Hello again everybody! Wow, you all are so great for all the wonderful and constructive feedback I've gotten on the last 2 chapters! You all are so amazing! Thank you! I've been having a pretty tough time recently with things in my personal life but you all have been so great and so nice that you all have really helped keep my spirits. So thank you a million more times! :D I've been on a total writing kick so I was able to type up a new chapter this week in my free time! :) Fair warning though, this chapter is a bit more of a bridge chapter so I apologize if it isn't that exciting. And just to add in, this is set in the incarnation of the 1998 series universe so I am sticking to keeping all the technology fitting for its time period, that means everyone uses landline phones like its the dark ages. Haha. XD Also, stick around for a question I want to ask you all about in the end notes. Enjoy! :D

The professor slowly got to the front door of the house after returning from going out with Ms. Bellum, a grocery bag in hand from a 24 hour mini-mart he stopped at on his way home.

Upon his return, he let out a sigh of relief after seeing the whole house completely dark from the outside, hoping the girls found their way to bed and he could make his way to his bedroom unnoticed after letting the Mayor leave.

He slowly opened the door only to see the Mayor snoring in one of the living room's arm chairs, mumbling incoherently between snores to be precise.

The professor slowly approached, trying to be as subtle as possible as he gently shook the Mayor's shoulder while saying, "Psst. Mr. Mayor…"

Almost immediately the Mayor snapped out of his dream state and exclaimed, frightening Professor Utonium a bit in the process, "THAT'S MY BANANA, YOU DIRTY… Er, um, hello there, professor."

Professor Utonium, still looking very taken back with a hand on his own chest to collect himself, straightened up and said, "Hello Mayor, thanks so much again for staying here with the girls for a few hours. You can go home."

The Mayor gave him a look for a second, holding out his hands and eyeing the bag for their agreed upon payment.

"Oh, yes, right. Here you go." The professor fumbled slightly as he handed the Mayor the grocery bag. After a second of looking into the bag, the Mayor's eyes went wide as he exclaimed, "Oh, goodie!"

The Mayor then proceeded to take his payment, a large jar of Dill Pickles, out of the bag and tossed the grocery bag to the floor. The Mayor looked like he was walking away and the professor looked like he was about to take his leave to get ready for bed when he all of a sudden felt a tug on the right leg of his dress pants.

He looked down and saw the Mayor looking up at him and holding the pickle jar up to him, clearly asking for help to open the pickle jar.

The professor sighed, clearly looking like he just wanted to go to bed until he put his hands in front of him and complied, "Oh, alright."

Even though this was the last thing he wanted to do since he just wanted to make it to his room unnoticed, the professor knew he had no right to complain. After all, the Mayor is always available to sit with the girls for the price of a jar of pickles rather than paying a large sum of money to a babysitting service or a nanny.

Especially considering his girls are superheroes that are extremely independent and just can't be left alone at home since they're underage and just needed some adult he kind of trusted just to be in the same house with them, he definitely knew he had no right to complain.

After a few moments of struggle, the professor was able to get the pickle jar open and the Mayor proceeded to head home happily munching on a pickle.

The professor then did the usual routine of locking the door and then making sure the coast was clear.

Once it appeared he was alone, he slowly started to tip toe towards the stairs until he froze as the light flipped on and he heard the girls scream simultaneously in joy, "Hi Professor!"

He hardly had time to respond as the girls tackled him to the ground and immediately started to bombard him with questions.

"How was it?" Buttercup cut.

"What did she look like?" Blossom added excitedly.

"OH! I bet Ms. Bellum looked so pretty!" Bubbles commented excitedly.

"Bubbles, what are you talking about? Ms. Bellum always looks pretty." Blossom said, crossing her arms a little. "Well, yeah! But, I bet she looked even more pretty… and really fancy!" Bubbles said, giggling a little at the end of her statement before letting out a slightly dreamy sigh.

Professor Utonium, while still taken aback for the umpteenth time tonight, managed to get out, "Wh-what are you girls doing out of bed?"

