Title: Get Your Kicks On
Author: Rina (Searider Falcon)
Summary: Niles and C.C. gain a little perspective from an unexpected source when their attempt at a weekend getaway goes awry before they even reach their destination.
Disclaimer: The Nanny and its characters are all the property of Sony Pictures, High School Sweethearts, and Sternin & Fraser's Ink, Inc. I make no profit from writing and sharing this story.
A/N: From an anonymous Tumblr prompt:"Niles and a (2nd trimester pregnant) CC take a long car ride/weekend getaway and the car breaks down." I'm horrified by how long it took me to write this, especially since this idea was sent to my ask box approximately...um, two years ago. Anon, if you're still out there, you have my sincerest apologies for this taking such an absurdly long time.
"Let's take a trip, he said. A nice little weekend getaway, he said. Just you and me getting away from it all. It'll. Be. Fun. Ugh!"
C.C. trudged back toward the car, all too aware that her burgeoning baby bump made her look more like a frantic, waddling penguin than the prowling lioness she imagined herself to be.
"Feel better?" Niles asked as she approached the car.
The slam of the car door answer his question.
How he managed to remain so unperturbed while they were in crisis she couldn't understand. They were going to die. Here. In the middle of nowhere. She'd perish from dehydration probably, and Niles...well, what a pity this area wasn't populated enough for her to shove him into traffic. Whatever. She'd figure out something.
Not that she was being overdramatic or anything.
He sighed. "It's not like I planned for this to happen, you know."
"And it's not like I asked to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a imbecilic hobgoblin who let the car run out of gas."
"How exactly was I supposed to know the only gas station before we made it to Santa Barbara would go out of business before we left?"
"Well, maaaaaybe if you didn't insist on taking the freakin' scenic route, then this wouldn't have happened! We would've been there already, in air conditioning and steps away from modern plumbing, not out in the middle of no man's land! God, this was such a stupid idea."
"You didn't think so when you agreed to it," he said, his measured, patient tone starting to dissipate. "Perhaps if someone hadn't spent the entire morning packing, we wouldn't have spent half a tank of gas just trying to get out of afternoon traffic."
The only response to that she managed was a growl. How dare he try to pin the blame on this mess on her! Until he needed to clothe and tend to a body that felt like it was in a constant state of flux, he could just shove it.
"This still has to be an improvement over the last time you ended up in a broken down car, at least?"
"At least that time I was stuck with a real man," she hissed.
Niles' slight smirk faded. His eyes darkened before he looked away.
She regretted her callous remark immediately, her frustration dissipating almost as quickly as it surged through her when their car sputtered to a stop half an hour prior.
They might not fight fair - they probably never would - but they at least tried to avoid poking sticks at each other's worst anxieties about their relationship when they fought now. C.C. knew one of his unvoiced fears was that, despite all evidence to the contrary, he somehow failed to measure up to her expectations.
She shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that, Niles."
"Whatever, Babcock," he said coolly. "Let's just be glad that you won't have to worry about freezing your ass off this time. Though I guess you had a real man to keep you warm back then, didn't you?"
An uncomfortable silence fell over the car, only punctuated by the steady click of the car's caution lights flickering away. C.C. bit her lip as she turned stared out her window. She hoped he didn't notice how she flinched, how the acid in his voice when he spat out her last name like that pierced straight through her heart. They had their share of quarrels. Some were foolish and only for the fun of it. Their most serious disputes centered around the various adjustments and growing pains they experienced after their recent marriage. Usually, she still heard his affection in his voice, regardless of how aggravated he became.
The implication that something happened between her and Maxwell on that ill-fated trip left her uneasy as well, even though she knew he knew better. Her history with her business partner was complicated, but by the time they spent that miserable night snowbound in a ditch, she was very much over him...to say nothing of just how mutual that lack of interest was on his part as well.
C.C. balled up her fists in her lap. She knew this was an overreaction, both to their situation and Niles' dismissal. If there was one thing she desperately disliked about pregnancy, it had to be the lack of control she held over herself. Her notorious, short-fused temper detonated even quicker these days. It magnified everything she felt tenfold, in particular, her fears, her sadness, her moments of anger.
Worst of all, though, was how easily her feeling got hurt.
Many years of therapy taught her how to maintain a relatively even keel on most of her inner turmoils, but even as a small part of her recognized her moments of irrationality, this messy flood of new hormones flung so much of that overboard sometimes.
