Later that night, Melissa is in her bra and in bed with her fiancé, Chuck McCoy.
"I got the nanny job, honey."
Chuck says,
"Aww, that's great. Congratulations, Margie."
Melissa says,
"They didn't suspect a thing, either."
"Not even your anklet?"
"Nope."
Melissa's real name is Margo Hidalgo, she just uses a series of aliases. Margo is currently on probation for driving while intoxicated, public intoxication, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and assaulting a police officer. Last month, she was put in prison, but her father makes good money as a pimp and he bailed her out of prison and the prosecutor made a deal with her that she wouldn't have to serve time if she did three hundred hours of community service at Best Buddies Miami, attended court-mandated rehab, and agreed to two years probation.
(A/N: Remember Margo, the girl who cyberbullied Trish when she got the lead role as Sleeping Beauty in the school play? Melissa is Margo's alias. You'll find out why later in the story. *Sips tea*)
As for Chuck, he's also got a criminal record under his belt. He has served time for statutory rape, possession and dissemination of child pornography, and unlawful surveillance, but cut a deal with the court.
Back at the Dawson-Moon residence, Cecilia is feeding Amberleigh oatmeal and out of the corner of her eye, she sees Ally frantically pre-making formula and pumping breast milk and leaving a typed-up schedule for Amberleigh and frantically moving the schedule around. She asks her,
"Estas bien, Ally?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just nervous about leaving Amberleigh with a nanny for the first time."
"I understand. You and Austin are all she knows."
Ally says,
"She knows you too, Cecilia. You live with us and help us feed her and wash her clothes and clean off wherever she has a blowout."
Cecilia laughs.
"Bueno, she's a little chubby gordita and deserves everything. I'll be here the entire time, Ally. I promise."
"Gracias, Cecilia."
After Melissa arrives, Ally says to her,
"Here is Amberleigh's schedule. It tells you when to change her diaper, when to feed her, and when to put her down for a nap. I pumped some breast milk and made formula, her diapers are by her changing table in the nursery, she has a touch of a diaper rash so it might be a good idea to put the petroleum jelly on her, and you can put her either in her bassinet or her crib when you put her down for a nap. Are there any questions about any of this?"
Melissa says,
"Nope. You covered everything, Ally. I'll give you or Austin a call or a text if I have a question."
"Thank you, Melissa. Call or text me or Austin if you have any questions. Cecilia is also here if you have any questions."
"OK. Where's Cecilia now?"
"She's cleaning the master bathroom, I think. While Amberleigh sleeps, feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge and feel free to watch anything you want on TV. We have Netflix, YouTube premium, Hulu, Peacock, Apple TV, Disney+, Paramount, Max, Showtime, and Amazon Prime video."
"Thank you, Ally."
"Glad I could help. I have a doctor's appointment and then I have a spin class. I'll be home in a few hours, or Austin will beat me home."
"Alright. Thank you, Ally."
"Thank you, Melissa."
Cecilia comes back up with a basket of laundry and as if on cue, Amberleigh starts to cry on the baby monitor. Duty calls, she thinks to herself.
She goes to Amberleigh's nursery, picking her up from her crib and gently bouncing her, looking right into Amberleigh's diaper and laying her on the changing table. Amberleigh absolutely screams and cries throughout the entire time of having her diaper changed. Melissa decides to take Amberleigh around the long hallway and gently bouncing her on one hip, trying to calm her down, and also have a look around the house. Pictures of Austin and Ally on their first date, the proposal, on their wedding day, Ally's ultrasounds of Amberleigh, pictures of Ally with her friends, and she looks in the closet to find Ally's clothes and designer handbags.
"Your mommy has such nice things, doesn't she? If I didn't have to fucking do community service, I'd probably be able to have nice things, too."
Melissa's phone and apple watch start to ring and her ankle monitor and phone start going off.
"What's up?"
A woman says,
"Ms. Hidalgo, what's up is you missing your community service hours. That's a violation of your parole, and that means you have to do more community service."
"I'm sorry, I just got busy with another job I accepted. Please, don't send me to prison!"
The woman says,
"I can't promise that, but you better show up at 8:00 AM sharp at Best Buddies Miami. Another thing is, I heard that you have been phoning in your work."
"Can you blame me?"
"If you miss another day, I'll revoke your probation and you'll do three months in county jail."
"Got it."
"Thank you, Ms. Hidalgo."
Melissa whispers to Amberleigh,
"Don't be like your nanny. Don't drive drunk."
Amberleigh coos and grabs onto the nanny's necklace and tries to touch her. The nanny digs through the dresser and puts Amberleigh on the floor and searches through the drawers. Condoms, gross. Sex toys, I don't need those. She sees Ally's jewelry and whispers to herself,
"Shit. These people are loaded. You'd think Ally would have real jewelry. This shit looks like it came from Claire's or Forever 21."
