"I'm going to be away for a couple of days," Griffen told his sister. "Deanne wants me to meet her family and they live in Oklahoma."

"It must be be getting serious," Mira said, giving her brother a look.

"I'm not ashamed to admit it is," Griffen said, smiling, rubbing a hand under his chin. It was clear that Griffen needed a shave as there were bristles all over his face as if he hadn't shaved for a day or two. "I think I love her and I never imagined I would say that in a million years."

"Even though you were the one that claimed she blackmailed you into that first date," Mira reminded him with a smirk and laughter in her voice.

"I have since changed my mind about that," Griffen said. "It wasn't technically blackmail, which is something I knew, even at the time. Deanne, somehow sensed that I would probably be reluctant to get involved with someone we might hire to deal with the garden..."

"So made it a condition of agreeing to even take a tour," Mira finished.

"Yeah," Griffen said smiling. "I have to admit her tactics to get me to go on that first date are unique."

"It just means that she really liked you when she met you or she wouldn't have resorted to such tactics in the first place," Mira said. "Women are known to go to great lengths when they really like someone Griffen in order to get that guy to agree to go on a date with them. Once you went out on that first date, you continued to see her, because you learned that you really did like her a great deal."

"How Deanne figured out I'd be reluctant to date someone that you and I were going to hire I don't know," Griffen said

"Probably women's intuition, as women can often sense things like that," Mira told him. "It can also be simple common sense as a lot of perspective employers don't want to get involved with someone they are paying no matter how attracted they are. Doing so can lead to serious consequences like blackmail or worse."

"Which is why she did what she did," Griffen realized.

He knew that women often sensed things that men didn't because of this women's intuition Mira had just been talking about. They could, sense when a guy was dangerous more often than not for instance, as they gave off a kind of vibe that at lot of people could pick up on.

"If there's anything I've learned about Deanne Rossi is, she is smart, intelligent, and savvy. I really like her by the way, so if you two do tie the knot I'll be very happy about it," Mira told her brother.

"I'm glad you do like her, because I do too, a lot, despite the way she made going on a date as part of her conditions for coming to take a tour of the garden of the Wilton estate," Griffen said.

"Which are really taking shape, because of all her hard work," Mira said smiling. "Of course, we had to rent a whole army of droids to cut the excess foliage and I know they're doing the planting, but she gives them their orders and checks on their progress every couple of days. Unlike humans droids always obey orders and so long as those orders are clear and precise they never make mistakes."

"It was a good idea to rent instead of buy droids, though we might have to invest in some in the future," Griffen said. "Somebody needs to keep up the estate and it doesn't necessarily need to be someone human."

"We do need at least a few humans here," Mira mildly protested. "While droids are useful they can also be reprogrammed or destroyed if somebody decides to break in. I know that isn't likely considering the estate is out in the middle of nowhere, but it could happen. You know how rumors are and I'm sure rumors have been going around about how we inherited a large estate and that there is nobody there other than a few droids and one old housekeeper."

"We could have security droids though, ones that are armed and programmed to defend the property and call the police if there is a break-in," Griffen said.

"I think a combination of droids and humans is probably best, but we'll worry about that later, as there is still so much work to do to get the estate back in shape," Mira said.

"We do have that security forcefield that surrounds the estate," Griffen said. "If some thief can gets by that then they must be really clever."

"That forcefield is one reason I think we need at least a few humans there, because if we change vehicles and they aren't in the system, so won't automatically let our vehicles through the shield when we come to visit," Mira said.

"I hadn't thought about that, but you're right while we have a remote for that forcefield what if the batteries are dead or the remote gets lost or broken?" Griffen finally agreed with his sister. Mira had thought about a lot of things that could happen that he hadn't, which was why she was the smart one.

"Also, there's only one remote at least at present and we can't always be together. I'm sure we can get another remote, but I'll have to look into that before I can say for certain, which is another reason I think we need some humans here," Mira said.

