Chapter Thirty-Eight: Date Night
Sherry arrived back at the apartments first with Peter and Hana. Peter walked both of them to their door and smiled at Sherry. "Listen, with Nathan and Heidi and Mom and the kids in town, they're expecting me to join them with Olivia and Gabriel for dinner tonight. I was wondering-"
Sherry shook her head. "-You're off the hook for tonight. I know you haven't seen your brother in over a month, it's cool."
"No." Peter shook his head. "I was wondering if you wanted to join us."
Hana smiled at Sherry and Peter as she entered the apartment. "Take him up on it." She whispered as she walked past her new roommate.
Sherry glanced at Hana and then turned back to Peter. "You seriously want me to have dinner with your family?"
"I know you've already met Mom and Heidi, but I'd like for you to get to know Nathan. Besides, Heidi's great and Mom's not so bad once you get used to her. Really."
Sherry smirked. "I doubt that, but yes, I'll join you. Give me about thirty minutes to change?"
Peter beamed. "Sounds great!" As he turned to leave, he greeted Claude and Nikolai. "Fellas." He nodded.
"Peter." Claude's voice was teasing as the young man walked to his personal stairwell and left the floor. Claude turned to Nikolai. "That one's got it bad for our neighbor, I do believe."
"I think so too." Nikolai smiled as they entered their apartment. Collette beamed at them.
"How's the little one?" Claude asked.
"Not a problem at all." Collette shook her head. "So quiet and peaceful, that one. She's a joy."
"Glad to know." Claude reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. "So how much do I owe you for watching her this last hour?"
"Oh put that away!" Collette walked past them. "We're neighbors now, it is the least I can do."
"If you ever need a favor in return-"
"-I'll be sure to ask." Collette nodded as she left their apartment and went to her own next door where Sherry and Hana were talking. She nodded to them both as she went to her room.
"That's Collette." Sherry shrugged. "She's okay. She's quiet and usually just keeps to herself, when she's not upstairs playing 'doctor' with Herbert Osgood."
"Okay." Hana nodded. "So which room is mine?"
"The only one left." Sherry showed her to her room. "Collette and I flipped a coin for the master bedroom, she won." Sherry shrugged. "But the other rooms are pretty big too."
"It doesn't matter." Hana set her knapsack and laptop computer on the bed. "I'm used to much less, usually."
"So that motorcycle in the parking lot is yours huh? Cool!" Sherry turned as the doorbell rang. "Surely Herbert isn't here already! I swear that guy is like a bunny with Collette." Sherry went into the living room and answered the door, surprised to see Claude standing there with Nikolai and Tatiana. "Yes?" She asked as she mugged at Tatiana, making the girl giggle.
Claude fidgeted for a moment. "Is your newest roommate around?"
Sherry leaned back to see Hana walking into the living room. "Hana? It's for you." She grinned as she stepped back to let Hana stand in the doorway.
Hana surveyed Claude and the children coolly. "Yes?"
Claude beamed. "I know you met my young charge Nikolai earlier, but this is little Tatiana." He smiled at the children proudly. "They're great kids." Hana nodded at him. Claude cleared his throat nervously. "Um, anyways, I was going to take them out to dinner and I remembered you had just returned from Africa and you'd just moved in next door, and I know you're probably still moving in and getting unpacked and all, but I was wondering if you'd care to join us for dinner?"
Hana raised an eyebrow. "Is this some sort of ploy? You show me that you're good with children and I fall for you?"
"Will you slap me again if I say yes?"
As Hana took a deep breath, Sherry passed her. "Take him up on it." She whispered.
Hana glanced at Sherry as her roommate winked at her. "Give me a moment to get my coat."
"That's great!" Claude smiled.
"Get handsy and your soon-to-be children will get an instant lesson on how easy it is to rip a man's thumbs off." Hana turned to grab her coat as Sherry smiled at her. "I don't know why I'm doing this." She muttered.
