"The Nanny" and all its characters are friends of all of us.  Since we all love 'playing' with our friends, hopefully Fran, Peter, High School Sweethearts and the rest won't mind me playing with 'their' characters.  (Although I guess I could claim Victoria as mine!)  This story takes place about two years after the 'Finale'.  If you've seen the 'Finale' then there are no spoilers!  Many, many thanks to my dear friend Benny (aka Frank) for his encouragement, kind words and advice and also to Barb for giving us all a chance to express ourselves.

Nanny Magic

by

Debbie
(nute@scoastnet.com.au)

It was mid-morning and Maxwell was sitting at his desk talking to, or rather arguing with, a client on the phone.  He rubbed his left temple, a sure sign of stress, when suddenly he yelled, “Well, you can keep your bloody money.  I don’t care either.  It’s not going to happen.  Goodbye!”  He slammed down the phone and yelled out, “Niles!”

“Yes, Max?” Niles said as he entered the office from the patio.  “You bellowed?”

“Where the bloody hell is C.C.?  Since you two got married she’s even later for work than she ever was AND SHE NOW LIVES HERE!”

“I’m sorry, Max.  I’ll go and try to find her.  Victoria played up a bit last night again and she’s probably trying to get her settled now.”

Max took a deep breath and calmed down a bit.  “Niles, old man, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t be yelling at you.  It’s just that I can’t deal with… with these ornery backers as well as C.C. and that last one was a royal bloody pain in the tuchas!  He actually wanted to know why we wouldn’t cast his wife’s brother’s girlfriend in our new show!  By the way, old man, this little cherub of yours seems to be giving C.C. quite a bit of trouble lately.  Is there anything Fran and I can do to help?”

“Not at the moment, sir.  C.C. is trying another nanny agency today.  The last two the previous one sent over didn’t quite meet with her fairly stringent standards.”

“Stringent standards in a nanny!  Now that’s funny, Niles.  Remember the stringent standards I used to have in nannies?  They went out the window fast when one ‘Miss Fran Fine’ knocked on our door!  None of our lives were ever the same after that, were they?”  Max paused for a moment, apparently deep in thought.  “Hmm, that’s an idea…”   Max’s idea faded as C.C. came storming into the office with Victoria in her arms.

Victoria was a very pretty and very well-dressed two year old. At that moment she was wearing a blue velvet pinafore and had her long blonde hair done in curls with brightly colored ribbons.  However, the pinafore was twisted and torn, both ribbons were untied and the curls were falling in her face.  She was obviously in the final stages of an almighty tantrum, tears streaming down her cheeks from her bright blue eyes… eyes so like her father’s.

“Niles, you must take her from me before I scream.  Victoria darling, go to Daddy.”

C.C. handed the child over to Niles but, before he could say a word, Fran came in with her two youngest children, Jonah and Eve.  She had one twin in her arms and was holding the hand of the other.  The twins each resembled one of their parents but in reverse – the girl being a female version of Max while the boy was his mother all over.  Both of these children, although neat and tidy, were casually dressed and as soon as they saw their father they both struggled to get to him.  At his nod Fran let them go.

“Daddy, Daddy!”  Both of them climbed onto his lap and started talking at once in their usual, non-stop gibberish until their father shushed them with a jellybean each, which he took from his desk drawer.

“Oy!  What a morning, Max.  Jonah has learned four new words – thanks to Brighton – and three of them aren’t suitable for polite company!  Why he decided to go to NYU and live at home I’ll never know!   Eve has only pulled the heads off of all her dolls today – is she going to be a doctor or what? – but I caught her before she started on Gracie’s porcelain doll collection.  Then Ma rang and said she’ll be here for lunch.  When did we invite her?  Oh, that’s right, we never do!  And Maggie called and wanted to know if she and Michael can come over for dinner – something about Michael wanting to see you about investing in your next show and…”

“Whoa, sweetheart.  I’m exhausted just listening to you.  You’ve obviously had a busy morning already.”

“Yeah, it’s been good, though.  These kids are growing up so fast!  Ya know, it’s hard to believe they’ll be three soon.  I keep waiting for the ‘terrible twos’!  You should see how well behaved they are when I schlepp them to Loehmanns.  It’s hard to believe they’re from the same gene pool as me - they never wanna buy anything!  Anyway, we’re going to the park in a few minutes to feed the ducks.”  She turned to Victoria, “Ya wanna come, too, Vicki.”

While all this was going on, Niles had finally calmed Victoria, wiped her face and fixed her hair. He straightened the pinafore but couldn’t do anything about the large tear down the side of it.  She had stopped crying but before she could answer Fran, C.C., now calmer also, cut in.

“No, thank you, Fran.  However, it was kind of you to offer.  Although, I don’t know how you do it – I mean, I’m having trouble coping with one child and you’re doing great with two and still seem to be able to function as a human being!”

“Ah, it’s easy C.C..  You’ve just got to loosen up a little with Vicki here.”

“Victoria, puh-lease.  I’ll not have any of those silly nicknames for my child.”

Fran shrugged.  “Suit yourself.  Ya know, it’s none of my business… ah, what the heck, once a yenta always a yenta!… it’s none of my business but can’t you see she wants a bit more freedom to be a kid?  I mean, look at the way you have her dressed.  Of course she’s going to get it dirty.  She’s a kid, not a porcelain doll, for goodness sake.  No wonder she’s a bit farblondzhet.”

