BEFORE A MIRROR DIMLY (prequel to Now In A Mirror Dimly)
Disclaimer: Any characters you recognise belong to Kay Thompson, Meg Cabot and/or Disney.
Rating: FRC
Summary: This is my take (with certain inputs from revsue :-) ) on what happened in the run up to the start of her Eloise/PD crossover Now In A Mirror Dimly. (as promised ;-) )
Now, Nanny would never ever wish for any harm to come to Eloise, but she was not naïve enough to fail to admit that there was a single advantage to her charge being ill. It was the only time that she could ever, ever, ever, remember the child staying still for longer than a few minutes at a time. Although Eloise had only picked up a cold, from where Nanny didn't like to think, she must truly have felt horrible if she was willing to stay in bed, and so Nanny was taking every pain to make her feel better.
"There you are, Love." she said, perching on the edge of the bed. "Hot chocolate just the way you like it. And Bill sends his love."
"'ank you." She replied sniffling.
"Now what's the matter?" she asked when the six-year-old remained grim-faced.
"'e were suppose' to be going to da' zoo today." she sighed. Nanny smiled, and brushed the hair out of her face.
"Well, now, I don't think that the zoo is going anywhere in the next few days. I promise, promise, promise Eloise, I shall take you as soon as you are feeling better." She told her.
"As soon as I'm be'er? Pinkie promise, promise, promise?" Eloise asked, her eyes half lidded, and clearly half asleep already.
"I promise." she said, leaning down and kissing her gently on the forehead and taking the cup from her hands, sitting and stroking her hair until she was certain that she was asleep.
Eloise was a typical child in this if nothing else. She coughed and spluttered and complained for a few days but was quickly on the mend. Nanny however, was beginning to feel her age. She had been awakened in the wee hours of the morning three nights on the trot by a watered down version of Eloise's usual call, and she was missing her sleep. On top of that, just as the six year old returned to her usual vigour and vim, Nanny seemed to have caught a touch of whatever it was that Eloise had had.
"Naaaaannnnyyyy!" the call rang through the suite and having been jolted awake she coughed a little as she sat up. Nanny tried to muster the will to shift her legs over the edge of the bed as the sound of pattering feet let her know of Eloise's imminent arrival. "Nanny! Nanny! Nanny!"
"Yes, Love?" she asked, reaching for the box of tissues as the bundle of energy threw herself into the room.
"I think," she declared, standing with her hands on her hips. "that today would be a marvellous day to go to the zoo."
"You 'ink so do you?"
"I know so!" the girl declared and Nanny knew that they would be spending the day amongst the animals. "You pinkie promised." she said, narrowing her eyes, obviously sensing her reluctance.
"Yes, Eloise, I did." she said, straitening out her shoulders with an air of resilience. "Well, how about you go order breakfast and I'll be out in a minute?" Eloise skipped off and Nanny shook her head. Rummaging through the drawer next to her bed, she found a bottle and grabbing a couple of advil, swallowed them dry. Pulling on her robe, she stood before the mirror and even in the dim light she could see that she'd certainly looked better. Today was going to be an exercise in love and perseverance she sensed.
Nanny nursed her coffee all through breakfast, her porridge holding minimal appeal. Despite the fact that her head felt as though it was filled with cotton wool, she was glad to hear Eloise back to her usual talkative self. Looking out of the window, Nanny could see that the sky was grey and she had a horrible feeling that it was going to rain before the day was out. Normally, this wasn't something that would put them off, it certainly wouldn't have been the first time they'd gotten their toes wet, but the weather did nothing to improve her mood.
"Right then," she said, realising that Eloise was in the process of explaining her next plan, sure to reduce the Plaza to complete shambles to Weenie, a sure sign that she was done with her breakfast. "on with your cardigan and your winter coat. And your wellie boots. Now shoo, shoo, shoo." she said, ushering her towards her room. Nanny resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the complete mess she saw when the child opened the door, why she'd only tidied the place the previous afternoon. In any case, that wasn't a battle she was going to win today so she decided not to comment, instead she returned to her own room to get ready for their excursion. She was already wearing a cardigan, but removed it in order to pull on a lighter one underneath, knowing that if she was feeling the cold in here she was likely to freeze once they were outside. Once she was all bundled up, she made sure she had plenty of tissues and her purse before heading back out to meet Eloise.
"Come on, Nanny!" Eloise called, already standing at the open door.
"Now just you slow down, down, down, Pet." she said, "There's no need to rush so."
"Oh, but there is!" Eloise replied. "Good morning Sir Wilkes!" she continued standing half outside the door.
"uh… oh… yes.. Good morning, Eloise." he stuttered as Nanny came up behind her charge and placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Nanny." he added, tipping his hat in her direction. She smiled, trying terribly to suppress a blush that was threatening to colour her cheeks and went to say hello. Unfortunately, something caught at the back of her throat and it came out more along the lines of an entirely undignified coughing noise.
"Sorry…" she managed eventually.
"Not at all…" Sir Wilkes said, avoiding making eye contact and looking horribly uncomfortable, before moving on down the corridor. Not for the first time, Nanny wished that the floor would just open up and swallow her whole, either that or she could crawl back into her bed, pulling her covers over her head to block out the world.
Eloise set the pace, running ahead and then waiting if somewhat impatiently for her to catch up. They made their way through the hotel and out onto the street.
"Hand." She said, holding hers out to Eloise.
"But Nanny…"
" 'But Nanny' nothing…" she cut in. "You know the rules." Without anymore fuss, Eloise submitted to having her hand held. The streets of New York were predictably busy, but they had missed the worst of the rush hour and they walked around the edge of Central Park towards their goal. Only once they were within the boundaries of the zoo did Nanny let go of Eloise's hand and it was with strict instructions that she wasn't to run off and if they did get separated, then Eloise was under no circumstances to pass back through the gate.
