He roared, low masculine grunts of pleasure as he plunged into her, filling her. She saw stars.
"What's with the frickin' stars? I've never seen stars, are you doing something wrong? I mean, I have no frame of reference other than you, so..." Helena taunted, fluttering the terrible romance novel in her hands. She lied on her back on the bed, Hunnigan lying next to her, only she was on her stomach, resting her weight on a pillow and her elbows, typing away at the laptop.
"You want stars? Talk to Jill Valentine, she'll give you stars," Hunnigan mumbled absently, focusing mostly on her work. Helena's eyebrow quirked. Had Leon told her about the terrible joke Helena had made about wanting to bed Jill Valentine? Naw, he wouldn't... then again, why else would Hunnigan say that?
"Maybe the stars appear only when you're with a guy. Not that that makes any sense either," Helena mused, sliding past Hunnigan's comment about Jill.
"Helena, please," Hunnigan sighed deeply.
"Well, excuse me, but I do believe you said you'd turn that thing off an hour ago, hence why I am killing time reading this dreadful thing. What are you doing anyway?"
"Penetration testing," Hunnigan responded and Helena turned to look at her slowly. It took a few seconds for Hunnigan to realize what she'd said.
"Oh, stop snickering, it just means I am testing our defenses by trying to essentially hack the agency."
"I liked my mental image better," Helena sighed and went back to reading the book. She gave Hunnigan until the end of yet another awful chapter before she put the book away and informed Hunnigan that they'd be late unless she got a move on.
"Late for what?" Hunnigan frowned and Helena rolled her eyes at the older woman. Of course she'd forgotten.
"A little thing called a parent-teacher-meeting. One that I don't think I have any reason to be at, but you insisted I join."
"Augh, didn't we just go to one?"
Helena chuckled and got out of bed as Hunnigan reluctantly began to get up as well and shut the computer down.
"I wonder what they want to talk about now," she muttered, a part of her worrying Levi had gotten into another fight with Fred... or whoever. Then again, she supposed that if he had, the teachers would've called her right away.
"They probably just want to praise him for being such an awesome young man," Helena shrugged as she headed out of the bedroom.
"Is it bad that you seem to have more faith in him than I do?" Hunnigan pondered as she followed the younger woman, shrugging on her jacket to finish her trademark "suited government agent"-look.
"Could be, but in your defense, he probably behaves better around me because he still thinks of me as one of the cool kids. And, you know, I love that kid, so I foolishly give him the benefit of the doubt most of the time," Helena smirked and went to unlock the car as Hunnigan locked up the house.
"You love him?" Hunnigan quirked an eyebrow as she sat in the passenger's seat and Helena paused for a moment when she realized what she'd said.
"Yeah," she chuckled, "I really do, actually," she then nodded. She hadn't thought much about it, she'd had no reason to, but the truth was, she really enjoyed spending time with Levi, even when Hunnigan wasn't around, and she'd noticed she missed the kid when she didn't have a chance to hang out with him.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, and I'm sure the feeling's mutual," Hunnigan smiled.
"Has there been a change in Levi's living environment recently?" Mrs. Taylor inquired and Hunnigan barely witheld a scoff.
"You mean other than his mother passing away not very long ago?" she asked back instead, trying not to sound sarcastic about it, but failing. Helena nudged her leg under the table. Granted, the last meeting with the teacher hadn't gone exactly well, but there was no need to be hostile... yet anyway.
"Uh, well, I have been staying at the house more recently," Helena answered, "But if that somehow affects Levi negatively, I could... do that less?" she finished awkwardly, sincerely hoping it wouldn't come to that.
"Oh, no, on the contrary," Mrs. Taylor shook her head, "Levi is doing splendidly. He's already beginning to read quite confidently and his writing is above average too."
That was probably because whenever Helena got sick of having to read the same damn Spider-Man books over and over, she'd suggested that Levi reads to her instead. When he'd insisted he didn't know how, she'd suggested he'd try and she'd help him figure it out.
"So, whatever the change, it's been really good for him."
"That's... great," Hunnigan said slowly, still expecting a "but" in there somewhere. It didn't come. Not even when discussing Levi's behavior and the spat he'd gotten into with Fred. Ever since the incident, he'd known to avoid the other boy for most of the time.
"He's a smart and a well-behaved boy, you have nothing to worry about," Mrs. Taylor assured and Hunnigan believed her. With that, the meeting ended.
"She could've told me all that over the phone," Hunnigan muttered as she walked along the hallway toward the classroom where she knew Levi would be at.
