Interstellar: Revivisco, Part II
Chapter 14: Recordabitur
One month later.
"Look at these pictures, Cooper! She's getting so big!" Cooper rushed onto the porch, taking the tablet as Amelia handed it to him.
"Oh, wow. She is." He flipped through the pictures, smiling.
"You can even see her little toes!" Amelia pointed onto the screen. "And fingers!"
"Thank God we get these, right?" She nodded in agreement. "She's just movin' right along."
"She's perfect," Amelia whispered, taking the tablet back from him. "Absolutely perfect." She walked into the house quickly.
"What's wrong?" Cooper waited and saw her come back with a tissue in her hand.
"Sorry, I just... that got me," she chuckled, wiping her eyes as she held up the tablet. "That's our baby."
"Hart's on her way," Cooper exclaimed as he ran into the lab.
"How do you know?" Amelia asked hurriedly, pulling off her gloves and lab jacket.
"Pates, he sent me a message. A warning." Amelia huffed and walked into the kitchen.
"When will she be here?" Cooper raised up his hands as if he wasn't sure. "Great. I guess we wait."
"The dirt is showing promise, but we're going to need tons of fertilizer," Amelia said, flipping through the pages. "Cooper will take care of that."
"Well, what do you do?" Hart asked, and Amelia looked up, trying to remain calm.
"I'm analyzing with a microscope to make sure that everything is growing properly and has the right 'ingredients' to grow. I know I'm pretty pale, but I spend some time out there with Cooper." Cooper looked at Amelia and smiled gently - Hart noticed.
"I want to see more than just evidence on paper, Dr. Brand. I want to see physical proof." Cooper looked over at Hart, crossing his arms on the table.
"We would have more plants right now had it not been for the winter we had and our lack of fertilizer. We're gonna need that ASAP if you want a crop in a few months," Cooper said, "Look, we're doing what we can with what we've got out here. It's new territory for all of us." He felt Amelia gently tap her foot to his, as if she was saying 'good job.' "I'm not new to farming, though."
"Captain Cooper, please remember that Pates will start coming out here every ten days again now that the weather is back to normal, and Amelia, have your data ready." Do you not see what I have laid out right in front of you? "I've got to go - another meeting at headquarters." She walked out of the house quickly without a word.
"Buh-bye to you, too," Amelia said, rolling her eyes. "At least it's over."
"Yeah," Cooper replied as is he was exhausted. "I'd like more of a warning than 30 minutes."
"I think that's just how she operates, Cooper, not that I agree with it."
That night, the house was quiet until Amelia heard a big laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Amelia! We got a new animal! Check it out!" TARS rushed in behind Cooper, his screens displaying the new discovery.
"It looks like a rabbit," she replied, putting her pen down. "with a cat's tail." She smiled. "Cabbit."
"That sounds like cabbage," Cooper replied analyzing the screen.
"Well, 'rat' certainly isn't going to work." He smirked, still looking at TARS.
"You know that somethin' like that has to be here, though." He was probably right, but Amelia didn't want to think about that. "Maybe that's what these little 'cabbit' things catch." Cooper motioned to TARS that they were done. "We haven't even named the other animals and you already have this one named within a second?"
"That one was pretty easy to decipher, and I can't come up with anything better than for the other animals. You're the creative one; think." She picked up her pen and went back to flipping through pages of research. "This dirt is getting boring." Cooper watched as she put her hands to her face, huffing.
"You are exhausted," he analyzed, "and you can't do your best when you're tired, you know." She nodded, standing up from the table and putting her pen down.
"I'm so tired of reading about chlorophyl and dirt, Cooper. I need something else. I can't look at anymore dirt under a microscope." Cooper was able to see the tiredness on her face.
"You wanna do something fun?" he asked, not knowing how she would respond to his idea.
"Okay... what?" He smiled, biting his bottom lip.
"Do you want to go spend the night in the unit?" Cooper tried to read her reaction. "And we haven't been in there since we left," he reminded her. "So everything would still be the same, I imagine."
"I'll grab pajamas, you get out some sheets and blankets. I am not showering over there, though, so we should do that first. That was hellacious out there."
"Wow. Home sweet home, I guess?" Amelia said as they walked down the hall of the unit. "And look! Our little desks are still here!"
Cooper put down the sheets and blankets. "I forgot how tiny this place was." He walked over to his old desk and ran a hand across it. "I'm kind of spoiled in the desk category now."
"And my lab is so much better now, too. We have come a long way." She started to walk around, trying to remember where certain things had been placed.
"Literally and figuratively," he reminded her. "Oh, and TARS got the shield up, no worries."
"Good, I'd hate to relive that, too." Cooper walked over into his old room, a faint smile coming to his face.
