Chapter 6

Several weeks later

"It's nice to see you Deanne, so what's the reason for this surprise visit?" Jazz asked her daughter, as she led her to the kitchen where Dave was sitting enjoying a snack.

"Your mother and I can guess of course, and probably even be correct, but we'd rather you tell us," Dave added after he kissed Deanne on the cheek. "We wouldn't want to steal your thunder."

"Yes, you probably can guess why I came," Deanne grinned at them, even as Jazz placed a plate with her newest creation in front of their unexpected guest.

"Eat up, it's something new I'm trying," Jazz told her daughter.

"I'll be happy to be your guinea pig," Deanne said, as she took the fork her mother handed her and dug in.

"I agree with you there. I'm always happy to test anything new that you create, honey," Dave told her. "I have after all been enjoying your creations for centuries and I'm sure I'll enjoy them for many more."

"This is great, Mom, seriously great," Deanne said once she had taken her first couple of bites, chewed and swallowed.

"I have to agree with our daughter. It is rather spectacular, honey," Dave said.

"All compliments are appreciated," Jazz smiled at two people she loved in different ways.

"Now are you going tell us the reason for this sudden visit?" Jazz asked her daughter once Deanne had mostly finished her dessert.

"It isn't even that we're not always happy to see you," Dave said, "but our children usually only come to visit for special occasions like the holidays."

"I'm sure you already are aware that I've met my mate," Deanne said.

"That's terrific news!" Dave said, even as he gave his daughter a hug with one arm from where he was sitting beside her in the booth that was in the kitchen.

"It is and your father and I are very happy for you," Jazz said.

"Your godparents will be too," Dave said.

"I know they will be," Deanne agreed, as she finished off her dessert. "That was great Mom, seriously great."

"You just happened to come at the right time to try my new recipe," Jazz told her smiling. "So what's his name?"

"Griffen Bathurst," Deanne revealed.

"How did you meet him?" Dave asked. "Usually an immortal just runs into their mate totally on accident."

"I didn't literally run into him in this case dad. He came into the gardening emporium and asked for me specifically," Deanne said.

"Why would he need a woman that sells gardening tools, flowers and such," Jazz asked. "I mean, why couldn't he just ask one of your employees if he couldn't find whatever he was looking for. Technically, you're the owner not an employee."

"Well, he and his sister just inherited this humongous estate that's outside of Calais, Maine, which isn't far from where I live just a couple hours by the sky lanes," Deanne explained. "The estate is really off the beaten track. Apparently, Griffen and his sister never knew they had a great uncle at all. However, the great uncle passed away and the lawyers in charge of the estate started searching for heirs, as the uncle never married. Locating an heir apparently took quite some time so the garden was allowed to go to seed, as there were no servants except an old housekeeper who also was the cook and a nurse, as well as she was the only servant left by the time Griffen's uncle died."

"So this housekeeper was there when the old man died and contacted the lawyers to inform them," Dave guessed.

"Yes, from what I understand that's exactly what happened," said Deanne..

"I'm surprised this man didn't used droids if there weren't any people," Jazz said puzzled. "It sounds like that this man could more than afford to have a whole platoon of droids handling the chores."

"Well, according to, Griffen and Mira the uncle whose name was Claud Wilton by the way, hated droids and in the later years of his life thought they were spying on him, but never used them, even before then. Even when he was younger, he never liked them and that's really not so unusual, because we don't use them either, but then we have more reason not to. He also apparently became a bit paranoid, as he got older. They used to be a whole lot of servants, but that slowly changed as Wilton advanced in years. In the last years of his life, the only servant left was that housekeeper/cook/caregiver whose name was Meline Monroe."

"You're right, it's not unusual for someone to dislike droids no matter how useful they are for different reasons," Dave said. "As for our family, yes, we have very good reasons not to have that kind of help in our home."

"Yes, we have the secret of immortality and magic to protect and you never know if they've been programmed to spy on their owners by someone at the company that manufactures them or if somebody will break in that knows how to hack into one's memory banks. It's just too risky," Jazz said.

