Happily Ever After is planned to be only a series of unknown number of one-shots following Annie and Auggie's marriage. Sort of the answer to those who wanted more of the pair after marriage.
The first story has a pregnant Annie on a simple mission for Joan.
Mandy58 has looked it over. I appreciated her suggestions
I own nothing of Covert Affairs but a well-watched DVD of Season One.
As Auggie Anderson felt the ripple of movement beneath Annie's taut skin a joyous grin spread over his face. "It's alive," he whispered. "It's real. I'm going to be a father!"
"Yes, Auggie, it's alive. I AM pregnant. What? You thought that I was just getting fat?" Annie Anderson teased her husband of almost three years.
"No, I never thought that you were just getting fat," Auggie replied. "Remember, I'm the one that told you you were pregnant long before you took the pregnancy test."
"Yeah, you did. I still don't understand how you knew."
"If I tell you, you'll hit me," Auggie stated with conviction. Annie was not above giving him a few well placed swats when he told her how he knew things about her that were 'personal' in nature.
"If I promise not to swat you, will you tell me?" Annie implored.
"Pinky swear?" Auggie asked as he raised his hand from where it lay on his wife's swollen belly.
"Pinky swear," Annie replied and wrapped her little finger around her husband's.
"Your female secretions changed," he stated simply. "You smelled different, you felt different. You were pregnant. It was very subtle, but there was a change."
"That nose of yours again," Annie said as she touched Auggie's face beneath his unseeing eyes. "I should have known."
"Yes, my nose knows." Auggie smiled. "I know every part of you."
"Does your nose also know that it's time for dinner?" Annie asked playfully as she moved off the sofa to answer the knock on the door.
"No, but my tummy does," Auggie said as he followed his wife. It was Saturday and that meant that there'd be pizza for dinner.
Despite the fully furnished gourmet kitchen, Annie took the easy way out and ordered in as often as Auggie would let her get away with it. And lately he'd been letting her get away with it a lot. Advancing pregnancy was not agreeing well with his Anne Catherine Walker-Anderson.
# # # # #
On Tuesday, mid-morning, Annie overheard a loud conversation between Auggie and his boss, Joan Campbell, as she wandered into Auggie's division of the CIA on a break. Auggie's final words to Joan were all that Annie clearly heard and they totally surprised her.
"No, Joan. Absolutely not. You are not sending Annie back into the field. You are not jeopardizing my wife and my baby no matter how 'safe' the mission is!" With that Auggie strode angrily from his boss' office and to his own.
Annie followed her husband into his office. "What is it that Joan wants me to do that you don't?" she asked as she closed the sliding glass door closed behind her.
"How much did you hear?" Auggie asked as he picked up his headphones and placed them around his neck.
"Just you vehemently telling Joan absolutely not. That you wouldn't allow her to send me back into the field. What does she want me to do?"
"You are not seriously considering this are you?" Auggie asked with concern.
"I'd like to know what I'm turning down," Annie said as she brushed a kiss on Auggie's cheek.
"A brush-pass at a restaurant nearby. No out of country travel is on tap," Auggie finally admitted. "Joan thought that no one would suspect a very pregnant woman."
"I'm not THAT pregnant," Annie huffed indignantly. "I'm just barely six months along. I've still got three to go."
Auggie snaked his arm out, surrounded Annie's waist and pulled her closer to him. He kissed his wife's protruding baby bump. "But you have to admit that it's apparent that you are 'with child'. Even I can see that."
Annie gave her husband a hip check and wiggled out of his grasp. "Okay, I'll admit that I'm no longer able to disguise being pregnant."
The side door into Auggie's office space opened and Joan Campbell stuck her head in. "Annie can I see you in my office when you're through distracting Mr. Anderson from his job?"
"If you want to see me about the brush-pass, can we talk here?"
Joan looked puzzled for a moment, then stepped into the room and closed the door."
"What has Auggie mentioned that he should not have?" Joan asked with a combination of irritation and concern.
"Just that you want me to do a brush-pass and he doesn't," Annie answered.
"The FBI has the asset under surveillance. He has information that we don't want to share with them just yet. We just thought that you look very un-spy-like and could make the pass without raising suspicion. It would be in a very safe place here in the DC area."
"It's tempting," Annie said and then noticed Auggie's face go stern and disapproving. "I need more information before I say yes or no," Annie continued.
"That can only be done in my office," Joan said turning to leave.
Annie touched Auggie's shoulder and followed Joan. A few minutes later Annie was seated in Joan's office looking at a file. After reading the information contained in it, Annie closed the folder and placed it on Joan's desk. "Did you tell Auggie everything in the file?"
Joan shook her head. "No. Just the highlights."
"And he still freaked out?"
Joan nodded.
"I'll do this on one condition. I want an extra level of anonymity. I want Auggie to come with me. A blind man and a pregnant woman would be way under anyone's radar."
