Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites so far! We appreciate them a lot. :o)
Again EmeraldEyedPhoenix's insight and talent has been invaluable. We're both enjoying writing this story a lot. This is my first collaboration and we've had some great brain-storming sessions which has been crucial to getting the story to where it is today. Thanks hon - looking forward to writing the rest of the story with you. XOXO
Anyone else love the CA season 4 premiere? Looks like we're in for one heck of a ride this season - lots of secrets and twists and turns. So glad A&A are back! :o)
DISCLAIMER: We don't own Annie, Auggie or any other character or element we've borrowed from Covert Affairs. Just the characters and universe we've created.
-Chapter 6-
Almost a week had passed since Auggie had blown up at Annie and they still weren't speaking. Part of Auggie regretted not going after her that evening, but at the same time he was hurt by the way she kept pushing him about speaking more. Over the past few weeks he'd become more comfortable around Annie, he trusted her and he found himself speaking a little around her. He still wasn't comfortable with speaking around just anyone, it didn't feel right and he was comfortable with things the way they were. That Annie didn't accept him like he thought she did made him question their relationship. He loved Annie, he really did, and in many ways she was the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time. Still, if she wasn't okay with him not speaking, he didn't see a future for them.
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Annie was devastated and heartbroken and she had done everything in her power to avoid running into Auggie for the past week. She cursed herself for getting involved with someone she worked with, seeing Auggie almost every day made her realize how much she missed him. She loved Auggie and part of her desperately wanted to get back together with him. What stopped her was his temper; it actually scared her a bit and she wondered why he got so upset by a simple question. She hadn't broached the subject since the night after the ballgame. He'd said he'd think about it and Annie had decided to not push him. It was his decision after all, but she had a hard time understanding why he was so reluctant about speaking since he was so good at it. She had no doubts it would make his life easier.
To make matters worse, her period was more than a week late and it worried her. She was hardly late, and on the rare occasions she was it usually was only by a few days. Not more than a week. She had reason to be worried too; she and Auggie had unprotected sex once. He'd run out of condoms and she didn't have any either. How could she have been so stupid?
Monday evening Auggie was home alone, the TV was on, but he wasn't really paying attention to it. He was miserable and missed Annie. Suddenly the flashing lamp by his door caught his attention and he got to his feet and walked over to the door. He checked his peephole. The hallway appeared to be empty. "Damn kids." he thought and headed back to the couch, figuring it was the kids in the bigger apartment across the hall that were playing in the hallway again. Just as he sat down the lamp flashed again. Aggravated, Auggie got up and yanked the door open without checking the peephole. He would set the damn kids straight. There were no kids in sight, but his twin brother Allistair was outside his door, sitting in his wheelchair with a pizza in his lap. He was still in uniform, but he'd left his jacket, tie and beret in his car.
"Whoa, relax there," Allistair signed with an amused grin on his face. Auggie had always been easy to rile up.
"Sorry bro, I thought it was the kids across the hall. They've been entertaining themselves with ringing doorbells and running away lately. What's up? I didn't expect to see you today."
"Unexpected meeting at Capitol Hill. Figured I'd swing by and say hi since I was in the area. Can I come in?"
"Sorry," Auggie signed, as he stepped aside and allowed his brother to wheel past him. Auggie grabbed the pizza from his lap and put it on the coffee table before he headed into the kitchen to grab plates and beers.
When he returned to the living area Allistair had transferred from his wheelchair to the couch. Auggie placed the beers and plates on the table and settled in to the armchair across from him. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Auggie was hungry and he wolfed down a couple of slices of pizza quickly.
"Thanks for the pizza Al," Auggie signed after he had a drink of his beer. "I was starving."
"I can see that. I talked to Ash yesterday. Thanks for taking the time to meet him, he really appreciated it and it meant a lot to him that you agreed to teach him and Evey to sign."
"Figured I'd give him a chance. Even if their kid turns out to be fine, knowing sign will be useful for him. He might actually start to communicate with me."
"Believe it or not Ash, Lucas and Ethan have matured a lot. They have all expressed that they regret treating you like they did."
"Well, why don't they tell me that?"
"It's easier said than done and you haven't exactly reached out either."
Auggie sighed and rolled his eyes, but he didn't respond. Instead he grabbed another slice of pizza.
