Thank you all for the reviews and anyone who offered their thoughts on baby moments they would like to see. I will do my best to deliver. I'm glad everyone enjoyed the arrival of little Fredrick. Hopefully, parents in peril will be cuter than some of you were imagining. Here are a few 'days in the life of...'
Oh, and I feel like I should apologise in advance for Pete but... Well, he's Pete! *shrug*
Chapter Fourteen
Myka knelt on the floor of her living room, one hand playing with her son's fingers while the other held a phone to her ear. "Trace, she's already picking out pre-schools for him," the agent complained into the handset. "Is it wrong that I liked it better when she wasn't speaking to me?"
"You don't mean that," the younger Bering sibling insisted. "And she did the same with Dan. Knowing Mom, she's probably guilt-tripping now and just trying too hard. Do you want me to talk to her?"
"No, I've got it," Myka stopped pulling faces long enough to answer. "I'm just tired right now. I'm trying really hard to appreciate her good intentions, but she's just so..."
"Mom?" Tracy chuckled.
"Yeah," Myka sighed.
Another amused sound came through the connection. "Remember that when Christina and Freddy are grown up. We're moms now, Sis."
"Urgh," the agent grumbled briefly before pulling another face at the gurgling boy, who was now trying to swallow his fist. "My son's a month old and Christina's still my baby too, please don't talk about them growing up yet – they need to stay young for a little while longer. I can't believe four weeks have gone by so fast."
"Tell me about it! Dan's pretty fast when he rolls now. He'll be crawling before I know it." The sisters shared a moment of contemplative silence as they each thought about how quickly their children were growing.
It wasn't so obvious with Christina, who was as chatty and inquisitive as the day her Mama had found her, almost a year ago. There were subtle differences, her height, her understanding of the world around her and the occasional burst of attitude but the changes were gradual. Fredrick, in contrast, seemed to grow every time his parents blinked.
"Does Kevin still have Saturday off? Are you coming over for the grand unveiling?" Myka eventually broke the silence.
"I'm surprised Helena had the time, or the energy, to build a ground-fort to go with Christina's tree house," Tracy said, her tone a little envious.
"Steve helped with the actual building and Leena's been round every other day with food. I'm not sure I would've coped without all the extra support," Myka lamented. "Christina's so enthusiastic but sometimes it's hard to get anything done when she insists on helping with everything. Can't say I would choose to have it any other way though."
"She's an angel. You should've heard Dad in the shop the other day; telling everyone his nine-year-old granddaughter could run the place almost single-handedly." She snorted her amusement. "He's getting soft in his old age."
The news caught Myka by surprise and she hesitated for a moment between pride for her daughter and regret for her younger self. In the end, she decided to be content with the present and her father's attentiveness to all of his grandchildren, regardless of gender.
Once Fredrick became fed up of being on the floor, Myka bid her sister farewell and returned her full attention to him. Lifting him into her arms, she did a quick diaper check and decided that he was probably just ready for a nap. As Helena and Christina were out shopping for groceries, she decided that half an hour of shut-eye wouldn't do her any harm either and carried him up to hers and Helena's bedroom.
Days later, Pete Lattimer wandered into his living room after returning from an hour in the park with his niece to find an afternoon feeding session in full flow. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he softly imitated a high-alert klaxon and an inter-com voice. "Booby alert, booby alert! All persons please refrain from commenting on the boobies." He gazed round at the un-amused faces and gulped. "You're gonna hit me, aren't you?"
HG, Lila and Myka looked at each other before answering simultaneously, "Yes!"
He approached his girlfriend from behind her chair and leant down to kiss her. He watched his daughter for a minute and then rubbed his belly. "Now I'm hungry."
"There are leftovers in the fridge," Lila told him as she tried not to laugh at his antics.
"I want what she's having," he teased, earning him a combined glare and prompting a swift retreat. He could swear that he heard the sound of chuckling in his wake though.
HG shook her head at the smiles on Myka and Lila's faces. "You two only encourage him by laughing you know."
Myka observed her lover's expression and had to look away when she felt a giggle start to shake her body. "Sorry, little guy," she crooned towards her son's indignant expression. "You didn't order milk shake, did you?"
Helena rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. When Myka found things funny at her expense though, it usually didn't take long for the light in her fiancée's eyes to elicit a smile from her. Even if that did encourage Pete to assume that her amusement was due to him.
