I walk downstairs, suitcase in hand and butterflies in my stomach. In the kitchen, my mom and her boyfriend sit at the table hand-in-hand.

"Are you leaving now?" my mom asks, sipping her coffee and eyeing me with boredom.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Have fun, kiddo," Steve says with his eyes glued to the newspaper.

I roll my eyes at the use of "kiddo" and shoot him a fake smile. "Sure will. Have fun in Alaska."

As what I believe is a celebration for my departure, Steve and my mother planned a trip to Alaska. They're leaving the same day as I start my job. I wouldn't consider it a coincidence.

"We will."

I smile awkwardly. "Well, I'm leaving. So, goodbye?"

"Bye, Ivy," my mom mumbles and stands up from the table. For a split second, I think she's coming to give me a hug. Instead, she puts her empty mug in the sink and starts doing the dishes.

Cool.

"Peace out," Steve says and sticks up his two fingers in the sign of peace.

I mimic him before heading towards the front of the house.

Listen, I love my mom. She's the reason I'm alive after all. We're just not close. It's as simple as that. Now that Steve's in her life, I'm just not as relevant. I don't really take any offense to it. I prefer being ignored, as strange as that may seem.

After trying in the address to the Kennedy house, I begin my journey. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. I've been babysitting ever since my neighbors decided they were the hip couple and wanted to go out on Friday nights.

Considering I was only eight, it probably wasn't the best of ideas to hire me as a babysitter. However, I did one hell of a job with their baby. I only dropped it once-- and that technically wasn't even my fault. I blame the premiere of High School Musical.

Anyway, I'm what people call a "professional babysitter." I've dealt with countless crying babies, stubborn brats, pukers, biters, etcetera. You name it.

But I have never lived with a family for three months. A full-time nanny job wasn't on my to-do list, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The mother offered me a beautiful amount of money; I almost cried when she gave me the number.

I'm sort of in desperate need for money. Since my mom's writing career is sort of at a stand-still and Steve has just recently been laid-off, it's up to me to pay for college. I got accepted into the school of my dreams, Brown University, earlier this year. Sure, I got a little bit of scholarship money, but not nearly enough to take care of everything.

I don't know too much about this family. I know six of the seven kids are adopted. The mom is a single mom who was always too busy with her work to ever find the right man to father all the children she wanted. At least, that's what my neighbor heard. But she's big on gossip.

Oh, also, the oldest son went to my high school. His name is Elliott. He was in my English class junior year, but I doubt he even remembers my name. He didn't show up to school very often. When he did, he'd be on his phone in the back of the class and usually sent to the principals office. Honestly, I can't remember if he graduated this year with our class.

I really don't know anything about him.

"Your destination is to the right," my GPA speaks as I approach a large brick house with acres of land surrounding it.

"Is this Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's family?" I ask to myself as I park my car on the curb.

Tugging my suitcase out of the car, I head up the driveway and towards the front door. Before I can even knock, the door swings open and a small Asian boy smile back at me.

"Hi!"

"Hello," I say and give him a little wave. "What's your name?"

"Ethan!" he answers excitedly and waves his hands all around. "Come!"

I step in, placing my suitcase on the floor next to me. Ethan shuts the door and sprints into another room, yelling, "nanny here!"

I glance around the foyer. Surprisingly, the feel of the house is quite cozy. I was expecting high-ceilings and a fancy chandelier and decorations that looked too expensive to breathe on. Instead, the yellow walls are covered in artwork from little kids and pictures of the kids and family. There are stains on the walls, just like any house. Toys are scattered on the floor, crumbs as well.

There's a large picture of the family on one wall. They are all in a dog-pile, smiles on their faces. It makes me smile for some reason.

Following Ethan, the faces from the picture walk into the foyer.

Mrs. Kennedy is the first to stick out her hand. "Hello, Ivy. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

I shake her hand. "You as well, Mrs. Kennedy."

"Please, call me Lena," she says softly. "Kids, why don't you introduce yourselves?"

A brown-haired boy with freckles on his cheeks is the first to speak. "I'm Jonas."

"I'm Addison," a girl says, her brown eyes standing out from her dark skin.

"I'm Rosie," a small redhead says and points to her twin sister. "That's Crystal."

"Ethan!" Ethan says and jabs his thumb into his chest even though he has already been introduced.

Lena picks up a crawling baby from the floor. "This is the baby Bethany. She speaks her own language, but it is easy to pick up on."

I nod and take her little hand in mine and wiggle it a little. "Hi, Bethany."

"Oh!" Lena gasps. "Where's Elliott? Elliott!" She stands at the bottom of the stairs and calls his name again. "Elliott!"

"He's not home, mom," Addison informs. "He left to hang out with Flynn."

Lena sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I have to leave for the airport in less than an hour. I will not leave the country without a kiss from each of my kids. Jonas, call Flynn and tell him to get my son back here right now." She hands the baby to Addison. "Follow me, Ivy. I'll show you where you'll be staying."

