August 8, 2010
~*~ CP ~*~
Carol wakes to the very unfamiliar experience of being draped against Merle's naked form. He's on his stomach, having shifted in the night, but she's managed to end up with a leg over the back of his, her foot tucked between his calves. When she lifts her arm from across his back to check the time on her watch, he stirs until she runs her hand along his spine. She marvels that the touch soothes him back into sleep. With the ruin of his back from the long-ago acquired scars, she would have thought someone touching his back while he is sleeping and vulnerable would disturb him.
She hasn't even really seen the majority of the damage, since he was on his back for almost all of her explorations and teasing last night. She got the feeling he had been trying not to box her in so it would be easier for her to call a halt if she changed her mind. Taking charge of sex was a novelty for certain. It had been good the first few years with Ed, but even then, he had to be the one directing everything. Then it went bad for several, leaving her grateful and relieved when he lost interest four years ago around the time he got a new secretary at work. Most wives might be upset about the affair, but she ended up just happy the other woman was stupid enough to trade blowjobs for job security.
"You should get more sleep," Merle mumbles into the pillow. "Even the birdies aren't awake yet."
Crap. Apparently, she did wake him. "Sorry. I'm not used to..."
He raises up and taps the lamp by the futon, rolling enough to jostle her leg off his. His expression is concerned, and it digs hooks even deeper into her heart. "You okay? Not regretting last night?"
"No." She smiles to reassure him. "It's just been a long time since I slept with anyone."
"Literally sleep or..."
"Both actually. Sharing a tent at the quarry was the first time I slept in something resembling the same room as Ed in about six years."
"And the other?"
"He got a big breasted blonde secretary too stupid to work a computer four years ago and decided he wasn't interested in a wife on the wrong side of thirty anymore except to have a maid and housekeeper." And someone to slap around when he was drunk or something went wrong at work, but she doesn't really want to think about that, not here next to a man she knows would never lay a finger on her.
"Knew the man was stupid. Now I'm thinking he was blind too." He's gentle in the touch as he runs a hand from her hip to her ribs, stopping his hand with his thumb just under her left breast. She's not sure he intends it to be erotic, but it is.
"Merle, I am over thirty and I'm not pretty like Maggie or..." She touches a hand involuntarily to her short cropped grey hair as she speaks, but she doesn't get to finish expressing the insecurity, because he silences her with the easiness of a kiss.
Just when she's starting to understand the term kissed senseless, he pulls away. She thinks how most would call Merle rugged or handsome, but up close like this, with that gentle expression, she thinks beautiful might fit.
"Darlin', those things you're thinking about yourself? They could apply to me more than you. I'm on the downhill slide to fifty with four grown children and two teenagers. Probably just dumb luck I'm not a grandfather by now. And the only thing I'd change about your hair is if you wanted to grow it out just a little." He gives her a mischievous grin. "If you didn't pay close attention, even my chest hair's going grey, and honestly I wish that was all."
She giggles and reaches up to run her fingers through the offending chest hair. There's another of those tugs at her heart with the easy inclusion of Sophia in counting his children. "I don't know. That might be more blond than grey."
"Well, if you want to pander to my poor ego, I'll take your word for it."
She's the one to start the kiss this time, and she uses his shoulders as leverage to wiggle close. He gets the idea pretty quickly when she slides her hand down to explore the other area of complaint about grey and starts to roll her atop him like he did last night.
She pulls away. "No. Your lead this time." She both needs and wants to know what it's like to have all the sheer power of him, that she's not broken and fragile.
"You sure, darlin'?"
And she knows he wants it, because his entire body is poised and waiting, but if she says no, even put a halt to sex entirely despite the unmistakable evidence she's garnered his full interest, then he'll stop.
That just makes her want it more. She smiles and presses her lips to his throat. "Please."
Reassured, that's all it takes for her to be flipped under him, his caresses nowhere near as restrained as last night as he explores and kisses every inch of bare skin.
She'll figure out how to deal with beard burn on her thighs later.
~*~ GR ~*~
Glenn glances at Maggie as she giggles and points toward the kitchen, where if someone else doesn't appear soon, breakfast may end up delayed since Merle is distracting their biscuit maker.
"When did that happen?" he asks. Maggie's still sharing a room with Carol and Patricia.
