The Visit

A Round Robin

Part Nine

by

Brit and KathyB
(brit_cass@hotmail.com) and (kathyb@lcfanfic.com)

Niles let himself into CC's apartment, dragging his suitcase in behind him. He'd spent the morning doing a little light cleaning and straightening around the penthouse, and then had stopped at the market for groceries, just as he'd promised his new roommate. Visiting the townhouse and packing his belongings this afternoon, however, had taken longer than he'd expected, and he knew he was a little behind on dinner preparation. Fortunately, Miss Babcock would be at the theater for at least a few more hours -- she and Mr. Sheffield never returned home before eight o'clock on rehearsal days -- so he should have plenty of time to prepare a meal so wonderful she'd never want him to leave.

At least, that was the plan. If part one of his quest to get CC to see him as a potential mate was establishing that he was no longer a servant, then part two was making sure she was so enthralled by his domestic skills that she'd begin to see him as an essential part of her life. Contradictory, maybe ... but then, so was everything about their relationship.

The sound of tiny paws clicking against the wooden floors caught Niles' attention and he smiled as he saw Chester scurrying down the hallway towards him. "Hey there, buddy," he greeted the little dog cheerfully, reaching down to scratch him behind the ears. "Sorry I was gone so long. Have you been crossing your little paws?"

Chester barked in response, but instead of heading to the terrace door, he began sniffing curiously at the suitcase.

Niles watched him, frowning. "If you lift your leg on that, I'll personally make sure you'll lose the ability to ever do it again ... though I recall your mistress took care of the worst part of that threat a couple years ago."

The dog simply whimpered, and began to paw at the bag.

"Ah, I bet you smell Miss Fine!" Niles realized, smiling as he removed his coat. "Yes, that's where I was, but she's not in there. Sorry to disappoint you. Now do you have to go outside or not? I'm not walking you again, at least not until after dinner, so if you have to go, this is the time to do it." Niles turned to hang up his coat in the closet, realizing only belatedly that he'd dropped one of his gloves in the process.

Chester, however, noticed immediately. The suitcase forgotten, he pounced on the dark leather, snatching it up before Niles could get to it.

"Hey!" Niles exclaimed, trying to grab it back. "You dumb mutt. Give me back my glove."

Instead of complying, the dog turned and ran, heading back down the hall from where he had come.

Niles took off quickly in pursuit. "Damn it, Chester! Those are expensive!"

So intent was Niles on following that it didn't register at first that Chester was leading him through CC's bedroom and into her bathroom. Until, that was, he burst through the slightly opened door and heard a loud shriek. Niles skidded to stop, his eyes growing huge as he realized that CC had obviously arrived home early ... and had decided to take a bubble bath.

CC threw her arms up over her chest, frantically hiding herself beneath the bubbles. "Niles, you pervert! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The action only served to remind him of what was just beyond his view. The bubbles were thick enough to cover everything, but CC's fumbling kept revealing hints of skin that had Niles' eyes riveted to the tub. It was only when she flung a handful of water at him that he finally regrouped. "Don't blame me! Your stupid dog stole my glove and led me in here. I didn't even know you were home yet!"

"Well, now that you do know, how about getting OUT?" She thrust her arm out towards the door for emphasis, only to discover that the action threatened to reveal exactly what she'd been trying to hide.

Niles grinned as she fumbled to cover herself up again, suddenly realizing that he was totally in the catbird seat. "What's the matter, Babs? I'd think you'd be thrilled to finally get a man in the same room with you when you're naked ... without the 'screaming in horror' part, I mean."

She glared at him. "You'll be screaming in horror when I get through with you ... and missing a few parts that you and your left hand have grown fond of."

His eyes danced as he leaned back against her vanity, crossing his legs at the ankle to get comfortable. "Maybe you should come over here and say that. Come on, Babcock, I dare ya."

CC groaned in frustration and sank back into the tub. "What do you want, Niles?"

He made a show of considering his options. "Gee, the first time I have you cornered and I don't even know where to begin."

