Shadows of New York (2 page)

Rather than having his usual evening squabble with Rosemary, Josh decided to blow stuff up. He grabbed his video game controller and a few short minutes later was a space commando defending human life against the alien onslaught.

“Oh, no, mister, not on a school night,” said his mother as she came back into the great room, Aiden trailing a step behind. She clicked off the television. “Besides, we should spend some time getting to know Aiden, shouldn’t we?”

“Oh, yes!” Rosemary agreed with a huge smile. She turned to Aiden, who had taken a chair by the large windows. “So, tell me all about yourself.”

He smiled, amused by Rosemary's easy banter. “Well, there’s not really much to tell. I’m just…a regular guy.”

“That’s a little broad.” Rosemary scowled. “Can you be more specific?”

“Yeah, okay. I like football and music.”

“Country, I’m guessing?”

“All kinds.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m as likely to listen to rap as I am to country.”

“Favorite food?”

“Sausage and gravy on biscuits. But I’m a vegetarian.”

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

“Sure it does. Sausage and gravy is my favorite, but I don’t eat meat anymore.”

“Health reasons?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Oh, yeah. A lot.”

Josh and his mom watched the rapid-fire back-and-forth between Rosemary and Aiden. This wasn’t unusual. Rosemary had a natural talent for chitchat. It made Josh a little jealous to watch her in action. He was the exact opposite.

“Josh,” interjected his mother, “Do you have any questions for Aiden?”

He didn’t. At least, he didn’t have any prepared, so he came up with one on the spot. “Um, what’s your favorite TV show?”

“Don’t have one. I don’t watch much TV. I mostly read.”

From the corner of his eye, Josh saw his mother smile. That was probably the answer that got Aiden the job. It always struck Josh as a little funny that his mother was so anti-television while working in the industry.

* * * *

The rest of the visit with the kids went well. Afterward, Mrs. Cooper—Jennifer—called Aiden’s cell phone and asked him to start as soon as possible. He moved his stuff in over the weekend and could now call the Upper West Side home.

The first full day of Aiden’s new job happened to fall on a teacher conference day, so all of the kids were home. Aiden hoped this was a good thing; maybe the older two could help him learn the little guy’s normal routine. Either that, or all three would be bored with him by the end of the day. It was Aiden’s first full-time nanny gig, and he was a bit intimidated, especially in a fancy place like this, but hopeful that things would go okay.

A few minutes before noon, Aiden left his new bedroom suite and went out into the great room. The kids sat on the couch watching the movie
Cars
. Jackson made constant raspberries with his lips, pausing every few seconds to take a breath. Rosemary sat watching the movie upside down. Josh just looked bored.

“That’s his car noise.” Rosemary waved a hand in Jackson’s direction.

“Awesome car noise, dude!” Aiden said to Jackson, who rewarded him with a loud fake laugh.

“That’s his fake laugh,” Josh explained. “He thinks he’s funny.”

“He
is
funny!” Aiden smiled at the baby goggling up at him with a big grin on his chubby little face.

Jennifer breezed into the room on her high-heeled designer pumps, rolling her eyes at the sight of the upside-down Rosemary. “Time for Mommy to go to work, darlings. Line up for smoochies!”

Josh and Rosemary hopped to their feet and stood side by side. Jackson was still a little too young to grasp the concept on his own, so Rosemary helped him get into place. When the ritual goodbye was done (hugs, kisses, and high fives), Mrs. Cooper left the kids alone with their new nanny.

“So, what are we going to do this afternoon?” Rosemary asked.

“Well, what would you guys like to do?”

“Play dress-up,” Rosemary said at the same moment that Josh said, “play video games,” and Jackson blew another raspberry.

“How about if we have some lunch first?” Aiden suggested, making a mental note to keep the open-ended questions to a minimum.

“Mrs. Effigy is already making lunch,” Rosemary informed him.

“Mrs. Who?” Aiden asked, sounding alarmed.

“Mrs. F-G,” Josh explained. “Rosemary pronounces it ‘effigy.’”

“Oh, right. Mrs. Franklin-Garret. I haven't met her yet.”

“You’re going to love her!” Rosemary exclaimed.

“Yeah, she’s pretty awesome,” Josh agreed.

“Brbrbrbrbrbrbr,” Jackson contributed.

Rosemary led the way to the kitchen, calling, “You ready for us, Mrs. Effigy?”

“Almost,” replied a voice with no apparent source.

