A/N: Hey guys! I have a new update for you! I hope you like this one. It took a while for me to write completely. I was blocked for a long time, but I found some ideas I couldn't let go of. It's been hard to write these day. I write constantly, not always the best but I try to write. The crisis is helping me write every day, I've just been inspired. I hope you guys will take the time to tell me what you all think. I always say that but I don't always get a response, and it's hurtful. Please, support writers. Most of us are still at home in this craziness and we need to know what the readers think. Please take a moment to tell me why you placed the story on alert. OK, thanks for reading! Bye all! :)

Things were relatively silent between Barry and Caitlin and they both hated it. Neither made a move to address anything and now things were awkward between them.

After checking Maggie to see if she was asleep, Barry turned out early for the night and barely looked in Caitlin's direction, leaving the room with an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Caitlin was aware Barry checked on her and frowned. Things were weird alright, and Caitlin had a feeling they were only going to be weirder as the weeks went on.

She knew her way around the house to finish getting settled in. The room she stayed in was plain and needed some life. But right now she wasn't feeling up to doing much of anything. She went through the motions of getting ready for bed. She figured she had to sleep if she was going to keep a level head the next day. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she put away the last of her clothes from the suitcase.

She slipped over the covers and leaned over to turn off the lamp on the night stand. She crawled inside the covers, pulling them below her chin. She was feeling a slight draft but she didn't want to say anything and did her best to fade away for the night.

Barry was the first one to wake up, like always. Coming into Maggie's room, lightly touching her her face until she opened her eyes but not without some grumbling from her end. Barry told her that he put chocolate chips in the pancakes and that did the trick.

She had her morning ritual and Barry was patient with her antics. She was due at her day care center at 7am. They were more or less late and Maggie always wanted to take her time getting ready. Barry concluded that she was stalling because she loved to stay home and play as opposed to being an environment that she didn't like that much. Barry knew he was raising an introvert as time went on and he accepted it.

After driving Maggie to the day care he drove back and realized he never told Caitlin about today. He hoped she wouldn't mind. Maggie spent most of Saturday at the center then around the middle of the day Barry, very rarely was it Adele, would pick her up. It was a weekly routine.

Barry bit his lip and opened the door, closing it behind. Just as he was shrugging his jacket off Caitlin came downstairs fully dressed, her hair was pulled off to the side in a soft braid. Barry's hand was aching to touch the gentle strands of hair that fell from it but he came back to himself. Caitlin gave a kind smile and he returned it back.

"Morning."

"Good morning, oh...where's Maggie?" Caitlin asked, her brow raising.

"She's at day care; preschool. She goes every Saturday around 7am. I'm sorry for not telling you."

Caitlin paid it no mind, she raised her shoulders, "It's OK, well, was sort of hoping to spend some time with her today."

Barry nodded. "You will. Her time there is until the afternoon. I have to go into work soon. I made breakfast. I can meet you in the kitchen."

Caitlin smiled. "Sure, thank you."

Caitlin took a plate and served herself some food, it all smelled good. Barry clearly knew what he was doing. She can't imagine how many times he has cooked for Maggie on his own, when his Grandma wasn't around to help. She watched him read the paper and sip from his coffee, he somehow looked older to her. Very strange. She shrugged and began eating silently.

Maybe it was just her but she had a feeling Barry wanted to say something, possibly about last night, the weird behavior was on both sides. Maybe if they don't mention it then things wouldn't be so awkward as they are now. The only sounds heard were Barry sipping his coffee and Caitlin's chewing.

She suddenly stopped to take a drink of juice and sat back, her breathing sped up and Barry noticed. He looked at her and placed his attention right back on the paper. Maybe if he ignored the elephant in the room, then it never happened. Things were growing tense and before Caitlin knew it, she found herself staring at Barry. He flipped over the paper, acting like he was reading the articles but bit his lip. He could feel her eyes siring his skin.

"Look, Barry, I—" He stared at her finally, fearing her next words. "I don't want things to be weird between us."