I nod and follow her upstairs. She leads to what I assume is a guest room. "Addison's room is right down there with the 'A' on the door. She'll be your go-to with any problems."

"Okay." I take a mental note of that and place my suitcase on the bed. "Now, she's the second oldest?"

"Yes. Elliott is your age. Addison is going to be a freshman in high school. Jonas will be in eighth grade. The twins are going into third grade. Ethan is just starting pre-school. Beth just turned one last month."

I try to take it all in, but the information moves to fast. I'll get it down eventually. "Alright."

"I'll give you a quick tour of the house and then you can spend time with the kids while I get ready to leave," she says and claps her hands together.

She shows me each of the kids' rooms before going downstairs to take me through the kitchen, the living room, the family room. We move to the basement, which is really just one huge playroom. There are toys in every corner. Video games, air hockey, a pool table, huge tv, it's the ultimate hangout area.

"Flynn said Elliott is on his way back right now," Jonas informs his mom once we walk back to the middle floor.

Lena nods and pats her son's shoulder. "Now, you're in charge of answering any of Ivy's questions while I go get my things ready."

He salutes his mom and motions for me to follow him into the family room that is connected to the kitchen. He plops down on the couch and pats the spot next to him. "So, what questions do you need Dr. Jonas to answer?"

I smile and sit next to him. "Hm.. What do you want for dinner tonight?"

"I'm a fan of all foods. I don't like to discriminate," he answers.

"Okay, okay," I say with a small laugh. "That makes sense. What would your siblings want to eat?"

"Well," he pauses, "Addison decided she was a vegetarian on her last day of school. Crystal and Rosie like pasta without red sauce, since they feel like red sauce is a mock of their hair. Ethan only likes liquids, so my mom usually gives him soup. Bethany eats baby food." He takes a minute and counts on his fingers to see if he missed anyone. "Oh! And Elliott never eats dinner with us, but he has this inordinate love for grilled cheese."

I stare at Jonas for a few seconds, taking in all the information. "Oh."

He laughs, "yeah, oh. Welcome to the strange world of the Kennedy family, Ivy."

The backdoor from the kitchen beeps as a tall boy walks in. He has dark, dark brown hair that contrasts his pale skin. His black long-sleeve shirt clings to the muscles on his arms, which causes me to stare for longer than necessary.

"And the prodigal son returns!" Jonas exclaims.

Elliott looks in our direction, a blank look on his face. He throws his keys onto the counter and walks past without a word.

"What a dude," Jonas comments and stands up from the couch.

We walk to where the family crowds around Lena in the foyer. She's in mid-hug with Addison, kissing the side of her head before pulling away.

Lena walks to Elliott and holds the sides of his face. "You be good, okay? I love you."

He nods and gives her a hug before cowering back and leaning against the wall.

After saying goodbye to the other kids, Lena begins to cry. "I love all of you. Call me everyday, got it?"

"Got it," they chorus.

She kisses each of their heads one last time, wiping under her eyes. "Goodbye, my loves. Be good for Ivy." Handing over Bethany to Addison, she sniffles and opens the front door. "I'll miss you all so much. Mommy loves you."

"Bye, momma!" Ethan says sadly when she walks out the front door.

They line up at the door, waving as she walks to her taxi. She blows them kiss after kiss before climbing into the taxi and driving away.

Glancing behind me, I notice Elliott has already disappeared. Addison walks upstairs with the baby in her hands, telling me quickly she's going to change her diaper. The twins and Ethan decide to go downstairs to play dolls. Jonas says he'll "do me a solid" and play video games downstairs to keep an eye on the kids.

I take the few free minutes I'm likely to have to go upstairs and unpack my things. My phone buzzes with a text message from my mom.

From mom:

Can you stop by house to check if we shut the garage door? Thanks

I sigh and toss my phone to the side to continue unpacking. After finishing, I text my neighbor's son, Mikey, to see if our garage doors are shut. Like I mentioned, I've been babysitting Mikey since he was younger than Ethan. He's like the brother I never had.

Being an only child was a blessing and a curse. I got to enjoy my life of solitude through the time my parents were fighting and pushed me aside. But I would've appreciated having someone by my side through the late nights of screaming and crying. I got used to it, yeah, but it would've been nice.

Secretly, I've always dreamed of having a huge family, a bunch of siblings. Babysitting allowed me to have temporary families every night, normal ones who love each other. It's really lame now that I'm admitting to it.

For the first time, I'll be able to live my secret dream of having a huge family and a bunch of siblings.. even if I am just the nanny.

~~

AN:

thoughts?

I'm just really excited to write this story because I always loved this plot idea and ahhh.

I've changed so much as a writer from when I wrote Adopted and I really want to develop the characters and the plot and I'm so excited to recreate the story as how I imagined it

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