Daddy and the Nanny

Valentines day arrived for a bitter Alex who constantly had to see and hear the man he loves flirt and spoil with sweet words the girl of Alex's nightmares and headaches. The day was pretty decent. The kids were at school for only a half day so Alex offered to pick them up. Dylan spent the morning coloring and causing no trouble like he had been lately. Grace had the day off so she could spend it with her family and Jack had gone to work.

Eventually the time to go pick up the kids arrived and Alex was getting Dylan in his coat before they both made their way out the still cold outdoors. The drive was fairly quiet since Dylan was nodding off in the backseat so Alex put on the radio and drove to the school.

"Alex!" The kids cheered once they saw their nanny waiting for them by the main entrance.

"Hey kids, ready to go home?" Alex asked them as he placed Dylan on his left hip.

"My teacher wants to talk to you. Here she comes." Tyler said as he grabbed onto Alex's jacket and they waited for her to arrive.

"Alex, good to see you again." She smiled.

"Same here Miss Green." Alex smiled back though all he wanted to do was get away from her desperate flirting.

"Yes, I must inform you that Tyler has been talking back again and well he's starting to rub off on other kids."

"Is he now?" Alex asked as he glared down at said child. "Don't worry, his father and I will talk to him about it. Now if you'll excuse me I really have to go."

"Alright Alex, I hope to see you soon."

"I hope not." Alex mumbled as they walked away and Tay and Ty both laughed.

Once at home Alex set Dylan down on the couch and offered the kids some lunch.

"You guys want mac and cheese?" Alex asked them from the kitchen.

"Yes please!"

~~~

"Ali, we made you something." Taylor spoke as her and her brothers walked into the play room where Alex was cleaning up some discarded toys.

"What is it?" Alex asked as he looked over at the children.

"Well our teacher says today is a day dedicated to love and friendship, but since we're only children and don't know what love is and you're our friend, we drew you this." Ty explained as all three children pulled out different colored cards from behind them and showed them to the nanny.

"Ty helped me write mine." Dylan grinned as he handed Alex a light blue card decorated with different colored scribbles of words and two stick people labeled Dyl and Ali.

"Thank you guys so much." Alex smiled widely with slightly teary eyes as he took each of the cards and pulled all three children into his arms for a tight hug.

"You're welcome, Alex!"

"What a beautiful picture." Hayley spoke from the doorway.

"What a hideous surprise." Alex replied as he stood up and glared at her.

"Alex, rude as always. I know Jack isn't here and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know the little rascals."

"Well we don't want to." Taylor spoke as she looked away from Hayley and crossed her arms.

"Kids, remember what your dad said the other day. Don't be rude and go." Alex told them and they all whined.

"Yeah kids, listen to the nanny."

Eventually Hayley took the children out and Alex was home alone. Half an hour later Jack was home and Alex was reading a book in the living room.

"Why is it so quiet?" Jack asked as he removed his jacket and tie.

"Your girlfriend took the children out." Alex spoke as he turned the page in his book.

"Oh. Did she say when they'd be back?"

"No but with those kids she'll be back in a few minutes." Alex commented with a smirk and Jack chuckled in agreement.

"I'm so tired."

"Busy day?" Alex asked as he bookmarked the page and set his book down on his lap.

"Yeah and a lot of meetings. I think I might be going on another business trip next month." Jack replied, sitting down next to Alex and resting his head on the back of the couch.

"Oh. Before I came, who watched the kids when you were on trips?" Alex suddenly asked in curiosity.

"Well they had a different nanny last year and only lasted three months before she quit claiming that the kids were rude. Then after her my sister would come stay with them, but that was in the summer before she started school again and then I didn't have another trip until after you came."

Alex nodded in understanding and looked down at the book, tracing over the title with his index finger.

"So how are you and Zack doing?" Jack suddenly asked as he sat up and looked over at the younger male who tensed up a bit.

"We're doing great and I never thought I would be in a relationship that feels safe. I feel like a new person." Alex smiled as he looked up at Jack.

"You are a new person." Jack spoke, cupping Alex's left cheek in his palm and leaning forward without a thought until his lips brushed against Alex's.

Both let their eyes slide shut as Jack added more pressure to the kiss and moved closer to a nervous and excited Alex who turned his body a bit to improve their positions. Jack moved his lips slowly, enjoying the taste of coffee and caramel on the younger's lips.

In a matter of seconds Alex's book lay forgotten on the ground as Jack leaned over the boy now laying on the couch with fingers tangled in brown locks. Jack snuck a cold hand under Alex's shirt and that seemed to be enough of a wake up call for both who broke apart the kiss that was slowly turning more and more heated.

"S-Sorry." Alex stammered as he fixed himself and grabbed his book from the ground.

"No Alex, I'm sorry for doing this again." Jack said and the door opened by an annoyed Hayley with a crying three year old and arguing older siblings. "What's going on?" Jack questioned as him and Alex walked over to them.

"D-Daddy!" Dylan cried as he ran over to his father who picked him up.

"Dylan started to cry like the big baby he is when she didn't buy him what he wanted." Tay responded as she went over to Alex with Ty following a few steps behind.

"They are special kids, alright." Hayley spoke with a forced smile as she closed the front door.

"Uh Hayley, remember our dinner tonight and it's getting late." Jack spoke.

"Oh yes. I'll go home and get ready. You'll pick me up, right?" Hayley asked as she walked over to Jack, but Dylan started to cry harder and she backed up.

"Yeah don't worry, now go."

Hayley left and Dylan stopped crying, begging his dad to put him down. All three children ran upstairs and Alex followed slowly after grabbing his book.

"You children sure are something special." Alex commented as he walked into the toy room where the children were already making a mess.

"We know." Taylor grinned as she grabbed her markers and started drawing on an old notebook.

Alex rolled his eyes and sat down in front of her, he too grabbing a marker and piece of paper.

"Where did she take you?"

"The toy store, but she wouldn't buy us anything so we started to throw tantrums." Tyler spoke up from his spot on the beanbag chair with his tablet.

"Guys, she's trying, maybe not hard enough, but she's making an effort to get to know you. You guys should give her a chance." Alex said as he colored the piece of paper blue.

"She's a witch!" Taylor argued.

"You guys are impossible." Alex mumbled as he stood up.