“Huh?”

“Farblondzhet - all mixed up.  She sees Eve and Jonah playing and wonders why she can’t do the same.  After all, Vicki here is only 7 months younger!”

“Actually,” Max interrupted, “this brings me back to what I almost started to say when you came in C.C..   C.C.… Niles… why not hire Fran here as your nanny?”

“Me?  Fran?  Her?” all three said at once.

“Yes, Fran!  Sweetheart, you remember how you were talking about making some money of your own?”  Fran nodded while Max continued, “And we all know how much you love children.  Well, I can’t see where taking on Vicki… sorry, Victoria… would make your days much different from what they are already and you could get paid for it.  And C.C., I know you want to have the primary care of your child but Fran would only be a ‘daytime nanny’ – so that you can have a break and I can have some of your time to get some of our work done.  And Niles, it would leave you free to get along with whatever it is you do around here – other than listening on intercoms.  After all, we’re all mischpuca around here these days.”  At C.C.’s look of confusion he said, “Sorry C.C., mischpuca means ‘family’.  I forget sometimes that your Yiddish isn’t quite up to the rest of ours,” and he gave Fran a wink.  That was quite a long speech for Max and no one interrupted – they were all a bit stunned.  Even Fran didn’t interrupt once.

When he finished they started talking again, all at once, until C.C. firmly said, “No, I think not!  I thank you for your suggestion, Maxwell, but it just wouldn’t do.  Nothing personal, Fran, but I’m looking for a properly trained nanny.  Besides, I have two interviews this afternoon with prospective nannies from the new agency I contacted.  The resume from one of them looks like she will be appropriate for my needs.”  With that, she took Victoria from Niles and left the office.

“Probably not written in lipstick,” Fran muttered under her breath.

“Sorry, Max,” Niles threw in.  “I, for one, think it would be a great idea.  You know, I had started thinking that living here had mellowed some of C.C.’s ideas but I guess I was wrong.  Thank you for your offer.  I’ll talk to her about it – after she sees how this afternoon’s appointments probably still won’t have the sterling credentials she requires.”  He too left the office.

Fran went over to Max.  “Nice try, honey.  You’re right, it wouldn’t be any extra work for me and that kid looks like she needs a little fun in her life.  No wonder she’s always naughty.  C.C. freaks if she gets dirty even!  Eve and Jonah would be good companions for her.  I can just imagine the three of them in the sandbox Niles made for them all out back or at the park…. No, actually, I couldn’t.  Vicki would never be allowed to play in the sand here or there.  Thank goodness our kids love it!”

Fran went over and tried to sit on Max’s lap, which was filled with sleeping children.  “Oh, and did I tell you how glad I am that we’ve moved back to New York?  California was nice but it was just too far from Flushing.  You know, ya can take the girl out of Flushing but ya can’t take Flushing outta the girl!”

“I’m glad we’re back here, too.  I hated that artificial movie and television world.  And I’m also glad you agreed so easily with my idea about being a nanny again, Fran.  C.C. needs some assistance and I can’t help thinking that the nannies any agency will send over will be what she needs.  She needs you and your Queen’s logic and unconventional methods.  She just doesn’t realize it yet.  Heck, it took me long enough to realize how much I needed you!”

Max shifted on his seat and made room for Fran on his lap while the two youngest Sheffield children continued to sleep.  It was crowded but they still managed to get in one long, satisfying kiss.

Later that day C.C. closed the door on the second nanny from the new agency – the one she had such high hopes about.  She walked back to the couch in the living room and collapsed on it, almost in tears.  Neither of the two nannies she had just interviewed had met her criteria and they were the ninth and tenth she interviewed this week.  She was at a loss.  The nanny agencies were getting frustrated by her requirements, Maxwell desperately needed her in the office and Niles couldn’t take care of Victoria all day forever.  Although she still didn’t understand why, he was still doing the work of three people taking care of all of them in this mansion and seemed completely happy doing it.  Suddenly, Niles walked into the living room and joined her on the couch.

“C.C., my pet, how did it go?”

“Oh, Niles, they were both so old… and if can excuse the pun, they were so-o-o Victorian in their outlook! They made Maxwell’s Nanny Mueller look like she was just starting out!  I’m sure they don’t have any idea of how difficult it is to bring up a young lady in today’s modern world.  I just don’t know what to do.  I guess I’ll just have to quit working for Maxwell and take full-time care of Victoria myself.”

“Well….” Niles hesitated.  He knew how much C.C. liked working with Max.  How could he present the logical choice of Fran without overdoing it?  Straight out seemed to be the only way.  “Well, you could give some thought to Max’s idea of using Fran.  After all, she’s not ‘so old’ and, if you check out Margaret and Grace these days, neither of them seem to have suffered from being raised by Fran.”

“Niles, you know I don’t dislike Fran anymore and I know that she’s still probably your best friend but… but… she’s so… so… unconventional.  She’ll have Victoria playing in the dirt and getting all muddy in the park and making messes in the kitchen and talking Yiddish with Yetta and…”

“And doing all the things you probably would have loved to have done as a child if your nanny would have let you?”

“Yeah!”  C.C. sighed in defeat.  She realized her animosity against Fran becoming Victoria’s Nanny was exactly that.  Victoria could end up having a better childhood then C.C. had had with her old, staid nannies. However, her biggest fear was that Victoria would come to love Fran more than her own mother.  She expressed that last worry to Niles.

