“Daniel,” I approach first. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” He reaches out to shakemyhand.
“Likewise. I hope you stick around for a while,” he says, choking on a chuckle that’s quickly interrupted as Samantha thwacks her fist into his gut. I already know what he means by that, thanks to Liam and his warning of no nanny lasting more than a week andahalf.
I walk over to Dylan and sit down beside him, assuming that Samantha and Daniel are watching me to analyze how I handle the situation of Dylan not greeting the new person in the house. “Whatchaplaying,bud?”
Dylan dismissively shakes his head and snickers. “Nothing you’ve heard of,I’msure.”
“You’d be surprised,” I counter. I’d be surprised too, but I can pullthisoff.
“Minecraft,” hemutters.
As shocking as it is, I have, in fact, heard of the game. I have no clue what it looks like or how to play it, but I’ve seen it advertised all over Target and in the malls. “As a matter of fact, I have heard of it. Maybe a little later I canplaytoo?”
Dylan tosses his iPod down onto the couch and hops up to his feet without another word. He leaves the room and heads into the kitchen, stomping the whole way. “I’m hungry,” he shouts.Wow.Okay.
Liam is smirking at me from behind Samantha and Daniel, and I want to smack that smug look right off his face. That’s the second time I’ve wanted to hit him. I’ve never wanted to hit anyone as much as I want to smack him. I guess he just has a smackable face. Liam turns the corner and follows Dylan into the kitchen. “My man, you can’t be so rude to the ladies,” he saystohim.
“Whatever, she’s just another one,” Dylan replies. “Can you get the cereal downforme?”
I hear the banging of cabinet doors as they open and close. “Here you go, man. You have lifeguard training in forty so don’t eattoomuch.”
“I know,” Dylan says, sounding far more pleasant than he was to me amomentago.
“It takes a bit for him to warm up,” Samantha says, appearing a bit nervous. She walks around the coffee table and takes a seat beside me. “Dylan suffers from high-functioning Asperger’s. To be honest, it was hardly noticeable between the ages of six and nine, but now that he’s heading toward those tween years, we’re beginning to see more traits and rebellious behavior.” Samantha speaks surely and concisely as if she has recited this description hundreds of times. “In full disclosure, we haven’t had a nanny stick around for very long, which has been a challenge for Dylan. So, we are hoping you’re what we have been looking for. Liz, the woman your friend, Jade, works for, told me you were spoken of very highly. She said you have incredible people skills, which is why we were so eager to offer you theposition.
I feel winded, blindsided even. Not that I have any issue whatsoever with being Dylan’s nanny, but I feel like I should have been warned of his condition. I would have told them I have absolutely no experience with Asperger’s. I don’t even know what high-functioning means for him. Plus, I would have at least done some research so I could understand a little more about the disorder ... is it even considered a disorder? This is awful. How am I going to help him? “Samantha, I have to be honest with you. I know nothing about Asperger’s. That doesn’t mean I’m going to walk away from this position, but I just wish I had a little more insight on how to handle any particular situation that mightarise.”
Samantha places her hand on her chest, her shoulders slouching forward. “I apologize for not letting you know more details about Dylan before today, Julia, but we’ve had such a string of bad luck with nannies that I was afraid to scare you away too.” She still should have warned me. “I understand if this is too daunting. We’re happy to raise your salary too if it’s a matter of that?” Oh, my God. That is not what I wasimplying!
“No, no.” That’s not at all what I mean by this. “I just want to make sure I’m giving Dylan the best care he deserves.That’sall.”
Samantha and Daniel both seem to relax a bit. “That’s wonderful to hear. We’ve asked Liam to stick around and help you out for the first few days since he’s familiar with Dylan’s routine and tics. We feel you’ll get a better sense of understanding once you’ve gone through the daily routine a few times during this first week. I hope that’s okaywithyou?”
Just to add insult to injury, I’ll be forced to spend even more time with Liam than I thought I would have to. Fantastic. “Sure, of course, that will be helpful.” I hope they’re enjoying this uber-fake smile plastered acrossmyface.
“Great!” Samantha says while peering down at her smart watch. “I have to run. Class starts in twenty. Dan, what time do you think you’ll be hometonight?”
“I have a town meeting at six, so plan for eight,” he says, pulling his hands out of his back pockets. “I have to get going too. We do appreciate you being here, and we hope you’ll stick around forabit.”
“Of course,” I respond, standing from the couch. “I hope you both have a great day. I’ll make sure everything is undercontrolhere.”
Liam reappears in the entryway between the living room and the kitchen. He’s leaning into the wall, one foot crossed over the other and his arms folded over his chest, topped off with his signature smirk that I’ve come todespise.
“Have a good day, guys,”Liamsays.
“Thanks again for helping out,” Daniel says to Liam, holding out his fist for him to pound. Geez, they’re obviously pretty close. I amsotheoutsiderhere.
Samantha and Daniel leave, and I’m standing awkwardly in the living room, fearful of how this is all going to go down. I can tell by the snide glow in Liam’s eyes he knows exactly how this is going to play out.Confidence.That’s what I need. It’s what I have always had. Pull it together. I brush past Liam and sit down at the kitchen table across from Dylan. “So, lifeguard training? That sounds like a lot of fun. Do you enjoyswimming?”
Dylan laughs at me so hard, milk spews from his nose.How nice.“Nine days,” Dylan shouts overtoLiam.
“Oh, I don’t know, I was thinking more like eight, but you’reon,kid.”
“Twenty bucks,” Dylancontinues.
“I’ll even up the ante to thirty this time,” Liamcounters.
Oh my God, they’re ganging up on me. What the hellisthis?
