The hours until Maxwell was supposed to return home passed slowly while the inhabitants of the Sheffield-household tried to distract themselves.
Margaret stayed in her room all day, spending hours on the phone. Grace accompanied Fran wherever she went, and Brighton refused to stop studying, hoping better grades would save him from the fate of having to attend a military school.
Niles had re-emerged from the office but refused to say anything about the calls he had made.
Sylvia had dropped by around noon, but when she found that no fresh gourmet food was waiting to be snatched up, quickly had left again.
Around tea-time, everyone assembled in the living room. Niles had taken up his duties again and served them tea and some cookies.
Still, it was a solemn gathering that Maxwell Sheffield walked into when he returned home. "Ah, it's good to be home," he announced, holding out his coat for Niles to take it and put it away.
"Is it?" Brighton asked cynically. "I thought Las Vegas was such a great place to be."
Maxwell either didn't notice the tone or chose to ignore it. "Oh, there's no place like home."
Niles finally took the coat from him, and Maxwell walked up to his gathered family. "Is no one going to welcome me home properly?" The question was mainly aimed at Grace, who usually was the to one who showed the most joy and interest in his return.
"Welcome home, daddy," Grace said with little enthusiasm.
"Where's Miss Babcock?" Fran couldn't help herself, she had to ask.
Maxwell seemed puzzled by the question. "C.C.? I dropped her off at home on the way from the airport. Why?"
"So when were you planning to spring the news on us?" Anger and hurt were creeping into Fran's voice – her emotions were too strong to keep them fully bottled up.
"Once the contract is signed, you'll be the first to know. But I think it won't be long now."
"Dad, we already know," Brighton stated.
"What? Has she called before I got home?"
Everyone exchanged confused glances. While it would have been like C.C. to call and gloat, she hadn't.
"No one called," Niles confirmed, sounding rather unhappy about it. He had been hoping to hear back about an opening at another household before Maxwell returned.
"Then how can you know?" Maxwell sounded bewildered. "We haven't signed the contract yet."
Fran sighed. "Gracie found the note." She hugged the girl sitting at her side.
"The note? Oh, I see, she sent a fax, did she? Or probably rather her lawyer did. Where is it?"
"On your desk, Sir," Niles stated, too distracted to have picked up the fax reference.
Maxwell smiled and rubbed his hands together. "Good, good. I hadn't expected it so soon, but that's all for the better."
Finally he took in the glum faces in front of him. "What's wrong with you all? This is a reason to celebrate."
Brighton put on a pained smile. "I'm happy for you," he said, then threw Fran a pained look.
"Well, thank you, Brighton."
"Will Miss Babcock be joining us for dinner to … celebrate?" Niles asked.
"Oh, no. She was rather wiped out."
"I wonder why," Fran muttered under her breath, thinking about what might have been going on during the wedding night.
Maxwell had heard, though. "Well, it is a long trip to Las Vegas and back to take in just two days." He didn't linger on the topic, though. Instead he cheerfully announced, "I'll quickly get changed, look at that note and then I want to hear all about your weekend."
He didn't wait for a reaction and set off up the stairs.
"He seems surprisingly happy about being asked to pay $1,000," Margaret said.
"It's probably the high of –" Fran trailed off, unwilling to talk about sex openly in front of the kids. "He's probably so happy about the marriage that nothing can spoil his mood."
"Wish I could say the same for myself," Niles grumbled and picked up Maxwell's suitcase to carry it upstairs.
