Lily: Rival Nanny

Chapter 1

Jessie was giving out the laundry when she noticed a new t-shirt. Because of its size, she knew it belonged to Zuri, but she had no idea how the girl acquired it. After searching the penthouse for a while, she found Zuri playing with her dolls in the kitchen.

"I was wondering where you got this shirt. Did your mom take you shopping again?" Jessie asked, handing her the shirt and putting her laundry basket on the counter.

"No, Jamie's nanny made it for her. She's the daughter of a t-shirt factory owner, so she gets test shirts…or something like that. Her nanny talks all proper and sometimes it's hard to understand her," Zuri said, looking down to her dolls. "She made Jaime's paper doll collection too. I've tried finding them in stores, but they just don't exist. It's depressing, Jessie, just really, really depressing."

"This nanny sounds pretty amazing. Who is she?" Jessie asked, fluffing her hair a little and eying Zuri carefully. The girl merely shrugged, getting back to her game. Jessie sighed, turning around to the laundry basket. Luke was there peeking inside. "Your clothes are in your room. There's nothing there for you."

"Jessie, I already know what your underwear looks like," Luke scoffed. "I was just wondering why you were doing the laundry. Don't we have, oh I don't know, a butler for that?"

"We do, but you know how his naps are," Jessie groaned. "He refused to work today because he missed his nap yesterday due to your shenanigans. You need to stop building rockets before you get the whole building in trouble. You know our downstairs neighbor thinks he works for Homeland Security and he will actually call Homeland Security."

"Blame Ravi for this one," Luke said, peering into the fridge.

"Don't ruin your dinner," Jessie scolded, using her hips to close the fridge door. "Hey, do you know Zuri's friend, Jaime?"

"Yeah, she has that smokin' hot nanny. I've been alone with her for five minutes before," Luke flaunted.

"What's this nanny like? I've never met her for some reason."

"She's new, straight from…well I don't know actually, but she is pretty awesome. I hear she makes her own apple juice," Luke nodded.

"She made Zuri a t-shirt, and she apparently made her friend some nice dolls. I've never been that creative in my life, and you've never described me as 'smokin' hot'," Jessie scoffed. "How often does Zuri talk about this nanny?"

"Jaime's only been her friend for a few weeks. They aren't in the same homeroom together, but they have art. Boy, Jessie, you're really slacking lately. I thought it was your job to know things about us that our parents don't, such as how old we are, how tall we are, when we last got a checkup."

"I'm here to care for you and nothing else, but…do you think Zuri would tell your parents how much better this other nanny is?" Jessie asked with a worried voice. Luke shook his head, using Jessie's distracted expression to pull a slice of pizza from the fridge.

"MY PIZZA!" Bertram hissed, walking into the room with stiff legs like a zombie. He snatched the pizza from Luke and walked away without another word.

"What?!" Luke exclaimed.

"I told you he was having a strange nap day. It's your fault and he's right," Jessie smiled. "We'll get our own pizza for dinner because I am not cooking for you all."

"Jaime's nanny has a rooftop garden and grows her own vegetables. Have you ever gardened at all?" Zuri asked. Jessie scoffed, "I've farmed before, Zuri. I had to be the plow horse once when our old plow horse got sick. Have you ever done such a thing?"

"I doubt it. That sounds really dirty," Luke grimaced.

"Either way, I am pretty good at farming, but you can't do much with a rooftop garden. I tried, but wait…Bertram ate all the plants before I could harvest them. They must have a greenhouse or something to keep the pigeons away too."

"I don't know. I've only been to her house once, but we never left the life-sized dollhouse she made," Zuri nodded with a satisfied smile. "She made us tea too."

"So she's a carpenter too," Jessie moaned. "What doesn't she do?"

"Kids' birthday parties," Zuri nodded firmly. "She doesn't like clowns very much, but Jaime and I don't either. Jessie, why are you asking so many questions about her nanny?"

"Oh, no reason," Jessie muttered, biting her lip. She was getting more and more worried the more good things she learned about this new nanny, and she hoped her worst fear wouldn't come true.