A Picnic
Kate woke slowly, kneading her pillow with her fists as she tried not to succumb to consciousness. A second later, she realised there was an odd ringing in one ear. She rolled over, and saw her mobile – ringing. She checked the clock. It was only half past seven. Sighing, she grabbed the wretched phone, determined to stop the noise, and saw Mike's name on caller ID.
"Cancel my shore leave and I will eat you alive," she mumbled upon answering. She heard him laugh in reply.
"Nope, shore leave's right. There's something I wanted to ask you."
"At half past seven?" she groaned, sitting up.
"Please Kate, I need a favour."
Kate's mind suddenly caught up with her. The pub, Mike's sister, the little boy, and Mel saying... "What is wrong with them knowing you have a son?"
He needed a favour? She'd already made up her mind.
"What? If you hadn't noticed, the sun hasn't even realised it's Saturday yet."
"Open your curtains," he suggested, and she growled audibly. She also rolled out of bed and pulled open the curtain across her window, and sunlight streamed through.
"Fine," she mumbled, collapsing onto her bed, the phone still glued to her ear. "What do you want?"
"Mel," he said in reply.
"You want Mel?" she asked, unable to stop the corners of her mouth lifting.
"I need help dealing with Mel," he said, lowering his voice. She guessed his sister must be nearby, and if she was anything like Mike, she would be doing her best to listen in.
"So... I..."
"She's dragged me into a picnic," he grumbled. "Can you come, help keep her occupied?"
"A picnic? Hell no," Kate muttered. "I don't do picnics..."
"Neither do I, but she's my sister, and I have to do what she says."
"She's your sister, so you have to deal with her yourself."
"Kate, please..."
"Keep begging," she said, her mood lifting. Mike begging? Oh yes, that was worth a picnic. Even if I do have to spend it with that traitorous bastard...
"Kate, please. Pretty please. Oh please."
"Getting there," she said, casually lifting one hand to glance at her nails. "Bit more..."
"Oh, my princess Katie, save me..."
"Okay, that's just overboard," she snapped. "Now tell me, why can't you get Nav to go? Picnics are more her thing."
"Are you trying to avoid me, Kate?" Mike asked. He was joking, but she could hear the underlying pain in his voice. She suddenly couldn't face admitting, yes, she was trying to avoid him.
"When it's seven thirty, I avoid everyone." She sighed, bitterly resigned to the fact that she wasn't going back to sleep and that she would not be able to stop Mike's begging now that he had started. "I will make you regret this. Where and what time?"
***
Last time she'd checked, ex-boyfriends who were now your boss who had children you didn't know about and were probably the result of them being unfaithful while they were going out with you didn't invite you on picnics. Kate realised there was probably a reason for this.
"So, Kate, how long have you been on the Hammersley?" Mel asked, as the four of them walked along a bush track. It led to a beautiful waterfall with picnic grounds. Tim – Mike's son, Kate thought bitterly – was holding Mel's hand, looking around with awe.
"About... a year and a half?" she estimated, glancing at Mike for confirmation. He nodded. Mel sighed.
"It must be hard. Being away so much... no time for a family."
If Kate hadn't heard what she had the night before, she might not have noticed the quick look Mike shot his sister, or the taunting look in Mel's eye.
"Well, I... I'm not really the family sort," Kate said hastily, seeing that Mel wanted her opinion. And she wasn't. She loved the Navy, loved her career, and a family would only hold her back.
"Kate's very career-minded," Mike remarked, echoing her thoughts.
"Unlike my brother," Mel said dryly. Kate couldn't help a grin. However mad she was at Mike (for reasons she wasn't quite sure about and didn't want to go over), Kate couldn't stop herself from liking his sister.
"Though Mike's not exactly the family sort, either..." Kate said. An innocent remark, she hoped. Again, she caught the glances the siblings sent each other – made easier by the fact that Mel was walking on her left, and Mike on her right.
"You can say that again," Mel muttered. "Your crew didn't even know he had a sister, did they?"
