And here is the sequel to 'Runaway Love', of course co-authored by the amazing Bml1997!
Enjoy! :D
Chapter 1: Red Paint
Juarez silently watches out the window as Commander Grace Gray drives him to the base in her bright red sports car. He coughs some and thinks about what he's about to do and how big of a step in a new direction this is for him. He has a chance to finally get his life back. He can finally do things how he wants and make himself who he wants to be. The thought nearly terrifies him as much as it excites him.
"Alright. You'll be taking that plane there." Grace nods to a plane shed after she's parked the car.
"Okay..." He nods and gets out of the car with his bag. He then waddles over to the plane and gets onto it. He silently begins flipping switches and getting the old plane ready to fly. He finishes all of his pre-flight checks and takes one last, long look out the window before starting the take off procedures.
Grace watches the take off and then drives back to Bob's house after stopping by her office to grab up some papers to work on so that she doesn't get too behind. She drives quickly back to her boyfriend's house and parks her car. She then gets out and enters the house.
At the same moment Juarez is soaring in his plane through the sky, is his lover silently sitting in her room with a large easel and a canvas. She is crying and yelling while throwing her paint to it. She throws with the red paint angrily and upset. She then starts to calm down some and sits on the bed with herself completely covered in paint. She cries and makes her bed covered in red paint, too.
Grace enters the house downstairs, in the meanwhile. Silvy is sobbing loudly in her room and Grace goes upstairs and to her room. She softly knocks on the door but Silvy doesn't open it. Grace then softly enters the room to reveal a red sobbing Silvy. Her Dad's girlfriend waddles over to her and softly hugs her. Silvy sobs and hugs her back. Grace hugs her closely and rubs her back. "Is there a reason you're red, honey?"
"P-painting..." Silvy sniffs very upset.
"Okay." She nods and softly hugs her. "I'm sure it'd be fine with Bob if you'd like to sleep with him tonight..." She says softly.
"Shouldn't you sleep with him?" Silvy sniffs.
Grace shrugs a bit. "We could possibly all squeeze in and fit. But I don't want you to sleep all alone and possibly have worried nightmares." She softly says. Silvy nods a little and hugs her upset. Grace hugs. Silvy sniffs and hugs. Grace hugs her close and pets her back softly.
Silvy cries. "I'm so afraid he might never come back..."
"I know, honey..." She says softly. She nods and sobs. Grace hugs her softly. Silvy hugs and sobs. Grace softly kisses her head and Silvy starts to calm down some. Grace hums and rocks her a little. The girl snuggles close to Grace's chest. Grace still rocks her softly and then nuzzles her gently. Silvy smiles a little. Grace rubs her back. After a while, Silvy tries to sit up some and Grace lets her. Silvy sits up and looks around. Grace watches her with a soft look. Silvy, still all covered in red, silently gets up more and waddles silently to her window. Grace watches her softly. Silvy silently looks out of the window.
Grace gets up from the bed and looks at the picture. "Um… What's this?" She asks.
"Red paint." Silvy says.
"Just red paint on canvas?" She asks.
"You don't like it?" Silvy says.
"No, it's nice, I'm just trying to understand it. Abstract art and all, a bit confusing." She chuckles a little.
"It's just red paint on canvas." Silvy then mutters.
Grace looks at her for a moment. "Emotion painting?" She then smiles a little at her.
Silvy shrugs a little. Grace softly looks at her and rubs her back. Silvy sighs. "I don't even know if he has made it safely to Russia..."
"He ought to message someone once he makes it there as protocol states." She smiles softly at her.
"And then you let me know?" Silvy asks silently.
"Of course." Grace nods.
Silvy nods some. Grace nods with a smile to her. "And I probably should check up on your father now..."
"Okay..."
Grace nods with a small smile and waddles out to Bob's room.
