They'd taken their time making love and Cassandra wasn't sure how something so slow and easy had been quite so passionate, but she'd always remember tonight. Every moment of their wedding day, as unconventional as it might have been, was going to be in her mind in a file labeled 'cherished.' She'd never felt more loved and she was so glad they'd taken a chance on each other and leaped into this new adventure.
She was lying against his chest, absentmindedly drawing circles when her fingers brushed against his necklace and she remembered she meant to ask him. He watched her as she ran her fingers over the pendant squinting to make out the word that was engraved on it. Dream.
"It's a guitar pick," Jacob said softly, kissing the top of her head. "My momma got it for me before she died."
"Do you play?"
He nodded, which she felt more than saw. "Sing too. Momma always thought I'd be a country star. Off in Nashville playin' to millions. I'm not anywhere near that good . . . but she didn't know who I really was. Not until right before ..."
"Oh Jacob, but she knew in the end?" She raised herself up to look at him, reaching a hand out to stroke his face.
He nodded again. "I told her on her death bed. And she smiled at me and said she always kinda knew. Then she . . ." his voice broke. "She told me that the necklace still applied. I just had to dream different. She never wanted that life for me. She knew it wasn't for me. But Pop . . . I was his only son and he was damned I was gonna go off after her "foolish dreams", told her she had three girls to waste their lives doin' that."
"You're doing what she wanted though now. You're you now. And you're living your dream no one else's. Which may not be . . . .?"
"No, though that's exactly what she meant by this necklace. She wanted me to dream and not follow hers or Pop's. I just wish . . . I just wish that she could have seen me find this life and myself and you."
Cassandra smiled and brushed a kiss against his jaw. "Maybe you could sing for me sometime?"
"Maybe . . .Cassandra?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, since we're talkin' about parents . . . "he cringed."I certainly ain't tellin' my old man about you. But your parents?"
She shook her head. "Your parents never really knew you. And mine didn't know me. Oh, they knew what I could do. But they didn't know me. They didn't want to know me. They dreamed a dream for me and unlike your mother who just wanted you to find yourself; they couldn't deviate from that dream. They loved an idea more than their own child. And when the dream died . . . . Well, it was like I died too. Even though I'm still alive, still their child, still me."
"Darlin', I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," she tapped the pendant. "I'll take your mother's advice and keep dreaming. We'll do that together, okay?"
"I don't know what I did to deserve you and the Library."
"Well, Baird tells me that you tried to pick Lamia up in a bar," Cassandra smirked. "That's what you did."
"You know, Mrs. Stone, you're really kinda a brat."
She chuckled, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Whatcha gonna do about that?"
And her smirk dissolved into delighted laughter as he pounced on her.
Jacob found out the next morning that his bride was a hell of a cook. Or at least she was of breakfast foods. He figured that made sense since math connected so often with the scents of breakfast. Her omelets were out of this world and she promised to bake a fresh batch of muffins for him on the weekend. They'd split a blueberry one from her freezer and it was fantastic.
Breakfast over, she slid her arms around his waist and sighed, leaning her face against his shoulder.
"I don't like it either," he said, echoing her sigh. "But I don't know, maybe we should tell them we're together? Gauge how they feel?"
Cassandra shook her head. "That's not going to stop the bad guys though."
"Baird and Flynn . . . "and then he trailed off, shaking his head."Aren't us."
"No, Eve's a soldier and we are not. Flynn's been a Librarian for a long time. Both of them can put aside their personal feelings for the greater good. Some day maybe we'll learn that. But you and I . . . ."
"During one of those training sessions from hell, Baird told me for a habitual liar I wear my heart on my sleeve too much. Bad guys are gonna know we got something special going on, but they don't need to know just how special. Not until we've learned more."
"It has to be this way," Cassandra sighed heavily. "Even from the people we care about. At least for now. It doesn't mean we have to like it."
"Well," Jacob kissed her forehead. "It's not a total secret from everything everywhere. When we're on our own time, we are one hundred percent married. And some day I would like to tell my favorite sister about you. Not just yet, because she has a tendency to blab but she and Pop will eventually have another blow up where they don't talk for two years and I'll tell her then."
Cassandra giggled. "I think I might like your favorite sister."
"I made you laugh a little. We can do this, Cassie."
She nodded. "I know. It is rather a romantic secret to have. I feel like a character in a book."
"Well we better get a move on," Jacob stopped to kiss her. "I'll see you later?"
"Of course, I'm your wife," she smiled which was his intent. He stepped out of her arms and grabbed his day bag, blowing her a kiss as he left. They'd decided to stagger their arrivals, though every now and then they'd arrived at the same time by coincidence anyway.
She sighed and looked back at the breakfast dishes. Might as well get a head start on the whole marriage business and do some housework.
Work was more difficult to get through than Stone had anticipated. Oh, keeping the marriage a secret wasn't that big of a deal, keeping things secret came as second nature to him. It was trying to behave in an expected fashion toward Cassandra that was the tough part. He'd had two glorious days of being able to be openly affectionate with her and it was tough to not just casually put his hands on her. So he deliberately tried to busy himself in a separate area of the Library.
