Page 23 of The Surrogate Nanny
“There is no need because Nori isn’t going anywhere.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
“Say hello to your new nanny.”
***
We sat across from each other in the living room while I conducted my “interview,” which so far consisted of Nori babbling loudly and distracting her mother with toys and books. I took the distraction as a time to review the contract Jonathan drew up. I whistled when I made it to the benefits section. He set Simone up nicely with health benefits, vacation, and delinquent child support payments, bringing Simone’s weekly income to $2,000.00 a week for one year. It was a generous but fair deal; however, I was shocked that Jonathan took such liberties without consulting me first.
“Ms. Livingston?”
“Yes?” she asked, setting Nori on her lap. She kissed her cheek and the back of her head before giving me her attention.
“Have you gone over this contract?”
“I have.”
“And...you find the terms acceptable?”
“I do, but I have questions.”
“You have the floor.”
“Would I have any job duties outside of caring for Nori, like cooking and cleaning?”
“No, not unless you want to.”
“Okay. Am I allowed to take her on extended outings?”
My eyebrows raised at her inquiry. “Extended outings?”
“Like overnight trips. Since I’ll have all this extra money, I’d like to take Nori on a trip, maybe to the beach or something. I think she’d love Disney World.”
“I’ll consider it,” I said uneasily.
“You’ll consider it? Are you afraid I’ll run off with her?” she asked, accusatory eyes narrowing into slits. I didn’t have to confirm her suspicion. It was written all over my face. She climbed to her feet and dropped Nori on her jutted-out hip.
“You have no reason to be suspicious of me. It is me who should be suspicious of you! I’m not the one who was gleefully tearing apart families!”
“I was never gleeful to take Nori from you,” I argued, my voice elevating a decibel.
“You didn’t have to do it in the first place! Why couldn’t you just stay away?”
I stared at my cane while I twirled it in my hands.
“Put yourself in my shoes, Ms. Simone. What would you have done?”
“To put myself in your shoes requires me to cut off my compassion and empathy for another human being. No, thank you. I do not fault you for wanting to be in Nori’s life. How could you not? But the Anthony Powell that showed up on my doorstep soaking wet in the middle of the night was not the same Anthony Powell before the accident, which is a shame because he was kind, thoughtful, considerate, and more.”
I smiled ruefully. “Perhaps I experienced a prolonged moment of insanity.”
Simone bounced Nori as she averted her eyes from me. It was a good thing she did because I couldn’t stomach the visible pain that swam in her brown eyes--especially knowing I was the culprit.
“Perhaps,” she concluded.
“Let’s not fight. It’s not good for Nori,” I said quietly. She nodded with a heavy sigh and eased back down to the couch.
“Agreed, but to put you at ease. I don’t intend on running off with Nori. You’ve proven you have the means to track me down, and I don’t think I can survive having Nori taken from me twice. What would be my motivation for leaving? I get paid to be a stay-at-home mother. No way will I mess that up to go back to getting paid $17 an hour to deal with jerks. I just want to be with my child and give her the life she deserves, and believe it or not, I can’t do that without you.”