Part Six – No place like home

I watch as my mother and sister both hug NC while the engines on the Greyhound start to warm up, it'd been a hell of a week. But I had to give it to NC she managed to win my mom over by the end of the week, and I had to admit, I was proud of my mom. She was able to accept NC for who and what she is; it just took a few days. Once my mom let go of NC she came over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug as she said, "Be good to her Jackie."

I was going to say something when I felt my mom slip something into one of my pockets I had on my duty uniform before whispering to me, "Look at it later an' call me about it tomorrow."

I hugged her tightly before I said to her, "Have a safe flight to home."

My mom leaned back and smiled as she said, "The navy is flyin' us back from Honolulu tomorrow an' they gave me an' Kristin a grand to spend in Honolulu as a way to apologize for having to bump our flight home."

A laugh escapes me before I add, "Alright then, enjoy your shopping trip then."

She smiled at me before stepping back and saying, "If you get some time off around Thanksgivin' you and Carol should come home for it."

I nod as I say to her, "I'll see what I can do."

She nods at me and gets up on the ramp with Kristin and waves as she says, "Be sure ya do."

Once the ramp is closed I sigh and look skyward just as I feel NC touch my back as she says, "At least she's startin' to come 'round to me."

With a laugh, I nod as I say, "Yeah."

I look to NC and see her tuck a folded paper into her top causing me to raise an eyebrow. She puts on a little pout as she folded her arms under her bust and said, "Your mama's fried chicken was better, so I asked her for the recipe."

I blink a couple of times and ask, "Did she give it to you?"

"Yeah, an' she made me promise to never give it to ya." She said with a wink.

I was about to say something but NC started to walk away, a smirk on her face and some extra sway in her hips. I hurry to catch up and ask her, "What are your plans for the evening?"

"I promised Enty I'd take in movie night with her tonight, she's been feelin' like I don't have time for her lately." NC says to me, looking off to the side.

I nod, it made sense really, since we started dating we'd been spending a lot of time with each other when our jobs would let us. Speaking of that I ask her, "Hey, how did the trip go? I'd been so busy this last week; I didn't get a chance to ask."

I feel her lace her fingers through my hand as she says, "It was a lot of fun, those Sakura Empire girls were really nice to us, well 'cept for their first carrier division, but the girls from the fifth were great."

"And?" I ask, I could tell she was holding something back.

NC sighs and looks down, "When we got caught up in that typhoon, an' I was so worried about gettin' back here, that Enty called me out on spendin' so much time with ya."

I squeeze her hand as I say to her, "I get it, we've been spending a ton of time together and your friends are feeling a little left out."

NC rests her head on my shoulder as she says, "I just don't know what to do, I wanna spend time with ya both."

We stop walking and I turn to face her and lift her head by the chin to kiss her before I say, "Go, spend time with Enterprise, we can catch up later."

She smiles at me before kissing me and saying, "I love ya, Jack. I'll call ya later."

Before I could respond she let go of my hand and hurried off, leaving me to run a hand through my hair and sigh before heading off to my quarters.

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When I got back to my quarters, I took off my jacket and tossed it over to the couch. As it flew over the couch, what my mom had put in my pocket fell out and onto the floor. I tilted my head to the side and noticed it was an envelope, not a very big one, just big enough for a small card maybe. I go over to it and pick it up, it's heavier than I thought. I turn it so I can see the opening, as I open it I can see a folded paper, so I tilt it over and shake it out into my other hand. And out falls a note, so I open it up and hear something hit the floor as soon as it's open, but the words on the note are what gets my attention first, 'For when ya'll are ready.'

I look down at my feet to where I heard something hit the floor and I see my grandmother's engagement ring. I drop the note and pick up the ring before I take out my phone and call my mother. It only takes a moment before she picks up and I say, "Mama, what the hell?"

She laughs on the other end before saying, "Ya took longer to call me than I thought ya would."

"I just got back to my quarters and I toss my jacket over to the couch only to have an envelope with Gan's engagement ring in it!" I almost yell at this point.

"Jackie, I'm sorry I didn't see it right away an' that it took me all week to see it. But she's really good for ya, probably the best match for ya that you've ever brought home. Hell, she stood up to me." My mom said, and I'll admit it, it was rare that I ever hear her cruse, even just a little.

That part took me by surprise, I knew from the first five minutes of the two of them meeting one another they were going to be butting heads, but by the end of that week, they had come to terms with one another. I look down at the ring in my hand as I move to sit on the couch and I start to say, "Mama, I-"

"Jackie, less talkin' more listenin'. I won't pretend to understand why ya started to love a ship; I won't pretend to understand why you'd pick one over a human. But I'd be a rotten mama if I didn't at least try to support your choice." She said to me in a really honest tone.

"Thanks, mama." I say in a very humble-sounding voice.

"Jackie, remember, I love ya, alright? But I gotta go, Kristin wants to take me to try this stuff called boba tea." My mom says to me, leaving me just enough time to say, "Love you too, mama" before the line goes dead.

I run a hand down my face before I get off the couch and grab the envelope, putting the ring back in it and heading up to my room to put it in a drawer in my dresser.

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After a week off, returning to the office felt strange. I stretch and yawn a little before I open the door to NC's office, just as I open it, her blue eyes flick up to me before I hear her say, "Captain Bellamy just walked in, I'll call ya later, bye!"