"Where's this gorgeous girlfriend you've been bragging about? I was hoping to meet her." Allistair changed the subject.
"It's complicated."
"Seriously Aug? That's what 14-year olds put as their relationship status on Facebook when they've argued with their girlfriend. You're a 32-year-old man. What's going on?"
"We argued and I kicked her out. Happend the same evening Ash was here."
"Why?"
"Long story."
"I'm not in a hurry. Spill it." Suddenly the no-nonsense Captain Anderson was very present. Allistair wasn't about to let Auggie off the hook. Auggie sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Not long after I met Annie she asked me why I don't speak. I told her an abridged version of my childhood and she let it go then. Then we went to this ballgame together. The referee made what most of the stadium seemed to thing was a wrong call and I got so engaged that I actually yelled "bullshit". Annie heard it of course. I was mortified. Wanted to get out of there, but I was her ride, I couldn't leave her there. Later that evening, after we got back to DC, she told me she liked my voice and that I'm actually good at speaking. She even got me to say a few more words and she looked like she really meant it."
"Well, she's right you know. For a completely deaf kid you spoke pretty well."
"Anyway, she started pushing me about speaking more, said it would make my life easier…you know… I told her I'd think about it, but I wasn't' sure I wanted to change. That I'm comfortable with the way things are. After that she left it alone. Until Tuesday evening, after we had dinner with Ash."
"What did she say?"
"Asked if I'd put more thought into speaking. Said it would've made things easier during dinner, I know she was struggling a bit to keep up and interpret for me."
"She couldn't have picked a worse time to bring it up, could she?" Al asked with an empathic look on his face.
"No she couldn't. I don't think she meant to hurt me, but at the time it stung. I was already pretty emotional and it brought back all kinds of feelings and memories. I just told her that if it was going to come back to me speaking again and again she should just leave. I actually yelled 'Get out.' at her. She walked out and I haven't heard from her since."
"Do you love her?" Auggie looked up at his brother for a moment then nodded hesitantly.
"Then get that stubborn head of yours out of your ass and give her a call."
"I think she should call me. She's the one who should apologize."
"I think you both have some apologizing to do, but if you don't want to lose her you should take the first step."
"I guess you have a point."
"You know I do. I'm older and wiser than you."
"Yeah, you've got about 15 minutes more wisdom than me. That really makes a difference."
"Massive difference," Allistair signed with a grin on his face. Auggie laughed, for what felt like the first time in weeks.
"Seriously bro, you need to patch things up with Annie and then both of you should come home for Thanksgiving."
"No." Auggie actually spoke the word forcefully.
"Come on, you gave Ash a chance, you should give the rest of them a chance too."
"I'll think about it, ok?"
"Yeah, ok. I really hope you do. Mom and dad ask about you a lot, you know." Auggie flashed the sign for 'bullshit'. "No, really they do." Auggie just shook his head.
"You and I both know they made mistakes. But that doesn't mean they don't love you." Auggie thought for a moment then nodded reluctantly.
"You'll come then?" Al signed hopefully.
"Maybe." Auggie signed then grinned knowingly at his brother.
Wednesday evening Annie couldn't take it anymore; she needed to talk to Auggie. And take a pregnancy test. She wasn't sure about the order, so she decided to head to a Walgreen's to buy a test first. She grabbed her purse and headed out to her car. Half an hour later she pulled into a parking space just down the street from Auggie's apartment building. Her heart was thumping hard in her chest and her fingers were shaking as she typed a quick text to Auggie.
"Are you home? We need to talk." She hit the "send" button and the next few minutes went by in a snails pace. It seemed like hours later when her iPhone beeped, signaling a reply.
"I'm home. I can see you from my apartment. Come on up."
Annie didn't bother to reply. She gathered her purse, stuffed the Walgreen's bag into it and headed upstairs.
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Auggie knew something was wrong the minute he saw Annie's face.
She stood in the doorway, her expression unreadable. She started to raise her hands to sign but he stopped her with a raised index finger indicating she should wait and gestured for her to have a seat at the kitchen island. He disappeared into his office for a few moments and came back with the iPad and keyboard and set them up. Her signing was improving every day but he didn't want any miscommunication in this conversation. He decided he'd start with his own apology and started typing.