She couldn't help leaning into the brunette to whisper in her ear. "How is it that an intelligent woman such as yourself can find him so risible?"
Myka's head pulled back slightly to frown in surprise at the Brit. "You don't have to be unintelligent or a member of the hoi polloi to find slap-stick or toilet humour funny."
"I meant no offence, darling. I just don't see the attraction. And I am by no means complaining," she added as she began to realise that she was perhaps digging a hole for herself. She saw the looming lecture behind green eyes and backtracked. "I will happily tolerate anything that makes you smile."
Agent Bering shook her head at the inventor's pathetic attempt. With a mischievous gleam in her eye, she positioned her mouth against her lover's ear. "Are you saying that you don't want some of what Freddy's having?"
Helena choked and turned a deeper shade of pink. "I shall hold my tongue now," she mumbled to herself uncharacteristically.
Inconsolable wails of an infant filled the house, accompanied by a woman's panicked tones and her lover's attempt at consolation.
"What the hell is wrong with him!?" Myka felt completely frazzled. She couldn't care less that her clothes were soiled or that her hair brought new meaning to the word 'untamed'. If the neighbours complained about the noise or gossiped about her abilities as a mother, she would quite happily give them a piece of her mind... or fist. Her only concern at present was her son's well-being.
"Love, his temperature is not dangerously high," Helena attempted to say over the noise. "He had a full feed last night and he's managed a bit through the day. He probably just has a bug and he's uncomfortable." She was trying to keep a lid on her own anxieties for Myka's sake, but they lingered at the back of her mind anyway. Fredrick had been grizzly all day and not his usual content self. I was difficult not to feel overly worried.
"Did you call Vanessa again?" Myka asked as she rocked her baby and continued to fuss over him.
"If his temperature rises any more or we can't settle him within the next hour, she'll come right over. Otherwise, she'll be here first thing in the morning," the inventor tried to reassure her fiancée calmly. "Love, why don't you let me take him for a bit while you have some time for yourself?"
"No," the brunette protested, almost holding the boy tighter, lest the inventor attempt to remove him from her arms. "I need to help him," she insisted, though she had no idea how she might do that.
She was tired, scared and ready to pounce on anyone who tried to get between her and her baby. A part of her appreciated her fiancée's support and she would remember to thank her later but for now, she just couldn't force herself to be logical. Her breasts hurt with the pressure of being too full but she refused to put Fredrick down long enough to express more milk. Protective Myka was in complete control and her own well being was at the bottom of her list of priorities.
Neither adult heard the footsteps on the stairs, but they both turned to the living room door when the sound of quiet sobs reached them. Simultaneously, they moved towards their daughter but it was Helena's burden-free arms that reached out for the nine-year-old.
"Christina?" HG placed a hand on the girl's cheek and felt its heat. "My love, what's wrong?"
"My tummy feels..." she paused a mere second before she retched and threw her half-digested dinner on her Mummy.
Behind HG, the couple's second child followed suit, splattering his Mama in a similar fashion. The two agents froze at the unexpected turn, though a small part of Myka breathed a sigh of relief. At least Freddy had mostly stopped crying and it seemed as if her fiancée might be right about the bug.
Christina whimpered softly as Helena tried to comfort her without spreading the detritus. The inventor glanced up at her partner and half-smiled in sympathy. "Downstairs bathroom?"
Myka reached for a semi-clean muslin and handed it to HG while using Freddy's bib on herself. "Probably best," she conceded.
They stripped down to underwear in the bathroom, throwing their clothes on a pile in the corner while Myka saw to Fredrick on the changing mat and Helena helped Christina into the shower.
Agreeing that they'd all be better off camping in the living room in case there were more regurgitations, Helena settled her daughter on the couch with a blanket and a sick bowl, and then ran upstairs to fetch some old, comfy clothes for them. She freshened up as best she could with a few baby wipes before relieving her partner, insisting that she could hold down the fort for however long it took the brunette to clean herself up and see to her discomfort.
Two more mass clean ups were needed before morning, the children almost in sync with their bouts of sickness. By dawn's light, the living room was a shambles; cushions, clothes, towels and whatnot strewn across every surface, but with the family at last finding rest in sleep. Myka half reclined on the single sofa with Freddy on her chest, while Helena had the spread of the couch with Christina snuggled into her side.
