His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 164

#Chapter 164: New Horizons

Moana

When we were finished with the tour, we stopped in the downstairs foyer. Headmistress Hawkins smiled at us, her brown eyes radiating with kindness.

“Well?” she asked. “What do you think?”

I looked over at Edrick expectantly. He was fairly quiet throughout the entire tour, only occasionally asking questions. I was a bit worried that he wouldn’t like it and that he would make up some excuse to say no, but much to my surprise, he looked down at Ella with a gentle smile.

“It’s up to you, Ella,” he said. “Do you like this school?”

Ella nodded excitedly. “I really like it here!” she said, squeezing Edrick’s hand tightly. “I really want to go to school here!”

Edrick smiled and looked up at the headmistress. “Well, I guess that’s that,” he said with a bit of a chuckle.

Headmistress Hawkins grinned. “Perfect,” she replied. “Let’s get you enrolled.”

…

That day, we got Ella enrolled in school. The school year would begin in just a few short weeks, which was fairly short notice, but I knew that Edrick would make sure that Ella was prepared.

Later that evening, as I was getting ready for bed I simply couldn’t stop beaming over the fact that Edrick was going to let Ella start going to school. Ella hadn’t stopped talking about it all day, and even getting her to sleep was a battle because she was so excited. It made me feel warm inside to see her get so excited over school, and I was glad that Edrick had made the right decision after all. Even though I knew that this would be difficult for him, I was certain that it would be the best thing for everybody in the long run.

However, that wasn’t the only thing that was on my mind.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that empty art classroom. It was important for any child to have access to a good art program in school, and it made me sad to think that the children at that school had been without a proper art program for years since the last art teacher passed away. Ella loved that school and wanted to go there so badly, and it was the perfect place for her to go, but it made me uneasy to think that she would be without a proper art class for the foreseeable future. Sure, I could give her some art lessons and make sure that she had time to be creative when she was home, but it wasn’t fair for the other students to not have that luxury.

And when I came out of the bathroom after my shower, drying my hair with a towel, I could tell instantly from the thoughtful look on Edrick’s face that he was dealing with an internal dilemma as well. He was leaning on the balcony railing and looking out over the city, and when I came out, he looked over his shoulder at me with a strange expression on his face.

“You’re thinking about something,” I said, walking up to him. “What is it?”

Edrick shrugged and didn’t answer for a few moments. But I knew what he was thinking about: he was worried about Ella. He didn’t like the idea of sending her to school every day.

“You’re worried about her.”

Edrick nodded hesitantly. “I guess so,” he replied, almost as though he didn’t want to admit that he actually had a soft side.

I sighed and leaned on the balcony railing next to him. The city was bustling as always, and it would never stop. Even though the walk to Ella’s new school wasn’t very far and was a nice walk in a safe neighborhood, it was still the city, after all. Anything could happen, and I understood why Edrick was scared. Even the paparazzi alone were bad enough, not including the danger of cars and people with bad intentions.

Ella was still little, and she would of course need to be chaperoned both two and from school until she was at least a few years older. But I also knew that having her away from the penthouse during the day, when anything could happen, was terrifying for a father who had always kept his daughter cooped up.