A/N Thank you to everyone who still reads and reviews. If you review as a member of this site, you know that I can and do thank you personally via PM, but if you don't have an account and review as a guest, I can't thank you individually. So to all you guests who have been kind enough to share your thoughts and offer encouragement, please accept my gratitude. And to everyone who still follows, please stick with me!

Catterick Garrison,North Yorkshire; May 1995

"They're here! They're here!" cried Peter. He'd spent half an hour watching out the window for Alice and Charles, whining every two minutes, "When will they be here?" before his impatience was finally rewarded. He ran to the door and threw it open before the visitors even had a chance to press the buzzer.

"Slow down, lad!" called Elsie from across the room, chuckling at her son's impatience to see two of his favorite people.

"Auntie Alice! Uncle Charles!" the boy screeched in delight.

Alice picked him up and hugged him tightly. "Hello, there! Look how big you're getting! How's my favorite not-so-little man?"

"Good!" came the standard answer.

Peter reached out towards his honorary uncle, and Alice handed him over. Charles squeezed the tyke firmly and lovingly.

"Your Auntie Alice is right. You are getting big! You'll be shaving soon. Look at these whiskers!" exclaimed Charles, tickling the boy's chin and eliciting a fit of giggles.

Elsie welcomed Alice with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Charles leaned over, still holding Peter, to kiss Elsie's cheek in greeting. The three adults exchanged pleasantries while Peter squirmed in Charles's arms.

Noticing the child's restlessness, Alice took her cue. "Hmmm … Now, let's see if I've got anything in here for you … " she said, opening every compartment in her handbag and pretending not to find the item she sought. "What?! Nothing? No, that can't be! Now, where did I put it? Let me think … Oh, that's right. It was too big! It wouldn't fit in here, so we left it out in the car. Maybe Uncle Charles can take you out to get it. It's meant to be used outside, anyway. If you're a good lad, I'm sure he'll play with you and show you how to use it. What do you say, Uncle Charles?"

"I'd be delighted!" Charles said, looking every bit as eager as Peter. "As long as it's all right with your mummy. Mummy?" he asked, turning to Elsie and seeking her permission. "It's a beautiful spring day. Will it be all right with you if we men go out and play in the yard for a bit while you ladies chat?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Uncle Charles. Take good care of my lad, all right?" said Elsie, smiling.

"And Peter," added Alice, "please keep an eye on your Uncle Charles, and make sure he behaves himself, all right? He has a tendency to get himself into trouble sometimes." And Alice winked at her husband.

Holding a hand to his heart and feigning offense, Charles cried, "Me? Never!"

"I'll take good care of him, Auntie Alice!" promised Peter. Charles set him down, and he put his small hand in Charles's much larger one and pulled the hulking man out the door.

Once the "men" had left, Elsie and Alice went into the kitchen, poured themselves some tea, and sat down at the table to talk.

"Now," said Elsie, getting right to the point. "When you called the other day, you said you have some news, and you want to tell me in person. It must be important if you and Charles had to spend your Saturday to drive all the way here just to deliver the news face-to-face. It is good news, I hope."

"It is, I think. I'm excited, but I'll admit I'm a bit nervous about it," Alice said.

Elsie's eyes grew wide, and she gasped. "You're expecting!"

Alice chuckled at that. "No, it's not that. At least not yet. Maybe soon … maybe someday … but not yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry for jumping to that conclusion. I suppose I got carried away there for a moment."

"It's perfectly all right. I can see how you might think that, from what I said."

"Well, then, if it's not that, what is it?" asked Elsie.

"Charles has had a fantastic job offer, as headmaster of a new school. He'll start in the autumn," Alice informed her.

"That's wonderful! What an opportunity! I'm happy for him. He deserves it."

"We'll have to move," offered Alice tentatively.

"And you'll be closer to us, then?" Elsie guessed. "You couldn't live much farther from here than you do now – unless this school is in Lands End!"

"Actually … we could be farther, I'm afraid. Quite a bit farther, in fact."

"What?" Elsie furrowed her brow.

"We're moving to America. Chicago."

Elsie was stunned into momentary silence. When she recovered, she managed to say, "Well, that is news! If you're pleased about it, then I'm happy for you, of course. But I'll miss you dreadfully."

