Hell Was The Journey But It Brought Me Heaven
Jordan knew it was none of her business, but the crackling static from her patient's room guided her to where new mother Chloe sat, introducing her newborn daughter to her fiancé overseas. The platitudes and words of encouragement filtered out towards her. "God, you're beautiful...that was somehow both the most amazing and terrifying thing I've ever seen on a screen." When the corporal began calling his friends over to virtually meet the baby, Jordan knew it was time to back away. The smile of accomplishment was still on her face when she turned without looking where she was going and collided with T.C.
"Ouch," she gasped, but the physical sensation was nothing compared to the glow in his hazel eyes right now. "Do you ever watch where you're going, T?"
"I just wanted to catch you in the act. I knew you'd be loitering here," T.C retorted smugly. "You're addicted to that baby, aren't you? Gwen even cried, is it a girl thing?"
"Shut up!" Jordan hit him playfully. "Gwen and I just appreciate a happy ending, that's all. We can't all be as dark and broody as you. I'm happy for Chloe and Tom."
"I'm happy for them, too," T.C argued. "It's just a little harder to show it right now; a man killed himself in front of me an hour ago. Ryan and Taylor were Romeo and Juliet wannabes, and now she's going to wake up an orphan. How does that even happen?"
His words evaporated the light teasing atmosphere, leaving an only too familiar despair radiating off him. Jordan watched him helplessly for a moment, wishing as she so often did that there was a way to ease the darkness haunting him. "I'm sorry about Mr. Sawyer, T," she said softly. "Some people just can't make it back from the horrors over there. I'm thankful every day that you did. You know that, don't you?"
"I wouldn't have made it even this far without you," he admitted quietly. "I'm not trying to get myself sacked, you know. It's just that bureaucracy makes me so angry. I've never been good with authority figures."
"Didn't the Army also teach you to pick your battles?" Jordan reminded him. "Fighting for what you believe in is admirable, T. I just wish there had been a way for you to do it without getting yourself discharged. There are ways and ways of getting your point across."
"I always thought that would be us someday," said T.C wistfully, gesturing through the glass pane at Chloe rocking her newborn. "Not to change the subject when you're in the middle of one of your pep talks...I just miss it sometimes, you know? The what-could-have-been. Hell, I think Chloe's delivery tonight is the closest we've ever come to marriage."
"What are you talking about?" Jordan mused vaguely, staring at Chloe at the baby in turn.
"The wedding proxies," T.C reminded her. "When Chloe started crashing, you stammered 'I do' when you were speaking for her. Even in all that chaos, it made me wish things could have been different."
"I misspoke under the pressure," said Jordan, but not as defensively as she normally might have. "We're finding our way back together, no doubt, but let's not get hasty here."
"I want nothing more than forever with you," said T.C longingly. "I know I have to earn back your mother's trust. Hell, maybe yours, too. But I just need you to know that."
"I do," she promised. "Even that may sound like a wedding vow but for now I'm just counting my blessings we're getting better at baby steps. I love you, even when you stress me the hell out."
"I am trying not to do that anymore," T.C laughed, leaning down so that their foreheads touched. "It took so many bumps and bruises to even get Scott to let you go, I count my lucky stars every day that you never really gave up on me."
"And I never will," Jordan whispered, a lump rising unbidden to her throat as she watched Chloe's baby flailing and crying in her mother's arms. "We'll have that someday, you know," she said, gesturing at their patient. "If the pressure of delivering a baby can get us this close to marriage it has to mean something. That's what I believe when times get hard."
"That's enough talk of difficult things," said T.C suddenly, the arm around Jordan's shoulders dipping her dramatically. "It's time for one of the things I find easiest in the world." And bracing her with one arm, he kissed her in the middle of the deserted hallway. All thoughts of Chloe and her newborn daughter fled from Jordan's mind, wiped out by the searing kiss from her favorite Irishman. Their future might not be as certain as Chloe and Tom's, but these moments were theirs alone and for now, that was enough.
A /N This was written for a Tumblr prompt of Callander babies and turned into a missing moment in my favorite episode. I started watching the show because Shantel had a cameo and got hooked forever!