When the Past and Future Collide
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Rick and Evy are property of Universal and
Stephen Sommers. Everyone else belongs
to me.
Summery: Evy POV; a look at a more 'normal' attempt at life
with the newlyweds.
Happily ever after was off to an interesting start.
I had thought it might be nice to get away from Egypt for
our honeymoon, and my parents' house in London still sat vacant after all these
years. They had insisted on keeping the
house, though I never really knew why. My parents had packed up Jonathan and I
nearly eight years ago, moving us to Egypt to be closer to all of the amazing
discoveries that were happening out in the desert sands. They had helped lead parts of the expedition
that uncovered Tutankhamen's tomb. It
was in these journeys that they had met their untimely ends.
Perhaps what we all needed was a fresh start, away from
Egypt for a while. I loved Egypt with
every bone in my body, but after the thrashing my body had taken (and mind for
that matter), I thought perhaps a change was entirely in order.
After our first night of wedded bliss, Rick and I chartered
a flight out of Cairo to London. The
taxi dropped us off just before sunset, the snow falling lightly on us as we
made our way up the snow covered drive to the steps of the house. Years of fleeting memories rushed back all
at once, nearly toppling me off the front porch as I fumbled with the keys to
get the old door unlocked.
"Evelyn?" an old, familiar voice called out to me. I turned, my face lighting up as I caught
sight of Mrs. Bentley, my parents' neighbor and mother of my closest childhood
friend. She stood on the covered porch
of their home, staring at me wide-eyed and bewildered.
I stepped off the porch, meeting Mrs. Bentley halfway in the
middle of the snow-bathed lawn. "Oh, my
goodness gracious, child!" she exclaimed, taking me in her arms. "Look at you! All grown up, you are. I
was so terribly sorry to hear about your parents," she said sincerely. I could hear Rick drop the luggage on the porch
with a soft grunt, the snow crunching under his feet as he walked up behind
me. "Oh, and who is this dashing young
fellow?" She smiled knowingly, though I
don't believe she was quite ready to hear the next part.
"Mrs. Bentley," I said, grabbing Rick's arm, pulling him up
beside me, "this is my husband, Rick O'Connell." I could feel my face flush slightly in the bitter cold air as I
said the word 'husband.' It was going
to take some getting used to.
"How do you do?" Rick said politely, quite a change from the
way he had greeted me not so long ago.
Mrs. Bentley's mouth opened slightly, as though she wanted to say
something more, but she stood on the lawn, speechless.
"Charmed," she finally managed to say. It was no secret to me what most people had
said about me behind my back when I was growing up; they all figured I would be
an old maid librarian. 'Beautiful as
she is,' I remember them saying, 'with a temper like that, and as stubborn as
she is, she'll never be able to hold a man.'
I smiled proudly. In proving
them all wrong, I had found the part of me that I had been missing. "You must come to our Christmas party
tonight," she finally managed to say, prying her eyes off of Rick. "Annie will just die to know you're back in
London."
"Annie's here?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, she came back from the States almost six months
ago and has been working for the British Museum." It would explain partially why I hadn't heard from her in nearly
a year. "She's been terribly upset
since Anton broke off their relationship.
An old face from her childhood will do her good." It was a moment before I could respond,
thoughts racing through my head. Anton
had broken it off with Annie? It was
terrible and wonderful at the same time.
Annie and I had been superb friends when we were young, but as we
entered those infamous teenage years, we had begun to grow apart. I still
firmly believe that Annie had only liked Anton in the beginning to spite me,
knowing full well I had always liked him in that 'wanting to be more than a
friend' way growing up. That definitely
explained why I hadn't heard from her.
Perhaps it could all be put behind us and she and I could start fresh. I brought myself back to the present,
standing in the middle of a frozen lawn.
"What do you say, Darling?" I asked, looking to my
husband. "Are you feeling up to it?"
"It's all right by me," he said with a smile.
"We do need to see what condition the house is in," I said,
turning back to Mrs. Bentley. "After
all, it *has* been nearly eight years since anyone has lived there."
"Of course. The
party starts at eight. Come over when
you're ready. And I won't tell Annie.
It'll be a nice surprise, don't you think?"
We said our good-byes, and went back to finish the battle with the front
door, which I refused to lose.
It finally took Rick nearly breaking the door down to get us
in. The sun was setting quickly, and
there would be no electricity in the house until we could get it turned on
tomorrow. "Maybe we should have just
stayed in a hotel tonight," Rick said as I fumbled my way in the door.
