1: Be My Daughter's Nanny

Gabriel's POV

"Be my daughter's nanny."

Those words left my mouth before I could even fully processed them. It cut through the noise in the hospital’s lobby like a sharp blade.

Ivy— a guardian of my patient for two years now, blinked up at me. Her tired eyes were narrowing at me in disbelief— or perhaps perplexity. For a second, she didn’t move. She just sat there, curled up in the stiff blue plastic chair, her fingers white-knuckling a crumpled medical bill.

She looked terrible. Exhausted. Worn, thin. Like someone who had been carrying the weight of the world for too long, without anyone to share the burden. And maybe she really was carrying the weight of the world, maybe she indeed didn’t have anyone to share her problems with.

I wouldn’t be one to judge.

But the fact that she still had hope within her— that she was not giving up, and instead only frustrated with her life’s movement, made me believe she was the right person for the job. She wanted a salvation— I needed a solution. If she was brave enough to try any possible means to save her brother, and maybe other things that she had to handle as well, then we could come to an agreement.

Ivy’s lips parted, like she was about to tell me to go to hell, but then she hesitated because that would mean disrespecting me— her brother’s doctor for years now.

"You want me to what, Doc?" Her voice was hoarse. I assumed roughened by sleepless nights and too many quiet cries.

"Be Sophie’s nanny," I repeated, calmer this time. More controlled so she would know I wasn’t kidding.. "You can live in my house. Everything’s free. Shelter, food, anything. All you have to do is look after my daughter, be her mother figure, I’ll pay you well. Bonuses, advance pay, health insurance, overtime pay, paid day offs. Name it."

Ivy let out a sharp laugh. It sounded bitter and humorlessly. "Are you vlogging now, Doc? Are you pranking people now?”

I studied her.

I could understand the skepticism. I was aware of how absurd this job sounded. But I was serious— she should know I am in the way I look and stand up to her.

"I know you’re struggling with Noah’s bills, maybe other things, too. But I’m telling you I could do something with that, Ivy.” I said simply, like it would make sense to her.

She then pressed her lips together. "So you’re serious….” She sat straight, her expression changing. “Is this a charity… to help Noah out?’

I exhaled sharply, putting my hands in my pockets. "No. It’s a job. You need money. I need someone I can trust with my daughter. Consider it a business arrangement."

Still, Ivy looked at me with doubts. "But you don’t even know me."

That wasn’t entirely true. I’d seen her. I knew more than she thought.

For several months, I have seen the way she sat and wait in the ninth floor’s hallway night after night, refusing to leave her brother’s side. I have heard from the nurses how she much worked herself to the bone to be able to pay his brother’s medical bills. She was Noah’s only family, and I could reckon she didn’t have anyone else, too, considering no one came to help her out.

But she was determined, she held her brother dear even if it means losing herself, she took care of him, not minding her own. She was real. Even now.

And that was exactly the kind of person I needed for my daughter.

"I know enough," I said, arching my brows. “So, how’s it going to be?”

Ivy shook her head, running a hand through her messy brown hair. "Can I have a minute to think about this? This sounds a bit…"

“Insane?” An amused look danced in my eyes.

It probably didn’t made sense to her— just as it first didn’t to me.

But I had spent the last twenty-four hours thinking about this. After seeing my six-year-old daughter crying in her room, hearing how she didn’t want to go to school anymore because all the other kids’ were starting to discriminate her for not having a mother—I felt like a sucker punch to the gut.

I never wanted to see Sophie like that again.

"I’ll pay off your brother’s hospital bills," I added after a minute, still watching her carefully. "In full."

Her breath hitched at what I said. Just slightly. But I caught it.

"In return," I continued, "You’ll take care of Sophie. You’ll act as her mother, her sister, her bestfriend, her nanny. Just until… she turned 10.”

Ivy stayed still.

And I stared at her, waiting for her answer as I could see war raging inside her through her eyes. She was probably weighing her options, the benefits, the pros and cons.

But I already knew what it was going to be before I even asked her. Ivy needed it most— in fact, more than I needed her.

She exhaled shakily, dropping her gaze to the floor.

Then, finally, she asked.

"…How much would be the pay? Would it be enough to pay Noah’s bills and all our other’s needs?"

I nodded, breathing in.

"It would be more than enough, Ivy."

“You said you’d do an advance pay…” I saw her lips quivering. “If I accept, would you let me have a month’s advance pay?”

“Sign the contract, and we can both consider it your signing bonus.” I looked at my wrist watch, before moving in to go back to my office. “Meet me before the end of my shift.”