Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Note: some angst
Pairing: Stephanie/Ranger
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Feedback: Send comments to ttsmiscellany@yahoo.com

Educational Opportunity - Part 7: Careful
By TT

Stephanie stood slightly off to the side of the rather large group of people gathered outside the security checkpoint in Newark Airport’s International Flight Terminal. She and Angie had already said their goodbyes. Though, in general, she had little use for children, especially ones smarter than her, Stephanie had been impressed with her niece. Underneath the scarily-intelligent, trivia-spouting girl, dwelt one who could ramble on about the latest tween band and fashions, babble about when she would finally be able to wear makeup and what boy was ‘to die for’.

The fact that she learned all of this on the way to the airport proved to be the only downside. Had she known this other Angie earlier, she might have even agreed to take her niece shopping for the trip rather than using a dangerous skip (Mooner) as her excuse not to. After all, exposing Angie to that many marijuana fumes couldn’t be a good thing.

“You be careful on the flight and over in England, young lady,” Val admonished one more time. “We need you to be safe and come home in one piece. No adventures, not wandering off.”

“Yes, mother,” Angie replied.

Stephanie smirked as she caught the tiny eye-roll her niece gave her sister.

“There’s a lot that can go wrong when you’re so far away. You need to be careful to listen to your guides and the guardians while you’re over there,” Val continued.

Angie’s shoulders actually rose and fell as she sighed. “Yes, mother.” An announcement came over the intercom announcing the time. “I need to go through security now,” Angie informed.

Valerie instantly pulled Angie into a smothering hug. “You have fun and come home safe and sound,” she said, kissing her daughter and hugging her once more.

Stephanie watched as the rest of the family said their goodbyes. She smiled broadly as Angie met her eyes. She knew that public displays like this embarrassed her niece, which was why the two of them had said goodbye in the car before they entered the building.

Of course, Stephanie knew that, in the long run, having her family there to say goodbye would do the young girl a lot of good. Being away from home for so long at such a young age wouldn’t be easy for her. Especially since the distance to England far outstripped the distance to any summer camp Angie attended.

With one last wave to her family, Angie disappeared into the security line, off on her adventure.

Turning to leave, Stephanie stopped in her tracks as she heard her other niece, Mary Alice call out her name. “Auntie Steph!”

“Yes, Mary Alice?” she asked, resting her hands on her knees as she bent forward to be closer to the girl’s height.

“May I ride with you?” Leaning forward she whispered rather loudly, “Albert’s not very careful on the road and Mommy is crying too hard to drive.”

Smiling at the girl, she ruffled Mary Alice’s hair and replied, “Sure. Let’s go tell your mom.”

Continued in Part 8: Odd Socks

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