Daddy and the Nanny

"I'm leaving for a business meeting tomorrow morning and I won't be back until Monday afternoon." Jack announced during dinner Friday night, making Alex freeze his movements and the kids whine and groan. "You'll be fine with the children, right Alex?"

"Yeah, it'll be so fun." Alex mumbled sarcastically, taking a sip of his drink.

"Good. Children, be good to the nanny." Jack said with a laugh while the blonde simply glared at him.

"I'll be good to Ali, daddy!" Dylan spoke up, sending a smile Alex's way while the other two glared at Alex.

"Good, that calms me. Slightly. Tay, Ty, you better be good. You've been rude to Alex all week and that's not how your mother and I raised you. You know better than to-" Jack was cut off as Zack walked in followed by Grace.

"Hi uncle Zack!" All three kids smiled at the tall man who greeted them but kept his eyes on Alex who seemed to be ignoring his presence.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Jack asked his step-cousin, noticing the slight tension in the air.

"I need to speak with Alex privately." Zack said, though it was directed more towards the blonde himself than the brunette sitting at the head of the table.

"Why? So you can insult me more? No thanks." Alex sighed, picking at his food with such interest.

"You meanie. You made Ali cry!" Dylan shouted as he stood up on the chair, glaring cutely at the tall built man who would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Dylan, please, buddy." Alex smiled softly at the child who nodded and sat back down.

Jack glared at Zack who ignored his gaze and walked towards Alex, grabbing his arm and pulling him up and away with a fight from the blonde's part.

"Let me go, Zack. I'm not feeling well and you being here is making me feel worse." Alex hissed as he was dragged towards Jack's office.

"Look, we need to talk. You've been avoiding me all week and ignored my texts and calls. I just want to apologize to you for what I said." Zack sighed as he sat his friend down on the couch.

"You make it sound like we're dating." Alex mumbled quietly, staring down at the couch. "Look, I forgive you, but you need to stop as well Zack. You've been doing the same thing for years and I'm getting sick of it. There's no need to remind me that my life is utter shit and that I'm not good enough and blah blah blah. I know the story, thank you." Alex sighed as he crossed his arms across the chest.

"I know, but you know I say a lot of things without thinking. And you are good enough, but you don't give yourself enough credit."

"True, that's why your girlfriends never last more than a month." Alex teased the man who chuckled and shook his head.

"Has he called you? You're not looking so good." Zack asked worriedly as he took in his friend's pale and tired appearance.

"Everyday and every night. He keeps saying that I can't hide forever and that he'll find me sooner or later." Alex answered.

"Lex, this is seriously getting out of hand."

"I know Zack, I've been inside this damn house all week for fear that I'm going to bump into that maniac. I'm going crazy, Zack." Alex groaned as he leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

A knock on the door broke the silence that had settled into the room and Zack looked over in time to see Jack peek his head inside.

"Everything okay in here?" He asked as he looked at the room's two occupants.

"Yeah fine." Alex spoke up, ruffling his hair before standing up. "I'm going to go check on the kids."

Alex left the room quickly and found Tyler and Taylor fighting in the game room. Dylan was trying to get them to stop, but Tyler ended up pushing Dylan who fell and hit the side of a table.

"Hey, stop!" Alex yelled angrily as he walked further into the room where the kids were hitting and pulling each other's hair while Dylan sat curled up into a ball crying.

"She started it!" Tyler yelled after Alex got Taylor away from him.

"No, he did!" Taylor yelled back, pointing a finger at her older brother.

"You're a liar!" Tyler shouted over Dylan's crying.

"No! Alex, you gotta believe me!" Taylor pleaded at the blonde who rubbed his temples, feeling his headache from earlier increase.

"What's going on here?" Jack asked as him and Zack walked into the room.

"She started hitting me!" Tyler yelled as he walked up to his father.

"No, he started it!" Taylor yelled back, crossing her arms defensively.

Alex rolled his eyes as he walked over to the still crying Dylan and picked him up, checking him over for any major injuries.

"You okay, buddy?" Alex asked the child, ignoring the other two children arguing with their father.

"Y-Yeah." Dylan hiccuped, resting his head in the crook of Alex's neck and wiping away his tears.

"Alright, enough you two. Tay, I told you to stop bothering your brother and you mister, need to stop throwing the first punch every time she does something to you. You could have hurt your little brother."

"He's fine, he's just a crybaby." Taylor shrugged, looking back at the nanny and her brother.

"Stop, you two go to your room." Jack told his two eldest children and they marched up the stairs angrily. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's just a bit shaken up right now." Alex answered, rubbing Dylan's shaking back.

"They're mean, Ali." Dylan whispered, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Alex's neck tightly.

"They're not mean, kiddo." Alex said, though he himself knew the kids could be rude and violent.

"You sure you'll be able to handle all three this weekend?" Jack asked Alex with pity.

"Yeah, if not I'll dump them on Zack." Alex smiled innocently over at his friend who rolled his eyes.

Morning arrived and Jack was saying goodbye to his kids while Alex stood a bit far off to the side to give them privacy, but he still saw the heartbroken looks the kids gave their father. Alex could feel his heartbreak a bit but was quickly replaced by his anxiety kicking in. He was not ready to watch over the monsters all weekend by himself.

