The Nanny

Chapter 6

"We have to do what?"

Queen moved her backpack into the tent and wiped the sweat from her forehead. With Lucinda's constant complaining, she hadn't had a moment of peace, and she was afraid she wouldn't get that tonight, not even when she was zipped inside her tent, away from her soul draining voice.

"We are sleeping outside," Kyrie told Lucinda. He was struggling to assemble his tent while Lucinda tapped her acrylic nails against the hammer, studying it as if it were a foreign object. Queen knew he would have been finished by now if it weren't for her talking in his ear the entire time or her lack of interest. "Boys, are you almost ready to go kayaking?"

"I want to go with Queen," Colt said to his father.

"Oh, man," Maddox complained, slapping his forehead. "I wanted to go with Queen."

"You can both fit," she told the two boys.

"No one wants to ride with me?" Lucinda's question only earned a look of concern from the boys.

"We will tip over with you," Maddox said, shaking his head fervently. "You can go with Dad."

"It'll be fun!" she tried convincing them. Her red lips broke out into a wide grin, but the boys only screamed and hid behind Queen. "Do you see the disrespect, Kyrie?"

Kyrie groaned, obviously frustrated, and dropped the materials for his tent. He had officially given up on assembling his sleeping quarter for the night. "I don't have time for this, Lucinda."

"Why don't you guys head to the lake first?" Queen suggested, nudging the boys in their father's direction. "I'm gonna change into something more comfortable."

"No one gets left behind," Kyrie argued.

"Go," she demanded, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest. "The boys still deserve to see their father have a fun birthday."

Kyrie looked to the small boys and then Lucinda who couldn't be bothered by the current situation. Sighing deeply, he took his son's hands in his and nodded to Queen. "Hurry or I'm coming back to get you myself."

Once the four of them disappeared from the campsite, Queen grabbed the supplies Kyrie had dropped and laid the ground cloth. She knew she could finish before he grew suspicious and returned. After feeding the pole through the frame, she raised the tent and then hammered in the pegs, finishing off with the rain-fly.

Queen stepped back to admire her work and tucked the hammer back into Kyrie's backpack. When she turned to catch up with the others, Kyrie was standing behind her, staring in disbelief at the quick work she had just done. He wasn't surprised, considering she had assembled her own tent, but he felt rather touched that she had stayed back to do that for him.

He pulled her into his arms and breathed her in, his lips quivering as he tried to find the words to speak. But he couldn't utter a single word as they stood together, basking in their warm embrace.

"Did you leave the boys alone with Lucinda?" Queen asked when she realized that Kyrie had returned without them.

Kyrie froze, unsure of what to say, and then took her hand, pulling her in the direction of the lake. "They're safe," he told her once the boys came into view.

Queen breathed a sigh of relief, but her relief instantly turned to horror when she saw Lucinda in line at an ice cream cart. She sprinted over to the boys, pulling Maddox back before he could accept the cone being handed to him. "He's already had dairy today at breakfast," she explained to Kyrie who was staring in confusion. The sadness in the boy's face broke her heart. "How about you choose whatever popsicle you want instead?"