A dick.
A very large dick.
“Yours doesn’t really look like a dinosaur, Daddy.” Leo leans across the table to try and get a better view, but I pick up the steaming hot pancake and stuff it into my mouth, turning to Flo while I chew. I know my glare is saying what my mouth can’t right now.
“Wow, someone’s eager. Is my cooking really that good?”
“No. I don’t need you to make me breakfast,” I tell her after swallowing the pancake, and I’m pretty sure my gums are now peeling from third-degree burns.
“Well, it would’ve been a shame to waste the batter, and now you’re fuelled for the day, so you’re welcome.” Her eyes twinkle with mischief.
She’s wearing some kind of sleeveless, tanned crochet top that I don’t doubt she made herself. Not because it looks bad, but because it fits her a little too well, as if she measured herself and crafted it to mould perfectly to every inch of her upper body. The neckline dips low, but not so much that you would consider what she has showing as cleavage.
“Look, Daddy, it’s you!” Leo points to the TV screen we can see from the kitchen table. My face is front and centre, with a news reporter talking in front of the green screen. There’s a woman’s face next to mine—someone I’ve never seen before—and the woman presenting the news points from each picture as she talks. Luckily, it’s on mute.
“Uh, yeah, it is, buddy.” I can’t snatch the remote up and switch the TV off fast enough. My efforts to shield my son from all of this are exhausting, but every day he grows smarter, and I’m going to have to explain one day that women from all over the county involve themselves in this almost running joke and come forward, pretending to be his biological mother.
It gives them their fifteen minutes of fame.
“Let me guess, you’ve never seen that woman before in your life.” Flo’s voice is close beside me, and I realise I’m staring at the black TV screen, the remote still in my palms.
“Uh, no.”
“You can sue them, you know? For defamation.”
“That’s more stress than it’s worth.” I don’t want to talk about this. Suing these women has crossed my mind before, but I can’t sue everyone, and I don’t want to bring any more attention to their stories. In my mind, the best thing I can do is ignore it all and hope that one day, the desire to mess with me and my family fizzles out. I’m certain that once I retire, nobody will give a shit about me anymore anyway.
“They’ll stop one day.”
Flo offers me a sad smile—a kind of smile that doesn’t hold the same pity that people often look at me with when they see what the media enjoys saying, but a smile that looks like it’s bothering her too. “Hopefully.”
I run my tongue along the front of my teeth. “I’m going. Thanks for the pancake. I’ve probably burned my taste buds off now, though.” I take one last sip of coffee and slip off my chair, kissing my son on the top of the head like I do every morning. “Behave, please.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Leo says, mouth overflowing with food.
“Yes, Daddy,” Flo copies, right after reminding my son not to talk with his mouth full.
All I can do is scowl as I shut the door behind me, running a tired hand down my face.
I wish Gracie didn’t have to go back home to Wyoming and could’ve stayed to look after Leo for the rest of the season, because judging by the mood Flo’s in now she’s got the job, I can tell she’s going to give me a whole lot of trouble.
Coach Darrell is grinning at me from ear to ear, and honestly, it’s fucking creeping me out. “Stop it. You’re going to give me nightmares, and I barely get enough sleep as it is.”
“You kept Flo.”
I quirk a brow, catching my breath back as I cease my jogging on the field. Sweat is trickling down my back, my training top wet and sticky. “You say that like you’re surprised.”
He stares at me, dumbfounded. “Because I am, West. You finally did it. You finally stuck with a nanny.”
“It’s not a big deal. Leo likes her, and she needed a job. She’s only staying for the summer.”
“I’ll be searching for her replacement in the meantime, don’t worry, but it’s the little things, Evan. Let’s celebrate the little things.”
It bothers me. Leo’s spending his time with someone he trusts, but I’ll have to remind him that Flo’s leaving soon, and we’ll be heading right back to square one, starting all over again with a different nanny who Leo probably won’t click with.
It’s precisely what I’ve been trying to avoid. My son doesn’t deserve to feel left behind, but it’s a reality we’re going to have to face sooner or later. He knows he doesn’t have a mother. I’ve explained to him before—not in detail—that it’s just me and him, but he doesn’t remember her. I don’t want to see the sadness in his eyes when the time comes for me to reiterate him that Flo’s temporary, and drop the bomb that Darrell’s found him a new nanny.
But in the week that Flo’s been here, she’s been the best nanny my son’s ever had. I can’t fault her, besides that her wild streak will definitely rub off on him, but in a way, it’s endearing. It’s also not boring, and my life has been far too dreary for too long.
