Sam pulled up to the community college and Reason got out. Leaning down he said, "Good luck tonight."
"Thanks." Sam responded. He thought he might need it.
Reason leaned over a bit. "Love you, Maudie."
"Love, Mommy." Maudie replied.
Reason blew her a little kiss before walking off.
Reason settled in next to usual spot for General Mechanics next to Vinny, who seemed out of sorts. "Reason, you're a girl, right?"
"Last time I checked." Reason responded, unsure of where this was going.
"Okay, I'm been trying to figure out what to get for my girlfriend for Valentine's and I have no clue what to actually get her." Vinny explained.
"You do realize it's actually Valentine's day?" Reason pointed out.
"So, you see my problem." Vinny responded.
"Well, what does she like?" Reason asked, trying to help.
"That's the thing." Vinny told her, "She's allergic to flowers, andchocolate, I can't really afford jewelry."
"What about stuffed animals?" Reason suggested.
"Stuffed animals?" Vinny repeated.
"You know, pink and reds one with hearts sewed in their hands." Reason elaborated.
Vinny thought on this for a minute. "You know, she might actually like that. She had like a lot of stuffed animals at her place."
Meanwhile, Charlie was parked nearby the bunker, surrying it from a spot hidden by a tree.
"I thought Sam was going to call us when it was time." Magda said, looking up from her book in the passenger seat.
"He is, but we also, need to keep a close eye so we know when to make our move." Charlie explained, still keeping her eyes on the bunker.
Meanwhile, Elsbeth was working on a client's hair in the kitchen.
"I told him we didn't need to do anything big." The woman was saying as Elsbeth carefully cut a lock of hair off, "But he insisted we at least go out for dinner. I know I give him a hard time sometimes, but I know I'm lucky."
"He sounds like a great guy." Elsbeth responded, focusing on her work.
"What about you?" The woman asked, "Any big plans with your guy?"
"I don't actually have a guy." Elsbeth admitted, "I brought some chocolates for my girls, I'm gonna give it to them after I pick them up, that's really the extent of my plans."
Later that morning, Sam loaded serval small boxes in the car. "Okay guys," Sam began, "Time to get in."
As the pregnancy marched on, it became more and more difficult for her to do her job. She hadn't done door to door sales anymore since late November and all the money coming in from her job was orders from her established clients. Sam was uneasy about her even making a simple drop off or pick up on her own in her condition so he started to go with her. Which usually meant all the kids had to go as well.
Of course, today it served a dual purpose.
Charlie watched the Impala got down the road until it faded into the distance. "That's our cue."
Charlie parked her car in the garage, her and Magda getting out, creeping into the bunker. They made their way through the halls until they came to the dungeon. Charlie undid the baby gate, stepping inside, followed by Magda who redid it, then they head down stairs, turning on the light. "Now, we wait." Charlie declared.
Around this time, Tabbris was driving his car towards Lebanon, when it started to slow. He looked and realized the gas monitor was very close to empty. "How…" He began. Seriously, I only take this out, what, once a month? How is it already empty? And how do I not have the hang of how a car works after two years without wings?
He managed to get to a gas station, pulling in next to the put and getting out. He was putting the pump in when he saw the heart in the window that read: DID YOU WHAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE?
Oh, it's THAT holiday again. Tabbris thought. The one he always forgot about and hadn't really thought about in years….
Nine-Year-Old Jane was suppose to be getting ready for bed, and, to be fair, she was in her sleep shirt and pratically prepared for bed, but was currently twirling around her bedroom, the family Walkman in her ears, singing along to relatively new Barenaked Ladies song. "Hold it down and watch the hoodwink, as you I make you stop think. You'll think you're looking at Aquaman. I summon fish to the dish, Although I like Chalet Swiss…."
She didn't realize anyone was in the room with her until a voice behind her say, "Is this suppose to mean something?"
Jane turned around to see a man in his thirties with long red line on the side of his forehead, dressed in a blue suit. He was holding a bundle of pale blue roses.
"Dad!" Jane exclaimed throwing herself at him, hugging him, "I thought…" Her father had just visited that morning, so she wasn't expecting him so soon. In fact, she usually saw him only a few times a year.
"I haven't been to Heaven yet." Tabbris told her, "There was something I needed to rectify first." He then handed her the roses saying, "Happy late Valentine's Day, Jane."