"Ingrid, that's not the point," Helena rolled her eyes and the other woman sighed a little. She didn't have a chance to argue about it; Levi exited the classroom just then and ran to her and Helena upon seeing the two.
"Hello, sir!" Hunnigan greeted and caught him into her arms when he jumped at her.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"I was chatting with your teacher," she answered and for a moment Levi looked worried.
"Am I in trouble again? I didn't do it! I was on the moon at the time!" he pre-emptively denied any guilt with what to him seemed like a completely reasonable explanation, and Hunnigan chuckled softly.
"No, sir, you're not in trouble. In fact, your teacher said you're doing really well in school. I'm proud of you," she told him and kissed his cheek.
"Thanks," he grinned.
"I think this calls for ice cream. What do you think, sir?" Hunnigan then inquired and he inhaled a deep, excited breath.
"I want a shake and fries! Double fries!" he decided.
"All right, then that's what we're doing," Hunnigan agreed with a smile.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the fast food restaurant, and contrary to the usual routine, they headed inside instead of the drive-thru. Levi picked them a booth next to the window and slid into the seat, Helena taking a seat across from him as Hunnigan went to place the order.
Helena noticed a little corner reserved for things like coloring books and some toys to keep the kids busy while waiting for their food, and was about to suggest to Levi that they could head over to do something if he wanted to, but the boy was preoccupied by something else. He was watching intently as a man unwrapped a burger for his son (at least Helena presumed that was teh case) and handed it over. Nothing out of the ordinary about that really, and for a while Helena thought Levi was curious about the man's visible tattoos and stretched earlobes, but apparently, that wasn't it.
"Is he the dad?" Levi asked.
"I guess so?" Helena answered and Levi turned his attention to her then.
"Why don't I have a dad? Other kids have dads."
"Some kids do, others have only a mom or a dad... and some, like you, have two moms or two dads."
"Yeah, but why?"
"Well..." Helena cleared her throat awkwardly. This wasn't really conversation she felt she should be having with the boy. Backup was apparently unavailable; Hunnigan was still waiting in line to order.
"Sometimes a boy and a girl fall in love..."
"Blergh," Levi interjected, making face and Helena chuckled.
I agree, she mused but didn't say as much out loud.
"And sometimes a boy and another boy fall in love, or then a girl and another girl."
"Like you and Idgie."
"Exactly," Helena nodded, "and sometimes couples like that also want children, so that's why different kids have different kinds of families," she shrugged then, mentally congratulating herself for having managed to answer that. Her joy was premature, she had managed to dodge one bullet, but there was another following up.
"I know who my mom is, but you still need a dad too to make a baby," he narrowed his eyes at Helena.
God damn it, that kid is too fucking smart, she sighed mentally.
"Not always, some couples adopt a baby."
"Am I adopted?" he gasped, his concerned look that bordered on terrified by the mere thought genuine.
"No, sir, you're not, it's just... uhm..." Helena stuttered.
"Well, technically, you are because I adopted you after you were born, so, I guess you could say..." Hunnigan began and set the tray down before holding out her hand a little and proclaiming in a lowered, dramatic voice, "I am your father."
Helena snorted at the gesture a little, both of them knowing that Levi wouldn't get the Star Wars-reference (and, frankly, Hunnigan wasn't sure if Helena would either, but judging from her reaction, she got the joke). He laughed merely at the odd tone of voice he'd never heard from Hunnigan before.
"Where are the fries?" Levi then asked, reaching for his shake that was on the tray.
"They're making a fresh batch, they'll bring them over when they're done," Hunnigan answered and sat next to him. Levi seemed to forget the father-issue as he concentrated on his shake, and Hunnigan sighed in relief internally. She'd known this day would come, she'd just expected that Alexis would be around to do the explaining. Recently, she'd come to realize she'd expected that for a lot of things that had now become her responsibility.
It was a strange feeling being afraid of taking responsibility for raising one little boy when at times she could carry the weight of the world on her shoulders without even flinching.
"Who the hell are you?"
The woman who is about to punch you in the face for something you did over a decade ago, Helena thought, but decided not to go there, it would be better for everyone involved if she even made an effort to be friendly, she supposed.
"Helena Harper," she responded and stepped aside from the door to allow Krista in.
"You're not one of the regulars," the older woman commented as she moved past Helena and entered the house.
"Regulars?" Helena parroted and Krista quirked an eyebrow, looking at her like she was slow.
"The re-gu-lars," she elaborated, louder than necessary and as if talking to an idiot.
"No, I'm not a-" Helena began to explain that she wasn't a nanny when Hunnigan came to the foyer and questioned her mother's presence.
"It's nice to see you too, Ingrid," Krista responded and Hunnigan sighed loudly, her entire being seeming to slump a little.