"Because he's handsome, even if he is handsy, and he's great with kids. I don't know about you, but a man who's that good with kids is basically catnip for me."
Hana blushed for a moment. "I'll be back later." She turned and left the apartment with Claude and his young charges.
As they arrived in the lobby, Olivia and Gabriel were coming into the building. The moment she saw them, Tatiana's face lit up. "GAY-BREEL! OH-LEEV-YA!" She squealed as she ran to them.
"Tatiana!" Gabriel knelt down with Olivia and smiled as both of them hugged her fiercely. Tatiana kissed both of them on the cheek before Gabriel swept her up into his arms. "How have you been today, cutie?"
Tatiana smiled as she concentrated. "I . . am . . . very . . . well. How. . . are . . . you?"
Gabriel beamed. "I'm very good." He looked at Claude. "She's doing well with her English lessons."
"I try to teach her whenever I can." Nikolai nodded.
"You're doing a wonderful job with her." Gabriel kissed her on the cheek and hugged her again before he set her down, smiling as she skipped back over to Claude. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed Hana. "Going out to dinner?"
Claude nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact we are. Care to join us?"
Olivia sighed. "We'd love to, but Angela has informed us that we WILL be having dinner with her and the family tonight."
"Oh lovely." Claude rolled his eyes. "A night with the Empress herself, I see."
"Trust me, I'd rather have dinner with Cutie-Pie there, than my battle-ax mother-in-law." Gabriel sighed.
"And the battle-ax wouldn't miss you a bit if you joined them." Angela hissed as she walked into the building with Heidi, Nathan and the boys. As Claude and his group laughed and walked away, Angela swept past Gabriel to kiss Olivia on the cheek. "How have you been, dear? I see you're finally gaining some weight back. Try not to gain too much though."
"I like a woman I can grab onto, you can gain all you want." Gabriel winked at his wife.
"Ignore them both." Nathan hugged his sister. "How are you?"
"Good." Olivia hugged her brother back tightly before turning to Heidi and the boys, hugging them in turn. "Been busy keeping everyone in line?" She whispered to Heidi.
"It's hard work, but someone's got to do it." Heidi grinned at her.
Nathan shook Gabriel's hand. "How are you?"
"Great." Gabriel nodded. "How's Congress?"
"Boring as hell." Nathan laughed. "Taking care of my sister?"
"As much as she'll let me."
"Do that, and we'll never have a problem." Nathan nodded. "Can you guys give us a few minutes to get settled in and then we'll meet you at your place?"
"Sounds good." Olivia nodded.
Everyone got into the elevator, with Olivia and Gabriel getting off on the tenth floor. As they walked to their apartment, Gabriel glanced at his wife, noticing the smile on her face as she looked at him. "What?" He asked as they entered their home.
"You." She turned and kissed him as he walked through the door. "Do you have any idea how sexy you are when you act all 'doting daddy' with Tatiana? I could jump your bones right now."
"If only we didn't have to join your pain-in-the-ass family for dinner." Gabriel sighed as he kissed his wife back. "I take that back though, Heidi and the boys aren't pains in the ass. Peter's okay too, I guess."
"Nathan's a good guy too." Olivia smiled. "You're so sweet with that little girl."
"It's the easiest thing in the world." Gabriel sighed as he went to the bedroom to change clothes. "When she looks up at me with those sweet eyes, I melt. She's the only person around here who DOESN'T know about the things I've done in my past and even when she finds out one day, I don't think she'll judge me. Besides you, I think she's the only person who doesn't have any fear of me on any level. I like what she sees when she looks at me, like I like what you usually see when you look at me."
Olivia leaned in the doorway. "Except when I bust you in a meeting when someone mentions an intriguing power." She stared at the floor for a moment. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay." Gabriel shrugged.
"No, it's not." Olivia looked over at him. "You laughed it off, but I know I hurt your feelings by assuming you wanted to go 'Sylar' on our prisoner."