During the visit, it was mentioned that Valentine's Day was the day before. Abigail had picked up a few boxes of those candy conversation hearts for the girl, and Tabbris knew he had to make up for it.
"I didn't even—"Jane began.
"Uncle PJ told me what it was a year ago." Tabbris explained, "I was a day late that time too."
"Thank you so much." Jane beamed, overjoyed with the gift, "I gotta go put these in some water. Want to come?"
So much for checking in today. Tabbris thought as he put the gas cap in. If they had something planned, he didn't want to barge in. Well, he could just drive around for the day. It's not like Heaven had figured out an exact schedule yet. If they asked, he could always make an excuse.
Meanwhile, at an andanoned house in New Orleans, the wood rotting, the room only lit by sunlight and the emergency lantern she had got at a gas station, Abigail was staring at herself in a grimy full-length mirror. Her hair was freshly died, giving it some of the vitality it had, had in her youth back, or at least the look of the vitality and it was done up in a lose chiffon, her face slathered in makeup, stragicly applied to make her look at first glance at least a few years younger than she actually was, dressed in a flowing white dress and red high heels. "Seeing anything that girls me a location?" She asked, messing with her hair.
A chain coiled around her wait tethering her to radiator, Melanie was crouched down looking at a swath of canvas covered with little gray pebbles, trying to interrupt the symbols in them. "Something about…vipers?"
Abigail turned around with a look of seriously? "Vipers?" She repeated.
"Maybe wherever he's going to be had the word viper in it, or he has a pet viper…." Melanie speculated.
"You're not helping here, Melanie." Abigail told her.
"Here's an idea," The physic began, "How about give up, let me go, I'll hitch hike back to Saginaw and try to forget the worst month and a half of my life, and leave these poor people alone."
"Melanie!" Abigail snapped, tensely, "Keep looking, and keep your trap shut until you find something."
Afraid of what her increasingly erratic captor might do if disobeyed, Melanie carefully examined the pebbles. "Okay, I'm seeing something about maybe…six o'clock."
"Sic o'clock?" Abigail repeated, "Like the time?"
"Yeah, I think so." Melanie confirmed her voice shaking a little.
Grabbing her knife and set a key, Abigail went to Melanie and unchanged her, quickly grabbing her by the arm. "Come one," She commanded, walking her out of the room, "We only have hours to figure out where this guy is going to be."
Later that afternoon, Sam and Hannah were in the process of doing a laundry, Sam dividing out the clothes while Hannah actually put them in the washer and set it all up.
"I think we need to fold some of these." Hannah declared, looking at the pile of clean colors that was amassing.
"Yeah, um, before we do that, I need to go hit the head." Sam told her.
"Oh, sure," Hannah agreed, "I'll go check on the kids."
The pair walked out of the room and went their separate ways and when Sam slipped the opposite direction of the nearest bathroom, towards the dungeon.
Unlatching the baby gate, Sam hurried down the stairs as stealthily he could.
"Hey, Sam." Charlie greeted him, from the spot where she and Magda had been playing a game to past the time.
"Hey," Sam responded, "Magda, are you…." He hadn't been sure about them hiding in the dungeon given Magda's recent past.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Magda assured him, "You gave us alternatives if we needed, remember?"
"Right," Sam responded, leaning under the ledge where several tortures implements here hung, Sam pulled out a while table cloth, two silver-colored candle sticks, and two white tapered candles, and a small cooler. "Again, thanks for doing this."
The dungeon hadn't really been used since the Dark Charlie incidents, so it was an almost perfect place to hide things.
Upstairs, Hannah and the kids were in one of the storage, where Hannah was finding bending down suddenly impossible. "Boys, Maudie, can one of you get the flowers for Mommy?"
Dean and Cas ran to the hiding place, pulling out a large bouquet of red, white, pink, and lavender colored roses, Maudie scooping up some that fell.
"Thanks little ones." Hannah breathed.
"Can we show Daddy now?" Cas asked.
"Not yet, baby." Hannah told him, "But now we can put them in the bedroom with the cake."
Sam dropped his bundle off in the kitchen, setting a bottle of bottle of sparking grape juice in the refrigerator next to the ginger ale, and ran towards the bathroom. He really did have to pee at that point,
When Sam returned, Hannah had already started folding the laundry. "Are you okay?" She asked, "You gone for a while?"