When Vanessa arrived early in the morning, letting herself in with the spare key from Leena's, she almost knew what she was going to see. On entering the living room, her jaw dropped slightly but as she realised that everyone was mostly ok, she retreated without a noise and called for the cavalry to help with the aftermath.
As the end of August arrived and with it, the end of summer, Myka and Helena allowed themselves to leave the house and their children in the care of Leena and Claudia while they went out on their first date since Fredrick was born.
Since the week of stomach upsets, sleepless nights and living room campouts, Myka had begun to find herself clinging a little too much to her children and Abigail had suggested this outing to break the cycle.
That the date marked the first anniversary of their reunion with Christina was a happy coincidence but seemed to give Agent Bering all the more reason to want to stay at home.
"He's been feeding for about an hour at four, seven and ten," Myka continued to explain to Leena as she followed Helena to the front door. "He's had expressed milk before so he should be ok, but if he won't take to it, I'll come straight back. We'll be back by nine anyway, but if there are any problems, you'll call?"
Leena's serene smile followed the agent. "If there's a problem Claudia and I can't fix, then I won't hesitate to call you, Myka."
"Don't worry though, Mama-Ber, we've got this," Claudia piped up from the door to the living room where she stood with her hands on Christina's shoulders. "Little Jedi's gonna kill some chords with me, then we've got a mad-libs re-match to get with. We're gonna have a blast."
Helena's hand landed on the small of her partner's back. "Love, shall we go?" She remembered her own anxieties from the previous year when she'd had to leave Christina for the first time and she didn't want to push Myka too hard.
"Ok," the brunette nodded and breathed deeply before she waltzed through the front door in a semi-daze.
"Erm, darling!?" Helena called after the woman who didn't seem aware that she wasn't following. She watched Myka turn and smiled as she nodded in the direction of her arms.
Flushing, Myka glanced down at the content looking boy in her arms and slowly smiled at him. She wandered back to the house, her eyes pinned to his, and reluctantly placed him in Leena's arms. She felt Helena's hand sliding into her own and squeezed it.
The restaurant was only fifteen minutes down the road by foot and as the forecast was good and they were getting out early, the couple agreed to enjoy a leisurely stroll. It took the first five minutes before Myka stopped internalising her every thought and realised that she could talk to her date. Another five minutes passed before she let out a breath to release some of her pent up tension but by the time they arrived at the restaurant and were seated, she was mostly present with her fiancée and not completely consumed by thoughts of home.
As they both ordered sparkling water and the waiter left them to browse the menu, Myka reached across the table and grasped the inventor's hands. "Thank you for dragging me out of the house, Helena. I could never have expected to miss you this much, considering we live in the same house."
"And sleep in the same bed," HG agreed lightly. "It's surprising how much time and energy new-borns siphon from your day. I am pleased that you agreed to accompany me. Much as I adore watching you with Fredrick and Christina, I am rather partial to being the centre of your attention," she joked.
Green eyes softened and a shy smile lifted the corner of the brunette's mouth. It was testament to how in tune they were that Myka knew her partner's words weren't intended to make her feel guilty. It was simply a statement and something she could relate to. A warmth that had nothing to do with the late summer's evening and everything to do with the loving gaze pinning her from across the table, skittered along her spine.
Between courses, Agent Bering checked her phone for messages, but otherwise made an effort to be in the room, giving the inventor her undivided attention and basking in her lover's presence. They paid the bill and left by eight-thirty, giving them ample time to stroll the long way home.
"...Well, we have plenty of time to consider the location, darling. We do not need to decide right at this moment," Helena reminded her fiancée as they walked arm in arm through the park and talked about the event that would bring an end to their engagement.
"I would like to have our wedding in London. Somehow, I just think it will make us feel closer to your family," Myka explained, thinking about Eleanor and Rupert mostly, though Charles too. "I want to have another chance to take a ride with you in a horse and buggy," she grinned.
Helena smirked and leant in to brush her lips across her lover's cheek. "That was quite a ride. Were you hoping to repeat the entire journey?"
"Do you think we could still get away with it?" Myka nudged her shoulder against Helena's. "I don't even know if those sorts of carriages are available any more. There's always Central Park I suppose. We haven't talked much about where we're going to honeymoon yet."
"A place where it is warm enough for us to establish a 'clothes optional' policy in our suite," Helena stipulated with a suggestive glance at her lover's body.
Myka blushed as heat suffused her body once more. "As long as there's A-C," she added while she looked down at her shoes and everything but the Brit's penetrating gaze.
