Disclaimer: I do not own Resurrection or any of it's character. I do not own any other shows or characters that might be mentioned in this story. I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hi everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you a very late Valentine's Day story, the one I had mentioned before. I'm very sorry for taking so long with it but there were a few obstacles. School, I took my big Exit Exam yesterday-I passed! I got a new computer, so I've been figuring and setting up everything up. And this story was actually supposed to be a lot shorter but during the time that I actually start to write it Fred seemed to want to be in it too so I came up with some fun stuff to add him into the story too. Also just a quick note, the story does take place after the season finale, maybe like a few days or few weeks but not years. I hope you like it and again I apologize for the long length of the story and the long length of time that it took me to write and post it. I really do hope you all enjoy this story! If you have the time please let me know what your thoughts in a review, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for all the encouragement from readers who didn't mind reading a Valentine's story after the holiday! Thanks for stopping by to read, please review if you can, hope you like it, and as always, please, Enjoy!
For Valentine's Day
Agent Martin Bellamy had to wait only a few minutes after knocking on the front door of the Langston home before it was pulled open by a familiar, smiling face.
"Hi Marty," greeted Lucille, stepping back and opening the door a little more, "Come in."
Marty smiled at the older woman as he stepped into her home, "Hi Lucille, thanks. You look great."
She really did.
Lucille had on a deep plum colored wrap dress, black heels, and some of her best jewelry. Sparkling stud earrings and her every present gold cross necklace. Her attire wasn't too fancy nor was it too casual, it was just perfect for a night out with her husband.
"Thank you," Lucille smiled, clearly flattered, as she smoothed out the invisible wrinkle on the skirt of her dress. "And thank you for coming to look after Jacob for us tonight. I don't think Henry and I would have been comfortable with anyone else watching him."
Marty gave a warm smile, "Not a problem, Jacob's a good kid. And you and Henry deserve a night out."
"You know, it'll be the first night out, with just the two of us, since Jacob came back," she shared with him.
"All the more reason for why you two deserve this," Marty said, smirking and titling his head to the side just slightly. "Besides' it's Valentine's Day, a day that's supposed to be filled with romantic plans."
"Well I hope our asking you to babysit didn't interrupt any of your own romantic plans for the evening," Lucille's voice sounded sincere but the expression on her face told that she was snooping for information.
"Nope," Marty answered, having to hold in a laugh. "Didn't have any romantic plans to interrupt."
"Mm hmm," came Lucille's unconvinced response; sill she dropped the subject (for now),"Jacob's in the kitchen."
With that said, the two began to walk down the small hallway that flowed through to the kitchen, Lucille leading the way.
They were already a step or two away from the kitchen when Lucille suddenly noticed that Marty was alone.
"Where're Maggie and Jenny?"
"They'll be here soon," informed Marty before going into further detail. "Maggie said she had a few errands to run and Jenny wanted to go with her so we took separate vehicles here."
Jacob had been sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by all kinds of artwork and art materials—glue, glitter, crayons, markers, scissors, and plenty of construction paper, especially in the colors of pink and red. He had been scribbling on one red sheet of sugar paper when he heard the deep familiar voice that instantly caught his attention. As a grin stretched onto his lips the young boy quickly turned around and spotted the agent, and most importantly his friend, walking into the room with his mother.
"Marty!" Jacob's welcome was filled with excitement.
"Hey Buddy," Marty returned the hello before sticking out his closed fist to complete their usual greeting with their secret—not so secret—handshake.
Once Jacob's smaller fist tapped against his bigger one, in the traditional fist bump, Marty sat himself down in the empty seat beside Jacob. He examined the supplies scattered over the table's surface. It was almost hard to believe that the current art station was usually the spot where meals were shared. However, it really did look like Jacob was enjoying himself and having fun and really that's all that mattered.
"What're you working on?"
"Valentine's Day cards," Jacob replied and then pointed to a few of the already completed projects. "I made this one for Jenny and this one for my dad."
Marty glanced down at the cards Jacob was showing him and was quite impressed by what he saw. The cards were obviously homemade and created with a lot of time and love. The pictures on the cards were not only drawn with a great amount of detail but some of the images were even created by smaller pieces of different colored construction paper—all put together to make one 3D like image.