"Last night. She never came to bed, and let's just say the office wasn't designed to be soundproof from the master bedroom either."
"Oh God. Don't tell Carol that."
"Of course not. It would embarrass the hell outta her, and she definitely deserves what I heard last night and again this morning." The brunette grins at him.
"Who deserves what, and are you two lovebirds sneaking in from wherever or out to wherever?" Jacqui asks as she crosses the deck toward them.
"Take a peek." Maggie indicates the kitchen and Glenn looks too. It's sweet, because Merle's actually standing behind Carol and helping her knead the biscuit dough now, instead of luring her away from it with kisses to the back of her neck.
"Hot damn. Not sure I want to interrupt them. Wonder who finally got around to making the first move," Jacqui says. "Was starting to think we were going to have months of will-they-won't-they like a TV drama."
"You didn't think he was gonna shack up with Lori?" Glenn asks. He's made himself scarce when that branch of gossip starts up, but he's still aware of it.
"Despite Andrea seeming to think Lori's a professional bed hopper, anyone can see the woman's gun shy of men at the moment. Think she spent so much time with Merle just because he was safe company."
Maggie seems to be thinking it over, and she eventually nods, accepting the assessment, so Glenn will take their word for it. He's still rather happy he correctly gauged Maggie's interest in him, so he's not really going to worry about figuring everyone else out.
"Might be time for everyone from the quarry to give the woman a break," Jacqui continues.
Glenn grimaces. He doesn't really dislike Lori, but even on her happier days he hadn't wanted to spend time around her, because she tends to treat him as if he's still a teenager. But Jacqui's right that Lori's isolated herself other than while actively doing chores. She's even loosened the reins on Carl, so long as he stays with the various groups of kids and teenagers in work or lessons. He doesn't think she's reached out to any of the non-quarry women either, probably since most of them aside from the locals that kept up the Homestead know about her behavior at the quarry.
"I'll volunteer you for that," he tells Jacqui. "Not because I think she shouldn't have friends, but I'm just not real sure I can manage enough in common for a two-minute conversation."
Maggie shrugs. "I'm up for it. Might as well follow Merle's lead, as long as she's trying to improve and do better."
"We'll catch her at breakfast then." Jacqui looks back toward the kitchen. "Well, we're about to get invaded by the egg gathering kiddos, so I'll go tease the lovebirds a bit as a warning of the incoming small fry."
Glenn doesn't hear whatever joke the woman makes when she steps through the French doors into the kitchen, but it makes Merle laugh and Carol blush, but Carol's smiling, so it's all good.
Maggie surprises him with a kiss.
"What was that for?"
"I just liked how happy you looked for our friends being happy."
She flounces toward the kitchen herself, leaving him standing there grinning and realizing that neither of them answered Jacqui's question about why they were outside so early. They really need to get some of the housing situation settled, because these hidden make out sessions in little niches are driving him crazy.
~*~ LG ~*~
Lori is starting to think someone's a mind reader here, because she hasn't worked up the courage to commandeer a pregnancy test yet, and then at breakfast the announcement went around that everyone is due a physical over the next few days. Even better, her name is among the first group to report in to Cricket at the med unit, which is now designated for women's health care. Of all the medical professionals now available, the med student is probably the one she's most comfortable with discussing her suspicions.
She steps into the med unit as soon as the woman before her, Lenore, from the farm crew, steps out. The redhead smiles as they pass, and she hopes her attempt at a return smile actually looks genuine, because her nerves are killing her.
"Hey!" Cricket smiles in welcome. "Latch the door behind you. Might as well act like it's a real doctor's office."
Lori flips the lock and ventures further in. Cricket's doing a wipe down of the exam seat with a disinfectant wipe, so she isn't sure what to do just yet. The room they put extra med supplies in for transport is cleared out now, but she thinks it's now an expansion of the lab based on what little she can see and understand from here.
"Guess we start with the basics. We'll do as full a physical as needed. We debated some of the tests that we really can't do any treatment for if they're positive, but we're hoping there aren't any serious objections because knowing's better than not in our limited treatment environment." She tosses the used wipes and grabs one of the ever-present composition notebooks from a stack and scribbles Lori's name on it with a sharpie before trading the marker for a pen.