"How about the door?"

"Aww, you're no fun. Besides, I'm not leaving until I get my glove back." With a wink, Niles turned to look at Chester, who had dropped the item between his front paws but was clearly guarding it carefully. Niles shut the bathroom door, cutting off the dog's escape route, then crouched down, pasting a fake smile on his face. "Come here, Chester," he purred. "Be a good boy and give me my glove, and I'll make sure you get something extra yummy in your dog bowl tonight."

CC rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, like he's going to fall for that."

Niles got on his hands and knees and began to inch forward slowly. "Of course he is," he cooed, still imitating the exaggerated baby talk he often heard Miss Fine use with the dog. "Because he's just a dumb dog and I'm going to show him who's boss ... yes, I am ..." As soon as he got into range, Niles lunged forward, only to end up face first on the fluffy bathmat as Chester snatched up the glove at the last second and easily scampered out of the way.

CC burst out laughing. "Wow, you really showed him who's boss, Niles. You're all man."

"Well, now there's two of us in the room," he shot back.

She smirked knowingly, sliding over and crossing her arms on the edge of the tub to watch the show. "Given the way you've been eyeing my bubbles since you walked in here, I guess that says more about you than it does about me."

Niles flushed, knowing he'd been caught. "In your dreams, Babcock."

"Mmm-hmm. I'm sure a stupid glove is that important to you. Who cares if the dog has it? Just buy another pair!"

"Those are $200 gloves!" Niles sputtered in defense. "Butter soft deer skin ... with rabbit fur lining!"

CC let out a small gasp. "Imported from Italy?"

"You better believe it, baby."

She closed her eyes and shivered. "Whoa."

Niles did a double take at the sudden huskiness in her voice and decided to file that information away for later. Right now, he had a dog to take care of. Standing up, he began searching around on CC's vanity, looking for something he could use.

"Excuse me!" she exclaimed indignantly. "That's private!"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I didn't know you wear make-up. Besides, it's not like I won't be able to poke around in here every time I clean." He gave her a wink. "Roommates don't keep secrets, right?"

CC groaned. "I knew having you here would be a bad idea."

"Oh, quit complaining. I've found what I was looking for anyway." He took a handful of cotton balls and knelt on the floor facing Chester. The little dog just eyed him suspiciously, and kept the glove firmly in his mouth.

"There's no way he's going to give it up."

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, Babcock. Now hush." He sweetened his tone as he addressed the dog, trying to get him worked up. "Chester, look what I have ... do you see this? Do you?" He moved the cotton around quickly, catching the dog's attention. Chester's ears perked up and he dropped the glove, watching the odd balls with interest.

Niles pretended to throw the cotton to Chester, pulling it back at the last moment each time. The dog's paws were still on the glove, but his eyes were becoming fixated on what Niles was doing. Finally, inching closer and closer, Niles tossed the cotton over Chester's head, making sure some of the little balls landed on his back.

On cue, the little dog whipped his head around to see what had hit him, and Niles grabbed for the glove. Chester turned back to protect his prize, but he was too late.

Niles gave a shout of triumph as he held the dark leather up. "Victory!"

CC laughed out loud. "I can't believe that worked."

They grinned at each other in celebration, but it wasn't long before Niles' gaze dropped once more to survey the bubbles covering her body. Her hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail and her face was dewy and pink from the heat of the tub ... but to him, she looked absolutely gorgeous. He cleared his throat. "I had good incentive."

She must have suspected the direction of his thoughts because when he met her eyes once again, her expression had turned more speculative. She began to provocatively push the bubbles around with her fingers, and despite his best efforts, Niles couldn't help but watch. "Maybe you're more of a man than I thought," she finally commented, her tone taking on a tinge of amusement.

"Excuse me?"

"The glove," she clarified, the self-satisfaction on her face making it clear she knew exactly where his thoughts had gone. "I guess you really did show Chester who was boss, after all."

He leaned back against the vanity again, giving her a slow smile. She'd caught him looking, and to his delight, didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it. "Well, quality leather is worth fighting for."