"Mom always did call you the smart one," Griffen said smiling.

"You're just as smart Griffen. I just know how to think things through and plan ahead," Mira told him also smiling.

"Which makes you a great real estate agent," Griffen said. "You just have that knack for selling things to people."

"It's why I became a real estate agent in the first place," Mira agreed. "In any case, I'll see you when you get back from Oklahoma, but let me know if you're going to be up there more than a day or two."

"I don't think we will be not this first time anyway," Griffen said. "I don't want to be gone too long considering all the work we have to do on the estate, not to mention my job. We'll go up there and I'll meet her parents. We'll have a fantastic meal, as according to Deanne both her parents are great cooks and her mom's apparently a fabulous baker. Afterwards, we'll head back either the same day or the next morning depending."

"You're welcome to bring me something from her mother's bakery," Mira told him. "If she's really that fabulous a baker, I'll be happy to test whatever you bring."

"We'll see how it goes," Griffen said shaking hr head smiling. "I'm sure Deanne won't mind stopping by her mother's bakery either before we share a meal with them or before we get our flight to come back here."

"It's too bad there isn't such a bakery owned by the Rossi family here in Maine if the treats are really that good," Mira sighed in regret.

"Why don't we test out those treats before we say we're sorry there isn't a bakery close by, shall we?" Griffen told her smiling. His sister loved chocolate and had to exercise a lot because she was always eating it in some form.

"Just because Deanne says her mother is a first rate baker doesn't mean anybody else will agree with that opinion," Griffen added.

"Don't be a pessimist," Mira told him smiling. "I'm sure I can easily become addicted to whatever you bring back. If the bakery has been in business for any length of time, then that means it's successful, which means people like what Deanne's mother sells, so that they go back.

"You're more than likely right," Griffen admitted, as he held up his hands to indicate defeat. He was sure that his sister was correct and he would love whatever he decided to get from Deanne's mother's bakery when they were in Oklahoma.

"Just make sure whatever you get for me has chocolate in it," Mira requested and Griffen nodded.

"Yes, I know your addiction to chocolate, so I'll make sure it has that as the main ingredient," Griffen said.

"Good, thank you," Mira said, kissing her brother on the cheek. "I'll see you when you return. So are you nervous about meeting Deanne's family?"

"You know me too well," Griffen said. "I have to admit I am nervous, as I've known plenty of people in the past who introduced their significant other to their parents and then at least one of the parents wanted them to break up once they had met their boyfriend or girlfriend. We both, know that a lot of parents can be unreasonable. I have no idea what Deanne's parents are like, since I've never met them, as they might be like those parents that don't like their children to get involved with anyone and always disapprove of who their kids do date. I have plenty of friends where at least one parent disapproves of whoever there son or daughter gets involved with and I often have to deal with the fallout when that happens, which is one reason I'm nervous."

"While that's true, don't be such a pessimist, brother, dear," Mira told Griffen. "I've heard Deanne talk about her parents on several occasions and they don't seem like the unreasonable type and sound like wonderful people."

"Well, I am about to find out," Griffen said with a grimace, looking as if he was going to his execution instead of heading to Oklahoma to Tulsa, where Deanne's parents were living.

"I bet you'll find that they're just as Deanne described," Mira told him. "I expect a full report when you get back."

"You'll get one," Griffen promised finally smiling, trying to put his worry about meeting Deanne's parents behind him, even as he bid his sister goodbye.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~

"Mira asked us to bring back something from your mother's bakery, so we need to plan to stop by there before we come home," Griffen told Deanne, as they were heading to the shuttleport so they could head to Oklahoma.

"Fine with me, as I always love getting treats from one of the bakeries owned by my family whenever there's one close by," Deanne said.

"So there's more than one?" Griffen asked with a raised eyebrow, as he hadn't known that the bakery owned by Deanne's family was a chain.