Gabriel looked at his wife, then looked away. "You didn't hurt my feelings, trust me. The truth is, for a moment, I wanted more than anything to run down the hall to that woman's cell and forget every stride I've made these last three months." He turned back to his wife. "You were right about what I wanted."
"It didn't make it right to bust you on it in the meeting in front of everyone." Olivia walked to Gabriel and hugged him. "I'm sorry."
"And you're forgiven." Gabriel kissed her, then winked. "You can make it up to me later."
"Oh, I'll make it up to you in ways that will make our neighbors think I'm killing you in here." Olivia winked back. "Speaking of powers-"
"-And here we go." Gabriel turned to Olivia as he sat on the bed. "You want to know where he got that force field from, don't you?"
"Well, yeah!" Olivia sighed as she sat next to him. "Whoever this person is, we have to bring them in and convince them to join us, not just give us blood samples. If Linderman found them-"
"-Linderman isn't going to find this person." Gabriel smiled softly at Olivia. "She hasn't been born yet."
"What?" Olivia stared at him. "But then, how did Peter-" She trailed off as her eyes widened. "Oh my God. Faith?" Gabriel nodded as Olivia gasped. "Our secret weapon is our daughter. She's going to be the one who could very easily save us all."
"That's a definite probability." Gabriel grinned as he got up and finished changing clothes. "Is it wrong that I want to conceive her now, that I don't want to wait nine more months to even TRY for her and wait EIGHTEEN months to see her?"
"It's not wrong." Olivia shook her head. "But if we tried now, it wouldn't be Faith. She'd never exist. We have to wait." She stood up and kissed her husband on the cheek. "It's driving me crazy waiting for that right time to even try for her. I feel the same way you do, I want her now, especially when I see how you are with Tatiana."
Gabriel sighed. "Well, if we can't try for her now, we can at least have a lot of fun practicing."
Olivia giggled. "Yes, we certainly can." As they started to kiss, the doorbell rang. "Damn." She muttered.
"They're YOUR family." Gabriel quipped as they left their apartment and joined the Petrellis for dinner.
They arrived in the lobby to see Peter waiting there with Sherry. Angela's eyes narrowed as she stared at her. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked. Her eyes widened as she finally recognized the girl. "Dear God. You're that girl from Newark."
"And you're that hag from Manhattan. Good to see you again." She smiled at Heidi. "How are you doing?"
Heidi laughed softly. "I'm great." She hugged Sherry. "Just let it roll off of you, whatever she says." She whispered.
"Trust me, she's water, and I'm the duck's back." Sherry whispered back.
"So tell me, Mr. Big-Brother Congressman," Olivia leaned back in her chair with her drink at the restaurant. "how are things REALLY going on Capitol Hill, besides boring of course?"
Nathan sighed. "Honestly, there's not much to say. We sit around, we bitch and argue with each other, we listen to lobbyists try to buy our votes, we listen to our fellow Congressmen try to buy our votes and in the end, we occasionally actually try to make laws."
"Our government in action, Ladies and Gentlemen." Gabriel mused.
"In a nutshell." Nathan raised his glass at Gabriel. "It's just a big dog and pony show for the most part. Right now, I'm just trying to keep my head above water, try not to piss the wrong people off and see what I can do for the greater good." He sipped his drink and shrugged. "I actually envy what you guys are doing here. I wish I could be more of a part of it right now. What you all are doing? THAT really is for the greater good. We're all people with special abilities, banding together and hoping that, in defeating a megalomaniac one day, we'll save the world from being his slaves."
"I'll drink to that." Peter lifted his own glass. "To the greater good," he smiled for a moment at Sherry "and to the friends we make along the way."
As everyone drank to Peter's toast, Angela eyed Sherry. "So tell me, Dear, what do you have to offer this family, besides a family tree that boasts an ability to cap and whack their opponents?"
