"So you're all coming to me on Sunday for a roast. Roast Chicken. It will be great!"
"I can't wait! I love your roast dinners! I don't know what you do to the roast potatoes, but they are amazing! Your Yorkshire puddings just melt in the mouth and your stuffing is to die for! If the last meal I ever ate was your roast, I'd die a happy man!"
Jack looked up, suddenly aware that the lab had gone very quiet. They were all staring at him in stunned silence.
Clarissa eventually found her voice again.
"Urm, Jack, Nikki has never made you a roast dinner before -she's never cooked for you before!"
Shit. He'd actually just gushed out loud about something that had never actually happened! How the hell was he going to get out of this one?
He stared at the floor.
Thomas patted him on the shoulder. "It must have been a dream, mate!"
"You had a dream about Nikki's cooking?" Clarissa chuckled.
Jack continued staring at the floor, but he could feel his cheeks burning.
"Oh my God, you actually did!"
Nikki giggled.
"That's actually really kind of sweet, Jack." She ruffled his hair affectionately.
"I only hope it lives up to your expectations on Sunday!"
*On Sunday...*
"Hello, guys, come in!"
Thomas, Max and Jack all gave Nikki a friendly peck on the cheek as they passed her. They were all on their best behaviour - for now anyway.
" Hey Clarissa!" Nikki greeted the other woman.
"Hi Nikki," Clarissa nodded, "Do you mind if I don't kiss you?"
Nikki laughed. "Come through, there's some nibbles on the coffee table. I'll put the kettle on shall I?"
They all wandered into the living room and sat down.
"Right," Nikki pointed at the three men then Clarissa. "Coffee, coffee, coffee, tea?"
Thomas chuckled, "You know us so well!" He raised his eyebrows at Jack in expectation - which did not escape either of the women's notice. They exchanged an amused look and both suppressed the urge to laugh as Jack obediently got back to his feet and remarked politely:
"I'll give you a hand."
Nikki smiled at him as they moved into her kitchen area and she filled the kettle as he opened one of the cupboards and set out five mugs. Nikki put the kettle on to boil and put two tea bags in hers and Clarissa's mugs and coffee in the other three. Jack moved behind her, resting his arm lazily around her waist, just below the top of the counter, so that the others couldn't see.
There are good and bad things about having an open-plan kitchen/living room.. On one hand, it meant that Nikki could participate in the discussions her friends were having whilst continuing to prepare the dinner.
On the other hand, private conversations - usually between her and Jack, had to be held in hushed tones to avoid Clarissa's keen sense of hearing. Anything juicy she overheard, she would no doubt take absolute delight in using at the opportune moment!
Nikki spoke in a hushed tone now. "So, sweetie, is it living up to your expectations so far?"
Jack rested his chin in her hair. He loved the smell of the shampoo she used. Nikki often leaned her head against him these days if she was tired, ever since they had returned from Mexico, so it was a smell he was all too familiar with. He closed his eyes and breathed it in. Nikki smirked. She knew he was blushing.
Jack sighed and opened his eyes, only to have them met by Clarissa's eager, hawk-like gaze. Their tender moment had not gone unnoticed. Great!
Jack sighed again and reached over Nikki to pick up the kettle. He poured out the tea and coffee. Nikki added the milk and Jack placed the three coffees on the tray she had got out. Picking up Clarissa's tea and placing it also on the tray, Jack looked questionably at Nikki.
"No, I'll drink it here - got some more vegetables to chop" She said, answering his silent question.
"Do you want me to..." he started.
"No, it's ok. You go and sit down and drink your coffee, Jack." She watched him go over to the others with the drinks and turned back to her chopping board.
*Ten minutes later...*
"Er...Jack? Could you come over here a moment?"
"Yeah, alright" Jack appeared behind her. "What can I do, Nikki? Do you want me to...oh Nikki! What the heck have you done?!"
Thomas, Clarissa and Max stopped talking and looked over. Jack took Nikki's hand and ran the cold tap.
"Hold it under the cold tap..." He instructed. "Stop wriggling!"
Nikki winced and squirmed as the cold water made the stinging in her finger intensify. "Ow! Jack, Stop it!"
"What have you done?" He repeated, indignantly.
"I peeled it, ok?" Nikki retorted, loudly - annoyed with him for making her finger sting more than it did already and not really bothering to hide it. She would apologise to him later, just like he did every time he'd been grumpy when tended to him after he'd been on the receiving end of someone else's fist or foot - usually during a cage fight, but not always.
Anyway, They'd take it out on each other, then apologise later. It's how they rolled!
"I peeled it instead of the parsnip, ok?!"
"Oh, Nikki! Can't take my eyes off you for a minute!" Jack mumbled. "...I think you need a doctor!"
"Jack, I am a doctor!" Nikki pointed out, crossly.
"Yes, love!" Jack sighed. "Thomas? Can you come over here, please?"
Thomas joined them at the counter. "You're a brilliant pathologist Nikki, but can you please learn to tell the difference between a parsnip and your finger!"
Nikki rolled her eyes. "Yes, Thomas!" She answered, sarcastically.
Thomas took her finger out of Jack's hand. "I'll take over here, Jack. You find the first-aid box."
"It's in that cupboard there, Jack." Nikki gestured to one of the floor level cupboards.
Jack handed the box to Thomas and loosely draped his arm over Nikki's shoulder as he often did. "This wasn't part of my dream!" He remarked as Thomas finished bandaging her finger.