He nodded. "Yeah," he dropped the paper, "It's not, is it?"

She didn't look too sure. "I just don't want silences like this. It feels like there's distance now. I don't want it to be that way."

"You're right." he began. "It won't be," he didn't want to do it but he felt it come up, "I'm sorry about last night. If I did something, said something to hurt you, I apologize."

Caitlin mulled over his apology and felt even more upset. She couldn't allow herself to believe he wouldn't care about her completely. She was his caretaker, he had to trust her. She was slightly mad that he apologized, not because he upset her, but because she was feeling something she shouldn't, something she saw in Barry's eyes beyond just being polite.

He didn't hurt her, it was the opposite. The euphoria was hitting her full force and she stood up to take her plate to the sink. She rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher.

She turned around with a smile on her face. "No worries. Do you have a list of things for today?"

Barry didn't buy this act but he left it alone, for now. "Yeah, let me go get it."

Caitlin was glad Barry didn't press her, but she wasn't out of the woods yet. She lived with him now, there was no way they were going to keep pretending everything is OK for long. She hoped that he wouldn't treat this as anything beyond just a job.

Barry appeared holding a short piece of paper. "Hey, umm, this is it for now. Not including picking Maggie up from day care."

Caitlin nodded as she checked out the list. "Thanks. When are you leaving for work?"

"Soon, probably in twenty minutes. Do you have any questions or...?"

Caitlin shook her head almost instantly. "No, it's pretty clear."

"Great." Barry backed away and waved her off as he jogged upstairs.

Caitlin hesitated before taking another look at the list. If she got started now then she would be better off. Barry made sure to give her simple chores until she picked Maggie up at noon.

And that's just what she did, she pulled her hair up out of her face and began work. She tried not to think about what happened last night but the memory was too fresh on her mind. Maybe if she distracted herself with her playlist she'd finish most of the list before Barry came back. She did have a few hours before he was coming back to collect Maggie, it gave her plenty of time.

Even though she felt at home here it still had a strange feeling to it. Like so much has happened here, so much she didn't know happened; or Barry wouldn't share with her or what's maybe more challenging, he would. She noticed all or most of the pictures were of Maggie and Adele, same with Barry throughout the years. No trace of another family member, a few she noticed had an older man which she assumed was Adele's husband, they looked close and he didn't look so well.

Caitlin supposed Barry didn't want to keep pictures of Maggie's mother around to not trigger her emotions. She still had no idea what happened but she can't assume it was good memories from the complete erasure of her mother. Perhaps Barry had pictures but they were hidden in a box. Maybe for a day when Maggie would ask about her mother, Barry would go into the one box that kept those pictures, but something told her she didn't think he would do that. Barry stricken her as the type of person who would try to keep the peace even if his child wanted to see images of her mother; he would more than likely shield her from the inevitable hurt and pain those images caused; maybe from his standpoint.

Caitlin was speculating more than she should and she tried to focus on the next task after the dusting. She turned up the volume on her playlist and drowned out any and all thoughts of curiosity from the Allen family history. Sure, she presumed she might grow closer to the family, but to involve herself personally, ask every single question circling her mind, that was overstepping her bounds. Nannies don't necessarily need to involve themselves more than just employee, she had to keep reminding herself of that as she moved to the kitchen and began working on keeping it spotless. There wasn't a whole lot to do, Caitlin twitched as she thought Barry gave her this section just to tidy it and not overwhelm her with too much work.

It annoyed her that maybe he was making it a little too easy for her to actually do some work. The other chores on the list had mostly to do with laundry and tidying up. She couldn't help but think he was being lenient on her for whatever the reason, she almost didn't want to know the real reason.

Her phone vibrated as she pulled off her ear buds and read the text.

Hey, just checking in. I'm picking up some food for lunch. I hope you like Mexican.
-Barry

Caitlin bit her lip as she answered.