"You're a really good artist. These are great," complimented Marty, taking one of the cards into his hands. "The most I ever did for my Valentine's Day cards was sign my name on a pack of store bought cards."
Jacob looked up from his drawing, a scowl indented on his forehead, "Store bought? Didn't that mean you had to buy a lot?"
"Not necessarily," Marty slightly shook his head. "They sell them in packs of twenty or so. They have different sayings and different pictures. The sets are usually with different characters too; Ninja Turtles, superheroes, Care Bears. My personal preference was always Batman."
The more Jacob listened to Marty talk about these packs of readymade Valentine's Day cards with famous characters, the more curious he became. He swiftly turned his head to look at his mother, who looked like she had been listening in on the whole conversation.
"You can buy your Valentine's Day cards at the store?" he questioned.
"Yes, you can," Lucille answered cautiously, nodding her head slowly. Part of her did feel guilty for not telling her son about the store bought option but she had her reasons. Not only did she believe that homemade cards had a more personal touch to them but Lucille also had very fond memories of her and Jacob sitting at the table—just as they'd done today—cutting out paper hearts and creating homemade valentines for all of Jacob's friends. "But I thought you liked making them yourself."
"I do," replied Jacob, looking down at the unfinished card in front of him before popping his head back up and flashing his mother a hopeful grin. "Maybe next year we can get the store bought ones?"
Lucille's heart warmed at the mere thought of her son still being there with her this time next year, she gave a soft smile, "Maybe."
While Jacob went back to putting the finishing touches on his latest card, Marty sent Lucille an apologetic smile; for bringing up the subject of store bought cards. The mother responded with one of her own—hers letting him know that he was forgiven. Before more could be said between the adults, Jacob was calling Marty's name and holding out a card for him.
"Here Marty. Happy Valentine's Day," he said, inching the card closer to Marty.
Marty felt his smile grow as he took the paper into his own hands, "Thanks, Buddy."
He opened the envelope and pulled out a red sheet of construction paper with a picture of a green and yellow dinosaur (made from more construction paper) in the center, while at the top were big white letters spelling out, 'You're a Dino-Myte Friend! Happy Valentine's Day!'
"I love it, thanks," Marty sincerely told the young boy.
Jacob grinned happily before remembering an important detail, "Wait! Don't forget your candy!"
Reaching across the table, farther away from the art stuff, Jacob grabbed the medium sized bag of candy. He dipped his hand into the packaging and pulled out a pair of silver Hershey's chocolate kisses. Jacob placed the chocolate in Marty's hands and the older man smiled his thanks.
"Oh look, here come Maggie and Jenny," Lucille announced as she spotted the twosome walking to the start of the back porch. She hurried over to the back kitchen door and held it open for the new guests. Soon enough the two young women entered the house with Jenny in the lead as she smiled grandly and carried a pink cardboard box.
"Hi Mrs. Langston," she made sure to remember her manners, "Happy Valentine's Day!"
Lucille watched as the young girl flipped open the top of the cardboard box then reach inside and produce a cupcake with white creamy frosting and plenty of festive pink and red heart shaped sprinkles dotted on top. Jenny held out the cupcake to the woman who had become like a second mother to her, especially since coming to live with her brother.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Lucille said smiling, as she took the treat.
Nodding her head and keeping her smile intact, Jenny moved on to the next person she had a cupcake for. This time she took the pastry out of the box first.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Jacob," she happily told her best friend.
Jacob stood up, grabbing the card he'd made for Jenny off the table, and smiled back at her. "Happy Valentine's Day, Jenny."
The two exchanged their little tokens of friendship. Jacob got a cupcake much like his mother; and Jenny received a card with a hand drawn possum wearing sunglasses and the words 'You're Awesome Possum! Happy Valentine's Day!' were printed below. Jacob and Jenny exchanged a hug, both being careful not to cause any kind of damage to their new gifts.
Jenny then turned to her brother, smiled, and pulled out another Valentine's Day cupcake, "Happy Valentine's Day, Robert."
"Thanks, Jenny," he replied before, like Jacob, giving his sister a thank you hug.