Sherry shrugged. "Well, we might what our enemies, even blow them up, but we've never tried to get our own son to lost his shit and blow up a whole city."
Angela cocked her head to the side. "You're actually much prettier than I remember. I suppose Tammy Faye Baker's make-up artist is no longer on your payroll?"
Heidi leaned towards Sherry. "Ignore her. She still accuses me of wearing contact lenses. She swore for the first three years that Nathan and I were married that 'no one's eyes are naturally that color'."
"I still wonder about that, actually." Angela mused. "They're such a strange shade of blue."
Heidi rolled her eyes as Gabriel laughed softly. "I'm just glad to see that Mom here has a new verbal punching bag."
Angela's eyes snapped towards him. "When will you EVER stop calling me that?"
"Why should I?" Gabriel's eyes widened innocently. "I just love you so much, Mom."
Angela looked away as everyone laughed softly. "Why my children choose to partner themselves with-"
"-With what, Mom?" Peter looked over at her, a warning look in his eyes. "Please, finish that sentence."
Angela glared at Peter and Olivia. "The two of you could do SO much better!" She puffed up and looked away again as her two youngest children rolled her eyes.
"Yeah." Peter muttered. "Because you've always made such wonderful decisions yourself."
After dinner, Peter left the restaurant with Sherry. In the parking lot of the apartment building, Sherry stared at the dashboard. "That wasn't uncomfortable at all."
Peter shook his head. "Mom's just-" he sighed "-I'm not even going to defend her. She loves me and Nathan and Olivia, but she doesn't know what's best for us, she never has."
"I'm sorry that I baited her." Sherry turned to Peter.
Peter looked at her, smiling. "I'm glad you did. I like seeing someone stand up to her like you and Heidi and Gabriel did tonight. I think she needs to get knocked off of her horse sometimes. I love her, but sometimes, hell most of the time, she goes too far."
Sherry made a face and stared at the dashboard again. "But still, this was my first dinner with your family, technically it was my first real date with you and-"
"-and you handled yourself like a pro." Peter reached over and tucked a light brown strand of hair behind her ear. "You did great tonight."
Sherry looked over at him. "Really?"
"Really." He got out of the car and walked over to her side, opening the door for her and helping her out. "What do you say to the two of us finishing that movie?"
"I say that sounds like a great idea." Sherry took Peter's hand, smiling at him. They walked into the building as Olivia and Gabriel pulled up, followed by Nathan, Heidi, Angela and the boys.
Olivia and Gabriel quickly made their way into the building and dashed to the elevator before the rest of the family could get inside the lobby. "GOD! That was excruciating!" Olivia leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "That woman wears me out."
"You and me both." Gabriel frowned.
Olivia looked up at him, smiling softly. "She can talk all she wants, but I'll never do better than you, and I'll never want to try." She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I love you."
"I'm glad." Gabriel kissed her. "I'd hate to think I was in this whole 'crazy in love' thing all by myself." As they stepped onto their floor, they looked up in surprise as the adjacent elevator also opened and Sherry and Peter stepped out. "Hello you two." Gabriel smiled wickedly. "Date's not over yet, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at them.
Peter rolled his eyes and held up the DVD box. "Herbert and Collette moved their sexcapades to her apartment downstairs. We wanted to watch this in peace and quiet."
"Uh-huh. Have fun you two!" Gabriel laughed as Olivia playfully popped him in the stomach. "WHAT?"
As they headed towards their apartment and Peter and Sherry headed to theirs, Mohinder stepped out of the elevator, looking at both couples. "Hello everyone."
Peter grinned. "Hey. How was dinner with the Bennets?"
"Great." Mohinder smiled as he followed Peter and Sherry into the apartment, glancing at Olivia and Gabriel entering theirs with a wistful look.
Peter nodded his head at Sherry. "Our roommate and her roommate were getting loud downstairs, so we came up here."
