...I'm back...and while I still have mixed feelings about it, I've been persuaded, for now, to start posting here again. The things I wrote during my hiatus here may eventually find themselves also posted. Yeah...
This fic started as a complete joke, meant to be a ficlet reblogged with the Susie Chang crotchblock stamp I created, but alas, people begged for a full fic, and for some reason, this fic has come pouring out of me. I've already written five chapters in like a week, and right now, I plan to post a new chapter every couple of days. While I'm still not at all sure how long the final fic will be, all of my creative mojo is flowing into this fic right now.
I wouldn't be able to continue this without the encouragement of a select few. They know who they are, and bless their beautiful little Rizzles-filled souls for pushing me and reading...and watching the words flow from my fingertips as I write (shout out to Google Docs for making that happen).
So without further ado...here we go.
Jane had whined and grumbled about the whole thing for three days. She didn't want to be a live-in nanny for three stupid months to some elite, mega-rich Boston family, but when her mother told her how much the family was planning to pay, she knew, despite the fact that she didn't even like children that much, no matter how good she was with them, it was an opportunity she couldn't afford to pass up. It was enough money for her to attend at least three semesters at almost any of the state universities, so begrudgingly, Jane picked up the phone and made a call to accept the job.
The Isles and whatever-her-husband's-last-name-was home was practically a mansion, and Jane understood now how the family could pay so much money for a live-in nanny for the summer. Knocking quietly on the maroon front door, she realized that she should ring the doorbell instead.
Several moments later, a petite, well-dressed honey blonde likely in her mid-30s answered the door, swinging it wide open.
"Jane, hello!" the woman greeted cheerfully, reaching out her hand to shake the young brunette's.
Jane readjusted the large duffle bag on her shoulder and then stuck out her hand. The blonde's, she noted, was warm and soft, her grip firm but still ladylike. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"Come in! Let me show you to your bedroom and then I can give you a tour of the house. The children are currently taking naps, so we'll need to be quiet walking by their rooms," the doctor explained.
"Yeah, sure. Lead the way." She stepped inside and Maura shut the door quietly behind her before turning and heading toward the large staircase on the other side of the foyer. "This place is just...wow."
The honey blonde shot her a smile back over her shoulder. "Thank you. I'm quite fond of the space as well."
As the two ascended the stairs, Jane couldn't help but notice how tight the woman's skirt was, seeing as her line of sight was directly at her backside. Embarrassed at such a thought, she quickly glanced down and tried instead to focus on not tripping over her own feet going up the steps.
When they approached the top, Maura turned right and walked past two doors on the left and a door on the right, appearing to head straight toward an opened door at the end of the corridor.
"The doors on the left are the children's rooms, which are connected by a bathroom," the older woman whispered. "The door on the right is, as of now, their playroom, and this one, here," she said, while walking through the doorway, "is your room. You have your own bathroom. I hope everything in here is to your liking, and if not, please let me know."
Jane looked around, mouth wide open in shock at the grandiose personal space, before tentatively placing her bag on the floor next to the foot of the four post queen sized bed. "Jesus. This is bigger than mine and my little brothers' bedroom combined! And I don't even have to share a bathroom with anyone!"
Closing the door so as not to disturb the children, Maura looked hopeful at Jane's incredulous reaction as the turned toward the younger woman. "Does that mean it'll suit you?"
"Suit me?" Jane turned back around to face her host. "I could live here forever and not mind."
"Wonderful, then," Maura beamed. "Would you like to explore the bathroom before we head into the rest of the house?"
Grinning, Jane turned around toward the bathroom door and opened it tentatively. As she pushed the door open, her jaw dropped again. "There's a clawfoot tub," she whispered in awe. She didn't hear the older woman approach and stand behind her, so when Maura spoke, Jane startled a bit, whirling around to face her.
"Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I sneak in here to take a long, hot bath," the reddish blonde told her in a stage whisper. "My husband insisted on a large garden tub with jets for the master bath, but there is simply something, mm," she hummed, "majestic, I suppose, about soaking your cares away in a clawfoot tub."
For some reason unbeknownst to Jane, the older woman's words caused a prickling sensation along her lower spine, and she smiled bashfully. "Well I'm not about to rat you out," she replied, still smiling.
"Thank you, Jane," Maura replied softly with a smile, "It is very much appreciated."
Shrugging nonchalantly, Jane asked, "Tell me again where your husband is this summer?"