Both Jenny and Jacob were so eager and happy to share Valentine's Day gifts with not only each other but the rest of their little mismatched family. Though Marty didn't exactly hate the holiday, he was definitely having a hard time remembering the last time he had been so excited to celebrate Valentine's Day. Then again they were kids, and any holiday that allowed for a new candy collection to begin was a holiday any kid would be thrilled to celebrate.
"We got them at the bakery," Jenny started to explain really to Marty but the others in the room just as well. "I wanted to bake some but Maggie said we didn't have enough time…or any of the ingredients."
"Why don't I find that hard to believe?" Lucille teased her niece.
Meanwhile Jenny continued with what she wanted to say, "And I thought they were pretty."
"They are pretty and I bet they're not half bad either," Marty agreed making Jenny's smile grow.
As Marty stared at the dessert a new thought found its way into his head and his brows furrowed a bit as he asked, "How'd you get them?"
"Maggie helped me pick them out," Jenny brightly shared before her voice suddenly became soft and shy. "And she paid for them too."
Marty glanced over at Maggie, preparing to thank her and let her know he would reimburse her for the cupcakes when Lucille spoke up, voicing her own thoughts.
"I don't believe it. Cupid's own Anti-Valentine buying Valentine related items?" she asked, making a bigger show of her shock than what she really felt.
"I couldn't help it. She's got a cute face that's hard to say no to," Maggie argued, referring to Jenny; then locking eyes with Marty she added, "You're gonna be in big trouble."
He laughed, "I know. Now what's this about you being Anti-Valentine's?"
"I just don't like the holiday. It's too corny and commercial for me."
"It's also a holiday that she's never had a date for," Lucille added in.
"Aunt Lucille!" Maggie exclaimed, shocked that such private information had been shared out loud.
Lucille shrugged innocently, "It's just something I've happened to notice."
Maggie shook her head while shooting Marty a look that said, 'Do you see what I have to deal with?' which made him laugh even more.
"Lu," a deep voice was heard calling, "Fred's here."
Just then the Langston brothers entered the kitchen, Henry walking in front. Both men were dressed up nicely but it was Fred who caught Lucille's eyes; after all, these days it was more common to see him in his sheriff's uniform than anything else. Even rarer than seeing Fred out of his uniform was seeing him in a suit jacket.
Smiling at the sight, Lucille said, "Well, don't you look very nice?"
"Thanks Luce," Fred replied with a light color of blush unexpectedly appearing on his face.
"Wow, Dad!" Maggie started to say, the grin on her lips starting to grow, "You look great!"
Fred had not noticed that that his daughter was there until he heard her voice. When he saw her standing there smiling back at him, he suddenly felt embarrassed and even a little guilty. He wasn't sure if it was because of the memory he had of young Maggie's reaction when he first went out on a date over twenty years ago or because of how much she looked like Barbra. Whatever it was, it was suddenly making Fred rethink this whole date thing.
"You think so?" he asked looking down at his attire. "It's not too casual? Or is it not casual enough? I wasn't sure…"
He made Maggie release a small laugh, "Dad, it's fine. You look very handsome," she assured. "She's gonna love it."
The words were supposed to be comforting but after hearing them Fred let out a heavy sigh and his eyes darted over to the married couple in the room, "I can't believe I let you two talk me into this. Who goes on a blind date on Valentine's Day?"
"It's not a blind date, you know Cynthia and Cynthia knows you," reminded Lucille. "Besides Henry and I will be there at the same restaurant probably only a few tables away. You can come to us if anything goes wrong."
Catching his brother's smile and hearing his wife's comment, Henry knew he had to add in his own conditions, "And by 'wrong' she means you hear from anyone here saying that it's an emergency, you're dying, or you're on fire. Anything other than that, you're fine. You can handle it."
"Gee, that makes me feel much better," the sheriff muttered to his big brother.
With a smirk on his lips, Henry patted his brother's shoulder when he noticed his son walking towards him with a large grin on his face and a red piece of paper clutched in his hand.
"I made you a Valentine's card, Dad," Jacob proudly announced.
"You did?" Henry asked, grinning more when Jacob nodded his head up and down. Henry used his right arm to scoop young Jacob up and off his feet while the hand on his left arm took hold of the Valentine's card that had been made for him. His grin immediately grew when he saw the images of two construction paper made monkeys, hanging upside down from a branch.
