Thanks to Caroline and Maggie for their help/feedback! Happy Halloween everyone!
Happy was thrilled when Toby had taken the last of the pictures he needed of her and Walter in costume in order to display their "Halloween history," as Paige had put it, for their INS caseworker, Joyce Linehan. The Egyptian queen costume wasn't the most comfortable because it hugged her in a way that, with her growing baby bump, made it a little difficult to breathe. Yet, despite the discomfort, Happy couldn't help but feel the slightest bit sexy in it, especially with Toby's comment about saving it for their honeymoon. Yeah, she'd told him to can it, but she said stuff like that to him in public quite often. Privately, the banter was something she enjoyed, the closeness with him something she cherished. But, role-playing…that took it to a whole other level.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Toby come around the corner where they'd placed the dressing station. The psychiatrist walked up her as she was slipping her jacket back on. He pulled her hair from out of her jacket collar, gently kissed the back of her neck, and, after turning her around with a small smile, ran his fingers through her hair after he'd pushed it off her face. Happy, exhausted from the last couple of weeks of living with Walter to keep up this front of a marriage, leaned back into Toby's chest. She laid her cheek in the crook of his shoulder, the methodical motion of his hands in her hair making her drowsy.
Unfortunately, though, Toby had to break this moment of rest between the two of them. The team had been called to a job to infiltrate a deep, vast cave system as to prevent the destruction of the North American ecosystem by an extremely large bat population. Toby had to go help Walt get the supplies together that they needed. Happy, however, could take her time; because of her pregnancy, she'd been relegated to babysitting duty for Ralph at the garage in the team's absence. Even though she'd initially protested when Toby had put his foot down on the matter of her staying, internally Happy was relieved. She was still wrapping her head around this whole pregnancy matter, but she wanted to take every precaution possible to keep her baby safe and healthy. If that meant babysitting Ralph at the garage, so be it. In her state of mind, keeping busy helped reduce the increased stress and tension she was feeling over this entire situation.
Happy glanced up at the Doc when he'd stopped running his hands through her hair. He answered the question in her eyes with a kiss to her forehead. "I know it's relaxing, babe, but I've gotta help Walt get everything ready to go to the caves," he said regretfully.
Happy's response was with a bit of whine in her tone as she asked if he could keep going for a few minutes longer. Her boyfriend smiled sheepishly but shook his head no. "Sweetheart, if I do, a few minutes will turn into many minutes; many minutes into hours; and I'd never make it out of here," Toby said. "You stay here with Ralph, and I promise I'll text you when I can while we're gone."
"But, Toby," Happy replied, "we've been staying here at the garage with Walter for the last three weeks. We're both exhausted, mentally and physically, and I haven't had a chance to be alone with you in that entire time."
"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. However, with Linehan…" Toby started.
"For one second, I don't care about Linehan. I don't care about Walter, his citizenship issues, or the INS. Right now, I'm talking about you and me," Happy snapped.
"You, me, and the baby," Toby corrected her.
Happy smiled a bit. "Yes," she said, "you, me, and the baby."
She sighed. "I get that we need to keep this thing up, but I liked it when I was able to have you to myself, where we could spend time together, just the two of us." The pregnant engineer reached out, interlocking her fingers with his, giving his hand a light squeeze, before she continued. "For just a little bit, I want to go back to the way things were before, before Linehan and the citizenship thing got in the way."
When Happy said that, a ghost of a sad smile appeared for a moment on Toby's face, and she realized the double meaning of her words. They weren't able to go back to the way things were before – before the marriage news or the citizenship issues. No, Happy realized, things would never really be the same, and that realization made her heart constrict and ache at the pain she'd caused her boyfriend, the only man she had ever really loved and given her whole self to. However, she had said – and meant – that she would do whatever it took to get the divorce from Walter to marry Toby. Not just because of the impending arrival of their little one, but also because she was in love with him and never wanted to be separated from him again in any way, shape, or form. For her, Toby was it, and she would do anything she could to help heal Toby's bruised and broken heart.
"Is there any way," Happy started once more before Toby could respond to her poor choice in wards, "for us to have even a little bit of time together, away from Walter and the rest of the team?"
Toby thought for a moment before he replied, an excited smile crossing his face. "Well, I know Walt had mentioned that Linehan would be out of town from the 30th through November 4th for a conference, based on her calendar. Paige convinced Walter to give us Halloween off, so we could spend the night before and the night of Halloween at my apartment. That way, we'd have some time away from the rest of the team, and we could relax – watch movies, read – and catch up on sleep."
Happy's eyes sparkled with excitement. "That sounds great, Doc. However, I don't think I'm going to want to sleep that much while we're there," she said mischievously, taking a step closer to press the length of her body against his.
Toby stared at her in confusion. "Really, Hap? I know you've said it, and I've seen it, that you're exhausted. A lack of sleep isn't good for you or the baby, and…" Happy put her hand over his mouth to shut him up.
"Listen, dummy," she said. "I'll sleep, of course. However, like I said earlier, it's been almost three weeks since we've had any alone time. At this point in my pregnancy, my morning sickness has tapered off, and my energy levels are better. According to my research, this time during a woman's pregnancy is the best time that a couple can enjoy each other's company, if you get what I mean. It also increases intimacy between partners, which in turn helps relieve any potential stress and tension." She winked at Toby and couldn't help the laugh that escaped at the sight of his wide eyes and dropped jaw.
"Happy Quinn, are you saying…" he squeaked, sliding his hands around her waist.
"Yes, I am," she snickered and gestured to the Egyptian costume hanging up behind her, "and I might even have this costume for you. I mean, it is Halloween; I'll have to dress up at some point."
All Toby could do was stand there, his eyes wide in shock; on the inside, though, he was giddy at the thought of spending two nights alone with Happy. And her in that costume…oh, he could only imagine.
Happy grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down for a deep kiss before pushing him back toward the door. "Now go, you dummy. The sooner you go help Walter, the sooner you all can make it to the cave, and the sooner you can come back so you can have a couple days off, with me and the baby."
At this, Toby quickly kissed her on the lips and dashed off to find his supplies, leaving in his midst a laughing Happy. Subconsciously rubbing her baby bump, Happy grabbed her stuff and headed off to find Ralph. She didn't mind at all watching him – it'd be good practice for when the baby came – but it was nice to have something fun to look forward to at the end of this mission. And oh, she thought wryly, what fun it would be.