Profession

Guests!

"So weird," I agreed, cuddled up on Jon's lap as I told him about the visit. "I still feel weird that visits to the islands don't have to end in tears and depression. So nice!" Jon nuzzled my hair as he shifted me on his lap. I have kind of a bony butt.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, honey," he said. "I like seeing you happy again. Not that you didn't have reasons to not be your usual self." I smiled.

"I like to contribute, and I finally have ways that I can. And my relatives have to acknowledge that it's useful even if it's not what they were expecting. They're surprisingly open-minded." Jon hummed.

"That's what I like about you, Lys. You're attuned to the common good, you want to make your contributions, and I love how you take things that are difficult to deal with and find ways to make something good out of it. Will you laugh at me if I tell you that's why I call you honey? You remind me of a bumblebee; cute and friendly, less sociable than the honeybees but devoted to their colony, they're fast workers, they carry more pollen, are better at cross-pollination, and are resistant to bad weather. Unlike honeybees, they can sting multiple times and not die, but they only sting when truly provoked. They make the best of a bad situation, all that pollen." I started to laugh. He had bad spring allergies.

"Yeah, I'm going to laugh. But that's kind of cute. How do you know all that?"

"I took an intro to bio class in college; we had to research two types of insects, our choice, and compare and contrast them for a little research paper. I like sweets. And you couldn't be sweeter. Even when we disagree, you don't hit below the belt, you try hard to be fair even when the situation is bad. Look at this latest one. You've taken a stand that feels extreme to you, but you're not trash-talking what Derinoe did, you've just taken a principled stand and you're sticking to it."

I was so glad to be home.

And I noticed, when I checked the refrigerator for dinner, that the meals I'd prepared had all been eaten. We went out to eat, and hit the grocery store on the way home to stock up for our guests.

The next day, I was up early to do some last minute housecleaning, making sure that the sheets were fresh and that the bathrooms had towels and stuff. I went out to get flowers and some cookies for the bedside tables, wanting to be a good hostess, and Jon made me breakfast before we went to the airport midmorning to collect his family. The pod dropped us off and we went to the waiting area; we were a little early. The wait wasn't terribly long, however, and soon the Kents came out of baggage claim, and Jon raised his arm and waved. They smiled and came over; Jon got hugs from his family; Lois gave me a hug, Mr Kent shook my hand and patted my shoulder, and his sister gave me an assessing glance before offering her hand. Assessing, not hostile, which I could definitely work with. I called the pod and helped with the luggage. On the way to the house, there was chatter about the trip and Jon and I pointed out landmarks on the way.

The landscaping at home got rave reviews, and Thyra and Langley frisked up to be introduced. Apparently they were still not fully grown, but they were impressive nevertheless, and everybody loves their normal sunny dispositions and soft fur. There were favorable comments about the look of the village, which I liked, and we arrived at the house. "You have some choices to make," I said. "There's a guest suite upstairs, and there's one down here off by the back, so you can decide who gets which." We showed both areas, and Lois and Mr Kent liked the one on the ground floor. Jon took his parents' luggage there and I took his sister Arielle up, pointing out features that she might like to use, like the towel warmer, so useful for cool mornings after night rains, and the entertainment screen in the tub, which I'd had installed after I enjoyed the one in my tub so much.