Mardi Gras is a big deal in the south. Especially in New Orleans, where Brenda's cousins live. Every year growing up Brenda and her brothers would tell their parents that they were helping with a "church thing", skip school, and drive the 6 hours from Atlanta to New Orleans for Mardi Gras week. The cousins had all sorts of fun with parades and floats. They would do the bead challenges and the boys would get drunk off their asses.
Brenda, however, saw what happened every year. Crowds could turn violent at the drop of a hat. And New Orleans had the second highest crime rate in the US, so you never knew who was carrying a weapon. She vowed that she would never get as drunk as her brothers and cousins unless there was someone she trusted with her life there to pick her up again. Little did she know that she would be keeping that promise until she was fifty.
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It's now 2016 and Brenda hadn't been to a Mardi Gras anything in years. Her cousin Josh was planning a get together for the cousins and their spouses. They had all agreed that Mardi Gras would be the perfect way for everyone to reconnect. Brenda was excited, but she was worried about how to convince Sharon to go with her. Brenda didn't even know if her fiancé would be interested in going.
When they went out with Major Crimes or with Morales, Gavin, and Andrea they always had a good time. Wether at a bar, restaurant, going to the movies, or the theater or whatever. Sharon always made the plans and picked the places to go. Going to New Orleans would mean that they would be in a completely different setting for Sharon. Brenda knew that Sharon had never been to New Orleans. On top of that this would be Sharon's first time spending time with Brenda's family outside of the holiday season.
Now it was a week before hand and Brenda was faced with the task of actually bringing the subject of Mardi Gras up. She had been thinking about how to bring it up all day, but now at the dinner table it looks like she won't have to because her fiancé had put her fork down and was watching Brenda intently.
"Okay I cave. What's up?" Sharon asked.
"What do you mean?" Brenda hadn't thought Sharon knew anything was up.
"With you. You've been fidgety since you walked through the door, honey. Is something wrong?"
"No no, nothing bad. But theoretically, if I were to ask you to take a trip with me in a week for a week, would you be able to go or do you have other obligations?"
Sharon looked at her quizzically. "Well theoretically, I would have to take myself off of the roll out list and prep Lieutenant Elliot for meetings, but otherwise no I don't have any."
"Okay...so if I were to-"
"Brenda Leigh honey, spit it out."
"My family, well my brothers and cousins really, want to meet up in New Orleans for a reunion, well more of a party,get together week, and it would be fun but I didn't know if you'd-"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yep."
"Wait, what do you think you're saying yes to?"
"You're asking me if I'd come with you to New Orleans. I said yes. It could be fun and you could show me around. Plus I'd like to get to know your family more."
Brenda released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Really? You wouldn't mind?"
Sharon smiled sweetly at her. "Not at all. I've been thinking about us taking a trip. Just to get away for a bit. And now seems as good a time as any."
Brenda leapt up, circled the table, and plopped herself down into Sharon's lap.
"Thank you baby!" She said excitedly as she peppered Sharon's face with kisses.
One week later they had landed in Louis Armstrong International Airport on a Thursday, and Brenda was looking for a very familiar pick up truck. Sharon had gotten their bags while Brenda looked. Right as Sharon came along side her fiancé, she spotted what she was looking for. Her brother Bobby was leaned up against a vibrant red truck. They hugged, threw their stuff in the bed of the truck, hopped in and headed for Slidell.
"So who all's here?" Brenda asked. She was in the middle of the bench seat between Bobby on the drivers side and Sharon on the passenger side. Sharon was interested in the architecture of the city and watched it go by her window while listening to the siblings conversation.
"Well everyone now, except Jimmy. He and Donnie couldn't make it this time around."
Brenda pouted a bit. "Awe! Well now they'll just have to fly out to LA to see me."
Bobby laughed at his little sister. She and
Jimmy had always been the closest out of the siblings.
The drive to their Uncle Phil's house in Slidell was pleasant. The siblings told Sharon stories of past Mardi Gras and Sharon started to see why Brenda hadn't been back to partake in the festivities in so long. The stories were full of fun, but something didn't sound right. When Bobby told the stories they were amazing but Brenda's always had a cautions side. She had to keep an eye out for that. She didn't want Brenda to always have her guard up on this trip. Sharon wanted Brenda to have fun and let go of some of the stress that she carried from work.
