Relena hummed softly to herself as she rummaged through her kitchen pantry. The boys had gone outside, so she decided to get a start on dinner. She had stopped relying on a chef years ago. While her own recipe repertoire was small, she had discovered that she rather enjoyed cooking and found it relaxing, even after a long workday.
Searching around for the rest of the ingredients she would need, Relena decided to make a dumpling stew. She started washing and rinsing vegetables, and before long she had sliced up potatoes, carrots and celery and started boiling a pot of water with bouillon cubes. She had just started in on an onion when she felt a presence behind her. She addressed him without turning around.
"You could give a girl a heart attack that way, you know."
"Sorry," Heero said from behind her. "I'm used to treading lightly."
"Well, maybe you should wear a bell or something." Relena giggled as she resumed her chopping.
Heero chuckled as he moved over to the sink and washed his hands. "I'm not a cat," he said wryly. Then he came up beside her and opened his palm. "Let me."
Relena shrugged and stepped aside, turning her attention to her other ingredients. Heero was much more efficient at chopping than she was, anyway. She watched as he deftly diced up the onion.
"Actually, I was going to julienne…" she teased. He put the knife down and arched a brow.
"I suppose I should have asked what you were making, first." He shrugged. "Judging from the ingredients, though, it looks like soup."
"You're correct," Relena smiled, "except it's stew." Heero shrugged as if to say same difference.
"Want this in the pot?"
"No, I was going to sautee first."
"I'll do it."
Relena watched as he wordlessly pulled open a nearby cabinet and brought down a skillet. "What's Dex up to?"
"Homework."
She gaped at Heero. "On a Friday?"
"I suggested he get a head start now, if he wants to enjoy the long weekend. Otherwise he'll end up waiting till Monday night, and you know how that goes."
"Ah, true." Relena couldn't help but smile. Dex could be a bit of a procrastinator at times, but he had a tendency to daydream. His mother chalked it up to his having a good imagination, so she wasn't overly concerned.
"I appreciate your trying to be the disciplinarian," she said to Heero.
"He needs it."
"He needs a friend, too, you know," she chided him.
Heero cocked his head to the side. "Agree to disagree."
Relena relented with a sigh. "Fine, you win."
"It's good for him to stick to a schedule with his homework," Heero continued. "He's developing his time management skills. But he'll figure it out. He's smart." He gave Relena a sidelong glance. "Like you."
"Hmm, I don't know..." She clucked her tongue as she dumped the potatoes into the boiling water. "I think he gets that more from his father..."
"Hn." Heero grunted and busied himself with his spatula.
"Do you ever get tired of pretending?"
Heero paused what he was doing to glance over at Relena. "It doesn't bother me. But then, I'm not the one who has to deal with the press." He turned his eyes back to the onion mixture, which was starting to brown.
"Sure, you do, at least some of the time." Relena frowned over the soup pot. "Like today."
"You were flustered." Heero lowered the gas on the stove. "You can't let them get to you."
"I know. I just hate getting the same questions all of the time. Not to mention the pitying stares…" Her voiced trailed off as she stirred the potatoes. "Sometimes I'd rather just tell the truth."
"Then why don't you?"
Relena pursed her lips. "I don't want to open Pandora's box. It's better this way. Better for Dex." She shot a glance over to Heero. "Right?" He caught her eye and shrugged.
"People are going to hound you no matter what, Relena. As long as you're in the public figure eye, people will continue to invade your personal life. And the less you tell them, the more they want to know."
She sighed again as she stirred the remaining vegetables into the pot. "I know. It's a never-ending cycle. It would be nice to break it."
"That's up to you." Heero looked at her sharply. "But I think you've been open enough. Your private life is no one else's business. You're doing a hell of a job raising Dex and that's all that matters- your happiness, and his." He frowned as his eyes continued to sift her. "Are you happy?"
"Yes." Relena set her ladle down on its holder and wiped her hands on her apron. "Of course, I'm happy. I love my job. Dex loves his school..." She turned her head and looked wistfully out the window. A tall row of pines obscured her view of the street; that and a high stone fence around the property helped to keep the paparazzi at bay. Of course, that, and the man standing next to her who, over the past twelve years, had grown into her best friend and confidante. The person she relied on most.
"But I admit…" She turned her eyes back to Heero, who was still watching her closely. "Sometimes I think a change would be nice. But what else could I do?"
"You can do anything you want," he said evenly.
"But then what would you do?"
He shrugged. "Get another job."
"Oh?" Relena arched a brow before turning her attention to the meat she had started to braise on a griddle. "You mean you wouldn't continue to look after me if I no longer worked in politics?"
"Depends," Heero said flatly. "Would I still be on the payroll?"
"Ah, so that's what this is all about," Relena teased, her eyes glimmering at him. "I should've known all along. Being the head of the Foreign Minister's security is a pretty cushy position; not to mention you're making top dollar now, all those years of experience under your belt…"
Heero's dark eyes glinted at her. "I've had worse jobs." Relena let out a staccato laugh. "In all seriousness, I could do private security work anywhere, or maybe get into software engineering. Or freelance as a hacker…" He smirked. "Or spy..."
"Don't you dare," Relena scolded, shaking her spoon at him. "I like having you around. So does Dex," she added.
"I like working with you. Always have." Heero paused to deposit the onions into the soup pot, brushing past Relena as he did so. She caught a whiff of his aftershave, a woodsy blend of pine and cinnamon, and couldn't help but inhale more deeply. Heero moved to set the skillet in the sink, and immediately started filling it up with hot water. "Maybe," he said with a smirk, "we can work something out."
