February 2nd, 1946
Nixon, New Jersey

The sight of the Nixon estate rising up in front of her halfway between Nixon and Princeton, New Jersey, filled Alice with relief. There'd been some rain on the three-hour drive from Rhode Island, and she'd never quite gotten used to driving in freezing rain. It still bothered her, reminded her of Bastogne in a weird, roundabout way. But pulling into their driveway eased all her stress.

It was Saturday. Nix and Dick were probably out causing trouble. Or, more accurate, Nix was probably out causing trouble and dragging Dick along with him. If not, they were inside. Alice smiled as she turned the key and slammed her door closed behind her. Just as she reached the front porch, a bit of rain started behind her.

The door swung open with ease. But Alice stopped in her tracks as she stepped in. She heard a bark. And then she heard the scratching of nails on the wood floor. And then, to her joy, she saw a bouncy, black dog hurry down the hall. Alice nearly shrieked. 

"Hello! How are you?" Alice fell to her knees on the oriental rug by the door as the dog crashed into her. "Oh my goodness, hello!" She shied away as it tried to lick her face, and she laughed. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Then she paused, squishing its face a little. "You have to be nice to Spot if you're staying. Can you do that?"

"Arietta gets a kiss before me?"

Alice looked up. Nix stood next to Dick at the other end of the hall. Both of them were shaking their heads. "Listen, if you were as cute as this darling dog, you'd get a kiss too."

"You mean I'm not?"

"You're definitely a dog. But you're not this cute," she bit back, smirking. "Has he been terrible company while I was gone, Dick?"

"Infuriating, really," he agreed.

"I expected as much." She tried to stand, but Arietta pushed at her again, and she stumbled back onto the ground. "Oh hello. Yes I still see you."

"You can see why she didn't quite meet the requirements to be a guide dog," Nix crouched down and scratched her behind the ears. "My mom said we could take her."

"Doris Nixon just never ceases to impress me, honestly," Alice told him. "How is your mom so great and yet your father is so terrible?"

"Beats me," Nix muttered. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "They get along, by the way. Aria and Spot."

"Good." With a grin, she gave him the kiss he wanted. "There. Feel better?"

"Dick, she loves me. I swear," he said, turning back.

Dick let out a small scoff and shook his head. "Her mistake."

"That's true," Nix agreed.

"So. We have a dog now. And a new housemate," She grinned a Dick. "What else did you mess up while I was gone?" Then she laughed. "And where is Spot?"

"He's on the sofa," Dick told her. "Hogging the blankets."

Alice chuckled. Sounded about right. Spot knew his spot, that was for sure. To her relief, Arietta seemed to tire of being rambunctious and moved over to an open bit of the wood floor to lie down. She looked around. "Blanche?"

"Had to go back to San Fran," Nix told her. "Mom needed help with some Guide Dogs for the Blind administration stuff. So, it's just the three of us until this guy gets his apartment in a few days."

Dick grimaced. "Sorry to crash in your house."

"Please. It means Nix has someone to bother other than me," she teased. "I've got to freshen up. But first I want to see my kitty."

Alice wasted no time in pushing past Nixon and Dick to get to the living room in the back of the house. There Spot was, curled up in all his stripey orange glory in the middle of a pile of blankets. The fact that the dog didn't seem to bother him one bit made her smile even more. What a trooper. As soon as she placed her hands around his body and lifted him up, he meowed at her. 

"Hello, handsome. How are you? Did you enjoy spending time with your siblings while Nix and I were away?" She held him tight, and he pushed up under her chin. "I'm sure you did. Now you've got another new sibling. Aria's a bit bigger, though. And not as catlike."

"Hey, by the way," Nix started, leaning in the doorway, "we're going to a social dinner tonight for the business."

"Tonight?" She frowned. But Nix looked as apologetic as she could've expected so she nodded. "Right." The idea of socializing with the elite of New York and New Jersey before she'd had a chance to really meet any of them scared her more than she wanted to admit. Nix must've seen it, because he moved into the room.

"Don't worry. Stick with me, or Ruth, if I'm off making friends," he added. 

"Ruth? Oh, she was your secretary, right?" Alice couldn't help but smirk a bit. "I liked her."

"Yeah I thought you might," Nix laughed. "She's good. Hates Stanhope almost as much as us. She said she'd be happy to keep you company."

Alice smiled. "That's nice of her. Why does she hate your father?"

"Because she's smart?" Nix shrugged. "Not quite sure. You can ask her. She spends time with Marjorie, the Black girl that my mom hired while she was still involved. That pisses off my father right there."

Alice smiled. She knew she liked Doris Nixon. A founder for Guide Dogs for the Blind, in charge of the California Cancer Society, national vice-president of the American Women's Voluntary Services during the war, member of the World Affairs Council, and apparently a supporter of Civil Rights? That she could get behind. 

