16 Unicorn Street, Wednesday Evening

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe had dismissed the idea of pregnant women going through a nesting phase, until she found herself cleaning the same area of the living room for what was possibly the third time. The cleaning was managing to distract her though, from her worries about how well the school would survive without her presence.

It would only be a few weeks, she kept telling herself. Surely nothing that bad could happen.

[For demons_death.]

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[demons-death.livejournal.com]

John remembered when Mary had got all industrious about cleaning and also remembered her reaction when he'd tried to get her to slow down so this time he just leaned against the doorjamb of the living room and watched, only speaking up the few times Zoe started eyeing the furniture.

"We're not rearranging the room."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I wasn't thinking about rearranging the room," Zoe replied, despite the fact that she was definitely thinking about rearranging the room. "Not even the table?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"Not even the table," John said firmly. "You'll only want to move it back later."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"You don't know that," she said, fully aware of the fact that he probably did.

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"Tell you what, after Grace is born, if you still want to move it, I'll haul it anywhere you want."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I'm going to remember you said that," she warned, before sighing a little. "I know I'm going kind of crazy here, but am I at least staying within the normal range of crazy?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"I'm not ordering any white coats with the arms that tie in the back for you," John reassured her.

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe smirked. "Well, that's just because you know I'd take you down if you tried to put that on me."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"It would be an interesting confrontation for sure," John agreed.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"You're lucky I'm not going to be in a confrontational state for a while," she said. Spotting a pile of files that she'd left out, Zoe started making sure they were all alphabetized, again. "You're going to make sure the school stays safe, right? And that Hades doesn't go power crazy and make all of the students play perpetual games of Fandom Peril or something?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"Of course." He smiled slightly. "I doubt the student body would go along with that if Hades tried it anyway."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Probably not," she agreed. "And you'll tell me if anything goes wrong? I can't believe I agreed to such a long leave period."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"You're going to be glad you took the time," John told her. "If only to get used to being sleep deprived."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Oh, I'm sure the sleep deprivation will bring back wonderful memories," Zoe said sarcastically, smiling nonetheless. "At least we're getting something wonderful in return."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"One of the sure ways you know you're a parent -- you even love them when they wake you up for the fourth time in the night."

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe laughed. "Thank goodness that won't last forever," she said. "Do you think we can keep Grace in the 'too old to wake up in the middle of the night, too young to sneak out at night' phase for as long as possible?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"It's Fandom, I suppose anything's possible," John said. "Though generally the answer is no."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"No, I suppose that would make things too easy." Zoe finally put the pile of papers down and sat down. "We're going to make a good parenting team, right?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"I think we will," John said with a genuine smile. "I know we'll do the very best we can."