Page 5 of Manny for the Alien
I watched his reaction carefully. It was clear that he was nervous about caring for such young children. If it was too much for him, I would be able to tell straight away, but after a moment, he nodded.
“Yes, is she home?”
“Yes,” I said, standing. “Follow me.”
I led him up the stairs and down the hallway to the nursery my youngest shared. The moment I opened the door, his breath caught.
I glanced back, catching him looking around the room in awe. Our previous nanny had reacted in a similar way. It was unusual, I supposed for humans to see so many plants in one room. But for our kind, it was important to mimic our naturalenvironment as much as possible in the early years of life. It was important for their development to be surrounded by the scents and sounds that would help them to be healthy. There were vines hanging, moss on the walls, two fountains gently trickling water and a mist in the air from the humidifier.
Against the back wall, a hammock hung, and in it, my sweet girl had been napping.
It seemed that she was awake now, though, as the top of her messy dark hair lifted into view, followed by two round green eyes peering out at us.
“Good morning sweetheart,” I said, approaching. “Were you waiting for daddy to come get you?”
She reached her arms out in answer and I reached in, scooping her out.
Her small pink dress was all rumpled from sleep and her hair was standing on end, but she was as cute as ever, and Marco’s bright smile when I turned and looked at him showed that he thought so too.
“Well, hello there,” he said. “I’m Marco. You must be Iris.”
She stared at him for a long time and then nodded, and then looked at me as though she was expecting an explanation but before I could say anything, our talking woke Aster.
His bedding began to shake first and a loud wail followed.
“Sorry, Aster,” I said, approaching the small bed, tucked beneath Iris’.
I bent, lifting him into my other arm and he huffed, kicking his chubby arms, his still fuzzy dark hair in worse disarray than Iris’.
“They’re adorable,” Marco said, and they both turned and looked at him, clearly wondering what was going on.
“Remember how Justine had to move away?” I asked.
Iris nodded, while Aster listened.
“Yes,” she said, still looking confused.
“I’m trying to find someone else who can watch you when I’m not home, and maybe if you like Marco, it can be him.”
Her brows rose dramatically and then she suddenly wiggled until I was forced to set her down or else risk dropping both of them.
Without hesitation, she walked over to Marco, reached up for his hand and took it.
He gave me an amused look as she dragged him out of the room.
“Dis is da bafroom,” I heard her say as I followed.
By the time they reached Azalea’s room, I realized that she was giving him a tour.
“Dis is where Zalea sleeps,” she said. “But sometimes she sleeps in daddy’s room when she’s scared.”
“Oh, really?”
“Uh huh. Come on, I’ll show you da playroom.”
I followed like a shadow, just watching as she showed him around the house, eventually reaching the spare sitting room which had been taken over by an abundance of toys and games.
Unlike with the other rooms, she led him inside and immediately began showing him how to build her blocks up in the best way.
