The tears Ronnie had been holding back spilled down her cheeks. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

TJ wasn’t looking, didn’t see. “How far along?”

“A little over three months.”

I touched her bare arm, rubbing lightly, gently. She glanced at me and tried to smile but didn’t quite make it.

“And you didn’t tell me?” He turned toward her, his eyes blazing.

“I was going to,” she managed, tears pooling at the hollow of her throat.

TJ saw them now and his face softened. Then he looked at me. “Janie, can you go check on Beth?”

I nodded, knowing it was just a excuse to get me out of the room, and I took it, grabbing my t-shirt off the floor and pulling it on before slipping out the door. I did check on Beth, but she was still sleeping, her thumb tucked firmly into her mouth, a habit Ronnie was trying in vain to break her of. She was definitely going to end up with braces at this rate.

Instead of going back to my room on the first floor, I went straight for the shower, still warm and steamy from TJ’s time there. There was a shower downstairs, too, but it didn’t have double showerhead jets and I want to stand under the pound of water hot and hard enough to turn my skin bright red.

A baby.

It was both exciting and scary. What did that mean for them? For us? For everything? I loved being Beth’s nanny. She was a great kid, easy-going, very quick-

and she had the goofiest sense of humor. But what would it mean, being a nanny to a baby? Diapers, bottles, strollers, crying in the middle of the night… And what about our nights? What would happen to the three of us? Would there even be room for me in their lives as their lover anymore?

Because we all knew I didn’t want to be a nanny forever. What kept me, the reason I really stayed, was because I loved Ronnie and TJ and my life with them. Being