"Darling," HG drew them to a steady halt and moved to stand in front of the other woman, her hands coming to rest on twin hips. She waited until her favourite shade of green looked at her. "You know that I find you just as irresistible as always, don't you? That it matters not that your body didn't immediately snap back to its former shape after you gave birth to our son?" An almost guilty expression appeared on Myka's features and Helena shook her head with knowing exasperation. "I understand feeling insecure after experiencing such a momentous change or simply not feeling amorous. I vaguely recall doubting that I would ever wish to lie with another again after Christina was born. So long as you know that my estimation of your beauty has changed not one iota. Or at least, not negatively." She placed the fingers of her right hand under Myka's chin. "To me, love, you become more radiant with each passing day and whenever you are ready to resume a more physical connection, you need only ask."
Myka released a slow breath and leant into the inventor to bring their bodies flush. She hadn't been consciously avoiding her fiancée; being a new mother was tiring and time consuming, and she wanted to be the best mother she could be, but the idea that her body wasn't as desirable as it had been pre-baby had crept into her thoughts once or twice. She hummed against the skin of the inventor's neck. She thought about how the evening had flowed once she let go of her anxiety and invested herself in the moment.
"I will," she finally said, looking up through her eyelashes into HG's warm gaze. In her sultriest tone, she added, "I promise."
Helena's eyebrow rose, her expression hinting that she would appreciate more detail, but instead of pushing the subject, she simply leant in and captured her fiancée's lips in a light, loving kiss.
They wandered the rest of the way home in a comfortable silence, arriving a little after ten-past nine, which seemed to be excuse enough for Claudia to squeeze the life out of Myka with a congratulatory hug. Leena returned a happy little boy to his relieved mommies and gave the couple a comprehensive report of the evening's activities. A pyjama clad nine-year-old hovered at the top of the stairs moments after their guests left and Myka handed her bundle of joy to the inventor as she volunteered to see the girl back to bed, knowing that she would get her bonding time with Freddy when he was ready for his next feed. She didn't so often have time for tucking Christina into bed these days though so jumped at the chance.
Tucking an arm around the girl's shoulders, she led her daughter back to bed and pulled the covers over her arms, making sure that Roquefort was also adequately snug under the girl's chin.
"Did you have a nice time with Claudia, Sweetheart?" Myka enquired as soon as the girl had stopped wriggling and disturbing the lie of her guilt. "What did you end up doing? Just guitar and mad-libs?"
"Mm-hm," Christina nodded sleepily. "Leena made spaghetti and meatballs too."
Myka absentmindedly stroked through wavy curls, watching dark eyes disappearing behind heavy lids. She almost asked for more information on which new chords she'd learned and who had won the competition but she swallowed both questions when the tell-tale sound of heavy breathing reached her ears. Another, sharper sound caught her attention after a while and she glanced at her watch to find that she had been observing her daughter for almost twenty minutes. After whispering a final 'good night princess', she carefully closed the door behind her, wandering downstairs to find her fiancée holding a now grizzly boy.
Helena had him pressed against her chest, her lips whispering soothingly into his ear as her body swayed in a rocking motion. "Hush now, little one; here comes supper," she told him as she spotted Myka.
The brunette glanced at her son, spotted the bib already around his neck and led the way into the living room. The couple worked around each other quickly, both aware of the increasing intensity of their son's hungry cry. Helena settled herself against the end of the couch handing the boy to Myka, pulling a cushion against her chest and making room for the other woman to lean back against her.
This was their routine of a night now. With Fredrick wanting his last feed of the day near ten o'clock and Christina sound asleep, they took the opportunity to cuddle up together for an hour before bed. Myka held Freddy to her breast, his appetite silencing him as he latched on, his wobbling chin disappearing and leaving his nose free enough to snuffle a continuous supply of air. His parents smiled indulgently at his enthusiasm and Myka relaxed back into her lover's firm hold, her head tilting slightly to brush against Helena's.
They both missed the moments that were reserved just for the two of them - the mornings when they could cuddle without anticipating a baby's cry; the stolen occasions for a heated embrace in the middle of the day; nights spent writhing against one another in the dark, absorbing scents and sounds of their combined passion - simpler times when parental duties were not so heavy or numerous.
