A/N:This is for the Valentine's Extravaganza! Idea courtesy of IndyBlonde85 and Jag389: Tex shows Andrea that underneath the goofball, wise-cracking exterior, he's actually a big softie/romantic. Set during and after S3... AU where we get to pretend Rachel is alive and off somewhere doing her thing and the deployment of the Nathan James was very successful... no one was kidnapped, there was no scary biological weapons. Enjoy :)
Reasons Enough.
Andrea returned to her quarters after a long day on the bridge, being the X.O. was a role she wasn't exactly used to. But in saying that, she enjoyed the new role and it's challenges even if she missed the engine room. Today, she was another shift down and a month away from getting home to St Louis. If someone had asked her before deployment if she'd miss home, she would have laughed. She'd been riddled in her grief of losing Bill and Lily; in fact she was gleeful to leave America. Though somewhat sad too as she didn't have a home on dry land and her family was gone. But on the Nathan James she had a home, the crew as her family and work to give her a sense of purpose.
But in the following months that had changed, sure the Nathan James was still her home and her work gave her meaning and purpose. But what had changed was that she couldn't wait to get back stateside. She opened her door to her quarters and smiled as mail had come in today, there on her desk was a neat pile of letters and a beaten up, slightly misshapen medium sized box that was covered in tape.
She closed the door to her stateroom and pulled her hair out of it's tight bun and shook her hair out. She moved to the box not having to wonder who sent it as she already knew the answer. She looked at the letters at the familiar hand writing -Tex's; the man was incorrigible.
When they'd last seen one another was the morning after the Inauguration ball, she said goodbye to him and his daughter as they'd set off for Court's farm. They wanted to tie up loose ends, she wished them luck and Tex promised he'd write. He'd kept that promise because ever since she'd deployed, there had been letters. Not just one or two but it seemed he wrote a letter every day.
His first few letters he wrote about the most inane things along with some jokes. After a while the letters became more introspective, more personal, his humour was still a common thread throughout. She at first hadn't been sure what to think about it. She tried to reply to some of the letters with emails but she couldn't keep up with her duties and well, sometimes she didn't know where to start. But Tex never complained on her lack of response but wrote like they were having a conversation where she was just listening to him.
She learned the many sides of the man through those letters, just as those letters helped her through her own grief. Maybe it was the shared experiences, the shared grief and how he wrote of the world around him. There's was something about the communication and care in his letters that she admired and appreciated it. The letters were her escape; she could imagine the farm where he and Kat were still living on. She knew they were moving to a new city but hadn't decided on their destination as Kat had to finish high school. Andrea hoped the two picked a location as she was hoping to catch up with them. Something she was already a little nervous about, but was going to do as she wanted to thank Tex in person for his letters.
She looked between the box and the letters deciding which one she should open. The desire to open the box won out as she hadn't received a care package since her deployment previous to the Arctic mission. She pulled a knife from her desk drawer and carefully sliced lid open. She pulled back the cardboard and chuckled as the interior of the box was painted red. On the sides of the lid had hearts and the words 'Packed with love for my Sailor' in white. He hadn't mentioned Valentine's before but obviously the box had got lost in transit given it was now May. But she loved the cheesy thought of it and the very practical contents. There was snacks of nuts and dried fruits, chocolate, beef jerky, a small plastic jar of what looked to be honey, some other sundries all crammed into the box.
There was also a post it note with 'You thought I'd forgotten but I hadn't! Enjoy~ Tex', under it was two decks of cards that had been converted into little books ring binders in them. One read '52 Reasons Why I Like You' and the second deck of cards book was titled '52 Reasons Why You Should Have Dinner With Me'.
She picked up the one that had 52 reasons why she should have dinner with him. She opened it on a random page and couldn't help but laugh out loud. As Tex claimed he was 'way' hotter than Tom Selleck and had better legs than the man, on one side was a picture of Tex in a singlet top and short shorts that were very reminiscent of Tom Selleck's Magnum P.I. days.
She turned the pages, laughing and smiling brilliantly as Tex listed off all his exceptional attributes and talents with hysterical photos as proof. He was loved by animals had a picture of him being chased by team of drove of baby goats in a field. He knew how to dress nicely, it had an accompany picture of him in a well cut three piece navy suit with a crisp white shirt. His hair was pulled back and even his beard was brushed. She blushed as she had to admit to herself that he did look good. She flipped through the cards, enjoying the humour and the thoughtfulness; it had to have taken a lot of time and effort to make the cards. She was almost afraid to know what he 'liked' about her which was why she was curious about the 52 reasons on why they should have dinner.
She got to the second last card and chuckled as he spoke of charming table manners; it had a photo of him in a franchise of the Old Spaghetti Factory. His face covered in bologna sauce and bits of spaghetti in his beard. It was hilarious given she'd shared meals with him in the wardroom to know he could eat better than a three yr old. She turned to the last page, it read 'Number 52 you'll have to see on the night.' it read, a business card for a restaurant in St Louis was attached to the last card, she gently turned it over and noted the date and time of a dinner reservation on the back of it.
3 weeks later,
Tex stood outside of the restaurant waiting for Andrea. It was a dinner about 6 months in the making. He'd received sporadic emails from her but she never mentioned if she got the parcel he sent. He wondered if maybe it got lost in the mail. He made sure not to mention it in any of his emails just in case. But now, here he was more nervous than he'd been on prom night. He was dressed in his navy blue three piece suit; looking 'dapper' according to Rachel not like she could be trusted. She liked her men clean cut and in Navy uniforms but she was happy to have a 'girl's night' with Kat. Now he was just in Andrea's mercy of if she'd show up or would he be stood up.
He looked down the street not seeing her; he turned the other way and smiled as he saw her. She walked up to him, dressed in a loose white t-shirt, a chunky mustard yellow necklace and matching bracelet with a silk navy blue maxi skirt. Her red hair was loose around her shoulders in soft waves.
"Didn't think I'd show?" She asked as she stopped before him. A playful smile on her lips, her makeup was very natural and accentuated her features; she looked utterly breathtaking to him.
"Didn't think you'd wear a dress. You look good Red." He countered with his own smile, he knew he should feel somewhat uncomfortable with the amount of soul bearing he did in those letters but instead he felt rather at peace. It just felt right seeing her here. "So, you here for me or here to let me down easy and race off to some other lucky guy?" he asked.
"I'm here for you." Andrea said, she'd read the 52 reasons why he liked her and she was rather impressed and touched by how saw her and knew her. She had to admit she felt she never registered in his world so prominently until the letters, and the parcel. Being here, seeing how he looked at her made her feel incredibly special and she wanted to explore where dinner and what followed after that took them.
"Well, shall we?" he asked as he held out his arm to her. She smiled as she took his arm and allowed him to escort her into the restaurant.
The End.