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My niece Hannah is a year, or not quite a year older than her sister Abbie. She was taller than Abbie, and didn't have quite as strawberry blonde of hair. Hers was more brownish red, I'd say, even in the glinting sun, it wasn't the same tawny tint. Her eyes were pale bluish green, reminiscent of her parents', and her pale cheeks told me she'd not been hanging out in the sun all summer so far as had her sister, my nanny.

In fact, it was pretty obvious she'd been busy at school. I hadn't seen her since the day she'd yelled at me for knowing that Abbie was dating Jeremy.

And you have to understand this.

Hannah and Abbie came over to a barbecue at our house last November and met Jeremy at the same time on the same day. Hannah hit it off with him instantly and they'd started this whirlwind romance. While Abbie had quit her college experience completely to come be my full time live in nanny when I'd found out I was expecting again.

Then came the fateful trip to the US Virgin Islands for Christmas. Hannah and Abbie had come, and Jeremy too. It hadn't been especially awkward--- at all. They seemed to be good friends. Jeremy has been around the block a number of times, and he's a charmer--- for the most part, not my kind of charmer, but considering who the girls' parents are, Jared Patrick and Melia Mann, he could be the kind of charmer that would appeal to a Patrick Girl.

Jeremy had an amazing heart too. He'd accepted the gospel a year ago in Mexico, and been baptized right after my wedding. He was golden as they say, someone who heard it himself, and made the decisions without any ulterior motives, and no one pushing him. He found Abbie to be a faithful and attentive listener when Hannah time after time rejected his advances. It became obvious to Jeremy at least that he was engaged to the wrong sister, and they'd broken it off. Or she had, I think.

Anyway, Abbie was living with us in Montana at our place there, on my parent's compound property. Which is where I'd done a late night discovery of their interest in each other, and by the time I did, they were well into it. However, they wanted to spare Hannah's feelings, which were obviously volatile, and had kept their own liaison discreet until the last second, when they'd simply announced their engagement and subsequent wedding the same day as my and Rafe's family sealing day at the temple.

As soon as they did Rafe had commissioned that side of the house, namely the formal dining area, and the bedroom off of it that Abbie had been staying in be remodeled into an apartment, to entice Abbie to stay with us, even married to Jeremy. It took roughly three weeks--- a super busy and super emotional three weeks, it was finished and they were moved in, and we had newlyweds living with us, when we were simply under a year newlyweds ourselves.

And here was Hannah, beautiful, sweet, displaced Hannah standing in my kitchen, waiting for me to say something.

"Hi."

She nodded, having got herself a bottle of water, and sipped it. "Hi." I eyed her surreptitiously, then took a deep breath and plunged in. "How's it going?"

"Aren't you glad to see me?" She asked. You have to understand, I just turned thirty a week ago, and she just turned twenty-one. I babysat her when she was a baby. I may have been the cool Auntie for a short time, but I think it was a very short time. Because then I went off to school.

"I am glad to see you, but I'm understandably wary of you. The last time we were together you bit my head off for something completely out of my control." I got my own bottled water, and watched as Lance and Rafe walked through on their way to the patio and the kids. Their eyes focused on getting out of there as quickly and unobtrusively as possible.

"I know, and for that I'm sorry." She smiled and held out her hand for me to shake which was an odd thing to do in our family, hugs were more appropriate, but I shook her hand anyway, chalking it up to baby belly.

"Are you still pretty mad?"

"I'm hurt, and a little bewildered, but I'm coping."

I nodded, glad we were talking like adults, not like former babysitter and little girl, which it had felt like last time. "Would you like a smoothie, or...?"

I opened the refrigerator and pulled out the veggie tray Laura had left us. The plastic lid wasn't on all the way and almost slipped off. I set it on the counter.

"I'm actually not here about Abbie." Hannah said to start off her reason for being here. Not that she had to have a reason. I would not have cared, she was always welcome.

I popped some sugar snap peas in my mouth, wishing for a tart yogurt dip, and checking to see if Laura had made one, or if we had the stuff so I could. I started getting out the ingredients.

