Chapter 231: Sunny Side Up

"I get plenty of exercise carrying the coffins of my friends who exercise." – Red Skelton

"This coffee plunges into the stomach...the mind is aroused, and ideas pour forth like the battalions of the Grand Army on the field of battle... Memories charge at full gallop...the light cavalry of comparisons deploys itself magnificently; the artillery of logic hurry in with their train of ammunition; flashes of wit pop up like sharp-shooters." – Honore de Balzac

"To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action till the goal is reached. The key is action." – Michael Hanson

Sydney woke slowly on Tuesday morning, stretching carefully as she gazed at the hot morning sunlight coming through her sheer bedroom curtains. It was the start of another sweltering August day. She glanced over at Vaughn who was still peacefully sleeping and then at the clock. It was just after 8am. She slipped out of bed quietly and cautiously, making sure she didn't wake Vaughn.

She padded out into the kitchen and grabbed the paper as she started to make herself some coffee. As she cupped the mug and breathed in the aroma, she smirked, thinking of all the mornings that they had spent barely on time for work because they had spent too much of the early morning occupied with…other things, and of course, always had to stop for coffee.

She scanned the headlines and read about the heat wave that was currently hitting L.A. before settling on a public interest story on the community accent page. She was just about to start an article about two co-stars on a hit television show finding romance when the undeniable sound and feeling of her stomach rumbling made her mind wander in other directions.

She walked to the refrigerator and looked through the contents before pulling out the eggs and cheese and some diced ham that Francie had left from one of her famous dinners. She grabbed Vaughn's favorite breakfast side dish and started to make omelettes and bacon. Once she had it all together, she put it on the usual tray and grabbed his pill bottles and drinks for both of them. She walked in quietly, setting the tray on the floor so she could wake him.

She smiled when his nose twitched, and she swore he mumbled something about bacon in his sleep. She covered her mouth to keep the giggle from escaping and gently touched his chest. "Vaughn…"

He stirred, but he didn't wake.

She suppressed another giggle and touched him again, "Vaughn…"

Still, he didn't wake.

She looked down at the tray and picked up a piece of bacon. Giggles continued to work their way to the surface as she waved the piece of bacon under his nose. "Vaughn…bacon…"

His nose twitched again and he moved slightly, but he still seemed lost in sleep.

She was all out shaking with her giggles as she leaned closer to him, continuing to wave the bacon, "Wake-y, wake-y, eggs and bac-ey…" she said, a torrent of small squeals following.

Her brow furrowed when he still slept.

Finally, she shrugged and popped the bacon in her mouth.

"Syd?"

She snorted, "Now you wake up. After I ATE the bacon. Figures," she said shaking her head.

He looked up at her, "Bacon?"

She chuckled, "I musta really wore you out yesterday huh?"

"Yeah, I'm still tired. Did you say bacon?"

"Morning to you too honey," she said reaching down and shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth.

"Mmm, well…what better way to say good morning than with bacon?"

"Oh, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

He smiled, "What time is it?"

"It's 9:00. I was gonna wait and not wake you but I got hungry."

"S'ok."

"Let's sit you up," she said as she helped him sit and then placed the tray on his lap before sitting on her side of the bed.

"Omelettes?"

"Yeah, why?"

He smiled, "Nothing…"

"What?"

"More French food?"

She giggled, "I didn't even think about that…I should have had that line…"

"Beat ya to it."

"Yeah," she cut up the omelette and handed him the fork while she grabbed her cup of coffee.

She looked at him as he started to eat, "You want some coffee?"

He turned to look at her, "You're gonna let me have coffee?"

"Yeah, I think you're well enough," she said with a smile. "Want me to get you some?"

"Sure."

She set her cup on the nightstand and went off to get him a cup. She handed it to him carefully and then waited until he had it situated before she sat on the bed again.

"Damn…I missed coffee…" he said nostalgically.

She chuckled, "I'm surprised you didn't ask me earlier."

"I thought about it."

She smiled and watched him with his cup of coffee, taking a few bites of the omelettes. She grabbed his pill bottles and started to take out his pills. "You still in a lot of pain?"

"Sometimes. It wasn't as bad, but the surgery kinda brought them up again."

Sydney smiled as she opened his antibiotic bottle, showing him the inside of the bottle, "Look at that – only one day left after today."

"Cool," Vaughn said happily, accepting the array of pills. "One less…I'll take it."

"I'll bet," she said running her hand through his hair. "What do you wanna do today?"

He smiled at her, "Well…I thought we could take a run, and then I think we should drive to the beach and go for a swim. Later, possibly, we'll have sex under the boardwalk and almost get caught. We can follow that up with another row at home, maybe a shower…" he looked over at her.

She smirked, "That's quite a full day you have planned there."

"Yeah," he said looking down at the tray of breakfast food.

She thought a moment, "How about we start out with some exercises…maybe take a shower and do some work this afternoon…"

He smiled as he turned to look at her, "Yeah, we could do that."

"Soon honey…soon we'll be able to do all that stuff."

He sighed, "Yeah."

"You can play Xbox…"

He laughed, "Yeah, I can play Xbox."

"You wanna try some exercises now?"

"Sure."

"Ok, you remember how to do the crunches?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"K, we have to lay you down first."

They fell into the exercise routine he followed before; Sydney let Vaughn set the pace, and he managed to do more crunches than he had in the past. She smiled as she helped him sit back, "That was good."

He smiled back at her, proud that he had made her proud of him.

"Can we try walking…"

"Sure."

"Walking…somewhere I mean."

"Where somewhere?"

"Just walking…I want to try to walk somewhere."

She looked at him unsurely, "Um…ok…how far are we talking here?"

"Not far…I just want to see if I can walk…"

"Ok…maybe we should start out with me helping you and then…you can try by yourself?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Ok," Sydney said, moving again to help him stand, but he started to move by himself. She backed off, letting him wince through the movement until he wormed his way to the edge of the bed. She smiled at him again, "My aren't we industrious today."

He reached out his hand with a smirk and shook his head when she was going to grab onto the sling. "No," he said simply.

"Vaughn–"

"No. I want to do it."

She sighed and took his hand in hers, pulling him up and letting him do the rest. She moved closer once he was standing, ready to catch him if he would falter. He took his hand out of hers and instead put it on her shoulder for leverage. She waited for his signal to start moving and got it a few seconds later when he looked her in the eye.

He took a deep breath and nodded, "Ok."