Nanny for Hire

Michael smiled to himself, "Sounds good. I look forward to seeing you again." He hung up the phone, turning his head and calling to his wife, "Honey, you're going to want to go shopping for a heavier coat. We're going to be in Alaska this weekend."

"Yes, Master," Annabelle called.

"Good girl," Michael murmured as he thought about his old friend and started wrapping his mind around the predicament he was in and how to help him.

Bryan put the phone back in his pocket and smiled softly. It would be good to see Michael again. The pair had gotten to know each other back when Bryan was still in California with Beth. Having run a very successful custom computer software and circuitry firm, Bryan's team had helped Michael with a couple of projects for some of his products in the teledildonics industry. Apparently, they sold really well. He had gotten out of the business shortly after that had started to move to Alaska, though.

The week passed quickly, and the following Friday morning finally rolled around. Kayleigh watched him go, then looked down at Cherry, "What would you like to do?"

"Let's go play the piano!" Cherry announced, taking her hand and leading her back to the study. The two spent the rest of the day playing and enjoying themselves. Kayleigh only took a moment to hope that Bryan was having fun with his old friends.

The three met at a reservation-only Italian restaurant in the city. Bryan had arrived early and was waiting when Michael and Annabelle walked in. He waved them over and stood, extending his hand to Michael who batted it away and pulled the man in for a hug. "You're family, Bryan. Family doesn't shake hands."

Bryan blushed slightly and hugged the slightly older man before standing back. With an appraising look, he stated, "You look happy, Michael."

"I am happy, Bryan. She's got everything to do with that. Bryan? This is my Annabelle," he gestured at the woman who stepped in to give the much larger man a hug, then stretched up to kiss his cheek briefly.

"It is good to meet you Master Bryan. Master has told me so much about you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Annabelle. Thank you for making my friend so happy," Bryan murmured, almost awkwardly at the use of a title he had not heard applied to him in over three years.

"I love him," she said simply as she turned to look at Michael. It showed.

Bryan cleared his throat, "So... come, sit. There's no rush. Cherry is taken care of. We have time."

Michael took his seat and pulled another next to his so that Annabelle could sit close. As she sat down, Michael looked at Bryan, "So what's good here?"

Bryan answered honestly, "I've never had anything bad here. Their cook staff was actually trained in Italy. Fantastic stuff, really."

Annabelle smiled, "Sounds wonderful, Master Bryan." She rested her hand on Michael's leg, "How long since she started did it take you to realize you loved her?"

With a small smile at her directness, one that mirrored Michael's with which he was so familiar, he responded, "It was... just a week ago, actually. I got a call from my agent about a painting I did. He saw the change and wanted to know who the woman I'd met was. He knew right away. I guess I didn't really see it." Bryan shrugged.

"Do you have a photo of the painting?" Michael asked. Bryan pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of his latest, handing it to Michael. Familiar with his other work, having kept tabs on his friend without him really knowing, even Michael could see it. "She's a redhead, and one of the bright spots in your life that drives back the darkness...," he murmured, before handing it to Annabelle to look at.

"That's beautiful," Annabelle breathed before looking at Bryan. "Yes, Master Bryan, You're in love." She passed him his phone back.

"But... What about Beth?" he looked at Michael.

"You still love her," Annabelle interjected, "You don't stop loving one just because you feel love for another, they'll always be a part of you."

"You've got a daughter, and a beautiful one at that," Michael stated. "When she was born, did you all of a sudden have to love Beth less so that you could give love to your daughter?"

Bryan looked at him for a brief moment before shaking his head, "Well... no... of course not."

"That's right. Love doesn't divide, brother. Love multiplies. There's always room to love more. You don't stop loving Beth just because this new girl is here. You don't take away love from your daughter to give some to her. There's more. There's always more," Michael explained.

The rest of the dinner passed, two o'clock became four, and it was almost seven when they finally left the restaurant, having discussed getting back into the life and what to look at with her. As they left the restaurant, it was Annabelle who asked, "Do you have a picture of her?"

"Yes," he pulled out his phone and flicked it, it was a picture of Kayleigh and Cherry. It wasn't a posed picture as it looked like the two were busy talking, Kayleigh had a lamp in one hand and was slowly turning a globe of the world, "I snapped that when she was helping Cherry discover what time zones are and why they exist." He flicked it, and the next one was of Kayleigh and Cherry dancing in the living room. "Cherry is so happy with her around."

