Live-In Position

by V. S. Tice

  I nodded and folded the costume over my arm.

  “What about you?” Her head pivoted, scanning the costumes.

  “What about me?”

  “You have to dress up too, silly. Everyone else will be.”

  “Everyone else?”

  “Yeah, all the nannies dress up.” She hurried around the corner of the aisle and back to the adult section. Please, lord, don’t let her go back to the slutty costumes.

  “This is perfect!” She pulled a large yellow dress from the rack. It was bigger than her.

  “That’s perfect, huh?” I took the dress from her, holding it against my body.

  “Yes. You can be Belle. We both can be princesses.” She clasped her hands together in a silent plea.

  “Can’t I at least get her regular dress? You know, the blue one with the apron?” I pointed to it.

  She shook her head.

  “No, no…you have to wear the princess one with the sparkles. We can pull your hair up just like Belle’s hair in the movie.” She clapped.

  I looked at the tag and choked on the price.

  “Victoria, this thing is extremely overpriced. I think I should find something less –”

  “Don’t worry about it, Sophia. Daddy doesn’t care.” She shrugged and I saw a flash of sadness in her eyes. My heart clenched.

  “Sweetheart, I’m not letting your daddy pay for my Halloween costume, and he does care about you.” I mentally punched myself for lying. If I were being honest, I didn’t truly believe he cared. Not the way a father should. Surely, not the way my father cared about me.

  “Daddy’s card always bought Miranda’s outfit. He told her to.”

  With a reluctant sigh, I folded the golden yellow costume over my arm and took Victoria’s hand. We headed to the line at the register.

  When we returned to the house, I had to make a quick dinner before Victoria’s piano lesson. I was stirring the sauce while Victoria buttered pieces of Italian bread and placed them on a plate. We were singing the theme song to one of her educational cartoons when I was locked into those damn emerald eyes. I cleared my throat and Victoria fell silent.

  “Good evening, Dr. Bishop.”

  “Good evening.” He took long graceful strides to the refrigerator and opened the door. He leaned down for a moment squinting into the artificial lighting.

  “Um…are you hungry, Dr. Bishop?” I grabbed two plates from the cupboard and hesitated, waiting on his answer.

  His head snapped in my direction. “I can get something, thank you. It’s not your respons–”

  “It’s really not a problem,” I interrupted. He looked irritated. “There’s plenty.” I grabbed a third plate.

  I moved Victoria’s plate and mine over to the other side of the counter where the stools were. Dr. Bishop walked over and grabbed the remaining plate.

  “Thank you,” he said in a flat tone.

  “Sure.”

  He hesitated with the plate of food in his hand. His eyes snapped to meet my gaze, and he quickly walked out of the room.

  “Oh-kay...” I breathed out and lightly shook my head.

  Halloween arrived. Our costumes were laid out on my bed. I curled and pulled my hair up according to the picture Victoria had given me for reference.

  I pulled Victoria’s hair back and was combing out her costume’s wig into large waves when I heard the doorbell chime. Dressed in a pair of short cotton shorts and a white tank top, I skipped down the steps toward the door.

  Opening the door, I was surprised to see a tall and very pregnant blonde woman. She eyed me curiously. Her eyes were a pretty violet-blue, and even with the large round stomach, I could see she had one hell of a body.

  “You must be Sophia, the new nanny?”

  I nodded with wide eyes.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Collin’s sister-in-law, Larissa.” She held out her hand and I took it, gripping lightly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, please come in.” I shook my head and felt like a fool for gawking at her for so long. She lightly laughed.

  “My nanny, Amber, and my son Ryan haven’t arrived yet?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Hmmm, I thought they would be here by now. I wanted to get some pictures.” She held up a camera. As she was speaking I took in the fact she was wearing a very lovely pink satin gown that curved over her belly fittingly.

  I heard a throat clear and spun around. There stood a very handsome baby-faced man in a gray tuxedo. He pushed the half-closed door open and walked in.

  “I-I’m sorry,” I spluttered.

