The Nanny

This section of the novel depicts Cassie and Aiden’s “honeymoon phase,” a common convention in contemporary romance novels: Everything starts to go right for the protagonists once they begin their relationship, both emphasizing how well-suited the protagonists are for each other and building tension for the inevitable hardships ahead. When Cassie and Aiden become involved with one another, and particularly once Aiden discovers Cassie’s former online identity, they experience a period of little stress and few complications across most facets of their life. Everyone begins to get along better in these chapters, especially those in more contentious relationships, like Aiden and Iris. Both he and Cassie are shocked when Iris shows up one day with printed photos to show to Sophie. When Iris jokes, “I can be nice […] Sometimes” (271), Cassie is surprised that Aiden laughs, and he starts to look at Iris in a slightly different light from this point on. Though a few of the usual mishaps continue to happen at work, Cassie notices how Aiden seems more at peace once they begin their relationship. His relationship with Sophie also continues to improve as he takes more time off to spend with her. Cassie and Aiden have more confidence in themselves as well as in their relationship, as highlighted by the frequent motif of sex, which represents the passion of their relationship. At the end of Chapter 21, it also appears that the couple is looking toward their future together when Aiden asks Cassie, “It’s not like you’re going anywhere anytime soon […] Right?” (306). This focus on their future emphasizes just how well this time is going for the couple even as it foreshadows a possible rupture ahead.

In this section, Cassie and Aiden also begin to reconcile themselves with their pasts and make progress toward Overcoming Self-Doubt. Initially, Cassie doubts Aiden’s attraction for her because he doesn’t recognize her as Cici. Wanda tells her, “You can’t plan your whole future just because of one bad day from the past” (251). Though Wanda’s advice takes a while to sink in for Cassie, as her relationship with Aiden grows, she starts to look more toward the present and the future than the past. Aiden is shocked when he discovers Cassie is the woman on OnlyFans he knew as Cici. However, his biggest takeaway from this revelation is not that Cassie had kept a secret from him but that she had thought he didn’t care for her. Aiden notes, “All this time I assumed that it was me who had misunderstood things. Has she spent all this time thinking the same thing? […] Had she felt as disappointed when I pulled away as I had been when I thought she’d done the same?” (287). Once Cassie starts to recognize that Aiden did have feelings for her as Cici, and Aiden realizes the same, their connection deepens significantly, and both are far more sure of themselves when they understand that their missed connection was all a misunderstanding. Simultaneously, Cassie and Aiden begin to overcome their past perceptions of themselves as naive and unlovable.

The major theme of The Necessity of Support Systems is emphasized in these chapters of the book as relationships between the primary characters begin to shift. Cassie continues to try to convince Iris that she is welcome around Sophie, often repeating the phrase, “She needs all the love she can get” (99). When she is able to convince Iris to stay for dinner, Cassie is thrilled to see that her plan to increase Sophie’s support system is working, noting, “I realize I’m just grinning like an idiot” (273). Beyond Sophie’s support system, Cassie and Aiden find themselves needing to rely on others in various ways to help them live the lives they want. Everyone is surprised when Aiden begins to take off work and pass some responsibilities on to his sous-chef, but doing so allows him to focus on his relationships with Sophie and Cassie. Similarly, Aiden and Cassie learn to rely on each other in various ways, both professionally and personally. The characters begin to learn just how much can be gained by asking others for support.