Nikki giggled. "I'm glad to hear it, Jack - otherwise you could have warned me!"
"Go and sit down, Nikki and stay out of mischief for once!" Thomas instructed.
"Yes, Dad!" She answered in jest. Jack chuckled at her.
"I'll finish the dinner."
"Most of it is done, Thomas. Just that parsnip! Then the bits of parsnip need to go in the dish with the roast potatoes - that's already in the oven. Everything else is done."
"Ok. Go and sit next to her, Jack!"
"Yes, Uncle Tommy!" Jack replied, putting on a tiny voice. Nikki sniggered at him and Thomas gave an exasperated sigh, shaking his head at them. Those two could act like naughty children sometimes!
"You're supposed to peel your finger at the beginning, so you don't have to do any of the work!" Jack whispered as they left the kitchen area. Nikki giggled again and gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "Anyway, it smells lovely!" He muttered as they sat down with Clarissa and Max. Nikki smiled at him.
"Oh, Jack! You're not going to start gushing again, are you?! Please spare us!" Clarissa protested. Jack stared at his feet. His cheeks were burning again.
"Oh, leave him alone!" Nikki rebuffed her for embarrassing Jack when he was being sweet. She rubbed his arm affectionately and he squeezed her hand gratefully in return. She appreciated him even if no one else did.
"So," Clarissa began as Thomas joined them again, having put the parsnips in the oven. Clarissa continued, "What did you talk about then? You know over the phone in Mexico?"
"Oh, urm..." The question had caught them both, off-guard. Neither of them had mentioned anything about the emotional conversations that had passed between them - except to each other. They weren't sure if they were ready to share those precious conversations yet.
Clarissa it seemed, wasn't giving up easily, though. "You know when I mean - when Nikki was in that box!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Nikki tense up slightly at the sharp reminder of her ordeal. He squeezed her hand again by way of comfort. He swallowed. "Well, there was the conversation where she lectured me on women..."
"She lectured you on women while she was trapped in a box?!" Thomas repeated, with a chuckle. It did sound like Nikki!
"Yeah, she asked me what my problem was with finding a good woman and then insulted me!...the thanks I get for trying to find her!" Jack remarked.
Nikki giggled. "I didn't insult you, Jack. I insulted all men!"
"Thanks!" Max and Thomas retorted in unison.
Clarissa looked highly amused. "What did you say about men, Nikki?"
Nikki cleared her throat, as though she was going to make a very important announcement. "I said that men think they are romantics, but they're not. I said they are obsessive's. They fix on one thing and nothing else matters and I told him that it was brutal!"
Clarissa burst out laughing and clapped her hands together. Max and Thomas glared at her but it did nothing to quell her glee. In fact it only served to increase her laughter. Jack just gave Nikki an amused glance - he'd heard it all before.
When she'd finally calmed down, Clarissa turned back to Nikki and Jack and appeared to be about to press them again, so Jack continued.
"Then there was my personal favourite! When described which insects were going to eat her after she died in there!"
"Oh, Nikki!" Thomas chuckled, whilst Max looked utterly disgusted with her!
"Yes, she went through them all in the order they were going to eat her in! I had to yell at her to make her stop!"
Clarissa finally seemed satisfied - if a little disappointed. Not quite the juicy gossip she had been hoping for. She wanted Romeo and Juliet's star-crossed lovers,; the tragic romance of Jack and Rose in Titanic and vows of undying love between Jack Hodgson and Nikki Alexander - the witty Forensic Scientist and the feisty blonde Doctor!
Jack and Nikki, however, were relieved to see that she seemed convinced all of their phone calls in Mexico had been along the same thread.
The oven beeped to announce that the dinner was ready and Thomas and Max got up to serve it out, telling Jack and the women to take their place at the table.
The dinner seemed to go smoothly, Nikki decided - apart from everyone repeatedly shooting amused glances in Jack's direction, particularly when he shovelled bits of potato, Yorkshire pudding or stuffing in his mouth.
"Stop it!" He grumbled at them as Thomas and Clarissa began taking turns to quiz him.
"How are the roast potatoes, Jack?"
"Are the Yorkshire puddings ok?"
"Enjoying the stuffing, Jack?"
"Stop it!" He repeated, his mouth full of food.
"Jack, stop talking with your mouth full!" Max shot at him.
Nikki giggled. "Oh, stop it you lot! He's my guest!"
Max spluttered on his drink. "So are we!"
"Yes, well Jack is my guest of honour! So, leave him alone!" She remarked as Jack gave the other three a triumphant smirk.
"Why does Jack get to be your guest of honour?" Clarissa complained.
"Because you lot are ganging up on him!" Nikki answered. So put that in your pipe and smoke she thought!
"I wouldn't even bother to trying cross-examine her Clarissa!" Thomas chuckled as the older woman began to open her mouth again. "You'll never win that argument! Not where Jack is concerned she's just as stubborn as you are when she wants to be!"
They all enjoyed ice cream for afters and then the three men offered to clear up and make coffee.
"That was really lovely, Nikki, thank you!" Jack said, sitting down and handing her a cup of tea. Nikki smiled, before raising her eyebrows at him, silently asking him if it had lived up to his expectations. "Better! Way better!" He nodded.
"Aw, thank you, Jack! You can come again!" Nikki replied.
"What did I tell you?" Thomas chuckled, "It's Nikki and Jack against the world!"