"Here's to the greatest, smartest guy in the biz." Axe chuckled, lifting his glass high.
"Here. Here." Bobbie agreed holding up her own glass. Majandra lifted her hands up in imitation of all the adults around her.
"Speech." Becca teased. "I think this calls for a speech."
Shakily, Cruz got to his feet. A few months ago, he hadn't thought they would be celebrating anything again. A few months ago, he had felt beaten down, broken. Seeing his family and friends leaning on the edge of their seats as they waited for him to say something, he realized how truly blessed he was. "We were knocked down, but we didn't stay down. We have our magazine back and it's all thanks to you guys."
"I didn't do anything other than pass on some information." Kate protested. "Cruz is the hero. Not me."
"Don't be modest, Boss Man. You were the fearless leader." Axe pointed out.
"I thought that if I didn't have the magazine, that meant I had nothing at all. I see now that that's never been true. If we had lost, I would still have all of you and that's worth more." Cruz blinked furiously when Majandra reached out and wrapped her left hand around his right index finger.
"Clearly he's drunk." Bobbie teased. "Axe no more serving him."
"Hush." Cruz lovingly scolded. "We're having a magic moment. Don't ruin it. Seriously though, this isn't just about me. It's about all of you." He took a drink and waited for the rest of him to follow suit. "By the way, I hope you don't think you're getting out of coming to work tomorrow."
"Are you kidding?" Becca countered. "Axe and I would sleep under our desks if you'd let us."
Axe reached over and took Becca's glass from her hands. "She's drunk Boss Man. Don't listen to her. However if you want to thank us, money is always a good choice."
Cruz's grin widened. "Actually, I was thinking about giving you that office you've been begging for since your first day."
"But you said not before you got yours." Axe asked a puzzled look on his features. "Are we moving?"
Instead of answering, Cruz looked over at Kate. She nodded and decided that now was as good a time as ever to tell them what had transpired over the last few weeks. "It seems our cover business, the one we used to set up Jax, is functioning quite well on its own. Cruz and I were talking about it and we agree that moving the original location of the magazine to the new building would make the most sense. Besides, we heard about a certain rival company who has his eyes on our original space. Jesse Beaudry." She announced cautiously.
"Jesse Beaudry." Becca said slowly. "You want to sell our space to the guy who tries to steal your staff regularly?"
"We aren't afraid of a little competition and let's face it: a monopoly is what got us into this mess to begin with. We need to leave the boring news to someone else. We'll be taking on a different caliber of customers, mostly from Manhattan and the surrounding cities, and Beaudry can cover local news." Cruz explained.
"So now we're moving and we're changing what we report. Anything else Boss Man? New name for the magazine or anything?" Axe teased
"Well a change in salaries, but we can talk about that later." Cruz laughed at the exploding questions coming at him from every direction.
"I think this is a wonderful idea." Bobbie stood up beaming as she walked towards her husband. "You've put in years of work at this magazine and now it is finally going to pay off."
"Thank you for never giving up on me." Cruz lifted from his chair and kissed her.
*****
"I sure hope there's not a fire." Steven laughed, finding his wife almost hidden behind dozens of newspaper clippings. "What is all this?" he asked, leaning down to give her a kiss.
"Just some real estate listings." Georgie smiled.
"Oh yeah? You planning a quick getaway?"
"No it's just something I've been thinking about." Georgie patted the space next to her for Steven to sit down.
He picked up a sheet absentmindedly. "None of these are in New York. I thought you wanted to stay close, especially with the baby coming."
"But you work in L.A." Georgie pointed out. "And Maxie is sort of demanding we move out so she doesn't miss anything."
"She's not seriously staying out there, is she?"
"Serious enough to convince Ric to transfer out there and move in with her." Georgie poked Steven in the chest. "And we aren't supposed to know about that so no telling Dad."
"I couldn't if I wanted to. I thought she hated him."
"Long story that I didn't completely get."
"While I agree with you about L.A. being good for my job, are you sure you can leave this behind? I don't want you to be lonely, Maxie or no Maxie." He couldn't help but doubt his sister-in-law's credibility when she was the one who up and left one day without considering how her decision would affect her family.
"I'll be fine wherever we are. Being pregnant has not destroyed my ability to make friends."
"I know you'll be loved wherever we go. I just want to know you're okay with this."
"If it's good for you then it's going to be good for me and Sporto here." Georgie smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Let's at least look at our options. We can't live with your grandmother forever."
"I know that though I doubt Elizabeth will agree. What do we have here?" He read one aloud. "This one has three bedrooms, two bath, and was once owned by a celebrity. Of course they don't tell us who. Probably someone we've never heard of."
"Or someone who stars on a soap."
"There are still soap operas?"
"Allegedly. In addition it's over a million dollars."
"Listen to this." He held up a different listing. "Four bedrooms, two and a half bath. With what I'm making on the movie, we could afford it."
"Really? Where is it?"
"San Marino. Twenty minutes from Hollywood."
"That's good. We'll put that in the maybe pile."
"What else is in the maybe pile?"
"Nothing really. Everything looked way out of our price point."
"Would you let me worry about that? Pick one and I'll get it for you."
"One of us has to be realistic." Georgie reminded him.
"Then that'll be me. I'm serious. Pick one. I don't want our life to be full of missed opportunities."
"What opportunities have we missed?" Georgie challenged laughing. "We got married on what was probably our fifth date."
"You're giving me the one thing I want." Steven assured her, reaching over to rub her still-flat stomach. "What do you want? And can you leave reality out of it please?"
"I already have it. I have you."
"That's great and all, but we're going to be living under a bridge if we don't find a place soon."
"We have a time limit now?"
"Georgie." Steven dragged his hand over his face. "You're exasperating."
"I thought I was adorable."
"You are. Adorable and oh so sexy, but right now exasperating."
"Steven we just started. No one buys a house and moves in two days later. These things take time."
"You mean you can't just point it out and have a well-meaning friend come over and decorate? Or in this case, your sister?"
"Or yours." Georgie taunted. "But no. I hear it takes some time. Especially something as important as a first home."
"You know I have to go back soon." Steven didn't want to focus on it, but the longer he was here the more it weighed on him. Just being away from her for a few weeks had almost killed him. How was he supposed to make it until the end the semester?
"I know." Georgie sighed. She was surprised he hadn't brought up the subject before now. "You have to go. This is too important for your career."
"I shouldn't have said anything." Steven instantly regretted bringing it up at all.
"No. We both knew you would have to go back at some point. I guess we've just been trying to avoid the inevitable."
"When do you break for Christmas?"
"Second week in December."
"How long?"
"School starts back the third of January."
"I wish we could convince my sister to move up her wedding so we could spend more time together. Does that make me an awful person?"
"No you just sound like the man I married. We're not touching your sister's wedding."
"Would you be willing to come with me, even if it's only for a week?"
"That sounds wonderful."