There was a lot of work to be done. The Library had been acting strangely since it had come back. Even the parts that had always been in Portland weren't quite right and they regularly lost equipment they'd been using for months. Inventory and mapping was an ongoing process. So was the research necessary to track down both the items that had been stolen by the Serpent Brotherhood (many of which had ended up on the black market and had made their way into the collections of usually unsuspecting but still shady characters) and that which had more recently disappeared.
He was currently doing research on art auctions. Keeping an eye out for anything that may be more than it seemed. Jenkins had mentioned that they got more of their collection than you'd expect at completely ordinary auctions, people selling off objects that they had no idea were anything other than an antique vase or sculpture or what have you.
Cassandra had been helping Jenkins with his latest experiment, getting a collection of communication stones to work as transmitters.
The lights blinked on and off above him and he sighed. The moving and disappearances was one thing, but the lights were new. He really hoped that didn't mean that the Library was getting even worse.
Maybe this was a good time to try to steal his wife away for a late lunch. He'd not seen her since they'd passed in the break room at mid morning.
Cassandra wasn't sure how she felt this morning. She could call most of what she was feeling frustration but she wasn't sure exactly what she was frustrated about. Part of her was a tiny bit annoyed by the way Jacob had parted from her this morning. They'd agreed to stagger their arrivals and he'd sweet and loving when he parted from her. So why was she annoyed? Because he hadn't offered to help clean up breakfast? She hadn't exactly asked him to help her. So maybe it hadn't occurred to him to offer. They hadn't talked much about their past relationships, but she had a feeling that it had been a while for him. Just like her. She'd forgotten about the little things in terms of communication. She figured Jacob had known her so well that he'd just know. So now she knew not to assume things about him.
Her husband was sweet. He would have helped her with no complaints had she only asked. She knew that deep down. She just had to remember to speak up. And that perhaps Jacob was a bit scattered in the morning, she had noticed that he'd had to get a cup of coffee in him to even talk to her.
She giggled. He was actually rather an adorable morning grump. Her husband.
Keeping from being able to say that out loud was probably another source of frustration. They'd had two wonderful days of being a couple. No fear that anyone would see them, holding hands, kissing, hugging, just enjoying being a couple. She hated hiding things. She'd sworn off secrets after she'd betrayed the Library.
But now they were keeping a huge secret. Huge. And as romantic as it seemed, it was frustrating. She wanted to kiss him whenever she fancied, not just when they were at home.
She sighed and returning to shelving the books she had stacked up on the table in front of her. Jenkins had noticed her pre-occupation today and had finally sent her off with stack of books to put away. She knew he wouldn't pry as to why she was distracted. But she really did wish she could tell one of them. Just one of them.
But she knew they just wouldn't understand. Flynn wasn't around. Baird would absolutely flip out. Jenkins would be quietly disapproving or worse yet disappointed. And Ezekiel? Oh, he'd never let them hear the end of it. This would probably make things worse when it came to protecting their relationship from the bad guys. So this was the way it was going to have to be.
She put the book up with more force than necessary just as she heard someone entering the stacks.
"You okay, darlin'?"
She beamed as her husband's cologne met her nose and turned around. "I'm fine now."
Ezekiel Jones was hungry. Well, hungry was almost a permanent state with him. But he was really hungry, like it was time for lunch hungry. Working on trying to update an antiquated security system for a sentient building that didn't seem to want him to update its security was actually a fun challenge. But he needed a break and something more substantial than popcorn to tackle it some more.
This was the day that he and Cassandra usually went out for lunch, so he went looking to find her. He'd poked his head in Jenkins' lab to find it empty. Well sometimes Cassandra was in the stacks on the other side of the lab, so he headed that way.
He heard voices and started to come around the corner of the stack when something caught his eye and he stopped and backed up.
Cassandra and Stone were around the corner, their voices lowered so he couldn't make out their conversation, especially since Stone's back was to him. They were standing far too close to each other, but that was something he'd come to expect from the duo. But was . . . he strained to see without being noticed. Was Stone twirling a lock of Cassandra's hair between his fingers?
"So you ready to go?" he heard Stone ask Cassandra.
Ezekiel smirked and came around the corner. "Go where?"
By the time he was in sight, the twosome was standing an almost reasonable distance apart. Still too close for normal people, but again, that was just how Stone and Cassandra were.
"Out to lunch, Jones." Stone's voice sounded annoyed, but Jones couldn't detect a more annoyed than normal tone to it.
"Lunch? Perfect. I'm starving, absolutely starving. Let's go!"
In his quest to eat, Jones didn't quite see the couple exchanging looks. But he knew he'd interrupted something.
Then they acted even more suspicious at lunch. They frequently went to a place in the neighborhood for lunch. They'd get a booth, Cassandra and Stone would sit together on one side and he (and Baird if she came along) would sit opposite. It had been standard practice for months. But today Cassandra slid in next to him, leaving Stone to sit alone across from them.
They showed absolutely no signs of fighting, so instead they were trying too hard to hide something.
Ezekiel inwardly grinned; didn't they realize they were being even more obvious by trying to avoid each other? He wasn't sure what was going on exactly between them. But it was going to be fun finding out.