"Yes, my family is huge and a lot of them have started up their own bakeries if they had a talent like my mother does," Deanne explained only half truthfully. "It's not technically a chain because they all are under different names, but they all owned by my family and they all just as good as what my mother produces. Each bakery is owned and operated by my one of my numerous cousins or one of my nieces or nephews."

"So you have family that is spread far and wide, and a lot of them started up bakeries of their own," Griffen said.

"Or they took over one that was already in place and had been for decades at least," Deanne said. "There's a bakery in a lot of cities in the US and even a few in Europe."

"All owned by members of your family," Griffen said looking impressed. It wasn't often that he heard about a business that was still in operation even after hundreds of years.

"Yep," Deanne told him with a smile at Griffen's astonished tone.

"That's very impressive," Griffen told her. "Apparently, a lot of your family has a head for business if they have managed to keep the bakeries in operation going even after centuries. So none of them have had to close down because of bad management or because they aren't making enough money to keep them going?"

"Nope," Deanne applied shaking her head. "That's never happened to any of the bakeries owned by my family. As far as I know, none of them have ever been close to closing down."

"Would you have heard if that had come close to happening?" Griffen asked.

"Probably," Deanne said. "There's a very active and healthy grapevine in my family so yes, I probably would've heard if one of the bakeries was close to closing down. My family might be spread far and wide, but that doesn't mean we never communicate over the link. I hear from my family all the time my siblings, my parents, my godparents and my godparents children that I grew up with and other various family members from time to time."

"So your family loves to gossip and if one of them had heard something about one of your bakeries being in financial trouble, you would've heard about it," Griffen summarized

"Definitely," Deanne agreed with a smile.

The two of them stopped talking, as Griffen parked at the shuttleport, and the two of them got out of the car and headed inside so they could catch their flight that they already had gotten tickets for online.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~

"Welcome to our home," Dave greeted his daughter with a kiss on the cheek and shook Griffen's hand in a friendly manner.

Griffen begin to relax at Dave's warm and friendly greeting, even as he walked into the Rossi home.

Griffen looked around and noticed that the decor was very nice with dark wood paneling that led down a short hallway into another room which appeared to be a living room, which had very nice furniture and white painted walls to make the room seem brighter then it really was. Dave led his daughter and her mate through the living room and down another short hallway until they finally reached a room that appeared to be a family room.

"Everyone you know Deanne and this is Griffen, her boyfriend," Dave told the other three people in the room. "Griffen, the lady on the loveseat is my wife Jazz and the two people on the other couch are Deanne's godparents and our good friends Aaron and Shonda Hotchner."

"Welcome to our home," Jazz greeted Griffen cordially, rising gracefully to shake Griffen's hand in a friendly manner. "Dinner is ready whenever we are."

"It would be a shame to let it get cold where it is in inedible," Shonda commented, even as she greeted Griffen.

"It's under warming domes, so the food will be fine and be just as piping hot as it was when it was first cooked," Dave commented, even as he took his seat beside his wife.

"Deanne has said that both of you were great cooks, so I'm looking forward to trying whatever you prepared," Griffen told Dave and Jazz sincerely.

"So Deanne has told us that you and your sister inherited an estate from a relative that you had no idea you had," Dave said and Griffen nodded.

"That's true. Our great-uncle Claud Wilton left us everything, his estate and his money. We had no idea that we had any relatives, much less ones that were wealthy," Griffen agreed.

"Must've come is quite a shock," Aaron comment and speaking for the first time.

"Yes, it did indeed," Griffen agreed being completely honest. "When we got the letter and read it, we thought it was some kind of joke originally. I mean, most people dream about having rich relative that will leave them all their money, but it almost never happens.

"We threw out the first letter since we thought it was a joke, but then, another arrived a week later," Griffen said. "We figured we might as well call the number that was listed just to see if what it said was true or not, and we were astonished to discover that the number led to a law firm in Calais. Mira is the one that talked to the lawyer, but I was right there and heard the conversation since she put it on speaker. We were requested to come to the law firm in Calais at our earliest convenience, so that's what we did."

