Page 47 of Marrying the Nanny

Storm proved it by flipping straight onto her belly again, almost off the foil.

“This was her first time from her tummy to her back.” Emma moved her to the center again. “What?”

Trystan wore a mystified frown, like she was caught up in more minutia than he was willing to wallow in. He shook his head and his expression cleared.

“I see my mom’s stepkids sometimes. They’re school-aged. Basically, adults who can’t drive. They talk, wipe their own butts. I never gave much thought to how babies turn into kids.”

“They have to be taught everything. What not to eat.” Emma peeled Storm’s fist open where she’d caught a handful of foil blanket and was dipping her mouth to chew on it. “Why grass is green and that time is a theoretical construct. How to survive.”

She was teasing him with that one, but Trystan seemed arrested by her words. If she wasn’t mistaken, she was watching a man’s mind exploding.

“It’s not babysitting,” she said softly. “You have to teach her how to be a person.”

“I don’t know how to do that. Why do you think I live by myself off-grid for half the year?” He snapped off his burner and took the bottle out of the hot water, giving it a shake and testing it on his wrist.

He came across and set it in Storm’s line of sight. She was still on her tummy and responded immediately with a squawk and what looked like an attempt to swim for it.

Emma chuckled.

“You’re a nut,” Trystan said. He rolled the baby up into his arms and offered her the bottle, then settled beside Emma on the blanket, facing the water.

It was peaceful so she didn’t reach for their own lunch, just sat and memorized the mirrored finish of the water reflecting the boggy shoreline of half-submerged logs with a few spiked trees, some dead, some glowing with new, bright green needles.

“Despite Glenda’s best efforts, I’ve never felt part of this family. My mom’s side… I look like them, but I don’t fit there, either. This is my comfort zone, somewhere remote where I transmit my thoughts back to Earth like an alien from another planet. I like that wall of a camera. Out here, I don’t have to make room for others or look for a way to fit in.”

Emma looped her hands loosely around her ankles and set her cheek on her knees, looking at him. “You boys weren’t close growing up?”

“Logan and I got on okay when we were small. Once Reid showed up, they were so close in age, they hammered at each other.”

“Fighting?”

“Hell no. Glenda wouldn’t let us throw punches. Neither did Dad, actually. He put us to work if we needed to work something out, usually something heavy that required cooperation.”

“Diabolical.” Not unlike what Glenda had done with forcing them to look after Storm together.

“Completely. Reid and Logan were always jockeying for who was smarter, who was faster. I was that little bit younger so I didn’t stand a chance. I left them to it and hung out with Sophie. She was the only other kid my age.”

“I love Sophie. She gives so few fucks. I wish I’d had a friend like her growing up. I would have made different choices instead of thinking my brother’s wife was my only option for maid of honor, even though she’s an anal-retentive bitch. The invitations went out on time, though.” She rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. “Never seen the point in any of that.”

“Hey. Speaking of Sophie…” Emma glanced around guiltily, but she had to ask. “Do you know what’s up with her and Logan?”

“I asked her once and got my ass handed back to me. She had a crush on him long as I can remember, though. I buggered off the day I graduated, same as Logan and Reid. Sophie was here for the summer, waiting to go to trade school. With me gone, Glenda decided she’d had enough of Dad’s cheating ways. Logan came back to help her move. I guess something finally happened between him and Sophie.” His expression darkened with disapproval.

“Is Biyen—”

“No,” he said firmly. “Logan is a dumbass, but he wouldn’t turn his back on his kid or the woman who had him. Glenda would cut his nuts off herself if he tried. She would bread ’em, fry ’em, and feed them back to him.”

“Sophie wouldn’t ask for help if she needed it, though. I can see her raising Biyen alone just to prove a point.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty stubborn,” Trystan agreed with an affectionate grin. “But she wouldn’t lie to her kid about who his father is. She wouldn’t lie to me, either. It pisses me off that Logan messed with her, though. She went through a lot with her mom.”

“That was cancer, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Between Janine and having Biyen, she had to drop out of school until Dad talked her into coming back here. That’s how she wound up finishing her certification. Now she’s looking after Art and keeping the marina running. She shouldn’t have to deal with Logan’s bullshit on top of it.”

“What about Reid? Are you angry with him about anything?”

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