She chuckled. "If Chester ever goes after my sheepskin coat, I'll know who to call."

"My pleasure," he answered smoothly. "So what brings you home so early today? You're completely messing up my dinner plans, you know. I wasn't expecting you for a couple more hours."

"Well, as comfortable as you've made yourself here, this *is* still my home. I had a headache so Maxwell let me leave early. I figured a hot bath might help me relax."

Niles raised an eyebrow at the partially full highball glass that was sitting on the edge of the tub. "Sure it wasn't the stiff drink that did the trick?"

Picking up the glass, CC watched his reaction as she seductively ran the edge over her exposed skin before taking a long sip of the liquid inside. "Well, a girl does need something stiff," she commented, batting her eyes innocently.

"True enough." Niles felt his body react to her blatant flirting and knew he was in danger of revealing more of his feelings for her than he'd intended. "But your modesty might be best kept intact if I leave. It seems your bubbles are fading."

CC's mouth turned up into a playful smirk. "My, my ... the big, bad butler can handle the heat in the kitchen, but when it gets turned up a notch in the bathroom, he has to take his leave. I guess I should have known."

"Oh, I could show you more than you could handle," he assured her.

"That's some pretty big talk."

He shot her a wolfish grin. "Well, when the talk fits ..."

As he'd hoped, her eyes widened and she swept her gaze over his pants, blushing as she caught herself. "I- I think someone has an over-inflated ego," she fumbled.

Niles allowed himself one long last look at her body before forcing himself to open the bathroom door. "It's directly related to the fading bubbles," he admitted with a wink. "Which is why I'm going to start dinner now. I'll see you when you get out."

"Chicken," she teased.

Niles laughed out loud as he pulled the door shut behind him. In that moment, he felt so happy, he didn't even care that he was leaving without making the obvious joke.

*****

CC took a deep breath as she stood in front of her bedroom door, trying to calm the butterflies that had mysteriously taken up residence in her stomach as she prepared to head into the dining room. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she was so nervous about having dinner with Niles.

She'd kept up a running conversation with herself the entire time she'd been getting ready after her bath, mentally reiterating that it had been ridiculous to spend so much time trying to get her hair just right ... and that there'd been absolutely no need to change her outfit three times in order to find the most flattering one. And she certainly hadn't needed to work so hard to ensure her make-up gave her that naturally flawless look.

Checking her appearance in the mirror one last time, CC forced herself to relax. She looked good ... casual, relaxed, even a little sexy in her best designer jeans and fitted button-down shirt, unbuttoned just low enough to hint at what was underneath. She certainly didn't look like she'd dressed with him in mind. That would have been silly, after all.

"It's not a date; it's not a date," she muttered to herself as she finally exited the room. She knew it wasn't, but it sure as hell felt like one.

Maybe it was the way Niles had been openly flirting with her in the bathroom? He certainly hadn't been hiding his appreciation for her body, which was most definitely new for them. Not that she hadn't caught him looking at her many times over the years ... and there'd been numerous occasions when she'd caught a flicker of what could only be described as lust in his eyes when he hadn't realized she'd been looking. But he'd always followed the look with a particularly nasty insult or prank, which had convinced her she'd been imagining things.

There had been no insults today, however. Teasing banter, yes, but the real insults ... well, come to think of it, she hadn't experienced any of those since Niles had arrived on her doorstep last night. They'd needled each other, certainly, but it had been different somehow. More like how it used to be, years before ... back when they'd first known each other, back when Sara was alive. Back before CC had begun pursuing Maxwell romantically.

CC froze in the middle of the empty living room, struck by the sudden realization. Was that really when things had changed between them? Sure, even in those early days, she'd always found Niles rude, obnoxious, and distasteful ... but in a good way. She liked to pay grand lip service to how much she hated him, but there was no doubt that she'd enjoyed their constant jousts back then. And she was certain that Niles had felt the same way.