"What? And miss an
opportunity to show off my new husband?" I said with a grin. He dropped the bags in the foyer, closing
the door behind him. The house was only
a tad warmer than outside. I wrapped my
arms around his neck, staring at him with loving eyes.
"Yeah, she had seemed a little surprised when you said I
*was* your husband. What was that all about?"
"Oh, just surprised no doubt that I married before Annie," I
replied. "They all used to say that I
was too pigheaded and tenacious to ever catch a man who would put up with me."
"Well, they got one thing right," he said with a little
smirk. I pushed off of him, trying to
hide my smile as he grabbed my wrist, pulling me back to him. "But that's what I love about you." I narrowed my eyes as he smiled
sheepishly. Oh, for goodness sake, I
couldn't even *pretend* to be mad at him!
He leaned in, kissing me.
Despite the cold chill in the house, I was ready to melt in his
arms. "Come on," I said, after
reluctantly pulling away. I curled my
fingers around his, leading him to the stairs.
We had fleeting light and it would probably be wise to use it as best we
could before there was nothing but the pitch-black dusk would bring to the
house.
My eyes wandered around the house as we climbed the
stairs. Everything was just as we had
left it so long ago. The dust covers
clung to the furniture I had grown up with; every little detail of every sofa,
bookcase, table, burned into my memory.
I could have told him what every piece was without uncovering it. We reached to top of the stairs, and I had
to make a tough decision: which room would we stay in? I had initially thought we should sleep in
my old room, but then it occurred to me that there would be no heat in
there. My parents' room had a
fireplace, but the thought of sleeping in my parents' bed with my new
husband… Pushing aside the silly,
childish thoughts, I opened the door to my parents' room. Besides the warmth, it was a bigger bed, and
the bed linens I had packed wouldn't fit on my old bed. "We should build a fire so we have some
light to make the bed by," I said softly, glancing around the room. The hot tears crept into my eyes, blurring
my vision as Rick went to the fireplace, finding several old pieces of wood
waiting for him. He glanced back at me,
realizing I hadn't moved from the doorway.
"Are you all right?" he asked, stepping back toward me. I sniffled as the first tear escaped.
The memories flooded into my mind before I could think to
stop them. "I…I haven't been here
since… since my parents…" I couldn't
even finish as the grief overtook me for a moment. Rick enclosed me in his embrace, stroking my hair softly as I let
it all out. It wasn't long before I
felt foolish, his soft shirt soaked through with my tears. It had been three years, after all. I then suddenly felt comforted strangely, as
though my parents approved, something I had wondered since Rick had proposed to
me. I could feel them smiling, knowing
I was safe and loved. I no longer felt
strange that this was their room; this was where they had loved each other as
much as I loved Rick. I pulled away,
smiling up at him. "Thank you," I
sniffled.
"Hey, it's what I'm here for," he said, thumbing away the
tears. "Now…about that fire…" He went back to the fireplace as I opened
the bag I had brought upstairs with me, pulling out the sheets and quilt.
Within a few moments, the fire roared in the stone hearth,
and we sat on the bed, his arms wrapped around me. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked softly. "I mean, are you sure you don't want to go
to a hotel?"
"I'll be fine," I answered, tilting my head up toward
him. "It was a step I needed to
take. Thank you for being there to take
it with me." I leaned up, kissing his
full lips. I surprised myself with the
passion that spilled from me. I think
it surprised him too.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, slightly taken
aback. "I mean, this *is* your parents'
bed after all."
"I know," I said, my eyes narrowing seductively. "Somehow how I have the feeling it's all
right with them."
I dressed, touching up my smeared make-up in the uncovered
mirror. Tomorrow, we would have to go
through the house and clean…what a way to spend a honeymoon! But alone with Rick, anywhere, doing
anything, was heaven for me.
I fussed with my hair, pulling the brush through it,
catching sight of Rick crawling out of the bed to dress. He had slept lightly afterward, and I didn't
have the heart to wake him. It had been
a long day already, and now he was going to be thrown to the wolves of my old
friends. I smiled to myself as I pulled
only part of my hair back, leaving the rest to hang, the same way the Arab
women had done it what seemed ages ago.
Rick was a wonder when it came to handling battles and the like, but
when it came to scholars and socialites…well, tonight would be the big test.
He shrugged on his shirt, coming up behind me. Kissing the top of my head, he ran his hands
tenderly over my shoulders, hooking his fingers at the base of my neck. "Are you ready for this?" he asked, staring
at me in the mirror.
"I should be asking *you* that," I said with a small
grin. "*I* know these people…it's you
I'm worried about." In all truth,
butterflies were bouncing off the walls of my stomach, and I knew he could
tell. He kissed my cheek, unlacing his
fingers to button his shirt.
