The Moment
Chapter Fourteen
kateandharvey
"Here you are, Mrs. Sheffield." Niles sat down a plate of doughnuts in front of the brunette.
"Come, Niles, sit down with me!" She hurried him with her hand to join her.
The butler sat down next to Fran, and took a bite of a doughnut himself. "You surely do know where to order doughnuts, Mrs. Sheffield."
She shrugged, laughing, and still chewing on her doughnut. "Well, I've been gettin' doughnuts for years from Manny's. One time, my great aunt's son, Lenny, he-"
"-Really, Nanny Fine?" The blonde entered the kitchen, tossing a stack of folders onto the table where the pair sat and ate, and strutted over to the refrigerator, opening it and reaching inside. "No one wants to hear about your aunt's son." She pulled her bottle of water off of the shelf, and cracked the top as she walked over to the table.
"My great aunt's son, Miss Babcock." Fran shook her head, nudging Niles with her elbow and throwing a pointing thumb in the blonde's direction.
"Butler." The blonde directed her gaze towards Niles, and his eyebrows rose when she reached her hand out.
Knowing exactly what she was getting at, Niles handed his half-eaten doughnut to her. She took a bite off of one of the ends, and made a sound of satisfaction. "Mmmm. Cinnamon sugar? It's delicious." The butler smiled, and she handed the sweet treat back. "Thank you, Rochester."
He was bit surprised by her forwardness, but nonetheless pleased. Niles attempted to hide his smile in front of the nanny. "Yes, Miss Babcock."
CC smiled, and turned to exit the room. As soon as her hand hit the door, she abruptly turned back around. "Niles?" His eyebrows rose. "I will see you later, yes?"
He tried to hide his smile as he responded to her, "Yes, witch. You will have me as your slave later tonight."
At a nod of her head to hide the curve of her lips at his double-meaning, and a curt, "Very well," the blonde exited the room, the swinging door left moving in her wake.
Fran's face of surprise was not a shock to Niles, and with a shake of his head, he quickly spit out, "I'm helping Miss Babcock clean out her kitchen later this evening."
Even as he stood up from the table, the brunette's face still had her mouth formed as a large "O" and her eyes were stretched wide. "Ny-ules…" He shook his head again, picked up his rag, and began to clean the counter to distract himself from the conversation. The pregnant woman waddled up from her seat and over to confront him closer. "You and Miss Babcock…"
"…hate each other." He finished, scrubbing the rag harder and harder into the grout of the counter.
Recovering from her shock, the nanny shouted, "Helping clean out the kitchen my Jewish a-"
"-That's all that's happening, Mrs. Sheffield." Niles cut off her curse, and continued to try and deflect her questions.
"Fine." She crossed her arms, and her hip jutted out. "The doughnut?" Her brows rose high enough to hit her hairline, and her eyes bore into the butler's cheek, waiting for an answer.
He shrugged.
"If ya two aren't together…" Niles glanced up at Fran quickly, and then retreated back down to his cleaning. "... then why did I find ya together in bed last month?"
Niles' head nearly snapped off of his body as he turned to look at her. "What? What are you talking about?"
Fran shrugged, giving as little information as possible. "When I saw ya two in bed togetha."
The butler's rag lay now untouched on the counter, and his eyes were wide as saucers. "How did you see us?"
The nanny grabbed onto Niles' arm, and she shook with excitement. Her mouth returned to it's "O" shape, and her eyebrows hit her hairline once again. "Ya mean… IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?"
Confused, Niles shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "What?"
"I was just teasin' ya… You two actually slept togetha?"
Niles sighed, realizing his mistake, and he gritted his teeth. "We didn't sleep together." At Fran's pointed look, he rushed to explain, "I mean… yes, we did. We slept in the same bed after their Boston trip… but we didn't sleep together in the way you're insinuating."
"But ya shared a bed?" Fran's hand moved around excitedly, the unexpected information catching her off guard.
He nodded. "We did."
"Why?"
Niles considered her question. Because I had to see her, because I can't live without her, because I had to sleep next to her to sleep at all, because I was afraid she would have died… Dropping his pretense, he sighed and looked at his friend with glossy eyes. "I had to make sure she was alright." His cheeks flushed slightly as he remembered their encounter.
"No foolin' around?" Fran inquired still.
His cheeks flushed darker and the nanny gasped. "Not in the way you'd think." Before she could become graphic with the details to which she was questioning, Niles continued the explanation. "Kisses, Mrs. Sheffield."
"Kisses?" She repeated, "With an s?"
He nodded, his lips curving slightly at the memory of her mouth against his. "With an s."
A comfortable silence fell over the pair, and slowly, softly, Fran questioned, "Ya love her?"
He nodded, "I do," and it was the first time he had admitted his feelings out loud.