A Life Less Than Ordinary

Grace Visits The Steele Family

Grace
I drag my family over to meet the neighbors finally. Mia had a hand in that when she discovered the girls were her age. I guess our housekeeper met an assistant to Mrs Steele's assistant and she mentioned Mia saw they had two girls there and would love to meet them. So here we are a scheduled appointment with the Steele household. I bring a gift for them, I just had no idea what to bring to a complete stranger's home. So I just bring a couple of potted rose trees. The boys hated having to carry them. Mia is bouncing up and down excitedly as we wait for the door to be answered. I didn't expect the lady answering the door to be younger than I am. She is a widow and and a grandmother. She definitely started young. Jane Steele us not what I expected her to be at all. She is not the gold digging type people portrayed her to be. The three children were introduced to us and we were asked to come in and meet the rest of her household. Eloise is her right hand lady and then we met her assistants. Then she introduces us to different people three were caretakers and three tutors to get the kids ready for school in the fall. Her attorney was there as well. She works at home and the attorney is on call. She already knows who we are and what we do. She recognized Carrick immediately. He grinned at the children and they smiled back, but hid behind Jane and Eloise.
Christian
I knew exactly who Jane Steele is and Eloise as well. She is more than her right hand woman. She is basically her COO. But she earns much more than a COO does. She is a billionaire in her own right. She was Adam Steele's assistant when he became a widow and then married Jane. The newspaper articles were hurtful and really had no remorse about chewing her up and spitting her out. When she had their only son, the news people nearly caused the death of both mother and child blocking their entrance into the ER just to get a story. They won a settlement after she had to have a c section and due to delay in treatment she had to have a total hysterectomy. It was a landmark case against  all the newspapers. Kavanagh Media lost everything and no one has heard from him. His wife disappeared and not much is known about where he is at this point. He inherited it and lost it in a year. A few others also lost their companies. Adam Steele and Jane Steele never recovered from that event. They never gave interviews or released any information about anything they do. No wonder we saw nothing more about them. They pretty much own all the media in Seattle.
Elliott
You must be deep in thought about the Steele's empire, but food us being served and we need to wash our hands after carrying the rose trees to the back yard. We go where instructed, wow this house is a child's paradise. Someone was thinking of what a child would be able to access. They have a room for electronics and it has a schedule on a chalkboard for each hour of the day.
Eloise
Nice isn't it? Staff are allowed to play in there as well. Visitors come over to play too. But we put the children first here. Even at your age you go ahead if the adults,
Carrick
That is. Great room, we could use that in pediatrics. She says okay wait here. She steps into an office and hands me a check and a phone number and tells me to call her and hand her the check and say to create the Steele play area in the pediatric ward.
Eloise
Don't worry I have full autonomy to donate this for this purpose. I just have to balance the checkbook daily.
Grace
Wow that room costs that much?
Eloise
No, that is for expanding the pediatric ward so you can create the space for the designer to install it in. We noticed your pediatric wards was limited in space. We were trying to talk to administrators and they just wouldn't do anything for the pediatric ward. I am hoping you being there you could assure this goes for it's intended purpose. As you see those are things they increase children's education. I lead them into the room and they are amazed at it all. Education can be fun and these are games created by Mrs Steele. Most don't know she was an IT genius and still is one. That is how Adam met her. Nerdy and all they fell in love over a new game she created for educational purposes.
Carrick
Can our children come over sometimes?
Jane
Of course but they have to abide by the schedules. I see you have learned my secrets. Here call this number he can get you my latest for older children tell him I said set it up as a gift. Give him your children's ages and where you would like it set up. The patent just got back, so manufacturing has only started, so you will have first off the lines. Let's eat everything is set up outside under the canopy.
Grace
We head out to the table and I notice the three children eat every bite of their food and ask for seconds. Mia however doesn't like the brussel sprouts, they don't put them on her plate and they don't put things on our plate that we don't like. Jane explains that sometimes they eat them and sometimes they don't. Rather than waste food she allows this. She eats everything and always has. So she makes snacks out if the left overs.
Carrick
What kind of snack do you make out of brussel sprouts. She describes dipping them in batter mixed with a variety of cheeses and baking them in the oven. Then she uses dressing as a dipping sauce. Everything tastes better like that.
Grace
We invite them over for a bbq and maybe go out in the boat.
Jane
We will look forward to that. The children are happy, well the girls are. Ethan not so much until Carrick said he would teach him to fish. He was happy then.