"Well," Relena said as she added the cooked meat to the stew, "I'm always open to suggestions..."
"How about moving somewhere remote," Heero said as he started washing the dishes that had accumulated so far.
Relena's brow furrowed. "Like where?"
"Somewhere you can start over, where no one will give a damn about you who are."
"And?" Relena gawked at him as she stirred the stew. "Where does such a place exist? Besides in my deepest, darkest fantasies…"
"Mars."
She burst out laughing, but then realized Heero wasn't kidding. "No, Heero, we are not going to Mars." She shook her head vehemently.
"We?" He looked back at her and arched his brows. "Who said anything about 'we'? I'm going to become a spy, remember?"
Relena rolled her eyes at him. "Very funny."
"Actually, you probably would need security on Mars…" he said slowly. "Despite your best attempts at anonymity, you'd end up being made queen. Or president."
"No, thank you," Relena muttered as she began stirring the dumpling ingredients together in a bowl. "Can you hand me a cup of water while you're over there?"
Heero filled up a measuring cup and brought it over to her.
"Thank you." She smiled as she took the cup from him. "You're a good sous chef."
"So I've been told." He leaned closer to her and gently pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "You're shedding in the food," he teased.
"Am not," Relena retorted as she started forming the dough.
"I beg to differ," Heero grunted. "I find those damn blond hairs everywhere…"
"Oh, really?" Relena scoffed playfully, another smile forming on her lips.
"On my clothes… in my car…"
"You poor thing," she interrupted, grinning up at him. "Now move, please."
Heero sidestepped Relena as she took her place back at the stove and started dropping balls of dough on top of the bubbling stew, then covered the soup pot with a lid.
"Smells good," he said approvingly.
"I'm glad." Relena turned to face him and smiled. "I like taking care of you." She reached up and tugged on his shirt collar. "You're always so busy taking care of me, it's nice to be able to return the favor."
"Yeah?" Heero's eyes sparked. "In that case, I can think of a few more favors…" He placed his hands on her hips and drew her closer to him. Relena responded by looping her arms around his neck.
"Is that so?" She stood on tiptoe to bring her face close to his, until they were nose to nose. "What kind of favors are we talking about?" Her eyes danced up at him.
Heero tightened his grip on her waist and gave her a lopsided smile. "I have a few ideas…"
"Hey, what's for dinner?" Relena whirled at the sound of Dex's voice. The eight-year-old stood gawking up at her and Heero. "Gross…"
Heero released Relena's waist and folded his arms over his chest. "You're supposed to be doing homework."
"I was." Dex frowned. "I smelled food."
"It's not ready yet," Heero said flatly.
"It will be ready soon, honey," Relena cut in, throwing a look at Heero. He frowned at her before relaxing his features, then turned back to Dex.
"Why don't you get back to it for now, and we'll call you when it's ready."
"Okay..." Dex's shoulders slumped, and Relena's heart flipped. She couldn't blame him for looking glum, stuck doing homework on a Friday. She was about to suggest that he save some of it for later, when Heero addressed him again.
"You have started, right?" He continued to glare sternly at the boy.
"Yeah…" Dex scratched the back of his head. "I got stuck on a math problem, though." He raised hopeful eyes to Heero. "Can you help?"
Relena watched as Heero's face softened, and she couldn't help but smile at the exchange. "All right. I'll be right there; I'm just helping your mother."
Dex scrunched up his nose. "Looked like kissing to me."
Heero's eyes hardened. "You could help your mother, too. Go wash up and set the table; then we'll deal with your math problem." Dex straightened up under Heero's glare and marched over to the sink.
"Yes, Heero."
Relena shook her head at Heero as Dex washed his hands. "He's not a little soldier, you know," she said softly. Heero's eyes seemed to disagree at first, and he looked like he was fighting his own internal war. Relena reached up and began to lightly knead the tension in his shoulders. "Relax," she murmured.
Heero's dark eyes clouded, taking on a faraway expression for a moment. Relena knew that look well; it meant he was reliving some part of his past that he cared not to discuss. But almost as soon as it appeared, the dark cloud vanished, and Heero appeared to be more at ease.
"Sorry," he said to Relena, reaching up to caress her cheek before walking over to Dex, who was rummaging through the silverware drawer. Silently, Heero opened up the cabinet next to him and pulled down a few bowls. Dex glared up at him.
"I can do it," the boy said stubbornly.
"You can't reach," Heero observed.
"I would've gotten a stool," Dex retorted, taking spoons out of the drawer.
"Atta boy." Heero reached down and rumpled Dex's hair. The boy's blue eyes snapped up at him.
"Y'know, one day I'll be as tall as you - maybe even taller - and you won't be able to do that anymore." Dex folded his arms in defiance. Heero chuckled.
"That's years away, buddy." He started heading toward the dining room. "Don't forget the napkins," he instructed on his way out of the kitchen.
"Yes, Heero," Dex said obediently as he trudged behind him.
"Hey." Heero stopped in his tracks and swiveled back toward Dex. "You can drop the formalities; we're not in public, you know."
Dex rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dad."
Heero's eyes tightened into another glare. "What did I say about the sarcasm?"
Dex shrugged and grinned up at him. "Hey, I learned it from you." Heero shot Relena a baffled look from across the room, and all she could do was laugh in response.
"You two are adorable."
"When am I ever sarcastic? You must be hearing things..." Heero frowned down at Dex as they headed out of the kitchen together.
"Sure. Whatever you say, Dad…"
"What did I just say?"
Relena sighed dramatically as she turned back to her stew. "Now, boys…"
A/N: Well, dear readers, I hope that answers some questions. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