"Yeah, things just took a little—longer than expected." Sam covered.
"Castor oil helps that." Hannah told him sincerely.
After a half hour of folding they had finished. "You know what, why don't you set down for a while, get off your feet?" Sam suggested, taking basket.
"Ah, thank you." Hannah breathed, not auguring as her feet and back were protesting standing at that point. "I'll probably be in the stacks if you need me."
Sam quickly put the clothes up and while he had an excuse headed for the kitchen where to his surprise, he found an already covered table, with two candles on it, and Charlie and Magda standing at the table.
"Don't worry no one saw us." Charlie assured him, "Good to actually see you by the way."
"You, too." Sam replied, "Thanks for doing this. Both of you, really, thanks."
"No problem." Charlie told him, "But, uh, what's with all the secrecy, anyway?"
"We decided that we weren't really going to do anything this year because of everything going on right now." Sam explained, "But, I, um guess I wanted to surprise her. I mean, this is our second Valentine's day, right? Our first one technically together. So, I thought—hey, I could pull this off. Somehow."
"Didn't know you were such a romantic." Charlie teased.
In the stacks, Hannah did actually sat down for a minute, as her feet and back really were killing her, and when she was feeling better, stood up. "Okay, little ones," She began, "Let's get to work."
All for of them each took a rose and began plucking off petals, leaving a thick trail down the hall. They got into the bedroom and Hannah turned to put the rest on the bed, where Hannah noticed that someone had put the purple semi-formal maternity dress she wore to Serena Joy and Rawls' engagement party out on the bed. "Huh."
Meanwhile, Rawls plans for valentine's day were about to hit a snag.
The plan was to have a night in at Serena Joy's place, save some money for the wedding, but Edith had got a gig and her was dropping her off before he headed out. Then he got a look at the place.
"Thanks, Rawls." Edith began, getting out of the front passenger side with her guitar, when Rawls grabbed her arm.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Rawls began, "You can't go in there. That place is skivvy with capital S."
"I'm not just skipping out." Edith argued, reaching away, "My reputation will be ruined."
"What reputation?!" Rawls responded.
All that did was earn him a harsh glare from Edith.
"Okay, okay, compromise." Rawls suggested, "I come with you."
"What about Serena?" Edith challenged.
Rawls thought a minute, then got an idea. "Give me a second, okay?" Then he hit Serena Joy's speeddail. "Hey, babe, I know we said we were just going to stay in, but how would you feel about a change in plans…."
Back at Rawls apartment, Elsbeth had just given all three girls small boxes of chocolate. "You can start eating them after dinner. I got some chicken legs on."
Just then her cell phone and she went to pick it up. Not recognizing the number, she answered it anyway. "Elsbeth Rawls speaking."
"Yeah, I understand if you can't, but, um, can I get an emergency appointment?" A tentive voice on the other end of the line asked.
Elsbeth's eyes glanced around the room. It wasn't the best time, but she really needed to the work. She was still doing freelance jobs out of the kitchen, and besides, it's not like she wouldn't still be working this time in the shop. "Can I get a time and a name?"
"I can be over there in ten minutes." The woman's voice said, "Starlah Nelson."
Elsbeth nearly broke the pen, having a knee jerk reaction to the name. "See you then, thank you." They then hung and Elsbeth looked at the girls. "Okay girls, slight change in plans…."
There were only so many times you could drive around a small town before you had seen everything at least twice.
Tabbris had literally been driving for hours, even taking all the local back roads. He pulled over, taking a moment to think. Eventually he decided to just head towards Lebanon, but simply not make his presence known.
The road was almost completely desperate, except for the odd car passing him every now, leaving only himself and the radio. Everything was going find until a slow melody came on the radio. "(Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming 'round. (Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears…."
Tabbris jumped in his seat. Why did it have to be that song? Of all the songs in existence why did it have to be that one?
"(Turn around) Every now and then I get a little terrified and then I see the look in your eyes…"
"So now what?" Tabbris, visibly younger, asked, his around a nine-year-old Abigail's waist, letting himself be spun around bedroom of her dorm somewhat awkwardly by the young woman.
"(Turn around bright eyes!) Every now and then I fall apart. (Turn around bright eyes!) Every now and then I fall apart…."
"Now, we just keep—doing this." Abigail told him, her head on his chest. Suddenly she felt a sharp crushing pain in her foot. "Though without stepping on my foot." A foot second later there was a long bang, "Or knocking us against the foot of the bed."