"I hope not!"

"What do you mean: you hope not? Of course I will! And poor Peter will be gutted!"

"Not if you come with us," Alice ventured carefully.

Elsie scoffed. "Not likely! How would that work? I can't pick up and move across the Atlantic! I have a job and a five-year-old son and a family here."

"Hear me out, Elsie," Alice implored. "Do you know who Robert Crawley is?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

"He and his wife are in Chicago. They have three young girls, and they're not satisfied with the schools there. So they're starting their own."

"Must be nice to be so rich and powerful!" observed Elsie with no real bitterness.

"Charles taught him at Eton, and when he was looking for someone to run his new school, he asked Charles. He's given Charles complete authority to choose the staff. I'm going to be the school's business manager, and Charles and I think you'd make an excellent headmistress for the girls."

"Me? Headmistress? But I teach English literature! I can manage one classroom well enough, but not half a school!"

"Certainly, you can! You're the most capable teacher I've ever known. You have the qualifications," Alice argued.

"But what about Peter? He'll start year one in the autumn, and I won't have Joe's parents around to help take care of him."

"This school will include both the primary and secondary years. Peter will be in the same building as you! And you'll have Charles and me to help. The salary is very generous. It's safe to say the money you'll make will open a lot of doors for Peter. And you'll be able to come back to visit your family often."

"I don't know, Alice ... We're settled here. I'm finally getting back on my feet after Joe."

"But you're not, Elsie. Not really. It's been four years. You're not much better than you were right after, and you're certainly not the same as you were before. Peter doesn't even know the cheerful woman you used to be, always smiling and laughing. You've got to move on. Maybe you need a clean break, a fresh start." Alice reached out over the table and covered Elsie's hand with her own. "You don't have to decide right now, but promise me you'll think about it. Give it some serious consideration."

Elsie let out a heavy sigh. "I will. I promise."

Suddenly, the back door flew open, and Peter ran into the kitchen with a kite trailing behind and bumping into everything in its path.

"Mummy, Mummy! Look what Uncle Charles and Auntie Alice gave me! And Uncle Charles helped me fly it! It went soooooooo high!"

"That's wonderful, Peter!" said Elsie, smiling encouragingly. "But please do be careful with it. We can't have you break it or knock down everything from the counter!"

After another second or two, Charles appeared behind Peter, huffing and puffing. "How do you keep up with this lad? He's like an express train!"

Both women laughed.

"All right, Peter," said Elsie. "Why don't you go and see if you can find a place in your closet for your new kite, and then wash up your hands and face, hm?"

"Yes, Mummy!" answered the boy obediently, and he ran off to do as he'd been asked.

Elsie poured Charles a cup of tea, and he joined the women at the table. "So I take it Alice has told you, then?" he asked Elsie.

"She has," Elsie confirmed.

"It's a lot to take in, I know. Heaven knows we didn't come to a decision lightly. Take your time and think it over. But I really think you're the best person for the position, and this is the best position for you. It doesn't happen that way very often," Charles pointed out.

"I appreciate your confidence in me. Truly. And I will consider it. You have my word," promised Elsie. "I'll admit – it's very tempting!"

The three sat in pensive silence for a few moments.

Soon, Peter returned. "I'm back!" he announced needlessly and far too loudly.

"Right, then," said Charles. "Peter, what do you say you and I take our best girls out to lunch before Auntie and I have to head back home? Are you hungry?"

"I'm always hungry! Can we have fish and chips? Please?" Peter entreated sweetly.

"Now, how did you know that's my very favorite? I was just about to suggest it!" Charles fibbed convincingly. He turned to Alice and Elsie. "Ladies, does that plan meet with your approval?"

"Absolutely!" agreed Alice.

"Yes, indeed!" Elsie concurred.

"Then, off we go!" cried Charles, bending down and assisting Peter in hopping onto his back for a piggy-back ride. Galloping through the front door with his rider on his back, Charles called back to Elsie and Alice, "Last one to the car has to ride on the roof!"

A/N Please leave me a review to let me know what you think. Your comments provide motivation and inspiration. Thanks!