Spy Wives: Through the Storm
Chapter: 1
Pairing: Ensemble
Rating: G
The hour glass is lying down
And I just stare and wonder how
It came to this
But it came to this
~Spring 2006~
Scorpio Residence
Robert took another sip of his scotch. And boy did he need it. The blasting of Hannah Montana was quickly traveling from his daughter's bedroom to downstairs in his office. The loud thumping of tween music was enough to drive even him insane. How Holly tolerated it he would never understand. But she did take their daughter and three other screaming eleven year olds to a concert the weekend before.
He took a deep breath and tried to refocus on the article he was reading in the paper. The more he read the more Hannah Montana lyrics tangled in with what he read. "I'm too damn old for this." he mumbled, taking another drink. "Holly?" he called out, getting up from his chair and walking toward the livingroom. He found her arranging flowers on the diningroom table.
"How can you stand that noise?" he asked her. "It's driving me nuts."
"Oh, Robert, it's not that loud." she said, her eyes never leaving her arrangement. "I think you just need to relax a little bit."
"I was trying to relax." he told her. "Until your daughter started blasting that music. And can you please explain to me the whole Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana thing again?"
"It's the same girl." she replied. "Hannah Montana is her stage persona."
"But why would she need a stage persona?" he asked. "What kind of role model is that for young children if she's pretending to be someone she's not?"
"It's just a television show, Robert." she smiled. "It's nothing to get upset about."
"Well either way that music has to go." he said, walking out of the diningroom and over to the staircase. "Emma? Emma get down here right now!"
Holly came up behind him. "You know she probably can't hear you, right?"
Robert looked over at his wife. "The thought did cross my mind." he said, taking his mobile phone out of his pants pocket. "But if there's one thing she will answer it's a text message."
"Welcome to the twenty-first century, darling."
A cute dark haired, blue eyed girl came bouncing down the stairs. She was the exact perfect combination of both Robert and Holly. "Yes, daddy?"
"Darling would you mind turning down your music?" he asked. "Your old man can barely hear himself think."
"It's not even that loud daddy." she said. "But I'll turn it down."
"Thank you, princess."
"At least you're not going deaf."
"That's right, Em, find a silver lining in every cloud." he replied. "Just keep Hannah Montana at a lower volume, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay." she agreed. "But why are you in such a bad mood lately? You never minded my music before."
Holly smiled. "That's before your dad found out that he's going to be a grandfather." she replied. "It has a funny way of changing people."
Emma's eyes grew wide in surprise. "A baby?" she asked. "It's not Kate is it?"
Robert and Holly exchanged glaces. "No." he answered cautiously. "Not unless you know something that we don't."
"Nothing, I promise." Emma smiled. "So Jack and Brooke are going to have a baby?"
Holly nodded. "In November." she told her daughter. "Right before Thanksgiving."
"And you're okay with being a grandmother?" she asked. "It doesn't make you feel old like it does daddy?"
She just looked at her daughter for several long moments. The thought of a grandmother didn't seem to bother her before."I think you need to go upstairs and finish your homework, Em." she told her. "We'll talk about this more after dinner."
"Yes, mom." she said, heading back upstairs.
Robert wrapped his arm around Holly's waist. "Well, luv, you can't win them all."
"Very true." she agreed. "But at least I have something else to comfort me about this whole grandparent thing."
"Oh, yeah." he sighed. "What's that?"
"It doesn't matter how old I get, you're always going to be older." she smiled. "Now, would you like Chinese or pizza for dinner?"
Robert laughed. "That was a low blow." he said. "And I could go for some Chinese. Are Kate and Liam going to join us for dinner?"
"Kate's out with her boyfriend and Liam and Beau are at baseball practice." Holly told him as she headed toward the kitchen. "Pork or chicken?"
"Both." he replied. "And what do you mean that Kate's out with her boyfriend?"
"Well, Robert, it's a Friday night so they decided to go to the movies." she said, taking the takeout menu off the refrigerator. "Kind of like a date."
"Yeah." he sighed. "We used to go out and do fun things and not have to worry about the consequences."
"We still do that, Robert."
"But it's not really the same." he said, snaking his arms around her waist and placing a kiss to the back of her neck. "I think you and I need a nice long vacation away from absolutely everything."
"I like the sound of that." she said, turning around so that she was facing him. "How about somewhere tropical?"
"Anywhere I'm alone with you sounds just fine to me." he said, leaning in to softly kiss her lips. "But I do like the sound of the beach and those drinks with the little umbrellas in them."
~Lavery Residence~
Anna Lavery lifted the seven month old baby girl out of the playpen. She brushed her hand over the baby's soft blonde hair and then placed a kiss to her temple. "So what do you say, Rachel?" she asked, caring the baby across the hall and into the bathroom. "I have passed the test or not?"
She picked the pregnancy test up off of the vanity. And what she saw was a big fat positive sign staring back and at and the baby in her arms. She just as carefully placed it back down on the vanity top. "I can't believe this." she whispered to herself. "This can't be right. I can't be pregnant. I mean I haven't done this in a very long time." she said, looking down at Rachel. "So what do you think, princess? Is this test right? Is Grammy really going to have another baby after all this time?"
