The Siren by KATHERINE JOHN (general ebook reader .txt) 📕

“The babies hate Madison,” Jackson clarified.

I swallowed a chortle that didn’t go unnoticed by the men. “Sorry. That’s terrible.” I peered through the open doorway at the twins playing Stella’s child, both screaming bloody murder while a woman, presumably their mother, sat with them on the couch, desperately performing peekaboo while an older woman sang a lullaby. In the film, Marguerite had one child, but babies could only work for such a short time that it was necessary to cast twins.

“That’s the mom and grandmother,” Price pointed out. “And Tawny just arrived as well. Her flight got out after all.” Tawny, currently waggling a ducky in the face of one of the babies, was the actress playing Cherry, the pregnant nanny replaced by Madison’s character, whose scenes we’d planned to shoot today, before storms delayed her flight. She was a striking Black woman in her thirties with large round eyes, her long box braids swirled into a bun atop her head. “They like her a lot more than Madison, but not enough to stop screaming.”

“How do you know they hate Madison?” I asked.

“They were the happiest babies on the block until they saw her. Each of them, in turn, lost their shit the minute they laid eyes on her.”

I snickered, quickly covering my mouth with my hand. In the script, Madison was supposed to be the dream nanny that Stella’s character had to hire regardless of her doubts because she was such a great influence on her child. “Perhaps we should have consulted the babies on casting.” I laughed.

Both men stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Sorry, sorry.” I cleared my throat. “So can we hire different babies?”

“Casting is on it,” Price confirmed. “But finding ten-month-old twins with working permits and passports is gonna set us back a week at least.”

“How are they with Stella?” I asked.

“Fine, as long as Madison’s not around.”

I sighed, the producer in me rumbling to life. “Okay, are we lit for the scene in the kitchen?” They nodded. “Great. We’ll shoot the baby only from behind or frame him out. After that, let’s revert to shooting what we were originally going to do today with Tawny, since she’s here and the babies like her, while casting looks for more twins. Until we find them, we film as much as we can without the babies. For shots where one is necessary, the baby will be sleeping or we can use a doll—”

“No doll,” Jackson objected. “Fake babies ruin everything.”

“Put that on his tombstone,” I said, trying to lighten the tension. “Okay, no doll. We can shoot the baby’s reaction shots without Madison present.”

“But the whole premise is that the baby loves her.” Jackson groaned. “It’s the reason Marguerite keeps her around, even when she sees her husband become enamored with her. We have a ton of shots ahead where she’s calming him, singing to him, rocking him…”

“Okay, for those we can use a baby that’s not one of the hero babies as long as it’s the same size and skin tone. Price will find one. Right, Price?”

He nodded. “On it.”

“And for shots where the baby is featured, we’ll use…” I peered through the doorway, and my gaze landed on Felicity, who had appeared out of thin air while we were talking. Odd. I could have sworn Stella said she gave her the day off, but there she was, crouched on the floor before the babies, a pinkie wrapped in each of their curled hands.

The crying had finally stopped, the babies hypnotized by Felicity singing softly, “Hush, little babies, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird…”

We entered the living room slowly and hovered inside the archway, not wanting to disrupt the equilibrium. The mother smiled at us, whispering, “They love her. We ran into her in the restaurant this morning, and she played with them the entire time they had their breakfast. They’re enamored.”

Of course. Once again Felicity saved the day. I knew I should be grateful to the Goddess Who Was Good at Everything, but what I felt was suspicious. Had she somehow turned the babies against Madison? I nipped my paranoia in the bud. That was impossible, of course. They were babies. I was losing my mind. I caught Jackson’s eye and nodded toward Felicity. “Ask her to stand in for Madison,” I whispered.

Felicity and Tawny now each held a smiling baby, bouncing ever so slightly and cooing at them with hyperfocus. Tawny looked up to see me watching her and flashed a warm smile. She bobbed over, waggling the ducky before the child on her hip.

“Glad you made it, Tawny.” I returned her smile. “Did someone get you all set up in your bungalow?”

“They took my bags, but I came straight here. Wanted to say hello to everyone before I got settled.”

“Do you mind working today?” I asked. “I know it’s a quick start, but with the situation with the babies—”

“No problem. I’m totally prepared.”

I sighed with relief. “Bless you.”

“Only thing is I haven’t had a fitting.”

“Your wardrobe is scrubs, so I think we’ll be okay.”

The baby in her arms gazed up at me, and for a moment I was terrified the screaming would start again, but instead the child giggled and reached for me. “She likes you.”

“Go on. You can hold her,” the mother encouraged as Tawny held her out to me. “She loves people.”

Everyone but Madison, apparently.

“Hi there,” I cooed, awkwardly taking the baby. She was wiggly, and I didn’t quite know how to hold her. I’d never babysat, and none of my friends had babies. “You’re a pretty little girl, to be playing a boy.”

“Not the first time,” the mother said.

The baby wrapped her chunky little arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest, gurgling happily to herself. I’d never been particularly fond of babies, but I felt a sudden rush of warmth for the child. Her skin was velvety soft and smelled of talcum powder. “Hi there.”