This is an edited version of Nanny Sarah. Once again, a huge thank you to Bi_Cathy for helping proofread. Hopefully we've caught 99% of the typos now.
This is the third part of a three part story. Please read the other parts first. All characters in explicit scenes are over eighteen.
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Sarah had been correct. As soon as the sky outside showed any hint of color a mop of curly hair bounced through the doorway and climbed up next to me. I was facing away, my arm wrapped around Sarah, who had turned in the night so I was spooning her.
Little hands shook my shoulder, making me roll over onto my back. "Mommy, mommy."
"Hmm, what is it, sweetie?"
"Why's Nanny Sarah in your bed?"
My pulling my arm away caused Sarah to stir, rolling towards me and sliding her arm over my belly under the covers.
"S'matter?"
"That alarm clock you mentioned is here. I think we're busted."
Sarah's eyes opened and she laid her head on my shoulder. "Morning, Heidi."
"Good morning. Did you get scared last night?"
"Hmm?"
"Mommy only lets me sleep in here when I get scared of the thunder lightning."
"Oh." Sarah chuckled. "No, honey, I wasn't scared. I'm going to be sleeping in here from now on, OK?"
"Why?"
I decided to take over. "Because, honey, when two adults love each other, sometimes they like to sleep in the same bed."
"Like Auntie Lauren and Uncle Rick?"
"Uh-huh, just like that."
"So you love Nanny Sarah?"
I nodded. "I do."
"And Nanny Sarah, you love my mommy?"
"Yes, sweetheart, I love her very much."
A tear began to form in Heidi's eye, her voice shaking like when she was trying to settle down from a tantrum. "So are we a family?"
Sarah pulled her arms out from under the covers and held them out, and Heidi wasted no time in clambering over me and into them. "Oh, honey, of course we are."
Heidi clutched at Sarah, sobbing. I put my arms around both my girls. "Are you okay, Heidi?"
"Yeah." She turned back to me, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her Elsa nightgown. "They're happy tears."
We snuggled together in bed, the three of us, for another half an hour before I got up to take Heidi wash her face and brush her teeth. Sarah took the opportunity to sneak back to her room for some real clothes. By the time I had Heidi dressed the shower was running.
Breakfast was well on the way when Sarah came down, and she slipped her arms around my waist as I stirred the eggs. "Morning, sweetie."
"Hi. We need to get you really moved into our room today."
"Yeah. I thought about it yesterday while Heidi was at school, but, um, I wasn't sure about..."
"About where to put things?"
"Yeah. I didn't want to move your dad's stuff around. Y'know, without you here."
I nodded my understanding while emptying the eggs into a white ceramic bowl. When mom died, dad had given all of her clothes to charity very quickly, saying she'd made him promise. So when I'd moved into the large bedroom after he died, I'd just taken over her mostly empty dresser and closet space. It had made me feel closer to her. Dad's stuff was still in his wardrobe and hanging in one corner of the walk-in closet. Eventually my stuff expanded to fill the empty spaces.
I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess it's time to get rid of my dad's clothes."
I had some empty, folded up boxes in the attic left over from my move home, so by noon we had everything ready for Goodwill. Being a lawyer my dad had some really nice suits. Someone was going to score well with those.
Over lunch at McAlister's we talked about the next step. Dad's wardrobe just wasn't appropriate for Sarah, although she insisted it would do. I wanted her to have something of her own.
So we went shopping. Heidi made a point of walking between us and holding both our hands "Like Sylvia does." But whenever she'd run off to look at something I'd find my fingers intertwining with Sarah's without any conscious thought.
I'd like to say I didn't notice the looks either, but that would be a lie. But every time I saw someone looking at us, I felt a great swell of defiance and, well, pride. I got it now, fully understanding why gay rights parades were called 'Pride Marches'. It wasn't about pride in being gay. It was about choosing to live your life openly, pursuing the relationship you wanted, loving whomever you chose to despite societal judgments. There is great pride in that.
We stopped at three different stores before finding our way to a little antique mall in Carmel. Sarah's face went all dreamy as soon as she saw it, something that hadn't happened all day. It had a lovely three-part mirror with the same number of large drawers on either side of a central vanity cut out. The info card said Spanish style, made from oak, and the matching bench style seat was included.
Sarah ran her fingers over the red-brown wood and along the framing. She reached for the price tag and her face fell. A sad smile followed and she took my hand to walk on.
I didn't move. "You like this one, don't you?"
Sarah looked back over at the piece. "Yeah, it's beautiful. But I can't afford it."
I turned over the tag. Ouch, she wasn't kidding. But I hadn't bought a really nice item of furniture since dad died. "Let's get it."
"Connie, no, it's..."
"Sweetheart, we can afford this, if it's the one you want. Is it?" I saw a little smile break and she turned back to the vanity. She did her due diligence, checking each of the drawers, the feet, everything. Finally satisfied she nodded to me.
"I really like it."
"Okay. I'm gonna go get the sales lady."
Before I could turn away Sarah pulled me into a hug. "Thank you." The kiss she planted on my cheek made me all melty inside, and I couldn't keep the silly grin off my face as I moved away.
From behind I heard Sarah talking to Heidi. "We're going to get this one. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, Nanny Sarah, it's pretty."
Half an hour later we'd paid and arranged for delivery and haul away of dad's old wardrobe.
Since we hadn't had family pizza and a movie night yesterday we stopped at Napoli's and got a couple of brick oven pizzas on the way home. Heidi wanted 'Homeward Bound', so I grabbed a box of tissues before we snuggled up on the couch. Heidi sat on the floor, but my hand was firmly in Sarah's as she leaned against my shoulder. It was so lovely and I couldn't, in that moment, understand why there had ever been any distance between us.
About half an hour into the movie Sarah's phone buzzed on the end table and she reached over to grab it. "It's Linda."