All three of them stopped as they looked at him before Blossom finally chimed in, "We wanted to know how your date was."

"Um, yeah, duh?!" Buttercup added in her usual sassy and slightly matter of fact way.

He got up off the ground and said, "Now girls, what happened between myself and Ms. Bellum is our own private business. Besides, it's very late and you all should be in bed."

"Awe, but professor…" The girls started only for the professor to give them a stern fatherly look and interrupt as he crossed his arms, "Girls…"

Eventually they all sighed and gave in as they all hung their heads in disappointment before floating up the stairs. The girls all climbed back into their bed as the professor followed to tuck them back in for the night.

But just to show there were no hard feelings, he gave each of them a kiss on the forehead, causing each of them to smile as the professor walked out and turned off the light before saying with a fatherly smile, "Goodnight girls."

He was about to close the door when he heard them answer back, "Goodnight professor."

He saw all them giving him one last smile before shutting their eyes to start to fall asleep.

As he walked out, he kept having to remind himself that he was able to close the door fully now that Bubbles wasn't scared of the dark anymore.

After making sure the door was closed, he made his way to the bathroom and started to wash up for bed and brush his teeth. He went about his normal routine and changed into his pajamas before climbing in bed.

He laid there for several moments looking at the ceiling, putting his left arm behind his head and looking up at the ceiling in deep thought about everything that happened with Ms. Bellum. Not that he was complaining about how everything ended up and that she did express an interest in him like he had for her, but that didn't mean it still wasn't confusing for him.

He glanced over to the other side of his bed. Unused, empty, and no permanent companion.

The professor had contemplated this for a long time. It was one of his drives in life that lead him to create the PowerPuff Girls.

Though being a highly intelligent scientist who was curious about creating himself the perfect daughter to be a father figure to, he was secretly ultimately driven to that experiment due to his loneliness. He had always wanted to meet and fall in love with a woman to marry and have a family together with, but the situation never fully arose to give him much hope that it was possible.

Sure with the three girls he was a lot less lonely than he used to be, but that still didn't mean he didn't yearn for something more.

An equal, a companion, a lover,... a wife.

That and he knew his girls really wanted a mother, at least secretly.

As much as it scared him and made him nervous, he could see the genuineness of Ms. Bellum earlier tonight in really wanting to get to know him and showing signs that she found him attractive and expressing an interest in dating him.

Sure he didn't find himself unattractive, but in his mind he just can't wrap his head around why a woman like Ms. Bellum who, from his perspective, has all the beauty, brains, and class any woman or even any person in general could hope to have would be interested in a socially awkward, insecure, and introverted scientist like him?

Though, if her words were any indication, it appears that Ms. Bellum is more than what she seems to be on the surface and he as both a man and a curious scientist really wanted to find out more and get to know her.

He continued to keep thinking until he lifted his right hand to his cheek where she kissed him goodnight earlier and a smile slowly crossed his face, looking hopeful for the first time in a long time.

The following morning

The girls and the professor were all in the kitchen eating pancakes the professor had prepared for Saturday morning breakfast.

He was finished and went on reading the newspaper as the girls kept eating.

The professor kept glancing at the kitchen clock but still kept his newspaper up in front of him to avoid being questioned by the girls.

Finally he decided to make a break for it as he folded the newspaper, stuck it under his arm and then proceeded to take his plate and put it in the sink as he said, "I'll be in the lab if you need me, okay girls? I just have some work and things to do down there. But, I'll be done in time for lunch."

He wasn't going to chance waiting for a response since he could feel all of them looking at him and preparing to hammer him with questions about the obvious elephant in the room.

Immediately after, he took off into his lab and shut and locked the door tight.

Right after he did so, all the girls zoomed over and stood in front of the door eagerly. Clearly all of them wanted to know how the professor's "not a date" went with Ms. Bellum.

Eventually, all of them just gave up and floated away, knowing they weren't going to get an answer anytime soon.