But it was like missing sunset during a crisp and beautiful sunrise. The beginning of a new day that held a promise for excitement, romance and adventure but with the added understanding that the blanket of night would inevitably return, and with it, that embrace of gold.
The time when sleepless nights were once again the effect of insatiable passions would return eventually. For now though, they were perfectly content to enjoy the sunrise.
HG's paper work sat, virtually untouched, for the best part of a week. She summarised its content for her fiancée verbally and, in fits and starts, between the many chores that now consumed them, they discussed and debated the findings. Once it became obvious that they needed a solid few hours without interruption to really put their thoughts to work though, they sent their children for an afternoon play at the bed and breakfast, and sequestered themselves in their study.
Myka sat on the couch, glasses perched on her nose and papers spread in neat, organised piles around her. "Do you have everything from Jane's research?" she asked, eyes fixed on the document in her hand. When no answer immediately came from across the room, she glanced up to find dark eyes and a far away look centred on her. With a half-smile, she removed her reading glasses and returned a very teachery 'are you paying attention' expression.
Though Helena recovered swiftly from her drifting thoughts, a thrill of desire fluttered at the amused authority in her lover's gaze and hit her low down. Some part of her brain had apparently been paying attention because her hands reacted and reached for the requested file. Her eyes held Myka's as she passed it over.
"Is this what you want?" she asked, unable to keep the suggestion out of her voice.
Smiling at the flirty tone, Agent Bering took the documents in one hand and brought an arm of her glasses to rest between her teeth with the other, deliberately pulling Helena's attention to her mouth. Her thoughts were easily able to appreciate their playful interactions and focus on the task at hand.
So far, they had managed to catch up with the Warehouse's recent acquisitions, read Artie's latest report on the agents' field missions and, most importantly, reviewed their teenaged daughter's condition. Though Claudia, Artie and Mrs Fredrick kept daily vigils on the bronzed adolescent and the red head's invention was doing its job, both women wanted to see the details with their own eyes. Abigail had helped them to relax from their daily updates to once a week and with Fredrick's arrival had then pushed them to once a fortnight. 'Operation Sleeping Beauty' no longer sent them into moments of panic but they were not the type of people to give up complete control.
Artie's insistence that they read his reports on everything ongoing at the Warehouse had surprised both agents and made them question his motives. When it became clear that the directive actually came from Mrs Fredrick and the small group of trusted regents, their curiosity was piqued. When asked, the caretaker simply smiled and assured them that it was in everyone's best interest if they didn't lose complete contact with the entity's histories, even if some of that history was still in the making.
As Jane hinted that most of the regents wished to retain Myka and Helena's skills indefinitely, whether on site or from home, the agents accepted and agreed to read regular reports.
"There's no link between Rose Ingress and the glyphs we found. Jane hasn't found anything else in the regent' vault either. She's going to keep looking but we will have to be content with Norie's notes for now," Myka summaries once she'd finished reading. "Claudia hasn't found anything out of the ordinary with Miss Ingress' accounts or her activities. Whatever her associations, if she had any, they're long gone and not coming to help. If they ever had contact, they didn't leave a trail that we can follow."
"So we know nothing more about this woman's intentions," HG concluded with a sigh, all playfulness gone in the light of more serious concerns. "Should we be more worried?"
Myka moved a pile of papers to a space on the floor and patted the cushion next to her. Helena needed no further encouragement to leave her post at the desk to join her fiancée on the small love-seat. "I'm not worried," she stated and then paused. "Well, not overly worried," she amended quickly, seeing the scepticism on her partner's face. "I don't want to waste the next however many years if takes for our enemies to show themselves, by constantly looking over my shoulder. There's a fine line between vigilance and paranoia."
"It's difficult," HG responded as she ran fingers through her hair. "Are we simply going to allow random attacks like the one in Colorado?"
"What choice do we have?" Myka countered regretfully. "Honey, we've done everything in our power to protect ourselves and our family. We have safeguards, contingency plans, even something like a panic-room. Our friends are in the same boat; we're in this together. I think one of the reasons we have Artie's reports is so that we always have the clearest picture of what's happening around us." She kissed the side of her lover's head, knowing just how hard it was to embrace the reality that it wasn't possible to control everything. "Anything else that comes to us, we'll handle as best we can."
"We're not alone," Helena whispered, letting the words sink in and feeling the comfort they offered.
Hopefully, there were no errors while posting because I'm halfway out the door while doing this! ;-)
Next... Helena's Birthday.