"I'm bananas for you," Henry read off the card, sounding quite amused. "Well that works out pretty good because I'm bananas for you too, Monkey."
He pulled his son to him for a big hug that soon turned into an even bigger tickle attack and soon Jacob's childlike laughter floated through the full kitchen. Slowly the laughter died down just as Henry's tickling lessened, however Jacob's smile stayed in place as he stared back at his father.
"Did you give Mom her surprise Valentine's gift yet?" Jacob asked eagerly.
Instantly Lucille's ears perked up, "Surprise Valentine's gift?"
"So much for the surprise part," Henry mumbled to his son as he placed him back on the floor and looked over at his wife, "Yes, I got you a Valentine's gift."
"Well where is it?" she asked, not being able to contain a smile.
The corners of Henry's mouth twitched upwards just a tad, "You'll get it later," he assured.
This was not the answer Lucille had expected or wanted to hear.
"Why does it have to be later? The element of surprise is gone," she pointed out to him. "You should just give it to me now."
Maggie joined her aunt's side and nodded her head encouragingly, "Yeah, Uncle Henry, I wanna see what you got Aunt Lucille too."
"Please, Mr. Langston?" Jenny asked sweetly.
Henry looked over at Jenny's brother in hopes of getting some kind of help or back up; but instead he found the man just smirking back at him.
Marty shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner before admitting, "I'm pretty interested myself."
Seeing that the only way out of this was to give the people what they wanted, Henry knew what he had to do.
"Fine," he at last relented and the ladies cheered. "But I didn't have time to wrap it so you'll have to close your eyes."
His wife wasted no time in following his directions and she shut her eyes in such a fast speed, it made Henry's smile reappear.
"And hold out your hands in front of you."
She did just as she was told. While Lucille stood in the kitchen looking like a birdfeeder statue with her eyes closed and her open palms cupped slightly and sticking out in front of her chest, Henry left the room to retrieve the surprise Valentine's gift.
When he came back with the present he did a good job at hiding it, no one could tell what it was until he placed it in the middle of his wife's waiting hands.
Lucille felt a slight bit of weight in her hands then heard the sound of her husband clearing his throat before his voice said, "Okay. You can open them."
As soon as Lucille opened her eyes, her gaze fell upon the beautiful wooden box in her hands. It was square shaped, neither big nor small, it fit perfectly in the middle of her palms where it lay. The wood's color was dark and had been sanded as well as polished. Then there was the feature point, the top of the box which had a beautifully done pattern that was not only creatively done but skillfully as well. Lucille knew this gift had not been bought at a store, it was a Henry Langston Original and she loved it
"Oh Henry, it's lovely," she told him.
A playful smirk on his lips, Henry lifted his chin in an encouraging way, "Open it."
Following her husband's instructions, Lucille lifted the top of the box and the content she found inside made her mouth round into an 'o' shape that was soon stretched at its sides and a little upwards. Her smile appeared to grow more and more as she pulled out the sparkling jeweled bracelet for the others to see.
Maggie was dazzled by the jewelry, "Wow, Uncle Henry."
"It's so pretty!" Jenny awed some more.
As the women admired the bracelet on one side of the kitchen, Marty stood up and joined the men on the opposite side.
"That's pretty impressive," he said with a nod of approval.
Henry shrugged and smiled modestly, his eyes still watching how happy his wife was. "Well you know, after over forty years of marriage…"
"Lu deserves a piece of jewelry like that for putting up with you all these years," Fred finished for his brother, getting a glare from said brother.
"Henry," Lucille called grabbing the attention of the older Langston before he could say anything to the younger one. "Will you put it on me?"
Smiling, Henry took the bracelet from his wife then expertly wrapped it around her wrist before latching it closed.
"It's beautiful," Lucille said continuing to look at her new piece of jewelry.
His smile stretched some more, "I was just about to say that about you."
Lucille tore her eyes off her bracelet and looked up at her husband so that he could see the smile on her face, see how happy he had made her, and most importantly see how much she loved him for it.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lu."
"Happy Valentine's Day."