Bob is reading a magazine on guns in his bedroom. Grace waddles in and gets into the bed next to him. Bob smiles at her. "Look at this beauty." He points to one. She looks at it. "It's nice." She smiles at him. Bob nods excitedly.
She leans on him. "Well, the criminal is off to Russia and Silvy's is throwing paint on a canvas." She says.
"Great." Bob nods and points at a different gun. "Look, that is the one you have."
"Yup, it is." She nods and nuzzles him.
Bob nods and smiles and looks at the guns. Grace kisses his cheek as she watches him. Bob smiles and happily browses the magazine. She watches him some before getting out a painkiller and taking it for a small headache and gets out the work she had grabbed from the base. Bob smiles and leans on her and reads his magazine. Grace now works on work. Bob leans on her and reads. She works on the work and finds it isn't helping her head. Bob looks over and points at a certain gap. "That's wrong."
"Huh?" Grace looks up at Bob and then at the sheet. "Oh… Right..." She goes back and fixes that gap. Bob nods some. "And so is this one."
"You sure?" She mumbles and fixes it. Bob nods. She works on the papers and has a headache. Bob leans on her and watches. She works on the papers. Bob points to another mistake. Grace goes back and fixes that as her head really hurts. "Are you okay?" Bob then asks.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," She says quietly with a small smile.
Bob nods some and yawns.
Grace nods and closes her eyes for a moment as she feels a little dizzy. Bob holds her really close. She lets him and sighs a little. "Okay… So I might be having a small migraine..." She murmurs. He looks worriedly at her and takes the papers from her. He softly pushes her down and pulls down the blinds. He then lays next to her. Grace lays there next to him. He softly nuzzles her. "Better?"
"Maybe..." She quietly says and snuggles to him some. He softly holds her close and strokes her feathers. She closes her eyes and sniffs a bit. Bob softly strokes her before getting up and waddling downstairs. She opens her eyes and watches him go before taking another painkiller. Bob waddles back to the room and softly lays a cold pack on her head. She smiles a little and lays there. Bob softly pets her and then leaves her alone. She silently lays there until her head starts feeling a little better. Bob lays on the couch reading a magazine. Grace gets up and waddles downstairs to the living room. Bob looks up at her. "Honey, you should lay down a little longer." He softly smiles. "I don't want you to trigger a new attack right now."
"Okay..." Grace nods and lays down on him. "This better?" Bob looks at her some. "Are you sure the light isn't too sharp for you, honey?" He asks.
"It's fine..." She shrugs and snuggles to him. "I just typically take a painkiller and keep doing what I was doing, so lighting doesn't really matter..."
Bob worriedly strokes her feathers. "Maybe we should go to a doctor for your migraines?"
Grace just shrugs some and snuggles to him.
Bob kisses her cheek. "I think we should..."
"I'm fine enough..." She says and kisses his back.
"But you're taking an awful lot of painkillers, honey… That isn't good for you." He says.
Grace thinks on this some. "I don't take that many..."
"Well, how many do you take?" Bob then says.
"Ehhh..." She thinks some. "It depends..."
"How many at least everyday, Grace?"
Grace thinks some. "Well… On a good day… Probably… Four to six?"
Bob looks worriedly at her. "Grace..."
"What?" She looks at him curiously. "Don't you take a good bit too?"
"Not like that. Actually, now I'm not even on pain meds! I don't need them." Bob says looking worried.
"Oh." She says and shrugs a bit. "Well, they seem to make me feel better than the antidepressants I'll take every once in a blue moon." She snuggles more to him.
"Your antidepressants need to be taken regularly to start working, honey." Bob says with a really worried look.
"But they never seemed to work when I did do that! In fact I think they made me more suicidal!" She shakes her head. "The painkillers don't do that."
"Then you should've asked for different ones." Bob says with a look.
Grace just shrugs a bit. "Maybe… But the painkillers work well enough..."
"They are bad for you. I think you're addicted." Bob says with a look.
