“You’re naked,” Logan informed me, and I had never been as embarrassed in my life, as I was in that moment. I blushed and looked to Luke for support, but he just threw his head back and laughed. “Can you hand me the remote?” Logan seemed unaffected by my nudeness. It was as if he saw naked women all the time, which made me a little uneasy.
“Please,” Luke said, scolding him.
“Can you hand me the remote, please?” Logan clarified, looking at me with those big blue eyes and holding his tiny, little hand out. I looked over at the side of the bed and saw that the stand next to it no longer housed the remote. It was lying on the floor about three feet from it. Fabulous.
“I’ll get it,” Luke said, climbing out of bed and pulling on a pair of shorts. He reached into one of the dresser drawers and tossed me a black t-shirt with a wink. I don’t know how, but I managed to slide the shirt over me, using the sheet to cover myself, without exposing anymore of me to Logan’s innocent eyes.
“Shorts, please,” I said to Luke as he bent to kiss my hair and toss the remote to Logan. He smiled and shook his head, but retrieved me a pair of oversized basketball shorts of his to wear.
Thirty minutes later, an older lady whom I could only guess was the nanny arrived to find Luke, Logan and myself piled up in the bed, drinking the chocolate milk from our Cocoa Pebbles and watching Looney Tunes.
“Morning, Nanny,” Luke said to the lady who was shaking her head in the doorway.
“I have looked all over this house for your little ass this morning,” she said, wagging her finger at Logan.
“Well, ya found me,” he said, not at all fazed by her chastisement.
“Come on, you have to get ready for school.” School?
“What day is it?” I asked no one in particular.
“Monday,” Logan replied, slurping the last little bit of his chocolate milk from his bowl.
“Oh my God. Monday?” I said, looking over at Luke, who was looking at me with an eyebrow cocked.
“That’s what I said. I’m in first grade. My teacher is nice, and she tells me I’m her favorite.” Nanny huffed from the door.
“So, that’s why you get a paddling every day and a note sent home?”
“Yep.” I looked down at Logan to see he had not taken his eyes off the T.V..
“Come on, Logan. We are gonna be late.” Nanny moved her little robust body into the room, taking our bowls from us and leaving.
“My cartoon ain’t even over!” Logan whined.
“Logan,” Luke warned, giving him a look that made even me shiver.
“I’m going,” he huffed and scrambled out of the bed to find Nanny.
“I love that kid. My mom says he acts just like me when I was that age.” At the mention of Luke’s mother, a warm sensation engulfed me.
“Will I get to meet her?”
“Yes, ma’am. As soon as this shit is handled, I want us to spend a couple of days there. Escape from all this shit for a while,” Luke said, lying down and pulling me with him.
“Was that your nanny too?” I asked, tracing Luke’s lips with the tip of my fingernail.
“She was. I borrowed her for the week. Some of the kids are here and she is gonna help out until we get everything settled. These are all club kids. Either they are my brothers’ children or part of our extended family. It’s just safer right now having everyone together.” Luke kissed my finger, then my palm, then pulled my hand to his chest and kissed my head. “Let’s get dressed. We have a lot of shit to do today.” I had heard that before.
Thankfully, I had thought to pack at least one outfit that was suited for work. In the mixture of jeans, t-shirts, shorts, and tank tops, I managed to find a black pencil skirt, a simple, button up aqua blouse, and a pair of aqua heels made by Jimmy Choo that matched only two outfits I had, this being one of them. I straightened my long hair, which was wavy from my wet-bed-head, and applied makeup to my face that was almost back to normal. I looked refreshed and ready to take on the world when I walked into the living room that now looked like a daycare center.
The couch was lined with five children ranging from Logan being the smallest to one who could almost pass for a teenager.
“Dallas, I want you to meet the Devil’s children,” Luke said, walking to stand next to me.
“Luke!” Nanny yelled from the kitchen.
“This is Zack, Dylon, Aloura, Joseph, and you already know Logan,” Luke said, pointing to each one and ignoring Nanny completely. None of the kids acknowledged my presence. They didn’t seem to notice Nanny either until she turned off the T.V. and ushered them off the couch.