Page 19 of Penalty Kill

She seemed curious.

“I’m their new nanny.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. Really? You seem so comfortable with them.”

“They’re pretty awesome, so it’s easy.”

“I never would have guessed.” She smiled at me and I turned back to the kids. Was it really that strange that the boys and I were already bonding? It felt natural being with them. Like my little buddies and this job were meant for me.

A few minutes later, I heard yelling and scanned the playground for the source. Milo was standing at the top of a ladder blocking Finn and Alice from reaching the top. He was the one yelling.

I hurried over. “Milo, what’s going on?”

His angry eyes found mine and he hit his fists against his sides. “Finn said he’s king and Alice is queen and I can’t play with them.”

I turned to Finn. “Did you say that?”

He hung onto the ladder and didn’t meet my eyes.

“Finn, you guys need to play nice with each other.”

“But he said there can be two kings. I don’t want two kings. He can be a horse.” Finn said through a pout.

Melanie reached my side and looked between the kids. “Alice, are you being nice?”

The little girl’s cheeks reddened.

I was so far out of my element. I wasn’t an expert of playground etiquette or how to navigate feuds. The boys were always so great together. I felt horrible for a moment when I blamed the new addition, but it wasn’t Alice’s fault. They needed to learn how to get along with new people.

“I don’t want to be a horse!” Milo screamed.

“Then don’t play with us!” Finn’s volume matched his brother.

Crap. This was getting out of hand. I needed to come up with a plan. “Um. Milo, how about you be a very special knight.”

I tried that, thinking it was best to stay within the game they started. His eyes flickered to mine and I continued. “You could be on a mission to make sure the path is safe for the king and queen.”

I checked on Finn and he was listening intently.

“Milo will pick which direction you should go then he’ll tell you if it’s safe or…” My mind went blank.

“He might have to fight a dragon.” Melanie finished for me.

I nodded along. “Right.”

“Yeah, you guys can take turns being the knight so everyone gets to pick out what to do next.” Melanie added.

The three of them seemed to agree and Milo finally stepped back. “Okay, the ladder is safe, but I have to check the bridge.”

He took off in that direction while Finn and Alice waited at the top. Once he waved them on, they seemed happy to follow.

“Crisis averted.” Melanie said with a wink.

I let out a sigh. “That was stressful.”

We watched them as they crossed around the playground.

“You did a good job of figuring out a solution rather than just scolding them for fighting.” She pointed at a mom who was begging her son to stop crying. “It’s best to distract them with something new.”