"I'm sorry." Tabbris apologized, "This is all new to me."
"(Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild…."
"Which is why I'm leading." Abigail reminded him, "Thought I'm wondering if that's not part of the issue, you're bigger than be. Maybe that's why guys normally lead, height difference."
"Do you think it would help if we switched?" Tabbris asked.
"We can try." Abigail agreed, "I think you're getting the hang of it, anyway."
"(Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms…."
The couple rearranged themselves, Abigail's head now resting on Tabbris' chest. "Ah," She began, "Yeah, this is definitely better."
"(Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit angry and I've known I've got to this out and cry…."
There was a moment of silence, except for the long, then Abigail said softly, "Don't leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere." Tabbris responses, confused for a moment.
"Don't ever leave me." Abigail intreated.
"(Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit terrified, but then I see the look and your eyes…."
Tabbris held her tighter. "I won't, Gail. I promise."
"(Turn around, bright eyes!) Every now and then I fall apart…."
"(Turn around, bright eyes!) Every now and then I fall apart…."
Tabbris eyes were tearing up, so he whipped his face. He quickly turned off the radio and just sat there for a moment his chest heaving. This was ridiculous. He was an angel of the Lord for crying out loud! He shouldn't be getting so worked up over a silly sad love song! Even if was their song. "I need a frickin' drink." He finally declared before driving off.
Meanwhile, Rawls and Serena Joy were sitting in the corner of a smoky, bar, the walls covered with skeevy wood paneling, while Edith was on small platform in the other direction, playing guitar and singing her heart out. "It's hard to tell him no when I want him so bad. But I got to be true to my heart, this time…."
"Sounds like Edith's getting really good." Serena Joy complimented.
"Yeah, she's really is." Rawls responded, somewhat abashed by the turn the night had taken, "Serena, I'm sorry I messed up the night."
"Rawls for the thousandth time it's okay." Serena Joy, "You're protective of your family. It's one of the things I love about you."
Rawls wasn't sure how to respond to that, and froze. For several seconds. Eventually Serena Joy waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello. Earth to Rawls."
"Sorry, just wasn't inspecting that." Rawls responded, "While we're on it I love you can just roll with it." Then he leaned in and kissed her. After they came back up for air, Rawls had an idea. "You know, I think I dance and make sure no one messed with Edith at the same time." He said as he got up, extending his arm to Serena Joy.
Serena Joy smirked, taking his hand. "I like your thinking, Mister."
And so, they descended onto the floor as Edith began another song. "She came in looking good and looking around. She's checking out every man in the room right now. Now don't go telling her about right or wrong. She's been alone way too long…"
The Viper Pit. There was a high-end bar at the other end of town called the Viper Pit. So high end in fact, there was a bouncer in a three-piece suit at the front to keep the "riff-raft" out Abigail guessed. She had already seen him turn away two men away in the time she had been watching.
Abigail looked at her watch. It was ten 'till six. If he she going to make her move, she was going to need to do it now. She sauntered up towards the bar, trying to look like she belonged, nodding at the bouncer to greet him and headed to the door when the bouncer stuck his hand out. "Excuse me, ma'am," He began, politely, but brusquely, "I'm going to need to see your ID."
"I'm flattered," Abigail began, smiling flirtatiously, "But I assure you, I am far over twenty-one."
"I don't doubt that, ma'am, but this is a private club." The bouncer explained, "I need to make sure you're actually a member."
Abigail paused a moment, formulating at story. "Alright, I'm not a member, but I'm the guess of member, he said everything was kosher."
"He got a name?" The bouncer questioned.
"Jacob." Abigail answered.
"Jacob—?" The bouncer asked, fishing for a last name.
"I don't have a last name, he's a relativity new friend." Abigail admitted, "Hey, your name wouldn't happen to be Jacob, would it?"
Abigail fled, and then suck around the bouncer from the other side, suddenly wishing she hadn't worn all white with red shoes. She slid back into the alleyway, where, just as she hopped, there was a kitchen entrance. She hurried up to it and tried the door, only to find it locked. "Damnitt." Abigail cursed under her breath. She then pulled a hair pin she had in her hair, putting in the keyhole and working at the mechanism until it went click. Feeling an excited tremor of hope, she pushed the door opened and saw two men and a woman in cook uniforms staring at her.
