Grace Hargreeves

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“Please,” Bianca beamed and nodded. “A little coffee for flavoring but you could likely add more.” She wasn’t sure about whether or not that would mess with the consistency but if it meant getting to mess around with baking she would happily figure it out. “Wild grapes were my favorite.”

>directive >download Italian language and recipes for [Bianca]

“That sounds very nice.” Unable to eat, but enjoying cooking meant that the happiness she felt was found through seeing people’s reactions. Grace didn’t mind that, not when food was essential to their lives. She could make them happy and healthy through one thing at least. “Wild grapes. Are those very different to normal grapes?” 

>directive >add grapes to shopping list

“I can’t remember the name off the top of my head but she’s another person with powers.” The whole idea of the academy would have been surprising to him if it weren’t for the fact that Frankie could manipulate the weather. “A girlfriend and a child,” He nodded. “I’ll have to ask Frankie when we’re going to properly visit. Thomas is a little shy but he could likely fill that gap of no kids being around. Just give him snacks.”

“Black,” Sebastian chuckled. “Maybe a little bit of sugar depending on how strong the brew is. I try to avoid it though.” His head tilted slightly while he looked at her, clearly impressed. “Ah, well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Grace. I’m Sebastian Kane.”

The idea of children always made Grace happy. As much as she adored the adults under her care, there was something special about caring for children. “Oh, I’d happily cook for him.” She meant it. “And for you and your girlfriend, of course.” 

“I believe it is very strong, Five says it’s better that way. Of course, I take his word for it. I don’t eat.” Grace knew that people were capable of lying, but she always believed whatever she was told. “The pleasure is mine, Sebastian.” Her skirts swirled as she went about the process of making him coffee, setting the finished drink and the container of sugar on the table. “Here you go, sweetie.” 

“You’re quite welcome,” Sebastian gave a small smile. His eyebrows furrowed together and he shrugged. “No, not really? My girlfriend and I moved out here since she was looking for someone. I just wanted to get a scope of the place before it came to the family visiting altogether.”

He pressed his tongue against his cheek then nodded. “Sure, I would appreciate that.”

“Do you know who she was looking for? I have files on the children who stay here.” Some files had started years ago, created by [Reginald] and updated now that she got to know the other children better, and others were newer, based only what she knew. Not that she had any intentions of betraying any secrets, but she could always tell the person that someone was looking for them. “You have a family? Children? They’d be quite welcome here. I miss having children around the house. Mine are all grown up now.” 

She led him inside, heading straight towards the kitchen. “How do you like your coffee?” She looked over her shoulder towards him - just her head twisting around. “I’m Grace Hargreeves, by the way. The Umbrella Academy are my children.” Since he said he was new here, she calculated high odds he might not know. Most people knew of her husband, not her. 

“I don’t want to be a bother. You must be very busy. Especially if you’re the only one in charge of keeping this place clean.” He replied.

Tea did sound nice, but upkeeping this place sounded like a 24/7 task. “I really do appreciate the offer though. Maybe when you’re not so busy I can visit again.”

“Don’t be silly, you’re not a bother.” She immediately reassured him. Grace was programmed to look after people, she’d never consider it a problem. “Please do visit. You’ll be welcome any time.” She meant it, he seemed very lovely, even if she had no name to attach to her internal files. “Have a good day, won’t you?” 

“I’ve never made cookies,” Bianca laughed softly. “They preferred tiramisu and torrone back home.” She didn’t have much of a sweet tooth as it was since the couple that took her in made it clear she wasn’t to touch what she made. She grinned up at Grace once the food was in front of her. “Thank you,” Bianca murmured. “I wouldn’t have thought to put fruit on it.”

“Well, I’ll teach you to bake cookies, and you can teach me tiramisu. My son, Five, loves coffee, and I believe tiramisu is a coffee based dessert? I’d like to make it for him.” Her world revolved around her family, which was now larger with all the new additions. But she appreciated it. “Oh, you’re very welcome. I always put fruit on pancakes. Fruit is good for you, makes you big and strong.” 

“I have. And it’s wonderful.” Hazel replied, his smile growing a bit wider. She was very nice, maybe due to the fact that she wasn’t there when he broke in? “There are some very nice places here as well. Maybe one day you can explore this place a bit more.”

Granted, the academy was huge, and you could probably spend a lot of time just exploring. Still, it must be nice to get out and see new things.