"Come a long way for sure," he whispered, walking in, thinking back to that first night.
He heard his door creak open, waking him up. "Hey there." He rolled over and there she was, her big, wide eyes popping out from behind the door.
"Hey to you, too," he replied groggily, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "To what do I owe the honor?" She walked out from behind the door, closing it.
"Nightmares," she whispered. "I woke up in a sweat." He sat up, and patted his hand down for her to sit next to him on the bed.
"That bad?" She put her head in her hands, elbows on her thighs.
"I just miss home sometimes. We wouldn't have to be worrying about those guys if we were home," she breathed, referring to the beasts. He put a hand on her back, gently scratching up and down to soothe her. "But, I mean, we'd be long dead by now if we had stayed, right? So what's the use?"
He sighed, agreeing. "I think about it all the time, and what we left, but," he paused, running his fingers over his lips, sealed in a tight line. "But we did the right thing." She looked up at him and weakly smiled.
"I hope so." She leaned on him as he put an arm around her, both of them thinking about the lives they left behind. She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Is your offer still on the table?"
"Always."
He hadn't thought of that in a long time. He thought about that first kiss every so often but this was maybe an even bigger moment than that.
"Hey." Amelia was looking right at him, still in the same position she was in when he had gone back to sleep.
"Hey," he responded, moving his right hand over to hold the hand that gripped his shirt. "Sleep okay?"
"Yeah." She sighed, turning her head to yawn into his shoulder, and as soon as she was finished, shifted her head back to where it had been. "You?"
"Same," he replied, never taking his eyes off of her. She half smiled, pulling her hand out from under Cooper's, only to switch places, her fingers lacing over his knuckles. She hummed to herself, some tune he recognized but couldn't name. She nestled into him further.
"I like this," she admitted, her voice remained a whisper. Cooper still had his arm around her, spreading out his hand on her back.
"Me, too." She nodded at his response, uncovering his hand to run her fingers over his forehead, back and forth. "That feels nice," he stated quietly, closing his eyes, causing her to pull her hand back. "Why'd you stop?" Her fingers were back to his forehead, edging his hairline. "There we go." He opened his eyes again, watching her. "You're quiet," he noticed, the hand on her back mimicking the actions of her fingers.
"What do you want me to say?" she asked, confused, but still managing a smile.
"Nah, the silence is nice." She swatted him in the head playfully, causing him to chuckle. "Kidding!" he exclaimed, taking hold of her hand, intertwining his fingers with her own. "Kidding."
"Sure." He couldn't get over her. He'd forgotten how a moment this simple could be this perfect, and hoped she was appreciating this time as much as he was.
"No nightmares?" He waited for an answer, watching her reopen her still-drowsy eyes.
"None," she answered, staring at him.
"I'm glad," Cooper whispered, bringing the hand he held to rest closer to his heart. She could feel each soft beat, so smooth that the rhythm could have lulled her back to sleep.
"I don't want to get up," she said in a breath, exhaling. He smiled softly, watching her.
"Who said you had to?" Amelia rolled her eyes and buried her head back into his shoulder. He laughed, his hand moving from her back to her hair, causing her to shift back to face him. "That's better."
She smiled gently, closing her eyes again. Cooper pulled her even closer to him, if that was possible, her face in the crook of his neck.
"Reminiscing?" Cooper heard Amelia ask him.
"Yeah. I was just thinking about," he paused, turning around, "when you walked on over here like I had suggested."
"A ploy to get me into your bed," Amelia laughed, walking in. "Well, not completely. You were trying to be nice."
"Don't think that I didn't want that, too," Cooper said, watching her turn around, her mouth wide open in shock. "Just bein' honest."
"And you didn't immediately get what you wanted, did you?" She was now only inches away from him. "Maybe I missed this place more than I thought." Amelia locked eyes with Cooper before leaving his room and walking over to hers.
"Thanks for staying over here with me." Amelia was thankful that he was there with her, finding it frightening to imagine her life without him again.
"No problem, sorry we haven't broken out Jenga or told ghost stories with a flashlight yet." That got a laugh out of Amelia. They were more similar than they appeared on the surface.
"We haven't even played truth or dare. Damn, we really need to pick it up. This is getting to be a boring sleepover," she managed to get out in her laughter.
"Brand, you calling me boring?" He knew that wasn't what she had meant at all, just testing her. "Me boring? Really?"
"Here we go," she huffed, sitting up, looking down at him. Even in the dark, he was able to see her smile, and he reached up to cup her face.
"If you come back down here I can show you how not-boring I am." She turned away from him, looking up. "Brand, I can tell when you're blushing even in the dark." He reached around finally finding her thigh under the covers, causing her to jolt. She began laughing again, his hand still on her. "Jumpy, too. Good God, Amelia, we gotta lot of work to do!" he exclaimed playfully, pulling her back down next to him.