Joan nodded. A brief but telling smile lifted the corners of her mouth as she lifted her phone's receiver from its cradle. "Auggie, would you please come to my office," she intoned a few moments later.
A few minutes later Auggie was striding into Joan's office with a distressed look on his face. "I'm not going to like this conversation am I?" he said as he located a chair and sat down. "Annie," he said nodding her way.
"We're doing the brush-pass together," Annie said touching Auggie's arm lightly. "Extra layer of anonymity. No one would suspect the two of us together."
Auggie closed his eyes and sighed. "I should be happy about going back into the field, but I'm not completely so. Whose idea was this?"
"Annie's," Joan said. "Only way that she'd do it. Are you on board?"
"Yeah," Auggie said with resignation. "I'm your man."
"Then get out of here. Go get the information. … And don't get caught," Joan added as Annie and Auggie rose to leave.
"It's been a long time since we've been caught," Auggie said as he took Annie's arm. "A very long time."
The couple stopped in Auggie's office just long enough for Auggie to retrieve his cane from the drawer in his desk, and then they were off to 'lunch'.
On the way to the TGI Friday's in Tyson's Corner Mall Annie explained the way she had planned to make the transfer. At the end she added, "I'm sorry, dear, but I might deliberately do what I've always tried so hard not to allow you to do. I may have to let you run into the mark and –"
"That's brilliant! Now I know why you wanted me to come," Auggie exclaimed.
"You're okay with that?" Annie asked incredulously.
"Oh, yeah, I'm okay with that. If it got the intel I might let you take my cane away and leave me alone in the middle of the street."
"I would never do that!"'
"My wife would never do that, but Annie Anderson the spy just might," Auggie said as he gently touched Annie's arm. "And that's okay," he added.
Fifteen minutes later Annie was pulling into a parking spot in the parking deck closest to the entrance to the section of the mall that contained the TGI Fridays. Once in the mall Annie's practiced eye easily picked out the potential surveillance team. The FBI wasn't known for its subtlety.
As Annie and Auggie entered the restaurant, Annie scanned what she could of the familiar eatery for signs of the asset. She didn't see him, but did see another face that she recognized. It had been a while, but she'd never forget FBI Agent Vincent Rossabi. From the look on his face it was clear that he recognized her and Auggie, too.
Vincent Rossabi's recognition smile and "Don't I know you?" statement stopped Annie in her tracks as she and Auggie passed his table. "Ms Walker, isn't it?"
"Not anymore," Annie said. "It's been Mrs. Anderson for almost three years now," Annie added as she presented her left hand to Agent Rossabi.
"Do you still work for the same company that you did the last time we met?" Vincent Rossabi asked pointedly.
"Same company, different division. They keep their pregnant personnel in the office," Annie said as she patted her baby bump.
"So what are you doing here today?"
"Having lunch with my husband in one of our favorite places. We're allowed to do that?" Annie asked with more than a touch of sarcasm. "Nice seeing you again," Annie said as she moved to the booth that the host had indicated for them.
"Who was that?" Auggie asked in a louder than necessary voice. "His voice is familiar, but I can't place the face."
"Just someone I once worked with, dear. You met him once a long time ago."
"Oh, I know now. He's the sight-ist." An amused grin worked its way over Auggie's features.
"Yes, dear, the sight-ist," Annie said patting Auggie on the arm. "Shall we try to enjoy our lunch?"
Annie placed Auggie's hand on the booth seat and moved to sit in the seat with the best view of the restaurant and the back of agent Rossabi's head. There was still no sign of the asset. Even though she knew what she was going to order – the Caribbean Passion Tossed Salad with chicken – Annie made a show of looking over the menu. Auggie tentatively scanned the tabletop with his right hand until it bumped into the menu. One touch to the top of the menu and he withdrew his hand and let it fall to his lap.
"Do you know what you want? Or would you like the Braille menu?"
"Thought about a salad with some chicken on it," he answered. "What are you getting?"
"A salad with some chicken on it," Annie replied.
An amused grin spread across her husband's lips. "Which one? Pecan Crusted? Or the Caribbean one?"
"The Caribbean one," Annie stated.
"Then I'll get the Pecan Crusted one."
Annie looked up as someone stopped by the table. She recognized the server as the asset.
"I'm Zack. I'll be taking care of you today," he intoned by rote. "May I take your drink order? Something from the bar perhaps?"
"Just iced tea for me," Annie announced. "And the Caribbean Passion Salad with the chicken."
"I'd like an iced tea, too," Auggie proclaimed. "And the Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad with the vinaigrette dressing on the side."
"Zack is it? Where's Julio? I haven't seen him in a while. He always took such good care of us," Annie said using the code words she'd been given. The server looked from Annie to Auggie and back again.
"Julio? I've only been here a few weeks and don't know him. Sorry." He moved off toward the computer station.