Sure, see you soon.
-Caitlin

Everything OK?"
-Barry

Yeah, everything is fine.
-Caitlin

Awesome. I'll see you soon, it's a short work day.
-Barry

Caitlin put down her phone and looked at the clock briefly. More than half passed eleven. She didn't realize it was basically brunch time and realized her list wasn't completed. Maybe she shouldn't stress finishing so soon. Barry was going to have the next job lined up but she didn't want to disappoint him on practically her first day of chores.

Just take a look at her, stressing about mundane chores. Her father's voice echoed around her anywhere she went. She wasn't used to living without it. Barry didn't strike her as the type of person to expect her to be on same level as her father. She let it go, it was distracting her work momentum.

The house felt bigger when nobody was around, nice, sure, a bit haunting. She began to get uneasy when she checked the time again. Suddenly she was feeling stranger, she was after all, a stranger in this house.

Her cell phone rang just in time, she was thankful who it was.

"Hey," she said to Anya with relief in her voice.

"How are you doing sweetheart? Adele told me you've already moved in. How's it been going?"

Caitlin shrugged, "I guess fine. I haven't had a lot of time with Maggie. It's mostly been chores and stuff."

"Oh, is Maggie not there?"

"No, she's at a day care center. Barry and I were going to pick her up together after lunch."

"Oh? How's everything else?"

"It's alright. Feels weird, being here. I never lived at work before." She pursed her lips and sat on the couch.

"I'm sure it's different for you. Barry appreciates all the help, they do need you there. He already does so much for his little girl."

Caitlin nodded. "I know, he tells me this, I'm trying to make it easier for them. It's only temporary though, right? Until I find something better."

Anya coughed. "Uhm, well, we did agree that this was going to lead to something more permanent. I've been calling around just to see what's out there. I said I would let you know when I've found anything."

"I trust you. I haven't had a second to look. I'm afraid that Brian and his connections are sabotaging whatever opportunities are there for me. I've been there a long time, too long. You know Brian, I told you about what happened."

"I remember honey. Such an awful time, but it shouldn't scare you from getting what you've earned. Even he can't stop that."

Yes he can. "Sure, Barry's coming back soon. Do you wanna call tomorrow maybe? I have a feeling I won't have much time to talk when Maggie comes back."

"Of course, we'll talk then, take care honey."

"Bye Anya." Caitlin clicked off shortly after.

The door opened and she heard bags rustling. "Hello, Caitlin? I'm home."

Barry's muffled voice came through the foyer as she jammed her phone away and walked to where he was in the kitchen. She observed him juggling his brief case bag and the take out food in the other. She came forward and offered to help.

"Wow, this is so nice, thank you." She said as she took the bags off his hands while he placed his work bag on the back chair.

"Oh don't mention it, I almost forgot this place closes early. I usually have it delivered to the office. Hope you like it. I didn't know what you prefer, so I got both meats and a vegetarian just in case."

"Oh, wow, thank you, that's a lot of choices." Caitlin paused before taking the chicken burrito out. "This is good."

Barry nodded and they brought over their food to the table and started to eat.

Moments passed and things were quiet again, why did Caitlin feel like she did at the restaurant last night. She shook her head and wiped her mouth on a napkin. She felt like she should say something, apologize, Barry was the one who apologized, but why? He hadn't done anything wrong. Caitlin was the one who made things uncomfortable...for Barry. The truth was she didn't know what was going on or why she was feeling this way or what exactly she was feeling.

She placed the last portion of burrito in her mouth and washed it down with the drink next to her. Barry was already finished and made eye contact as he grabbed another burrito. She blushed and looked down. He wasn't on to her, but he did gesture to the rest of the food.

"You can have more if you want. Go ahead."

"Oh no, it's OK. I'm good with this one. I liked it very much."

Barry was busy halfway through his second helping when he laughed suddenly. "Sorry, I'm being a pig. I have no manners when I eat, get it from my dad. He was always hungry, not matter what my mother cooked, probably because of how he grew up. He would eat in his sleep if my mother allowed it."

Caitlin returned the laugh, recalling her own family and eating. "My father didn't eat enough. My mom was the complete opposite, she ate everything she could get her hands on but somehow, I don't know, by some miracle, she never gained weight from it. My father could stand to gain a ton. That was the last I remember it. So it's OK, I guess I'm just like him too, we are who we are."

