Five

The heat was abounding in New York. It was a sunny enough morning to set up a pool right there.

It had been 19 and a half hours since James and Luna had left Seattle. It had been a drastic change for her to leave the way she had, but it had been her first reaction, and if everything went wrong, she could come back as promised.

She had no relatives besides her mother, or anything like that, so it just didn't matter much.

When they arrived, a black van was waiting for them outside the building they had gone to after the airport. Luna seemed a little surprised to see how he was being treated in New York, even though he himself had told her not to get carried away by it.

He came across as a serious, stubborn, complicated and rather annoying man at times. He was someone quite determined, and would not take "no" for an answer under any circumstances.

They expected to arrive before eleven o'clock in the morning, and of course, he would find himself with a little one trying to find out where he had got to and why he had not returned at such an hour, as he had promised.

He was ready to introduce Luna to her. She was a little girl that not everyone liked, she herself had asked to change kindergarten classrooms because, according to her, her teacher didn't "have a good vibe".

By 10:57AM they were arriving at James's house.

It was notoriously far away from everything. To get there, they had to go through a small road well decorated with trees and small gardens, it was quite colorful. Small houses were scattered around the remote grounds, and their rustic appearances were dreamy.

He was quite serious, as he felt quite nervous about it. He wanted Portia to get along with Luna.

The plan to get a new nanny for Portia had at first seemed a bit risky, but then, on second thought, there was nothing wrong with it. Although every time he closed his eyes, his nagging mother would suddenly appear.

"Tell me, Luna, what's it like working at Gold Nest?" he asked, looking out the window. Luna gasped.

"Well, some single parents almost always come to the agency asking for, um, something similar to a 'fake wife' just to give a good view of their family, or because they're fed up. Sometimes they do it just for appearances, others out of necessity." she said trying to be as brief as possible.

He nodded seriously and continued looking out the window. His house looked from his point of view, there was little left.

The house was too big. It had been bought a year ago, after, in his old house, they discover a fault. On top of that, though, he couldn't live in the same place he had lived with Sarah before everything happened. He wanted a fresh start, so he bought the safest house he could find in New York.

It was quite spacious. On the outside it was bathed in a light gray color, quite nice, there was ample room for shade, it had two wide floors, and its rustic appearance was quite nice. It looked like a castle.

He was intrigued by Portia's reaction, although he also cared quite a bit about Rose's reaction.

Rose. The nanny they'd had since James had moved out on his own. She knew him as if she were his own mother, and he trusted her completely. She had worked for his parents before they divorced, and so Rose had played a big role in his upbringing and was currently helping by taking care of Portia.

He feared that Rose would be angry, or that she would treat him as crazy for bringing someone else in to care for Portia. She refused help and repeated over and over that she could take over, but James knew Rose needed rest.

He had come all the way from Seattle with a wonderful idea that maybe he and Luna could keep secret.

Arriving at the house, Rose helped carry Luna's bags downstairs. She was a very nice woman. As soon as he saw her, he greeted her warmly and told her how well her room had been prepared. She warned her that Portia would be a bit intrusive and might sneak out in the mornings to ask for games. Luna laughed.

"Leave the bags here, I'll carry them. I don't want you to do too much force, go get Portia," James exclaimed quickly. Rose smiled and nodded, and instantly went into the house to look for the little girl.

"Luna, listen to me well," he began to speak seriously while trying to take off her tie, "no one in there knows about you, and I mean Portia and her grandmother. So, if my mother says anything or you feel uncomfortable, don't listen to her. I can't let them know about some Portia stuff, they might tell me it's not the right thing to do, okay?"

She nodded. James continued,

"And please, articulate a few words, I don't want them to think you're mute."

Ready to answer him, Luna preferred to keep quiet as she was already getting comfortable with James's personality. He was a bit bossy at times.

After entering the house, he set the suitcases by the door.

The ceiling was high and made of wood perfectly painted white. The floor shone and the gray stone walls contrasted with some black walls. Everything looked neat and rustic, quite charming.