It was only in the years after Sara had died that he'd begun to get truly nasty with her ... and things had only gotten worse when Nanny Fine had appeared on the scene, forcing CC to step up her own pursuit of her partner. She'd never put the two events together in her mind before, but now that she thought about it, that *was* when Niles had begun to go on the offensive every time she walked into the room. Almost as if he'd been angry with her ... or resentful ... or jealous?

CC brought her hand up to cover the gasp that escaped at the thought. "No," she whispered to herself. "That's impossible. Isn't it?"

"What's impossible?"

The sound of Niles' voice caused CC to jump. She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't heard him approach from the kitchen. "Uh ... it's, uh, impossible that a dinner you made could smell so good!" she covered quickly, hoping against hope that the blush she felt rising on her cheeks wasn't obvious.

"Well, Chester seemed to like it. I let him lick your steak before I put it under the broiler."

She gave him an overly sweet smile. "Then I'll just be sure to take yours."

Niles chuckled. "Darn, I knew I should have marked them better."

They grinned at each other for a moment, and it was only then CC realized that Niles had changed his clothes, just as she had. Clad in a pair of tan chinos and a long sleeved navy polo shirt, he, too, looked casual and relaxed ... and more than a little sexy.

She swallowed, trying to force the thought from her mind. He hadn't dressed for her any more than she'd dressed for him. To think otherwise was ridiculous. "So, steak, huh? I was wondering why the smoke alarm was going off."

"Ha ha, very funny. I just pulled everything out and it's all done perfectly. In fact, I was just coming to see if you were ready. We should eat before it gets cold."

CC followed him to the table, smiling despite herself as she pulled her gaze from his backside to look at the steaming serving dishes. "You made mashed potatoes? God, I can't remember the last time I've had those."

Niles held her chair for her, then he took the seat across from hers after she sat. "I seem to remember they were your favorite, once upon a time."

"Yeah, back when I was in my twenties and could eat them without getting fat! I'm going to need to hit the gym twice as often next week to work this meal off, I just know it."

He chuckled as he spooned a little of everything onto their plates. "Maybe you can go with me next time I walk Chester. We'll all get our exercise."

"That could work," she agreed, watching as he poured them each a glass of wine. "So what did you do today?"

They chatted amicably while they ate, the first time CC could ever remember them doing so, at least for so long. It felt a little strange, she decided, as she listened to him talk, but there was no denying the smile that seemed permanently affixed to her face.

Had she just never realized how animated Niles could be while telling a story? Did the fact that he no longer worked for Maxwell really make such a difference in how she saw him? Or was it that she was finally being allowed to see the real Niles -- a relaxed, happier Niles -- for the first time in years? Whatever the reason, she found she was enjoying his company more than she ever would have thought possible.

"So anyway, after all that, I picked up an extra cheesecake for our dessert," he finished with a laugh. "Hopefully, it will be worth all the work I put into it."

"What work? You just walked down to the deli and bought it. Oh, I get it ... having to spend a couple hours listening to Nanny Fine constitutes the work."

He shot her a chastizing look, then grinned. "Well, that is one difference between here and the house ... we might actually have leftovers which last more than a few hours."

CC laughed out loud. "You know, I think I could get used to you living here, Butler Boy."

He winked at her as he began clearing the table. "I'm glad to hear it. As strange as it sounds, I'm kind of liking it myself."

Trying to ignore the fluttery feeling his warm tone brought out, she gave him a little smirk as she picked up the remaining empty plates, and followed him into the kitchen. "Don't sound so shocked, Niles. I'm not as bad as you always make me out to be, you know."

He took the dirty dishes from her and expertly loaded them into her dishwasher. "Obviously. You just helped me clean up." He smirked back, clearly pleased by what he'd gotten her to do.

CC flushed. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it ... you're still the domestic around here."

"Houseguest," he corrected.

She raised her best challenging eyebrow and arched towards him. "Scullion."

Niles' gaze grew more intense as he stepped closer. "Roommate."

She stepped closer still, feeling the heat between them as their eyes locked. "Lackey."

"Friend," he murmured as he covered her mouth with his own.