"Did y'all empty a warehouse of those?" she asks, feeling amusement push away some of her nerves.
Cricket laughs. "Guess I could have asked if you had a preference between plain black, colored, or designer, huh?" She shows Lori a printed checklist taped inside. We'll go over everything and get you sorted. Going to draw blood, update your tetanus vaccine, and depending on your last pap smear, that's today too. Plus, if you aren't on birth control, we can get that started after you pee in a cup for me."
"Well, that would be the problem," Lori begins, and the other woman's expression turns concerned. "I think we might want to start with the pregnancy test."
"Oh. Well, that definitely might change our routine a bit." But she shows no signs of judgement, just reaches for the specimen cup on the little counter and presents it to Lori. "Since I'll need to test a few things, we'll opt for this rather than you aiming for a stick." As Lori heads for the tiny bathroom, she calls out. "You want anyone here for this?"
Lori considers and shakes her head. If it's a false alarm, she honestly prefers she and Cricket are the only ones to know it was a possibility. When she returns with the cup, Cricket opens a test box and offers her the stick. "Want to do the honors? I understand it's a bit of a rite of passage."
She takes the test stick from the younger woman and follows instructions, leaving it capped on the counter while Cricket reseals the specimen cup for whatever other tests she has to run. "I've used this brand before. Three minutes is too long sometimes."
Cricket pats her shoulder in reassurance and directs her toward the exam seat. "How about I distract you with any number of invasive health questions that make my job fun? I'll even throw in some blood draws to make it really fun."
Despite her worries, the cheerful joke makes her laugh, and the blood work and basic health history does provide enough of a distraction that she is almost surprised with the timer on Cricket's watch beeps. Cricket puts the vials of blood on a tray on the counter and palms the test without looking at it, handing it to Lori to read first.
The stick displays two very bold, dark pink lines, and her distress must be visible, because there's a hand in hers, and kind blue eyes looking at her when she finally looks up. Cricket tips the test to look and taps her finger next to the lines. "This is a blessing."
"I want it to be." She can't stop the tears that start now. She hoped for another baby after Carl but there was nothing for so many years she wondered if she or Rick should have gone to Atlanta for testing. He'd refused to think about infertility as a possibility, not with the easy and accidental conception of Carl, and she hadn't been brave enough to go alone.
"Then we'll make it so." Cricket exchanges the test for tissues and goes to tug the ultrasound machine out of the exam-turned-lab room. "This might not work since I just unwisely had you empty your bladder, but we'll give it a try. If nothing else, we'll pick up a heartbeat if you're far enough along."
"I don't know for sure on that. My last period was in May, but they were erratic before that. It isn't unusual for me to miss a month here and there."
"And were you on any birth control?"
"No, not in years. I always wanted another baby, but it just didn't happen." She fidgets as Cricket sets the machine up. "Based on that, it's doubtful the baby's Rick's." Ten years without a bit of birth control and nothing, but six weeks with Shane and now this, when she's single and mostly happy about it. Single mom to Carl is one thing, but to an infant, it's daunting.
"Well, we're in luck about the empty bladder, if you don't mind an internal ultrasound."
Lori shrugs and takes the hospital gown she's offered and treks back to the bathroom. Cricket's sliding a DVD into the ultrasound machine. She offers Lori another reassuring smile. "I'm going to record it so if there's anything I need an opinion from one of the fully qualified doctors on, you don't have to do it all over again."
She thinks of the fact that if she's right about the paternity, Shane's missing out on the first ultrasound. There are plenty of functional TVs around, after all. "Can I get a copy?"
"Sure. Might have to take it up to the house to burn it for you, but it's doable. There's paper, so we'll get some printouts too."
The exam proceeds much as both of the ones she had with Carl, and she misses having someone to hold her hand with Cricket busy with the machine.
"Ah ha." With the flick of a switch, the rapid thump of a fetal heartbeat fills the med unit and Lori starts to cry in earnest. It's relief, happiness, stress, all rolled into one, but there's a heartbeat.
"Best thing ever to hear, I bet," Cricket says softly. She's not looking at Lori, but rather the screen, her expression a little wistful. It reminds Lori that Cricket's chosen partner is a woman. This isn't a world with IVF anymore. But the younger woman shakes off the melancholy and gives Lori a smile. "Let's take a look now."