  “It’s not a problem.” He moved to Larissa. “They aren’t here?” He looked between her and me. I shook my head.

  “Not yet, honey. Can we wait a few minutes?” She gave a pout face that could rival Victoria’s.

  “Of course,” he kissed her head and then focused on me. “Is my brother home?”

  “I’m not sure, sir. I haven’t seen him today.”

  “Oh god, don’t call me sir.” He took three large heavy steps with his hand out. “I’m Collin’s brother, Max.” I took his hand, and he motioned over his shoulder. You’ve already met my better half.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you.” I smiled. “Can I get you–?”

  “It’s not your job serve them.” Dr. Bishop walked off the last step in a black tux fitting the charity event they were all attending tonight. The way it cut around his shoulders sent a weird tingle through my body. His eyes roamed over me.

  “I was just being polite.” I forced civility into my voice.

  “Well, I’ll take care of them, thank you. Perhaps you should go put on some clothes.”

  I looked down at myself and swallowed the urge to tell him to go back to the depths of hell. Yeah, a black tux all right, black like his soul.

  “If you’ll excuse me.” I moved towards the steps.

  “Collin, that was unnecessary. She’s clearly in the middle of getting ready for her costume,” Larissa whispered, but I still heard. Feeling smug, a smile threatened to reveal itself.

  “It is not necessary to answer my door half-dressed either,” he said, loud enough for me to hear.

  My hands reflexively clenched into tight fists. I should’ve gone with the nun costume. Images of pressing a silver cross to his forehead and expelling his demons flashed through my mind.

  I pushed aside my anger and humiliation and focused on getting ready. After getting Victoria’s make-up finished, I helped her into her mermaid costume. We could hear the arrival of children.

  “Can I go down now?” she beamed.

  “Of course. I just have to put my dress on and then I’ll be down.” She bolted from the room as I slipped into the large shiny yellow ball gown. I took one last look in the floor length mirror and huffed. “Ugh, I look like Walt Disney puked sunshine and glitter all over me.”

  Reaching the top of the steps, I looked down and saw a mass of people. I caught a glimpse of Miranda half way down the staircase and immediately my mood perked up.

  Feeling eyes on me, I turned. Dr. Bishop was standing in the room across from the stairs with his brother and an unknown blond man, all of them with a drink in their hand. I quickly looked away and headed toward the crowd in the foyer.

  “Rand!” I hugged her. “You look so cute!” Miranda was wearing a Jasmine costume with her mid-drift exposed and a gold band on the long black wig on her head. “And you...wow...Sophia, you look amazing.” She motioned for me to spin.

  “I’ll say.” Lucas’s voice drew my attention. He stood next to Benji, who was dressed as Aladdin to match Miranda. Lucas was dressed as one of the Disney princes, but I couldn’t tell which one. He walked forward, took my glove-covered hand, and placed a kiss on my knuckles.

  “Thanks.”

  I heard a familiar giggle and found Victoria watching the exchange.

  “Are you spying on me?” I poked her ribs with my pointer finger. She shook her head, laughing.

  “Sop
hia.” I looked up and saw Ella.

  “You’ve got your own tribe, huh?”

  She nodded. Then Ella and both Wright children broke into that Native American Indian call you hear on old westerns.

  “This is William.” Ella pointed to a tall guy with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. “He works for the Bedford family.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” I took in his costume along with the two small twin boys standing with him. They all had on tight black ninja costumes with red headbands, swords, and nun chucks.

  “You too. Ella has been talking a lot about you. It’s nice to put a face with the name,” he smiled warmly. “This is Michael and Gregory, Allison and Jonathan’s children.”

  “I’m Amber.” A girl with light brown hair, golden eyes, and light freckles put her hand out. “I’m Dr. and Mrs. Bishop’s nanny.” She leaned in and whispered, “Larissa and Max.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, Amber.” She was dressed in a cheerleader uniform and little Ryan was in a full football outfit. “I’m Sophia, obviously.”

  “I know. Ella has been talking a lot about you.”