"I'll be fine," he assured me with a shrug. He probably would be just fine too.
As we stepped out the front door, I noticed all the cars
lining the street. I remembered that
the Bentleys' Christmas party was always the big to-do of the season, but never
really remembered having enjoyed myself.
As children, we were always shoved off into a back room to play, even as
teens, Mrs. Bentley had locked Annie, Jonathan, and I back there with the small
children to bore ourselves.
I had scantly knocked before the door had been ripped
open. "Ahh, wonderful!" Mrs. Bentley
cried out when she saw us on the front porch.
"Come in, come in, before you catch your death!" We stepped in, my hand tightly gripping
Rick's. Maybe I really wasn't ready for
this…
"Oh my God in heaven," I heard said slowly behind me as Mrs.
Bentley took our coats. Annie looked
over the heads of the crowded front room, squeezing her way through the
people. "Evelyn Carnahan?" she asked,
almost as if she didn't believe it was really me standing before her.
"Hello, Annie," I said, hugging my old friend. She turned, grabbing my arm, pulling me
toward the crowd. "Everyone! Look who's back from the desert! It's Evy!!"
I glanced back at Rick who smiled, waving good-bye as I was sucked into
the vortex of bodies in the small room.
All at once, I was enveloped by screams of girls I had gone to school
with, many of whom I had not seen in more than ten years. I felt a rush of comfort pass over me,
reverting to my old school days of a chattering little girl. We talked about anything and everything that
had happened to us, be it schooling or courting, though I had little to say
there…I still hadn't told them my last name was no longer Carnahan. I had to
stifle a laugh, though, as Mary came back from the food table, practically
drooling.
"Have you guys seen that hunk of American meat talking over
there?" said Mary breathless. All heads
turned as I smiled, inwardly proud of myself.
None of the other girls had married yet, expect for Tabitha, but we all
had known from grade school that she and Eric were going to be together for the
rest of their lives. She was currently
pregnant with their fourth child.
"Someone go find out his name," Aggie chimed in as the other
girls twittered.
"It's Rick," I stated with a grin. They all silenced, turning toward me in wonderment. I held up my left hand, proudly displaying
my wedding ring. Every jaw in the
circle dropped in unison.
"He's yours?" Mary asked finally, breaking the awestruck
silence of the group. I nodded with a smile.
Annie grabbed my hand, looking at the ring closely.
"Evy, where did you get this ring?" she asked, pulling her
glasses out of her pocket. Rick and I
had agreed that it would be most appropriate if our wedding bands had come from
the treasures in the saddlebags from Hamunaptra. After all, it was because of the City of the Dead that we were
even together. "This band is priceless! It's a piece from the reign of—"
"Seti I," I said, cutting her off. "Yes, I know."
"We just recently got a rather large collection of pieces in
nearly perfect condition at the museum from a buyer. He wouldn't say where he had obtained the pieces from, or where
the dig was. I don't think he
knew." I had wondered what the buyer
who had taken a little more than half of our treasures had planned on doing
with it all. We had kept several pieces
for ourselves, selling the rest to the Cairo Museum of Antiquities.
"Oh, I could tell you where they came from," I said, "but
you wouldn't believe me."
"Wouldn't I?" she asked skeptically. This was almost the same look she had given
me so many years ago when I had told her that I liked Anton.
"Did you hear about the dig at Hamunaptra?"
"Yes, yes, everyone was talking about it some months ago,
that eight people had gone out, but only three came back. It's not like that had really found
anything. What's that got to do with
the ring?" I smiled at her knowingly. She never had been very quick to pick up
subtle hints.
"Rick, Jonathan, and I were those three."
"Oh, Evelyn, that's a load of pigswallow and you know it."
"You don't believe me?
Well, fine then. Ask your buyer
tomorrow whom he bought the pieces from.
If he won't tell you directly, ask if it was a Rick O'Connell. Then see what you believe." Everyone else in the group had been hanging
on every word, though none really seemed to know whom to believe. "Excuse me," I said, stepping away from the
group. I squeezed my way through the
crowded room, my eyes searching for Rick.
I felt a firm hand land on my shoulder, and was met with a surprise as I
turned to find the owner of the hand.
"Anton," I managed to breath. He
was still as handsome as I remembered.
But then I also remembered the way he had treated me in school. How blind I had been. Thank God it was something I never had to
worry about again.
"Hello, Evelyn," he said, his deep voice resonating. There had been a time when that voice had
made me weak in the knees. Now it was
nothing more than another octave that added to the din of the gathering. "You're the talk of the party tonight," he
said with little conviction.