Aiden looked around the kitchen for Mrs. F-G, including a glance at the ceiling. The housekeeper appeared moments later, standing up on the other side of the island. She was short, a bit on the plump side, and had bright orange hair (“red” didn’t do it justice) pinned up in a fluffy bun. She smiled warmly at them all, tossing a “Pleased to meet you, dear” in Aiden’s direction while bustling around the island carrying four plates at once.

“Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Franklin-Garret,” Aiden returned the greeting.

“Oh, do call me Ann.”

The two older kids made a beeline for the island, climbing onto tall stools. Aiden helped Jackson into his high chair. “You’ll want to put a bib on him,” Mrs. F-G advised, pointing to a nearby drawer. Aiden nodded and grabbed one. Handing out the lunches, Mrs. F-G announced what each meal was.

“Bologna and cheese,” she said as a plate slid in front of Josh.

“Crab and pickle on waffle.” Mrs. F-G wrinkled her nose and served Rosemary’s sandwich.

“Canned pasta rings with cut-up meatballs,” she said with a resigned sigh. Jackson plunged both hands into the orange goo.

“Finally, grilled vegetable and hummus.” Someone, probably the super-efficient Jennifer, must have relayed Aiden’s vegetarianism. Mrs. F-G took this plate to the kitchen table, rather than placing it at the island with the kids.

The older kids watched with puzzled looks as Aiden went to the table.

“Why—” began Rosemary.

“—is Aiden sitting over there?” finished Mrs. F-G.

“Yeah, because—”

“—the nannies usually sit with you at the island?”

“Right.”

“Because Aiden doesn’t eat…” began Mrs. F-G, slowing to a stop.

“Meat,” said Rosemary, staring at the ceiling as she thought. “And we’re eating meat, and maybe it might bother him, so you didn’t put him right next to us.” She finished with a questioning smile.

Nodding, Mrs. F-G said, “Very good.” She added a few more pretzels to Rosemary’s plate.

Aiden found all faces (except for Jackson’s, which was covered in tomato sauce) turned toward him. He gave a shrug. “Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Why don’t you eat meat?” asked Rosemary.

Mrs. F-G gave a little tut and said, “Rosemary, don’t pry. He just got here.”

“Thanks,” said Aiden again.

“Don’t thank me yet. I just bought you some time, that’s all.” She sat at the table with Aiden, bringing with her a mug and a strong scent of tea. She watched the kids until they were all focused on their meals, and then said quietly, “The children will have to know sooner or later. All of it.”

Aiden stopped mid-chew. After a quick swallow, he said, “I don’t follow.”

She patted his hand and said, “Sure you do. They deserve to know. But I’d wait until they get to know you better. People tend to over-react, I imagine.”

Aiden’s insides went cold. He had been told that he would blend in perfectly, that no one in the house would suspect, that he’d have plenty of time to integrate into the family before he needed to explain. Now here he was on his very first day, confronted about that fact that he was—

“Don’t worry,” Mrs. F-G said, interrupting his thoughts. “I won’t say anything.”

* * * *

Mr. and Mrs. Cooper returned home just before midnight. The sound of their hushed voices filtered through the apartment to Aiden, who sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a book. “Seriously,” said Mr. Cooper, trying to be quiet, “if Carlie Diane makes us come up with one more Donnie Cavanaugh skit, I think I’m going to go crazy.”

Jennifer found Aiden first. She gave him a quizzical look and said, “Coffee at this time of night? You’ll never get to sleep.”

Aiden lifted the mug and said, “Decaf. Couldn’t sleep as it was.”

Mr. Cooper appeared behind his wife. His face was handsome, but lined and tired-looking. His dark blond hair, gray at the temples, was receding. Looking wistful, he said, “Gosh, I remember decaf. Haven’t had any since before we had kids. I didn’t think Ann kept decaf around.”

Aiden shrugged. “There was a new can of it in the cupboard.”

“Huh. She must have picked some up.” Mr. Cooper went to the coffeemaker and poured himself a steaming cup and then sat across from Aiden. “So you’re all settled in now, I take it?”

“Yup.” Thinking this answer too brief, he added, “Nice place. Great kids, Mr. Cooper.”

“Robert,” he corrected in a friendly way. Robert threw a glance over his shoulder and, seeing that his wife was no longer hovering in the kitchen doorway, added, “Bob, actually.”

“Robert, actually,” came Jennifer’s voice from the hallway. She was still hovering, just out of sight.