  “You guys are making me sound like a stalker,” Ella protested. "Don’t make me sick my Indians on you," she threatened.

  "Bring it," William laughed. "Show her boys." All three of them took a ninja pose and made a ‘hoowah’ sound as they chopped the air with their hands.

  “Well, if everyone is here, let’s get going,” I announced. “Someone who knows what the heck we’re doing, please lead the way.”

  “Wait, wait…” Larissa hurried the best she could into the foyer. “I want pictures.” Her smile was bright and perfect. Max moved up behind her quickly.

  “Honey, please don’t move around so quickly.” He rubbed her belly.

  “Nonsense,” she swatted his hand away and pulled the camera up to her eyes.

  Amber and Ryan posed together, then all the kids posed together, and Amber took a picture of Ryan with his parents. Larissa kissed all the kids on top of their heads before telling them to have fun.

  “Who are you?” I looked down when I heard Victoria’s question. She was standing with her head tilted, looking at a curly, brown-haired girl clinging to Miranda.

  “This is Vanessa. But you can call her Nessa.” Miranda knelt down. “Nessa, this is Victoria. Remember I told you about her?” Vanessa nodded her head.

  “What are you dressed as?” Victoria tried to see the whole costume.

  “Dorothy,” Nessa whispered.

  “Oh, like the Wizard of Oz!” Victoria exclaimed. “I really love the shoes!”

  “Me too!” I knelt down, “Can I borrow those some time?” I winked at her.

  “Your feet are too big,” Victoria teased.

  “Hey,” I poked her side and stood up.

  “Everyone ready?” A loud chorus of “yes” came from the kids.

  “Let’s go Trick-or-Treat ourselves into candy comas,” I shouted and we all headed out the door.

  I waited for everyone to walk out before I closed the door. Lucas stayed behind with me.

  We walked the streets of the upscale neighborhood. Half of the kids were driven around in golf carts, which I really didn’t know what to think about. But by the end of the evening there was over a ton of candy in all of the bags, a million pictures taken, and some very exhausted kids.

  The Bishop family would be out late so we all huddled around the living room floor and dumped out the candy. Going through it was overwhelming.

  "Jeesh, when I was a kid I got apples, some candy bars, gum..." I drifted off.

  "It’s crazy right?" Ella looked at me with a smirk.

  "I mean, who the heck gives out Toys R Us gift cards?" I held up the card.

  "That would be the Vandermeyers." I looked at William. "They do it every year."

  "Well...heck...can I tell them when my birthday is?"

  "They send me birthday presents," Victoria said as she dug through her bag.

  I ruffled her hair.

  After everyone left, I gave Victoria a bath and got her into bed. Then it was finally my turn to wash out the hairspray and scrub off the make-up and glitter. Around midnight, my body gratefully collapsed into my bed.

  The weekend was quiet. Victoria was oddly less energetic. I spent Sunday afternoon with my father before I met Miranda, Benji, and Lucas for dinner. Before I went to bed that night I checked on Victoria.

  Monday morning she was a lot more tired than usual, and when I tried to help her get dressed I could feel the heat pouring off of her. I quickly put her back in bed and placed a thermometer in her ear. Her temperature was one hundred and three degrees so I dialed the number for the doctor I found in the binder.

  By eleven in the morning, I had Victoria in a comfortable outfit and in the car heading to the doctor. After some tests, he determined she had strep. He gave her a shot, a prescription for her cough, and handed me instructions on ibuprofen doses for fever and pain. I got her back into bed and made her some soup, which she ate very little of before falling asleep.

  I decided to sleep on the couch in her room so I could be close to her. It was around two in the morning when her coughing attack began. I could hear the congestion in her cough and chest.

  Grabbing her cough medicine from the bathroom, I poured out the correct dose and then coaxed her into taking it. I gave her a drink of water and lay her back down on elevated pillows. Her coughing subsided but I could still hear the rattle in her breathing. In the hall closet I searched on my hands and knees until I found a vaporizer.

