All Chapters of Belong with them: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I sprinted home. Finally, the school year has ended, and we are on vacation. Yay! I am hoping that Dad will come out of his room today. Mom says we have to be extra happy around him so that he doesn't feel sad again. Dad feels sad a lot these days. But I think he will be happy when I will tell him about my new idea. He loves it when I tell him about my school. Hmm.. I should also tell him about the new school pet rabbit. As soon as I stepped inside our home, I shouted, “Dad!” Mom is probably at work. I called out to him once more, but nothing. I felt a chill come over me. The atmosphere in the house was gloomy as if something terrible was going to happen. Shaking off the unease, I sprinted toward my parents’ room and flung open the door.“Dad!” I cried, rushing to his motionless form sprawled on the floor. I tried shaking him, but he did not move. He was lying on the ground with his mouth open and foam oozing from it. I tried to shake him, but he lay there lifeless, with no soul visib

RyanI closed the door to my office and plopped into my plush leather chair, feeling all the frustration and fatigue bearing down on me. I rubbed my tired eyes and threw my head back against the headrest. I am so sick of this nonsense.“That bad, huh?” Mark’s voice broke through my thoughts. When did he show up?“What are you doing in my office? I gave you access for an emergency only, not to wander about at will,” I growled.Mark pouted like a child and said, “Aww! Come on, dude. I was bored and figured you would need some company after getting that call from Liam’s school. What happened?” I reluctantly started to recount the events from earlier.Three hours ago, I had been in the midst of preparing for an important meeting with investors when my phone chimed, displaying Principal Dan’s number on the screen. Panic surged through me, and I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Is Liam okay?’ I answered the call with a sense of urgency.“Hello. Principal Dan, here. Am I talking to Mr. Crawford?” P

RyanI reviewed Amy’s resume again. It was quite impressive. She had a degree in child development and, as she said, she minored in child psychology. The confidence in her voice and the way she answered were both excellent. I may have pushed a few buttons, but I do not want to risk anything about the future of my child.“So, who do we like? I think we can agree that Amy is the one.” Mark barged into my office before I could delve deeper in my thoughts.“Are you following her like a puppy dog now?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.He smirked, “Well, no, I was just getting acquainted with Liam’s future nanny.”“Who said that she was Liam’s nanny? Nothing is final yet,” I replied, trying to maintain a professional tone.“Oh please, if you did not prefer her as Liam’s nanny, you would throw her out of the interview like the previous one. And you know you are a little impressed with that spitfire. You cannot lie to me,” he replied.I squinted my eyes at him, giving him a warning, “Mark, don’t t

RyanThe hot water soothed my sore muscles. I was so engrossed in exercising today it had completely slipped my mind that I had asked Liam’s new babysitter to report at 9 am. I squirted some body wash into my hands and rubbed it all over my body. It is said that the Himalayan salt in the body wash would ease any muscle fatigue.As I lathered up, my phone chimed with an incoming call. Fink, my home voice assistant, informed me that it was Jim calling. I reluctantly answered, knowing that this interruption meant I had to wrap up my shower quickly.Jim informed me that Miss Castello had arrived at the gate, and I granted her entry before rushing to finish my shower. With the hot water and stress momentarily forgotten, I dried off and wrapped a towel around my waist. I vigorously rubbed my hair with another towel to dry it before checking my phone for any important notifications.As I was about to reach for my phone, I sensed someone’s gaze fixed upon me. Raising my eyes, I found Miss Cast

LiamI huff and squeeze Mr. Snowbell to my chest. When Daddy told me about a new nanny, I was sure she would be the same as the others. I have not been able to sleep thinking about what happened today. Maybe Miss Amy is different. No!I cannot think like that. Miss Amy looked different from the other nannies, but deep down, I knew she’d turn out the same.All nannies always put on a show when they saw Daddy, getting all giggly and excited. What did Jim call that... umm... flirting? They always flirt with daddy. I don’t like that. I scrunched my nose. I even saw one of them take something and sneak it into her purse. Daddy and Jim say stealing is bad.So I have to protect Daddy from those women. I make them run away. It was easy since all I had to do was pull up some prank, or little mischief, or just I had to act out a little. And they would run away, leaving me and Daddy alone. Just me and Daddy!But today had been different. Miss Amy hadn’t acted like the others. When I tried to run