They pulled up in front of an enormous, beautiful, southern style home. It sat right on the edge of the water of the bayou. It had been left to Brenda's cousin Matthies when Uncle Phil had passed away. Now they used it as a place to get away. Any and all family members were welcome to stay at any time no questions asked. They stepped out and Clay Jr immediately engulfed his sister in a hug then turned to shake Sharon's hand. Josh and Sarah ran out and grabbed Brenda and Sharon's bags and brought them in. When they stepped inside Sharon saw that Bobby wasn't kidding when he said everyone was here. Brenda mentally took roll call: Bobby and Melissa, Clay Jr and Mary, Frank and Amy, Rob and Melanie, Josh and Sarah, Matthies and Niki. A seriously full house.
Melissa, Rob, and Mary made a wonderful crawfish pasta and gumbo while everyone sat around talking in the main house or shot pool on the back deck. After dinner they all sat around the fire pit and discussed the parades to go to and when to go. They decided to do Selene on Friday since that was in Slidell, then Endymion in the city on Saturday. That one would be huge because it was Endymion's 50th. "There's not gonna be anything like this again." Frank had said matter of factly. Sunday they chose Toth in the afternoon which would be followed by Bacchus. Monday would be Orpheus. And then Tuesday was Fat Tuesday and they sure as hell weren't gonna miss that.
They all talked some more before heading to bed. Brenda and Sharon were on the third floor on the left side of the house. The room was the size of a master bed room with a private bath and walk in closet. It was decorated in beautiful light blue and greens. The French doors on the back wall opened up to the private balcony that looked over the bayou.
Brenda stepped out onto the balcony and wrapped her arms around Sharon form behind and rested her chin on her shoulder. It was humid but the temperature was dropping steadily now that the sun had gone down.
"So how are you doing baby?" Brenda asked before placing a kiss on her fiancés neck.
"I'm alright. It has been fun getting to see everyone again."
"Yea, catchin' up is always fun. But I swear Bobby, Josh, and Rob never change. I think they're gonna stay goofs forever."
"There's nothing wrong with being, and staying light hearted Brenda Leigh."
"I know, and I agree. I just worry that they might get themselves into trouble and not realize it until it's too late."
"Well that's what Melissa, Melanie, and Sarah are for. Honey, it's not your job to worry about everyone. It's okay to let yourself relax."
She felt Brenda snuggle closer to her. "I am relaxed."
Sharon smiled. "You are right now. But I'm talking about in general. Sometimes I watch your shoulders and you're just so tense and I wish I could do something to help."
Brenda 'hmmm'ed as she nuzzled Sharon's hair line. "Maybe we should go get a massage."
"Hah! A massage would help you for maybe a week."
"I bet we could find other ways of relieving tension." Brenda said coyly.
Sharon turned in her arms and kissed Brenda on the corner of her mouth. "Oh, I have no doubt about that."
Selene the following night was full of beads, dancing, and cotton candy. Everything was lit up in LED lights with vibrant colors. Men in masks threw down necklaces of beads from the double decked floats. Sharon enjoyed watching Brenda Leigh jump around with Clay Jr and Bobby screaming "Hey Mister". When the Jazz floats went by Sharon would pull Brenda close and they'd dance to the sounds of the south.
On Saturday they drove to down town New Orleans for Endymion's 50th anniversary. The streets were crowded as the 39 floats rolled down the streets. Niki had had the idea to bring a couple ladders to catch beads and the highly sought after commemorative dabloons. Brenda convinced Sharon to stand on one along with Melanie, Melissa, Niki, and Sarah. When Rob had warned her about keeping her hands up, Sharon didn't really under why. But now as the men and women on the floats hurled the beads and the bags full of beads her way she realized it was to keep from being knocked out.
