How Could I Have Known » Places

         Darrin merely nodded to Jane as she informed him that she wanted to speak with him. When the woman went back into the kitchen, Darrin and his children continued to eat. Though he wouldn't admit it, Darrin was very impressed with Jane's cooking skills. It had been some time since he'd really eaten anything and the meal that the woman had prepared was just completely delicious. Suddenly, Sammy spoke. Taylor was eyeing his sister, trying to get her to not ask anything. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. When the little girl asked their father if Jane was going to be their new mother, Taylor couldn't believe it. He could only imagine what his father was feeling. Darrin had almost fell out of his seat when the question hit his ears. Darrin smiled sadly at his daughter. "Sammy, Jane is yours and Taylor's nanny. I'm afraid that doesn't mean that she's going to be your new mommy, sweetie." Darrin felt horrible for telling Sammy that. He couldn't understand why, though. He'd never had to explain something like this before to either of his children. It had almost seemed easier to explain that their mother had left them all. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

He was no longer all that hungry. Darrin wiped off his hands and made sure that there was nothing on his face. He simply sat with his children as they finished eating. He watched the two. If he was honest with himself, Darrin had no idea if he'd ever begin looking for a new mother for his children. Hannah had hurt him greatly, broken all trust that he'd ever placed in her. She had known everything about him. She'd crushed him completely when she'd left and told him that she didn't love him..never had. He just couldn't believe that. She'd seemed so happy for so long. He had given her everything that she had ever wanted. He just couldn't see himself trusting another woman like that again.

When the children were finished eating, Darrin helped to clean them up and then sent them inside to play upstairs. Taylor took Sammy by the hand and led her to their playroom. He wanted to play and had heard Jane tell his father that she wanted to talk to him. He decided that it would be best if they weren't around for that.

After the children had gone upstairs, Darrin slowly made his way into his house. He began to look for the woman. At last, he found her, working on laundry. Though Darrin's mother had worked on it, it was still quite obvious that he'd not helped at all. The handsome man stood in the doorway and said, "You wanted to talk to me?" His blue eyes were glued to Jane. He couldn't imagine what she wanted to talk to him about. He was worried, though. Not about her speaking with him but his children. They were quickly becoming attached to the beautiful woman and Darrin wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He didn't want to see them upset when the time came for her to leave. Darrin forced himself to pay attention. He didn't want to appear as if he'd been taking something while with his children. That was the last thing that he needed. Darrin had a feeling that Jane was about to lecture him and that was something that he hadn't had to endure in three years.