Lunch time came by quickly, and the happiness that had replaced her nerves was still firmly in place when she reached the coffee shop. She was meeting Lou and Lauren there, and she couldn't wait to tell them her good news. She had just sat down when Lou joined her, eyes sparkling.

"I just heard," he said, giving her a hug. "Congratulations."

For a moment, Nina was lost. She didn't know what he was talking about, but then realised that Susan had probably told him already.

"Thank you Lou. Susan told you?"

"I asked how you did, and she told me she gave you the job."

"Of course you asked, you couldn't wait a few hours for Nina to tell us herself?" They looked up and found Lauren grinning. "Congratulations Nina."

"Thank you guys. And Lou is just too protective sometimes. How do you live with him?"

"I have no clue. Sometimes I wonder that myself."

The girls laughed, and Lou blushed. But he laughed too, and it eased some tension between them.

"So Nina, when do you start?" asked Lauren.

"Tomorrow morning. Apparently it's Amber and Imogen's class."

"That's year twelve, you know?"

"I know."

"The girls are going to be absolutely thrilled with their new teacher. But, you do need to be firm with the kids. They all love you, but you're going to be their teacher."

"I already got the lecture. But, I have taught music to kids before, and I think I actually did pretty well with it. Hopefully I haven't forgotten how to teach."

"You haven't. Trust me, you haven't," Lou told her. "You'll be great."

"Thank you. Now, lunch is my treat, so what do you guys want?"

They gave their orders to Nina, and she left them for a moment to order. When she returned, she was looking at something on her phone, a smile on her face. Something was going well. She sat down, but didn't say anything, just put her phone back in her pocket.

"You okay Nina?" asked Lauren.

"Yes. Lunch is coming."

"What were you looking at?"

"Nothing. Just a text."

Lou looked at her suspiciously. "Was it from Jack?"

"Maybe," she grinned.

"Who's Jack?" asked Lauren, feeling confused and left out.

"Nina's on again, off again boyfriend. Currently, they are together, I think."

"Yes, we are together currently."

"Where is he?" Lauren looked around as if she expected him to come out.

"In London for his soccer. He'll be home in about a week I think. And he wants to transfer to an Aussie team so he can stay at home more."

"If they aren't looking, what's he going to do?"

"Teach soccer to kids. He tried it once and he liked it."

"Sounds good. Are you two doing good this time?" Lou looked at her, trying to decide if she was being truthful.

"We are. Hopefully it'll stay good."

"When he gets here, I think I need to have a chat with him, because if he breaks your heart again, I'm going to kill him."

"Dad! Leave her alone."

"It's okay Lauren, Lou's been behind us since we first got together, even when others thought we weren't going to work."

About an hour later, Nina said goodbye to Lauren and Lou, then went home, hoping to get some rest before Amber and Imogen decided to stop by after school again. It had already been a long day, and she still had to stay up late to video chat with Jack. She wasn't planning on missing the opportunity, she missed him too much for that. But she found Toadie and Mark there, clearly waiting for her.

"Finally, where have you been?" asked Toadie. He was holding Nell and looked absolutely exhausted.

"Having lunch with Lauren and Lou. Why? What's wrong?"

"I need you to help me. I have a new client, and Mark is taking me to him, so I have to go. Please, can you watch Nell?"

Nina laughed. "That's what you're stressing about? You could have called me, I would have come straight away or told you where I was. Of course I can watch her."

"Thank you." He sighed in relief and handed his daughter over. Nell immediately grinned and hugged Nina, giggling. "Here's her toys and stuff. I put some extra clothes in there just in case. I don't know when I'll be home either, so I've put food in there. It just needs to be heated up."

"Okay. Calm down and get to work. Nell and I will be fine."

"She's right Toadie, we need to go," said Mark, trying to steer Toadie to his car.

"Call if you need me to come home Nina."

"Go." Nina waved goodbye and headed inside, putting Nell down in the living room so she could drop her stuff in the kitchen.

When she came back in, Nell had curled up on the floor and looked like she was about to fall asleep. Nina picked the little girl up and placed her on the couch, covering her with a blanket and putting chairs against the couch to make sure Nell couldn't roll off.

Amber and Imogen knocked on the door to Nina's house, excited that she had agreed to help them with homework. It was nearly four pm and they had told their parents where they were going, but hadn't waited for answers. They were just too happy, and they got even happier when Nina opened the door and let them in.

Nina shut the door behind the girls and then went back to the couch where she was busy watching a children's program with Nell. She invited the two older girls to join them.

"We were actually going to ask for help with our music homework. It's due tomorrow and we don't know who our teacher is," said Amber.

"I can help still. At least until tomorrow anyway."

"Why only until tomorrow?"

"Because after that, I'm your new teacher."

Amber and Imogen looked at each other, their faces lighting up. Neither thought that it was true, but just the thought of it was enough to make them happy.

"Are you two okay?"

"Yes," said Imogen. "Are you serious?"

"I am."

"That is so cool!"