(no subject)

[andhiswife]

Greta knows better than to wish for things. At the very least, she knows to be careful of what you wish for, having been burned so many times on that particular crucible. So it had been almost a point of pride when her sphere of most immediate concern managed to escape that most recent bout of Darrow nonsense. Life in the cottage remained mercifully normal.

Life at work, however, had not. She'd watched the Gardens empty, their charges carried off by a sudden flood of public interest. While it had been wonderful to see the children adopted, part of her had wondered if she'd be out of a job with only one or two mouths to feed. But Baz and Simon had (somewhat sheepishly) insisted that things would turn around, so she'd taken the opportunity to do some deep cleaning and a bit of reorganizing.

(Magic could have probably helped on both fronts, but while she's grown far more blase about magic since she arrived here, she still can't quite bring herself to encourage its use in the kitchen. Some things just shouldn't be mixed with food.)

True to their prediction, children have started to trickle back in, to Greta's relief. And though they aren't explicitly encouraged to invade the kitchen, Greta doesn't mind visitors. Her current company is an eight-year-old named Elizabeth, and after a few minutes of conversation, Greta deemed her responsible enough to know where the snacks are kept. She's midway through showing off the reorganized pantry when she spots Baz's familiar silhouette in the doorway, and then she straightens.

"Oh, hello, Baz," she says, resting a reassuring hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, lest the girl worry that they've been caught out. "I was just showing Elizabeth this beautifully organized pantry. Which just so happens to contain the snacks." The girl looks up at her, a smile tucked behind her hand, then fixes Baz with what Greta can only imagine is the most innocent look in her arsenal.

Comments

[sidestepdestiny]

"Hello Greta. Elizabeth," I say with a smile, holding back a grin when snacks are brought up. She isn't the first to try and seek favor with Greta and she won't be the last. (Crowley, Simon's the worst of them all and he's grown.) "That's nice, Elizabeth, taking an interest in food organization." I look at the shelves, pretending to ponder them.

"We should have a snack to celebrate the hard work Greta's done. How about...eyeball soup? Or snake tongue crackers?" I ask, picking up a few non-descript boxes and giving them a shake.

[andhiswife]

There's an appalled silence from Elizabeth, and Greta can't resist adding, "Now, Baz. You know eyeball soup is only for holidays and special occasions."

The girl twists to look up at her, eyes wide. "You don't really...?" she starts uncertainly, and Greta winks before pulling down a box of chocolate-covered biscuits. They're rather sub-par compared to what she could make, but they have a longer shelf life.

"Here, try a few of these," she says, offering the box to Elizabeth (who, it must be said, gives the packaging an extra moment of dubious scrutiny before prying it open).

[sidestepdestiny]

"Oh, right, my mistake," I say cheerfully.

"Go ahead and share them with the others," I add to Elizabeth, giving her back a brief pat before she runs off to share her bounty. It's still awhile to dinner, and I know for a fact those biscuits aren't good enough for the kids to gorge themselves on. Not when Greta's dinners, and subsequent desserts, are much better.

"How are you doing, Greta?" I ask now that Elizabeth's gone. "Thank you for helping cover for Simon and I the past few days, by the way."

[andhiswife]

"I'm well, thank you," she says, absently smoothing her hands over her skirt. "Better now that I have more mouths to feed." It's a wry observation, but not one she minds sharing. She knows that having everyone adopted in such a short span was bittersweet for all the adults who work here. Even the cats had seemed a little put out by it all.

She waves off his thanks. "It was no trouble at all. I expect you were both drowning in paperwork." It's something she remembers from Saoirse's adoption -- without much fondness. She can easily imagine how much more there is with two children joining the family.

[sidestepdestiny]

"Oh. No, it's not-- it wasn't for work, or even the courts with Ben and Gen. Ah...Simon and I. I asked him to marry me," I say, and I'm already beaming. I'm not sure I've ever smiled as much since we originally got together than I have in the past two days. I can hardly keep it inside me, I'm almost nauseous with happiness.

"Since the adoptions went through and I thought it was the perfect time to ask."

[andhiswife]

"Did you?" Greta beams, hands clasped in front of her chin. "Baz, that's wonderful! Congratulations!" It might not be strictly professional to hug one's employer, but she does it anyway. They've worked together long enough that he and Simon both feel more like family than superiors.

She pulls back to take him by the shoulders as something occurs to her. "Wait, is that--when I helped with the food...?"

[sidestepdestiny]

"Thank you," I tell Greta, enthusiastically hugging her back. Usually I'm not the most openly affectionate person, but at the moment I could give the whole snaking city a hug.

"Yes, that was when," I add with a small, slightly sheepish laugh. "Sorry I didn't tell you what it was for. I wasn't ready for anyone to know." It isn't even as though I thought he would say no, I was confident it was something Simon wanted too, but I wanted to keep it between just the two of us for a little while. Something private. "It was delicious, by the way. Of course Simon ate almost all of it himself."

[andhiswife]

"It did seem a bit much for a normal picnic," Greta says as she releases his shoulders, still grinning. She'd enjoyed the challenge, and it was nice to get some new recipes under her belt to take home to Thomas and Saoirse. But she'd taken it for a celebratory post-adoption sort of thing, not a proposal.

Maybe it's just that Baz and Simon have been acting married for as long as she's known them. It was easy to forget that they technically weren't.

Chuckling, she adds, "Well, I'm glad Simon enjoyed it. Have you told anyone else? Should I be keeping it under my hat?" She knows how quickly rumors can fly, especially here. If a child overhears something after breakfast, the whole place will have heard it before lunch -- probably in song form.