The Story So Far: The synopsis was easier to do than I'd expected, but only because we'd had a decent go at plotting so far. I think we'll always have to expand on the scenes in the POV grid before the synopsis, so that we're on the same page...at least for novels and novellas.
Doing the synopsis, I moved where we'd thought the break point between Acts Two and Three would fall, because I could see where the weight of the story was lying, and because this story has a longer/slower denouement than usual due to the romantic/sexual content. The reader may not need the 'schmoop' to know what's going on, but they'd be sad without it.
This is something that I keep finding (maybe from now on, I won't be shocked, shocked, I say, by this fact of life) needs balancing when writing romantic stories, especially when most of the schmoop comes toward the end.
It seems to work to interleave the last character steps forward with the romantic content and explicit sex. The end can drag if not done correctly, even without this extra weight. Most of the rationalization/proof for the steps needs to be established already, like working on a puzzle. The character changes in the last scenes should be like placing the final pieces—you know where they go, you've got nothing left to question, but it's satisfying to drop them in place, especially when they bring in the romantic payoff.
ACT ONE:
All James wants is an orderly house and, since the departure of Nanny Andrea, he’s got a comedy of errors on his hands. His personal assistant, Maddy, is no use around the house. She’s helping out by interviewing nannies while James wrangles the kids. Badly. As much as James loves Bianca and Vali, he’s woefully under-equipped to handle two active children who, though they love him as well, are missing their beloved Nanny. When James calls Maddy in a panic—he can’t remember which car seat fits which kid and where they go in his sedan—she’s got someone on the line who just might help.
Working as a paramedic has worn Nico down and he needs a chance to regroup. He’s good with kids and has the presence of mind not to laugh at James’ predicament when Maddy makes their interview a conference call. The in-person interview goes swimmingly—literally, with Nico managing to get everyone out the door to swimming lessons, including James. Nico makes James feel comfortable and James wouldn’t mind being seen in public with a handsome young man like Nico.
Nico moves out of his mother’s house and into the alien world of James’ mansion. It’s hard to leave home, especially since it means leaving his mother alone, but he needs the change. James finds that with Nico around, he can get back to the office and get to work. That is, when he’s not watching the kids—and Nico—on the household monitors. Maddy notices the attraction long before James is willing to admit that it’s there.
ACT TWO:
The lives of James’ children are nothing like the life Nico led as a boy. Still, children are children. Even with a house full of toys and gadgets, nothing entertains on a summer day like a sprinkler on the lawn. Their game of playing frogs leads to begging Nico to take them down to the pond. The pursuit of real frogs ends in mud and duckweed, so Nico runs them back up to the house. James isn’t sure about this messy new development, but the kids are happy and he’s willing to yield to Nico’s wisdom, not just because Nico is appealing on his own merits.
When he should be driving the kids to riding, Nico finds himself playing paramedic to an injured dog. He and James convince the kids that the dog has a family and the vet will get it back home. They have their own family to worry about, and guests to entertain. Nico joins the family for dinner and after, when the kids are in bed and the guests have gone back to the guest house, James can’t resist showing off the new games the guests are here to see.
Enough wine and laughter and Nico doesn’t see anything wrong with kissing James back when James makes a pass at him. James isn’t the type to make rash decisions. What could have been more is cut short with Vali getting sick, then Bianca. The reality of life with children trumps romance for the moment, but the comfort of having someone else there to help isn’t lost on either James or Nico.
ACT THREE:
While James’ little family is getting closer, the dog isn’t so lucky. His original owner won’t pay for the treatments it needed and it can’t be adopted out because of its injuries. Bianca and Vali are still asking about the dog, so James relents and is at least willing to go pay the bills. When he’s there with Nico, he gives in and agrees to bring the dog home; Nico realizes that he’s not just attracted to James, not just comfortable with him, but he genuinely likes who James is.
Harry the dog comes to stay, the house starts feel like a real home, and James finds himself wishing that Nico were more than just the nanny—what’s he going to do when Nico moves on? When he and Nico have a bit of privacy, except for the dog they’re bathing, James kisses him just once, and it’s even better than the kisses they shared before.
Nico can’t get James out of his head when he leaves for his days off. His old night club games don’t hold any charm, not next to the idea of a night with James. The time off is cut short for the wrong reasons, James’ father has had a heart attack and James needs him home. Even though he has to send James off, it’s good to be home.
The trip away gives James the time to realize that he’s stopped seeing Nico as a nanny. Nico’s become a friend and James needs his support. When James gets home again, Nico is there to meet him, and they finally make it into bed but James wakes up alone—Nico is back in the children’s wing. A nanny is not an on-call bed-mate and James is a better man than that. With the children’s permission, he takes Nico out on a date. When they end up back in James’ bed again, James asks Nico to stay for good.
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