2 hours later

(The Professor's POV)

I kept tinkering at the apparatus for one of my latest inventions that I've been working on for some time now. It didn't have a deadline or anything, but it just felt good to keep busy since I somehow managed to complete all my other work in record time.

Mostly it felt better to distract my thoughts from… from… I slowly glanced over to the phone in my lab.

The girls have their hotline of course, but I also have my own personal line down here in the lab. Especially after that time I tied up the hotline for very embarrassing reasons back when Ms. Keane and I briefly were seeing each other…

Ugh, why is it always me and women?

Anyway, I wanted my own line though to avoid any future embarrassment in that area and to make sure my own personal calls were private.

I kept staring at the phone and bit my lip slightly.

After a few moments, I put the soldering iron I was using down and unplugged it as I made my way over to the phone. This was why I wanted to come down and make sure I had enough time.

Yes, I had my work of course, but… there was something else I really wanted to do.

I eyed Ms. Bellum's card she gave me and picked up the phone from the reciever and painstakingly slowly dialed her home phone number, trying to fight off the nerves as both my hands started shaking. I heard the dial tone start going and tried to use the reprieve to collect myself.

I took a deep breath but upon my exhale, I heard the line pick up as I heard in that familiar smooth tone of voice, "Good morning Professor."

I was surprised by her immediately knowing it was me as I inquired, "H-hello! Um, good morning Ms. Bellum, I… how did you know it was me?" I heard her laugh a little to herself before answering simply, "Caller ID."

Immediately, I smacked myself in the head slightly as I said, knowing how stupid that must have sounded to her from my perspective, "Oh, right. I'm sorry, that was a superfluous question."

She was very immediate with her response as she said, sounding very kind about it, "It's okay, professor. Don't worry about it. Also, please, just call me Sara."

I know it isn't a big deal but that still doesn't mean that it doesn't upset me when I make a fool of myself, especially in front of her.

Also, I felt myself sinking again as I realized that I completely forgot she told me to call her by her first name last night.

Sure I always knew her first name was Sara, but that's just never how I referred to her when we'd talk in the past out of respect. After all, she still calls me "professor" like most people do.

Perhaps…

I shook my head for a second to collect my thoughts before responding, "Of course, sorry Ms… er, I mean Sara. A-Anyway, I just wanted to call to say hello and check if you made it home safe from last night. I-I hope I'm not disturbing your morning?"

It's like I could almost hear this smile in her voice as she said, "Thank you, professor. That's very thoughtful of you. I made it home just fine and believe me when I say that you are not interrupting my morning at all. I was just reading and having a cup of coffee. Actually there were no town events to help the Mayor organize or any tests for my classes so my Saturday is actually pretty open."

I was trying to figure out what to say, until she mentioned reading.

"Oh, were you reading the newspaper?" I asked, making an attempt at normal conversation.

She let out a small chuckle to herself before replying, "Honestly, I'm not much of an avid newspaper reader. Since my job has me in the thick of politics and current events day in and day out as a press secretary and studying politics for my major, I mostly like to read novels to escape from real life for an hour or two."

"Really? What sort of books do you read?" I asked, genuinely interested.

Honestly, at this moment, I was more aware than ever about how little we actually knew each other since this was the first time I heard about one of her hobbies, and a very intellectual hobby such as reading. Then again apart from my inventing and other scientific pursuits, she doesn't know about any of my external hobbies either.

She paused for a second before responding, "Well… I usually really like Non-fiction. I especially love to read history novels and biographies and just learning about people's lives. But, surprisingly, I've been getting out of my comfort zone and reading a lot of mysteries lately. They're really fun and very interesting to read and actually really get you thinking."

I smiled for a second at the enthusiasm in her tone a little when she said all that just when describing the books she liked.

"Oh, very nice. I haven't read a mystery novel in a very long time. I like reading as well, but I do mostly read the paper and I would like to read more novels, but I just can't seem to find the time with my schedule these days." I commented as she replied instantly, "That's always the problem, isn't it? Just finding time to do things."

