Hello everyone! New Modern AU story. Enjoy!

Say When

John Bates closed the door of his car, adjusting his luggage within his hand. His eyes scanned up over the large home and he twisted his lips. When he had his interview with Ms. Smith a couple of weeks ago, he hadn't realized how well off she was. She was apparently some sort of internet or website creator. He wasn't that technically savvy, so he didn't quite understand all of it. Not that it mattered. His work would involve Ms. Smith's mother more, not Ms. Smith.

The house was two stories and had two front doors. But the upstairs door looked like the main front door. It had a wreath and decorations set up for fall. John grabbed at his cane and began to make his way up the stairs to the door.

He knocked and stepped back to wait for it to open.

A moment later, the door swung opened. Instead of Ms. Smith, a little girl stood at the door. Her dark hair was pulled into two braids and she eyed him very carefully.

"Are you a doctor?" The little girl asked him, glancing at his scrubs.

"I'm a nurse," John replied.

"Cool," she stated. "I'm going to be a doctor when I grow up, or a veterinarian. I haven't decided, yet. I'm Arya. Who are you?"

"I'm John Bates. Is your mother here?"

Before the little girl could answer, Ms. Smith came to the door. She was on her phone, speaking in another language, and there was another, younger girl on her hip. Ms. Smith took Arya's arm and led her out of the doorway and then pointed for John to come in. Then she turned around and finished her conversation, adjusting the smaller girl on her hip. Ms. Smith stepped back into her office and shut the door behind her.

"Mum's on the phone with Japan," Arya informed him. "She is on the phone a lot. You'll get used to it."

John chuckled.

Ms. Smith came back out of her office a second later. She placed the smaller girl onto the couch and turned on the television. The little girl asked to be held again, but once the show began to play, she zoned into it.

"Mr. Bates," Ms. Smith said, walking toward him and putting her hand out for him to shake it. He did and gave her a nod.

"Ms. Smith."

"Sorry about that. I had an important work call." She then turned to her daughter. "Go and sit with Gracie so I can speak with Mr. Bates."

Arya moaned, "I hate Peppa."

"Arya," Ms. Smith warned.

"Alright, alright." Arya walked over and sat down next to her sister.

"Let's go into my office."

John followed Ms. Smith into her office. It was meticulously organized. He worried about putting down his luggage and it messing up her perfect set up. So when he sat down, he placed it in his lap.

"In a moment, we'll go on a tour of the house and where you'll be staying. My mother's living area is downstairs. That is what you are mainly in charge of. She has a bedroom, her own living area, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette. You got all the records from her previous nurse?"

"I have."

"Good," Ms. Smith quickly stated. "You'll be the first live in nurse. I need someone who can be here 24/7 to watch over her. I don't have the time to deal with any of that between my business and my children."

John's lips twisted slightly. Did she just call her mother 'any of that'? Certainly not, right?

"Right," John uncomfortably replied.

"Your room is upstairs. You have a corner of this area to yourself with a bathroom and bedroom. You can keep any food and drinks you want in the downstairs kitchenette. The upstairs kitchen is for my girls and me only."

"Alright."

"Good. Any questions?"

"Not off the top of my head. We went over most of the things over the phone the past couple of weeks."

"We have," Ms. Smith agreed. "Alright, let me show you to your room and then I'll take you downstairs to meet my mother. She should wake from her afternoon nap soon."

Ms. Smith stood and took John down the hallway to his new room. It was nice and quaint. There wasn't much too it, but it would work for him. He didn't need much. His room really was set aside from the rest of the house and there were stairs heading downstairs right by his door.

Before they could head downstairs, both of the girls had gotten bored with the television and made their way to their mother. The smaller one, Gracie, asked to be held. But Arya just eyed John.

"So you'll be taking care of Granny?" She asked.

"He will, Arya, now stop with the questions," Ms. Smith snapped. She was clearly overwhelmed. Arya didn't seem phased. She just shrugged her shoulders and led the way downstairs to her grandmother's little apartment.

As they walked inside, John quickly noted that all the lights were off. Ms. Smith made a disapproving sound and began to turn on some of the lights.

"She likes to keep it dark down here. I told her it's not good for her to live in the darkness," Ms. Smith explained.

"Turn off the lights!" A woman yelled back.

"Mum, your new nurse, Mr. Bates is here. He needs the lights on to see you." There was little patience in Ms. Smith's voice. She continued to turn on the lights and Arya helped.

Sitting on the couch watching a soap opera was Ms. Smith's mother, Martha Jones. She was dressed in her pajamas and glanced up to check out John.

"You're a man."

"Yes, mother, I've hired a man. He'll be living here full time. He has great credentials. Let's not scare him away like the last one please."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Jones."

"Call me Martha," the lady said, standing up. "You're quite handsome, Mr…"

"Bates," John said, blushing slightly.

"Yes, Mr. Bates. Maybe you can work on my daughter here, knock off some of that icy shell," Martha added with a wink.

"Mother, that's enough." She shifted Gracie in her arms. "I'm going to go upstairs and get back to work. The girls' nanny should be here shortly so I can finish up for the day. You two get to know one another. Mr. Bates, let me know if you have any questions."

Arya seemed to plan on staying to listen in on the conversation, but Ms. Smith took Arya's hand and brought her up the stairs with her. When they had disappeared, Martha turned to John and chuckled.

"Don't mind Anna," she said with a small smile. "She's an icy one."

But John found that he was very curious about this Anna Smith, who he had just moved in with to help her care for her mother. What, exactly, made her so cold?

To be continued...

Interested for more? Let me know! Thanks in advance! :)