The baby's head is clearly defined on the screen, and she can make out little arms and legs where the baby's facing the ultrasound. Cricket's busy taking measurements and printing off a couple of ultrasounds she knows will probably be kept for the medical record with the measurements on screen, but Lori can't take her eyes off the precious little miracle before her in black and white.
"Baby measure at nine weeks. That sound right? First of June?"
Lori nods. It also completely eliminates any possibility the baby is Rick's. Cricket's aware of this, and she reaches out with the hand she's been tapping buttons and switches with to take Lori's and squeeze gently. "This is a good thing, Lori. Let's finish this up so we can talk."
She finishes taking the keepsake stills with easy efficiency and follows the end of the ultrasound with the physical part of the pregnancy exam before sending Lori off to redress while she makes notes. Lori leans against the inside of the tiny bathroom cubicle, letting fear and joy war with her before finally going out to face the decisions she's got to make now.
"I don't have any prenatal vitamins down here, which is probably an oversight, but I'll get you some out of the med lockup when we go copy the DVD. Your pregnancy with Carl was normal, except for the c-section delivery, and you're healthy and in good shape. Unless something turns up on the lab work unexpectedly, we'll treat it like any other pregnancy before. You just have a shorter trip to the doctor's office. We'll even try for a VBAC if we can, but I think we'll be able to safely do a c-section if we absolutely have to." She scoots to where Lori's sat in one of the waiting chairs instead of on the exam table, and takes both of Lori's hands in hers. "I can keep following the pregnancy and consult with those who've done it before, or you can have Hershel or Edwards oversee it. Personally, I'd opt for the vet for the better bedside manner."
Lori shakes her head. "If it's not weird for you, I'd rather you do it."
"Why would it be weird for me? Because of Shane and my sister?"
She nods and Cricket sighs. "Unless you're about to go on some hormone rampage through the place and carry Shane off to a dark lair somewhere, we're good on that."
Despite herself, Lori laughs at that image. She's more than a bit terrified of going through a pregnancy alone, but she isn't going to mess with Shane's happiness in that respect. "I can't see this being good news for everyone."
"Honest opinion? If you go to Shane and have an open conversation about the baby, I think it'll be fine. If you're really feeling brave, tackle Scout at the same time and then you get to only have the conversation once."
Considering how she's behaved around the woman, she isn't sure that showing up on the cabin's doorstep with this news will be welcomed. Her doubt must show on her face because Cricket lets her hands go and reaches for the printed images in her lab coat pocket. She hands them over, two of each one. "Take these. You show up with these, and promise you won't keep that baby from Shane in any way and that Scout can spoil it rotten, and there won't be a person more devoted to the baby's future and your health and comfort in the entire state of Georgia than my sister."
Lori looks at the best image, the tiny arms and legs so visible. "Why would she go that far?"
"Because Scout can't have children at all."
Oh, God. Lori can't imagine. Even in all the years of failing to conceive again, she at least had Carl. She wonders if it's due to the same explosion that caused all the Marine's burn injuries, but doesn't ask. It doesn't matter how, just that she can't.
"This won't make her feel worse?" It's a little bit of a foreign feeling, having concern for Scout's feelings, but Merle was kind to her when she absolutely didn't deserve it. She owes it to his faith in her, if not for Scout and Shane's sake, to not ruin Merle's daughter's happiness.
"No. They may not exchange all the flowery words and sentiments around others that some couples might, but Scout loves Shane and she'll love the baby, too."
The intercom buzzes and Cricket scoots over to answer what turns out to be a call asking if she wants lunch brought to her or if she's joining the rest. She tells them she'll be up in a bit and to save her a plate. "How about we take the DVD up to my apartment and get you a copy before we show our faces for whatever deliciousness Patricia's magicked up for us today? You can hide out up there if you like for a while."
She nods agreement and Cricket tidies up the med unit before locking first the lab door and then the med unit behind her. The keys go back around her neck and she smiles. "We're trying to keep what privacy we can, even if HIPAA law is defunct. I'll share with Hershel and Edwards as needed, but until you tell me otherwise, your news is yours to share, at least for now. Even the nurses won't go through the records unless asked to. I'll have to share pregnancies with the planning council eventually, because you'll need priority on private housing versus whatever barracks plan they were cooking up last night for the unmarried adults."