"Okay, I have a grand in cash in my purse, and if you let me through, it's all yours to split however you like." Abigail offered.
Successfully birding the kitchen staff, she slipped out of the kitchen, stepping onto lush red carpet, and found herself in a somewhat smoky room filled with dark teak and red velvet furniture, a bar in the corner, with about a dozen or so men chatting away. There something inexplicably eerie about the place, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"I found The Club from The Breathing Method." Abigail whispered to herself, "Or the place where the syndicate hangs out." She then stepped out, surveying the room, trying to figure out which one could be her man.
At the nearest table to her, there were two men, short glasses of a brown liquid in front of them, laughing. "Excuse me," She said when she got to the table, getting their attention, "Is, um, either of you name Jacob?"
They both stared at her like they were unsure what to say. "No," The man on the right said, "Sorry."
"Thanks anyway." Abigail told him, "You, uh, wouldn't happen to know a Jacob, would you? He would be member of the club."
"Well, there's a probably a couple of Jacobs' here." The man on the right responded, "Could you give us a little more detail, like a last name, maybe?"
"Nate…" The one of the left whispered.
"What, she got in, didn't she?" The one on the right, Nate apparently, reasoned, "You know security's thorough here. She has to be safe."
While they were having their disagreement over the matter, Abigail slipped off, murmuring to herself, "I wish I had a last name." Or a description. Or anything else to go one for that matter. Maybe I should have pushed Melanie harder. What's the point of keeping a physic around if you can't get a straight, solid answer?! By then she reached the next table, where a rather forlorn looking man sat, nursing a glass of clear liquid, though she doubted it water. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a man name Jacob, you wouldn't happen to be him, would you?"
The man looked her up and down. "I wish." He declared, gulping down the rest of his drink.
She slipped away, going to the one of the couches, where an old man in a gray suit was sitting, reading a leather-bound book and smoking a cigar.
Meanwhile, at the bar, and who, like almost everyone else in the room was dressed in a dark suit, with light brown hair and the barest hit of a light brown beard, was staring at Abigail, calculating his next move.
"Excuse me—" Abigail began, address the man with the book in the cigar.
"No." The man cut her off, not looking up from his book.
Taken aback, she asked, "No, what?"
"No, my name is not Jacob." The man elaborated before finally looking up, "It's Walter. Like that journalist. Or that grumpy dummy that comedian uses."
"How did you— "Abigail started.
"You just asked three different people if they were named Jacob." He cut her off, "It's not that far of a leap. And before you ask, there's one man here named Jacob tonight. I could introduce you but for your own safety and everyone's else for that matter, I don't think I should." After a beat he stared at her, saying "As a matter of fact, leave this place and rethink your life choices, while you're at it."
Suddenly, Abigail turned around, against her will, walking back towards the kitchen when the man at the bar stepped out in front of her, stopping her descent, grabbing her by the arm. "Club rules, Walter." He said in notable Cajun accent, "No powers if you got them."
"And no business." Walter warned him.
"That's why I was about to take this outside." Jacob answered, walking towards the door. Before they left, Walter grabbed Abigail's free arm.
"I'd advise you to turn back now." Walter told her, "You lie down with the dogs, you get fleas."
"I'll invest in flea dip." Abigail said, before Jacob pulled her away roughly.
They walked out of the building and down the street before Abigail spoke. "I know how this may seem, but I'm not a threat. I just need your help."
"And what makes you think I can help you?" Jacob questioned, waving his hand, "Or would want to for that matter."
"Because a physic told me someone named Jacob was the key to helping me rescue a child, and then there was something about vipers and six o'clock." Abigail explained.
Jacob scoffed as a car pulled up.
"Look, I've Shanghaied a physic small business owner, spent a small fortune in supplies, traveled all over the country, broke into a gentlemen's club, and used all the cash I had on me to buy off the kitchen staff at least here me out." Abigail pleaded.
Jacob forced her into the car, before sliding in himself. He had to admit, he was a little impressed by some of the exploits she just described. "Alright, little lady," He began, "You got four hours to tell me why I shouldn't kill you before I get out of this car."
Not reacting to the threat on her life at all, she asked, "What do you know about angels? Specifically, Nephilim? And what if I told you we had had a little over a month until one was born?"
Now Jacob was intrigued. "I'm listening."
