Nanny of the Year
Ch. 2
Nap Time
A/N: Long time no see. Uhm, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, so I decided what better way to do so than to write a nice lil one-shot. Super fluffy about Piper and Percy not wanting to nap just yet. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter of The Stolen Weapons up soon, but with summer assignments, I promise nothing. Enjoy! (Also, I don't own the series, obviously)
It was about a quarter to one o'clock, they had just finished their lunch, and now it was time for the kids to settle into their daily nap, just like everyday went.
"Okay, kiddos, let's head upstairs now." Sally said as she picked up their mostly empty plates from the table.
"Mommy," Percy's voice sounded cautious and Sally immediately knew he was going to ask for something, "Disney Channel's gonna show The Lil' Mermaid and me and Piper wanted to watch it…"
Sally looked between the two of them and quickly regretted that decision. Both children had incredibly huge, watery eyes that did all the begging for them. Sally didn't stand a chance.
"Pretty please, Ms. Sally, we've never seen it before." And that was the final blow to nanny's resolve before she found herself reluctantly agreeing.
"Okay, okay, but nap time right after the movie then."
"Thank you, mommy!"
"Thank you, Ms. Sally!"
"You're both very welcome. Better hurry or the movie will start without you." She couldn't help but smile at the two's eagerness.
"Can we have popcorn?"
"Yeah! We can't watch a movie without popcorn!"
Sally hummed, "We'll see… You both just had lunch after all."
"Aw please, Ms. Sally?"
"Pretty please, mommy?"
"Go on now, the movie's about to start." She shook her head at their antics as the duo hurriedly fled the dining room, giggling madly the whole way to the den.
About twenty minutes into their movie, Sally finished cleaning up the kitchen and dining room and decided to give the kids a little treat. They had been behaving relatively well for the past few days (they were even making their beds in the morning all on their own now) so some popcorn wouldn't hurt.
It only took seven minutes for Sally to have the popcorn popped (close to perfection, she might add- hardly any kernels left at all and nothing burnt) and into a large bowl for the two to share.
Entering the den, Sally couldn't help but smile at the sight the two made, curled up on the couch together with a blanket draped over them, eyes captivated by a seagull talking to the mute princess on the television. She had half a mind to run and get her camera before they shifted, but stopped herself before the popcorn got cold.
"Hey there, you two. How's the movie going?" Sally made sure to wait until a commercial break as to not interrupt their movie.
"Ursula is a meanie!" Piper answered first.
"Why wouldn't Ariel wanna be a mermaid anymore?" Percy added.
Sally smiled, "That she is, Piper, and I'm not too sure Percy, I guess she just likes our stuff up here. But what I do know is that I have popcorn!" The nanny announced, holding the bowl up for all to see and shaking it around lightly to spike enthusiasm.
The kids cheered happily as she placed the container in between them, on top of the blanket and handed them each a juice pouch.
"Alright, have fun, kiddos."
"Thank you!" They said in unison as the movie started back up.
OQOQOQOQO
"Noooo, you just got some!"
"Nuh uh! That was like five minutes ago!"
"Yuh huh!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Yuh huh!"
"Nuh uh!"
Was the argument Sally walked in on as the credits to The Little Mermaid rolled on the TV screen.
"You're hogging the blanket too!"
"No m'not!"
"Yeah you are!"
"No m'not!"
"Yeah you are!"
"No m'not!"
"Yeah you are!"
Sally waited until the game of tug-o-war started to intervene, "Hey, hey, hey. What's going on here?" She put her hands on her hips to make sure they knew she meant business.
Fingers were pointed immediately, "Percy was eating all the popcorn! And then he was hoggin' all the blanket too!"
"Yeah, well Piper kept tryin' to sing all the songs, but she doesn't even know 'em!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
Sally signed internally. She brought this upon herself. Popcorn and juice instead of a nap? What on Earth was she thinking. It was like "Taking Care of Kids 101" to make sure naps happened. And substituting it with sugary snacks? Oh gods, she was definitely going to get fired. "Okay, it's okay." Sally made sure her voice was soft, "Come on, let's get to bed and then you can both have your own blankets."
"No!" Piper extended the 'o' as far as she could while Percy whined, "Dun' wanna nap."