"No, they didn't," Kate agreed. The fresh air, slightly chilled from the night, was doing things to her head, and she kept talking. "I didn't know either. And I thought I knew him pretty well."
Mike snuck a glance at Kate. She was watching him, not coldly, but with a certain predatory air. He shrugged slightly, and she raised an eyebrow. He gritted his teeth, hoping she would drop it. She raised her other eyebrow. She knew this wasn't the first time they had managed to have an argument without either of them speaking a word.
"Are you two close?" Mel asked, and Mike watched as Kate struggled for an answer. No, they weren't close, not like they had been... he had hurt her, badly, but could she say that to his sister?
"In our job, you have to know your crew mates pretty well," Kate said eventually. Mike looked slightly disappointed, but he should have known – Kate was a diplomat. When it came to word play, she was determined to come out on top.
"Well, it's not that surprising. A lot of my friends don't know I have a brother. A twin brother at that."
"You don't see each other very often?" Kate asked. She suddenly had the awkward feeling that this was a little too personal. What was polite conversation, and what was prying?
"I don't think I've seen him in... oh, about four years."
Again, a look.
"Was that when Tim was born?" Kate asked, begging for it to be so. Mike left her, and a few months later, got another woman pregnant. Just don't tell me he left me for another woman...
"No, Tim's five. It's just, he's not on the best terms with our parents, but I am... so it gets a little tense when he comes around. I remember when Michael joined the Navy, mum was so mad..."
"Kate does not need to hear about my mother," Mike suddenly cut in. Mel glanced at him, a challenge burning in her pale blue eyes – and something else. Amusement. She liked toying with him. Kate understood perfectly.
"Ah, Kate. He hasn't told you about when he left home?"
"No, I don't believe he has."
This time, Mike glared at Kate. She took advantage of the lip-reading lessons she'd been giving him, and grinning, mouthed 'You're the one who wanted me to come!'. A few seconds later, he worked out what she had said, and growled softly to himself.
"Well... he was seventeen. We were both in eleventh grade, at high school... but he wasn't doing that well. Mum wasn't happy, told him to stop chasing dreams and to get to work."
"What was his dream?" Kate asked. It was almost as if Mike wasn't there at all – but much more fun.
"He wanted to be a professional swimmer," Mel replied, grinning madly. "He went swimming a lot. Just wasn't very good at that, either."
Kate chuckled, refusing to look at the man they were discussing.
"So I take it he didn't do as he was told?"
"Nope. Dad made some comment about, if he liked water so much, he should join the Navy. The next week, he packed and left."
"He was probably too stubborn to do what your parents wanted," Kate said. Mel laughed.
"Exactly!"
"X!" Mike hissed. Kate raised one eyebrow, still facing Mel.
"You hear that? Every time I say anything that annoys him, he tries pulling rank," she said. Mel looked over at her brother.
"Well, I have good news Kate. Because he still listens to me. Occasionally." Mel winked. "Older twin." Mike scowled.
"Kate, I wanted you here to stop her from being mean," he grumbled.
"I think he's scared of you," Kate said, and Mel nodded.
"And so he should be! Just think of all the stories I have about him..."
"I'm sure Kate's not interested in those..." Mike said hastily. Kate shook her head.
"Oh no, I'm very interested. Please, Mel, go on."
"Kate, for each thing she tells you, Buffer gets to lead a boarding party!"
"Bargaining," Mel said, shaking her head, her cheeks glowing with laughter.
"Or threatening," Kate replied, shooting Mike a fiery glance. "That's low. But okay. Buffer can have the experience."
***
"So, he brings the car back, and it's got a scratch down one side, a huge dent in the front, and one mirror is missing. He then goes to bed, and gets up in the morning like nothing's wrong, and pretends he hasn't got a clue what happened. Dad was so mad..."
"Now, should I be the one to tell Kate who dared me to do it?" Mike asked. "Or who blackmailed me for nearly a year, threatening to tell dad?"
"I would have blackmailed him for the whole year, but he left," Mel explained. Mike rolled his eyes. "He was a kid with restraint issues. I make one dare, and he nicks dad's car. While he's out he then sees some kid from the year above, who challenges him to a drag-race down the street."