"JUST to watch a movie though." Sherry nodded.
"That's good." Mohinder shrugged. "So I suppose Herbert will be downstairs all night. Good. I could use a good night's sleep before tomorrow's test. Don't let me interrupt." He quickly walked to his room and closed the door.
Sherry gaped at Peter. "You COULD have invited him to stay and watch this with us."
"I didn't get a chance to." Peter frowned. "Poor guy, I feel kind of bad. Both of his roommates are dating, the woman he had a serious crush on is married to a man he considers to be his arch nemesis, and he's just alone with his research."
"Which is WHY you should have asked him to stay in here and hang out with us." Sherry shook her head. "Sometimes, you're a good friend and sometimes, you're kind of dense."
Peter turned to her smiling softly. "I know, and sometimes, I just want to be alone with someone I want to get to know better." He nodded to the couch. "Let's watch a movie."
Nathan got out of his car without a word as Angela continued to talk. "And that GIRL! What on EARTH is Peter THINKING? I think we all know what he's thinking WITH, but he cannot be serious about her!"
Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to Angela. "You know Mom, sometimes, you don't have to say EVERY thought that enters your head. I personally LIKE Sherry."
"Me too." Heidi sighed as they walked towards the front doors.
"Of course you would, you little parrot. If Nathan says it's so, then it is definitely so, right?"
"Why don't you just SHUT UP for once?" Heidi rolled her eyes as they entered the lobby.
Nathan smiled as Claire entered the lobby with Lyle, Molly, Micah, Nikolai, Tatiana and Sanjog, with Niki and Sandra in tow as their chaperones. "Hey!" He hugged her. "Where are you guys off to?"
"Miniature golf." Claire nodded.
"Do you need anything?" He reached for his wallet and stopped as Claire smiled and shook her head.
"We're fine. We're going in a group, we've been told to be safe and be back in our apartments, NOT the lobby, NOT the elevators, but in our apartments by midnight, so we need to run if we even want to play one hole, much less eighteen." She turned to Simon and Monty. "You guys want to come too?" Nathan nodded to his sons as they looked up at him hopefully and handed them some money. "They'll be home soon too, I promise." Claire kissed Nathan and Heidi on the cheeks before she dashed out the door.
Heidi smiled and turned to see an equally happy smile on her husband's face. "She's a good kid."
Nathan nodded. "No, she's a wonderful young woman." He hugged his wife for a moment, before they entered the elevator with Angela.
Their smiles faded as Angela turned on them, frowning. "And just what did you mean by 'shut up'?"
Peter nudged Sherry as the movie ended. "Hey." Sherry's eyes flew open as she sat up. Peter grinned. "I wasn't the one who fell asleep this time."
"I'm sorry." Sherry shook her head. "After the grief I gave you-"
"-I know." Peter laughed softly. "You must have been tired."
"I really was." She shrugged. "So how was the movie?"
"It was okay."
They stared at each other for a moment, then Peter leaned towards her and kissed her. As he started to pull away, Sherry touched his face and pulled him close to kiss her again. As their kiss intensified, Sherry stopped him and backed away for a moment. "I'm not a slut."
"I know." Peter nodded.
"I just wanted you to know that. I just wanted to say it out loud. I'm not a slut. I've fallen for guys in the past way too easily, and I've done stuff with them way too fast, but I swear I'm not a slut."
Peter ran his fingers through her hair. "I never thought you were."
"This is different. The way I'm starting to feel about you is different than I've felt about other guys. I don't want to screw it up by going too fast or-"
Peter sat up. "-Then we'll go slow. You set the pace, okay?"
Sherry smiled and sighed with relief. "Good." She leaned towards him and began to kiss him again. After a few minutes of kissing each other, Sherry groaned and backed away. "Shit, I really should go."
"Okay." Peter nodded.
"I don't want to go, but if I stay-"
"-I understand." Peter stood up and took Sherry's hand. "Do you want me to walk you to your apartment downstairs?"