"Well, Kayleigh has that effect on people," Annabelle said with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, she...," he trailed off and blinked. "Wait... You know her?" Bryan asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"We went to college together, just outside of Dallas, it was her, myself and a young woman named Skyelar. We ended up sharing an apartment together," she giggled softly, "She's the one that helped me learn how to cook so well."

Bryan chuckled, "Well, hell. You guys want to come see her tonight? Tomorrow? I'm sure she'd be excited to see you, and Cherry always likes meeting new people..."

Michael looked at Annabelle and saw the hope in her eyes, before smiling slightly. "Yeah, we can come tonight, if that's OK. It's only seven, and I can check into the hotel remotely."

Bryan sent Michael a text with his address and smiled. "Give me about a five minute head start and I'll see you there." He got in the Land Rover and drove off, dialing Kayleigh as he did.

"Hello Bryan, are you having fun?" Kayleigh asked in a soft voice filled with laughter. "Easy Cherry, a gentle squeeze."

"I am. How are my two favorite girls?" he smiled at the sound of her voice.

"We are currently decorating sugar cookies," Kayleigh said, "Of course I think Cherry has gotten more on her face than on the cookie...," she laughed softly. "I take it you're on your way home?"

"I am, and I'm bringing you a present," he paused, "Are you decent?"

"Umm... yes? I mean I'm wearing clothes, does that count?" Kayleigh laughed again, "Yes, we're decent, the kitchen is a little messy but it won't take long to clean."

"OK. I'll be there in about ten and the present will be here in about fifteen." He went to hang up, then stopped. "I don't know if I've ever told you this, but I appreciate you. And you have a wonderful laugh. I like it a lot."

"OK," Kayleigh murmured, her tone somewhat confused. "Thank you, Bryan. I enjoy your laugh as well. I'll see you in ten."

He hung up the phone, and drove, smiling to himself. The talk with Michael had helped a lot. While he still wasn't sure Kayleigh wouldn't be better off with someone who wasn't a widower, he did feel like he needed to give living another shot, for himself as much as for his daughter. Ten minutes later, Bryan was pulling up to his cabin. He got out and walked inside, "I'm back."

Cherry darted around the corner, she had flour still in her hair but she flung her arms around him tightly, "DADDY! We made sugar cookies," she tugged his hand and towed him towards the kitchen, "Kay is cleaning up."

Kayleigh smiled, turning to face them as she wiped the counter down one final time. She had a bit of flour on her apron. "Welcome home," she smiled up at him.

He smiled softly at her. "Say that again...," he breathed, his eyes searching hers.

"Welcome home," she repeated, tilting her head slightly, a hint of confusion in her gaze.

"That sounds so wonderful when you say it...," he murmured softly. "So... cookies, huh? I hope you made enough to share."

"Well, we made two dozen, so as long as an army isn't showing up I think we should be OK." Kayleigh stepped towards him and offered him a hug with a sweet smile.

The doorbell rang and Bryan whipped his head around with a barely muttered, "God damn, he drives fast..." Smiling down at her, he murmured, "I hope you enjoy your present...," before turning and walking to the door. His large body blocked it fairly well as he called, opening it, "Come in, come in. Welcome to our home. Kayleigh, Cherry, this is Michael Moorwind and...," he stepped out of the way.

"KAYLEIGH!" a small bundled up redhead raced into the house and threw herself at Kayleigh.

Kayleigh stepped back slightly, rocking under the sudden missile, then laughed loudly, "Little Annabelle all grown up," she wrapped her arms around Annabelle and hugged her tightly, quickly shifting to avoid her belly, "You adorable little mischief maker. What are you doing here? And pregnant?"

"Master and I came to visit Bryan," she smiled up at Kayleigh, "You were right, I should have listened to you in college."

"You'll find I do that with strange frequency," Kayleigh said with a soft chuckle, looking at the collar, she kissed Annabelle's forehead. She smiled up at Bryan, then looked at Michael speculatively, "Master Michael, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"So you're the one that's been riding herd on my old friend," he said with a smile. "That painting makes an awful lot more sense now."

Kayleigh tilted her head, her brow confused, "Painting? I'm sorry, Master Michael I'm not sure I understand. I'm not privy to what is being painted. I spend most of my time with Cherry." She gestured to the little girl that was staring up at Annabelle with wide eyes.