In the bunker, Sam officially had the excuse of cooking dinner, which he actually was, cooking dinner. He had a large pot of fettuccini on one burner, a pot of the mildest cream sauce he could find in the other, and grilled chicken in the oven, a little shout out to last year.
Checking everything once again, he realized it was time to get one more thing ready.
He walked in the stacks, only to find Hannah and the kids nowhere to be seen. "Hannah?" Sam called out, "Dean? Cas? Maudie?"
He continued to search the bunker, calling out their names until he saw them first red rose petals on the floor.
He followed the floor down the hall, as the carpet of roses got ticker and thicker, more colorful stopping to the bedroom. He turned and saw Hannah sitting on the bed with the children, a big pile of roses at their feet.
"Ah, Sam," Hannah began, before he had a chance to get a word out, holding up the purple maternity dress Sam had laid out on the bed, "Why is my dress on the bed?"
"Ah, why are there so many flowers are the floor?" Sam countered.
This Starlah looked nothing like the one Elsbeth caught Dorian in bed with. This one was rather mousey and shy, blonder hair done back in a limp ponytail, dark rimmed glasses, in a sleeveless white sheath dress embroider with white flowers, shifting back and forth in white heels she clearly wasn't use to.
"Thank you so much for seeing me on such short notice. "Starlah said nervously as she stepped into the apartment.
"It's no trouble." Elsbeth assured, "Just—sit over there, I'll be with you in a moment."
With that Elsbeth ran to the guestroom, which she had shut, cracking it to check on the door. Vanessa and Scarlet were doing their homework and Dory was looking at the red, white and pink decorated shoe boxes filled with Valentines from the parties both classes held. Everything was going okay.
Closing the door, Elsbeth walked back to her customer. "So, what were we thinking?"
"Just a French braid." The girls answered.
"Herring bone or fishtail?" Elsbeth asked.
"Um, herring bone." Starlah answered.
Elsbeth took out the girl's ponytail, and began the work of combing out her hair. "So, big plans for the evening?"
"Um, I guess you could say that. "Starlah admitted, "I'm getting married."
"Wedding on Valentine's day, that's romantic." Elsbeth commented, smiling a little.
"That's what I thought." Starlah replied.
As Elsbeth worked on the braid, combing and plating, she talked with Starlah about the girl's impeding nuptials until finally she got to the end of the braid As she tied off the end of the braid, the oven timer dinged, reminding her of the chicken wings. "And we're about done." Handing the girl, a mirror, she suggested, "Why don't you just take a look at that while I take care of something."
As Starlah looked at her braid, Elsbeth quickly put the chicken legs on plates, grabbed some oranges and put together three ham sandwiches, and took them all into the guestroom.
"Okay, guys, here dinner, "She said, laying it out in front of them, "Momma will be back in a little bit."
"Can we come out now?" Scarlet asked.
"In a little bit sweetie." Elsbeth assured her.
When she came back out, Starlah was standing up. "Um, what was that all about?"
"I, um, I had to get my kids dinner." Elsbeth admitted, "Sorry, for the moment by studio is also my brother in law's apartment, it's a long story. Is, the, um, braid alright?"
"Yes, thank you." Starlah beamed, pulling out the money, and handing it to her, "Thank you so much. Sorry, gotta go."
"Good luck." Elsbeth said as the girl handed her, her money and left.
"Thanks!" Starlah called back, heading out the door.
Elsbeth relocked the door, then collapsed on the couch. She was happy with her life as it was, her girls were all she needed, she decided, but at that moment she felt so. Freaking. Lonely. That was when a voice called out. "Can we come out now?"
Elsbeth started laughing. "Yeah, baby, you can all come out now."
They family ate their dinner together. As they cleaned up the kitchen, Elsbeth turned on GAC, and the video for "Our Song" just happened to be starting. "I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car. He's got one hand feel on the steering wheel, the other on my heart…"
Vanessa and Scarlet started giggling, dancing together and twirling each other, pulling Dory into the pick. Smiling, Elsbeth joined them, and all was right with the world once again.
At the bar, Rawls and Serena Joy were still dancing, Serena Joy giggling and Rawls twirled her.
"I'm going to get dressed up, go downtown, live it up and never live it down, anything's better than feeling the blues!" Edith finished, then kept strumming a few more cords, finishing the song out, "Anything's better than feeling the blues! Thank you! Thank you! Now, this next one goes out to a special couple in the audience, all, five of you, because I really owe them." She then started strum a familiar cord on her guitar.
