Page 51 of Military Daddies' Nanny

Her brow furrows slightly as she studies me, no doubt searching for traces of the gawky kid brother she once knew. I don't make it easy. My expression is as impassive as I can force it to be, betraying none of the roiling unease simmering beneath the surface.

"Nathan," she greets at last, polite if uncertain. "You've…certainly grown up."

I say nothing, my knuckles tightening around the strap of my briefcase. This woman, this stranger, deserted my familywithout a backward glance. Abandoned Drew and the kids to shoulder the burden alone. As far as I'm concerned, she forfeited any right to casual small talk the day she walked out that door.

An awkward silence stretches between us, the tension growing thicker by the moment. Karen turns to the children.

“Um, kids…can you go upstairs for a bit…mommy needs to talk to your uncle,” she says in a soft voice.

My face scrunches up immediately. Did she say mommy? Mommy?

Bella and Jason do as she says, moving quietly up the stairs toward their rooms, clearly sensing the tension.

I am about to say something very nasty. Thankfully Carlos chooses that moment to wander in.

"Hey Nate, have you had a chance to look over my notes on the…" He breaks off as his gaze lands on Karen, brows shooting upward. "Well, well. If it isn't the prodigal wife."

Karen flinches almost imperceptibly at his biting tone.Good,I think savagely.Let her feel uncomfortable. Out of place.

"Carlos," she murmurs, visibly bracing herself. "It's...been a long time."

Carlos snorts, not bothering to hide the disdain in his expression. "Yeah, I'll say. Though not nearly long enough, if you ask me."

My lips twitch despite myself, a spark of vicious satisfaction igniting low in my belly. As always, Carlos doesn't mince words, a fact for which I'm silently grateful.

I'm not sure I can adequately convey the full depth of my contempt for this woman with studied civility. Better to leave the caustic remarks to someone unafraid to voice them.

Drew chooses that moment to reappear from wherever he'd disappeared to, his weathered features creasing further at the blatant hostility radiating from me and Carlos. With a sigh, he turns to his ex, mouth set in a grim line.

"Karen, you'll have to forgive my brother and Carlos. They're just...surprised to see you again, is all." There's a careful emphasis on the word that doesn't escape my notice.Surprised is certainly one way to put it.

He rakes a hand through his perpetually tousled hair, a clear sign of frustration. "Look, maybe we should all just take a beat here, all right? Karen's back, and she..." His eyes skate over to the kids, watching pensively from the staircase. It seems their curiosity got the better of them as they chose to listen in. "She wants to be part of our lives again. The least we can do is hear her out before writing her off entirely."

I open my mouth—to argue, to rebut, to flatly refuse—but Karen beats me to it, voice tremulous.

"Drew's right," she says softly. "You don't have to welcome me with open arms. Hell, you don't even have to like me. But I'm not asking for that. I'm just...I'm asking for a chance to make things right. With you, Bella, and Jason. That's all."

The naked vulnerability in her plea takes me by surprise, momentarily robbing me of my next retort. Somewhere deep down, beneath all the hurt and anger, I can still remember the gentle, smiling woman who used to braid Bella's hair and kiss scraped knees.

But that Karen, the good one, has been gone a long time, worn away by years of bitter silence and recrimination.

Beside me, Carlos radiates skepticism, jaw clenched. But Drew...Drew just looks heartsick. Lost in that endless internal war between protectiveness and hope that's plagued him since the day Karen walked away.

Finally, I find my voice. It’s rough, but steady. "You really expect us to just...let you waltz back in after everything? Like you didn't completely destroy this family?"

Pain lances across Karen's delicate features, but I don't allow myself to feel guilty. If she wants to make amends, she's going to have face the fallout of her actions head-on. I won't soften the blows.

"You left," I spit at her, all the years of pent-up resentment and confusion spilling forth in a torrent. "You just...gave up on them. On your kids. You remember Bella, right? Your own daughter, the one who cried herself to sleep every night for months because she didn't understand what she did wrong? Because she was convinced it was somehow her fault that her mommy didn't love her anymore?

"And Jason. He withdrew so far into himself that there were days we honestly thought he might never speak again. Do you know what it's like, watching a little boy shut down like that? All that light, that joy...snuffed out like a candle, because you couldn't be bothered to stick around?

“And then Drew…you fucking destroyed him. Turned him into a robot. A bottled-up, reserved shell of the man he used to be. A man too afraid to live a little.”

I only realize I'm shaking when Carlos grips my shoulder, a silent anchor in the storm of my fury. Karen's head is bowed, tears streaking down those porcelain cheeks, but I'm too far gone to care about her distress.

"They made do without you, Karen," I continue harshly. "Drew did more than just make dos. He rebuilt an entire world for those kids to feel safe in, one brick of stability at a time."

I gesture vaguely to Carlos, chest heaving. "Me and him? Yeah, we helped where we could. But the truth is, Drew did the heavy lifting all on his own after you abandoned ship. So you'll excuse me if I'm not exactly jumping for joy at the sight of you, let alone enthusiastic about giving you another shot to let us all down."

---