"I'm sorry about that night Annie, I overreacted and I shouldn't have yelled at you." he typed.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kept pushing you. It's not that I don't accept you as you are Auggie, I always have. I just know that you could learn to speak really well if you wanted to and I'd support you 100% if you did. I've heard you do it and I believe in you."
"Thank you, Annie. That means more to me than you know, really. But I need you to understand that speaking is not something I'm ever going to do. I lost my hearing when I was just a baby and I have no memory or concept of sound at all. You say I can speak well, and I believe you but I'm just not comfortable with it. "
"You speak to me." Annie signed hesitantly. Auggie turned back to the iPad.
"I trust you. You won't judge me. You said you liked my voice so I let you hear it, now and then anyway. To me it was something special, just for you. Just between us. Can it be that way?" He turned to her with a hopeful look in his dark eyes that made her realize how much she'd missed him. Annie smiled wide and signed 'Just between us.' then slid the keyboard and iPad over in front of her.
"I understand a lot more now, thank you for sharing your feelings with me. I won't bring it up again." He pulled her in for a kiss then leaned his forehead against hers and held her face between both of his hands. He exhaled a cleansing breath then spoke softly – "I missed you." Annie pulled back slightly and signed 'I missed you too.' She turned back to the iPad and typed.
"There's more, Auggie." He looked to her questioningly and she pulled the Walgreen's bag from her purse. His eyes widened as she laid the pregnancy test on the countertop.
"Do you have something to tell me?" Auggie typed after a few moments of stunned silence.
"I'm late." Annie typed back.
Auggie looked at her with a confused look on his face.
"My period is late, by more than a week. It's usually very regular, sometimes it's a couple of days late. Now I'm about a week late, which has never happened before. And it occurred to me that we actually had sex without protection a while back, remember?"
"Shit," Auggie signed. "We did."
"I guess I should just get on with it," she signed. Then she reached for the pregnancy test; Auggie laid his hand on hers to stop her.
"Whatever the result is we'll figure it out," he signed. Annie just nodded and walked into his bathroom and closed the door behind her. A couple of minutes later she came back to the kitchen with the pregnancy test in her hand. She put it down on top of the empty Walgreen's bag.
"We have to wait a few minutes for the result," she signed to Auggie. He nodded and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
The next few minutes felt like hours for both of them. Suddenly the timer on Annie's phone signaled that the wait was over. She let go of Auggie's hand and reached for the test, her heart was pounding hard as she picked it up. She glanced over at Auggie before she looked at the little screen on the test; he seemed to be just as nervous as her. After taking a deep breath she looked at the screen; the words "not pregnant" were clear. She held it up for Auggie to see. He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her. She couldn't quite read his expression; there seemed to be some disappointment mixed in with relief. He reached for the keyboard.
"Are you okay?" he typed.
"I'm fine. Relieved, but I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed too."
"Me too, but I'm sure it'll happen for us when the time is right."
Annie looked at Auggie with a hopeful smile on her face.
"Us? There's still an 'us'?" she signed.
"Does this answer your question?" Auggie had barely finished the last sign when he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her senseless.
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Later that evening, as they lay side by side thoroughly sated and with much lighter hearts than they'd had that morning, Auggie turned up the dimmed lighting and turned to Annie.
"What are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Auggie signed tentatively.
"I hadn't even thought about it. I always spent it with my sister when she lived in DC. Now that she's in California with her husband, I guess I don't have any plans."
"Will you come to Glencoe with me?"
"Meet your family?" Annie signed, a little taken aback. Auggie nodded.
"If you want me to, I'd love to meet them!" Annie signed, starting to get a little excited about the prospect.
"Don't get too excited, I'm still not quite sure what we'll be getting ourselves into."
"We'll be there together. Everything else will fall into place." Annie signed, punctuating it with a quick but gentle kiss.
Auggie smiled and pulled her closer while reaching up and turning off the light. As he settled in, he felt her hand slide under his as he'd done in the dark before. He returned the sign with a squeeze and made a promise to himself to never let this woman get away from him again.
A&A are back together and they're going to Glencoe for Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for the next chapter! We won't guarantee a shorter wait for the next one, but it'll be worth the wait! ;o) Leave us a review and let us know what you think. :o)