Page 99 of Nanny for the SEALs

“My first deployment was to the Gulf of Mexico. It was during one of the early flare-ups in Venezuela. We were told to prep for a variety of potential missions: special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, security assistance, personnel recovery. The whole nine yards. I remember packing my gear to ship out, thinking that I was finally going to do what I was meant to do. And do you know what happened?”

“What?”

“Our carrier group dropped anchor off the coast. And we sat there for six months. We were always on standby, so we had be mentally prepared at all times, but for half a year we didn’t doanything. We could see the goddamn coastline in our binoculars, but our team was never sent out on a mission. And then, after six months, our carrier group returned home to Norfolk.

“I remember that first night back in port, drinking at a bar,” Rogan went on. “I felt so disillusioned about everything. I had trained my whole life todo something, and then we didn’t get to do it. I didn’t sign up just to sit around all day like a lifeguard. Then we were sent out on another deployment. And do you know what happened on that one?”

“It was much better than the first?”

Rogan shook his head. “It was the same. The exact. Fucking. Same. We sat at NAMRU-6 for months. Never even left base.”

“NAM-what?” I asked.

“NAMRU. A Naval Medical Research Unit down in Peru. That was our base of operations in case we needed to be inserted into Columbia, but guess what? We never were. Another few months sitting around like a bunch of jackasses.

“But then, at the end of the deployment, we finally got our chance. They had the location of a cartel leader deep in the jungle. This was the worst kind of person in the world. He had publicly killed children as a warning to anyone who opposed his methods. I never believed ineviluntil I read the mission briefing on this guy. We were dropped into the jungle, and… I’ll spare you the details. But we captured him, and with the help of local law enforcement, he was brought to justice.”

Rogan grunted deep within his throat. “I felt invincible after that mission. Like I was Batman or something. A real superhero. That mission reminded me of why I enlisted in the first place. It just took a while to get to that point.”

“So you’re saying I should join the SEALs?” I asked. “Is swimming a prerequisite? Because I’m not a very good swimmer.”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t let one bad experience ruin your dream of becoming an actress,” he said. “Stick with it. Endure the parts that suck, at least for another year or two. It will be worth it in the end, I promise. Nothing worthwhile in this world is easy.”

I felt better after that. Yeah, this commercial sucked. But it was over, and the next role might be better. You couldn’t run a marathon until you’d run alotof smaller training runs.

I heard the kids stirring from their naps, so Rogan and I got out of bed and made ourselves presentable. But we slipped out of his bedroom right as Micah was coming out of his room.

He paused in the hallway. “What were you doing in daddy’s room?” he asked.

“Um…” Rogan said. “We were, uh…”

“Your daddy was taking a nap too,” I quickly said. “I didn’t want him to sleep too long, so I woke him up.”

“You wokesomethingof mine up,” he whispered. I elbowed him in the ribs.

Micah shrugged and accepted the story. Both of us breathed a sigh of relief.

The boys continued misbehaving the rest of the afternoon. I grew more and more frustrated, to the point that I was almost losing my temper around them. I forced myself to take deep breaths. These were children, and it was my job to get them under control.

But first, to see if Cora really is the ringleader.

The seven of us had dinner together at the dining room table. While the dads cleaned up the dishes, I went to the fridge and announced everyone’s star totals. Micah and Dustin weren’t very interested in this part, and I had to practically drag them over to the fridge.

Once again, Cora got to choose a treat from the big bucket. She selected a king-sized Twix, which was suspiciously easy to divide into two parts. She shoved the candy in her pocket and then cuddled with Brady in the living room while he watched the Lakers game.

Then she yawned, stretched out her arms, and said, “Can I read in my room, please?”

She was like a polite little lady. It would have been cute if not for the sinister undertones of her plan.

“Of course you can, Cora,” Brady said.

She walked down the hall to her room. Dustin and Micah watched her, then continued playing with their trucks on the floor. They lasted thirty seconds before jumping up.

“I’m going to get another toy truck,” Dustin said.

“I’ll help you pick it out,” Micah said.

It was so rehearsed that I almost busted out laughing. When they were gone from the room, Brady muttered, “Son of a bitch, they’re wicked guilty.”

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