Not paying attention, Amberleigh hits the back of her head on the side rail of Austin and Ally's bed and instantly starts screaming and crying, causing Cecilia to come flying in.
"Ay, dios mio, dios mio! What happened?"
Melissa picks Amberleigh up and feels her head.
"She probably just fell or something."
Cecilia says,
"Melissa, you need to be paying attention to her. This could have been so bad! You come with me, I'm going to show you what to do."
The housekeeper picks up the screaming, crying infant and gently bounces her, whispering,
"It's OK, Amberleigh. You're OK, you're OK. Come with me, estoy aquí para ti. Melissa, come along with me. I want you to watch this so you know how to correct things like this."
Cecilia takes the screaming, crying infant to the kitchen and wraps a bag of frozen vegetables in a dishcloth and puts it on her head, and the baby gradually starts to calm down.
"It's OK, baby. You're OK. Here, Melissa, take her."
Melissa holds the frozen vegetables on her head.
"Melissa, I want you to listen to me. You're lucky that this wasn't more serious. Amberleigh could have really gotten hurt. What were you doing in Austin and Ally's room anyway?"
"Just looking around the house, trying to get familiar."
"Well, you need to be watching the baby at all times. I will let it go this time, but next time I might have to tell Austin and Ally. Especialmente if I see you in their room or not watching the baby."
"Yes, Cecilia."
"Gracias. Estoy feliz that we understand each other. I have to go get some laundry now. Always keep a close eye on her. Always."
Melissa says,
"Yes, Cecilia."
Her apple watch goes off and it's a text from Austin.
"Hey, Melissa. Is everything OK?"
"Everything's fine. Amberleigh was a little fussy after she woke up from her nap, but Cecilia and I helped her calm down."
"Good. Glad she's calm. I should be home in about a half hour."
Meanwhile, at Ally's doctor's appointment, she winces in discomfort as her doctor slowly pulls the speculum out of cervix.
"How do you feel, Mrs. Dawson-Moon?"
"Well, it's not the most comfortable thing ever, but it's necessary."
"It's my understanding you had a baby in the last six months, correct?"
"Yes, that's correct. She's my little blessing."
"Have you been taking your prenatals?"
"Yes. I take them twice a day. I'm picky about the meds I take because I nurse my baby a lot."
"That makes me very happy to hear. You're up to date on your immunization records, your signs are all good, you're at a healthy weight, you're fine."
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Don't mention it."
Austin comes home and says,
"Hi."
Melissa comes over, with Amberleigh on her hip.
"Hey, boss."
"Hi, Melissa."
Amberleigh immediately smiles at Austin when she sees him and she coos at him. He gasps and says,
"Hi, baby. Did you miss Daddy? Did Melissa take good care of you?"
"Yes."
He picks her up and puts her on his shoulder and he gives her a big kiss on her cheek.
"Thank you for helping out, Melissa. Calculate your rates and then send me your venmo."
"Got it. Thank you, Austin."
A little while after the nanny leaves and Austin goes to grab some food, Cecilia is unloading the dishwasher, and she asks him,
"Austin, can I talk to you about something?"
Austin says,
"Yeah, go ahead."
"I'm not normally the type to judge, but I'm going to be honest. Something seems a little, off, about Melissa."
"Off? What do you mean?"
"I don't know what it is yet, but I don't get very good vibes from her. Today, she took her eyes off of the baby for a second, and she ended up hitting her head. I helped show her how to help treat it, but it just seemed like she was being careless."
"I'm glad you showed her what to do."
"Don't tell Ally and don't tell her, but I'll be watching her. I'm hoping I grow to like her, but I don't know if I trust her just yet."
"Did you catch her doing anything else?"
"She was in the master bedroom with Amberleigh. Amberleigh was fussy and she was trying to calm her down, I guess. It was a little fishy to me."
"Thanks for telling me, Cecilia. I'll take it up with Ally, and see what she thinks."
"You didn't hear it from me about Melissa's bad vibes. Please don't tell her I told you if she asks or if you bring it up. She's going back to work and she's nervous about leaving Amberleigh with the nanny."
"OK. I respect your wishes. Now, when was the last time you had a break?"
"Around 12:00."
"Go take fifteen minutes."
"Yes, Austin."
2nd chapter down! Sorry for the delay, I just have been having my ass kicked by school and work. I also will be studying for an exam related to my new job that I will be joining next month (I'm going to be a middle school classroom aide), I have an orientation to attend for university that I'll be starting in the fall, and I'll be going to the mountains with my family for a couple of days on Wednesday. But I promise, I will update as much as I can.