Trust

"We have five for and two against. The two against still have to help, but the ones that voted for are going to carry the most weight." John took charge of distributing jobs.

"Jeb go ahead and contact those people you had in mind, the sooner we get the building up the better. Shelly, Erica, good luck with the curriculum, if you need help feel free to recruit someone."

"Joshua, we need teachers by the time the building is ready. I'll be advertising that the school will eventually open and soliciting other clans for students."

He turned and looked at the two who had voted no. "It would be helpful if you two could get the certifications from Angel and decided what type of furniture we should put in the building."

"Sure, sounds easy enough."

"All right, I think that finishes it. I'll be working on testing children and speaking with other clan heads about enrolling their students. As well as pulling in some extra teachers hopefully. Jeb, make sure it's big."

"You got it John." Jeb said with a playful smirk. "How much of that ninetyish mil am I allowed to use for the building?"

"Budget for half, and if that isn't enough come talk to me. I'm very sorry everyone, but please email us if you need something more. We have to go home and welcome our new family member."

"A new family member?" Jeb looked over at John with a raised eyebrow.

"We adopted a girl around Lewis's age, she'd been abandoned by her own clan. She'll probably be going to the new school with Lewis since she still needs to adjust to humans."

"Interesting, invite me and Liza over sometime soon so we can meet her." Jeb smiled as he started sneaking out the door to go check on his wife.

John smiled and nodded in reply. "Get home to Liza, I don't want to think about how she'd kill me if her husband took too long getting home."

Jeb just gave him a thumbs up as he left.

Shaking her head Shelly sighed in relief. "I'll send you an email of classes I think we should have, if you can think of something I miss, or don't agree with having a certain class just email me back." She said to Erica as she walked to the door that John was already holding open for her.

"Sounds good, Joshua can you email us a list of people you were thinking about hiring?"

"Yep." The old man was still a bit grumpy that he had been roped into the project but was glad John had already said something about looking for extra teachers in other clans. It meant there was less work for him. After thinking about that he had a barely discernable smile on his face.

Instead of flying home Shelly decided to ride home with her husband. They were almost out of town when she spoke up. "Thank god you and Jeb showed up, otherwise they'd have dumped it all on me. You know they aren't going to ignore your new rule."

"The one about sharing work if you vote yes? Yeah, I know. I'm going to write something up about how if any rule gets passed everyone has to work on it equally no matter if they voted or not. That way we don't get stuck doing everything, and those old coots are less likely to pass a law if they have to work on it without us doing most of the work."

"At least it isn't like when your father was leader." Shelly paused to think about her words before continuing. "He was a good man, but the council at that time was corrupt beyond saving. He tried to fix it so that the clan gained what they needed, but until most of the council died there was nothing he could do."

"You make it sound like the current council isn't corrupt." John said, smiling tightly.

"I know they are." Shelly said with a short slightly bitter laugh. "But at least most of the things they do today are what they consider to be the clan's best interest. Not their own."

"True. We'll have to keep an eye on Joshua during this project. He's the only person I'd really be worried about embezzling clan funds."

Shelly laughed, this time genuinely. "Yeah, that old codger would drain the clan dry if he thought he'd get away with it… At least we know we can leave Jeb to his own devices. Erica is trustworthy, but I'm worried about her getting tricked into doing something for the good of the clan."

John raised an eyebrow when his wife used air quotes around the last part of her sentence. "Hmm, she is a bit gullible. At least that's what Jeb and Liza have told me. Of the two who voted no, Jesse is okay. He's not exactly a people person, but he's not stupid and he cares about the clan. I'm not too sure about Betty, but I can ask Jeb or Liza tomorrow."

"Betty will do what's right for the clan." Shelly said through gritted teeth.

When John looked at her as if prompting her to say more, she continued. "She's not really a people person either. Though more because she's such a pain no one really wants to deal with her. She has a son that she took out of a human school. Not too sure why, he doesn't seem to have any issues keeping his transformation."

"Maybe he was having trouble controlling his temper?"

"No. He's a well-mannered kid, completely the opposite of his mother…" Shelly rubbed the crease on her forehead. "She's never come right out and said it, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't like humans. I think she's okay with other supernaturals but remind Jeb that we need to keep an eye on her. I don't' think she'd do anything, but better safe than sorry."

"Agreed." John nodded, before smiling at her.

"Enough shop talk." He said grinning. "We're almost home. I forgot to tell you before I left, and I said adopted in front of the council coz it's easier than telling them the truth. But I had Angel forge a birth certificate and stuff like that. On paper Annabelle's been our kid since she was born. I thought it'd be easier for us to deal with. Since humans can be a bit weird concerning some things."