Disclaimer: I don't own any part or character from The Nanny…

A/N: some people only live in appearances


Chapter 6

What do YOU do, Niles ?

CC had sat down quickly after her comment, very proud of herself nonetheless. Niles smirked to himself, and sat down next to her. Beau laughed out loud, until Lydia, who had just regained her composure, gave him a glaring stare.

The four of them were wrapped in an awkward silence until the waiter came by and offered them some wine.

"Yes." CC said rather quickly. "I'm gonna need it" she muttered under her breath.

"So, what shall we toast to" Niles asked, looking only at CC. "Besides the obvious love of your life and ... "

"Oh hush!" she winked at him. He had brought her back and hopefully salvaged this part of the evening. He was so good at that. He also decided to include the rest of the table; after all, they were eating together.

"How about we toast to good health and new adventures?" He proposed.

"I'll drink to that!" Beau answered. Lydia just smiled as she clinked her glass with the others. She hadn't quite digested CC's earlier comment.

"So when is the wedding?" Niles asked Beau. He didn't want to ask what Beau did, so as to avoid that question for himself.

"Oh, uhm, we… we haven't set a date, yet" Beau answered. Intrigued by how much trouble he seemed to have answering that question, CC pressed on "How long have you two been engaged?"

"Seven months" Lydia answered confidently.

"Seven months, and no wedding date set yet?"

"Well, we wanted a long engagement. Give us time to know each other, and figure out where we want to live and all that."

"That sounds like a great idea." CC said. Niles was a bit confused, he thought she had been about to pounce, and now, she had completely retracted her claws. He would have to ask her about it later.

"Really?" Lydia had been caught off guard too, her voice crackled a bit. "Well, thanks for understanding. You know, before you got here, Macy Thompson gave me such a hard time about not having a date set. She actually insinuated that we weren't actually engaged."

"I'll admit, Lydia, that the thought had crossed my mind. In fact, if our paths had crossed last year, I probably would have done much more than insinuate and we would not be having a civil conversation right now. However, it seems that lately I'm just so damn happy in my life, that I wish that kind of happiness for everyone. So if what is making you happy is what you're doing, then keep doing it, I say!" and she raised her glass once again, and this time, the whole table cheered along with her.

No need to ask her later, she just answered me right now!" Niles thought to himself. He gave her thigh a squeeze under the table and leaned over for a quick kiss to tell her how much he agreed with her.

"My, my CC. You have changed quite a bit since we last spoke. To think, at the last reunion party, you almost caused Phyllis and Bill to get a divorce, and I think the Phyllis is still not speaking to Jennifer because of it." Lydia hadn't quite figured out how to let things go though.

CC remembered that incident well. It was the night that Nanny Fine had had her tonsils removed and Maxwell had stood her up for the reunion party. She had had enough of Phyllis and Jennifer "awwwing" over her lack of kids, lack of husband, lack of escort, and just let it slip about Bill and Jennifer in Barbados. Of course, that was the "old CC", the one who was bitter and alone and angry.

"Yes, I remember. I was a different person then. I don't regret it, those two had it coming with the way they had treated me the whole night, but I wouldn't see the point of doing that now if the opportunity presented itself again."

"So Niles, since you're the cause for all this happiness, tell me about yourself." Since a straight on attack didn't seem to be getting to CC, Lydia went for the next best target.

"What do you want to know, Miss Hardcastle?" Niles answered.

"How did you two meet?"

"We met thanks to Maxwell. I was at the house when CC came to interview for him."

"Interview? That was well over 15 years ago! I know you haven't been dating that long, so what's the story here?" Lydia leaned in; this was going to be good.

The story would have to wait a while though, as the main course was being served, and the bustle of dishes and waiters made it impossible to continue talking for more than two words at a time.


By the time the waiters had finished serving, Niles hoped that Lydia would have forgotten about their previous topic of discussion, but he groaned under his breath when she said "So Niles, please do continue with the story."

"There's not much to it actually. CC and the first Mrs. Sheffield, Sara, were very good friends and she told CC about Maxwell needing an assistant. CC came in for the interview, and, since CC Babcock is nobody's assistant, she immediately applied and got junior partner in the company. After working with Maxwell for just one year, she had increased the bottom line five-fold and was helping him get better and better plays. Her focus was on her career, nothing else. She wouldn't have noticed me, as she was determined to succeed, and that she has." He looked over at her, and she smiled, so he continued. "Then, when things were finally looking like she would be able to ease off and I could make a move, Sara, had that terrible car accident…" Both Niles and CC got lost in their thoughts a few moments, remembering that day and all the emotion that surrounded it.

"Of course, Maxwell was devastated. The business would have died right there if CC hadn't picked up the pieces to do not only her job, but his as well. It took another five years for Maxwell to truly come back to us, and by then, CC had defined herself in her job, there wasn't much else out there that even caught her attention. I finally was able to break down her guard so to speak; as I escorted her to various business functions, I was able whittle away the very thick career woman armor she had built up around her, and here we are. It was quite a road, but I wouldn't be on it with anyone else." It was CC's turn to give his thigh a squeeze, and they met in the middle for a gentle, loving kiss.

"That's a great story Niles", said Beau. He hadn't spoken much, so he wanted to participate a bit and show his support to the couple that seemed so happy in front of him.

"Yes, it is great." Lydia's tone clearly indicated that she wasn't going to let the matter drop. "It's pretty one-sided though, isn't it? I mean, what were you doing while CC was working so hard? In fact, what do you do Niles?"

This was it. Niles wasn't sure how it had come to this. He really thought that they would have been able to get through it without getting down to what he did for a living. Here goes, he thought.

"Niles is Maxwell's butler." CC stated, matter-of-factly.

"Butler?" Lydia repeated, incredulously.

"For over twenty years now, in fact." Niles confirmed what CC had said.

"Twenty years!" exclaimed Beau. Lydia was about to make some comment when her fiancé continued, "I can't keep a job for more than three months. Twenty years! Wow, that's impressive."

Lydia had a choice now. She knew that if she made any untoward remark about Niles' profession, the last comment that Beau had just made would leave him wide open to attack as well. Of course, CC had acted less bitchy than usual, so she might stand a chance at winning this little verbal sparring match. She glanced over at CC, and the look in the blonde's eyes told her instantly that she would have a fight on her hands if she decided to enter the ring. Lydia looked at CC again, who smiled at her, and whose whole body language screamed out "Don't go there".

Of course, Lydia was never one to heed any warnings, and so she plunged into the water directly. What she was going to say was "You mean to tell me that CC Babcock is involved with a servant?". However, she never got a change to utter a word as it was again time to switch off for the desert.


A/N: Ok, I know that I could have gone for the juggular on that one, but there's somewhere I want to take you with this story, and this isn't it. In fact, I' m in such a hurry to get there myself, that you're getting this and next chapter up all at once. I had so much fun writing them, that I won't even make you wait to read them. Hope you appreciate it, because the next update make take a little while...I have a date with my husband tomorrow night! ;) Thanks for the reviews! Christine.