"I have to agree, as just because it's never happened yet doesn't mean it can't. It's just that, so many people are criminals or at least break the law even if that's in minor ways, so it's definitely a strong possibility that it might happen, even if that's not for centuries," Dave agreed. "Peoples ethics and morals just aren't what they used to be."

"That's so true," Jazz totally agreed her tone ironic. "Also, Shonda and I have certain advantages when it comes to doing the ordinary chores like dusting or washing clothes and that is we have magic, which makes chores a lot easier and faster and also doesn't waste money on things like laundry detergent or stain remover or dryer sheets. Most people don't have that advantage, however, so either waste a great deal of time accomplishing the chores necessary to keep their home and clothes clean and also performing other necessary chores like grocery shopping and the like or they have servants whether human or droids to do all that for them.

"And since Aaron and I don't have jobs per say, we help out where we can, as even we can do laundry and Aaron at least leaves the cooking to those that know how," Dave said with a smirk.

Everybody laughed at that as it was true that Aaron had never learned how to cook, but then, some people just didn't have the ability and Aaron Hotchner just happened to be one of them.

"He does plenty to help Shonda out though and just because he can't cook to save his life doesn't mean he doesn't," Jazz chuckled.

"We all have things we're good at and things that we just don't have a talent for," Deanne agreed. "You can't keep teasing Uncle Aaron about his lack of cooking talent, since they're always restaurants and it's not like he or anyone in this family lacks money."

"True and your mother and I are always willing to lend the hand if necessary when such an event occurs," Dave agreed. "It's not like, it will be the first time that we've had to bring a meal over to the Hotchners when Shonda is busy."

"Especially when they have children we've taken a meal over there more than once. I always cook extra anyway and freeze it, so it's not really an imposition to defrost it in the microwave and then serve it up for lunch or dinner," Jazz agreed.

"In any case, we're looking forward to meeting this Griffen Bathurst at some point," Dave told Deanne.

"It'll be awhile," Deanne said. "Oh, did I mention, that Griffen and his sister Mira are twins and close. Mira thought it was amusing that I made it a condition of touring the garden of the estate to insist on a date with her brother."

"You actually made it a condition of helping out out at the garden known the estate they inherited?" Jazz, asked her daughter giving her a look. "Why?"

"It was kind of necessary, as I sensed that Griffen would think it would be a conflict of interest if he and his sister hired me to get the garden in order, since it's been allowed to become seriously overgrown and it's quite the mess. It will take a lot of work and money to get it back into shape. I was right about what I believed, as he tried to pitch that exact line, and I told him that either he agreed to a date or I would refuse to see the garden at all, and therefore, they'd be no conflict of interest.

"It's not like I'm not busy enough running my business, not to mention the other ones that I've opened in different cities that I get regular reports on how they're doing. How else was I supposed to get him to agree to go out on a date with me, as he was all set to put his clear interest in me aside in favor of getting my help with the estate he inherited?" Deanne asked.

"So you had to take more drastic measures, because apparently your mate isn't the type to get not involved with anyone that's he's paying to do a job," Dave said and Deanne nodded.

"Which is normally a very admirable attitude," Jazz said, "but I do understand why you did what you did in this case, as we all know how important an immortal's mate is."

"Very true," Deanne and Dave agreed at the same time to Jazz's statement.

"So you took the job then?" Dave asked Deanne.

"I told them that they should buy some droids programmed for garden work to clear out all the overgrowth and I'd be there every couple of days to make sure they were doing a proper job. However, if they were just going sell it there was no point of putting in the effort of getting the garden back to its former glory. Only if they decide to keep it will we talk further. I'm still waiting on their decision one way or the other and this way, I can go into work every day until they make it. I told them if they sell it they should leave the garden as is, with the exception of clearing out the overgrown foliage and let the new owners deal with it."

"Seems like sensible advice to me," Jazz said. "Why incur the cost of everything that goes into a large garden, flowers and other plants if they don't keep the estate?"

"The estate did come with a large inheritance, so wasting the money wouldn't put them into any debt, but I still don't see the point of getting the garden back into shape, putting in the effort, money and work, unless they're going to keep the property. I told them that they should leave the responsibility for the garden to the new owners if they were going to sell.