“Don’t be silly, C.C., Fran would never allow her to do that.  Out of all of us, Fran most of all recognizes the value of family.  During her five years as Nanny to Margaret, Brighton and Grace she never once let them forget Sara and Sara was gone.  You’re still here and we will still have Victoria’s care most of the time.  Remember it’s only a ‘day job’ – so that you’ll still be able to work with Max – which we all know you love!”

“Okay, Niles, I give up.  I’ll give ‘Nanny Fine’ a try.  It’s funny, isn’t it?  I was the last to stop calling her Nanny Fine and I’ll be the first to hire her at the same job again!”

“That’s my wicked witch!” Niles said as he wiped her tears and gave her a hug.  Even after over two years of marriage the old nicknames still came easily to his tongue - but now they were terms of endearment.  “Let’s go talk to Fran and Max about it now.”  They both got off the couch and headed toward the office.

“Why does Fran want to earn some money, anyway, Niles?  Doesn’t Maxwell earn enough?”

“I’d imagine, my sweet, that she feels she’s not contributing to the household.  After all, she’s the only one of the four of us not ‘working’!”

“Not working!  With those two little Sheffield terrors she’s probably working harder than all of us!”

“Ah, yes.  I agree.  But, it doesn’t ‘pay cash’ now, does it?  And they’re not that bad.  They just have a lot of energy!  A real lot of energy,” he finished, as a crash was heard from somewhere upstairs and the call of “Oh no, Jonah!  Not the Ming Vase!  N-i-i-i-i-i-l-e-s, help!  I need you” came from Fran.

C.C. shuddered but then squared her shoulders and resolutely went on toward the office as Niles left to help Fran.

The next few days brought a slight change of routine to the Sheffield household.  After breakfast, Grace went off to high school, Brighton to NYU and Max and C.C. headed to the office or theater.  Fran and the three children often played in the small backyard or went off to the park.  Sometimes they went shopping or to her mother’s place.  C.C. was obviously still having some problems getting Victoria dressed in the morning because when they went anywhere Jonah and Eve were always neat and tidy in their casual ‘play’ clothes but Victoria, in her pretty dresses, looked like she’d been through the wars.

Fran, at this stage, just kept quiet – a unique situation for her – but she had some thoughts running through her mind.  “I’ll discuss it with Niles first,” she said to herself.

From the start Victoria wouldn’t join in with the Sheffield children.  At the park, she held on tightly to her rather bedraggled doll and just watched Eve and Jonah play in the sandbox or on the swings.  Fran couldn’t get her to do much more.  She didn’t misbehave, she just didn’t mix with the other children.  “Oy, I’ve got some work to do here!” Fran was heard to mutter.

One morning, though, it all changed.  Fran came down to the kitchen with the three children.  “Niles, we’ve got to have a talk!”

“Yes, Fran.  What’s the problem?  Vicki isn’t misbehaving, is she?”  Niles also liked the informal Vicki and used it when C.C. wasn’t around.

“Nah, Niles.  Look, you wouldn’t even know she was around most of the time.  She won’t play on the swings at the park, or eat candy at Ma’s or… or… anything ‘normal’.  I’ve even tried takin’ her shopping at Loehmanns but all she does is hold tightly to my hand.  I’ve got an idea, though.  What do you think about me changing her out of these party clothes and putting her into some of Eve’s outgrown stuff?  Maybe if she looks more like my kids she’ll play more like them?”

“Well, actually, Fran, that sounds fine with me.  I’ll have to explain it to C.C. when she gets home, though.  She has such rigid ideas on ‘what’s proper’.  Who knows, it might work!”

So, with just a change of clothes – into jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers – Victoria all of a sudden became ‘Vicki’.  That morning she joined in, slowly at first, but later she got just as dirty as the rest of the children.  Her first mud pie was proudly presented to Fran in the backyard sandbox.

After lunch Fran decided that she and the children would make chocolate cupcakes for an afternoon tea-party.  They got Niles’ permission to us ‘his’ kitchen and were merrily mixing and baking and making a general mess.  Vicki was laughing and as messy as Fran’s two children.  Her job, at the moment, was stirring the frosting.

However, things soon blew up!  C.C. came back from the theater unexpectedly and walked towards the kitchen.  She was actually feeling quite well.  This agreement with Fran being Victoria’s nanny seemed to be working like a charm.  Victoria was sleeping at night and wasn’t being as difficult about being dressed in the morning.  With that C.C. was also getting more sleep and was less tense and, on top of all this, the latest Sheffield Production was heading towards success.  Backers were throwing money at them!  Suddenly, her whole world collapsed in a heap when she entered the kitchen where Fran and the three children were ‘baking’.

“Ma… Ma…,” Victoria, covered in chocolate icing and wearing some of Eve’s clothes, hair in braids, rushed up to her mother and gave her a hug around the legs.  Unfortunately, C.C. was wearing a cream slacks suit and it soon was covered with great gobs of chocolate.

“Oh my god!  What is this?  Nanny Fine what the devil is going on here?  Why is my child dressed like that and why is she so… so… dirty!  Yuk!  Ohhh… chocolate… my good silk slacks… and it stains!”