"Well, I'll have to ask Ruth myself then," Alice agreed. "Dick?" she called.

When he came into the room, Aria followed him. The dog panted happily as Dick crouched back down to pet her. "Yes, I'm going. And yes, I'd rather not."

Alice grinned. "Good. We can be miserable together."

"I'll be miserable too," Nix added.

"No, you won't. You're going to find the bar, and get some drinks, and then happily sow discord among your father's friends." When he didn't object, she grinned. "I know you too well." Then she sighed. "Well, in that case, I really do need to freshen up."

"I'll come up too-"

"No!" She dodged him, putting Spot down and getting over to Dick in the hallway. "Dick! Keep him down here. Or I'll never get myself put back together."

Nixon just started snickering, but put his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. I need a drink anyways."

"Dick, don't let him get drunk before the party," Alice added. 

She didn't wait for him to respond as she hurried down the hall and up the stairs. A party, after days and days of being with rambunctious people. She sighed. But she had some responsibility to Nix and to maintain her own social image. As she stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror, she just sighed again. She needed to redo her hair and her makeup. And then she needed to find a decent dress. 

In the end she picked out a dark purple cocktail dress, fixing a brooch that Nix had given her in the right shoulder area opposite the gathered, wrapped neckline at the left. With her hair styled, and her makeup applied, she nodded to herself in the mirror. One of the black, fancy berets she'd gotten post-war would work well with the dress. Grabbing that, she finally felt put together.

It was nice, really, to be able to put herself together. The one benefit of high society life? Alice smiled at the thought in the mirror and then slipped her shoes on. It was nearly seven already. They'd need to leave soon. 

With her heels clicking against the dark wood stairs, she just grinned as she saw Nix watching her from the bottom, flask in hand. "I do clean up well when you're not in the way."

"Shit, can we just stay here?" he asked.

Alice scoffed. "No. Now that I'm done, you go put yourself together so we can both look so good that your father looks like an idiot," she added. That did the trick, and after another long stare, Nix hurried himself up to their bedroom.

After another ten minutes, all three of them stood at the door, ready to go make friends with the high society crowd. Nix looked absolutely at ease, which pissed Alice off a bit as she could feel herself getting more and more nervous by the minute. Dick stood straight, probably as uncomfortable as she was.

"Right. You two, stop looking like you're going to a funeral," Nix said, laughing. "Come on."

To their credit, they both tried to improve their moods. Dick insisted Alice take the front passenger side, so she sat as well postured as she could and put on a small smile. If she smiled enough, maybe she could just make herself happy. But then she froze.

"What's my story?" She turned to them. "We need to get this straight. Translator, right? I was a translator for 2nd Battalion?"

"Yeah," Nix told her.

"Right. Right." She nodded to herself and muttered another 'right'. Translator. Saw no combat. Easiest story for the socialites to accept. For a moment Alice felt like she was back trying to play at being friends with the Brass in Austria. She'd succeeded most times back then. She would succeed here. 

The party was being held at a large ballroom in Princeton. According to Nix, it was a sort of welcome back party for all the men who had worked at the Nitration Works prior to the war who now returned. A thank you for your service, sort of thing. Alice couldn't help but wonder just how many people had been invited. Nix assured her under a hundred. That sounded like far too many.

When the car came to a halt outside the hotel chosen for the event, Alice took a moment to just breathe. Nix got out and opened her door for her, smirking the entire time. It made her grin right back. "Such a gentleman," she teased.

"That's my middle name."

Alice scoffed. Dick took up Nix's left, and she on his right. It took absolutely no time for him to take her coat and give it and his own to the bellhop inside. Alice felt entirely overwhelmed. A few dozen hotel workers carrying trays of drinks crossed in the lobby, most with empty platters. The ones with full drinks went the direction they were headed. When she stepped into the wooden-floored ballroom, she paused.

A massive band played at the far end of the hall. For a moment it reminded her of Kitty's wedding. But this was more extravagant. During the war, she would've called it a waste, but she supposed with the war at an end, the people needed things like this to feel like normalcy had returned. 

It hadn't, of course. At least not for her, or for the men with her. Then again, Dick had gotten well acquainted as a Major to sucking up to high profile people, so she supposed he at least had experience. She had tended to stay with Tab during parties.

Tab. She suddenly missed the flare of Floyd Talbert as she moved into the ballroom. Nix took her arm though, distracting her. He murmured that they had to go say hello to his father whether they wanted to or not, so she just put on a smile and followed his lead.

Stanhope Nixon in his large, elegant suit stood chatting and laughing with a handful of other men just as pompous as he. Dick had come with them, standing slightly behind Nix. When they got closer, one of the men caught sight of them and grinned.

"Lewis! There he is." He moved from Stanhope's side and shook the younger Nixon's hand. "Good to see you, boy."

"Cliff," Nix said, forcing a smile. "A pleasure as always. Is that suit new? Looks good on you." Then he turned to Alice. "I'd like you all to meet Alice Klein, my fiance."