"So you found out then your inheritance was real," Dave said, and Griffen nodded.

"We did and both of us were deeply shocked," Griffen agreed.

"You had every right to be shocked," Shonda commented. "If you didn't know, you had a great-uncle that really didn't live too far from you and to top of you learned he was wealthy and had left you and your sister everything."

"We were apparently the only ones left to leave it to, because my uncle never married, never had children and in the last years of his life he never left the estate and as for my mother she is dead. The only servant left by the time he passed away, was the housekeeper who also cooked and took care of my uncle on top of that," Griffen explained. "Mira and I found out that the lawyers had been trying to trace the family for quite some time trying to find heirs for the money and property."

"And finally found you and your sister," Jazz commented.

"Yes, they finally found us," Griffen agreed. "Mira and I are still going through the papers my uncle left in his study. At least the house is in decent shape and the garden is coming along thanks to Deanne, though it was seriously overgrown before then."

"Putting someone's affairs in order when a family member dies, especially if it's one you're not aware exists, always takes awhile to get everything settled," Jazz commented.

"Absolutely," Shonda agreed. "I remember what it was like when my father passed away soon after Aaron's and my first child was born and it must be even harder for a family member you didn't even know existed until you got that letter from the lawyers. Dad mostly had his affairs in order when he passed, but there were still some things that had to be done and I was executor of his will as his only child and heir."

"I helped as much, as I could at the time, because Shonda and I have been best friends all our lives. I was close to both her parents when they lived, just as close as I was to my own," Jazz said. "Still, there wasn't much I could do since I'm not related, though I did allow Shonda to vent at me in order to relieve her frustrations. Well, that and baked her numerous chocolate treats since she loves chocolate just as much as everyone else in the family and they helped to calm her down."

"What you did was more than enough Jazz, as you listened to me vent something I appreciated at the time, especially since I was still grieving for the death of my last living parent, even while trying to handle his affairs," Shonda said.

"I think it's time for dinner," Jazz said. "I'm sure everybody's getting hungry. We can talk more as we eat."

Dave helped Jazz to her feet while Aaron did the same for Shonda and everybody watched as Griffen also helped Deanne rise to her feet and everyone looked pleased at the old-fashioned manners Griffen was showing.

Everyone trooped into the dining room and Deanne led Griffen to one side of the table where Griffen pulled out his girlfriend's chair and then sat down himself once she was seated.

"It's self-serve," Jazz told Griffen. "There's plenty for seconds if anybody wants them, though I would save room for dessert."

"I've been warned," Griffen said. "Deanne warned me to save room for dessert and said I would regret it if I didn't."

"She's absolutely right you will regret it if you don't save room for dessert," Aaron who had been mostly silent, said. "I've been eating Jazz's desserts ever since I met Shonda and I've never had a bad one in all those years."

"And I've been eating Jazz's dessert ever since I was a kid, because we've known each other all our lives," Shonda said. "They were always very good, even when she was just learning how to put a recipe together, but she's only gotten better since. Of course, she gets a lot of practice as she's always baking and not just for the bakery she owns, but here at home too, so all of us always have some kind of treats on hand that she made."

"Mira got me to promise to stop by the bakery on our way home and pick her up something," Griffen said. "If I don't get her something from your bakery before Deanne and I head home she's going to be very upset at me, because I did promise."

"Then you need to stop by the bakery before you head back to Maine," Jazz commented. "I wouldn't want your sister to be mad at you, because you didn't fulfill your promise to her."

"We will," Deanne put in.

"When you do, don't be surprised when they don't charge you though," Jazz added looking at Griffen.

"Why wouldn't they charge me?" Griffen asked confused

"Because you're now family and none of the bakeries owned by my family ever charge any Rossi or Hotchner for getting something from them. The nearest one to you is in Bar Harbor, Maine, and one of our numerous cousins runs it."