"You are the worst," she said, enjoying the feeling of being somewhat surrounded by him.
"I can't be that bad or else you wouldn't want me in here." His words were soft, trying to plan his next move, as he always did. He ran his fingers up and down her arm.
"Well, I do like having you here," she admitted, facing him. "This is the one thing here that feels normal to me."
As happy as she was out of the unit, she had to admit that this was where her life began to take a turn to somewhere she never expected it to go. She hadn't expected Cooper to even be alive, let alone to fall in love with him.
"Bring the sheets in and we can start making the bed," she said, walking into her room.
Cooper followed behind her, picking up what he'd brought in. "It's only been around 2 and a half months since we were here. Why does it feel like it's been longer?"
"I feel the same way," Amelia replied, taking the bottom sheet from him, unfolding it. "If we end up liking it, we'll have to do this from time to time, while we still can." She stretched the sheet over the mattress with ease.
She took the top sheet from Cooper and began to unfold it, as well. "The pillows are in my backpack," he said, trying to help her. "I can get those together."
"Thank you," Amelia said as he left the room. She looked at the bed and weakly smiled to herself.
Cooper still held her, letting her talk. "I got here and thought that just maybe, maybe Wolf was alive, but he wasn't. And you weren't with me, and dad was dead, and I was alone!"
"I'm never leaving you alone like that again, you hear me?" Cooper exclaimed, feeling Amelia nod. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Please don't. Stay." Cooper gently smiled at that statement, happy that she wanted him here just as badly as he wanted to be with her.
"Forever," he replied as he held her hand. She attempted to stop crying, her efforts finally working.
"Good," she said as she curled into him. "I'd like that."
After the first kiss
Amelia walked into her room and quickly shut the door, and smiled to herself.
But what if that wasn't what I thought it was? She suddenly began to second guess the situation - he couldn't feel that way about her, but she'd hoped that maybe... This is Cooper we're talking about. He's just a flirt anyway and our situation got the best of us.
She stripped down and put on a big t-shirt, and quickly slid into bed. Maybe, though; maybe he does like me.
"We'll just have to see," she whispered to herself. She pulled the covers up around her neck, thinking to herself how immature she felt in that moment. It was like getting her first kiss all over again. I should not be freaking out over this, but why am I? He's kind of bad, but in a good way, that's why. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else, unable to come up with anything.
Okay, so do the math here, Amelia. He came back out here for you. He could have just stayed at the station, but he didn't - he came out here for you. That made her smile again. And he told you that he couldn't handle you ignoring him again, but maybe that's because you two are the only ones here. She was restless.
You've seen the way he looks at you! It's not normal. Amelia felt a pang of guilt at remembering that Wolf was just outside. He left out of choice, ultimately, she reminded herself. He was noble, but he left because he had a dream to fulfill. He told you that humans were meant to move on - he told you without hesitation that he would move on if you left, and he never kissed you like that. The last time you kissed anyone like that was with Wes Yates in a supply closet and you were 16! She took a big breath before smiling again, thinking about Cooper. He really knows what he's doing. God, and the way he stared at your mouth. She giggled into her pillow.
Across the hall, Cooper was having trouble sleeping as well. Was she into it? He smirked to himself. She did pull me down for more. He chuckled lightly as he stared at the ceiling. He had been waiting and waiting for the right moment to make his move and she unknowingly set it up for him.
He couldn't help but be pleased with himself for the reaction he'd gotten from her; it was as if electricity shot through her in that moment, and she didn't seem to be embarrassed by it like a lot of women would be. And she called you a cocky charmer... that could be good or bad. She also acted like she'd known that for a long time.
Look who we're talkin' about here, buddy: Brand, and she is nothing like anyone else you've ever met. Amelia seemed like the kind of girl who could make glasses sexy. Yeah, that's a good description of her. And she's kind of awkward in that cute way, like she knows it. He felt like getting out of the bed and walking across the hall, seeing if she wanted to go for round two.
Nope. You're not a teenager anymore, Coop. Act like an adult. Was she up thinking about this, too? He hadn't stayed up late from just thinking about a girl since Jill. Well you knew this one was special, too.
"I didn't realize how small this bed is," Cooper said, lacing his left arm under Amelia's. "No wonder we always woke up on each other."
"Yeah, that's the reason for sure," she joked in return. "I think there was a little more to it than that, because I still wake up with half of my body of you anyway."
"That's just because I'm irresistible." He had said that confidently, but she knew he'd been playing around, too.
"Oh, so Cocky Charmer is back tonight, is he?" She heard him laugh.