Henry leaned down to kiss his wife and with her help of cupping his check and scruffy chin, his lips met hers a lot sooner.
The kiss between the couple caused grimaces of disgust from the kids, especially Jacob, and they set off to work on more cards at the table. Fred was nearly as bad as the children, averting his eyes and hurriedly gazing around the room to find something else to look at. Unlike her father, Maggie continued to watch the kiss. And unlike her cousin, she didn't appear to be grossed out by the display of affection; in fact, she had on a soft expression that almost looked longingly—and it didn't go unnoticed by the federal agent in the room.
"Thought you were anti-Valentine's," Marty lightheartedly teased.
Maggie rolled her eyes, "I'm 'anti-Valentine's' not anti the love between my aunt and uncle."
After Henry and Lucille broke from their embrace, she caught a glimpse of the time on her watch.
"We better get going," she told her husband then called out to Jacob and Jenny, who turned their heads when they heard their names being said. "You two listen to Marty and Maggie and be on your best behavior."
Henry smiled behind his wife, his hand on her shoulder, "And have fun."
He began to guide Lucille out of the kitchen and towards the front door while she waved goodbye to her niece and Marty.
"Come on, Fred," Henry hollered from the door.
Fred looked over and saw the pair exiting their home, he knew he was supposed to follow them; head out the door, get into his car, follow them to the restaurant where he'd have his first date in twenty some years. The more he thought about it, the more he began to have second and even third thoughts about the whole ordeal.
"You two sure you have everything under control for tonight?" he asked the designated sitters. "Kids can be a real handful."
"Yeah, these two are real terrors," Marty said sarcastically, watching as the two kids continued to draw and color at the table.
Fred did not miss the mocking tone Marty spoke in and he scowled at the other man when his daughter suddenly began to speak.
"Dad, we'll be fine, go on your date."
When Fred looked at Maggie his frown faded away but a guilty feeling took its place. He worried that going on this date would be betraying Barbra or worse, hurt Maggie.
"Maggie, if you don't want me to go on this date, just tell me," he said, his voice not at all angry; if anything it almost sounded pleading. "I'll cancel the whole thing."
Maggie smiled, "Dad, I don't want you to cancel your date. And you really don't need my permission or approval to date," she reminded then took a brief pause. "But if you want it, I actually think it's pretty great that you're dating again. I want you to be happy. And Mom…"
Her words slowly drifted off as she brought up her mother. Maggie knew how complicated things had been in his parent's relationship. The affair when Maggie was a baby, Barbra going to that man when she Returned, then the reconciliation with Fred before Barbra disappeared for good. Still despite all the messiness, Maggie was sure her mother would share the feelings she had about her father dating again.
"She'd want you to be happy." Maggie finally said, her smile reappearing, "Go on your date, Dad, and have fun."
Looking down, Fred nodded his head; he knew his daughter was right. He raised his head back up to make his newly formed smile apparent. When Maggie saw her father's smirk she gave her own smile, one that grew when her dad leaned over and kissed her cheek before turning in the direction of the front door's exit to head off to his date.
0o0o0o
After the parents left, more valentines were made and even more candy was consumed. With their sugar rush in effect, Jacob and Jenny wanted to go play outside and they'd stayed out there until the light from the sun went off and the light on the back porch turned on.
Currently they were running around in the dark backyard, holding flashlights as they engaged in a game of flashlight tag that even Marty had joined in on. Maggie stayed on the porch as a spectator of the game smiling and laughing every once in a while.
The relationship Marty had with these kids was amazing. Marty and Jenny had been separated for decades really, but they seemed to have easily made up for that lost time. They were extremely close and you could tell they were siblings by just watching them with each other. The tie Marty had with Jacob was another strong bond. They were friends but in a way they were more than that too. Maggie liked to think that if Jacob hadn't died and Marty found himself in Arcadia that they would have still had this great friendship and just be a little closer in age.
It seemed like Marty had a great relationship with everyone in Maggie's family. Her aunt and uncle already saw him as a member of the family and her father had even warmed up to him quite a bit. He'd gone from calling him some 'Fed' who shouldn't be in his town to calling him his friend.
Even her own relationship with Marty was wonderful, or at least it had been.