Lori follows her to the exterior stairs that lead up to the apartment over the garage. "You can go ahead and tell the council if you need to, as long as they know it may take me a few hours to break the news to Shane." She stops short just inside the door. "God. I need to tell Rick and Carl too. Nine weeks is safe enough to tell him, right?"
"All signs point to a healthy pregnancy, so I'd say yes on telling Carl. It's better he hears from you and not through the rumor mill, especially considering the paternity." Cricket has the DVD in her laptop already.
All Lori can think about that is "no fucking kidding" because the last thing she wants is her son finding out via Andrea 'accidentally' spilling the beans.
She leaves the little apartment at Cricket's heels as soon as the two DVDs are ready, because there's no point in hiding. It'll probably be after supper before she can track down Shane and Scout at the same time anyway.
She feels a smile bloom across her face.
She's going to have a baby.
~*~ SW ~*~
Shane's already tossed his T-shirt into the laundry basket when he hears the knock at the door of the cabin. Scout's in the bathroom cubicle, muttering something about dropping the toothpaste cap in the sink, so he goes and opens the door. Finding Lori standing there, with laptop carry bag over her shoulder, is definitely not what he expected.
"Can I help you, Lori?" he asks, alerting Scout to who is at the door.
"Can I come in? I need to talk to both of you." The thin woman is pale and looks like she's about to face a firing squad instead of Scout and Shane, so he's a little worried. He steps back to let her in and goes and retrieves his shirt to pull it back on.
Scout peers around the bathroom privacy wall with toothbrush still in her mouth and waves acknowledgement that she knows Lori's there. He and Lori stare at each other in awkward silence while Scout finishes her teeth and joins them.
Lori's gripping the handle of the laptop bag like it's a lifeline and she's drowning. She takes a deep breath. "I had my physical today."
Shane isn't sure where that's something they should share in, but he nods. Scout's expression shifts from curiosity to something guarded when he glances at her. She suspects something about Lori's visit.
The older brunette reaches into the bag and draws out a few slips of paper that it takes Shane a moment to recognize from seeing around the office. When Carl was born, ultrasound photos were on film, not paper. He hesitates to reach for them as his brain catches up to what Scout's already realized, but she doesn't, so Shane finds himself standing next to his girlfriend while she looks at the very real evidence that his affair with Lori is not going to end up a distant memory for everyone.
Scout's hands shake when she hands him them to him.
"How far along?" she asks. He's never, ever heard her sound like that, and he can't quite identify the emotion changing her voice.
Lori's back to gripping the laptop strap. "Nine weeks. Cricket thinks end of February for a due date."
That excludes Rick entirely. Shane reaches out for Scout with his free hand. She's trembling, enough now that Lori's caught on. It unleashes a wave of babbling.
"Cricket said I should tell you both at the same time, and there's a video too, for you to keep. I'm not here to mess things up for you two. God no. It's just it's bad enough I've been suspecting for a couple of days without saying anything and then the ultrasound without telling anyone, and oh, don't. Please don't cry."
Scout's crying, not the big heavy tears he expects from a woman, but a gentle trickle. When Lori turns pleading, the Marine roughly swipes at her face. "S'okay, Lori."
Jesus Christ, now he has two crying women and the evidence that he's going to be a father right in his hand. He pulls Scout in close and she accepts the embrace as he looks back to Lori. She speaks again before he can, and the words are so far beyond what he has experienced of her character lately that he thinks miracles do exist.
"We are having a baby," Lori says. "All three of us."
~*~ MD ~*~
"Hey, big guy."
Merle arches a brow when he sees Maggie in the office doorway. She smirks at him. "Patricia and I had a little chat, and I was going to bunk downstairs with the boys, but Jamie overhead and kicked himself and Danny down there. So, Patricia and I are going to take over Jamie's room. That gives you back your own space finally."
He glances toward the futon and can't deny he really would prefer sharing his own bed with Carol. "One of y'all can take over the office, if you like."
"Well, just between you, me, and the fence post, there's not exactly enough sound insulation between this room and that one."
Christ. He hopes Carol doesn't figure that out and get embarrassed as hell about it.