~~~

Alex was having a hard time putting the children to sleep that night. They were all running around and screaming while Alex just sat on the arm chair by the fireplace curled up into a ball and watched them run. Eventually Jack and Hayley arrived with big smile on their faces, waking up a sleeping Alex and the kids ran over to them.

"What are you guys doing up still? It's late." Jack commented.

"But we're not tired, daddy." Dylan spoke as he climbed on Alex's lap.

"It's a good thing you're awake then so Hayley and I can tell you some great news." Jack smiled as he pulled Hayley closer to his body.

"Did you guys break up?" Tay asked with a smile.

"Don't be stupid, Tay. She wouldn't be here if they would have broken up." Tyler responded.

"Kids, don't start." Alex scolded them as he stood up with Dylan in his arms.

"Anyways what I was trying to say is that Hayley and I are getting married."

Silence followed the big announcement which wiped Jack's smile off his face and Hayley's smirk widened at their reactions.

"That's great." Alex finally answered with a hidden hint of sarcasm. "Kids, say goodnight cause it's late and you need to sleep."

"Aren't you kids going to say anything?" Jack asked his three children who shook their heads and followed the nanny up the stairs.

"You guys shouldn't be so rude." Alex said as they all walked into Dylan's room.

"But she's going to be our evil stepmom and she's going to make us do all the chores." Taylor spoke with wide eyes while Tyler simply rolled his and sighed in annoyance while Dylan looked horrified.

"That's Cinderella you moron." Ty spoke in a duh kind of tone.

"Hayley is not evil and you three better behave." Alex warned them as he dressed Dylan and then ushered him towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. "Go put on your pjs and brush your teeth, I'll be in your rooms shortly."

Tay and Ty both nodded before walking out of the room and heading towards their rooms. The nightly routine was done quickly and all three children were tucked in their beds safely before Alex headed towards his room tiredly and with a broken heart. His mood brightened a bit when Zack's name flashed across the screen of his phone.

"Hey, I've missed you today." Alex spoke with a smile as he laid down on his bed.

"I did too and since I couldn't go over I wanted to wish you a happy Valentines Day and I also want to invite you out to dinner on Sunday." Zack said.

"It's fine and I'd love to go out to dinner. Oh and happy valentines day to you too, babe."

The next morning Alex was awakened by his brother shaking him awake and jumping on the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Alex groaned as he glared at Shane.

"Mom dropped me off awhile ago and Jack told me to come wake you up." Shane said as he opened the curtains in Alex's room, the sun hitting his face.

"So what, I'm babysitting you now?" Alex asked as he sat up on the bed.

"Just on Saturdays. Mom works in the mornings on Saturday now and dad's in the office until late."

Alex nodded with a sigh and made his brother leave the room so he could get ready for the morning. After a shower and getting dressed, Alex walked out of his room and found all of the kids already making a mess in the toy room.

"Wow, it's only nine in the morning and you've managed to make this room a mess already. That's a new record." Alex commented dryly as he leaned against the doorframe.

Dylan giggled and ran over to Alex, wrapping his arms around the nanny's legs. Alex bent down and picked Dylan up, kissing his head softly.

"Alex, I'm going to work and I'll be back late. Grace is downstairs and anything happens call me. Kids, I'm leaving." Jack spoke out of breath as he walked into the room, tying his tie.

"Bye dad!" His three kids yelled and continued doing what they were doing.

The day was anything but easy for the nanny. He was constantly arguing with Tay, chasing Dylan around, scolding both Shane and Tyler and Alex was about ready to blow up. Zack arrived sometime before dinner and helped Alex get them under control.

"Thank you so much." Alex mumbled tiredly into Zack's chest.

"Anytime babe." Zack chuckled as wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend.