Chapter 9

Jones grinned and sipped his wine. "How long before we see the Caffrey Collection?"

Neal laughed. "I'm working on it. I am having an open house next month. I would like to have a full showing by the end of the year."

Peter nodded. He was impressed, glad to hear this coming from the former conman.

"You said something about enrolling students. Did you make a contract with NYU for the use of your studio?" El asked.

Neal nodded. "Mozzie is working on that, drawing up the contracts and everything. And, I'm considering the option of renting a classroom to NYU on a permanent basis."

"Nice…steady, dependable revenue." Peter stated.

"Yeah, that will be nice. Of course, we still have The Greatest Cake, too." Neal replied leaning back into his chair. He looked at everyone. Things could have gone so very different tonight. He was just so incredibly glad that they had gone the way that they had.

The mood changed just a little as Neal looked nervously at Peter. He had been wanting to ask the question all night. But, he was afraid of the answer that he was going to get.

Neal sighed before he spoke. "How is…how is White Collar going to take this?"

Peter didn't speak for a moment. "The statutes of limitations are all up. But, of course, you knew that. What you want to know is how people are going to feel when they find out you are actually alive. You want to know if they are going to feel like you conned them, right?"

Neal nodded. He swallowed.

Peter sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, Neal. Honestly, I don't. I'm sure that some will feel like you conned them. There are going to be some who think that you had this…stunt as your endgame all along, and that I was the biggest fool of all."

Neal looked at Peter for just a moment. "What do you think?"

Peter smiled. "Well, we both know that I am no fool. I was a little angry when I found out what you had done. But, I was also impressed that you got away with it. I was impressed at the amount of planning and the attention to detail. I was impressed at the way it happened. And I guess I was a little jealous."

"Jealous?" Neal questioned. He was shocked.

"Well," Peter said, sheepishly. He then glanced at El to get her reaction when he finished his sentence. "You've got to remember, I was about to be a dad. And as excited as I was about that, I was almost as terrified."

"I'm still not sure I understand." Neal admitted.

Peter cleared his throat. "You were free, no obligations. And I was about to be saddled with the biggest responsibility of my life. Yeah, I was jealous. I was terrified. You were free. I wasn't." He looked at El kinda sheepish. "Sorry, Hun."

"I think it would help, Neal." Diana said, redirecting the conversation. "If you had your first full showing as a private one. And just invite White Collar agents."

Neal smiled. "I can do that."

THE END

END NOTES: This just feels like a good place to end this story. I will let you guys picture how that first showing will go. I would be open to doing a prologue for this. But, not at this time. I have too many stories and with Christmas coming…it's just a lot.