"Hello," she said, smiling as well. "It's a pleasure."

"Certainly is," Cliff agreed. "Lewis certainly outdid himself looking to replace Miss Page."

Alice felt herself cringing. But she did her best to let the insult slide. She couldn't tell who it insulted more, herself or Katherine. But she ignored it. 

"And this is Richard Winters, the Works' new Personnel Manager and one of my best friends," Nix went on. "We served together. Or, I served under him," he added with a smirk. 

Stanhope nodded. "We're glad to have you on the team."

One of the other men, who Alice soon learned was named Duncan, offered them all drinks from a passing waiter. When Dick declined, Stanhope just scoffed. "Too rich for you?"

"I don't drink, sir," Dick corrected, tone flat.

"Means he always has his wits about him. Which makes one of us," Nix added. He offered a small smile at his father before turning to the other men. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to show Miss Klein and Mr. Winters some of the other men."

"You do that," Stanhope agreed.

When they moved away, Nix fumed. But Alice just grabbed his hand and assured him it was fine. He rolled his eyes. "They're a dying breed. Hopefully," he added. Taking another drink of his champagne, he turned to them. "Right. Dick, you and I are on socializing duty. Alice, let's find Ruth."

It turned out she wasn't hard to find. The woman stood by herself at a small table with hors d'oeuvres and drinking a glass of wine. Her deep red hair had been done back in curls, and her blue dress accented her pale skin. When she saw them moving over she straightened up.

"Mr. Nixon, what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked.

"Ruth you can drop the act." He smirked. "You've met Alice already. This is Dick Winters, friend, comrade, all-around great guy. Stick in the mud though."

"Ah, well, that's a shame it is." She smirked. "Ruth Burke, personal secretary to Mr. Lewis Nixon."

"Good to meet you," Dick said, offering her a smile and his hand.

As they shook, Nixon gestured to him. "He's starting on Monday. The new Personnel Manager."

"Ah, right. Lovely." She smiled. "Well, Lewis, I'm a guessing you're dropping this lovely woman off with me so she can avoid the sharks?" When Nixon nodded, she nodded back. Then she turned to Alice. "I should warn yah though, sorry, sticking with me may mean very few people like you. Though I suppose very few people like you anyways, given Stanhope's opinion of you."

"So I've figured out," Alice agreed. But then she smiled. "I don't particularly care for him either, though."

"Of course you don't. You have intelligence." Then she smirked, and turned back to Nix. "She's in good hands."

With a quick kiss, Nix left her to Ruth's protection as he and Dick moved off to get close to the high profile men in attendance. Alice saw a dozen or so young women, some she recognized as secretaries but most she'd never seen. By the time she realized Ruth was watching her, she nearly blushed. "Sorry."

"For what? Reading the playing field? Don't be." Ruth handed her a small hors d'oeuvres. "That one, the fat one with the pretty little brunette thing on his arm with him? That's Jackson Clark. Right jackass, he is. And over there, the skinny man losing his hair?" When Alice nodded, she grinned. "Thurston Tennison. Also a jackass he is."

Alice snorted. "Lots of them, it seems."

"Yes ma'am. Lots of 'em. But what about you?" Ruth turned to her quickly. "How did you end up with the famous Lewis Nixon III. No offense but before you there was a different girl on his arm at every event."

"I met him in Europe. I was a translator for French, German, and Dutch for his unit." She chewed on the cucumber in the hors d'oeuvres she'd been handed. 

"Was this before or after Kathy dumped him?"

Alice straightened up. "We met before. But he didn't approach me about anything until after she'd divorced him."

"Fascinating," Ruth said. "He must really like you, then. Good on you."

"My turn," Alice decided. "How did you end up his personal secretary, if you're known for being so against Stanhope Nixon?"

Ruth downright grinned. Her pearly white teeth flashed in light around them. "Ah simple. Connections. My oldest brother, Eoin, works with Mrs. Nixon over in San Francisco. He got me a job, and Nix chose me as soon as it became quite clear I was not about to bow to his father's every whim. He can try get me in a closet, but I'll fight him tooth and nail the whole way." She turned to Alice. "Don't be surprised if one of these days Stanhope gets drunk and tries a pass at you. God rest his soul if he does though, given you've got two strapping army lads defending your honor sure."

Alice laughed. "Something tells me you're right."

"Stick with me, Alice. We'll keep you right. Marjie's gonna love you, if you don't mind her skin color."

"Why would I," Alice insisted. "I just helped fight a war about oppressing people for their heritage. I'm not about to come over here and do the same."

Ruth's smile only widened. "You're alright now. Come on, let's go find the drinks. Are you a wine, whiskey, beer, or vodka girl?"

"Wine, please."

With a nod, she led the way. "Well, can't win em all. This place never does have good beer, though. Wine it is."