"And yes, I know I can easily get the garden back up to snuff since I got this ability to grow any kind of plant at a much faster rate then nature can do, which I have put to use on my own garden and at work when there is no one else around, but not on anybody else's since magic must remain a secret.

"The garden of the estate is quite a mess from what I have seen for myself once I went there with Griffen, even if the housekeeper kept the house in reasonable shape that doesn't mean that most of the rooms aren't closed up, which means they're going to be very dusty and need a good airing out since they haven't been cleaned in a long time," said Deanne. "There's also apparently a lot of papers in what was the uncle's study that they're still sorting through, so it's going to be a long term project. That's even before it can be sold, as everything has to be cleared out, as this Claud was something of a packrat, as apparently he never threw anything away from what I understand, bills, ticket of purchases that kind of thing."

"Sounds like it," Dave said. "Your mother and I are very happy you've met your mate Dea."

"So am I. You would think though that the tickets from items that were bought at least would've been electronic, as any business where something was purchased wouldn't have bothered with a paper copy," Jazz said. "I know important papers like somebody's legal documents usually have two copies, a paper one and an electronic one, but just for things that were bought in a store there should be no paper copies."

"That's usually the case, but it could've been Claud's policy to tell his employees to always ask for a paper copy for all you know and most businesses would've complied with that request," suggested Deanne. "You know how some people are and that they like two copies for everything. For all we know, the Bathursts uncle could've been that way, though we will never know since he's dead. After all, something could happen to the electronic copy easily enough. It could've been deleted on accident for instance or there could be a glitch in the computer system where everything was lost. There are all kinds of reasons for having a paper copy and some people just like to have that kind of insurance in case the electronic one is lost for some reason."

"True," Jazz admitted. "I don't keep two copies of bills as the electronic one is usually sufficient, but I can see why some people would, because electronics aren't perfect and such things could easily be lost.

"Also, people forget their passwords all the time, which means, even if the computer is OK, they can't access the site where all their electronic records are stored, so I can see some people want a physical copy for that reason alone," Dave suggested.

"A point," Jazz admitted. "It's not exactly wise to write down your password unless you live alone and have no visitors to poke through your things and most people are married or at least invite friends over to their home."

"And since so, many people just go poking through other things without permission and are dishonest to boot...," said Deanne. "In any case, I'll let you know when I'm bringing Griffen here to meet you and Aunt Shonda and Uncle Aaron, but it's going to be awhile. We've seen each other several times since we met a few weeks ago but still, its going to be awhile yet before you can meet him."

"You just let us know when," Dave said, "and in the meantime we'll inform your godparents that you've met your mate, which means one of their children should be next, as that's the way it's worked so far and I don't see that changing now."

"Not at this late date no," Deanne agreed and Jazz nodded, as if to say, she also agreed with her husband's words.

"I better be getting back, as I expect to hear any day about the decision that Griffen and Mira have made about the estate is it's already been about a month," Deanne said.

"I hope you and Griffen have seen each other in that month," Jazz said.

"Of course we have Mom," Deanne told her giving her mother a look, as if to say don't be silly. "He just hasn't brought up whether or not they're keeping the estate, so I'm assuming that no definite decisions have been made as yet."

"It's a big decision and such decision usually takes a lot of thought and time and it's not like there's any rush," Dave said.

"True, there's not as it's not like the Wilton Estate is going anywhere, as it's been there for decades probably centuries, though I have no idea when it was built," said Deanne.

"Such a large estate are pretty rare in this day and age except in places like Europe," Jazz said. "England, Italy, and places like that where families inherit large chunks of land that been in their family for centuries."

"So you're saying that the estate is probably at least 500 or more years old and that the family likely originally came over from somewhere in Europe, but since the name of the estate is Wilton, England, is likely their country of origin," Deanne said.

"Well, reasoned and I'm sure you're right," Jazz told her daughter getting up and kissing Deanne's cheek before both her parents bid her goodbye and wished her luck with Griffen.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~