"Really?" I asked, stepping back slightly to release his
hand from my shoulder. "How so?"
"Your sudden reappearance in London," he stated as though
the answer should have been as clear as the crooked nose on his face. "So what brought you back from that
wasteland?"
"That 'wasteland' as you call it still happens to be my
home, Anton," I answered. "But if you
really are interested, I happen to be on my honeymoon." Anton laughed, as though it were the most
absurd answer he had ever heard.
"Little Evelyn Carnahan is married? To what, another self-righteous bookworm?" I began to fume at his array of insults when
another hand fell on my shoulder, this time belonging to my husband. I smiled curtly at Anton as he mouth opened
slowly, but no audible sound came out.
I wrapped my arm around Rick's waist, pushing him gently to walk away
with me.
"You all right?" he asked after the sea of people had closed
the gap between Anton and I. We stood
next to the back door, away from the crowd.
"Yes, I'm fine," I said, smiling up at him. "Thank you for rescuing me. How are you holding up?"
"Oh, fine," he said.
"I was just talking to Mr. Bentley about the house. He knows some people who would be more than
willing to come out and fix any problems we find. I guess old friends of your parents." I smiled, closing my eyes.
"Thank you for putting up with this," I said, opening my
eyes slowly.
"I put up with you, don't I?" he said, eyebrows raised.
"Ooooh." He glanced
up with a grin, pointing upward.
"Look where we stopped."
Mistletoe. Any anger I had
pretended to have toward him had long since faded. He leaned down, kissing me gently on the lips. It was a quick kiss, and yet there was so
much to it, I couldn't even take it all in.
He felt it too as he eyes opened slowly, staring at me. "I think we need to get some of this for
next door," he said, almost breathless.
I giggled softly, watching his eyes as they fell on someone behind
me. "You've got company." I glanced over my shoulder to see Tabitha
coming up, smiling.
"I don't know about you," Tabitha said, both her and my coat
in hand, "but I need some fresh air."
She smiled, handing me my coat, her oh-so-subtle way of getting away
from the other girls. I glanced back at
Rick who only smiled.
"Go on. Catch up,"
he said. "I'll see what other nice,
juicy blackmail I can dig up about you."
"Blackmail?" I asked stunned as he slipped back into the
crowd. I shook my head with a laugh,
turning to Tabitha.
It was bitterly cold out back; I was most definitely still
used to the heat of the desert.
"Don't worry about Annie and Anton," Tabitha started, easing
herself into a chair. "They're just
jealous because no one ever thought you would be the first to marry."
"I know," I replied, blowing into my hands. My fingers were already frozen. "I don't expect Annie to believe me about
Hamunaptra either. Had the roles been
reversed, I don't know that I would believe her."
"I believe you," she said, unconsciously rubbing her growing
belly. "I don't know why, but I believe
you. So, did you find anything
good?" Sure, we had found the treasure
I the saddlebags and all, but for some reason, that didn't seem worthy of the
answer. I rubbed my hands together for a moment, trying to warm them up,
catching the glint of the wedding band in the light.
"I found Rick," I said, blushing lightly. I had never really thought about it like
that before, but it was practically true.
"Oh? Do tell."
Tabitha smiled broadly.
"He had been there once before, and I wanted to go badly
enough that I was willing to swallow my pride and follow this…filthy, rude
scoundrel into the desert." I smiled,
laughing to myself as I said these words.
"Funny how your opinion of someone can change."
"Yes, like everyone's opinion of Anton went from bad to
worse."
"Yes, so I noticed. What happened?"
"When Annie came back from the States, he broke it off with
her without reason. He never really
loved her. I don't think he was even
faithful two days after she had left. I
know she thought she loved him, but it was never real love." She looked at me, a smile spreading across
her lips. "When did you know? I mean about Rick. I'm curious, only because I've always known with Eric."
"Well…" When *had* I
known? I thought about it for a
moment. There were so many times I
thought there might have been something between us, but then he had shot off
his mouth, and it was all gone…but that first kiss…. It had always stuck out in
my head, driving me crazy when I didn't want to think I could love someone like
him. "I'd have to say the first time he kissed me," I started, staring off into
the blackness of the back yard. "Oh, we
hadn't known each other more than a few minutes at that point, and he was very
rude and all, but…" I laughed at myself,
sounding like the schoolgirl I had been back inside the house. "I know it sounds crazy," I said, looking to
her. "It's a long story, but I think I
*really* knew when I had to leave with another man to save all of our
lives. Like I said, long story, but the
way he looked at me as I walked away, his blue eyes just piercing the
darkness. The way he said my name as we
became separated by the crowd…" I
barely mumbled the last two sentences, my eyes focusing on nothing at all as I
saw very clearly they way he looked after me as Imhotep dragged me through the
crowd of his slaves. I could feel my
body grow weak from the thought, the painful memory when I thought I would
never see him again, that I would never get to tell him that I loved him as
Imhotep gave the order to kill them all.
