Page 11 of 5+Us Makes Seven

Four

Carter

My alarm started blaring at six in the morning and I groaned. Sometimes, six hours of sleep was simply not enough. The sun wasn’t even out, and my bedroom was pitch black. I couldn’t even fucking see my hand in front of my face.

I pulled myself from the bed and made my way into the bathroom. I ran some hot water, then placed a washcloth underneath it. I needed to shave and spruce myself up for the day. This company merger was weighing heavily on my mind, and if we acquired this German marketing company it would put us on the international map for good.

Which meant more stability for the families employed by my company.

I took my time shaving as the kids began to stir. Shit. Was someone here to volley them? I hadn’t heard anyone come through the front door yet, but I also wasn’t paying attention. I finished up my shaving and threw on a shirt, then walked into the hallway just in time to see Carla bounding down the stairs.

Then, the insanity began to take place.

I heard the couch springs creaking as I came down the stairs. I saw clean clothes being flung everywhere in the foyer as Joshua dug for something to wear to school. Clara was bouncing around in her seat at the kitchen table and there wasn’t a sign of the woman I had hired.

Did she forget today was her start day?

I sighed and came into the kitchen and was stopped by a presence. There she was, with her long brown hair and her amber-colored eyes, looking over files I had set out on the counter of the children. Medical records and evaluations. School grades and notes teachers sent home. Daycare notes for Clara and vaccination reports and allergy tests and medications they all took for different things.

And the kids were running amok.

“Nathaniel, get off that couch,” I said.

“He’s fine,” Natasha said. “He’s got five more minutes.”

Her eyes never lifted from the file folder as Nathaniel bounced from couch to couch. I furrowed my brow at her, trying to figure out if I had heard her correctly. She was letting Nathaniel jump on the couch? My seven-thousand-dollar couch?

Was she insane?

Holy fuck, I had hired an insane woman to watch my kids.

“Joshua, did you find your shirt yet?” Natasha asked.

“I thought it was in here,” he said. “I really did.”

“Pick up your mess and go try your room,” she said.

“But-”

“Now, Joshua.”

I looked around the corner and watched as my son huffed. He was angry, but he was listening. Tossing the shirts back into the laundry room and closing the door. I smelled coffee permeating the air as I closed my eyes, trying to take in everything that was happening at once.

“How do you take your coffee, Mr. Marshall?”

I opened my eyes and saw Natasha with a full mug of coffee in front of her. She was staring at me with that sweet little gaze of hers as she waited for my response. My eyes rushed down her body, taking in the tight jeans and the loose top she had on for her day.

Even at six in the morning, the woman was beautiful.

“Black,” I said. “I take it black.”

“Then here you go,” she said. “Nathaniel! Time’s up!”

“Can I have five more minutes?” he asked.

“No, sir. That was our agreement, and you want to be a man of your word, right?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

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