Compendium
vi.) Babysitter
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Requested by Improvisation [on Livejournal]
Louise and Nino. Washing dishes.
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"I never thought you'd wash your own dishes," Nino said as she scrubbed at the burnt pieces of brownie mix that clung stubbornly to the inside of the baking pan. "With a big house like this, I thought you'd have someone else to do it for sure."
Louise smiled at her. "To be honest, I never really liked the idea of having someone do the work for me. Even when I was pregnant with Klein and Pent insisted that we get a housekeeper, it always felt odd that someone was doing something I should have been doing."
Nino nodded and handed the pan to the older woman to be rinsed. "Yeah, I can see how that would be weird."
"But it's nice," Louise said as she drew her hand from the warm water and rested it on the gentle swell of her belly, "to have someone care for you so much." She looked at Nino again. "Remind me to pay you for your overtime," she said.
"Overtime?" Nino shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't take your money! You cleaned your own kitchen, even after Klein and I made such a huge mess. I'm a terrible babysitter!"
Louise looked at the girl again. "A terrible babysitter? Nino, terrible babysitters don't bake brownies with the kids they're taking care of or watch The Three Pegasi with them." She smiled. "You are nota terrible babysitter." She placed the pan in the dish rack next to the sink and dried her hands on a handtowel before reaching for the stylish white Carriage purse on the granite countertop.
"Mrs. Reglay," Nino began, "really, I can't..."
But Louise shook her head as she filled out a check to one Nino Reed. "Nonsense," she said as she signed the slip with a flourish. "Now take this and go buy something nice for you and that boyfriend of yours."
The look on Nino's face as she glanced at the amount written on the check would have been funny if Louise hadn't known the struggles the girl had gone through to get herself a scholarship to a good university after the death of her adoptive mother. "Oh, this is way too much money! I can't take this much just for babysitting..."
Louise shook her head. "Then think of it as a graduation present," she said, "from Mr. Reglay, Klein, myself, and," she rested a hand on her belly again, "the little one."
"I..." Nino's voice trailed off, and she looked at Louise again, eyes brimming with tears. "Thanks," she said. "Thank you so much."
The older woman smiled gently. "So we'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Nino said.
"That's good to hear." Louise watched as Nino leaned down to pick a large purple backpack from where it rested in a corner—she stilled marveled at how the girl could lift such an obviously heavy thing—and grabbed her jacket from where it hung on the backs of one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Oh, and Nino!" she said.
The girl turned around. "Yeah, Mrs. Reglay?" she asked.
Keep up the good work."
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Xirysa Says: How come all the titles for Louise's chapters involve "baby" in some shape or form?
...Ah well. Idk.
Feedback is appreciated! Thank you for reading!