"You'll have to tell me this story sometime," said Tabitha
with a smile of curiosity. I shook my
head, inhaling deeply with a smile.
"You are absolutely head-over-heels for him, aren't you? It's so nice to know someone finally
understands what I'm talking about when I say that Eric is like my other
half. He's part of me, as much as I am
part of him. None of them understand
that. They've never felt it like we
have, where you feel your breath catch in your throat just hearing his
voice. Where you see him across a
crowded room like that," she said, motioning in the window, "and know you are
the only one in the room that really matters to him." I followed her eyes in the window. Rick and Eric were talking with Mr. Bentley. "They've never known love so strong that it
will break every rule, every moral code they've set out for themselves, that
they would risk life and limb for that person." Their eyes met for a moment across the crowded room, through the
glass. I could see the smile spread on
Eric's face, as he saw nothing but her, then shaking his head as he looked to
Mr. Bentley with an 'I'm sorry, what did you say?' Tabitha looked at me with a smile. "It's too bad we weren't better friends as a child. We have so much
in common now." I smiled at her,
looking to the twinkling stars above.
If we did move back from Cairo, I would miss being able to see nothing
but a sky full of stars; London was too bright and it drowned out most of the
fainter stars.
My attention was suddenly brought back to earth when Tabitha
inhale sharply. "Are you all right?" I
asked as she grimaced, shifting uncomfortably in the chair.
"Yes, yes," she said, as though she were trying to convince
herself. "Just the baby kicking." She inhaled again, her face contorting with
pain.
"That's some kick," I said, knowing otherwise. That was the baby's way of saying 'Hello,
here I come.' "Do you want me to go get
Eric?"
"No, no, it's nothing," she said, trying to stand. She collapsed back into the chair, seeming
almost shocked by the pain. "On the
other hand…"
"Wait here," I said (as if she had much other choice at the
moment), before rushing into the house.
"Eric!" I called into the crowd, squeezing through the people. I pushed my way through, leaning against
Rick for balance. "Forgive the
interruption," I said, barging into the conversation, "but Tabitha needs
you. Now."
"The baby?" I
nodded. "But it's early!"
"I don't think it cares much about that right now," I said.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said, tossing his empty glass
onto the table. He parted the crowd like
Moses parting the Red Sea, catching Tabitha as she nearly fell in the back
door.
As they left, Mrs. Bentley told them she would gladly watch
their children until the baby was born.
The excitement died down, and I stifled a yawn, turning back toward Rick.
"My word," Mr. Bentley said with a grin, "you two have quite
the stamina. I don't think I would
still be awake after a plane flight here, and then a party such as this! Too much excitement for me." He smiled as he caught sight of someone
else, calling out to them.
"Do you want to go home?" Rick asked, placing his arm around
my waist. "You know, it's such a long
walk home, I wouldn't want you falling asleep on me on the way." He grinned idiotically at me.
"Oh, hush, Richard," I replied evilly, but couldn't help but
smile. I knew if I *had* fallen asleep,
he would have gladly carried me the entire forty steps home.
We bid Mrs. Bentley good night, promising to have lunch with
her sometime this week before heading out the door, down the porch, across the
lawn, and up the steps to our home. Our
home, I told myself again as Rick had to knock the door in again. Not my parents home, or my room at the fort,
but if we truly decided to move back to London, this would be *our* home.
The bedroom was still warm from the glowing embers in the
fireplace. Rick stroked the fire as I
changed into my nightgown. I walked up
behind him, encircling my arms around his waist as he stared into the
fire. "What are you thinking?" I asked
as his arms closed around me.
"About Tabitha and Eric," he replied. Then he looked down at
me, his piercing sapphire eyes dancing in the firelight. He tilted his head, caressing my cheek with
his fingers. "About…someday….having
children ourselves." He half smiled as
I looked above him, as though lost in thought.
"Hmmm…Rick O'Connell…Family Man…." I said, with a smile,
bringing my eyes back to his. "Yes, I
think I can see that." He smiled fully,
enclosing his lips over mine. Once
again there was that passion that left us both breathless was he pulled away.
He picked me up suddenly, as though he knew I was too weak
in the knees to walk to the bed.
"Mistletoe…" he said with a grin.
"Who needs it?"