The feel of his lips against hers was so delicious, it nearly caused CC's knees to buckle. Fortunately, Niles' arms were instantly around her, holding her up. Winding her arms around his neck, she deepened the kiss, whimpering her approval as Niles pressed their bodies together. The kiss went on forever, growing even more passionate, and they were each breathing hard when they finally pulled apart.

Niles rested his forehead against hers, gasping for air. "Wow," he panted. "That was even better than the last time."

CC chuckled and began nibbling her way up his neck. Their heated clinch from the year before had been running through her mind, too, and it was nice to know he seemed to be sharing her thoughts. "Because there's no one here to interrupt us this time?"

Niles moaned appreciatively as she captured his earlobe between her teeth. "Actually, I was thinking it was because we're sober ... nothing to cloud the memories."

She gave a throaty purr as she felt his hands cup her backside. "I definitely think we can make some incredible memories tonight," she said seductively, tonguing the faint stubble along his jaw line.

He captured her mouth possessively in response to her words, his elicit kiss and wandering hands making no secret of his hunger for her, but when she began tugging his shirt out from his pants, Niles suddenly pulled back. "CC, wait," he breathed. "We can't."

She raised an amused eyebrow as she rubbed against clear evidence to the contrary. "Oh, I think we can ..."

Niles made a sound somewhere between a moan and a laugh, but he took another half-step back. "No, I mean ... we shouldn't. I won't. Not tonight."

CC furrowed her brow in confusion. Her body was still humming from the amazing kisses and touches he'd been giving her, and he was clearly as aroused as she was ... yet he was stopping? "What are you talking about? We have all the time in the--" As she took in his apologetic expression, however, her cheeks began to burn with humiliation. "Oh my God, you set me up. This was all a joke to you." With a gasp, she tried to break away from his touch.

His arms quickly tightened around her, pulling her back against him, preventing her from turning away. "No!" he said fervently. "CC ... don't think that. Don't ever think that. I can understand why you would, but I promise you, that's not why I stopped."

She glared at him. "Don't try to tell me you have some old war injury, Niles. Not unless that's a hand grenade I'm feeling against my thigh."

He smiled at her description. "I'm going to take that as a compliment. But no. The reason I stopped is because you deserve better." His expression softened and he reached up to stroke her cheek. "I told you earlier, you need to know there is someone out there who wants more from you than just a roll in the hay ... someone who respects you enough to take things slow. And I need to show you that."

Her jaw dropped as she remembered their breakfast conversation. "This is about this morning?"

"Yes. I meant what I said about that, CC ... you deserve better than someone who is only after one thing. So I'm going to prove to you that I'm not."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You're saying you like me too much to have sex with me?"

He blushed. "Well, something like that."

CC considered this. She had to admit, it was kind of novel for her ... and certainly never something she'd have expected from Niles. And it was kind of charming, in an annoying kind of way. "So ... where does that leave us for tonight?"

"I was thinking we could have our dessert out in the living room. Maybe watch a movie? Or just... talk some more?"

As she took in his hopeful expression, CC couldn't help but smile. "OK ... but that cheesecake you bought better be worth it!"

*****

Fran stared into the dancing flame of the candle and sighed again. He wasn't coming. It was almost ten o'clock at night and although she'd ordered his favorite Chinese food for dinner and set a beautiful table for two, Mr. Sheffield hadn't come home, leaving her to spend the evening by herself. She speared the final piece of chicken from her plate and began chewing it slowly as her thoughts returned to the afternoon she'd spent with Niles.

Good to his word, Niles had taken her for cheesecake while he filled her in on a few things she might want to do around the house before her Aunt Rose arrived, as well as what still needed to be done before the kids came back from camp. While they'd picked up a few things at the market, she'd grilled him some more about his future plans, hoping to get him to commit to coming back to be their butler, but he wouldn't promise anything until he had worked through some things with Miss Babcock.