"Yes, Nanny." Eloise cooed and smiled so sweetly that she was instantly on guard.
Within the space of the next two hours they were back and forth more times than Nanny cared to think on. Not even Eloise's obvious delight at seeing the animals was enough to make her feel better. She was exhausted, and her head was hurting and Eloise's usual antics although not grating on her exactly, just made her feel as though it was all too much. Glad of the opportunity to sit down, lunch at the café was the first opportunity to catch her breath she'd had and although she had spent most of the morning trying not to argue with her charge as she just couldn't muster the energy, she did manage to keep her tied to the table for almost a full forty-five minutes.
"Come on, Nanny! We've still got to see rather a lot of things!" Eloise declared eventually however.
"Yes dear…" she admitted, "I suppose we do. Though we could always come back another…" her attempt was wasted however, as Eloise had already dashed out of the door. Nanny paid the bill and followed her back outside, searching the area for even the first sign of her charge. She could see neither hide nor hare of her, though, and as she continued her search, the heavens opened and the rain began to bounce off the ground. She was soaked to the skin in the space of a few minutes, her clothes hanging heavily around her. The water was seeping into her sensible shoes and she was beginning to panic when she finally caught sight of the familiar bright red coat.
"Eloise!" She tried to call out but her throat failed to cooperate once again. Her nose was streaming and she stopped to fish a tissue out of her pocket. For the first time in a long time, she was ready to sit down and cry. Her chest was tight, she couldn't breathe through her nose, Eloise was… somewhere and…
Just when she was about to give up entirely, a familiar voice sounded from behind her.
"Nanny! All the animals are hiding."
"Well it is we' and col'…" she began, pulling herself together and turning round to offer the child a soft smile.
"I suppose…" Eloise said, still looking quite fed-up. "Let's go home." she declared, turning on her heel. Nanny had never been so relieved to hear that suggestion in her entire life.
Stepping through the doors, Charlie greeted them with a wave and Nanny just about managed to summon up a smile for him. On the way up the road, Eloise had danced around her, splashing in puddles and singing at the top of her voice. Luckily, once they were inside the Plaza, she had run off to speak to someone so that Nanny reached the lift first and had to wait for her rather than the other way around. Eloise rambled on to Max, as they climbed to the top floor, while Nanny leaned up in the corner, talking herself through what she had to do before she could allow herself to crawl into her bed and hide. When Nanny opened the door into their suite, Eloise pushed past her and ran towards her room.
"Oh!" Nanny exclaimed. "Eloise! Now you come back 'ere." she called thickly. She stripped off her jacket and sat down to take off her shoes, even this simple task seeming to take so much out of her. The urge just to stay there, to sit quietly, for even a few more minutes was immense, but she knew if she did that, she'd never manage to get herself back up again. "Come on now! Get out of those wet things." she called, again heading for the bathroom. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub Nanny turned on the taps, and like an automaton she tested the temperature of the water before putting in the plug and pouring in some of Eloise's favourite bubble-bath. "Righ', into the water with you." she said, when the child appeared in the doorway. Helping her in to the water, the sweet scent of strawberries caught in Nanny's throat and she started to cough. It took her a couple of minutes to catch her breath and when she did, Eloise was watching her carefully from the tub.
"Are you alright, Nanny?" she asked.
"Oh, I'll be fine, Pe'." Nanny replied, trying to reassure the child, wiping her nose clean. "Just a touch of wha' you had." Eloise seemed to accept this and returned to playing with the soapsuds. Pushing herself upright, Nanny left the bathroom and set about picking up the trail of clothes that her charge had left around their rooms and put them in the hamper. Her own clothes were distinctly damp around the edges and there was actually water dripping down her neck, but there wasn't an awful lot she could do until the bathroom was free. As if on cue, Eloise bounded into her bedroom wrapped in a bright pink bath sheet.
"You know," she began and then continued without waiting for a reply. "I think I am going to make an enclosure for Skipperdee Like the ones they have at the zoo."
"Tha' will be nice, Pet." she said, grabbing her and starting to rub her briskly up and down. "Let's get you into some dry things first though." Once Eloise was decent enough to be seen in public, where she would undoubtedly end up, Nanny went to stand up. Well she did stand up. It just seemed that the blood so vital for her brain to function was a little slow in following her. She reached out and used the chest of drawers to steady herself until her balance returned.
"Nanny?" Eloise asked, stopping spinning and looking at her strangely.
"I'm fine, fine, fine." she said, testing out her weight on her legs. "I just need a nice hot bath, a cup of tea an' an early night." She added almost to herself, remembering to offer Eloise a smile, ruffling her hair a little.
"Well, I shall be quiet as a mouse!"
"Thank you." she said, and headed out the door. She felt as though her limbs were made of lead, and it was almost as though her bed was singing a siren song to her as she crossed the sitting room. She knew that she really should take the time for at least a shower, certainly to dry her hair and a nice hot cup of tea would probably do her good but she simply couldn't muster the energy. Shutting the door of her room behind her, she drew the curtains but didn't bother turning on the light as she pulled off her clothes. She retained just enough presence-of-mind to put them in the hamper before she pulled on a clean nightgown and crawled into bed. It was only minutes before sleep overcame her and she became oblivious to everything that was to go on around her.
A/N: well I hope you enjoyed this – there are at least another couple of chapters to come… possibly more. Let me know what you think and great thanks to revsue for beta-ing. And a special mention to Tayryn who posted me the movies and made it all possible.
lol
xLx