"That's nice to know," Griffen said. "Still, I'm more than willing to pay for whatever I get to take home. You don't need to give it to me for free."

"It's the policy that goes back to the first owner of the very first bakery that is located in Moonlight Gorge, Louisiana," Shonda told Griffen not mentioning that Jazz was the original owner, as he would learn that soon enough and in fact, as soon as dinner was completed.

"You're not going to change centuries of tradition, just because you feel like you need to pay for whatever you get," Dave told Griffen sympathetically.

"Maybe I should just go to the one in Bar Harbor then," Griffen suggested.

"Won't work, as I'll be sending word that you're not to be charged whenever you step in to a bakery owned by my family," Jazz said, shaking her head. "And that goes for your sister too, in case, you think about getting her to pick up some things for you."

"I see I can't win," Griffen finally gave in without further argument.

"No, you can't and you shouldn't bother to try," Deanne told him smiling. "It's not like others before you haven't tried the tactic you suggested and they never work."

"True, they don't," Aaron commented smiling at the conversation, thinking that Griffen would learn that this family could be very determined about not charging family members for whatever treats they got, which had been a rock solid policy for many centuries, something Griffen didn't know as of yet, but would soon learn.

Griffen wasn't about to change that policy, no matter what he tried so luckily, he had given in with only a minor argument. Maybe he had seen the futility of arguing about the policy and wasn't so stubborn that he knew it was a losing battle and so had given in gracefully.

"Deanne was very right about you being excellent cooks. This is really good," Griffen told Jazz and Dave, as he finished his dinner and record time. "It's certainly better than the takeout that me and Mira live on."

"I'm glad you think so," Dave told him smiling. "I'm sure you thought Dea was exaggerating about how good her parents could cook."

"I won't say that I didn't believe she was exaggerating, at least a little about your ability to cook an excellent meal, but I guess I shouldn't have believed that she was," Griffen said. "It's just that most people I know eat out for every meal or they buy stuff that can be done in the microwave or warmed in the oven, but that's not really cooking as other people have made it easy to make a meal out of it. They don't mix the ingredients themselves. Really, all the people I know do is follow directions, which are printed on the back of the package."

"Now you know, I wasn't exaggerating and you'll soon learn I wasn't exaggerating about my mother's ability at making desserts. She's a baker for a reason," Deanne said.

"Those people you were talking about just don't take the time to learn how to cook the old-fashioned way, because for one thing it takes a lot longer than doing something in the microwave or the oven. Doing it the fast way though often means that whatever is fixed just isn't as good as the way they did it many centuries ago before all these modern conveniences were available," Jazz said. "I learned how to cook when I was young as my mother taught me and I've only gotten better since. Of course, I also practice a lot and cooking as a skill that needs lots of practice to be any good at it. You'll soon learn that good home cooking is much better than something that comes out of a package, but that's for later."

"I won't say that the way those people cook today is wrong as I'm sure it suits them if they have busy lives, but that's not the way we do things," Shonda added. "We, all except for Aaron can cook the old-fashioned way, the way they did it a long time ago before all this prepackaged, microwavable stuff existed."

"I'm the only one that can't cook, as I just don't have a talent for it," Aaron told Griffen with a little ironic smile. "Luckily for me, I have a wife that is an excellent cook and also good friends that are willing to help out in an emergency if Shonda is busy, when it comes time for dinner."

"And there's always takeout if necessary," Dave and Aaron nodded in agreement.

"I hope you left room for dessert Griffen," Jazz said once everybody was done eating.

"I did," Griffen said.

"That's good. We'll have it in the room we were in earlier. Shonda and I will bring it to you," Jazz said,

"Come on," Deanne said tugging gently on Griffen's arm. "They won't let us help and they'll only be a few minutes."

Griffen rose, and followed Deanne without complaint into the same room where they had he had met her parents and godparents who had been more warm and welcoming then he expected.

Griffen had a feeling that he was going to really like Deanne's family and that wasn't a bad thing at all.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~