“Oh, hi, C.C..  We’re just making chocolate cupcakes and I let the kids mix the icing and lick the bowl.  It’s Eve’s favorite kitchen activity.  It’s a bit messy but….”

“A bit… a bit… I’ll say it’s a bit messy!  It’s disgusting.  Victoria, we are going straight upstairs to your room, getting you cleaned up and into proper clothing AGAIN!”

C.C. was very distraught.  She picked up Victoria and started to storm out of the kitchen.  Victoria just started crying and held her hands out towards Fran and the other children.  With that, C.C. got even more upset, thinking her worst fears were realized – her daughter wanted Fran more than her!  And she had thought things were going so well.  Niles had told her everything was going smoothly during the day.  She and Maxwell had been spending most of the past few days at the theater so she totally relied on Niles’ reports.  She only came back today to pick up some papers.

“Uh, oh!” Fran muttered to herself.  “This could be a ver-r-r-y bad situation.  I sure hope Niles gets back soon!”  She then said to Eve and Jonah, “C’mon kids, let’s get this mess cleaned up before Niles gets back or he won’t less us use his kitchen anymore!”

Fran and her kids started cleaning, the kids more or less getting in the way but, by the time Niles returned, the kitchen was once again spotless.

“Hello, Fran.”  Niles looked around.  Eve and Jonah were quietly sitting on their higher chairs at the table licking spoons but there was no sign of Victoria.  “Where’s Vicki, Fran?  Has she gone to sleep or something?”  He wasn’t really worried, Fran did a great job with the kids – all of them.

“Oh, hi Niles… well, you see… there’s been a bit of a problem… and… well…”  She was stalling and she knew it.

“Come on, Fran, spit it out.  Where’s Victoria?”

All in a rush she said, “Well, C.C. came home to get some papers and she came in here and saw that Vicki was in Eve’s jeans and covered with chocolate and when Vicki saw her mother she ran up to her and hugged her and got chocolate all over her cream slacks and then C.C. sort of just blew up and…”

“And I can guess the rest.  Where is she now?  Upstairs?”

Fran nodded and said, “I’m sorry, Niles.  I didn’t even get a chance to tell her that you and I agreed that Vicki shouldn’t be wearing her good clothes when we do our playing and special cooking things and that I had dressed her in Eve’s old jeans so her dress wouldn’t get ruined.  I… I… didn’t ask you about putting her hair in braids, though.”

Niles just said, “Leave it with me, Fran.  You didn’t do anything wrong,” and muttering under his breath, he went upstairs to oil the troubled waters.

Fran sat down with her kids again.  “Oy, will I ever do anything right as far as C.C.’s concerned?”  She was feeling like it was the early days again, when everything she did C.C. saw as wrong.

“Did you say something, Mom?”  Brighton said as he walked in to the kitchen.  “Oooh, yum, chocolate cupcakes!”

“Bi’ton, Bi’-ton, cupcakes…Bi’ton have cupcakes!”  Jonah and Eve got all excited seeing their older brother.

“Hi, B.  No, I was just talking to myself.  Had a little trouble with C.C. over the little madam.  Where’s Gracie?”

Fran was amazed every time she saw Brighton.  He was as tall as his father and had dozens of girlfriends but no one steady.  He seemed to be really enjoying his film-making courses at NYU.  Fran and Max thought that he would have stayed in California at UCLA when they came back to New York but, no, he wasn’t going far from his family.  Even after almost 9 years he still needed Fran to come home to.  She still sorted out all his little problems and many of his big ones.  He ruffled Jonah’s hair, gave Eve a kiss and sat down with them, taking one of the cupcakes.

“Grace had play practice and told me not to pick her up.  She’s getting a lift from Daniel.”

“Who’s Daniel?  I don’t know any Daniel.”  Gracie was Fran’s original ‘baby’ and she probably worried about her the most – after all she had the most input with her.  On the other hand, Gracie was probably the most ‘together’ of all the kids and the least likely to do something silly.

“Daniel’s just a kid in the play with her.  He lives around the corner.  Don’t worry about Daniel and don’t worry about C.C. either, Mom.  She’ll get over it.”  He took a cupcake.  “Umm, these are good... Anyway, it’s hard to believe that she’s the same person.  Marrying Niles was the best thing she ever did.  And Vicki’s a real cutie.  C.C.’ll learn you’d never do anything wrong with Vicki.   She just doesn’t really know you like the rest of us!”

“Ahh, B.”  Fran reached up and gave him a hug.  “You’re so good for me.  I dread the day some lucky girl snatches you up and takes you away!  By the way, do ya have a minute to stay and talk?”

“Sure.  What d’ya want to talk about?”

“Well… language, B, language.  Jonah surprised me with a few ‘new’ words the other day.  He told me that Bi’ton said…”

Brighton jumped up, “Sorry, Mom, just remembered I’ve got an assignment due tomorrow!”  He quickly started to leave the room.

“Just stop right there, mister!”  He stopped.  “Now, back here!”  He sheepishly returned to the table.  “Now, spill!”

“Sorry, Mom.  I was talking on the phone to Jason and telling him this great joke I’d heard earlier in the day.  I didn’t realize until I hung up that Jonah was in the room with me - repeating everything I had said – or all the bad things, anyway.  He’s worse than that parrot I had for a while a few years ago - and gets me into more trouble, too!”  Brighton gave Jonah a grin, “Don’t you sport?”  He gave Jonah a high five.