She didn't understand what Niles saw in Miss Babcock. Oh, sure, she was beautiful and wealthy and confident and successful and... OK, so she could admit that Miss Babcock had a lot of fine qualities, but she was also arrogant, selfish, snobbish, and delusional. With her constantly throwing herself at Mr. Sheffield all this time, she wasn't sure if she would even give Niles a chance, though she'd be a fool not to. He was a hell of a friend and a terrific catch - he could cook, clean, and dance like Fred Astaire, for God's sake!

Still, her heart felt lighter because of the time they'd spent together; not only did she enjoy his company this afternoon, but now that she knew where he was staying, she was no longer worried about his safety. She snorted in disbelief at that thought. Safe? At Miss Babcock's? Well, at least he had a warm place to sleep.

Fran shook her head, still not able to wrap her mind around the concept of Niles and Miss Babcock together. If Niles was right, and they'd both been fighting their attraction for one another all these years, then right now they were closer to finding romance than she was. In fact, after spending the past three and a half years working at the Sheffield's, she was no closer to finding a companion than she was when she walked out of Danny's bridal shop.

When she and Niles had arrived back at the townhouse, they'd joked around while she helped him pack a bag. He kept trying to turn the conversation to her and Mr. Sheffield, encouraging her not to give up on him and to be patient that he would come around. She didn't think that would happen, but his words had been a comfort. At the same time, she told him to make sure he took his leopard briefs and suggested several ways Miss Babcock could ‘accidentally' see him in them.

Fran sighed again, standing to clear her dishes. She didn't realize how lonely she'd been feeling until Niles' visit, but she loved Niles and wanted him to be happy. If leaving to start a new life with Miss Babcock would make him happy, she would support him, but the thought left her feeling unsettled.

Shrugging off the melancholic thoughts, she turned her thoughts to how she had spent the rest of her day. The kids were at camp and Val was out of town, which left her completely alone to fill her time until Mr. Sheffield returned from the theater.

Starting in the living room, she straightened up the house. It hadn't taken long. Since the children were gone to camp, other than a little laundry and a few dishes, there wasn't much to occupy her. Instead of hanging around fidgeting, she had decided to take a walk in the waning daylight to the corner kiosk for some fresh flowers - deciding on a nice winter bouquet of blue asters, white roses and purple statice for the living room coffee table and a smaller bunch for Mr. Sheffield's office - to brighten up the place.

After doing a few other light chores, she'd realized that she still had quite a bit of time to kill before Mr. Sheffield would be home from the theater. Knowing that she'd have to fend for herself for dinner, and feeling quite famished herself, she'd continued on to Mr. Yee's for some take-out.

That was over four hours ago. She tried to wait for him, but by the time the candles had dripped to half their original size and she'd eaten her plate and most of Mr. Sheffield's, she decided to throw in the towel. Glancing up at the clock, she snorted at her hopes for a quiet, intimate evening together and silently started to fume as she made up another plate. Leaving the remaining food to warm in the oven, she realized that he either was stuck at work or he was avoiding her. Mumbling to herself about her inconsiderate employer, she tossed her dirty dishes into the dishwasher and climbed the back stairs to her room. She snorted softly to herself at her winsome but unrealistic hopes, and tried to put thoughts of Maxwell Sheffield out of her mind.

She spent the remainder of the evening trying to find oblivion in a new romance novel, but wasn't interested in reading about unrequited love. In a last ditch effort to escape her maudlin thoughts, she settled in on the sofa to watch Barbra for comfort, popping in her copy of "The Way We Were", but even that story hit a little too close to home. Fran finally gave up and dragged her sorry behind up the stairs to get ready for bed.

She took a long relaxing soak in the tub and shrugged into her favorite oversized, navy-blue Queen's sleep-shirt before sitting on the edge of her bed to brush her hair out. The brush strokes were both calming and mesmerizing, her mind drifting back over the events of the last two days.

As her mind replayed her conversation with her mother, the tears finally came. Fran shook her head defiantly. She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help but wonder why it had happened to her again. Why did she keep falling in love with men that didn't love her back? She hadn't been good enough to win Danny's heart, God rest his two-timing soul, and apparently she wasn't good enough for Maxwell Sheffield either. Why did she stay, a doormat to a man that didn't love her?