"Addicted?" She looks at him a little confused. "To painkillers?"
"Why that look?" Bob asks.
"I didn't think painkillers were addicting?" She says. "I mean, it's not codeine or morphine?"
Bob shakes his head. "You can get very well addicted to OCT painkillers like that." Grace thinks some on this. Bob watches her.
"Well, if I'm addicted, what am I supposed to do?" Grace looks at him.
"We need to get you to a therapist and then we'll work it out together until you're better." Bob says.
Grace nods a little and looks at him. "Promise together?" She asks. Bob nods. "I promise."
"Good… Because I don't think I can handle us breaking up again..." She silently says. Bob silently looks at the floor. She looks at him. "Or… Are you wanting us to?" She silently asks, seeing him look at the floor. She sits up a little.
"Wanting to break up?" He mumbles, still looking at the floor.
She looks at him heartbroken. "I know I'm hard to get along with… And I'm really not worth the stress that comes with dealing with me..."
"I don't want to breakup… Do you?" Bob mumbles silently.
Grace shakes her head and hugs him. "Never..."
Bob hugs her silently. She hugs him back. He softly rubs her back. Grace smiles some and looks at him. "Silvy wanted me to bring up the fact to you that we've been dating on and off for nearly twenty years..." She says, trying to figure out how exactly to talk about this to Bob.
"We have?" He asks.
Grace nods as she hugs him. "And nearly as much as her talking about me being old, she has mentioned about us having her younger siblings so we leave her and her pet alone..." She looks at him, trying to see if he gets what she is saying.
"She wants us to have more snakes?" Bob thinks.
"No… She's wanting us to get married and have chicks."
Bob nearly rolls from the couch. "Excusez-moi?!"
Grace nearly falls off of him. He looks at her with slightly wide eyes. She looks back. "I told her I was probably getting too old and undesirable for that..." She shrugs a bit.
"Well… You're very cute and beautiful to me..." Bob blushes.
"Thanks… Though, I am sure you'd prefer someone a little younger for all that, yes?" She kind of silently asks.
"No… You're perfect to me..."
Grace smiles some. "I guess Silvy's impatient for me to become her mother legally..."
"So… Eh..." Bob thinks some. "You want eh..." He feels some in his feathers. She leans on him curiously. He then gets up and gets her flipper. "Want to go eat some?" He then asks.
Grace nods. "But, are you sure we should be leaving Silvy home alone? She's awfully upset still."
Bob shrugs. "It's not like she'll kill herself or something."
"I wouldn't dash it out of possibility, though… You never can tell with her..." Grace murmurs.
"Alright… Then we stay home." Bob sighs. "I'm going to bed. Night, Grace." He mumbles and goes upstairs.
"Okay… Goodnight..." Grace watches him go and then sighs a bit. "Maybe I should stay on the couch or go home… He didn't sound much like he wanted me in bed with him today… Maybe I should make Silvy some lunch..."
Bob sniffs and hides under the covers in bed.
Grace looks at the time and gets up. "Or before that stupid migraine comes back I should see if Bob wants me to nap with him..." She says and waddles upstairs. Bob is silently sobbing under the covers. Grace waddles to the room and softly knocks. "Bobby?" She asks and opens the door a little. Bob sobs under the blankets. She then waddles over to the bed and sits next to him and pets him. Bob sobs still. Grace then wiggles under the covers next to him and hugs him. "Hey, shh, it's okay, honey..." She softly says. Bob sobs and hugs her and she hugs him very closely. Bob sobs in her feathers. She softly kisses his cheeks and head. He sniffs. His girlfriend hugs him closely. Bob then falls asleep close. She kisses his cheek and covers him up. Bob snores.
