Daddy and the Nanny

The days moved painfully slow for Alex as he watched Jack and Hayley be all mushy mushy all the time. Not very much was spoken between Alex and Jack unless it was related to work or the kids, other than that they both kept their distance. Jason hadn't called or messaged Alex in awhile and the younger boy was worried. Zack had also kept his distance and Alex didn't understand why since last they talked they were on good terms.

"Kids, time for school." Alex spoke a bit depressingly as he walked into the dinning room where Tay and Ty were eating breakfast. "I'm taking you today."

"Yay!" They both cheered and Alex smiled softly.

Jack walked into the room and Alex walked out to go find his car keys and get his coat on. Jack ran after the younger male and followed him into his bedroom where he shut the door rather loudly and startled Alex.

"Now what? Is this going to become a regular thing?" Alex questioned as he kept looking for his car keys.

"Looking for these?" Jack asked as he held up Alex's car keys.

"Why the hell do you have them?" Alex asked as he tried reaching for them but Jack took his height to an advantage. "Give them back!"

Jack smirked and wrapped an arm around Alex's waist, bringing the smaller body closer to his. Alex stopped his struggling as his and Jack's faces were only a few inches apart, his eyes darting down to Jack's lips before darting back up quickly.

"What do you want?" Alex whispered, resting his forehead on Jack's chest. "Wasn't the other night enough for you?"

"I want whatever this problem between us to stop. I admit I messed up and lead you on and the other night most certainly did not help, but I miss talking to you late at night in the kitchen. I miss my friend." Jack whispered the last part in Alex's ear, wrapping his other arm around Alex.

Alex stayed silent as he took in Jack's words. Slowly Alex lifted his head and nodded.

"For once I agree with you. I've gone crazy staying up all night in my room with no one to talk to." Alex smiled. "As crazy and weird as you are, I miss my friend too."

"Rude." Jack laughed and kissed the top of Alex's head before letting go of the younger male and giving him the car keys. "It's getting late, we'll talk later tonight."

Alex nodded and walked out of the room, calling for the kids to get ready as he buttoned his coat and wrapped his scarf. Alex walked into the kitchen looking for Grace and smiled when he found her cleaning up the morning's mess.

"Do you mind watching Dylan for a bit? I'm taking the kids to school and visiting my parents." Alex spoke up.

"I don't mind, sweetie. Take all the time you need." She smiled.

"Thanks Grace." Alex smiled and walked out of the kitchen to find Jack saying goodbye to their father. "Kids, we need to go."

"Bye dad!" They both yelled and walked out the door with Alex behind.

"Drive safe!" Jack yelled and Alex rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to pick us up, too?" Taylor asked her nanny from the backseat.

"I don't think so, I'll think about it though." Alex answered as he drove away from the house.

"I think you should." Tyler spoke up.

Alex chuckled and nodded before saying, "Alright."

"Do you have a Blink cd?" Taylor asked.

"No! Do you have Green Day?" Ty asked.

"Blink!" Tay shouted, slapping her brother's arm.

"Green Day!" Ty shouted back.

"Whoa, guys chill!" Alex yelled over their bickering and stopped at a red light. "No need to fight and we're almost at the school so no. I left my CDs at my apartment. How did you guys even get into that type of music?"

"Our dad." They both answered.

Alex simply nodded and pulled up at the school. The kids unbuckled themselves and Ty opened the door.

"You kids behave." Alex warned them.

"Yes sir!" They both replied as they stepped out of Alex's car.

"Hi Cat!" Taylor yelled as the door closed and Alex drove off.