“Well, OK, B, I’ll let you off this time… just be careful what you’re saying around these two.  They hear everything you don’t want them to hear and then repeat it later and louder!  I’ve been caught out myself a few times!  Some of the Yiddish words they know already aren’t exactly words to use in polite company!  I guess they got them from Grandma Yetta!”

Brighton laughed.  “Now I really do have an assignment, Mom, so I’ll leave you three to your little afternoon tea party.  Catch you at dinner.  Bye kids.”

“Bye, Bye, Bi’ton,” they both chimed and waved their chocolate covered hands.  Fran sat at the table again, deep in thought.

Upstairs in the apartments allocated to them, Vicki was having an almighty tantrum.  C.C. had dragged her into her bedroom and was trying to get her out of 'those clothes’ and redress her ‘properly’ but Vicki was having none of it.  She was screaming, twisting, turning and making life extremely difficult for her mother.  “No… no… play… ‘onah… Eve… no dress…”  Vicki was trying to tell her mother things but C.C. was beyond listening to her.

Niles approached Vicki’s bedroom with trepidation.  He really loved this woman but he still didn’t fully understand her – even after two years of marriage.  He knew that living with Fran and Max and the Sheffield children was something she was mostly comfortable with but she still had too many hang-ups from her own upbringing.  C.C. was a good – no make that a great – mother to Vicki but she still had to learn how to, as Fran put it, ‘loosen up a bit’!  With no guidelines from her own childhood to follow, she hadn’t yet learned that concerning Vicki, in some ways, less was more – even though it was a philosophy she herself preached at times!  She reminded him of Max just before Fran came into all their lives!  He slowly entered the room.

“There you are!  I suppose you had something to do with all this!”  C.C. almost screamed at Niles.  “Where were you when I needed you… You know, they say ‘common blood’ rises to the surface and it certainly has where your child is concerned.”  At Niles’ look of confusion, she continued, “What, nothing to say Mr. Sheen?  Where were you when all this was happening?  How could you let Fran do this to my child?”

“Whoa, Nellie… hold on there a minute… in one sentence she’s my child and the next she’s yours?  What happened to ‘ours’?  Didn’t we both have something to do with her?”

At that, Niles took Vicki away from C.C. and sat her down on her bed.  “There now, sweetie, Mommy didn’t mean to act like the Wicked Witch of the East,” he crooned to her, trying to calm her down.

“I’m not a witch, Brillo Man, because if I was I’d put a spell on all of you to make things right again.  I told you I’d not have my… okay, ‘our’ child doing things which are not proper for a young lady and as soon as my back is turned you and your ‘friend’ Fran conspire against me!  I’m not having it… I’m not having it!”

By this stage Vicki had started to calm down under her father’s ministrations.  She was still crying a bit but her eyes were warily going back and forth between her mother and father.  Niles calmly finished dressing her, wiped her eyes, undid the braids and brushed out her hair, all the while just glaring at C.C. with his eyes in slits.  She had just called him names and said things in anger which she had not used in years and he wasn’t sure whether to be hurt or not.  Well, the ball was in his court now.  He knew C.C. was distressed about the whole situation but he wasn’t quite up to forgiving her for her remarks yet.

“Okay, calm down C.C. and tell me all about it.  And try to be a little less unpleasant in front of ‘our’ child!”

She took a deep breath and let it rip.  “What have you let ‘that woman’ do to our child?  I thought I could trust you, at least, to make her follow my requirements then I come home a find this… this… Well, let me tell you, it was awful!  Look at me… look at the mess!  I only came home to get some papers for Maxwell and went into the kitchen to find you and instead I found Victoria and… I can’t imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t come back when I did!“ C.C., at this stage, was pacing back and forth across the bedroom.

“And she was a bit ‘worse for wear’, would you say?”  Niles still couldn’t believe how angry C.C. was but was starting to seethe a bit more himself.  She was saying some unforgivable things, making some horrid accusations.  Like he’d conspire with Fran!  Well, maybe he would… but not over Vicki!

“Worse for wear!  That’s putting it mildly.  She was a disgrace.  She had chocolate all over her and was wearing these disgusting clothes and…”

“And she was having a good time?” He was being a bit sarcastic now.

“And she was having a good … no … I mean … oh, Niles, I don’t know what I mean!  And the sarcasm isn’t necessary.”

“And?  Please continue.  But perhaps we should move outside… I don’t really think Victoria needs to hear this!”

Niles grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the bedroom.  He closed the door almost all the way.  Vicki remained sitting on her bed but was wide-eyed… she had never heard her parents fight like this!  She grabbed her doll and gave it a hug.

“So, Mrs. High and Mighty Socialite Doll, what happened next to upset those sensibilities of yours?  Did Victoria smile at you or something totally ‘inappropriate’ like that?”

“Like you don’t know!   As I walked in, Victoria, dressed in these strange, ugly clothes, ran up to me and gave me a hug and covered me with chocolate and…”

“And that’s what upset you?  The fact that she ran up to you and hugged you as soon as you walked in?  Or was it the fact that she was dressed oddly or maybe the fact that she got chocolate on you?”

“The hug… no, I mean the clothes… no, the chocolate… oh no, Niles, now you’re trying to put me in the wrong and I won’t have it!  Victoria was not supposed to get dirty and NO ONE gave Fran permission to put her in these disgusting clothes!”