Michael looked at Bryan, who was blushing and shaking his head. "Oh. I see. My advice, old friend? Show her." He paused, then added, "Soon."

Subdued, Bryan looked at Michael for a long moment, then hung his head and nodded. "Yeah... You're right."

Michael turned back to Annabelle and Kayleigh. "My apologies. I didn't realize the two of you knew each other or I'd have tried to find you and arranged this several months ago."

Kayleigh smiled softly, "It's alright Master Michael, we're here now and that's what matters." She smiled down at Annabelle, "I was Annabelle's den mother while she was in college. She probably doesn't want anyone to hear stories of how adorable and precious she was at thirteen."

Annabelle huffed, sticking her tongue out at Kayleigh, "No, because I wasn't."

Cherry piped up, "If Kay says you were adorable then you were. She's always been honest with me."

Kayleigh laughed, and hugged Cherry to her other side, "Come in, have a seat, we have cookies and I can fix you something to drink." She turned and led Annabelle and Cherry to the living room.

Cherry was talking with Annabelle excitedly, "Your necklace is very pretty. Kay has one like it but doesn't wear it very often. I sometimes see it when I have a bad dream and crawl into bed with her." Cherry's eyes lit up, "You can help me convince her to put it on, then you would match."

Both Annabelle and Cherry turned a begging gaze on Kayleigh and she huffed, trying to mask the flash of sadness, "Oh, alright." She turned and padded down the hall to her bedroom. Cherry and Annabelle gave each other a high five and giggled together. A few minutes later Kayleigh came back out, only this time before where her neck was bare was a multicolored chain link collar with a single circle in the front, "There, happy?"

"Yes," Cherry and Annabelle said together with a giggle.

Bryan looked over at Kayleigh and did a double-take. His eyes went wide in surprise and no small portion of desire and his jaw dropped slightly. Michael stepped closer and put his hand on Bryan's shoulder. "Just breathe. This makes everything easier," he murmured softly with a smile.

The evening passed swiftly and Cherry started yawning and getting sleepy. Kayleigh smiled and scooped her up, "I'll be back, it's someone's bedtime." She carried Cherry to her room filled with petulant whines of 'I'm not that tired, Kay.'

Annabelle grinned at Bryan, tucking herself into Michael's side, "Go ahead and ask," she murmured, grinning up at Michael. "You want to know what she was so right about, don't you?"

Bryan nodded. Annabelle smiled, her eyes going distant, "I graduated high school at twelve, then went to college, my first year sucked majorly and I was having a hard time, then I found Kayleigh. She picked me up, took me home and stepped up to be my Den Mother. See, the college I went to wasn't really big enough to have sororities, so most kids were expected to figure things out on their own." She paused, "I dated a lovely young man later on in college when I was sixteen and he was seventeen, but... I was unhappy, when I went to Kayleigh about it she sat me down and explained that I, like her, was a submissive and wouldn't be happy without someone who can take control. Someone we could trust. She told me my biggest unhappiness was that I didn't trust him. Not with the core of who I was."

Annabelle paused, "She was right, but being a stubborn teenager I didn't want to admit it. It took a few years and a move to Minneapolis before I realized, that I was dumb and she was truthful. I called her up, apologized, and she laughed and said, 'You're a teenager, getting grumpy with your mom is expected. I love you, Annabelle, spread your wings and fly.' So, that night I went to the munch where I met Michael... The rest, as they say, is history."

"Don't forget to tell them about your goth stage," Kayleigh said from the doorway, "That was adorable too."

"Gah! Don't remind me," Annabelle said, covering her face with her hands, "That was not adorable."

"Betcha Master Michael would disagree if I were to show him the pictures...," Kayleigh said with a laugh before sitting down beside Bryan.

"How, I destroyed the digital copies," Annabelle said.

"Yes, you destroyed the ones you knew about, but not the hard copies, or the spare USB drive I had of them as backup," Kayleigh grinned and pulled out her phone, and flicked it a few times before pressing her pinky to the phone, then she pressed and brought up a picture. It was of Annabelle dressed up in goth clothes, but she had somehow gotten crossed between a schoolgirl and Wednesday Addams. "Adorable."

Michael looked at Annabelle with a bemused grin, "My slave... you've been keeping things that I need to know from me..." He glanced at the picture, "This is important information...," he smiled, tickling at her side gently.

Annabelle giggled and shrieked, squirming against him, "I'm sorry, Master."