"I wish you would've called, if we'd known you were coming, we could've made plans to stay in for the evening," she commented. Helena's eyebrows rose, she hadn't known there'd been plans to go out, on the contrary. She caught on quickly and offered Hunnigan a subtle nod to let her know as much.
"Well, I'm here now, and it's been a long trip, so indulge an old woman and reschedule whatever you got planned," the elder Hunnigan shrugged, as if were perfectly acceptable for her to expect her daughter to agree to such terms. Much to Helena's surprise, Hunnigan actually did cave in, and amazingly easily at that.
What's wrong with her? she thought, frowning a little as Krista set her bag aside and headed to the kitchen, mumbling something about scrounging up a cup of coffee and then proceeding to criticize the coffee that was served on her flight over to D.C. from Minnesota.
"Where's my little pride and joy, where's Levi?" she then inquired, taking a seat at the kitchen table, obviously expecting the coffee to be made for her.
"He's with Frank," Hunnigan responded as she began to cater to the needs of mother dearest... or, as she preferred to call her most of the time, mother damn-est.
"Oh, well, that's good, a boy needs to spend time with men too," Krista commented and Helena saw the muscles in Hunnigan's jaw tighten as she bit her teeth together so hard she could've chipped one, and inhaled deeply through her nose.
"Yes, which is exactly why I've made sure he has male role models," Hunnigan said through clenched teeth, not letting her mother take credit for something that hadn't been her thought in the first place, and not letting her keep thinking she'd actually managed to get away with jabbing that subtle criticism about Hunnigan's parenting and sexual preferences into the conversation.
"So, to what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?" Hunnigan then inquired, hoping she didn't sound quite as venomous as she felt.
"Just wanted to check in on you. Figured, maybe you could use a hand after everything," Krista shrugged and Hunnigan barely managed to contain a scoff.
"I'm fine," she said instead and poured the coffee before handing the mug over and then returning to grab the sugar from the cabinet.
"Sorry, there's no cream," Hunnigan muttered then as she put the sugar and milk onto the table.
"This'll do," Krista commented as she dropped several teaspoons of sugar into the dark liquid before pouring the milk. Hunnigan didn't join her for a cup of coffee, instead she leaned her back to the counter and crossed her arms over her abdomen.
"Why are you really here?" she questioned and Krista rolled her eyes as she sipped the coffee.
"Does a mother need a reason to visit her daughter?"
"When the mother is you, yes. What, did you expect to walk in and find everything on fire, because clearly, as far as you're concerned, I can't possibly handle my life myself?"
"Well, it wouldn't have been the first time I've had to put out fires that you've started," Krista shrugged and Hunnigan's hands balled into tight fists as she tried to keep herself from just exploding. Helena cleared her throat a little and nodded toward the living room.
"Excuse me," Hunnigan muttered and followed the younger woman to the other room, letting out a long, agitated exhale.
"I'm sorry," she apologized then.
"You don't have to be," Helena assured, "Do you want me to go?" she asked quietly then.
"I don't want you to go, but I'd also rather not expose you to my mother if I can avoid it," Hunnigan smirked.
"Want me to punch her for you?" Helena teased and Hunnigan chuckled softly, shaking her head a little.
"How about you go home and I'll call you once I've figured out what she wants and get her out of the house?" she suggested then.
"Are you sure? I'd really rather not leave you alone," Helena muttered and Hunnigan nodded.
"It's okay, trust me. Go home," she said and leaned to silence Helena's further objections with a soft kiss. The younger woman wrapped her arms around Hunnigan and held her tightly for a moment before reluctantly loosening her grip.
"Call me if you need to vent," she then grinned.
"I'll call you every five minutes," Hunnigan said and Helena chuckled softly. She pulled her jacket on and exited the house as Hunnigan returned to the kitchen.
"So, that young thing, huh," Krista commented.
"What about her?" Hunnigan sighed and took a seat at the kitchen table, expecting the usual commentary about how Helena was either too good or not good enough, all opinions which Krista had made based on not knowing Helena at all.
"Well..." Krista shrugged.
"All right, just what the hell do you want?" Hunnigan finally snapped, "Did you come here to tell me my life decisions are all wrong, or did you come here just so you could tell me what a terrible job I am doing as a parent?"
"I didn't say that."
"Good! Just because you failed as a mother doesn't mean that I will!" Hunnigan spat, knowing she was spewing poison, but as hurtful as her words were, they were also justified, "So, just say whatever you came to say and get the hell out of my house," Hunnigan added in a mutter then and Krista exhaled deeply.
"I'm dying."