"Alright my little chipmunks, be good to Alex. He doesn't need any more bruises on that pretty face of his." Jack said as he winked at Alex who rolled his eyes.

"Okay daddy! We promise!" They yelled at the same time.

"Alright, Lex, all the emergency contacts are on the fridge, Grace can help out in case anything happens." Jack told the blonde who nodded and walked a bit closer.

"No worries, they'll be safe here." Alex said as he forced a smile on his face.

"Good, I trust you. I'll see you guys on Monday." Jack smiled at the kids and walked outside where the taxi driver was waiting for him.

Once the door closed, Taylor and Tyler turned to look at Alex with mischievous smiles on their faces that made Alex gulp in fear. Dylan skipped away oblivious to the plan his older siblings were up to.

"I don't like that look." Alex spoke as he backed up a step.

"Well we don't like you." Tyler spat out and walked off with Taylor hot on his heels.

"I am officially terrified now." Alex mumbled as he walked off to find Dylan.

Ten minutes later Tyler and Taylor had loaded up their water guns and were sneaking around the house trying to find their target: Alexander Gaskarth aka the nanny. They smiled in triumph when they heard his voice down the hall along with Dylan's high pitched giggle.

"Follow me and be quiet." Tyler whispered to his sister as he moved down the hall slowly and quietly, Tay a few inches behind him.

Alex was currently playing a game with Dylan in the play room when the two kids jumped into the room and started shooting water at Alex who screamed in surprise and stood up abruptly. Taylor and Ty laughed as they ran away and Dylan giggled quietly.

"Strike one." Alex mumbled angrily as he wiped his face with a towel.

Nothing happened after that, but Alex was still on edge. Those kids seem to have everything planned out. Half an hour after lunch, the second strike occurred. Alex was walking out of the first floor bathroom, walking underneath the staircase briefly when something popped down on his head. Laughing was heard soon after as Alex realized it was a water balloon, but it wasn't filled with water. Oh no. It had chocolate syrup which was now all over Alex's hair and the hardwood floor.

"Oh dear, Alex, what happened to you?" Grace asked in shock as she stopped in front of the man covered in the chocolate substance that belonged on ice cream, not him.

"The kids happened." Alex spoke slowly, trying to stay calm but he was slowly getting angrier by the second as the syrup dripped down his hair and onto the floor.

"Go take a shower dear, I'll clean up here." Grace offered Alex a soft smile and he walked up the stairs, passing by two laughing children and Dylan who was looking at him with wide eyes.

Once in the shower, Alex used almost half his shampoo bottle as he scrubbed at his dirty hair. He rinsed and then moved onto his conditioner and scrubbed yet again. Thirty minutes later, Alex turned off the water and dried himself off, changing into a clean set of clothes and looking into the mirror for the first time as the steam cleared out.

"Oh my gosh!" Alex yelled in shock as he stared at his blonde hair with now pink covering the top of his fringe and other random places.

Opening the bathroom door angrily, Alex charged down the hallway after a screaming Tay and Ty who ran as quickly as they could to get away from the pink haired man. Alex ran quickly and eventually trapped them both, shoving them into Tay's purple butterfly covered room with a random 'Blink-182' poster on a wall which took Alex by surprise.

"You two are in so much trouble." Alex hissed, pointing a finger to his pink and blonde hair.

"Hey, it could have been worse. Instead of just the top, it could have been your whole hair." Tyler spoke defensively and Tay nodded.

"That was strike three and you know what happens after a third strike?" Alex questioned the two children who shook their heads. "You two will go help Grace with anything she needs for the rest of the day. And just you two wait until I call your father."

"No, please don't tell dad! We promised him we'd be good to you and now he's going to ground us." Taylor pleaded, her green eyes wide in fear.

"Don't care you bratty children. Now go downstairs and look for Grace." Alex ordered them and they quickly ran out of the room. "How the hell am I going to survive tomorrow? It's only two in the afternoon and already so much has happened."

"Aunt May!" The kids cheered downstairs and Alex groaned, running to his room for a beanie and putting it on quickly.

"Hi kids." May Barakat smiled down at her niece and nephews, looking up as Alex made his way downstairs. "You must be Alex, the new nanny, right?"

"Yeah." Alex replied with a smile.

"I'm May, Jack's sister." She smiled back, shaking his hand. "Is it alright if I take them out to dinner?"

"Please do. Take them, keep 'em. I don't mind." Alex replied quickly, making May laugh and the two oldest children to smirk at the man who was now showing his fear.

"Alright. I'll bring them later then. Kids, go get your jackets and shoes on."

Once they were gone, Alex sighed in relief and almost bursted into tears at the amount of happiness.

"Enjoy the peace and quiet Alex, because they'll be back before you know it." Grace told the young male who groaned.

"Killing my vibe Grace." Alex groaned and Grace simply chuckled. "Where did the kids get pink hair dye anyway?"

"Who knows, they get the most random things sometimes. I did see an extra box somewhere if you want to fix your hair." Grace teased.

"Actually, I think I will. I liked it, but they're not good hairstylists." Alex spoke seriously which caused Grace to laugh harder.