Rifiuto: Non Mirena
A/N: Written: 2013.- Licia
Eleanora and Annaleigh were thrilled to find that Jo hadn't been taken away, and rushed to hug her when they got home from dance. Caterina kept her distance, though she offered a tiny, fleeting smile in their direction as she watched her sisters hug Jo. The older woman smiled quickly at the teenager, who glanced at her and then darted upstairs to take a shower; after deflecting several questions, Zane sent the other two upstairs as well. Once gone, Jo returned to the kitchen.
She helped Zane fix dinner, thoughts bouncing about her head in autopilot. Could they really make this work? Pretend to be the happily married couple with the three beautiful daughters? Pretend that they'd fixed their mistakes and that her affair had just been a momentary blip on the radar? But then what about the letters she'd found in her office that morning? Could they really pull off the 'happy family' everyone in town saw? And what happened if they managed to figure out a way to get her home to her time? What if they managed to figure out how to send her home and she'd already fallen in love with the girls by then? Could she really leave those three beautiful little girls, even if they were hers from another timeline? And what about Zane? Could she really leave him? But your Zane is probably back from Titan, and looking for you- It was only when Zane slid a hand along her waist that she tore herself from her thoughts and turned to him. "What is it?"
He snorted softly. "Someone's preoccupied. Anything I can help you solve, Jojo?" She looked up him, discovering that their lips were inches apart. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. Instead, she found herself closing the gap, again. When they slowly broke the kiss, Zane grinned, that smirk she knew so well dancing across his features. "You know, I don't think I ever told you how sexy you look in that dress."
She glanced at him as he leaned down to press a kiss to her shoulder. "No, I don't think you did."
"Well, you look... incredible." His arm slid around her waist, gently pulling her close. "It was definitely a good choice. You stunned everyone today, including Mansfield. I don't think anyone had expected you to come walking through GD in that sultry little ensemble. You cut quite the striking figure today, love." A soft smile met him, and he leaned down, kissing her softly again.
"Do you have to do that here? Can't you get a room?" They broke apart as Cate came into the kitchen, fresh from her shower, and grabbed the plates. Zane blushed, chuckling nervously.
"Trust me, sweetheart. Us 'getting a room' was how we ended up with you fourteen years ago."
The teenager made a face and darted into the dining room. "Eww."
"At least it wasn't a closet." Jo snorted softly, as the two younger girls came downstairs, hair damp. Zane furrowed a brow at her, but didn't ask, though he filed it away for later. They helped Cate set the table, and soon everyone was seated, passing plates and dishes, sharing stories and chatting. Jo and Zane shared an occasional glance across the table, which the girls didn't miss.
"You're really staying?" Eleanora asked; she'd been the most worried, having confronted Jo that morning in the hallway. She glanced at Zane, who chuckled softly. "Daddy?" Eleanora turned to him. "Mama's really staying?"
"She's not our mom, Ela." Cate cut in, and Jo returned her gaze to her food.
"She's a version of her, Cate." Annaleigh replied, blue eyes sparking. Of the three, Annaleigh appeared to be closer to Jo in personality- quiet, patient and meticulous about everything- the middle Donovan daughter may have looked like her father in regards to hair and eyes, but her personality was all her mother. She wasn't as blunt as Cate, nor was she as laid-back as Ela seemed to be. She was definitely somewhere in between.
"Before you arrived, Anna asked repeatedly to be taught how to shoot, but she always turned her down, saying that Anna was too young. I think it was more that she just didn't want to have to teach her." Zane had told her as they'd fixed dinner. That the one most like her in personality had an interest in guns... maybe she was Jo's kid after all, regardless of the timeline.
"Hey Annaleigh?" The twelve-year-old turned to her. Jo opened her mouth, stopping. She had to word this correctly; a glance at Zane before she turned back to the girl. "Do you want to learn how to shoot?" Silence fell about the table, and Jo worried that maybe Zane had been wrong in that regard, before,
"Really? You'd really teach me how to shoot? And how to handle a gun? And how to clean and put one back together? Really?" The child's shriek of delight started everyone, even AIDA.
"Is everything all right, Anna? I'm detecting an elevated- "
"I'm fine, AIDA!" The girl replied, leaping from her chair and throwing her arms around Jo. "Thank you, thank you!"
The others watched the startled look cross Jo's face, before she recovered, and patted the girl on the back. Clearly this version of Jo wasn't used to showing affection, if the look in her eyes was any indication. Zane chuckled softly. "Not used to hugs, Jo?" Annaleigh pulled away, sitting back down and returning to her food as Jo visibly relaxed as being released from the girl.
"Not used to... children." She replied cautiously. At the girls' looks, she amended, "In my timeline, Zoe's away at college and Jenna is still little enough that all I really have to do is babysit when Allison and Carter need me to. Zane and I-" She stopped, rolling her eyes. "The other Zane and I weren't anywhere near a stable relationship. It was more of a... endless... string of... goodbyes." She blushed, as the girls shared glances before realizing what she meant. "And... in my original timeline..." She stopped, biting her lip. "We'd been together since he got to Eureka, but we never... he always had a way of making me feel... dumb, and... didn't care that I... he just... he loved me, but... we didn't click. I guess," She met Zane's gaze across the table. "I guess it's a good thing I never accepted his proposal." She looked at each of the girls in turn. "So, forgive me if I seem a little stiff. I love children, I just... I haven't been around them much. I'm still learning."
"We're all learning." Zane replied, reaching over and taking Cate's hand. The teenager turned to her father. It was evident his words were meant for her. "We'll figure this out together."