Kate couldn't hold her laughter in any more. After arriving at the picnic area, they had finished their snacks, and while Tim cautiously explored the children's playground, Mel was living up to her promise of giving Kate a few tales about the teenage Mike. Once Kate had calmed herself slightly, she turned to Mike.
"Well?"
"What?" he asked, confused. She rolled her eyes.
"Who won the race?"
Mel giggled, and the two women quickly shared a high five.
"I would have won," Mike pouted. "But there was that damn tree..."
"Ha. And what about that girl in tenth grade?"
"Girl?" Kate asked, interested despite how much she hated hearing about Mike's ex-girlfriends. It always made her jealous, for reasons she didn't like and couldn't explain.
"Mel, don't you dare," Mike said, still smiling – but the humour had left his eyes. For a moment, he and Mel fought silently across Kate's head. She expected Mel to win, and immediately start another tale that would cause Mike's ears to redden. But then, Mel shrugged.
"Fine. But I get to tell the one about the Henderson's stallion..."
"Stallion?" Kate asked, raising her eyebrow. "The crew are going to love hearing about this..."
"What?" Mike asked, whipping around to stare at her. "You are not telling the crew!"
"No... I'll just tell Nikki. And she may tell ET, Swain and Buffer... and then they'll tell Spider and Bomber and –"
"Kate, please..."
"Fine... I'll tell Nikki not to tell anyone."
Mike groaned, rolling his eyes. That would be like telling a shark not to eat fish. Mel grinned.
"Anyway, the Henderson's lived down the road... and one time, they took Mike and I out to the racetrack. I think we were about..."
"Fourteen," Mike interjected glumly. Mel nodded.
"Yes, fourteen. See how he remembers that? Mr Henderson was friends with our mother –"
"Close friends," Mike muttered bitterly, but apart from a quick glare, Mel ignored him.
"And, he wanted to introduce us to his stallion. It was a racehorse, very highly strung, and –"
Just then, there was a wail. Mel jumped up, looking over at Tim. He was sitting on the ground next to the see-saw, crying. She immediately ran over, Kate on her heels, Mike still pushing himself up.
Tim held up his thumb to show Mel.
"Mummy!" he wailed. "The birdie hurt me!"
"Birdie... oh, Tim..." Mel examined his thumb carefully, and then extracted something from his finger with two well-kept nails.
"Is he okay?" Kate asked, shaking slightly. Mel nodded.
"I've told him again and again... bees are not birds." She showed Kate the sting she had removed.
"He's not allergic?" Kate checked. Mel sighed.
"And thank god for that. He's always getting stung... but he's as stubborn as his – uncle."
Kate noticed how Mel stumbled over the last word, but didn't comment. Secure in the knowledge that the boy was safe, the two women returned to the picnic. As she sat down, Kate caught the look in Mike's eye.
She had reacted so fast. On the way here, she'd barely been able to look at the boy, but when his cry had disturbed them, she'd been on her feet in less than a second. The action had bee automatic, instinctive. Something about the child's cry had touched her.
She swallowed, and looked away, trying to forget the issue. She knew, however, that the harder you tried to forget something, the longer it would remain with you.
***
"Buffer? You'll be leading this one," the CO said. Buffer's eyes flicked to the X, standing on the other side of the bridge. She didn't seem to have noticed that the captain was giving away her boarding party. "Keep an eye out for drugs, especially. But anything will be good, the Feds want these guys."
The boarding was successful, but Buffer was still surprised that the X hadn't demanded her position back. He didn't get to speak to her until that night, when they were both on watch in the bridge.
"Uh... ma'am. Is everything all right?"
She glanced at him in surprise. "Why wouldn't it be?" she asked with a smile, touched to see his concern.
"Oh, just that... the CO asked me to lead the boarding party. He doesn't usually do that."
"Ah. Well, the CO and I made a little deal while on shore leave... say. Did you ever hear about the time he stole his parents' car when he was a kid?"