Grace gets out of the bed quietly. Bob stays asleep. She waddles to Silvy's room and knocks. Silvy is reading silently in her book. Grace waddles in. "Hey..." Silvy ignores her. Grace waddles over. "Would you like lunch?" Silvy shrugs. "Are you just ignoring me for now?" She then asks. Silvy shrugs again and turns a page. Grace sighs some. "Okay… I'm going to make lunch… Feel free to come and eat it..."
"You could bring it." Silvy says.
"Alright, Silvy, I will." She nods and waddles downstairs. "Though what I'll make, I don't know..."
Silvy just continues to read.
Grace explores the kitchen and starts making kipper-and-dumplings and cornbread.
Bob sniffs and mumbles some in his sleep as he smells the food.
Grace still makes food.
Bob smacks some in his sleep.
Grace now sits at the table and lets kipper and dumplings cook.
Bob wakes up and comes downstairs. Grace is sitting at the table silently. Bob looks at her. "What's wrong?" He asks silently.
She looks up at him and shakes her head with a small smile. "Nothing, I'm just waiting for lunch to finish cooking." Bob nods some and sits down with her. "Smells great..."
Grace smiles at him. "It's kipper and dumplings and I have some cornbread cooking, too."
"Yummy." Bob says. She smiles at him. He smiles back. She then gets up to get the lunch onto plates. Bob smiles and watches. She makes three plates and brings two to the table. "I'll be back, I'm taking Silvy hers."
"No, you aren't." Bob says.
Grace looks confused. "I'm not?"
"Eating only at the table." He says.
"Okay...Then I'll go and tell her to come and eat?" Grace nods some. Her boyfriend nods some. Grace nods and goes upstairs. "Silvy, come and eat!"
Silvy ignores her.
"Bob said no food out of the kitchen, or I would bring it up to you..." Grace says and peeks into the room.
Silvy is silently sobbing in her bed again. Grace waddles in and softly rubs her back. Silvy sobs with her head beneath the pillow. Grace hugs her softly. Silvy sobs. Grace gets her in her lap again and hugs her. Silvy hugs and cries. Grace hugs her and then gets her phone out. "I've got a text from the base. Juarez has landed in Russia…"
"Is he okay?" She sniffs.
"Probably." Grace says softly.
"Okay…" Silvy nods.
Grace nods and kisses her cheek. Silvy sniffs. "Why don't you come and eat now before your daddy eats it all?"
Silvy nods and sniffs a little. Grace nods and helps her up to lead her downstairs to the kitchen. Silvy follows. Grace nods to her plate and sits down at the table. Bob watches them. Grace nods to Bob with a smile. "The boy has landed in Russia."
Bob nods some and eats.
Grace nods and starts on her lunch.
Silvy eats.
Grace eats and thinks about her paperwork she needs to get done before tomorrow. Bob now looks tiredly at the half of his plate. Grace finishes her plate. Bob yawns and eats. Grace mentally sighs some and wonders if she even needs to sleep tonight. 'I probably need to go to the base and start working tonight so maybe I can get off at a semi reasonable time tomorrow...'
Bob then yawns wider and finishes his food.
Grace sees he has finished and takes their plates to the sink and starts washing the dishes. Bob gets up and comes over to help. Grace smiles at him and scoots over some. Bob smiles and helps. She passes him some dishes. "I think I need to go in tonight to the base..."
"You're not listed for the evening shift… It's weekend." Bob murmurs some.
"Tell that to Eric. I looked in my office when I went to deliver the boy and my desk is covered with two days worth of work that I know wasn't there when I left." She sighs. "Which means three days worth when I go in tomorrow..."
Bob looks at her. "Why don't you let Eric send my work to Canada?"
"I've tried… He declared your General, your work." Grace shakes her head. "But, it's not that bad… It's mostly my work has drastically increased and has gotten harder."
Bob nods some silently. "Maybe the board is trying to get positions up again?" He mumbles.
Grace shrugs some. "Who knows?"
Bob nods some. "Or I'll could come in with you tomorrow..."
"No, honey, you need to still rest..." Grace looks at him.