We both laughed in agreement until we fell into silence for a second until I heard, "Anyway, what are you up to?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, but feeling a bit more comfortable now as I replied, "Nothing much, just spending time with the girls after I finish up a couple things in the lab."

I was going to say talking to her was one of things I had to and wanted to do in the lab, but I kept it back to keep myself from seeming a bit too forward… or possibly make her uncomfortable and make a fool of myself.

"Oh, what are you working on? Anything interesting? Or is it a secret?" She said, teasing a bit at the end with a laugh.

I laughed a bit in response before explaining, "Oh no, nothing like that. The Townsville Technical Institute just gave me a research grant for studying magnetic properties to determine if magnets can be a good source of efficient and clean energy for the… I'm sorry, I don't need to bore you with the technical details if you're not interested. A lot of people usually aren't."

"Like I said last night, professor. You must not have the right impression about me if you think I'm not interested. Because I do find what you have to say interesting." She admitted and I could feel my nerves flair up a bit after she said it as I tried to get out, "W-why, thank you… Sara."

I tried to recover as I started, "Um, anyway, I also wanted to ask if you were available for lunch sometime this week?" I was actually quite proud of myself for how I managed to get that out just now to ask her out on a second date.

She was quiet for a few moments as I heard what sounded like pages flipping before she said, "Well, Wednesday afternoon, I'm usually free to take a longer lunch and I don't have anything I can see in my planner that should get in the way. How does noon on Wednesday sound? I'll go anywhere you like since I picked last night."

I couldn't fight a smile on my face as I said, "T-that sounds great! I know a great little diner a couple blocks from city hall where we can meet. But, only if that's fine with you though, of course?"

It was only a second before I heard, "A diner sounds great. I'll see you then and don't be afraid to call. Even if it's just to talk, I always like hearing your voice. It's so soothing. If you don't mind me admitting that."

There was something about the way she said it that made me gulp slightly and loosen my collar, knowing she was far better at being forward and definitely better at flirting than me. Not to mention, her voice is secretly one of the most attractive qualities about her to me… even though there isn't one thing about her that I don't find attractive.

Also that I'm not used to women talking to me like this is also a contributing factor.

"Absolutely. Y-you can even call me if you like? I'm in my lab quite a bit most days, especially when the girls are at school." I could hear the smile in her tone again as I heard, "I'll definitely accept the invitation. Thank you, professor. I hope you have a nice day with the girls."

"Thank you, you too… you know with having a nice rest of your day." I fumbled, feeling disappointed that I had to do that right at the end of the call.

But she hardly seemed bothered as she said, "Thank you and also thank you for calling. Goodbye professor."

"Goodbye S-Sara." I somehow managed to get out as I heard her hang up. I slowly hung up the phone before slumping back into my swivel chair, gliding back slightly before sighing in relief and smiling to myself.

I was so relieved I got that out of the way but also disappointed that the phone call was over.

As nervous as she makes me, I really did mean it when I told her that I valued her company last night.

But even more than valuing it… I do genuinely enjoy her company as well.

She always seems to know just what to say to make small talk and despite making me nervous, her tone and manner of her voice and just her presence is actually somehow quite calming for me as well.

I looked at my calendar next to my main workstation and got a pen before jotting down my plan on the square for this coming Wednesday.

Lunch with Sara.

Okay, I know this chapter was a bit more slice of life-ish and a bit fluffy, but I felt like writing some nice fluff to help build a bridge to the next coming chapters. Also, if you all are interested since I've gotten great feedback so far, I wanted to ask if you all wanted me to keep it as a T rating or if you maybe wouldn't mind me bumping the rating to Mature for this fic. I just wanted to ask if there was any interest just so I could maybe do more with the story since I have gotten so much great feedback already. But you all let me know in a PM or comment/review if you'd be interested in bumping up the rating for the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the Mayor antics and also the awkward yet wholesome phone call between Ms. Bellum and Professor Utonium. :) Have a lovely day and let me know what you all thought of the chapter and my proposition of a rating change? I'd love to hear what you'd think! :)

Stay safe and classy everybody!

Dexter1995