"Japan, for an extended business trip," the older blonde said simply. "He travels a good bit with work, but this time it's for a very important, new project, so I decided this summer especially I would certainly need an extra hand around here with the children. It's been difficult trying to work full rotations at the hospital and take care of Ethan and Samantha."
While her face seemed relatively calm, Jane sensed something in Maura that didn't exactly seem peaceful. She mentally filed that away to examine in case it seemed important.
"I was very appreciative when your mother approached me at the hospital and told me she'd heard I was looking for someone. I simply adore her. We've chatted on many occasions while she volunteers in the children's oncology ward."
"Ma's nosy," Jane said, laughing.
Maura cracked a smile. "Even so, I'm not sure I would have found someone to help me otherwise," the doctor replied, "so in this particular instance, I was grateful she is."
Jane swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and sincerely replied, "Me too."
"Would you," the blonde began to say before softly clearing her throat and trying again, "would you like to see the rest of the house?"
"Please continue." The young brunette gestured outward with her arm.
It had turned out that Doctor isles had taken several days off to help Jane become comfortable with the children's daily routine, and Jane found it amusing that the older woman had printed out detailed schedules for most of the days of the week.
"The only times that really need to be strictly adhered to are their scheduled activities outside the house and bedtimes. Everything else is merely suggested and thus flexible," Maura had politely explained. "And if you ever need me, I always have my cellphone on me, unless I'm actually in surgery. In those cases, please call this number and they'll notify me as immediately as they can, okay?"
"Um, ok. How do I get them to their activities?"
"Oh, you'll have full access to the Audi, dear, of course!""
"You're gonna let a 19 year old drive around a like $50,000 car?" Jane's eyebrows shot up quickly.
"I have full coverage, naturally, but I trust you to drive carefully, especially considering my children will almost always be in the vehicle with you, Jane," the older woman replied seriously.
"Yes, of course," Jane assured her, "But really?"
Gently the doctor placed her right hand on Jane's bicep, squeezing to comfort her. "You'll be fine."
The older woman's touch this time made Jane's stomach start doing flips, and she once again swallowed a lump in her throat before smiling nervously back at her.
Maura herself already felt a natural affinity for Jane, and her longest touch yet on Jane's arm sparked a warm feeling low in her belly, one that she immediately recognized, but hadn't felt for many years. She blushed and looked away toward the clock, noting it was nearly 4pm and Ethan and Samantha had slept their allotted hour and a half for naptime. "I'll go wake up the children so you can get to know them a little. Would you like to come with me, or," Maura spoke softly, letting her voice trail off, giving Jane the option to answer how she pleased.
"If you don't mind, I'll just stay here and wait for you?" Jane decided. "If you'll just direct me to where the glasses are, I'm a little thirsty."
"Oh, of course! How rude of me," Maura apologized. "You could actually just get a bottled water from the fridge, if you'd like, dear. I'll be back momentarily."
As the honey blonde walked away, Jane exhaled slowly, her brain firing a million miles an hour. Her body's reaction to Maura's touch alarmed her. She'd never felt something so intense, and she knew deep in her gut that she shouldn't even start to analyze it all, because things might end up somewhere they shouldn't if she did.
Ethan and Samantha took an instant liking to the tall brunette beauty, and Jane quickly realized they were incredibly different than other children she'd interacted with their age. Ethan was chatty, but very intelligent. His vocabulary was the most impressive she'd heard for only five years old, and Jane mused that he had to have gotten it from his mother. His features, except his hazel eyes, were much darker than the doctor's, so she figured he must have gotten those from his father's side.
Samantha, on the other hand, was quiet and calm, with a sparkle in her eye that indicated at even just three years old, she certainly followed as much as she could possibly understand for her age of everything happening around her. When the little girl smiled, she had the same one sided dimple that Maura did, and Jane knew she would be fighting the entire summer telling her no.
Meanwhile Maura observed quietly, struck with wonder, as the three interacted. It was almost as if she wasn't even there, and while normally she would have felt a pang of jealousy at her children bonding so quickly with someone else, with Jane, it simply felt natural.
That thought both warmed her heart and chilled her to the bone.
She would have to be on high alert this summer.
Please do take a moment to tell me what you think. I'd really like your positive commentary and/or constructive criticism.
Also, line breaks suck here. It's like they don't want you to use anything but those stupid gray lines.