"I'm going to get grey hair before I'm old." Alex mumbled to himself as he drove to his parents' place.

~~~

"Hi sweetie!" His mom greeted him happily and Alex frowned.

"Why are you happy to see me? You never get this excited." Alex replied as he stepped inside.

"You're my first born Alex and I'm really proud of the man you're coming out to be." His mom said as they walked into the dinning room where his father was eating breakfast.

"Is she on some kind of new medication I should be aware of?" Alex asked as he sat down in his old spot to his father's right.

"None of that, Alex. She's just been taking yoga lessons and well she's living by her instructor's words." His dad replied with a chuckle.

"Ahh. So what did you guys need me here for?" Alex asked as he took off his jacket and scarf.

"Here you go sweetie, just the way you like it." His mom said as she appeared into the room with a cup of coffee and sat it down in front of her son as she sat across from him.

"Uh thanks." Alex spoke. "What's this about? Is this about Shane and I's relationship? If it is then I'm just going to say that he hates me and no matter what I've done, he's never liked me."

"It's partially about your brother. Bud, you know your mother and I love to travel a lot and well a lot of accidents can happen. What we're trying to say is that we put you in our will as Shane's legal guardian in case anything were to happen to us. Hopefully it doesn't have to come down to you taking care of him, but just know that we trust you to finish our job as parents." Mr.Gaskarth spoke as he looked at his son who was looking down at the wooden table.

"Alright, but like you said, I really hope I don't have to become his guardian anytime soon." Alex spoke after a minute, looking up at both his parents with a soft smile on his lips.

"I'm so proud, Lex." His mom spoke up. "We want to tell Shane, but he's in school right now and we want you to be there as well so we can try and solve whatever problem your brother has against you. Now I know you're working for that Jack guy and taking care of his kids so we want to know when you're able to come down."

"Are you free this weekend? I know Jack and his girlfriend want to take the kids out on Saturday." Alex spoke up, a stab to his heart at the word girlfriend.

"Yeah. You can come over for dinner and we'll discuss any problems then." His father responded, taking a sip of his coffee.

"How's the job?" His mom asked a few minutes later when they were alone.

"Pretty good. I've gotten attached to the kids now even though it took awhile for two of them to like me." Alex chuckled at the memory.

"I'm glad. I couldn't help but notice something when you mentioned your boss' girlfriend earlier. You're jealous. Care to tell me? I know I haven't been the best mother since your brother was born, but I care a lot about you. And I want you to trust me with anything. Hmm?" Mrs.Gaskarth spoke as she held her son's hand and lead him to the living room where they sat down.

"I really like him mom, and he made me think that he liked me too but then I found out he's been dating someone and it hurt." Alex spoke, sighing at the end.

"Oh sweetheart, maybe he likes you too."

Alex smiled sadly at his mom. An hour later Alex was back at work and Dylan was crying on the staircase and Alex rushed over to the child who lifted his arms up once he saw his nanny.

"A-Ali!" Dylan sobbed, hiccuping at the end.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Alex asked worriedly as he lifted the small child into his arms.

"He's been like that since he woke up. Jack thinks he's maybe coming down with something since he tends to act like that before he gets sick." Grace spoke as she walked past them.

"Makes sense. Do you feel icky baby?" Alex spoke in his babying tone.

Dylan nodded as he hiccuped and rested his head on Alex's shoulder, sniffling every few seconds. Alex walked up the stairs to Dylan's room where he set the child down on the bed and took off his jacket, setting it down on the bed.

"What's wrong with my kitty."

Dylan pointed at his throat and sneezed a few times to prove his point. Alex smiled sadly at the youngest Barakat and went to go look for a thermometer and medicine. Minutes later Alex had confirmed Dylan's fever, had given him medicine and was now falling asleep. Alex walked out of the room and walked downstairs to find Grace.

"Is he sick?" Grace asked.

"Yeah. Fever and sore throat. I gave him medicine and he fell asleep right away." Alex replied as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

"Poor kid, he's always getting sick."

"Can you tell me about Jack's wife? How was she?" Alex suddenly asked as he remembered the countless pictures of her in the kids rooms.

"Jenna, was a really nice person. They started dating the summer before they both started high school. Jenna moved here from Australia when she was nine and her and Jack became great friends right off the bat. She was the only girlfriend Jack had and they were so in love.

They were seventeen when she got pregnant, but the baby didn't make it. They were both so heartbroken but eventually they finished high school and when they both turned eighteen they got married." Grace explained as she cut vegetables.

"But how did she die?"

"Dylan wasn't even a year old when she was in a car accident and unfortunately died on impact. She was hit by a drunk driver on her way home from visiting a friend."

"Oh." Alex whispered and finished his apple as he stared out the window in thought.

"Are you going to pick up the kids?" Grace asked awhile later.

"Yeah. I'm going to check on Dylan." Alex tossed his apple in the trash and walked out of the kitchen.

"Ali." Dylan whimpered as he sat up in his bed with his flushed cheeks.

"Still feeling icky, kitty?" Alex pouted as he sat down next to the boy.

Dylan nodded and Alex placed his hand on Dylan's forehead, frowning when he realized his fever was higher than earlier.

"Dylan's sick?" Came Jack's voice from the doorway and Alex jumped, making Dylan giggle quietly.

"Yeah. His fever is higher than awhile ago." Alex sighed.

"Grace told me you were picking up the kids. You can go and I'll watch over my little guy."

Alex nodded and stood up, kissing Dylan's head before heading towards the door. Alex drove to the school a bit quickly since he was running late. He found a parking spot and walked towards the front entrance where kids were starting to walk out.

"Alex!" They both yelled and ran over to Alex, hugging him tight.

"Did you bring Dylan?" Tay asked as she held his hand as they crossed the street.

"He's sick, sweetie. Your dad's at home taking care of him."

"Oh, poor Dyl." She pouted but then shrugged as they reached the car.

"Oh Alex! My teacher said she wants to talk to my parent or legal guardian but since dad goes to work early you count as my legal guardian." Tyler smiled as he climbed into the backseat.

"Tyler Barakat, what did you do?"