On Sunday they all went out for brunch at Palmetto in Slidell and then headed to Mid City for Toth. The parade was centered around the things that fly. Everything from birds and butterflies to space ships and batman. This parade seemed more family friendly. All the little boys were thrown footballs and the girls were thrown wands and tiaras. Every one was having a good time. About halfway through the parade Josh and Frank got beers for the men and daiquiris for the lady's. Mary, Sarah, and Sharon politely declined and insisted that they were to be the designated drivers for the event.
When Bacchus came around 6:30 that evening Sharon noticed a severe change in atmosphere. Gone was the family friendly feel of the afternoon. Now it felt like impending chaos. People were getting rowdy and stupid. The alcohol in their systems didn't help any. How fitting, Sharon thought, because Bacchus was, after all, the god of wine and merriment. At this point everyone in their group had had at least two drinks. They weren't getting rowdy like the others but they were buzzed and their judgment was starting to fade. This parade was much louder than the other parades that the group had attended by far. Every marching band seemed to have made it their personal goals to make the crowd go deaf. There were laser lights being projected through smoke produced by fog machines.
As Sharon noticed the rise in unruliness among the crowd, her focus quickly shifted to Brenda. Her fiancé was extremely tense and her eyes were focused on one spot across the street. From her vantage point on the ladder Sharon could see that two groups of people had gotten into an argument that was quickly becoming heated. She watched as a very tall and muscular looking man pushed a loud young woman into the street. In the blink of an eye chaos took over. The man quickly disappeared under a mass of other young men who had obviously accompanied the young woman that had been pushed. The crowd turned their focus to the brawl, much more interested in that than the oncoming float. Sharon saw several police officers closing in on the brawl from the corners of her vision. Too late.
BANG
The first shot sounded and left a ringing in the ears of everyone in the vicinity. Sharon jumped off of the ladder.
BANG
Sharon pushed past the masses of panicking people to find Brenda Leigh. She couldn't see her anywhere. Her heart clenched and fear seized her body.
BANG
Blonde. As soon as she saw it Sharon dove towards Brenda and pulled her to the ground. She pulled her into her body and covered as much of the smaller woman as she possibly could.
The sirens, people running and screaming, the parade coming to an abrupt halt, the officers reading wrights to the man they had detained on the ground. Sharon looked around when someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned and saw Melissa's panic stricken expression. She quickly knelt and said "We need to go! Head for the cars!" Then she headed off to do just that. As Sharon shifted Brenda to look at her the world around them fell silent.
"Brenda we need to go." Sharon tried to stand as she said this, but the blonde was not following her motion.
She tried again "Brenda it's time to go. You need to sand up." The other woman did not budge. She tilted her head up and Sharon saw just how scared her lover was. No amount of years as a police officer can take away the fear of being shot or killed. And now Brenda could not mask that fear because she had, for once, listened to Sharon. She'd had more alcohol than was probably necessary, and now she was paralyzed with fear.
With that look from Brenda, Sharon steeled herself against whatever panic was about to take over her mind. In one fluid motion, that she would later attribute to the adrenaline, she swept one arm around Brenda's back and the other under her legs and lifted her up as she stood. Brenda snaked her arms around Sharon's neck and buried her face in her shoulder. She moved swiftly carrying Brenda bridal style through the crowd. They made it to the parking lot two blocks away and Sharon unlocked the car. Once she'd seated Brenda in the passenger seat she proceeded to call the others and see where they were. They all made it back to the parking lot and Mary, Sarah, and Sharon booked it back to Slidell.
Once they got back to the house Sharon lifted a sleeping Brenda out of the passenger seat and carried her to their room. She gently laid her on the bed and removed her shoes, socks, pants, sweater and bra, leaving Brenda in a tank and underwear. Sharon tucked the covers around her and then proceeded to get herself ready to sleep with the blonde.
As she slid into bed Brenda moved close to Sharon. Sharon pulled her closer and kissed her temple, wrapping her arms around the woman, whispering sweetly to her how much she loved her. She knew that Brenda trusted her with her life, but that had never literally been tested until today. Once the adrenaline wore off she quietly cried into Brenda's hair. She fell asleep knowing that Brenda was okay. She promised to make sure that Brenda knew that she would always be there to pick up and protect her.