Daddy and the Nanny

A long heavy sigh escaped slightly parted chapped lips as Alex let his eyes roam the large house now standing before him. The snow fell delicately, sticking to his recently dyed again blonde hair as he made no move to walk the short distance to the front door.

"Come on Alex. You can do this." He mumbled as he gripped the bag that hung over his shoulder tightly.

Before Alex could walk up the steps and knock on the door, the large wooden door opened to reveal a smiling man.

"I was wondering how long it'd take you to ring the doorbell." Jack teased the younger man.

"I was having second thoughts." Alex replied as he walked up the slightly icy steps to stand in front of his boss.

"Was? What made you change your mind?" Jack questioned the slightly shorter boy as he cocked his head to the side in a curious manner.

"You opening the front door before I could leave." Alex answered a bit rudely, tugging off his scarf and smiling at Jack who chuckled.

"You're cute when you act all rude and sassy." Jack smirked a he pinched Alex's left cheek. "Come in so you can meet the kids, Alex. Oh and before you say anything, just call me Jack. I don't think we established that two days ago, but Mr Barakat makes me feel old."

Alex simply nodded and followed the tall thin man inside the too bright and still too cold house. Unlike the last time Alex was there, the house was really noisy and he could hear feet running around in the second floor, making it sound like a stampede of wild animals running towards him. Instinctively Alex back up a step without Jack noticing and felt his heart hammer against his rib cage wildly.

"Kids, come here for a minute!" Jack yelled and Alex cringed.

Suddenly yelling was heard an three children ran down the stairs. Alex notices that the older two looked a lot like Jack and the smallest looked like their deceased mother. All three children stood in front of Jack, eyeing Alex curiously and frowning at the bag over his shoulder.

"Kids, meet Alex, you're new nanny." Jack spoke up. "Alex, these are Tyler, Taylor and Dylan."

"Um hi." Alex spoke nervously, smiling awkwardly.

"Hi Ali!" Dylan giggled and Alex relaxed slightly.

"We don't want him daddy." Taylor spoke stubbornly as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Too bad. He stays and you will show him the respect he deserves." Jack scolded the children and Dylan shrugged as he walked up to the nanny and held his hand.

"No worries Ali, I'll be nice to you." Dylan said as he looked up at the man with his piercing green eyes.

"Thanks kiddo." Alex smiled down at the blonde child and looked back up at Jack who was grinning like an idiot.

Taylor rolled her blue eyes and walked off, her brown hair flying everywhere at her dramatic departure. Tyler looked at Alex with the same mischievous look Jack held and then ran off after his younger sister.

"Dylan, can you show Alex to his room? You remember which one right?" Jack questioned his youngest son.

"Yep! The one I helped uncle Zack make pretty." Dylan answered with a big smile.

"That's my boy. Alex, make yourself at home."

Alex simply nodded and followed the little blonde boy up the stairs. Dylan hummed happily as he lead the man towards the bedroom he would be staying at. Alex admired the pictures hanging on the walls, smiling at a few and scowling at one of Jack and Zack. Eventually they reached the end of the hall after turning a corner.

"This is your room." Dylan announced as he reached up to open the white door.

"Thanks Dylan." Alex smiled at the little boy as they both headed inside the bedroom whose walls were painted a light blue.

A queen sized bed stood in the middle with a light grey coloured comforter and blue pillows. The headboard was white with two matching night stands on either side, each with a lamp. A flat screen TV was mounted on the wall in front of the bed, next to the closet door and above a bookcase.

"You like it?" Dylan suddenly asked, climbing onto the slightly tall bed an sitting down happily.

"I love it, kid." Alex answered truthfully as he set his bag down on the bed and sat next to the toddler who was swinging his tin legs back and forth.

"Knock knock." Came a voice from the doorway minutes later and both boys looked over to see Zack standing there with a big smile on his face.

"Hi uncle Zack!" Dylan cried happily as he ran over to Zack who picked him up.

"Hey kiddo. Can you give Alex and I some alone time for a bit?" Zack asked the child who nodded and ran off once the buff man set him down. "How is it so far?"

"Could be worse I guess." Alex sighed as he laid back on the bed, feeling the bed dip to his right by Zack's weight.

"How so? Kids give you a hard time?"

"The two oldest did. They don't want me here and they worry me. Tyler gave me this weird look before he ran off. I'm actually terrified." Alex answered honestly as he shut his eyes. "I like Dylan though."