“I’m glad you like it.” Her perfect smile was genuine, always happy to hear that others were happy. Her very function was to look after others, and it was something she took seriously. “It’s sweet of you to worry, but I don’t mind staying here. I was not built to have a sense of adventure.” She was a homebody, the perfect mother because that was all she thought about. “Now, would you like a cup of tea? It’s very rude of me to keep you out here. We never used to be allowed guests, but we have a very full house these days.” 

“There’s this thing out there called the world. And you won’t see it being locked in a mansion all day.” Hazel was of course not trying to sway her to leave, because that would surely anger the Hargreeves family to no end. “You don’t have to do it now, or any time soon. But there is so much to see. It would be a shame for the only thing you see for the rest of your life is the insides of those walls, don’t you think?”

The Academy were all adults now. Surely they could do with one, or two hours without Grace there, right?

“Don’t be silly, I’m not locked inside, I have the gardens too. I just don’t leave the grounds.” She laughed softly, programmed to make the best of everything. “Everything I could possibly want is inside the walls. I have my children and their friends. And my views. Such beautiful pictures. Why go out and see the world when the world can be brought to me?” The pictures were the one kindness that [Reginald] had ever shown her, although she didn’t think he’d done it for that purpose. “Have you seen much of the world?” Grace tilted her head slightly, considering him. Unless there was a problem with her memory files, she’d never met him before, she was sure of that. She just wasn’t sure there weren’t any problems. 

“You’re welcome.” He said, reaching the bottle out and placing it into her hand. It was a bit odd that she didn’t bother to ask who he was, but then again, it didn’t seem like many people here didn’t remember him anymore. Which was in some ways a good thing. “Why aren’t you allowed to leave?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Of course Hazel was well aware that Grace pretty much did all of the upkeeping when it came to the academy. She was the maid, mother, chef, anything they needed her to be, basically.

The bottle securely put into a rubbish bag, Grace turned back to the man with a little bit of surprise which quickly smoothed back out into a smile. “Why, I’m needed here, of course. Sir Reginald wanted to make sure I was always around in case anyone needed me.” Her core objective was to protect the Academy, so surely that was why her husband hadn’t allowed her off the grounds. She couldn’t help if she wasn’t there. “And why would I want to be anywhere else anyway?” 

“Sorry, Mom.” Diego apologized immediately for his tone. His actions were much softer around his mother and if anyone saw it, he would slit their throats without any hesitation. No one needed to know how different he was around certain people. “I’m fine.” He reassured her, allowing her to inspect the bullet wound that grazed him. “I’m still breathing aren’t I?”

Even though she’d seen Diego fight with his siblings, knew of all the training he’d gone through, she still didn’t see him as anything but her sweet boy. Nothing could change that. “Yes, you are, and I’d like to keep it that way, please.” It wasn’t deep, it wouldn’t need stitches. She knew how he hated needles. “It needs to be cleaned so you don’t get an infection. Go on, do that, and I’ll start on the hot chocolate for you.” 

Bianca nodded in appreciation, not quite having the words to say past repeating a thank you. She gave a small smile and chewed at her lower lip. “Please,” Her smile grew. “I would appreciate it. Baking is…” It was all she knew how to do but it was relaxing. “Nice?”

None of her children had ever shown much of an interest in cooking. Eating, yes, but not in the process of actually making the food. [Reginald] hadn’t bothered to let her encourage an interest, so the fact [Bianca] liked to cook made Grace happy (or her approximation of happy). “Yes, it’s very nice. I like cookies especially.” Not that she could eat them, but the children had always liked them. Finishing the pancakes, Grace arranged the blueberries in a smiley face like she always did before setting them down on the table. “There you are, sweetie.” 

Five made an effort to finish his spread around his mothers polite cleaning. Though that was one of the reasons she was made, he was sure to actually clean up after himself along side her. “95 hours, eh?” The brunette asked a little sarcastically. He loved Grace, but even after some years it was a little silly to hear such exact measurements. “It’s just been busy.. Just trying to figure some stuff out.”

Oblivious to the fact he was teasing her, she nodded. “95 hours and 18 minutes.” She also knew it down to the very second, but she refrained from admitting that. “I just rounded it down for you.” No one ever really told her what was going on, but she was used to that. [Reginald] had never explained anything either. But she did hear things, so she knew they were worried about something. “You know that if you need me to help, you just have to tell me what to do. But I know you’ll figure it out. You were always so clever.” She was proud of her children, all for different reasons.