He looks at her. "Not if you're going to work yourself in a fit..."
Grace sighs some. "I'll try to keep myself from a fit… But I don't want you working until the doctor said it was okay."
"Well, I'm a doctor, too..." Bob says.
"Yes, but doctors aren't supposed to do self examination stuff..."Grace says.
Bob shrugs some. Grace hugs him then. He hugs her back. She has her face in his feathers as she hugs.
"Are you okay?" Bob asks silently.
Grace nods a bit and still hugs him like that. Bob nods some too and hugs. Grace sniffs a bit in his feathers.
"Honey… What's wrong?" Bob asks softly.
"I'm an idiot and a witch and I've been stressing you out..." She sniffs, kind of muffled by his feathers.
"No… No, honey. You're not and you've not…" He says softly.
Grace sniffs in his feathers and hugs him a bit tighter. "I am and have..."
"No, honey… Tomorrow we just go to work together, okay?" He hugs her tighter also.
"Oka-ay..." She sniffs some. Bob nods and nuzzles her. She smiles a little and hugs him. Bob nuzzles her more. She now nuzzles him back a little. Bob smiles. Grace hugs him with a very small smile. Bob softly rubs her back. She calms down a good bit. Bob kisses her cheek again. She kisses his back. Bob smiles. Grace smiles some and is close to him. Bob holds her closer.
"I love you..." She says softly.
"I love you too." He softly repeats. She smiles and is close to him. He softly holds her close.
Grace then looks at him. "Maybe you should rest some now..."
Bob tiredly shrugs.
"Or maybe do you want to watch a movie?" Grace asks. "Maybe all three of us?"
Bob nods some and yawns a little. Grace smiles and leads him to the couch. Bob follows. She smiles and helps him down before going to search for Silvy. Silvy is now in the attic and sobbing.
"Silvy?!" Grace calls and looks for her. She is heard sobbing on the attic. Grace climbs up the attic stairs. Silvy sobs still. Grace enters the attic and tells herself not to think of the snake that lives up around there. "Silvy?"
The sobbing is even louder and there is a large snake laying on top of Silvy.
"Bwah!" Grace exclaims with very wide eyes. "Is it eating you?!"
"Huh?" Silvy sniffs and sits up. Grace is looking with wide fearful eyes at the snake. The snake happily slithers over to her.
"Nope, nope, nope!" Grace scaredly climbs up on a chair, trembling terrified. The snake gladly chases her as a game. Grace looks scared and at Silvy. "Get her! Get her please!"
"But she is having fun." Silvy sniffs with a smile.
Kristy climbs onto the chair. Grace pushes herself up the wall and is on her tiptoes with a terrified look. Silvy giggles now. Grace squeaks now some as she feels the snake now on the chair. The snake gets on her feet.
Silvy giggles.
Grace yips some and tries to climb a nearby lamp. "No! Stay! Down Kristy!"
Kristy has fun and manages to wind herself around the feet. Grace now starts crying from fear. The snake is on her feet and Silvy is laughing. Grace cries now and is paralyzed by having the snake so close to her. Silvy giggles and gets Christy from her and around her neck. Grace doesn't notice and is crying there on the chair. Silvy giggles and pets Kristy. Grace then bolts from the room. Bob's lying downstairs on the couch as Grace bolts in crying to under the couch.
Bob looks under the couch. '"Honey… Movie is on the other side of the couch…" Grace is sobbing under the couch, freaked out from the snake. "Sweety, come out, please..." Bob manages to get her flipper.
Grace sobs and clings to him. Within her sobbing she manages to get "snake" out.
Bob tries to pull her up. "Honey… It's okay… There's no snake here..."
Silvy comes down with Kristy around her neck.
Grace holds on to Bob and then tries to hide behind him. "Snake!" She cries.
"Silvy, get that snake back in the attic. You know it scares Grace." Bob says and hugs Grace.