"No worries bro, everything will be fine." Zack assured his stressed out friend. "And yeah, Dylan's a sweetheart though he does get manipulated by his siblings every now and then. Overall they're nice kids, Lex. You just gotta give them some time to adjust."

"If I don't die first. Have you talked to Jason? He keeps calling me."

"Yeah he keeps wanting to know where you are but I refuse to tell him. Said that he will find you though and when he does you should be prepared for what's coming." Zack said as he rolled his eyes and Alex sat up with wide eyes.

"I guess I either die here or out there with Jason." Alex mumbled as he stared at the empty bookcase.

"Don't be so dramatic. Oh and before I forget, Rian wants us to go with him when he picks up his tux for the wedding and said that we should have a little bro time before he ties the knot." Zack chuckled and managed to get a smile out of the blonde boy sitting next to him.

"Sounds good, just tell me when so I can ditch the kids."

"No worries, it's in like two weeks or so." Zack said as he patted Alex's thigh before standing up. "I gotta go, just came by to see how you were doing and don't worry, you'll be seeing me a lot around here so you won't feel lonely."

"Gee thanks." Alex replied sarcastically.

Dinner arrived and with it came Alex's first taste at life with the Barakats. The kids started to argue about halfway through dinner and it eventually turned into a food fight. Spaghetti sauce, noodles and meatballs flew everywhere while Alex and Jack tried getting the children to stop, both now covered in food. Alex was truly terrified by now at what awaited him once he'd be left alone with the little monsters.

"Stop!" Both Jack and Alex yelled at the same time, the dinning room going silent as Taylor threw her last meatball which bounced off of Alex's head.

"You three march up to your rooms right now and wait for me. I'll be there in a minute to talk to you three. Now go!" Jack yelled angrily and all three ran off.

"Nice kids." Alex commented as he picked noodles off his hair and shoulders.

"Tell me about it. This happens a least twice a week. You did good for your first day, now I'm going to go talk to them. Can you go with Dylan?" Jack asked as he wiped sauce off his face.

"Yeah."

They both walked up the stairs quietly and parted ways as Jack walked into Tyler's room while Alex walked to Dylan's room. Dylan was sitting on a little chair in the middle of the room while pouting at the tiny table in front of him.

"Hey Dyl." Alex smiled at the child who looked up and smiled at his new best friend as he had declared earlier.

"Hi Ali!" Dylan waved, but then frowned and put his arm down. "I'm in trouble, right?"

"Well yeah but Tyler did technically start it." Alex winked at Dylan who giggled. "I'm going to let it slide this once, but if your dad or anyone else asks I put you in time out, okay?"

"Okay Ali!" Dylan giggled.

"Now lets clean you up. Go wait for me in the bathroom while I get your clothes."

"Okay. Can I bring ducky?"

"Sure kid." Alex smiled as he watched Dylan grab a blue rubber duck and run out of the room happily.

Jack walked in as Alex was looking for Dylan's pjs and was startled when he turned around to face his boss.

"Sorry for scaring you. How'd it go with Dylan?" Jack asked.

"Pretty good. I'm gonna go clean him up." Alex answered, inching his way towards the door.

"Thanks for helping out, I really appreciate you being here."

"Uh you're welcome." Alex smiled at Jack before walking out of the room and into the bathroom.

That night Alex walked down the hall checking the kids rooms to make sure they were sleeping. He smiled when he saw the two oldest asleep in their rooms and was heading towards his room when he bumped into Dylan.

"What are you doing up?" Alex whispered as he lifted the child into his arms.

"I can't sleep." Dylan yawned as he rested his head on Alex's shoulder.

"You sure?" Alex teased with a chuckle as he began to walk back towards Dylan's room.

"Mmhm." Dylan mumbled, closing his eyes and falling asleep before Alex reached his bedroom.

"Night, Dyl." Alex whispered as he tucked the sleeping boy into his bed.

"Night 'Li." Dylan mumbled and Alex smiled as he left the bedroom.

"You have a magic touch. It takes me forever to get him to fall asleep." Jack spoke up, causing Alex to gasp and jump an inch into the air. "Sorry." Jack laughed.

"You're going to kill me one day if you keep doing that." Alex whispered harshly as he placed his right hand over his heart.

"Well I'll stop. I don't want to kill the cute nanny." Jack smirked and winked at Alex before walking off, leaving the blonde boy blushing as he stared at the ground.

Alex walked towards his room with a soft smile painted on his face. Maybe, just maybe, things would turn out okay for him in the end.