The quiet of the room had settled over their souls, and Serena found herself loathe to break that as she got up and poured them mugs of coffee. Bernie accepted hers wordlessly, though she was smiling as she wrapped her hands around it and held it tightly to her chest. It was a thoroughly Bernie move, and Serena smiled to see it once more.
That spell had been broken when Jason peeked his head into the room and smiled at them. "Are we still getting fish and chips from the shop down the street?"
"Is it that time already?" Serena asked as she looked at the clock on the oven. "I'm sorry, we've let time get away from us, Jason. I'll pop down and get that, if you'll help Bernie get the table ready. And please, let a bottle of Shiraz breathe whilst I'm gone."
"Yes, Auntie Serena."
She waggled her fingers at them as she slipped into Bernie's coat, wanting the woman to surround her as she walked. Grabbing her purse, she headed out and made the quick walk, the cold stinging her face as she went. The girl in the shop gave her a warm smile as she got in line, though she was surprised when Serena told her that she needed three orders. "Oh, company tonight?"
"Yes. My partner is finally home from Kiev," she said, smiling widely at the girl as she paid.
"How wonderful! You must be so happy."
"I am," she replied. It was the truth, she realized with a start. She was truly happy that Bernie was in her home, talking to Jason, making herself comfortable. It didn't take long to get her order ready, and then she was headed back into the night, the smile never leaving her lips.
When she walked in the door, Jason and Bernie were engaged in a deep conversation, and she felt her heart lurch a little in her chest as she watched them interact. Robbie had never been this comfortable with her nephew, not like Bernie, and that should have been her first clue that Bernie was the right one for her. "I'm back!"
"That didn't take too long, Serena."
"They know us there," she replied as she passed around the containers before taking a seat across from them. It was perfect, really, since it afforded her the chance to stare as she ate, sipping at the Shiraz occasionally.
Once the meal was over, Jason turned to look at Bernie expectantly. "Mastermind is on tonight, and I was hoping that you would stay and watch with us. I could use a new opponent."
Bernie darted her eyes to Serena, and she suddenly felt shy as she smiled and looked down at the table. "I think that would be positively lovely, Jason." The smile widened as she got up from the table and threw away their trash. Bernie helped her a little as Jason went out to the living room. "So, this is what a domestic night at the Campbell house looks like," she breathed in her ear and Serena nodded as she leaned back against Bernie, allowing her to close her arms around her waist.
"I know, so boring, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love Jason, as if he was my son."
"He said that he's a porter now at the hospital?" Bernie asked as they made their way into the living room to join Jason. She nodded. "That's a big change."
"He said that he wanted to be more useful, since we have a porter shortage."
Bernie hummed in agreement. "He gets that from you, you know. He cares for people."
"I can't say that he learned that from my behavior lately. I've been a right grump, while you were gone."
"Ah! Why does that not surprise me?" Serena was about to gasp in indignation when she saw Bernie wink at her. Shaking her head, she leaned up and kissed her cheek softly before taking a seat on the sofa. Bernie took a seat next to her, and she looked up into her face, wanting to ask if she could curl up close. "Go ahead, Serena."
"Thank you," she murmured as she leaned in close to her Bernie, wrapping her arm around the woman's waist as they focused on the screen. Bernie murmured answers along with Jason, and Serena chose to listen instead of play along. Once the show was done, Jason got up and wished them both a good night before leaving the room.
"I think that's my cue to head home, too," Bernie said, and Serena drew in a deep breath. "What?"
"Your car! It's still in the parking lot."
"Oh, right."
"Well, I have a guest room that you could use, it's not like anything improper would happen."
Bernie laughed and gently pushed Serena to rest against the arm of the sofa before turning her body so that she could stretch out her body, her head coming to rest on Serena's shoulder. "Improper things just always seem to happen around you. Because you just seem to have that little glint in your eye."
"You're not the first person to say that. So, would you feel comfortable telling me about your time in Kiev? I, I want to know more."
"I suppose that I can do that." Bernie turned her head back and forth, and Serena wondered what she was thinking about. "So, when I arrived in Ukraine, I knew two words of the language, and relied so much on the translation app on my phone."
"Why does that not surprise me."
"Hush! You said you wanted to hear this."
"Yes, Major."
"That's better. So, I threw myself into my work, put in long days that stretched into the night, and managed to do all the work that was required of me in less than half the time allotted. It's rather funny what the mind can do when trying to drown out thoughts of the woman you…"
Bernie's voice trailed off, and Serena held her breath, wondering if she would continue on her own. The silence stretched on between them, and she contorted her arm so that she could rub Bernie's arm. "Yes?"
"The woman that I cared very deeply for."
Serena knew that that was the closest she would come to revealing her deepest heart to her, and she was content with that for the moment. Because that was more than she deserved. "This woman tried to do the same thing."
"I sort of figured you would. So, everything seemed to be going well, and then, well, I was not as careful as I should have been, and got lost in a bad part of Kiev."
She gasped as her hand stilled on Bernie's bicep, trying not to dig her fingers into the firm flesh. But still, the woman winced and Serena tried to relax her grip as she pulled Bernie ever closer to her. "What did they do to you, Bernie?" she whispered.
"They jumped me."
"Who?"
"I don't know. I never saw their faces. All I know is three men attacked me, hit me over the head with a bottle, and I ended up taken to the same hospital where I was setting up the trauma unit. I was the guinea pig, so to speak, and they did an amazing job. There is a faint scar, however."
"Where?"
"Here." Bernie lifted up her shirt a little before pulling down her jeans a tiny bit. Serena gasped when she saw the faint pink scar appear before her eyes. "It's just the newest one to add to my collection. You have perfect, blemish free, skin."
"No, I don't. I have stretch marks from Elinor's birth, ugly things that mark my too fleshy body. And you haven't seen my back. I have scars there, too."
"You're a goddess to me." The words were said so soft that Serena nearly missed them. "You always will be."
"That's sweet, Bernie, but I am all too human." Bernie chuckled lightly as she shifted positions once more, resting her head in Serena's lap so that she could look up at her. "I wish that I was a goddess, because then I could have commanded you to stay by my side."
"I can see you doing that, Fraulein. But I am back now, hopefully to stay."
"I hope so, too," she murmured as she reached down to clasp Bernie's hand tightly. "Tell me some happy memories, now. Please?"
"Of course." Bernie smiled as she launched into another story, and Serena listened carefully, wanting to fit these new pieces into her tapestry of Bernie.