Robert dropped his voice to just above a whisper and said, “She’s got this thing about names as a person’s core identity, or some kind of new age mumbo jumbo like that. Just roll with it.”

“Okay. Not a problem.”

Jennifer strode back into the kitchen, now minus her coat, having stowed it in one of the hall closets. “So, how did the first day go, Aiden?”

“Pretty good.” Jennifer looked at him as if she expected more, so he launched into a brief description of the day’s activities. “After lunch, we went to the park for a while and then came back here and played board games while Jackson took his afternoon nap. That little guy crashed out. I think all the fresh air did him in.”

“And dinner? Did everyone eat well?”

“Oh, yeah! Ann’s quite a crowd-pleaser.”

“You’ve got that right,” Robert agreed. “She always seems to know exactly what everyone’s in the mood for.”

“And after dinner?” Jennifer asked. “Any issues?”

“Nope. We had a nice evening of reading and playing. Everyone was tucked in at their respective bedtimes.”

“Excellent.” Jennifer stifled a yawn. “Oh, excuse me! I’m exhausted. Carlie Diane was a bit high maintenance tonight. I’d better get to bed. Anything you need before you turn in, Aiden?”

“No, thanks, ma’am, uh, Jennifer. I’m all set.”

“All right. Good night then.”

“I’ll be right there,” Robert said as his wife breezed out of the kitchen. Her footsteps retreated down the hallway and a door closed.

“Listen,” Robert said to Aiden. “I know my wife can be a little…particular…about the way things are done around here. It sounds like you’re off to a good start. Just keep doing what you’re doing, and everything will work out fine.” He stood and put his coffee mug in the sink. “See you tomorrow.” He left the kitchen, following in his wife’s path.

Aiden sighed and drained the last of his decaf. These people were nice. He felt bad about keeping a secret from them, but couldn’t see any alternative. Not yet, at least.

Fists of Furry

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Josh’s best friend, Nick, said to him. “Let me get this straight. Your new nanny is a
dude
?”

“I know. Weird, right?” Josh replied as they walked down the school corridor after dismissal, their friends Ian and Ewan trailing behind. This was Josh’s small group of close friends. It was with these guys that Josh ate lunch at school, hung out on weekends, and role-played their favorite online video game,
Swordz N Spellz
. “He seems okay, though.”

“So, you think he’ll let you play more video games than your mom does?”

“I hope so.”

The boys walked out the front doors and parted ways with a quick “see ya.” Josh looked around the small schoolyard and spotted Aiden waiting for him, leaning against the gate and staring at the ground. Josh knew that, as with the other nannies, Mrs. F-G would keep an eye on Jackson while Aiden picked them up from school.

“Rosemary should be out any second,” Josh told Aiden, getting no reaction. That was when he saw the wires running from Aiden’s pocket, disappearing into his hair on either side of his head. He waved a hand to get Aiden’s attention.

“Oh, sorry.” Aiden removed the earbuds and slid them into his pocket.

“I was just saying that—”

Josh didn’t need to finish his sentence. “Aiden!” Rosemary squealed. A second later, a blur of pink sparkles flashed past him and collided with Aiden, wrapping him in a hug.

“Yeah, hi,” Aiden said, prying off forty pounds of six-year-old enthusiasm.

“Is this him?” came a voice Josh recognized as Rosemary’s friend Delilah. He turned to find not just Delilah, but Rosemary’s whole crew of friends. Unlike Josh, who only hung out with a few kids from his class, Rosemary had a genuine posse.

Rosemary beamed as she faced her posse and said, “Yes. This is Aiden.”

“Cool,” Delilah said, echoed by the rest of them.

Delilah took a step forward, her expression curious to the point of challenging. “You’re her nanny? For reals?”

Aiden nodded. “For reals.”

“Why?” Delilah pried.

Aiden didn’t reply. He bit his lower lip as if wondering how to best answer the question. It looked like he could use a rescue.

“Aiden,” Josh spoke up, “can we get going? I don’t feel very well.”

“Yes, absolutely. Let’s get going.”

Rosemary responded to her friends’ collective “awwww” with a shrug and took Aiden’s hand. After signing the Cooper kids out with the lady at the gate, Aiden led them out of the school yard.

“Thanks,” Aiden muttered to Josh once they were on the sidewalk.

Before Josh could respond, Aiden’s phone started ringing, letting out a song telling everyone that it was Peanut Butter Jelly Time. He pulled out the phone and looked at it with a puzzled expression.