Profession

Forward progress

A/N: I dunno, maybe it's Christmas making me all sentimental. Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season!

Jon and I had date night when Arie went to babysit. Dinner and a movie, followed by a carriage ride and a stroll through the cold night air in Central Park. While the park could be dangerous at night, walking with Superboy insured that it couldn't be safer for me. And the moon was almost full; it was romantic. The lack of obvious other people perambulating made it feel like we were the only two people  on the planet, a welcome gift. Aside from an attempted mugging, that is. But Jon squooshed the guy's gun like it was softened butter; I didn't even have time to drop his arm from where my hand had been resting in the crook of his elbow before the guy scuttled off. I tucked my other hand around, like I was sort of hugging his arm.

"My hero," I sighed, looking up and batting my lashes. He laughed. "It's so nice not to have to worry about the criminal element as we stroll through a dangerous neighborhood."

"I'm romantic like that," he nodded. "I hate to have date night interrupted by irritating crooks." His voice turned soft and fond. "It's such a beautiful night, and I have the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the city as my date."

"You say the sweetest things," I said, smiling. "You're definitely getting laid tonight." He burst out laughing.

But this plan was postponed briefly; Arie got home about the same time we did and I wanted to debrief. She seemed happy, not an emotion I usually used to describe time spent out at the mansion, but a nice change. Derinoe and Grant had paid very well, Demi was undemanding, and she'd had a calm and pleasant evening reading a book from the library. She was open to further babysitting engagements. "The baby is so cute," she enthused.

"You want one for yourself?" her brother ribbed her. She smacked his arm.

"First I need to decide on a college major," she said, and we laughed. Reassured that all had gone well, Jon and I went upstairs.

The next week, I met Derinoe for lunch at the Automat. It was Grant's day with Demi, and I was pretty darned surprised to find that I missed seeing her. Derinoe couldn't have been happier with Arie and was hoping to arrange another evening soon. "I'm still repairing things with Grant too," she said as she sipped soup. "He's had a rough time with me, and I'm working to be the woman that he thinks I can be, that is inside me. It's a challenge sometimes, bad habits and all, but..."

"You like a challenge," I said, and she flashed her smile at me. "How's the hunt for a new butler going?"

"Not well," she said, face falling into a pensive attitude. "There was one woman, but she's more of a housekeeper than a butler. Terrific cook, French trained, very maternal, Alfred thinks very highly of her skills. And while I liked her a lot, I didn't feel like I could tell her about the cave. It seemed definitely above what she is looking for in an employer. Finding the right candidate is going to take time. There was one man who could have been brought along, but Dari had--not a negative or bad feeling, but... reservations. And he'll have to work closely with whoever we bring on board, so his opinions must be considered carefully."

"I was surprised to see the dust on the upper floors," I said, and she nodded.

"I feel like I've let the family, the legacy, down. Standards have slipped, and that's on me. In some ways it's really freeing to have the house to ourselves, not to worry about other eyes on us, but at the same time, sometimes I feel like it's the house against us, like when we had a plumbing problem. I'm smart, Grant's smart, but we don't have the kind of smarts to triumph over practical challenges. And I'm not romanticizing our childhood, that wouldn't be truthfully possible, but looking back, the house itself always seemed warm and welcoming to me. Alan kept it clean and well maintained, as welcoming as it could have been under our parents. As much as I bitched about the remote location, it's always been home." She tore her roll into pieces. "So I guess you would have seen my old room." I couldn't help myself.