Sherry sighed. "Collette and Herbert are down there. Crap."
"Then stay up here." Peter held up a hand. "You can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."
"I'm not putting you out of your own bed." Sherry fidgeted. "We don't have to DO anything if I sleep over."
"Absolutely not." Peter shook his head. He took Sherry's hand and led her to his room. She stopped for a moment at Mohinder's door, looking at it sadly before following Peter.
"We should fix him up with someone."
Peter handed Sherry a tee shirt. "Yeah, but who?"
"I don't know." She took the shirt and stepped into the bathroom as Peter undressed and climbed into bed. She stepped out of the bathroom wearing his shirt and stopped, staring at him for a moment.
"What?" Peter smiled at her.
Sherry shook her head as she climbed into bed beside Peter. "Nothing. I just realized that I completely forgot what I was talking about."
Peter leaned over and kissed her. "You were discussing my lovelorn roommate."
"Yeah, we'll discuss him later." Sherry cuddled beside Peter, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. "Right now, I just want to lie here with you."
"Your mother." Heidi sighed as she climbed into bed beside Peter. "She drives me to distraction sometimes."
Nathan grinned as he leaned over, kissing his wife. "Do you know what drives ME to distraction? You in that nightie."
Heidi giggled as Nathan slid his hand under the covers. "Are YOU trying to distract me now?"
"I'll do anything to keep you from talking about my mother at a time like this." Nathan leaned over and kissed his wife passionately.
Olivia and Gabriel lay in bed, breathing heavily after making love. "Forgive me now?" Olivia laughed softly as she rested on top of her husband, her head on his chest.
"After that, I'd forgive you for anything." Gabriel stroked his wife's hair as he stared at the ceiling. "That was hot."
"I know." Olivia sat up and straddled her husband, leaning down to kiss him. "How would you like an encore."
Gabriel sighed with pleasure. "I'd like that very much, thank you."
"OH GOD!" Herbert moaned as Collette rolled off of him and cuddled beside him. He gasped for air as he kissed his girlfriend. "You, My Dear, are a work of art."
"As are you." Collette kissed him back. "Tell me more about this secret weapon Peter was talking about at the meeting?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Everyone will." Herbert yawned. And now I'm exhausted, finally." He pulled Collette close, wrapping his arms around her. "I can't get enough of you." He murmured as he dozed off.
Collette's eyes closed as she started to doze as well, then flew open as her cell phone rang. Frowning, she rolled over and answered it, but before she could speak, all she heard was static before the phone went dead. Collette's eyes glazed over as she set her phone down and climbed out of bed, glancing at Herbert to make sure he was still sleeping. She pulled on her clothes and went to her nightstand, pulling out a sheet of paper and an envelope. She went to the kitchen and began to write. "Meeting tonight. P. Petrelli discussed a secret weapon. Will know more later." She put the note in the envelope and balled it up. Her eyes still glazed over, she left her apartment quietly and walked down the stairs. She slipped out of the front door and crossed the street, throwing the note in a trash can before crossing back to re-enter the building.
As soon as Collette entered the building, Sandra and Niki arrived back with the children. While everyone else walked into the lobby, Claire and Nikolai hung back. "I had a good time." Nikolai nodded.
Claire smiled. "I did too." She glanced inside as Sandra herded all of the children into the elevator and made eye contact. Sandra pointed to her watch and then held up five fingers. Claire nodded and turned back to Nikolai. "Maybe we can go grab a movie sometime."
"That would be good." Nikolai smiled. "Maybe without everyone else."
"That would be great." Claire's smile widened as Nikolai held the door open for her, then followed her inside, taking her hand as they made their way to the elevators.
Moments after Claire and Nikolai entered the building, a middle-aged blond haired man passed by the apartments on the sidewalk across the street. He stopped at the trash bin and dug through it, pulling out Collette's note and pocketing it before walking away.