"Anna?" Duke called out as he made his way down the hallway. "Where are you?"
She picked up the pregnancy test, wrapped it in a tissue and threw it in the trash can. "Right here, darling." she answered, appearing in the hallway. "How was your day?"
Duke placed a kiss on her cheek. "It was fine." he replied. "And yours?"
"Great." she smiled. "Rachel and I have just been hanging out all day not really doing anything. We went to the park and then to the grocery store and then we came home and played."
He lifted the baby out of Anna's arms. "Then I'm sure you won't mind if Rachel and I spend a little quality time alone then." he said. "Besides you could probably use a break."
"Not at all." she replied. "I'm going to start dinner."
"What are we having?"
"Spaghetti." she said, her stomach turning but never letting it show. "It won't take long. I picked up one of those peach pies you like so well from Dana's Bakery."
"My favorite." he said. "Let's just skip dinner and eat the pie."
"That's not very healthy, Duke." she replied, heading toward the kitchen. "Ally said that she would be here a little after six to pick Rachel up. Can you make sure all of her things are gathered up?"
"Yes, dear."
Anna opened the refrigerator door and took out the pound of hamburger. Ah the smell of raw meat. Absolutely delicious on top of a nervous, anxious, nauseous stomach. Holding her breath as much as she possibly could, she did her best to prepare the meal she had promised her husband. But then again on second thought maybe she could just serve him the pie and call it a day.
Of all the things to Anna had expected to be doing in her forties, pregnancy sure as hell wasn't one of them. In fact it was safe to say that it was the furthest thing from her mind. She wanted to scream. She wanted to yell. She wanted the entire world to know exactly how she was feeling. This wasn't at all how she had planned things.
~Putnam Residence~
Celia Quartermaine poured herself another glass of red wine. And then she preceded to drinking it very slowly as though she wanted to savor every last drop. And she did. The silence in the house was driving her crazy and within a few short months she was going to be all alone. All alone in a big, empty house with no children and no husband. The more she thought about it the more pathetic she found herself. She used to be an active member of the community. She used to host social functions and sit out all day at the church bake sale. And now she was her mother. Penelope Anne Quartermaine incarnate. Her mother would have been so proud.
When she and Grant divorced, she vowed that she would never turn into one of those ladies who sat around drinking all day feeling sorry for themselves. She was going to date. She was going to have flings. She was going to get remarried, because hey the third time was the charm, right? But instead she was sitting alone at her dining room table drinking her way through a bottle of Devane Vineyard's finest.
"Mom?" Lily called out. "I'm going over to Ian's house. I'll be back in a little bit."
"Okay, darling, have fun." Celia replied. "Wear your seatbelt."
She got her response in the sound of the front door slamming. Teenagers these days had absolutely no respect for anyone or anything. She wondered if Lily behaved this way at her fathers house. Grant. They had been divorced for almost four years now, but every time she saw him out with his new girlfriend she felt as though he were cheating on her. How ironic, especially when her cheating was what destroyed their marriage in the first place.
Life was just one big, long, nauseating merry-go-round ride. You either stayed on and got used to the constant motion or you got off and puked. Either way life wasn't at all what her mother promised her it was going to be. Not at all. Perhaps in her next life she could come back as someone like Paris Hilton. Or perhaps she wouldn't come back at all.
Celia just wanted to numb the pain a little bit. And the wine helped with that.
~Drake Residence~
Noah had just walked in the door two seconds ago and he could already hear the rising argument between his wife and their son. It was a loud argument. It was a repetitive argument. It was a never ending argument. Noah tried to remember back to a quieter time, to a peaceful time, to a happy time, but his memory failed him. And failed him miserably.
Being a teenager was difficult enough. Both on the teenager and on the parent, but Noah was almost positive that it didn't have to be as difficult as their family was making it. All it took was a little understanding, a little communication, and the willingness to listen. Somehow his family didn't grasp any of those concepts.
Tiffany made her way down the stairs and into the livingroom. "I just don't understand what's gotten into him." she complained. "He used to be a normal, thoughtful, considerate boy and it's just like a switch was flipped and he became this little monster overnight."
"I don't think that's a very fair description, Tiffany."
"Yeah?" she sighed. "Then how would you describe it then? Because that's the only way I know how to do it. And I think it's quite accurate."
"Perhaps if we all sat down together as a family we could figure it out." he suggested. "You know, talk things over and try to come to a new understanding about things around here."
"I think we're past family meetings and discussions to work things out." she replied. "I think we need to start taking away privileges like his car and baseball practice and his cell phone."
"I don't think that's the answer, Tiffany." he disagreed. "I really think we need to sit down and talk things out. I think that's the only way we're going to get past this."
"I'm done talking to him." she said. "I try to talk to him constantly and it never gets anywhere."
"No, you scream at him constantly." he corrected her. "You scream at him and he screams back at you and that is not an effective method of communication."
"Well." she breathed out. "Since you have all the answers then you deal with him. I'm done."
"We're going to sit down and work this out together as a family." he told her. "And if we don't then I'm done. I will not live in an environment where yelling is an acceptable method of communication."
"Are you threatening to leave me?"
"It's not a threat." he said. "It's a very possible reality."
tbc...