5| Profession

☼Willow☼

I woke up around 6:00 a.m.

For the first time in my life, I woke up super early, well, except that one time when I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning and started preparing for a school trip during my senior year in high school and the school bus ended up leaving me behind when I went for a bathroom break. Sad, I know.

I brushed my teeth and took a bath, thanking God for blessing Mr. Moretti with the money to pay for hot baths. I spent almost forty minutes trying to pick out what to wear because I didn't have many dress options, most of my clothes consisted of baggy T-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and sweatpants. But I did have a few casual attires that I wear to important places. In the end, I settled for a purple sundress that stopped a few centimeters below my knees and I slipped on a fuzzy loose cardigan that was a few shades lighter than the dress and was cropped below my boobs.

I thought I should dress well enough to make an impression.

Now, my hair was another story. I'm a ginger, a redhead if you will. My hair is curly in its natural form and brushing it makes it huge and frizzy as hell, it doesn't help that it's long too. I tried to flatten it and make it bone straight but I was wasting too much time on sectioning and pressing it down. 

Considering that I'm naturally impatient, I just decided to go for big waves and allow my hair to flow down my back and to the front, down my shoulders.

Right now, I was in the kitchen going over the basics as I waited for the children to come back.

Lucas is homeschooled.

Lucas has social anxiety.

Lucas loves gymnastics.

Lucas loves warm toast for breakfast.

Lucas doesn't like sweets.

Lucas can't swim.

Isabella goes to an all-girls nursery school.

Isabella plays the flute.

Isabella likes mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Isabella prefers cereal for breakfast.

Isabella doesn't like pets.

They both hate vegetables. Mulan is their favorite cartoon. 

They have the same birth dates but different months.

"Don't get too nervous, Willow," Julia said, interrupting my thoughts.

I turned around watching her stock the fridge with different sorts of stuff.

"I was just going over some stuff in my head," I said with a shrug as I started to pick on my nails. I cut off my acrylics the very morning I received an email for this work, and I made sure to keep my nails natural for the interview.

I'm glad it was worth it.

"I'm very sure you can do it, Willow." Julia piped up again. 

"The children are very well behaved and trust me, they wouldn't do anything rude. Their father raised them well." 

She said with a proud look on her face.

I felt my body relax at her words. This is basically the first time that I'm actually going to give my profession a shot. The last job I did was to look after a one year old for two hours, three days a week for two months. But this time, I'm going to look after children who can talk and walk and tell me when they're hungry or tired or when they need to use the bathroom.

I could already testify from what I've seen, Lucas was nice and Isabella is just 4 years old, it can't be bad. I'm going to look after these kids with all I've got and I'm going to make sure that I do a perfect damn job-

"We're home!" A loud masculine voice announced, making the thoughts in my head shatter.

My stomach churned so badly that I felt like I was going to pass out. Behind me, Julia ran a hand up and down my back in a comforting manner.

I could hear their footsteps coming towards the kitchen directly and it made me wonder why everyone comes here first before going anywhere.

I saw Lucas first before a bigger body that was holding someone in their arms came to view. Lucas was holding on to the person's hand and was swinging it lightly but stopped when he looked up and saw me. I watched his eyes widen and then furrow in confusion as if he was trying to remember something and then his face lit up again.

"Willow!" He exclaimed, taking his hand out of the bigger one and started running towards me.

I laughed and got off from the bar stool I was seated on crouching down to his level before he came. When he came close, he stopped in front of me, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but closed it which made his cheeks turn bright pink. He fiddled with his fingers with a small smile on his face.

I understood that he recognized me, and he was happy to see me again, but he was too shy to say something.

"Hey, Lucas," I said, bringing up my hand to ruffle his hair. 

"It's nice to see you again."

"Hello." He said, smiling shyly. "Are you here for another interview?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Lucas, Willow is your new nanny," Julia said. "Don't you want to meet Willow, Isa?"

At Julia's words, my head tilted up to see the other people in the room with us. A man was standing at the kitchen entrance with a small child in his hands. The man looked like Mr. Moretti but younger.

He didn't have the same sea-green eyes. His eyes were a hazel colour that widened as they stared at me. Apart from the eyes, they looked very similar, and I could tell immediately that they were related.

"Guardian Angel?" The man said crouching low to set down the child in his hand so she could stand on her feet.

"No, it's just, Willow," I said with a courteous smile.

He slapped a hand over his mouth and gasped dramatically.

"Non ha mai detto che fosse cossi sexy." He gushed in Italian 

looking at Julia.

(He never said she was so sexy.)