After Zack had left the immediate area of the table Annie leaned across the table and whispered to Auggie, "That was the asset. I don't think this is going to be a traditional brush pass. More like a modified live drop. Reach out so that I can take your hand like we're having an intimate conversation."
Auggie snaked his right hand out across the table and Annie tenderly wrapped hers around it.
Just then Auggie's encrypted phone began to ring. He withdrew his hand from Annie's and answered it. "Hello. … Oh, Hi Mom. What's up? … Yeah, Annie's with me. We're having lunch. I can't believe that my very pregnant wife is flirting with our server. With a name like Zack, he's got to be a hunk. … Yeah, shamelessly flirting in front of her blind husband. And I wouldn't know if she slipped him her phone number. … Yeah, Mom. I'll be sure to tell her that. Like she ever listens to me ... Thanks for the information on Dad. Glad that he's doing better Got to go now." Auggie flipped his phone closed, ending the call. "Now where was I? Oh, -" He leaned back over the table.
"Joan?" Annie whispered.
"Yup. No new information but she knows we've ID'd the mark. If he doesn't pass the flash drive to us in our meals, we're just to have lunch and go back to work. No other contact to be attempted."
Annie huffed in frustration. "So much for that I guess."
"Don't give up so easily, Dear. We haven't even gotten our drinks yet," Auggie cautioned.
Just then Zack came back and set the glasses of iced tea on the table. "Two teas," he said as he did. From the pocket of his apron he pulled two sets of napkin wrapped flatware and placed them between the pair near the center of the table. Annie noticed a slight bulge in one of them; she moved that one closer to her and shifted the other one until it brushed against the back of Auggie's hand. Slowly unwrapping the flatware, Annie quickly palmed the flash drive as it tumbled out.
"Auggie, hand again," Annie whispered. With a soft grin Auggie placed his right hand on the table. "I'd rather the other one," Annie said softly. "I'm going to pass the flash drive to you." Annie smiled at Auggie and took his offered hand. They held hands across the table until their salads came. Then Auggie slipped his hand off the table and quickly pocketed the flash drive and returned his hand to the table to unwrap his flatware.
Annie and Auggie slowly ate their meals. While eating they spoke of household chores to be done when they got home, of Auggie's dad and his fictional illness, of normal married couple things. When they finished and Auggie settled the bill, they slipped out of the booth and headed out toward the entrance.
As she passed the table where agent Rossabi still lingered over his meal Annie said, "Auggie I swear this child of ours is destined to be a gymnast with all this flipping around he's been doing during lunch. Oh. Oh, now he's decided to be a football kicker." She stopped and placed a steadying hand on the back of the chair that Vincent Rossabi sat in. As he began to turn toward her, Annie took her hand off the chair back and moved on. She wore a smug little smile of accomplishment as she moved off.
Once they were in the car and Annie was certain that they'd not been followed from the mall, she finally let out a relieved sigh. "Mission accomplished," she said as she pulled out from the parking spot.
"Don't you think that last bit was a bit of oversell?" Auggie asked with amusement.
"Not at all. It was the truth. Your son was very active all through lunch," Annie said.
"My son? I thought you said the ultrasound wasn't able to tell the baby's gender. You holding out on me?" Auggie asked cautiously,
"No. I'm not holding out on you. The ultrasound couldn't determine the baby's gender with any certainty. They think it's a boy, but they're not sure. It's still possible it's a girl," Annie explained. "I just didn't want to get you all psyched up for a boy and it be a girl. A few days or weeks down the line I might be calling the baby her. "
"Oh. Okay," Auggie said unable to hide his disappointment.
"I'm sorry now that I said anything," Annie said as she pulled out of the parking deck onto the service road. She checked her mirrors to see if another vehicle was behind her. There was but it was a woman with a couple of kids in the backseat. Annie was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a tail.
"It's okay, Annie," Auggie said. "I know that I'll love the baby whatever it is, but there's this part of me that really wants a son."
"And I really want this one to be a boy, too." Annie laughed. "Now we are doomed to have a girl."
In a few minutes they were pulling onto the main entry road into the complex of buildings simply known as 'Langley'. Ten minutes later they were in Joan Campbell's office handing over the flash drive.
"Did you have a nice lunch on the agency's dime?" Joan asked as Annie and Auggie entered her office.
"Nice enough," Auggie stated. "Ran into an old friend of Annie's."
Joan gave Annie a puzzled look.
"Remember that FBI agent that busted me at Brambles? Agent Rossabi? He was there. We exchanged pleasantries," Annie explained. "I don't think he even suspected that Auggie and I were there for anything more than a simple lunch. The asset seemed surprised, but we got the intel without any complications."
"We won't know that for sure until we take a look at what's on the flash drive. How soon can you get on that, Auggie?"
"Now. If that's what you'd like," Auggie said turning toward the door.
Well, did you like it? Do you want more? Any suggestions for what you might like me to explore?
I have absolutely NO IDEA when the next snippet will come to me or be posted.