Barry's phone buzzed and he rolled his eyes before seeing the name. Adele. What a way to ruin the moment, he thought. There was no way he was going to answer anyone right now. He turned his phone off and wiped his hands from the salsa that stuck on them.

"Was that important?" Caitlin asked, curiously.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. I usually try but always fail at it to turn my phone off on Saturday mornings. No one ever calls me anyway, or I tell them not to. They still do, it's always some random thing other people can take care of. No worries." He smiled brightly as he watched Caitlin relax.

"Trust me, this one isn't important. Besides, Maggie has another 30 minutes until she gets picked up anyway."

Caitlin looked at the time and blew a big chunk of air she held inside. "Oh, I didn't realize that, I guess I went pretty quickly with the chores. I assumed it would help in case you had more for me to do. I'm sure there's always more. I'm just gonna stop talking. Yeah..."

Barry laughed deep in the pit of his stomach. "Please don't, it's more charming than you realize."

She blushed. "Charming?"

"I mean, yeah, it's funny, cute, whatever, I mean, yeah. We all do it. Like right now. OK now I'm gonna stop."

She sipped her drink and looked at him with a smirk, "Yeah, I see what you mean. It's hard to shake that growing up. I thought it'd be easier, turns out, I just get more annoying, or charming, whatever you say. Rambling. Jeez, it really is hard to stop, isn't it?"

Barry finished the rest of his food and laughed. "I've very entertained here, think we can both agree on that."

Caitlin gathered her wrapper and napkins and stood up but Barry stopped her.

"Let me, I got it." He reached out and she placed the trash in his hands.

She smiled as she watched him throw everything away and clean up the table. She felt awkward. Shouldn't she have helped him? Or just done it herself? Doesn't she work for him?

"Caitlin?" Barry called. She paused and shook her head. "Did you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry, can you say that again?"

Barry filled the tea kettle as he looked at her with a kind smile. "Would you like some tea?"

"Sure, yes. No choice, you pick." He nodded and picked the same one he was having.

It whistled fairly quickly and Barry fixed the tea and brought the mugs over to the table. Things were silent again, Caitlin was curious if Barry was waiting for her to say something. He just stared off, randomly looking at the refrigerator magnets. She felt so guilty. Maybe if she tried to make it right, things will finally relax.

"Barry, I have to say something, about last night..." She spoke gently.

He jerked his head in her direction, "Oh?"

She pressed her mouth in a line and went for it. "I feel so terrible about how I acted, you were...so kind to me. I guess I don't see it often, the support. Maybe I did feel uncomfortable, it's not because of you. I shouldn't have run off like that. It was wrong. I should have taken your jacket, I really was kind of cold. I just...my mind was somewhere else. I guess I don't see kind gestures often. And when I do see them, I get a little afraid. I'm sorry, sounds like I'm making excuses. Please forgive me, I don't want it to be weird either between us."

Barry swallowed slowly. That was a lot of take, he didn't know what to say and he knew she wanted him to say something. But if he said what he really thought, what he really wanted to say, things would get very weird between them.

It was until she placed her hand over his that he cleared his throat.

"Caitlin, everything between us is fine. It's better than fine actually. Trust me." He smiled gingerly and held her hand for reassurance.

The warmth she felt radiated off his skin sent waves of electricity to her heart. It began to race, faster than she thought possible. Her lips parted as Barry locked eyes with her. His thumb circled over her hand slowly, it was getting increasingly hard to focus now for both of them. Her breathing rose to a shallow area and she found herself squeezing his hand in response. Her thoughts were becoming cloudy, Barry's free hand moved her hair from her eyes. She was hiding behind it, like she always did when she felt nervous.

Barry froze, what was he doing? He couldn't, no he shouldn't be doing any of this. When he saw Caitlin moving close he didn't question anything anymore.