Maggie just laughs at him and shakes her head. "I'm grabbing our bags, so we'll be out of your hair. Consider it a gift for you finally realizing Carol's a keeper."
"Realized that before last night," he mutters.
"Long as you keep realizing it. I'd hate to have to demonstrate how daddy taught me to castrate pigs."
He sputters into laughter. "No need for that, girl. But if I did hurt Carol, you'd have to stand in line behind my own family on that."
She grins and mimes two fingers at him that she's keeping an eye on him before sashaying off. He shakes his head, wondering if Glenn's bitten off more than he can chew with his farm girl.
~*~ DD ~*~
"Hey, Uncle Daryl? You still up?"
Daryl is awake, although Abby's snoring against him in footie pajamas he had no idea came in her size until someone produced them for her. He closes his book and waves for Sophia to step inside the room.
She plops down next to the bunk bed and grins up at him. "They didn't say anything to me yet, but I caught Dad stealing a kiss from Mama a few minutes ago, after I finished reading with him."
"Really?" That's got his interest. He knows he told Carol she should make a move on Merle, but he figured it would take her longer. He'd been gone all day with a team to the lake, pilfering fuel and bringing in enough fish to feed the excessive numbers of mouths to feed they had now. Sophia went with him, while Abby stayed with Carol, and his daughter didn't bring up seeing anything new.
"So now I don't have to lock them in a bathroom or something until they figure out they're perfect for each other."
"Pipsqueak, you're spending entirely too much time with Honey if that's where you start your plots."
She giggles. "I do sleep on the same bunk bed."
"Maybe you need to be separated a while. Next thing I know you'll be stealing semi-trucks and driving without any lessons."
She glances up at the bunk Abby refuses to sleep in so far. "There is a vacancy. And Honey snores worse than Abby."
Daryl's aware of that habit. Merle took the girl to a sleep specialist and an ENT, but even removing her adenoids and tonsils didn't solve the problem completely.
"Might as well," he decides. Sophia flashes him a happy smile before going off to raid Jazz's bookshelves for something to read. It takes him a minute to return to his own book. He smiles at the idea of Merle finally with someone who'll give a damn about him. It's what his brother deserves.
~*~ SW ~*~
"Hey. You sure you're okay?" Shane slides into bed next to Scout, who's half propped on the pillows and has one of the ultrasounds in her hand. The other's on the fridge with the USMC magnet holding it in place.
She smiles at him and hands him the image, which he tucks into the drawer of the nightstand until he can find something to keep it in. Lori took the laptop with her, saying she needed to return it to Cricket, but they watched the video together first. The shock of the unexpected news is still lingering, but he can see the replay of the tiny baby on screen every time he closes his eyes for a minute, and there's a DVD on the counter for if they get something to play it in out here.
"Yeah, I'm good." She tugs him close, wrapping around him like a human blanket and he can feel her smiling against his shoulder. "You're gonna be a daddy," she says softly.
Wow. He's gonna be a dad.
"Scout?"
"Yeah?"
"You're gonna be a mama."
She raises up and looks at him now. Earlier, he'd seen her cry for the first time, but now tears glitter again. "Do you think she even begins to know what it means to me?"
"Maybe." Lori loved being a full-time mom to Carl. He suspects she knows about Scout from her sister, because she went out of her way to repeat that Scout was to be part of raising the baby. "What's the word for mother in Chamorro?"
"Nåna. But maybe godmother is more appropriate. In Chamorro culture, children have their parents and godparents, who are considered co-parents of a child. Lori and I would be kumaire, co-mothers. The baby would call me Nina."
"If you like that better." He pulls her in for a kiss, cupping her face and using his thumbs to brush away the evidence of tears. "I love you."
Her response isn't verbal to the first time he's said those words to her, but later, when they're both sated and sweaty and he tries to roll his weight off her, she resists by holding him close and repeating his words against his lips. "I love you. I guinaiya-ku."
"What does that one mean?" He's heard it before from her, and while he suspects what it might be, he isn't certain.
"My love."
He smiles down at her, stealing little, repeated kisses as he tries to master the phrase himself and she laughs at his pronunciation.
He knows right now that he's going to marry this woman and raise his child with her, because he's not giving this precious family up for anything.