Carole arrived at the doors of the mansion and knocked.
A young woman answered it.
"Hi, Katrina," Carole greeted the maid. "Is Mrs. Adams in?"
"Yes, my dear," she smiled. She held the door open. "Come in."
She led the way to the lavish, darkly lit, old fashioned parlor.
"Carole to see you," Katrina called.
Vera, a middle-aged lady of Irish decent, stood up from her spot on the huge couch facing the lit brick fireplace. "Carole! Come right in, sweetheart." She set her book down. "It's good to see you! It's been a while since your last visit." She frowned when she saw the look on Carole's face. "What's the matter?" She clasped Carole's hands in her own and led her to 'Carole's chair, a chair with wing slits carved into it.
"Dad's going to see if I can make it into the Justice League today," Carole explained pensively.
"My dear, of course, if you and your parents think it's best for you, then you should join them, but…." Vera frowned. "Aren't you a little young?"
"I'm thirteen!" Carole exclaimed.
"Almost thirteen, my dear. You're still a child. You will be for a while," Vera explained. "And the time shall go by so fast; you'll be fourteen before you know it. Then fifteen, and then sixteen, and then seventeen, then eighteen!"
Carole sighed. "It seems like a long time."
"It does now. The day will come when you're as old as I am, and you wonder where the years went." Vera sighed as well. "My son will be back soon, you can play with him…."
"I don't play anymore," Carole reminded her, folding her hands.
Vera smiled. "No. What's the current word? Hang out? You can do that." She leaned back on her floral pattered couch. "Until then, why don't you tell me about your family? How's that brother of yours? Does he share your ambitions?"
"Not as much, but he does wish to carry on the family tradition of peacekeeper. When one's father was a marine, and one's mother was a police officer, and both participate in saving lives even now, I believe it is in the blood. The desire is strong in both of us."
"Ah, it's from your mother, I think. You're much like her," Vera said. "I remember when she and John first moved here, and we were wary of them, of course. I was the first to visit. Baked a lasagna myself, you know how I never hired a cook, brought it over to them. Your mother answered the door, bless her heart, and I barely noticed her wings. Shayera wasn't all that different after all." She laughed. "Until she started telling stories. She'd be the one behind your acceptance into the Justice League. So, continue, how is that going?"
Carole shook her head and began to explain.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think in a review, it helps me out a lot. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!