The space between them near closed until they pulled apart at the sound of the front door opening. Dropping their hands and returning back to reality; they didn't have time to process what just happened. Caitlin shared a small look with Barry until they heard a strong voice call out.

"Barry? Hello? Are you home?" Adele came rushing in holding Maggie's hand. "Oh, Barry, I sent you texts, did you receive it? I was coming to pick up Maggie instead, I was on the way. I left you messages."

He rubbed his head as he stood up and walked to pick up his daughter. "Sorry, I got sidetracked. Caitlin and I were planning on picking her up. I didn't know. Sorry."

Barry was rambling and Adele looked between them and Caitlin scrambled to think of something to say to save the situation.

"I asked Barry to help me, I still don't know my way around here. It's not his fault."

Barry looked at her, partly shocked, a piercing stare that Caitlin caught but Adele narrowed at her eyes at Caitlin. She didn't look that convinced but dropped it out of courtesy. Caitlin was never going to win with this woman.

"I see, well, anyway, Barry, keep your phone on you at all times. Do it for your daughter. Go on sweetie, go wash up and I'll start dinner."

Caitlin winced as Adele brushed passed her, she just wanted to buried her head in the sand. "Pardon me."

"Caitlin! Hold up." Barry said, following behind her.

She turned around as he caught up with her upstairs. "I'm so sorry about her. You don't have to do that for me. I should have answered that message. If only I..."

"I'm gonna go take care of Maggie." She said, turning away from him and went upstairs.

Barry almost went after her, but now wasn't the time to make a scene. He glared in the direction of the kitchen: Adele, why the hell couldn't she have backed off? That wasn't Adele's style, but that didn't stop Barry from going back to the kitchen and confronting his mother-in-law.

"Who is Maggie's father?"

"Would you grab me a sauce pan so I can begin dinner? I need it for the main course." She asked, ignoring him.

"Answer me? Who's responsibility is she?"

The older woman paid no attention as she gathered the materials and began boiling the water.

"She's mine. And she's also Caitlin's. If I needed your help, I would have called you for it. I don't want to argue with you, these are my rules. You rarely pick up Maggie over the weekend, in fact, prior to the message sent, oh, 10 minutes ago, you hadn't told me you were going to be near Maggie's day care. So I don't care what your reasons are, she's our priority, not yours. Understood?"

Adele sighed heavily and went back to her cooking. "Angela will be home soon. You may not need me or Caitlin anymore, I know you don't want to hear it but I believe she'll be home, with her child, the way it was meant to be. Isn't that what's best for Maggie? For her mother to come home? I know you lie to her, but you're hurting her every time."

"What? What are you saying? Angela's in rehab, she's not coming home. And you know why I do what do. I have to do it."

"You're lying to her, Barry."

"And you're a broken record, I know that. Do I know there's a chance? I don't know. She has to want to change, but even then, too much damage is done and enough time has passed. She can't come back. Not right now. I can't do that to Caitlin. She's amazing. I know you don't care for her—just let me finish." He held his hand up. "Stop getting involved, I'm sick of it. Maggie doesn't need more drama."

Without another word Barry jogged upstairs as he heard two voices in conversation together. He didn't want to bother their moment, but he couldn't help but listen in.

"...and I think mommy's gonna come back. Grandma keeps saying." Maggie spoke, playing with her gaming device as Caitlin sat Indian style near her.

"I hope she does." She said, but it was more solemn than hopeful. "I'm so sorry we didn't pick you up. I'll make sure to do it myself from now on."

"Hmm, OK, Grandma likes doing it. Daddy doesn't always have the time."

"He's here now. Do you want me to call him?"

"No...I just wanna play."

Caitlin's frown came back as Maggie moved away from her. Barry bit his lip, once Maggie was like this, she stayed in this mood. There was nothing Caitlin could do and she realized it in the moment as she stood up and slowly walked away from the situation.

Barry backed out of the hallway and scurried to his room pretending to fiddle with work papers he already read. The door was ajar but he could practically feel Caitlin's soft knock.

"Come in." He said, eyes back on the papers.

