been a good day of work.
Now he was starving, and the scent of something spicy—fajitas, perhaps?—filled the air.
Hayden wandered toward the kitchen. They had a gorgeous dining room of course, but it seemed like such a formal place for something as wonderful as sharing a meal with his family.
He much preferred eating at the kitchen table. The huge round monstrosity could hold eight people easily along with a meal in the center. And it was a simple and good place to be.
“Good evening, Hayden. How are you doing?” Mrs. Lee offered him a quick grin, her plaid button-down still clean and crisp even after her day of work. “Did you have a nice afternoon?”
“It was. I got a lot of work done. How was yours?”
She smiled and patted his arm. “It was lovely, very easy. It’s going to be amazing having Daniel around.”
“Oh? How has he been doing?” He was curious to know how Daniel had functioned and whether the ladies had needed to pinch hit for the man.
She chuckled softly. “We haven’t heard much from him. He came down for bottles once or twice, otherwise we haven’t seen him or Jacks. It’s been very quiet.”
Odd. In his admittedly very limited experience with Jacks, very quiet hadn’t been a description that had come up.
“He does know about the bell?”
“Yes, honey. Rita told him. He said he’d be down.”
Hayden nodded, “We’ll have to discuss the idea that when it’s time for dinner, it’s time for dinner, and I expect him to be punctual.”
“Of course.” She winked at him. “Hopefully he’s handling the altitude well. We are a little higher than he’s used to.”
“Well, I don’t need Jacks being with someone addled by altitude sickness.” He growled a little, and he grabbed the house phone to call up to the nursery.
When there was no answer, Hayden hesitated. Should he go up and get the man? Make sure Jacks hadn’t eaten him?
“We’re going to have to get us some bread crumbs like Hansel and Gretel. Do you know the story of Hansel and Gretel yet? I bet you don’t. It’s a little intense for youngest ears, but we’ll know it soon. We’ll learn all about gingerbread houses when you’re older.”
Hayden blinked up to see his son being carried in, bouncing gently on the little red head’s hip. “You’re late.”
Daniel’s eyes flashed up to him, and he tilted his head.
“Well, someone had a dirty diaper that needed to be dealt with, and he wasn’t aware that we were on a schedule for going to the bathroom.
Also, I apologize for not being on time.
I wasn’t explained that I was going to be required to jump and run down to supper. It won’t happen again.”
All of this was said in a singsongy, pleasant voice, although the expression was harsh, Daniel staring right into his eyes.
“Oh nonsense, everything’s fine. No one’s late. Someone’s just hangry.” Mrs. Benson came in carrying a platter. “Did you have a good afternoon, Jacks, honey?”
His answer was to wiggle and wave and try to get to Hayden.
“Someone wants you.” The baby was handed over unceremoniously, plopped into his lap. “Something smells amazing. Thank you for inviting me to supper.”
“Well, you’re always welcome.” Mrs. Lee brought in the sour cream and salsa, her smile warm. “I make three meals a day.”
“Oh, do you live on-site?”
She nodded. “We do.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow, carefully not looking at him. “‘We’?”
“Mrs. Bronson and Mrs. Lee are married.” He waited to see what Daniel would say to that because I knew it was a little confusing.
“Oh? Oh! Well, cool.”
Basically, he could see Daniel doing the math there, and he realized that it was the whole last name thing that probably tripped him up. It had him, too.
Jacks smacked his chin as if to say, “You’re not paying attention to me, Daddy.” Hayden grinned down at his little boy. “Hey, kiddo, did you have a good day? Huh? Did you?”
Jacks squealed and burbled and grinned at him, and he knew that Jacks liked the new nanny, which was great. Hayden wasn’t required to like the guy, right?
In fact, it would probably be easier if he didn’t. He had a feeling he hadn’t made a great impression on Daniel either because the guy was still shooting daggers at him every so many seconds.
So he simply stuffed Jacks into his left arm and used his right hand to serve himself some fajitas. He didn’t like cold chicken, after all.
Daniel waited patiently for him to serve himself and then took some on the plate.
If it seemed odd that Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Bronson joined them at the dinner table, Daniel didn’t say anything about it.
No one else really cared to come to dinner every night because, basically, the two housekeeping maids and the staff and the chauffeur thought he was kind of a grumpy butthead.
But Mrs. Bronson and Mrs. Lee had been with him for years, and they were his family.
“So, Daniel, tell us about yourself. Where are you from?”
Daniel smiled at Mrs. Bronson. “Originally? Glenwood Springs, but I went to university at Mesa State, and I’ve lived all over as a nanny.”
Mrs. Lee leaned in. “How many families have you been with?”
“This is my fifth. My first family needed someone for a teenager in crisis. Then my second and fourth were both infant to school age positions. My third family was a single dad who married a stay-at-home dad, and they simply didn’t need me anymore.
” Daniel smiled at them. “I loved them all, dearly.”
He knew all this from the CV Daniel had submitted, but it was interesting to sit and listen as Jacks gnawed on his chin. Sweet weirdo.
“Oh, you must have been heartbroken!” Mrs. Bronson grabbed his hand, and Daniel nodded.
“I was, but you know, that’s the job. I’m not a parent. I’m a caregiver, a teacher, a support system — but I’m replaceable.”
Jacks whipped around and stared at Daniel, the little one rumbling.
Hayden patted Jacks’s back. It’s okay, my little one. If you want him here, he’ll stay here with us. I won’t send him away.
Jacks made a hmphing noise, as if to say, Well, good.
“Are you amazing, sweet boy?” Daniel beamed at Jacks, who relaxed back into him, passing gas like a trucker.
Daniel’s laughter filled the air.
So did Hayden’s, because how could he not laugh at that. He was so amazed by this little one every day.
And once he got some food into him, he realized he could even handle dinner being a little late if Daniel made Jacks this happy.