Page 42 of A Whole New Play

“I love you, too.”

I climb out of the truck and wave goodbye as he steers the long vehicle around and drives away.

My shoulders rise and fall with calming breaths as I walk up to the front door. I step into the house and kick off my shoes. I’m placing them against the wall when my eardrums are assaulted by a loud shout.

Alarm zips through me. I run towards the sound. I slide into the living room, almost tripping on the cushion that’s in the middle of the floor. Abby and Valerie are crouching behind the couch. They each clutch toy guns that shoot foam darts against their chest. Neither notices me. Valerie is smiling while Abby’s face is twisted in a concentrated scowl.

“He almost hit my face!” She bellows.

From the other side of the room, Andy cackles, “That’s what you get for peeking above the couch!” His voice comes from behind the armchair in the corner.

I take in the rest of the scene, noting the cushion shields and pillows scattered throughout the room. My earlier alarm gives way to amusement as my brain registers that I’ve walked in during the middle of a game. And from the looks of it, it’s two-on-one.

“Well, this doesn’t look fair.”

Valerie and Abby’s attention snaps to me. I chuckle when I take in the nanny’s wide eyes. She looks comical kneeling in her fancy skirt. Her blouse is untucked in the front, and her beautiful hair is coiled up in a messy bun while her face is flushed from exertion. Or, perhaps it’s embarrassment.

She has nothing to be embarrassed about.

I’d been in a rush to leave once she’d arrived to take over watching the kids, but that didn’t stop me from admiring how pretty she looked in her brunch outfit. She must’ve come over as soon as she finished eating with her mom. Now, she’s thrown herself wholeheartedly into a game with the kids. And I’m not going to lie, I like the look far more than I should.

While she is carefree with the twins, she’s been reserved around me since she started working as my nanny. She’s always quick to stop whatever antics she and the twins are involved in when I get home at the end of the day.

But not this time.

This time, she tears her wide eyes off me and turns her attention to my daughter. Who, I note with another chuckle, wears one of my sweatbands across her forehead and has a streak of eye black under each eye like a warrior.

“Life’s not fair, Dad,” Abby retorts with a ferocity I didn’t know the six-year-old had in her. She raises her voice and directs the next words over the top of the couch, “And Andy is about to go down.”

“In your dreams,” Andy calls from his shelter. “One more hit and I win.”

“Then come try to shoot me!”

“Why don’t you try to come shoot me?”

The twins argue back and forth. Then, Abby gives Valerie orders to go around the left side of the couch. Valerie listens intently, nodding along with the plan. I step back and lean against the wall with my arms crossed, amused to see how this battle unfolds.

Valerie rounds the couch while Abby stays put, her toy gun propped on the back of the couch, ready to pop up and shoot when the moment is right.

Valerie crawls on her hands and knees. My mind flashes with the memory of her in the same position on soft white sheets. I blink and the image fades.

Valerie reaches the T.V. stand and then yells, “NOW!” She races forward. Abby stands, aiming her toy gun.

Andy yelps in surprise when Valerie rounds the chair and infiltrates his hiding place. He runs the opposite way to avoid her shot, putting himself in Abby’s path.

He tries to duck, but he’s not fast enough. A yellow and orange foam dart hits his shoulder as he dives.

Abby and Valerie cheer in victory.

Andy scowls, but it’s immediately replaced with a grin when Valerie walks up to him and affectionately ruffles his hair. “Good game, Andy. You put up a good fight.”

“I would’ve won if you hadn’t scared me out of position.”

“That was part of our strategy. There’s no way we wouldn’t been able to get you otherwise.”

Andy beams at the praise, and he forgets all about being disappointed about losing the game.

His happy eyes swing to me. “Hey, Dad. Can we have dinner soon? I’m starving.”

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