Caitlin hesitantly entered his room and briefly looked around. "Maggie wants to be alone."

Barry looked between her and the papers and dropped the act. "Yeah, the subject of her mother does that. She wants her to come back."

She took a seat in the corner and awkwardly crossed her arms. "I see, what do we do?"

He placed the documents away and sighed. "Wait. Maggie will come around. I won't be surprised if she gets fussy at dinner. You don't need to deal with this, it's my problem."

Caitlin nodded and watched his body language. He was nervous, maybe being around him wasn't a good thing for her. She was sitting a good 8 feet from where he was, but it still felt too close. More than she needed right now.

"OK, I'm here if you need me. For everything else...just let me know what to do. Seeing her like this...it's hard. Maybe her mother will come back."

Barry's face turned red. "No!" His outburst startled Caitlin and she immediately stiffened. He winced. "I mean, it's complicated. Adele does this. She brings her up like it's so easy. Like people can just change. Doesn't work that way."

Caitlin's hands were shaking and Barry noticed. She was afraid of him again. She never saw this side of Barry, an anger deep in the abyss of his past surfacing unexpectedly. She began to regret coming in his room, getting involved beyond her pay grade. She was growing too close to the family. It was starting to hit her now, and she wished she could have said no to Anya, her friend, would have never pressured her to take this job.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and emotions she didn't notice Barry coming near her, kneeling to the ground. He slowly reached out and placed his hand over hers. Familiar, comforting, inviting, nurturing. The look in his eyes made her surrender her anger, sink into solace.

"You weren't supposed to know that, I didn't want you involved in this much drama. I'm sorry I overreacted." He squeezed her hand gently.

"I'm sorry if I did anything to—"

"It wasn't anything you did. It's me, it's always me. I tried not to tell you because I didn't want the conflict but Angela—my ex, there's always problems involved. And I can't shield Maggie from any of it anymore. I'm so sorry you're in the middle of this. I don't want this job to be stressful for you. Please understand, also, and I'm not forcing you to, but if you have any questions, what I mean is, if you want to know, just to know, I can tell you."

Caitlin's mouth went dry, was Barry allowing her to know his secrets? Most housekeepers just know more about children and their duties. Anything beyond that was sacred. She'd have to be incredibly trustworthy to be permitted to know beyond what she should. Caitlin held her breath, this was getting too overwhelming.

"You...you trust me that much already?" Caitlin asked, incredulous to believing those words may be true.

"Yeah, I do. You're part of the family, I'm just so sorry you saw that side, it was wrong. None of this has to do with you. I just wish all the past drama was gone, it's just...sometimes it's not. Like now, with Adele here. I apologize for her behavior. She needs to be more respectful."

That being one of many issues among Maggie's mother. Caitlin bit her lip, uncertain of how to solve that one.

"Do you think she will?"

"She has to, or she doesn't see my daughter anymore, she knows that."

Caitlin bit her lip, so much drama in front of her and Barry's pleading eyes staring back at her made this a difficult decision. Is it worth it to stay in all this emotional drama? Did she need more of it? No, absolutely not. But she promised herself whatever good things happen, she was going to commit to it. No matter how hard, how intense it may be. That's life, Anya used to say that. Life is hard, accept it, live with it, make the most of any situation. Barry could have easily picked someone else to help raise his daughter and care take for his home, but he chose her for a reason. Maybe this was that reason. Maybe he saw something in her that was strong, resilient. Someone who can handle anything the world throws at them. She'd never have anyone believe in her like that.

"I'll be honest, it's not been easy so far. But, I promised I wouldn't let you down. You and Maggie, you're all that matters."

Barry's smiled perked up as he took her in his arms, hugging her like he didn't want to let go. "Thank you Cait, thank you so much."

She hugged him back, being this close to him, she was reminded of last night. Those feelings, she didn't know what they were yet. She knew they were strong and intense.

Caitlin reminded herself not to be swayed to stay because of those feelings. When Barry pulled away he stared into her eyes and smiled. He stood up and offered his hand to her. She took it, following him back to the lion's den.