âYou build with Nanny,â Elsie-bug responded, wide-eyed with wonder.Â
âNot YOUR Nanny,â Charlie tried his best to explain. âDavieâs Nanny is different than your Nanny.â
âWhy?â
âBecause she just is.â
âBut why?â
âMumâŚâ, Charlie sighed, looking for help.
âWell, love, your Nanny is Davieâs Mummy. Remember,â Ethel asked.
âI know that Mummy. I een yus, âmember.â
Jack and Ethel laughed. âI thought you said you were Elsie-bug Baldwin,â Ethel questioned, mocking seriousness.
âI change me mind. Girls do that you know,â Elsie-bug responded.
âDonât look at me,â Jack said, forcing back a smile.
âWellâŚâ Ethel continued, âDavieâs Nanny is who he spends time with when his Mummy, your Nanny, is working.â An idea sprang to mind. âLike Mary Poppins!â
âOh,â Elsie said, wheels beginning to turn. âWhyâs I not got a Nanny thatâs not my Nanny?â
Ethel shook her head. She had almost forgotten all the âwhysâ of Charlieâs toddlerhood when little Elsieâs began.
âIs it fun to have a Nanny whoâs not Nanny,â Elsie-bug asked Davie.
âNo, Mummy is much more fun. Nanny doesnât cuddle. But sheâs very good with colors and with building. She says itâs âeducationalâ. And when Mummy comes home and sees what we did she says Iâm her clever lad.â
"Davie a een yus too!"
"Don't forget your big brother. He was a certified spy at the tender age of three," Jack said, giving Charlie a teasing noogie.
"The question is," Charlie whispered conspiratorially to the little ones, "do we use all this brainpower for good... or for eeeeevil?"















