George glared suspiciously at Jefferson from behind his glasses. "And you want my son's schedule why?" Jefferson sighed again. "Look, Mr. Washington, I swear I'm not doing anything bad, you have my word, I just really need to know if he's got any afternoon classes today." George didn't lower his gaze. Jefferson, seeing that Washington wasn't going to give him the information at this point, continued desperately, "If Ale-Hamilton says one word to you about something bad I did this afternoon, you can fail me." Washington raised an eyebrow. "Fine, but I'm calling Alex to see-" "No!" Jefferson interrupted. "Please don't tell him- I just- you can fail me if you find out that I did something bad, just please, Mr. Washington." George stared at him. "Fine. He doesn't have any classes after lunch, just Journalism and another class in the morning." Thanking him, Jefferson left, feeling Washington's still suspicious gaze on him.

George watched the door shut behind him and sighed. Jefferson better not do anything to his son, or he was in for it. George disliked him in general, so if you add that to the fact that Jefferson and Alex absolutely destroyed each other in debate, you couldn't blame him for being suspicious. He sighed again, looking at the stack of papers he still had to grade and thinking of Martha.

He entered the house after a long, silent car ride home to find it smelling absolutely delicious. He grinned. "Martha, dear!" he called, striding into the kitchen to find her sitting at the table, on her computer, their InstaPot beeping on the table. She looked up to see hem and smiled, warming his heart instantly as she walked around the table to embrace him. "George! How were the kids today?" George smiled. "Eh, not bad, although Jefferson was asking about Alex's schedule," he said, brows furrowing at the memory. He should probably check on Alex. He reached for his phone and-

Martha placed a hand on his. "C'mon, dear, Alex is grown. He's an adult now," she reminded him. "I'm sure he's fine. You of all people should know that he can take care of himself." George relaxed, smiling at her and going to take a seat at the table. He'd probably have gone crazy by now, if not for Martha. "Whatcha got going on there?" he asked, gesturing to Martha's computer. "Oh!" Martha said, as if she'd forgotten. He smiled. That was Martha, always focused on everyone else and never one to talk about herself. 

Martha grabbed her computer, smiling to herself. George was so sweet, never taking advantage of her and always asking her to talk about her, something she forgot to do often. Swiveling it around, she showed George her computer screen, which displayed a website selling crocheted flower pot holders. George paused. Some of the designs looked familiar...

"So, since Alex is out of the house and I don't have much to do at home all day, I've started a business!" Martha chirped excitedly. George looked somewhat worried. "That's amazing, Martha dear-" "I've filed the necessary tax returns, created a website and separate bank account, done all the legal stuff, made calculations as to how much I need to buy, calculated net profit against returns not including legal fees, you know, the necessary stuff," she said. George stared at her. "Wow, Martha," he said. "You really are amazing." Martha beamed. 

After dinner (which was delicious), they retired to the sitting room, on the couch. George read a book aloud while Martha sifted through some old photos, occasionally interrupting him to point out a particularly nostalgic photo. "Look, George," she said at one point. "It's the day we met! Remember?" George laughed, embarrassed. The day they'd met, Martha charmed everyone adn George tried to talk to her, but then George King tripped him and he accidentally dumped his coffee on her, and he ended up having to pay for her dry cleaning. George suddenly grinned cheekily, saying, "I guess you could say I fell for you instantly." Martha rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Do you want to watch something?" George nodded, and they curled up on the couch together and watched a show on Netflix.

Or at least, tried to.

"Dammit! This-thing- How does it work? I can't get this stupid- The damn remote won't start! I'm pressing start, why isn't it-" 

SO! Sorry it took so long to get this out, I started working on a Chinese New Year one, abandoned the Chinese New Year one, worked on a St. Patrick's Day one, decided to do the Chinese New Year one after all, then remembered that I said Valentine's Day came in three parts and hurriedly put this together. 

~M