As promised, Harry and I went exploring the next day. There was a door from the living room that led outside to a deck overlooking the ocean. Below the deck, one stepping stone path led straight down to the water while a few others led into the woods. There was a small sign pole with different arrows, pointing to a variety of destinations: Harry's Tree House, Swimming Pool, Playground, and Pacific Ocean. For the amount of neglect that the poor boy had seemingly suffered, someone paid a lot of attention to making the place fun and luxurious for him.

We could see the upper terrace of the main house off to our right and high above us. I found it strange that it didn't have steps down to the paths or to the ocean like the deck outside Harry's quarters did, or even connecting the terrace to Harry's quarters. I wondered if Theodore or any of his staff ever took the time to venture out into the woods or down to the waterfront. Did the man even know how to have fun?

"Where do you want to go first?" I asked Harry.

"Playground," he beamed, clasping his hands together.

"Okay, you lead the way," I instructed. I followed Harry, chuckling as I watched him bound over the uneven path with pigeon-toed footsteps. He was long and gangly and the way he moved made it seem like he hadn't adjusted to his grown up body yet. Of course, lack of muscle coordination was common with mental disability as well.

We arrived at a clearing with an unbelievable playground, at least half an acre of climbing walls, monkey bars, swings, slides, and a large trampoline, all fashioned from various types of wood to make the area blend in with its surroundings.

"Race ya!" Harry called, taking off towards a set of steps that led to a wooden tower. I ran after him but he was really fast, even with his feet practically tripping him along the way. He sped up the steep staircase and I followed, arriving seconds behind him. "Look," he said pointing to three different rope bridges that fanned out from the tower. I hadn't seen them before as they were well camouflaged. "We can go through the ca...capony...no canopy," he said, struggling to get the right word. "We can go to my tree house!"

"Okay, let's do that after you show me all of the playground," I suggested.

He nodded excitedly and took off on a zipline from the tower to a lower platform about twenty yards away, his long body dangling like an overgrown monkey. I couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. Thankfully, there was a safety net below in addition to a soft-looking sand pit under that. "Can you send it back to me?" I called and he flung the zipline handle back up to where I stood. I zipped down to where he was standing, laughing crazily at the fun we were both having. It had been too long since I had just let loose like this.

"You did good, Nanny Jules!" Harry cheered.

After we jumped on the trampoline and swung across the monkey bars, he led me back up to the tower. "This way to my tree house," he gasped, running out of breath but not enough to even think about stopping for a rest.

The rope bridges were surrounded on all sides by military-type netting so there was no chance of us falling - which was also why I hadn't seen them at first - but the trek was still full of adrenaline since we were high above the ground. When the tree house came into view, I sucked in a huge amount of air and breathed out, "holy shit."

"Nanny Jules, you said a swear!" Harry giggled.

"Oops, sorry," I laughed. "I'm just surprised. Your tree house is fantastic!" It was more like a tree lodge with several smaller tree houses planted at different heights in the trees, all joined together by the enclosed rope ladders.

"It's okay," he giggled again. "I won't tell anyone." He took off towards the highest tree house and once again, I raced after him.

When we got to the top, he flipped on some lights and although it was daytime, I could imagine the magical effect it would have at night. The entire tree house was surrounded with windows looking out over the other trees and there was the smallest sliver of an opening so that we could see all the way to the water. There was a day bed packed with pillows and fairy lights strung over it, a bookshelf stuffed full of books, and a tiny fireplace.

"Do you ever build a fire up here?" I asked, noticing the place was even equipped with a smoke detector. He shrugged and then shook his head, but he kept a smile on his face. I didn't ask for further details; probably one of his bitchy nannies again telling him it wasn't safe. "This is magnificent, Harry. I can see why you like it so much."

I turned towards Harry and he was practically shaking with excitement, a silly grin playing at his lips. Then he lunged towards me and hugged me, ever so briefly. When he pulled away, he said, "Sorry. Don't get mad."

"Why would I get mad?" I asked.

"Nannies don't hug," he answered sadly.

I was livid. I placed my hands on my hips and demanded, "Who told you that?"

"Nannies," he answered, not naming any specific one. I couldn't believe the things he was telling me. Had he really been neglected and mistreated all this time? I knew that his father was not an affectionate man, and I doubted that he even spent any real time with Harry. It sounded as if Harry had actually been raised by a series of selfish nannies who hadn't given one single thought to the needs of a child.

"Harry," I said very strongly. "You can hug me any time you want to. People need hugs; hugs are good for us." His cheeks raised in just the hint of a smile and he looked at my shyly. "You want to hug me again, don't you?"

He nodded and lunged at me again, wrapping his gangly arms around my shoulders and almost knocking me over in the process. "Careful," I chuckled and he righted himself but he didn't let go. I returned the hug, squeezing tightly and not letting go until he did.

Finally, he pulled back and happily said, "I love you, Nanny Jules."

I smiled warmly at the adorably sweet man-child before me. "I love you, too, Harry. And how about, from now on, you forget all the rules the other nannies have told you. We'll come up with rules that are good for you, okay?"

He hugged me again and said, "Mmhm."

After making our way down from the treehouse, we had a big lunch since we were both pretty hungry from our morning exploration. After lunch, we put on our swimsuits and Harry led the way once again. I followed him along a short path to the north of the house, an area obscured by the trees that also hid the house from the main road. There was a huge collection of limestone rocks and Harry approached a gate that was very much locked.

"How do we get in?" I asked. "I don't know where the key is."

Harry gave me a mischievous smile and said, "I know." He punched a few numbers into the code box and the gate unlatched.

"You stinker," I giggled. "Just make sure you always have a buddy when you go swimming. Don't ever go without me, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed with a smile.

His "personal" pool was large and flat, but with enough depth at one end to have a slide. It was completely hewn from limestone rock and the effect was stunning. I couldn't believe there was such luxury for just one boy, but again, I was glad to know that someone had at least paid attention to his comfort and fun. I knew there was another pool much closer to the main house, accessible from one of the terraces, probably for the use of the adults only, knowing Theodore. I briefly wondered who took care of all the grounds and the pool since they appeared to be very well maintained.

The rest of the day was spent swimming, laughing, and hugging. I might have ended up in this place by accident, but I was already quite convinced that Harry needed me and I had every intention of staying and being his teacher, nanny, advocate and friend.

* * * * *

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