She didn't know what to say. She was speechless and well, she had nothing in mind to say to Portia. Everything had happened so fast that she hadn't had time to think about her next move.

James had called Rose the day before and told her he would be away for the day, and would be back in the morning. As promised, he had returned before 11:00AM.

"Come with me." He asked.

Luna walked behind him, looking around cautiously. Every aspect of the house was neat and clean, even the smallest detail was in order.

An infectious chuckle was heard in the distance, and she saw James smile

"Portia, I've arrived, honey." he said in a tone she had not heard so far.

A small girl, with delicate features, appeared through the living room door. She was wearing a ballerina tutu and I could swear she was the cutest thing she'd seen in years.

James quickly dropped to his knees and the little girl came running into his arms.

"You broke your promise yesterday." she said, grimacing. He laughed.

"I know, honey. I just had a lot of things to do."

"And that's more important than me?" she expressed remorsefully. James snorted amusedly.

"Nothing and no one is more important than you, Portia." he quickly picked her up, "I want you to meet someone."

The little girl's gaze instantly fell on Luna.

"Who is she?," she asked innocently. James laughed nervously. "Is she a friend of Rose's?"

"No, she is, she's Luna and she's a friend of mine. She's come a long way to see you. I told her about you and she thought you were a very interesting little person." he explained, waiting for Portia's reaction.

The girl was silent as she looked at her with interest and a great shyness was reflected in her eyes and in the way she held her hand in front of her face.

"I'm Portia, but call me Titi, or honey. But better Portia." She spoke quickly as she smiled. James sighed.

"Nice to meet you, honey, I'm Luna" she held the little girl's hand.

"She'll stay for lunch today, okay?"

Portia grimaced.

"Yes." she looked intently at Luna. "But she has to play with me. Do you like to play?"

"I'll love to play."

"Well, Portia, go to your room for a while. We'll come with you in a moment." He ordered her sweetly.

The little girl ran off to her room and James sighed slowly. He frowned and then looked at Luna.

"She liked you, very much." she whispered, "That's good."

"She's a lovely girl."

"She is, isn't she?" He nodded, smiling. "Listen, if she asks you anything, tell her you're an old friend and don't say anything else. I'll talk to her later. "

Luna nodded.

"I'll go to her. Which room is her room?"

"The one with the pink door. You'll know which one."

She headed for the stairs, trying to get her bearings, keeping in mind the path she had taken with James to get to the living room.

When she saw the stairs, she began to climb them. On the sides there were several photographs. There were a few, which by resemblance, were of James's father. There were also several of Portia, then of a beautiful woman, holding a baby in her arms.

James struck her as a man who was too...kind, if a bit annoying. He had a straight face most of the day, except - she had just noticed - when he was with Portia.

As he entered the hallway, he managed to see several doors. He looked for the pink door. Passing three doors to the right, he could hear the girl's laughter, though not at a pink door.

She opened the door, and found Portia covered in a pile of feathers, as she fell into the large double bed.

Seeing Luna, she put on a panicked face in seconds, which gave too much tenderness.

"Don't tell daddy, please." She expressed pleadingly.

"Is this your dad's room?" She asked kindly.

"Yes, but please don't tell him anything."

"Okay, I promise. But there are a lot of feathers in here." She said tenderly. Portia looked around, and nodded slowly.

"He'll find me out and he'll be mad at me" She confessed sadly.

"He won't." The little girl looked at her, "Do you know why?

"Why?"

"I'll help you clean this up, and then we'll go play. Do you want to do that?"

"But you're not going to say anything to daddy, are you?" he asked intrigued.

"Of course not. Good, let's go" she said with a laugh.

Portia quickly got up from James's bed and began to pick up feathers. She grabbed the bag that was inside the trash can, it was empty and clean, so she could do it, and began to gather each feather next to Portia.

The girl had looked beautiful to her, and best of all, she had accepted her.