  “Is there something the matter with her?”

  I gasped, almost dropping the vaporizer on the floor.

  “Sorry,” Dr. Bishop mumbled quietly.

  “She has strep throat,” I panted, still trying to catch my breath.

  “Did you take her to see the doctor?” he frowned.

  “Yes. He gave her a shot of penicillin and a prescription.” I lifted the vaporizer up. “I am just going to get this going to help with her congestion and cough.” I closed the closet door with my foot and headed back to her room.

  I plugged in the base of the vaporizer, inserted the filter, and took the top into the bathroom to fill with water. Stepping out of the bathroom I saw Dr. Bishop standing at the end of Victoria’s bed looking down at her. With one deep breath, I walked toward the vaporizer base next to her bed and put the top on it before crawling between the side table and the bed to plug the vaporizer in.

  A gentle hum filled the air along with the cool mist. Climbing back to my feet, his presence was still noticeable. He was standing looking at the couch – my makeshift bed.

  “Is that where you are sleeping?” His tone was monotone as usual.

  “Yes. I wanted to be able to hear her if she needs me.” I walked toward the couch.

  “There are monitors in the wall that allow you to hear in your room.” He looked at me puzzled.

  “I prefer to be here if she needs me,” I said in a flat tone as I sat on the couch. I looked up at him. “The doctor’s papers are in your mail slot on your office door.” He said nothing. “Was there anything else?”

  He stiffened up and clenched his fists.

  “No,” he said and then briskly walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. With a loud sigh, I threw myself back onto the couch and pulled the covers over my head.

  Victoria stayed home for three days before she was finally able to get back to school on Thursday. Friday arrived, and after I took Victoria to school, I felt like crap. My head swirled, my body was tired and hot, and I was completely irritable. Once I got back to the house, I took some medicine and tried a nap. When I woke up, my sinuses were congested, my throat was itchy and irritated, and every joint in my body ached. With a groan, I trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen to make some soup and tea. Halfway through making soup, I had to lay my body over the cool marble counter top.

  “Ahem.”

  Slowly I pulled my head up and squinted u
ntil I was able to focus on Dr. Bishop leaning in the doorway. With a groan I just put my head back down.

  “Not feeling well?” Maybe it was the cold medicine, but I swore I heard humor in his voice.

  “I’ll be fine,” I croaked.

  The microwave beeped and I dragged myself over to it, pulling out the mug of soup before heading back up to my room. I hadn’t even cared enough to excuse myself from the room.

  Not able to finish even half of the soup, I fell into a Nyquil induced sleep. I woke to a knock on my bedroom door and jolted up, but then had to brace myself from the dizziness flooding my head.

  “Whoa,” I groaned and closed my eyes.

  “Come in.”

  My eyes widened when they landed on Dr. Bishop, wearing glasses, sitting in the corner of my room with his laptop on a table in front of him. I heard the door open but didn’t look at who came in. I was still trying to understand why he was in my room while I was sleeping.

  How long had he been here?

  “Ah, Harold, Thank you for coming over so quickly.” He walked over to greet a black-haired gentleman with a black leather bag.

  “It’s been awhile since I made a house call,” the man chuckled.

  “Well, I appreciate it.” Dr. Bishop released his hand.

  “I take it this is my patient.” His steel gray eyes examined me.

  “Yes, this is Sophia, Victoria’s new nanny.” Dr. Bishop now laid his intense green eyes on me as well. Under their stares, discomfort filled my stomach.

  “So, my dear Sophia, tell me what’s going on.” He sat on the edge of the bed.

  “It’s just a cold.” I forced a smile. “I’ll be fine.” Looking at the alarm clock next to my bed, I threw the covers back, not caring that my shorts were way too short and I didn’t have a bra on. “Crap!”

  “Sophia? What are you doing?” Dr. Bishop moved to the side of the bed where I tried to climb to my feet.

  A wave of dizziness overtook me, making it impossible to answer. All I could focus on was not falling over. Hands grabbed onto my elbow and hip.