“I beg your pardon, my dear!  Since Victoria is ‘half’ mine, I gave Fran permission to put her in some of Eve’s clothes, which are ‘not’ disgusting – just not that fancy-schmancy nonsense you always insist she wear and she despises!”  Then Niles decided to forgive her a bit.  “Listen to yourself, my pet.  You walked into the kitchen.  Victoria was obviously pleased to see you.  She ran up to you and gave you a hug.  So, what’s the problem?  How often has she done that before?  Don’t you think you’re carrying your anger a bit far?”

C.C. stopped.  She gave things a bit of thought and, after a deep breath, said, “I over-reacted, didn’t I?”

“Like Starr with Clinton!”

“Oh, Niles… It’s just that I’m… I’m so worried that Victoria will not like me as her mother.  I want her to be like other children but I… I… I’m worried that she’ll turn out common!”

“What, like Fran?” he said.  “Like me?” he thought.  C.C. nodded.  “Married to Max and making him happier than he ever has been in his life… probably even happier than he was with Sara?” and thinking, “Has being married to ‘common old me’ been so bad?  Even though you’ve made me happier than I’ve been in my life, too.”

“Well, yes!  I mean… I… oh, Niles I don’t know what I mean anymore!  Since moving into this house with Maxwell and Fran and the children I’ve been so confused.  My own upbringing was nothing at all like this.  We didn’t all talk at once at the table!  I was never allowed out of my room with a robe on, never mind at the table!  And I was never allowed to get dirty, play in the park with other children or, god forbid, bake chocolate cake in the kitchen and I turned out okay, didn’t I?”

“Of course you did!  But it’s only been since Fran came into this household nine years ago that you began to ‘loosen up’ a bit – along with all the rest of us.  I think your rivalry with her in the early days made you more… oh, I don’t know… more ‘human’.  Before that I think you had a problem with feeling.  Oh you ‘felt’, all right, but mostly you felt superior rather than caring and compassionate as you are now.  Fran, at least, made you feel jealous – which was something you probably hadn’t experienced before.  I mean, she was a ‘commoner’ taking something from the wonderful C.C. Babcock!  Anyway, you always ‘felt’ good to me!  Even when the worst insults were coming off my tongue I think I always wanted to hold you – even if just to ease the pain I was causing you!”  He took out his handkerchief, wiped her tears but stopped short of giving her a kiss.  “Now, why don’t we take Victoria downstairs and help her eat some of these cupcakes which she so obviously enjoyed making, all right?  Is that okay with you, pet?” He turned to Vicki who, by this time, was peeking cautiously around the corner of her bedroom door.  This fighting scared her a bit!  When she heard her father’s question, she gave him a big, six-tooth, lopsided smile and a nod.  Vicki was obviously ready for cupcakes!

“Oh, all right, Niles, I’ll give you this one but hate it when you’re correct!  Let’s go and try some of these chocolate masterpieces.  Will you wait a minute while I change?”

“Why not stay as you are – just in case Victoria wants to hug you again!”  He gave her a bit of a smile, picked up Victoria and the three of them headed back to the kitchen.  He still wasn’t quite ready to forgive her completely for the horrid things she had said.

In the meantime, Max had also come home from the theater.  He walked into the kitchen and found Fran and the twins.  The twins were happily munching on chocolate cupcakes but Fran had had too much time to think about all that had happened and was almost in tears.  He went up to her immediately and took her in his arms.

“Sweetie, what’s the matter?  Why the sad face on such a beautiful day?  Didn’t the kids leave you any cupcakes?”

“Oh, Max… I think I’ve ruined everything.  Maybe I’m just not cut out to be a nanny anymore.”

“Why is that, Fran?”

Fran proceeded to tell Max the whole sorry story of Vicki and the clothes and the chocolate cupcakes but by the end of it Max was chuckling.

Fran pulled away from him and gave him a slap.  “It’s not funny!  If you had seen the way C.C. reacted when she saw Vicki and Vicki got her dirty you wouldn’t think it was funny!”

“Ah, sweetheart, that’s just what I find funny!  Imagine C.C., immaculate as usual, covered with chocolate frosting!”

Fran wasn’t convinced there was any humor in the situation for a moment then suddenly her shoulders started to shake.  The next thing Max heard was Fran’s giggle.  “Ee-ee-ee – you’re right, Max.  If you could have seen the look on her face when she realized that she was covered in chocolate!  Ee-ee-ee – it was even funnier than the look on her face when Niles put the shoe polish on her – and she didn’t even know about that one!”  She gave him a hug and a kiss.  “Ah, Max, you’re so good for me.  Even when I’m feeling my worst you still make me laugh!”

“As you made us all laugh when we had forgotten how.  Don’t worry, my darling, I’m sure Niles will straighten everything out.  Doesn’t he always?  He is with C.C. now, isn’t he?”  Fran nodded.  “Well then you just sit here with me and the children while I try one of these delicious looking cupcakes and we’ll wait for them to join us again, which I’m sure they will.”

Fran went to get Max a cup of tea while he sat down with the twins and started talking to them about their day.  He was soon to be proven correct.  In less than five minutes Niles, C.C. and Vicki came back to the kitchen.  Although Vicki was once again in a ‘party’ dress, she wasn’t crying and neither was C.C..  Actually, all three were smiling, although Niles’ smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.  Fran looked at him but he avoided looking at her directly.