"Is she…" Rawls began.
"Baby why you wanna cry? You really oughta know that I just have to walk away sometimes…."
She began.
"I think she is." Serena Joy grinned, "They're playing our song."
At the corner of the bar, a man neither of them had met and had wound up at the bar by sheer happenstance, finished the last of last of his whiskey, staring at a picture of a woman and girl with chestnut hair. Sticking it in his suit jacket, Tabbris, walked outside. Rubbing his face again, he pulled out a flip phone and dialed the number, within a few moments, Abigail's voice came through the other end. "Hello?"
"Abigail, it's me." Tabbris began, "Tabbris." Suddenly he couldn't say anything else.
"What's wrong?" Abigail asked, amusing the worst, "Did something happen to the baby?"
"No, no, no the baby's fine." Tabbris assured him, "I just—I was thinking about you and needed to talk to you. Make sure you were okay."
"Oddly enough I actually am." Abigail smiled, looking over to Jacob.
After Abigail had told Jacob her story, he changed his tune, calling his father and asking the next breeding cycle, whatever that meant, setting up a meeting, and then calling for someone to fetch Melanie and the Winnebago.
"But the thing is, I'm a little busy at the moment, "Abigail told him, "Can I, um, call you back you later?"
"Sure." Tabbris, answered, "But Abigail…. I'm sorry."
Abigail was taken aback for a moment. "For what?"
"Everything." Tabbris answered, before they hung.
"Who was that?" Jacob asked.
"My ex, Tabbris." Abigail answered, "Don't worry, he has no clue what I'm doing. What I'm trying to do. Outside of Melanie, no one does."
"Speaking of Melanie…." Jacob began.
"No." Abigail cut him off harshly, "I still need her. We still need her. If she's not alive when your people bring the Winnebago, deals off, and before you respond, keep and mine I haven't given you enough information where you can easily find them on their own."
"Alright, little lady." Jacob agreed, giving her a sly smile.
Deciding to not to protest the nickname her newfound ally had decided to give her, Abigail asked, "So, how much longer until we get to Shreveport?"
"We should get there by at about ten." Jacob answered, then the two sat in silence.
"I had wanted to surprise you." Hannah was explaining back in the bunker, "I've putting it together for the last couple of days. I've been keeping these." She held up a large bouquet of multi-colored roses, "In one of the storage closest since yesterday. Which is almost when the boys help me make this." She pulled out a white box opening it, revealing a heart shaped box, decorated with thick pink and frosting and lined with frosting. "Sorry, it might be a bit stale. I probably should have waited until today to make it."
Sam laughed. "It's probably a good thing, otherwise you would have seen what I was doing."
"Huh?" Hannah asked, not getting it.
"Hannah—I was going to surprise you." Sam told her, "I've set up the table, got dinner cooking, sat your dress out, Charlie and Magda snuck in here to watch the kids so we could eat by ourselves."
"Wait, are you saying that there have been two people in the house all day, and I didn't even realize it?" Hannah asked, finding this concerning.
It was that moment he realized that, giving someone one-time permission to basically break into their house was probably overstepping. "Sorry, I didn't think that one through." He began, "Look, this only worked because they had a key. If someone were to actually break in, we would know it. Still, that was a mistake, I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
Hannah reached out, caressing his face. "It was still a really sweet gesture. Thank you." Then she kissed him
"Eww!" All kids protesting, Dean adding, for good measure, "Cooties!"
"Married people can't get cooties." Sam told him, "Marriage makes you immune."
They set the kids up with Charlie and Magda and a movie—Lady & The Tramp coidentally enough—and then changed clothes before meeting in the kitchen. Sam was in his fed suit, making last minute adjustments to table now covered with a white table cloth, two sliver colored candlesticks holding tapered candles that were now lit, and two plates of pasta topped with grilled chicken and cream sauce. That was about the time Hannah walked in. Looking up, he asked, "Still trust my judgement?"
Hannah smirked.
Two days later, Reason walked into General Mechanics sitting down next to Vinny. "So, how did your girlfriend like—Her voice trailed off when she saw Vinny's neck, which had two hickies on it.
"What?" Vinny asked.
"Nothing." Reason replied, "I just got an answer to my question."