She closed her eyes and sank against her seat, drawing slow, deep breaths as she tried to will away the sudden urge to cry. Snappish, excited, or furious she could handle. Bursting into tears over something this petty? Unacceptable. Besides, this sort of stress made her nauseous now. If she didn't calm down, she'd be back behind a tree again, offering it what little was left of her breakfast after her previous episode.
As she continued focusing on her breathing, a semblance of peace, coupled with a bit of exhaustion, started to wash over her at last.
That's when she felt it.
Her eyes popped open with a start and she looked down, waiting to see if it happened again.
Without sparing so much as a glance at Niles, she reached out to clasp his wrist and yanked his hand to her.
He paled, any indication of the irritation he felt toward her moments before drained from him. "C.C., what's wrong?!"
She shushed him as she pressed his palm to the point where she last felt it. After a moment, the baby obliged with yet another tiny but firm kick.
Niles mouth formed an 'o' and he looked up at her in wonder.
"Is that…"
Nodding, she murmured, "Before today, it always just felt like a little flutter inside of me."
This time when the tears formed in her eyes she didn't fight them. Niles turned in his seat to place his left hand on her belly, reaching out with his other to brush them away.
"I think she's telling us in no uncertain terms to knock it off with the bickering," she said with a watery smile.
As if to confirm it, the baby kicked again.
Niles grinned back at her. "Not even here yet and already bossing us around. Can't imagine who she inherited that particular trait from…"
The slam of a car door behind them pulled them out of their reverie, and Niles reluctantly pulled away to get out and greet the person who hopefully would be their savior.
C.C. brushed away the tears from her cheeks as watched from the side-view mirror while her husband explained their situation. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him smile and shake the man's hand before heading back to the car.
"He'll come back with some gas. It probably shouldn't take more than forty-five hour. Do...do you want to go home? We can turn right around and call off this whole silly thing."
She shook her head.
"No, I wanna do this. I'll be in my third trimester soon and with everything going on with the show...Niles, this may be one of our last chances for a little uninterrupted time together before she's born. We probably need this."
"True. And if we think she's being demanding now, just wait until she's asking to be fed, changed, and held at 3 A.M."
"So," she said with a smirk, "she'll be inheriting a constant need for attention from you then?"
He scoffed. "I don't-"
"Oh, please. By your next birthday, you'll be so far beyond old and feeble, you'll complete the circle of life. You'll be getting all that and worse from a room you can share with Yetta at the home."
Niles scrunched his nose up in disgust as he imagined that for a moment before he shook the thought away. Mischief twinkled in his eyes as he leaned across the the console that separated them to murmur in her ear.
"I can show you just how far from reality that is..."
With a groan, she swatted him away as he started to trail kisses along her neck. Giving him an admonishing look, she said, "Don't start making promises we can't keep outside our hotel room. It's too hot and we're months beyond being able to follow through with it in this car!"
He chuckled as he leaned in again for another kiss.
"Oh, I think we could figure something out if properly inspired, but I suppose it wouldn't do to give our new friend that sort of show either," he murmured against her lips.
"No, certainly not…" She trailed off with a moan, letting herself get lost in sensation for a long moment before she forced herself to push him back again. "Seriously, Easy Off, cool it."
As if to chime in with her opinion, the baby kicked again. C.C. laughed and placed her hand on her belly.
"Our daughter agrees with me, too. That or she thinks Mommy and Daddy are being gross. Which I suppose is fair since her father looks like a troll."
"She better get used to it. After all, her mother is pretty sexy for a gargoyle. I can't help myself."
"I should kick you for that one."
He laughed.
"I think I can outrun you for the time being."
C.C. moved to give him a playful smack to the arm, but he intercepted her hand and lifted it to his lips. Her eyes narrowed, but in truth, she was relieved to be back on comfortable, familiar ground with him, volleying playful jibes in between kisses, after being at odds with him for most of the afternoon. It centered her.
"I can keep up with you just fine, you old fossil," she said with affected petulance. "And even if I couldn't, don't you dare think for a moment I wouldn't remember this and pay you back once I could."
She tempered her complaint by squeezing their joined hands.
"Fair point. Besides, I think we'd both win that argument. Your idea of revenge is a lot more fun nowadays."
"Mmm, I could give you a preview of what to expect. Once we reach the hotel."
"Ooo, is that why it took you so long to pack?"
"Mmm, one of the reasons." She met his salacious leer with one of her own. "I don't think you'll have any complaints once you see what I have in store for us."
"I never do, baby, I never do."