“Hello.” Mr. Raymond paused briefly, shifting his gaze to Ben, who was lying on the floor.
As if suddenly remembering something, Ben stopped his teaching, looked up, and ran thump-thump-thump toward his brother at the door: “Hugh, you’re back!”
“Yes, have you eaten dinner by any chance?” Raymond asked casually.
Lately, Ben had been using the excuse of not eating to force him to come home. Hugh had tried coming home late a few times, hoping Ben would understand that he couldn’t be there with him all the time, and that Ben had to learn to get along with the nanny.
After driving away several nannies, Hugh was exhausted. Now, every time he came home, he had to mentally prepare himself before walking through the door.
Sometimes Hugh felt guilty—after all, he was now Ben’s only family. But he was a single man who’d never even had a girlfriend, and suddenly he was raising what seemed to be a spoiled little brother.
Yet if he didn’t come home, this little brother would wait for him until 9 o’clock.
Today, knowing it was the first day with a new nanny, and fearing Ben would refuse to eat again, Hugh had come home with a heavy heart, full of guilt.
To his surprise, Ben wasn’t throwing a tantrum—instead, he was lying on the floor, talking to Emma.
“I ate! I had a big plate of spaghetti with meat sauce!” Ben said with some pride.
Remembering something, Ben tugged his brother’s hand and led him into the living room: “Hugh, look! Jolene and I signed a book rental contract. She said we’ll go to the bookstore together tomorrow to ask about rental prices, and after that, she’ll pay me the going rate to borrow my books. If she doesn’t pay, I can take her to court, just like the nanny contract you signed with her! Isn’t Ben doing the same thing as his big brother?”
Ben had done so many new and exciting things today. With a proud smile on his face, he was trying to share his happy news with his brother, eager to tell him that he could earn money too.
But as he kept talking, Ben looked up and saw his brother’s expression suddenly change. Why didn’t he seem happy at all?
“Ben,” Mr. Raymond frowned, “Jolene just wants to read to you—that’s already part of her normal job. They’re just a few books. Are you really going to charge her for borrowing them?”
Ben’s eyes widened and the corners of his mouth drooped. He glanced at Jolene, and in an instant, his eyes filled with tears: “Waaah—she’s the one who said she’d pay me rent! I didn’t ask her for money! Waaah…”
Jolene’s mouth fell open in shock. She’d finally managed to build a good rapport with Ben, and this brother had just undone it all in one second!
“This is something we both agreed on—it’s clearly written in the contract. So Ben hasn’t done anything wrong. We both entered into this willingly. This is not something you can just criticize!” Jolene said, a little frustrated. Although the man standing before her was her employer, the person she served was this crying little boy.
She knew exactly whose side she had to take.
Ben never expected Jolene to stand up to his brother like that. Startled, he forgot to cry and looked up at his brother with hiccups.
“I’m sorry, Ben. I shouldn’t have criticized you. Since it’s something you both agreed to, then it’s your decision,” Mr. Raymond said. He hadn’t expected a single casual remark to send his brother, who had been fine just moments ago, into a fit of tears—and his headache returned.
So Jolene’s pushback didn’t make him angry—in fact, it even made him feel a little relieved.
Sure enough, Ben quickly shifted his attention. He forgot that his brother had criticized him and started worrying instead that his brother might be upset.
To his surprise, his brother actually apologized to him?
“Huh? Okay, fine—but should I charge Jolene rent or not?” Ben wasn’t sure now. He felt like what he’d done might be wrong, and his brother didn’t seem happy about it.
“Decide for yourself. It’s your matter,” Mr. Raymond said stiffly, waving his hand.
As if fleeing, Raymond pointed upstairs. “I’m going to wash up first. You guys keep going.”
With that, Raymond bolted toward the second floor without hesitation, as if afraid Ben would call him back.
Watching the man of the house scurry away, Jolene almost wanted to cover her mouth and laugh. Oh, no wonder he was paying her so much.
In the original owner’s memories, the standard wage for a live-in nanny was $15 an hour—at 1996 pay rates. But Mr. Raymond was paying her $20 an hour. At this rate, she’d be able to save up enough money pretty quickly.
Glancing at the time, she saw it was getting late. Both kids were only five years old.
She didn’t know what time Ben usually went to bed, but Emma needed to get to sleep early.
So Jolene said, “If kids want to grow tall, they need enough sleep, eat plenty of food, and get enough exercise—just like Ben, who swims every day. That’s a great form of exercise. Emma, Mom wants you to grow up tall and strong like your big brother too, so how about we go wash up and get ready for bed now?”
“Okay, Mom. Let’s go to bed. Emma wants to grow tall and chubby like big brother,” Emma said, looking up.
“Alright then. Ben, are you going to rest too, or do you want to study a little longer?” Jolene didn’t directly tell him to go. This child clearly didn’t like being ordered around by adults, so she wouldn’t command him—she’d give him plenty of options.