Fran recalled telling her mother that Max needed her, especially now that Niles was gone, but she realized that maybe Max doesn't really need her either. If he didn't love her or need her, what was her excuse for hanging around? She turned off the light and snuggled down into her covers, sighing sadly. Maybe it really was time to move on.

*****

Maxwell trudged heavily up the front steps a few minutes before midnight, his tired legs leaden. He arrived home exhausted and starving, not having eaten anything but his lunchtime sandwich since dinner the night before. Rehearsals had been a grind, taking every ounce of concentration to keep the actors and crew in line. Giving CC the day off had been the absolute right thing to do, but it made things immeasurably more difficult. He hadn't realized how much he relied on her to keep things running smoothly. Combined with his remorse over Niles leaving, her reminder that he took everyone for granted had hit him hard and left him emotionally drained.

Stopping in the foyer to check the day's mail, he noticed the fresh bouquet adorning its surface and smiled. His thoughts of how they reminded him of Miss Fine were interrupted by a loud grumble from his mid-section. He laughed at himself, thinking that that reminded him of Miss Fine, too.

Discarding his thoughts of work, he strode purposefully into the dining room, intending to scrounge up something from the refrigerator. He didn't really have the energy to cook tonight, but he knew that without his trusty butler around, he would have to fend for himself. He stopped short at the sight on the dining table, an elegant place setting for one and a couple of taper candles, unlit, but showing the tell-tale signs of use. Noticing a card on the dinner plate, he walked over and scooped it into his fingers, reading Miss Fine's words of instruction, telling him that his dinner was warming in the oven.

After quickly retrieving his plate, he enthusiastically tucked in to dinner, moaning in delight at the scrumptious tang of Mr. Yee's sweet and sour pork. Miss Fine certainly knew how to order take-out! He chewed happily as he thought of her, musing on her lack of expertise in the kitchen. How can someone who loves food as much as Miss Fine not be able to cook *anything*? Well, no matter - what she didn't know how to do, she made up for with enthusiasm.

As he popped a bite of egg roll into his mouth, long forgotten memories arose, a hodgepodge amalgamation of many nights very similar to this one when he'd arrived home from rehearsals long after his wife and children had gone to bed. Sara always left his dinner warming in the oven along with instructions to wake her when he returned. He almost never had, choosing instead to climb carefully into bed and wrap her sleeping form into his embrace rather than disturb her rest. At the time, he'd thought it a necessary consequence for success, realizing only too late that he'd taken his wonderful wife for granted.

He had wished many times to reclaim those misspent hours. He never wanted to repeat those mistakes again, nor did he want his children to suffer due to his lack of attention. He smiled again, his thoughts returning to Miss Fine. He and his family were never wont for anything with Miss Fine on the job. Even without the kids around, she made sure that she took care of him. That's just like her, to be so considerate and caring. Just like Sara always had done.

He stopped chewing at the thought, letting the comparison roll around in his mind. He expected to feel uncomfortable, or at least experience some guilt for the betraying thought that anyone could replace his beloved Sara. Instead, he felt nostalgic warmth at the thought of his first wife, together with a peaceful calm that settled in at the thought of Fran in that role. His eyes opened wide. First wife? To categorize her in this manner implied that there would be a second. Was he finally comfortable with the idea of remarrying, of having a wife again?

Wife. As he cleared his dishes away, the word kept reverberating through his mind, an excitement building within him as he thought about Fran in that way. He knew she wanted it and he knew how she felt about him. What was left was telling her how he felt. He smiled furtively at the thought.

Maxwell flicked off the kitchen light and skipped up the back stairs two at a time, feeling an incredible sense of lightness and peace at finally being able to put his demons to rest. He paused a fraction of a second in front of Miss Fine's door, wanting desperately to share his revelations with her, but it was so late. It would wait for tomorrow, but he couldn't wait for morning. It was definitely time to move on.

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