His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 47

#Chapter 47: Secret Kindness

Moana

“Wake up, Moana! Wake up!”

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Ella’s voice and the feeling of the bed shaking beneath me. The sun was shining blindingly bright through the window, and outside, I could hear the sound of the city bustling below. I could hear the sound of distant music; I had completely forgotten, but there was supposed to be an event in the park across the street today, and Ella was excited to go.

“Come on!” Ella exclaimed as she jumped up and down excitedly on my bed. “Wake up! Let’s go outside!”

I groaned, feeling my stomach turn from the bed moving beneath me. If Ella continued her jumping, she would make me throw up.

“Give me a minute, Ella,” I said, but she wasn’t listening. She was too busy jumping and giggling and chattering about getting ice cream at the park.

I didn’t think before I spoke next, and as soon as I did, I realized how my voice sounded. I felt so nauseous from being jostled around that I didn’t consider how I might have come across as being mean. “Ella,” I said firmly, “stop jumping on the bed. Right now.”

Ella suddenly fell silent. Almost as soon as the words escaped my mouth, I knew that I had made a mistake. Without another word, Ella sniffled and quickly jumped off the bed, running from the room before I could stop her.

“Ella, honey, I’m sorry,” I said, forgetting my nausea as I quickly climbed out of bed and went after her. I walked next door to her room, but when I tried to turn the doorknob, I realized that she had locked herself in.

I sighed and knocked on the door. “Ella?” I called. “I’m really sorry for snapping at you. Please come out.”

Through the door, I heard a sniffle, followed by a muffled “Go away!”

“What’s going on?” Selina’s voice suddenly said from behind me.

I sighed and turned to face the housekeeper. “I wasn’t feeling well and I snapped at Ella for jumping on my bed,” I admitted. “She locked herself in and won’t talk to me now.”

Selina let out a sigh herself. “Children can be so fickle sometimes,” she replied. “She’ll get over it.” I nodded and went to return to my room to get dressed for the day, but Selina stopped me. “Something is going on with you,” she said, lowering her voice. “I can tell.”

I frowned and shook my head. “I’m just sick with food poisoning,” I lied. “Ella jumping on the bed made me nauseous–”

“You’ve only eaten the food I’ve prepared, and I never prepare spoiled food.” Selina’s voice was stern, but not entirely cold. I didn’t know what to say; she was right about the food, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit my pregnancy just yet. If I was being honest, I still wasn’t certain if I would tell anyone, as the possibility of aborting the pregnancy was still on the table.

“I… I had a snack from a food truck the other day,” I lied again. “It probably came from there.”