Ben seemed more receptive to this approach, since his opinions were respected and he didn’t feel the urge to resist as much.
“Then I’ll go wash up too.”
Just as she was about to turn and go upstairs, Emma, still lying on the floor, said to her mom, “Mom, big brother didn’t organize his backpack.”
“Oh, then Emma can help big brother organize it,” Jolene said casually.
Emma lay back down on the floor and started tidying up Ben’s backpack.
Ben, standing in the middle of the stairs, was speechless.
He felt weird having a little girl help him out.
“I’ll do it myself!” Ben came thumping back down, snatched the backpack from Emma’s hands, and started packing it himself.
Emma stole a glance at Jolene with questioning eyes. Jolene secretly gave her a thumbs-up and nodded approvingly.
Emma finally broke into a happy smile.
Everyone went their separate ways to wash up.
Emma and Jolene lay in bed. Jolene thought it over and decided she still needed to read picture books to the child—that way, when Child Protective Services came to investigate, she’d at least be able to name a few proper stories.
So she went next door to Ben’s room and straightforwardly asked to borrow a book.
Since they’d already agreed on it, Ben generously let Jolene pick a book from his shelf.
Ben’s room had blue walls and two large bookshelves filled with all kinds of picture books, along with some airplane models, tank models, and family photos.
All of these must have been bought by Mr. Raymond for his little brother, since they seemed to have no parents.
So materially, Mr. Raymond treated his brother very well—he just seemed to have no experience with kids. As Giovanni had said, the older brother really was afraid of his little brother.
Jolene found it amusing, because she was also afraid of kids. But she needed this job—it was perfect, the best fit for her circumstances. She had to stay sharp and not let her employer fire her, since she was already the third nanny this month…
“I’ll borrow one for now—this crocodile story. After I finish this one, I’ll swap it for another. Is that okay?” Jolene held up the picture book and asked seriously.
Ben, wearing blue shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, with chubby arms and legs, thought it over. Figuring it was a good arrangement—otherwise he might lose track of how many books she’d borrowed—he said, “Okay. This book is really good. I’ve read it many times.”
“Alright, thank you,” Jolene paused, then ventured, “Would you like me to read it to you?”
“No need. I’ve heard it many times already.” Ben immediately shook his head, waved his hand, turned toward his bed, and said, “I’m going to sleep now.”
Jolene nodded. “Okay, goodnight. See you tomorrow.”
Jolene took the little crocodile book back to her room and half-reclined on the bed.
Emma lay in bed, pulling the thin blanket up to her neck, showing only her little face. Her big eyes blinked, looking at Jolene with eager anticipation.
In the original owner’s memories, she’d never read a picture book to Emma. The child’s eyes were full of longing—the prospect seemed quite exciting.
“Ahem,” Jolene cleared her throat, feeling the weight of those hopeful eyes. Though she’d initially come up with this idea just to handle the CPS investigation, she suddenly felt that reading to the child every night might not be so bad. “Once upon a time, in the crocodile kingdom, there was a…”
It was Jolene’s first time telling a story to a child. As a seasoned author, this was also her first time reading a picture book to a five-year-old.
She had to admit, the picture book was quite engaging. The illustrations were adorable, the story was simple, and it even had a moral lesson at the end—no wonder it got published.
Perhaps because she’d been an author for so many years, even though she’d never written children’s stories, she could still see why this little tale had become a published picture book.
Reading the whole book took only about ten minutes—there were very few words, and the child was meant to follow along with the pictures.
“All done! Time to sleep. Goodnight, Emma!” Jolene closed the book with a smile.
Emma had been smiling the whole time, her eyes following the crocodile princess in the illustrations. Her expression shifted from excitement to curiosity to quiet delight—so vivid and lively.
When the story ended, there was a hint of disappointment in the child’s eyes. But Emma was a very well-behaved child. She blinked and said to Jolene, “Goodnight, Mom.”
Perhaps without a phone or a computer, Jolene—who in her past life considered midnight early—actually fell asleep at the same time as Emma.
The next morning, Jolene got up early and went downstairs to find that Giovanni had already prepared breakfast.
She’d been worried that Ben might need her help, but to her surprise, the little boy was quite self-sufficient—he could wash up and eat on his own.
After everyone finished breakfast, Mr. Raymond suddenly said, “I’ll take you to Sunset District Public Elementary School today. Emma qualifies for the local enrollment policy. I’ll print out the necessary documents for you today—she should be able to start school with Ben next Monday.”
Jolene nodded repeatedly. She hadn’t expected Mr. Raymond to just talk about it—he was actually this efficient.
She’d been wondering how to bring up the topic of Emma’s school enrollment, but her employer had already taken the initiative.
Jolene glanced at Emma, who was gazing up at the adults with a bewildered expression: “Emma, say thank you. Mr. Raymond is going to help you apply for school today!”
Emma lifted her little face and said obediently, “Thank you, sir!”
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