Ever since the night that Rachel's baby had been born, the night they had kissed, things had been different between her and Marty. And not in the good way.
Maggie didn't think it was the kiss that had changed things, it was the way they'd reacted to it afterwards by not reacting or even acknowledging it. There was a lot going on with the outbreak of the Returned all around the world; they never had the chance to really talk about anything and when things finally settled down, too much time had passed and they seemed to only avoid bringing it up.
Maggie started working more hours—something she blamed on it being flu season for the non-Returned. And Marty moved himself and Jenny out of her apartment, saying it was time they gave her back her living room. Luckily he'd found a place in her building so they still lived close to each other but it wasn't the same.
She still missed him, in more ways than one.
"Hey," Marty greeted as he joined her on the steps of the back porch.
She gave a tiny smile, "Hey."
Silence fell over them and the only sound was Jacob and Jenny's distant laugher. Maggie nervously looked around and spotted the box of pizza they had ordered for dinner.
"You want another slice?" she offered.
Marty shook his head, "Nah, I'm good."
Maggie nodded but looked almost disappointed, as if him wanting another piece would have made the moment less weirder. As though with one person eating it might be a good excuse for why there was a lack of conversation. She eyed the box of pizza, debating if she should be that person and grab another slice when Marty spoke up.
"So…this is pretty awkward."
"Yeah," Maggie agreed with a light laugh.
"I kinda hate it," he admitted.
"Yeah," Maggie repeated. "I think what hate more is the reason why things got so awkward in the first place."
Marty's face puckered with a scowl, "You hate that we kissed?"
"No!" Maggie was quick to make that clear. "No, I hate what we did after we kissed…or what we didn't do. We just ignored it and acted like it had never happened and it made things awkward between us. We didn't talk, we didn't do anything…we still haven't, really."
"Well we could talk now." He suggested casually.
Maggie looked a little concerned, "Like now, now?"
He shrugged, "Yeah, now. Then when everyone gets back we could do something," he added, "maybe something to make you anti-anti-Valentine's Day."
She had to laugh at that suggestion and the way Marty had suggested it, "Or we could talk about it tomorrow…"
"We've already waited long enough," Marty reminded, suddenly sounding quite aggravated.
"You didn't let me finish," Maggie said with a smile. "We could talk about it tomorrow and then maybe next year we could do something it make me anti-anti-Valentine's Day."
As much as Maggie wanted to finally acknowledge the kiss and even the plans of doing something with Marty later sounded appealing, she still couldn't help but worry things wouldn't turn out the way she hoped; especially since they would be doing it on a date that she detested so much. And really she didn't need another reason to hate the holiday.
It was almost like Marty could sense or understand how Maggie was feeling because he soon smiled and nodded his head.
"Alright, sounds good," his smirk grew, "Wanna seal the deal with a kiss?"
Maggie couldn't believe what she'd heard, the expression etched on her face showed her astonishment; confused eyes and a frown on her forehead. She wondered if somehow she had heard wrong.
"What?"
Marty smirk grew into a smile as he held out an open palm where a silver wrapped chocolate kiss lay.
A grin broke onto Maggie's face and she rolled her eyes at how nervous she had been.
"Thanks," she said, taking the candy.
"So you got your kiss, what about mine?" Marty questioned.
"Oh," Maggie said then gave an embarrassed smile, "I ate the ones Jacob gave me."
Marty shrugged, "Guess I'll have to take the alternative then."
He then leaned over, slipped his hand to the bottom part of Maggie's head and drew her in for a long, slow, Valentine's Day kiss.
When they pulled away Marty smiled and she returned that smile and she realized, maybe Valentine's Day really wasn't that bad after all.
The End
Author's Note: So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A mix of both? Be sure to let me know in a review!
I hope you all enjoyed the story and again I'm very sorry for taking so long to get to it. I haven't forgotten The Unthinkable either, a new update will be coming up shortly.
Also! I'm planning on opening up a forum on here for the show. So we can discuss things like the episodes, characters, theories, even bonce story ideas off each other or give challenges! I'm pretty excited and hope you all are too. I'm just refreshing myself with the rules of making one but it should be up very soon! So keep your eyes open! I hope to see you there!
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!