I wait for a moment before asking, "Who were you talking to?"

She smiles at me and says in a very nonchalant way, "Your mama."

My eyes went wide and I trip over my own tongue, "W…wha..wha-"

While I was tripping over my tongue, NC had gotten out from behind her desk to kiss me, mostly to shut me up I think before she said, "She called me, this mornin', wantin' to know how the rest of my weekend went."

Once my mind caught back up, I put my hands on her hips and asked, "Yeah? How was it?"

She reached up and adjusted my tie as she gave me a sweet smile, but I could see something in her eye that suggested her words weren't accurate, "It went fine enough."

I rubbed her hips with my hands and I said to her, "Carol, what happened?"

She went bright red and looked off to the side while giving a nervous laugh before saying, "What makes ya ask that, Jack?"

I take my left hand off of her right hip and turn her chin to look at me as I say, "You're eyes for one, for two, your reaction when I asked about it, confirmed it."

She sighed and leaned her head against my chest as she said, "I tried to have fun with Enty, Washy, an' the others. When we were doin' stuff it was fun. But when I went back to my quarters an' got in my bed, I felt like I didn't wanna be there."

I move my hands to be around her waist as I rest my chin on the top of her head and ask, "Well, where did you want to be then?"

I hear her make a content sound before she whispers, "Right here."

I squeeze her a little tighter and start to say, "Carol,"

I feel her rub her head back and forth as she admits, "I hated bein' away from ya for so long. I missed your smell; I missed ya holding me just like this. An' after the last week, it just made it feel too long since ya held me like this, an' since I felt ya touch me."

I turn my head so that it's my cheek resting on her head as I try to say again, "Carol, I missed you so much during that month. I missed holding you, feeling you pressed against me."

Her arms slipped under my arms and up my back to grip my shoulders and she asked, "Can I stay over tonight?"

I smile and press her harder against me as I say, "Of course you can, in fact, why don't you bring some stuff to leave at my quarters?"

NC looks up with a big grin on her face and she teases, "So, almost like I'll be livin' there some of the time?"

That sent a chill down my spine, aside from the academy and after I moved out of my mom's house I hadn't lived with anyone in years. Yet as I looked her in the eyes, that chill went away; I had hated that last month without her here. The last week had been rough too; she was here, but not willing to stay over, due to my family being here. She stretched up a little to whisper in my ear before nipping my earlobe, "I'm sure we can figure out somethin' to do at night."

Slipping my hands to her stern I grip it as I whisper back, "You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to it."

She giggled and playfully slapped my chest before saying, "I think I got an idea, or two. But later, we got work to do."

I sigh out in a very animated fashion, "Fine, but come by after you've packed a few things, alright?"

She gave me another quick kiss before saying, "Count on it."

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It was after dinner when I heard the knock on my door, as I opened it, I saw NC standing there. She had a bag on her shoulder and a shy smile on her face. I grin back and step aside to let her in and I say to her, "Pick out a draw or two and feel free to move my things out of it to make room."

She stepped in and gave me a quick kiss before saying, "Sounds good, I'll be down shortly."

She winked at me over her shoulder as she went upstairs and I went to the kitchen to get some snacks ready for a movie tonight, that we were not likely to watch since this was the first night we'd been able to spend together in over a month at this point. After what felt like it was taking too long for her to come back downstairs, I remembered what was in one of my drawers and I flew upstairs.

Once I had gotten upstairs, I saw that my bedroom door was open a crack and I could tell she was in there since the light was on. I open the door more to see NC standing there, her back to the open door, her bag open on my bed. But it was that little envelope that was open beside her bag that made my heart stop. As I keep pushing the door open, I see her from behind raise her left hand, my grandmother's ring on her ring finger and I hear her say, "Jack, it's so pretty and it fits."

Naturally, she knew I was there, I often forget about the enhanced hearing, sight, and often sense of smell that kansen have too. I watch as her hand comes down and she spins to face me, her left hand made into a fist and held tight against her bust as she says, "Yes."

I was going to say something, but the words got caught in my throat and she stepped closer to me, tears welling up in her blue eyes as she elaborated, "Yes, I'll marry ya, someday. But right now, that seems like too much of a step."

I watch as she takes off the ring, before putting it in my hand as she says, "Besides, ya haven't even asked me to move in yet."

I close my hand around the ring and let out a relaxed breath before I say to her, "My mom stuffed it in my pocket yesterday and I found it last night when I got home."

NC takes my other hand in hers and leads me over the bed, getting us both to sit on it as she leaned against me and said, "Now her video chat this morning makes sense."

"So you're not mad I didn't ask you right away?" I ask.

She shakes her head before leaning back on the bed and says, "If ya had, I would've told ya the same thin'; it's too soon for that."

I lean back and roll to my side as she does the same thing and strokes the side of my face, smiling at me as she says, "I like the idea of it, but let's see how me livin' here for a week goes fist? Then we try longer periods before ya ask me that, alright?"

I kiss her before putting my forehead against hers as I say, "I like that plan."

The next thing I know she pushes me to my back before she straddles me and says, "But right now, I want somethin' else."

"Yeah?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

She starts to undo her uniform as she says, "Yeah."

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A/N: I know that this was a short chapter, but I feel like this is a good spot to end this one.