“Oy! This still looks bad.”  Fran muttered but then, when C.C. wasn’t looking, Niles’ gave her the okay sign.  “Well,” she thought, “obviously things were okay with Vicki but maybe not so good with Niles and C.C.  Well, that was their problem.”

C.C. went up to Fran and, with a bit of an effort, said,  “Fran, I’m sorry I acted like such a cow before… shut up, Niles…  Anyway, I suppose… well, I know you’re doing a great job with Victoria and… and it was really stupid of me to get so upset.  I guess the shock of seeing her having fun was just too much for me!”

Fran smiled at that last statement.  “Relax, C.C..  Not to worry… apology accepted.  Now, why don’t you all join us here for some of these delightful cupcakes that our children made.”  Niles started to get cups and things when Fran pushed him toward her seat.  “Niles, there is fresh coffee already made and the water has boiled for tea so why don’t you sit down and I’ll serve you for once!  Max, sweetie, go and grab another couple of chairs from the dining room.”

Max went to get the chairs and Niles, C.C. and Vicki sat down.  “Coffee or tea, C.C.?”

“Coffee, thank you, Fran.  And thank you for everything else, too.”

“No problemo.”

Just then Gracie came in.  She had grown into a beautiful young lady.  She was also tall but, unlike Brighton and Maggie, resembled the Sheffield side of the family more.  “Oh, a tea party!  May I join in?”

“Gwacie, Gwacie, cupcakes… have cupcakes!”  Eve and Jonah called out.  However, the big surprise was when Vicki, in her party dress, climbed off her high chair and took the biggest cupcake left to Grace.

“Cake… Gwace… you have cake?”

It was the biggest speech she had ever made and the first time she had ever directly approached any of the older Sheffield children.  And Grace, in her wisdom, did exactly the correct thing.  She bent down to Vicki, gave her a big smile and took the cake.

“Why, thank you, Victoria.  Did you make this all by yourself?”  She took a bite.  “It’s very good, too.  And don’t you look nice!”

Vicki, suddenly shy, said “Yes” then ran and hid behind her mother.  C.C. had tears in her eyes again but then so did Fran.  This time, however, C.C.’s tears were not tears of rage but of joy.  Her child went to her when she had an attack of shyness, not Fran or Niles!  Max, noticing this as well, covered his pleasure with some throat clearing and Niles relented a little by getting up and placing his hand on C.C.’s shoulder.  She gave him a timid smile.  “Am I forgiven?”

“Not quite, yet, Broomhilda but you’re heading in the right direction!”

“Gracie, sweetie, you are a marvel,” Fran said.  “How’d you know that was exactly the right thing to do… and say!”

“Ah, Mom, I remember when you first came here how you always made all of us feel good when we did things for you – even if they were silly, which this certainly wasn’t.  Besides, how could I ignore such a pretty little girl’s first efforts at friendship!”  She went up to Vicki, hiding behind C.C., and gave her a pat on the head then went over to Eve and Jonah and gave them their expected hugs and kisses.  “Hi, you little terrors.  What sort of mischief did you two get into today?”

“Gwacie… hi… made cupcakes… shopping… mud pies….”

“Whoa, kids, that’s enough.  Gracie doesn’t need to know every little detail.”  And to herself she said “Neither does C.C..”  Fran had caught the look on C.C.’s face when mud pies was mentioned and she wanted to get off that topic quickly.

“Mud pies, Nanny Fine?  Didn’t I distinctly mentioned that…..”

Niles squeezed C.C.’s shoulder and cut in, “… that we wanted our child to experience everything a child should experience?  Give it a rest, C.C.!”

“Yes… yes, I guess I did.  I’m sorry Fran, I almost lost it again.”  She pulled Victoria up on her lap.  “Tell me all about your mud pies, sweetheart.”

Vicki started chatting on in mostly unintelligible words while Grace joined the rest of the group already around the table.  Brighton also came back downstairs when he heard all the laughter. It was crowded with the nine of them but coffee, tea and milk were distributed all around, four conversations at once started happening and soon there were no chocolate cupcakes left.

The next morning saw another complete variation of routine.  Vicki, along with her mother, arrived in the dining room to join everyone else for breakfast dressed in what looked like new jeans, t-shirt and sneakers.  Her blonde curls were in two pig-tails and she was laughing and smiling with her mother.  C.C. was also casually dressed.  After the usual “hello, hello” she went up to Fran and asked her for a big favor.  “Fran, would it be okay if I joined you and the children today?  Maybe if I tried some of these ‘kids’ activities that you’re so fond of I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to the wrong conclusions all the time.”

“Sure C.C., that would be great.  But doesn’t Max need you?”

Max interrupted, “No, Fran, it’s fine.  Niles, C.C. and I discussed this last night.  I’ve given her the day off to ‘learn how to be a child’.  You both go out with the children and do all the usual things you usually do.”

“Mom, since I don’t have any classes would it be okay if I joined you all, too?” Brighton asked.  “I haven’t had a ‘kids’ day with you in a long time.  They were always such fun when I was younger.  Besides, Jonah could use some ‘male’ company.”

“That’s up to C.C.. After all, it’s her day,” Fran replied.

“Sure, Brighton, that would be great.  Another pair of adult hands wouldn’t go astray.”  C.C. knew the names of all the Sheffield children now.  At times she couldn’t remember why she had never bothered to learn them before.  She had a little chuckle to herself.