"It'll be for a lil bit only, don't worry. Come on before your beds get lonely. They'll think you don't like them anymore." Sally tried.
"Dun wanna." Percy said again, firmly, Piper folded her arms and nodded in agreement, both of them wearing adorable pouts.
"But," Sally lengthened the word out in a sing-song voice, "the sooner you take a nap, the sooner you'll be awake, and the sooner we can go to the park."
The only warning Sally was given was the quick exchange of a sly look before her two charges took off running. "Percy? Piper?" She called, running after them.
In response, she was given two loud giggles that she was quick to follow, but by the time she got there, they were already in a different spot. Their "game" of hide and go seek continued like that for about ten minutes before Sally finally caught the two.
"Got cha!" Sally said, leaning in to tickle the two who giggled even louder in response, "Come on now, mommy wins this round."
"Yes, mommy."
"Yes, Ms. Sally." The two said in unison again, each holding one of her hands as they walked to the bedrooms, smiles still present on everyone's face.
"Can you read us a story?"
"Pretty please? With sugar on top?"
Sally couldn't deny eyes like those, especially not four of them, so she agreed and they walked to her room where a bookshelf sat proudly and her queen sized bed waited.
"Okay, you two chose a book, and I'll be right back with blankets."
True to her word, she was back in only a few minutes with two different blankets draped on either arm, however, the kids weren't having such an easy time.
"We read The Rainbow Fish last time." Piper complained.
"But we read Fancy Nancy the time before." Percy countered.
"I don't wanna read The Rainbow Fish again."
"Well I dun wanna read Fancy Nancy either."
"Have you two decided on a book?" Sally asked, knowing the answer already.
"Percy always wants to read The Rainbow Fish!"
"Piper always chooses Fancy Nancy!"
"Fine. We can read Eloise then."
"No," Percy's dragged out the vowel, his voice raising in pitch a bit.
"You never like the book I chose!" As Piper's eyes started to water, Sally stepped in.
"Why don't you two go get comfy on the bed, and I'll go ahead and chose a book," when they didn't budge and Percy looked ready to counter her idea, she asked, "You both trust me, right?"
She waited until the duo nodded to hand them their blankets. She gave them another moment to get on the bed before turning around to take a look at the assortment of books. Smiling to herself, she pulled one out from the shelf and walked over to the bed. The kids made space for her in the middle and got cozy next to her in a way that allowed them to see the pages of the book after she sat down.
"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie…" Sally started.
Tristan McLean's newest film would be coming out in only a fortnight, so getting away from Hollywood was going to be nearly impossible for the next month (at least) with photo ops, interviews, red carpet events and everything in between, but somehow here he was. It was a last second, spur of the moment decision to hop on the soonest non-stop plane from LAX to New York, but he did it, and about five hours later, he was in the elevator, going up to his penthouse apartment where his daughter lived.
It had been far too long since he stepped foot in his own home, but it still looked the same as he remembered it. He smiled a little at Sally's uncanny cleaning abilities- he would've never guessed that two kids lived in the house.
Speaking of which, it was a little more quiet than he expected it to be. Nervous and expecting the worse (maybe his action and suspense movies were getting to him a little), he cautiously made his way up the stairs and to the bedrooms. First he checked Piper's bedroom only to find it empty, repeating the process with Percy's bedroom, the playroom and even the bathroom.
For a brief moment he worried that they were out for the day and he made his quick, surprise trip for nothing, but then he noticed Sally's slightly ajar door and decided to be thorough. The actor carefully opened the door, feeling slight guilt at invading Sally's personal space. However, his guilt immediately faded at the sight of the two children curled up on either side of the motherly woman who held them close with a forgotten book open and resting on her stomach that rose with each calm breath. All three of them looked so peaceful, he didn't have it in him to ruin their comfort. Noticing a camera on the nightstand, Tristan couldn't help but pick it up and snap a photograph...or two...or three just to make sure he got a good one.
It was moments like this that let Tristan McLean rest easy at night, regardless of being across the country from his daughter. He knew she was in good hands with Sally Jackson.
A/N: Feel free to PM or review if you have any suggestions or requests about future stories regarding Piper and/or Percy from the ages 0-12 with (or without) Sally and/or Tristan, and I'll try my best fulfill it (I hope I did okay with Tristan, not for granted)! Until next time, good bye!