"I think we're going to have to have some long conversations about your college days and your exploits later. Preferably with pictures," he added.

Annabelle pointed at Kayleigh, "This is all your fault."

Kayleigh smiled and bowed from where she was sitting, "I am so happy to have been helpful, Master Michael." She grinned at him, "I have all the pictures."

Annabelle giggled, and leaned against Michael, "I suppose I could tell you about the time the two of us almost got nicked for Grand Theft Auto...," she cackled.

Kayleigh choked, and covered her face, "That poor police officer."

"So, Kay and I were celebrating my eighteenth birthday and on our way to a club to meet some of the other girls we went to college with. As you know, we're both... small." She paused, and gestured between the two. "We got pulled over because our music was too loud and the officer thought we were a couple of girls taking our parents' car. So we had to provide proof, which we had, then he called his chief..."

"That poor police officer," Kayleigh repeated sadly.

"His chief shows up, and looks at our ID cards, then looks at us, we're just sitting calmly in the back of the police car. He recognized Kayleigh, and let us go immediately with apologies, and I looked back as we left, and he was reaming the poor officer out for not just running the numbers on the plates and the ID." She giggled, "It gets better, the reason why the Chief knew who she was, is that she had been tutoring his son in advanced mathematics. And was the chief provider of his baked goods."

"So... what I'm hearing is, if we want to get on the good side of the Fairbanks Police Department, we need to show up with a bunch of Kayleigh's baked goods...," Bryan murmured, looking down at Kayleigh warmly.

Kayleigh gave him a soft sweet smile, "Yes, that's typically a good thing."

"I will keep that in mind," he murmured, the corner of his lips twitching.

Annabelle chuckled softly, "I believe that Master and I will get out of your hair for the night." She rose and looked at Bryan and Kayleigh, "Have a good night, Master Bryan and Kayleigh." She turned to take Micahel's hand, giving it a small squeeze.

Bryan stood, reaching his hand out to help Kayleigh up. She smiled up at him, gently squeezing his fingers, before hugging Annabelle and Michael briefly, "You two have a good night, call me tomorrow, yeah?"

Annabelle nodded, "Definitely."

Bryan stepped over to Michael and gave him another hug. "Thanks, Michael. I think I needed this more than I knew."

"Of course you did. That's what family does, right? But next time, you two are coming to Minneapolis, and don't you dare forget that beautiful daughter of yours. I'd never hear the end of it from either Annabelle or Jasmine," Michael replied softly.

Bryan nodded, "Count on it."

Bryan led them out the door and closed it behind them. Turning to look at Kayleigh, he smiled shyly. "Good surprise?"

"Yes, it was wonderful to see her again," she smiled up at him, biting her lower lip. "Thank you."

He looked at her for a long moment, then reached up to cup her cheek and brush his thumb over it. "Of course. How could I not once I knew?" he asked softly.

Her brow furrowed and she tilted her face slightly, pressing it into his hand, "Knew what, Mas...," she stopped before she completed it, swallowing.

"That she was your friend. That...," he swallowed, "That I would do anything to make the two special ladies in my life smile." He looked into her eyes for a long moment, then murmured, "I think it's time I showed you something."

"As you wish," she murmured, her eyes still searching his in wonder.

He took her hand and gently led her to the door to his studio. Opening it, he took her inside, flicking on the light switch. It was massive. Almost as big as the living room and kitchen combined. There was an anvil and a forge, a kiln, and an entire wall dedicated to just painting with a massive canvas that was covered with a sheet. He led her to one side. "Most of what I have been focusing on this past year is painting. It started small...," he trailed off pulling out some smaller canvases from a rack, handing them to her in turn. Each was dominantly blue and grey and black with some reds. They were crushing in the sadness they invoked. "It was... therapeutic. Eventually, I don't remember how it started, my agent, Henry, got a hold of a photo or two of these. He convinced me to make a larger piece."

Moving toward a wall, there was a photograph of a painting, much like the small ones she had seen. Pointing at it, he murmured, "This was my first one that sold." He moved down the wall, then pointed at another framed picture, "And this was the second...". Finally, he moved to the last. It was different. Still predominantly dark, but this bright center that seemed to be radiating from the undetailed profile of a figure, a woman. With red hair. "This was my latest. Henry got it a week ago or so. He called me minutes after he got it demanding to know who the woman was. I... didn't tell him. But...," he paused for a long moment, then breathed "I started another one."