“What’s the laugh for, honey?”  Niles had just come into the dining room with breakfast for his wife and daughter.

“Oh, Niles, I was just remembering when I couldn’t – or wouldn’t – remember Brighton’s, Grace’s or Margaret’s name and you tricked me with little ‘Sidney’.  I got you back good on that one, didn’t I?”

The whole Sheffield family laughed then.  They all remembered the trick Niles had played with the imaginary fourth Sheffield child and how C.C. had gotten even.  That started them all reminiscing on the tricks the two of them had played on each other over the years while breakfast went on.  It was a typical noisy breakfast table, all of them together.

When it was finally over Max gave Fran and the little kids a kiss.  “Have a good day, you lot.  I’ve got some work to do in the office this morning then I’ll head toward the theater after lunch.  How about I meet you at the usual hot dog stand about one o’clock, Fran?”

“Sure, sweetie, that would be great.  Me and the kids don’t often get to have a gourmet lunch with you.  You want I should order your hot dog - ketchup and mustard?”

“That would be great but I’d better get started if I’m going to see you at one.”  Max left the dining room.

Niles got up from his seat.  “I might join you all too, so I’d better get started on the things I have to do around here.  Fran, I’ll have relish and sauerkraut.”

“No problemo, Niles.  We’ll see you at one, too.”  Niles left for the kitchen with a tray of dirty dishes.

“What about you Gracie?  It’s Friday.  Don’t you finish classes early today?  You wanna join us?”

“That sounds great, Mom.  Like Brighton, I haven’t had a ‘kids’ day in a long time.  A hot dog in the park sounds great – just mustard for me.  I’d better go, though.  I’ve got Advanced Calculus first period and I can’t afford to be late for that class.”  Grace got up, gave Fran and the three little kids a good-bye kiss and said as she was leaving, “I’ll see you all at one.”

That left Fran, C.C., Brighton and the three little ones.  Brighton excused himself.  “I’ll just go up and change, Mom.  Won’t be long.”

“Well, C.C., I’d imagine today you’re in for something totally out of the usual for you.  Anytime you’ve had enough just call it ‘quits’.”

C.C. took a deep breath and said with a smile, “Well, Nanny Sheffield, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be so, do your worst!”

Brighton returned, picked up Jonah, and with Fran, C.C. and the two little girls, they all left the dining room for C.C’s ‘learn to be a kid’ day.

What followed was a day C.C. would remember forever.  She, Fran, Brighton and the three children did things she had never done before.  It started with feeding the ducks on the lake in the park and was followed by swinging on the swings.  Next, a quick trip around the Central Park Zoo – Brighton laughed again as he reminded C.C. about when he had been sick in her pith helmet almost 9 years ago – “I was so immature, then” and C.C. forgave him – “I’m much more magnanimous now!”  They had cotton candy while watching some clowns and fed the pigeons.  C.C. made her first sand castle with Vicki in the giant sandbox and laughed with the rest of them when Jonah knocked it down.  She didn’t remember laughing so much in her life.  Before she knew it, it was one o’clock and they were very near the hot dog van.  Grace, at that stage, came up and joined them and she and Fran went to get the hot dogs while Brighton and C.C. stayed with the children to wait for Max and Niles.

“Da… da…”  Vicki started pulling on her mother’s hand but when C.C. saw Niles with Max she let her go.  Vicki ran up to her father who swung her in the air just as the Sheffield two reached Max.

“Hello my little princess… and my big one.  How was your morning?”

“Oh, Niles, it’s been great.  I haven’t laughed so much in a long time… ever, even.  And look at me – I’m covered with sand!”

Meanwhile, Max grabbed Jonah and gave him a swing, too while Brighton did the same for Eve.  “So, how are all my children this afternoon.  Are we all ready for a hot dog picnic?”

“Yes… yes… hot dogs… hot dogs….”  All three little children were jumping up and down, excited by the morning, seeing their fathers and the thought of having hot dogs for lunch.  Fran and Grace came up to them all then with boxes of hot dogs and a tray of drinks.  Niles spread out the blanket he brought from home and the picnic began.

C.C. had had a wonderful morning.  She had had quality time with Victoria and also got to know Fran and her children better as well – including Brighton.  She hadn’t realized until then just how clever he was – and how good with all the children.  She still thought of him as that rude little boy who kept manufacturing ‘fake’ deaths to get rid of nannies.   When had he ‘grown up’?  “I’ve missed so much,” she said to herself.  During the ‘hot dog’ picnic she also realized that ‘common’ behavior was not only fun but infinitely more relaxing than constantly having to worry about social standing.  No one here was fake.  No one stood on ceremony.  The kissing they all did when greeting each other was real – not that ‘in the air’, socialite rubbish.  Everyone seemed to love each other – and for the first time, she felt included in that love.  Now C.C. realized it was time for one other change – she rolled her next words around on her tongue for a second before she could say them.

“Vic… Vicki… come here, let Mommy wipe your face… you’ve got mustard all over it!”

Niles just quietly took her hand, tears forming in his eyes.  His ‘wicked witch’ had finally found what had been missing in her life – her childhood and the love of a family.  She was now one of them.  Fran and Max gave each other a quick hug while Gracie and Brighton gave each other a secret smile – they already knew all about Fran’s special Nanny Magic!

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