I turned around to see Julia roll her eyes, removing her hands over Lucas' ears before handing him an apple from the fruit basket on the island.

"Remember what he told you, Theodore," Julia replied to him, making him slump his shoulders. "Focus on your work." She finished.

The man looked at me and flashed me a smile.

"I'm Theodore but feel free to call me Theo, please, I can't stand the whole name," Theo said, making me laugh. "And this is my niece, Isabella." He said, making me look at the little girl that was stuck to his legs.

So he is Mr. Moretti's brother.

She had golden brown hair that was held in two ponytails and her brown eyes were glued to the floor. She had wrapped her tiny arms around one of his legs and refused to look up.

"She's shy," Lucas said, his teeth lodged into the apple in his hands.

I nodded in understanding, my hands fiddling with the sleeves of my cardigan. I am also nervous, I love kids, but I've never actually dealt with one with one this grown before.

The fuck was your education for?

Um, I'm sorry but I wasn't lectured on handling my own emotions.

"Hello, Isabella. My name is Willow," I said before I could think twice about it.

At the sound of her name, she looked up at me for the first time. I smiled at her and took two slow steps toward her.

"I'm going to be your new nanny starting today, and we can be friends too," I added watching as her arms slowly loosened around Theo's legs.

She looked up at her uncle as if silently asking for confirmation and when he nodded at her she finally let go of his leg but still stood close.

"W-willow, like the tree?" Her small voice asked, making my smile widen.

"Uh-huh, do you like willow trees?" I responded walking closer.

"No," she answered immediately, making my eyebrows quirk up. "It makes scary sounds at night and it's so spooky." She said, wincing at the thought.

"Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas isn't spooky," Lucas said, coming to stand beside me, the apple in his hands bitten from all angles. "Right, Willow?" he asked, and I nodded in agreement.

"Willow trees aren't spooky, Isabella," I said. "And the noise they make is very calming when you sit under the tree. It happens because the wind blows the vines away."

She went silent after that, her tiny fingers twisting around the fabric of the dress. I looked up at Theo for help, he shrugged playfully in response before smiling and picking the little girl up.

"I've got to go now," Theo said as he approached us. "Ho molto lavoro da faré." He added and Julia hummed as she washed some fruits in the sink.

(I have a lot of work to do.)

"Il lavoro è noioso," Lucas said with a pout making me frown.

(Work is boring,)

He speaks Italian too? Why wasn't that in the list I read yesterday?

"I know little one, but I have to go or else your dad is going to peel my skin," Theo said before turning to flash me a smile.

He tilted his head towards Isabella, and I shook my head trying to tell him I don't know what to do. His face dropped and he gave me a look as if to ask me 'Seriously?' which made me smile nervously.

"I want some apples too." Isabella's baby voice broke the silent conversation we were having as she looked at me.

"Oh, ok," I said, rubbing my palms down my dress. "I'll cut you some apples too, Isabella," I said with a smile and went to grab a plate when something she did made me pause.

Her hands that were looped around her uncle's neck were now stretching towards me. At first, I was shocked. My mouth and eyes formed an 'O' shape which made Theo laugh and then I laughed too, my smile growing bigger as I collected her from his arms and attached her to my hip.

Her hands hooked around my neck loosely and her head slowly rested on my shoulder, her soft hair tickling my neck.

"Okay, now that I've completely retired from being the nanny–"

"You were the nanny?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and I never got paid," he said with a straight face and Julia scoffed behind me.

"You made that list?" I asked again and he nodded.

"That was really helpful, thank you."

"It better be, I put my whole career into that," he said, flipping imaginary hair over his shoulders making Lucas chuckle beside me.

His phone vibrated in his front pocket, and he pulled it out, his brows forming a frown as he read the contents of his screen.

"Crap," he muttered. "Okay beautiful ladies and gentle boy, 

I've got to scram, see you later." He said waving back at us as he was already jogging out of the kitchen.

"Later," We all said in unison.

I stood where I was planted for a minute before I remembered what I had to do. I turned towards the dining table and drew out a chair that I could sit Isabella on.

"Okay," I breathed after I had successfully drawn out a chair. 

"Can you sit here so I can get the apple ready for you?" I asked Isabella and she nodded once, allowing me to set her down.

I felt happy that she was responsive, it made me feel awesome at my job. I noticed Lucas looking around his apple, finding where to bite into as he had already scored the whole thing with his teeth, his hands were glistening with apple juice.

"Come here, Lucas," I said, making his head shoot up to look at me. "Let's wash your hands and cut up some apples for you too," I said, and he smiled before scurrying over to me.

I love these kids already.