"I need a job."

I blinked, my hands stilling on the spoon I was holding. "Okay?"

"I want to work for Rafe, over at his new studio."

"Excuse me?" I turned to her. Her eyes had drifted out to the patio, and then up to the huge brightly colored hanging shapes Rafe still kept in the den above us. We'd been going to get rid of them, but my eyes followed hers back to meet in the middle.

"I quit school. I need a job." Her lips were set firmly, her shoulders tense.

"You could get any job. You're skilled and ----."

"I want that job."

"What job?"

"I want to work for Rafe over there." She jerked her head toward the studio next door that used to be my house.

"Yeah, cause it's on the beach, and you want to take surfing breaks? What are you talking about? You'd make more working for Grandma at ABCSC."

"I want to stay in the southland, here in LA, and I want to keep taking some classes, and I want to stay close to the music business." She seemed a little pleading or whiny, and I felt uneasy.

"You want to keep tabs on Jeremy? The answer is no. You need to back off now, they're married, and your party with him is over. He made his choice and you did too. Not to be rude, but get a different life, Hannah honey, move on."

"So you won't even talk to Rafe about it?"

"I don't have any idea what kinds of things you'd be qualified for over there. They're just getting started, they're only representing like three artists. Rafe still goes into Dark Avenue for his own label. Walrus doesn't represent Axis." I was perplexed. Hannah was old enough to know she could get a job at MSLM in a heartbeat too, although that was in Utah, and she had stated she wanted to stay in SoCal.

She blew out her breath, leaning on the counter that separated us, her long hair with the front pieces pulled behind her ears, the rest fell over her shoulders, grazing the back of the stool to her side.

"I'm sorry I'm exasperating you." I said slowly. "But you have so many better options."

She bit her lips stubbornly. "So you won't even consider talking to Rafe for me?"

"Talk to him yourself, Princess." Rafe came in the patio door and zoned in on our conversation.

Hannah swung around, turning bright red. What was that all about? Not a simple job request then? She really did want to be closer to Jeremy? Ah ah, not happening.

Rafe swung around her backside and came to my backside, popping snap peas, both of our favorites, into his mouth, and then clasping my hips close to his, doing some weird fit us together routine that should have been embarrassing, but I am finding that at least during pregnancy and maybe during all of marriage, I was fast losing that modesty I'd had all my life. The fear of someone seeing us being intimate. We are intimate.

Rafe did not look up at her. "Hannah, what do we need to talk about?"

"I am looking for a job." She said clearly and distinctly, which let me know she at least wasn't trying to hide from it.

"What kind of job?" He was still concentrating on molding our hips and legs together, and if he wasn't careful I would be off balance again.

"I want to work in your studio next door."

He nodded, finally looking over at her, and I could feel something near the union of our bodies --totally off topic-- that I seriously was not expecting to feel right now. Now he couldn't move back without revealing his state of --- what? Self-inflicted arousal? Did we need to go in the back room alone? He stopped rubbing against me and simply held me closer. Hopefully, the counter blocked her view.

"There's a secretary position open. We were thinking about hiring someone to start organizing and filing and figuring out stuff. I was leaning more toward someone familiar with music industry legalities, but if you're good you could pick that up, I'm sure. I could provide a mentor, most likely." He had looked back at my butt area, and his hands on my hips were firmly positioning us. I knew I was blushing. How could he talk to her while doing this to me? This was Rafe being his weird persona. A mixture of embarrassment and arousal flooded me.

"What do I need to do to apply?"

"If you want the job it's yours."

She looked satisfied.

"I don't have a problem hiring family like some folks do." He was done fitting us together and arousing both of us, now he stepped back, adjusted his pants in plain sight, and sauntered past her on his way back out to the patio, to his brother and the kids. "Start tomorrow, next door, I'll have somebody there to train you. I won't be there, and the band never comes there, so if you were hoping to see Jer--- not happening, but yeah, somebody will be there to fill you in. Thanks for saving me the tedious portion of hiring." And away he went.

I gave her a meaningful stare and then returned to fixing the dip. "Want some?"

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