Silvy shrugs and just sits down in a chair. "Get my boyfriend back, you know not being with him scares me."
Grace is still trying to hide behind Bob and hugs him tightly. He hugs her back and glares at Silvy. Grace sniffs and hugs him. Bob hugs her. "Is it still there?" She whimpers. Bob nods some. "Yes… It's hopefully devouring my daughter now." He glares at Silvy who glares back.
"I thought you said Kristy didn't eat penguins!" Grace exclaims with wide scared eyes.
Bob now chuckles some. "No! No she doesn't. I was just joking."
Grace scaredly hugs on to him. Bob hugs her. Kristy now starts to slither over towards Bob. Bob smiles and hugs the snake too. Grave doesn't notice yet. Kristy happily licks Bob. He chuckles some and pets both. The snake now tries to slither on Grace. Bob lets her. Grace squeezes more to Bob who hugs both snake and penguin. Kristy now is on Grace's trembling shoulder. Bob pets them. Kristy flicks her tongue and wants to play climb the chair again. Bob smiles and is close to them.
Silvy makes a photo with her phone with a grin and then nudges Grace. Grace turns a bit before squeaking and pretty much climbing Bob. Silvy laughs and Bob then sighs and gets the snake back to Silvy. Grace is scared. Bob softly hugs and pets her. Grace is practically around his head. "Grace, can you sit normally on the couch, please?" He asks.
"I-Is that safe?" Grace stutters.
"It is." Bob nods.
Grace slowly gets down. He helps her. She now sits very close to him on the couch. Bob softly holds her closer.
Silvy has the snake back around her neck. Grace looks towards the tv now. Bob nuzzles her. She smiles a little and tries to ignore the snake. Bob holds her close. She distracts herself with the remote and turns on Feather-flicks.
"What are we watching?"
"I'm not sure..." She says and gives the remote to Bob.
Bob turns on some show about a couple of penguins living together. She snuggles to him and tries to think not of the snake in the room. Bob watches the show. Grace watches too, and glances over at the snake. Silvy goes to put the snake away. Grace now relaxes that the snake is gone from the nuzzles her and Grace giggles and nuzzles him back. Bob chuckles and nuzzles. Grace giggles happily. Bob happily chuckles. Grace leans on him comfortably. Bob leans on her too. Grace now glances around for Silvy, who has not yet returned. Grace looks at Bob. "Do you think Kristy ate her? She's awfully quiet now..."
"Kristy doesn't eat penguins." Bob shrugs.
"Did Slvy eat Kristy then?" Grave murmurs.
Bob now bursts out laughing. Grace looks at him. "What? You never can tell with her!"
Bob looks at her. "Honey... I'm pretty sure she won't do that."
Grace thinks some. "True… Kristy is an awfully big serpent..."
"That is exactly why it seems unlikely to me that Silvy finishes her."
Grace nods some. Bob hugs her again. She hugs him back. He softly rubs her back. She smiles and is close to him. Bob softly nuzzles her. She giggles and nuzzles him back. Bob smiles and holds her close. "You know who I really, really love?" He mumbles.
"Your daughter?" Grace guesses.
"Guess again?" Bob looks at her.
"Your snake?" She tries.
He shakes his head. Grace thinks on this. "Me?" Bob nods and kisses her cheek. She smiles widely and kisses his cheek back. "I really, really love you, too."
Bob smiles and holds her close. She smiles and is close. He smiles and yawns a little. "Bedtime?" Grace asks. Bob shrugs
"Or maybe naptime since it's not night time..." She says, thinking. Bob nods some and yawns again. Grace smiles and gets up. He gets up too. She leads him to his room. He follows her. Grace lays down. He lays next to her and shifts her so that her head is on his chest. She smiles and snuggles close. He then falls asleep. She smiles and watches him sleep. He sleeps contently with his flippers around Grace. She smiles and goes to sleep too.