Yawning, Adrienne coded herself into their room, well his room she guessed, and opened the door, covering her face with her free hand as she turned the knob. It was late but she knew he wouldn't be asleep yet; he was like a vampire just minus blond hair, the ownership of a seedy Southern bar and control over an area of Louisiana.
As she pushed the door open she saw the light beside the bed was on, as expected, and that he was reading, again not a surprise. What was a surprise, however, was what he was reading, a familiar book, a big familiar book, a big familiar book with pictures.
"Shut da door!" Adrienne shouted, realizing exactly what was poised in his hands, a smile spreading across her face. Startled, he looked up at her, dropping the volume to his lap and losing his place.
"Dammit, Ad, you scared the hell out of me! What's wrong!?" he asked, not hearing her arrival and now only beginning to see the grin on her face, one that he didn't like. Unable to resist, this was just too good of a thing to walk into, Adrienne fell to the ground dramatically, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead like a true Southern Belle. His expression changed and Daniel tossed the book aside, leaping from the bed, rushing over to take her into his arms.
"It's the end of the world..." she twitched, gazing up at him out of the corner of her eye, her head hanging back as if she was going to faint.
"Ad, what's going on? Is everything ok? Are you sick?" Daniel asked, his face furrowed, reaching for her head to bring her eyes to meet his, his palm resting on her face.
"Daniel, you're, uh, reading The Walking Dead; it is a sign of the end times!" Adrienne exclaimed, lying back in his arms.
He paused for a moment, realizing her ploy and let her drop to the ground.
"You're so awful to me," he said, frowning, standing and walking back to the bed as Adrienne rolled over to her side, laughing hysterically. He just shook his head and pulled back the covers, getting back into bed, this time to go to sleep now that she was here. She sat up on the floor cross legged and peered over at him, still laughing uncontrollably, wiping tears from her eyes.
"I'm glad that I amuse you," he said, pulling the covers over his shoulder and turning his back to her, slinking down in the bed.
"You should've seen your face," she continued giggling, untying her boots and tossing them into the corner.
"Uh huh, I'm going to sleep. You're welcome for waiting up for you. I love you too," he grumbled, only half serious; he just needed to figure out a way to get even.
"How far into it are you sha?" she asked, pulling off her uniform to change into a junky tank top and shorts.
"They just got to the prison," he responded, still not turning around but clearly not angry.
Adrienne smiled as she changed out of her work clothes; he really was reading it, he really did care enough to try to share her interests. He does try so hard, she thought, flushing at the gesture. Eager to be in his arms, she pulled on the tank top, crawling over him to get into the bed. He was pulling back the blanket, allowing her to join him, so she slipped her legs down onto the cool sheets, getting under the blankets, turning to her side, slamming her elbow on the hard concrete wall as she did.
"Merde, dammit, Indy, can we go to your place next time. Or mine?" she asked, "This is getting ridiculous."
Sighing, Daniel reached out, rubbing her sore elbow sweetly, pulling her into his arms.
"I know we should. It's just that we live almost forty five minutes away, give or take. By the time we get to either of our apartments, it feels like we have to turn around and come right back. And I worry about being too tired to drive that far home," he whispered softly, kissing her ear and pulling back, adjusting to their normal sleeping position.
"Besides," he continued, "if we get a bigger bed I'm afraid that you won't sleep so close."
Smiling, Adrienne shook her head, resting it against the pillow, running her foot down his leg.
"The clone died today," she whispered quietly, holding her breath. She'd heard the news over two hours ago, long before her meeting with Rodney's team, but wanted to wait to tell him in person and since he seemed to be in a good mood, she figured now was as good a time as any. She laid there silent, in his embrace, awaiting his response, a word, a sigh, but got nothing.
"I'm so sorry Daniel," she added, rolling over to face him, resting her hand against his cheek, "I know we thought the enzyme from Makua's world would help, but it has to be used during the cloning process, not later."
"It was bound to happen," he said with a sigh finally, "he stroked out weeks ago and Rodney and Carson both said that once that happened that more rapid deterioration was inevitable."
His words were confident but his eyes were his tell, especially with his glasses laying on the nightstand. With no glass impediment to block her line of sight, she could see the hurt there, the sadness at the loss of life. Yes, he might have been a clone, yes he might have worked for Anubis, but they hadn't caught him trying to hurt anyone, in fact, based on the interrogations it appeared that he was a scout and Anubis had abandoned him and his shipmates, whom the later teams had been unable to find, to their fates.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" she pried, gently, not wanting to make this worse but he shook his head, bringing her closer to him and kissing her gently on the forehead.
"No, but I appreciate it. It's just sad when a person dies, no matter who they were," he answered, pulling her into a tighter embrace and she lay there, letting him hold her, hoping their contact would make him feel better.
Adrienne knew that he had been going down there as often as possible, to visit, to chat with the man, to keep him company, despite Jack's clear orders not to. Undeterred, Daniel had made the argument that it wasn't healthy for his mental state to be trapped in a cold dark cell, alone, his only human contact being Rodney when he needed to take more DNA samples or Jack and Teal'c when they wished to interrogate him. Daniel had even said that the man was kind, speaking of the wonders he had seen on other planets and how he desired to be away from Anubis to live as they lived here. Sensing the sadness as though she could feel it through his touch, Adrienne pulled back, leaning up to kiss him gently.
"We'll find a way," she whispered, "You will find a way to stop him. And then there will be no more clones made ever again, no more people created to suffer."
Daniel sighed, holding her tighter.
"If not Anubis then the IOA," he uttered softly, "I had always hoped that the database was too long, that I would never decode anything about Asgard cloning, but this entire situation with Anubis forced our hand and now everything I had hoped was lost knowledge is stored down on Rodney's servers…"
"You think they'd really get Rodney to clone people," Adrienne asked, "Here?"
"If not Rodney, rude as he is I think he actually would draw the line at that, then someone that would."
Adrienne sighed. She had no response to that.
"Thanks for telling me," he added.
Adrienne was silent for a moment, just laying there, enjoying being close to him.
"What if we get a bigger bed for here? I mean, Sam lets us share quarters now and I promise I'll still sleep just as close," Adrienne decided to change the subject, still scanning his eyes for signs that he needed to talk, but he smiled, chuckling slightly.
"Sam looks the other way because it's so late when we stay here. Your room is technically still issued to you," Daniel corrected.
"It's so stupid, the whole damn world knows, we're engaged for crying out loud. I don't see what the big deal is..." she complained.
Adrienne had abandoned her quarters shortly after the proposal, since they were no longer sleeping alone anyway and Daniel's room was slightly larger than hers. Neither of them really said anything about it, it just seemed like something they should do, so they did it, however, on base quarters were not made for two people in one room, let alone two people in the same bed.
"Until we are married Ad, we're technically not even supposed to be doing this. People aren't supposed to date fellow team members, much less someone in my position dating their former assistant. Fortunately I have enough clout around here for us to get away with it, we've finally got Woolsey off of our backs, it's just that having a giant bed delivered here sends the wrong message," he replied, rolling over and shutting off the light.
He was right.
She hated when he was right.
She felt the small bed move as he adjusted in the darkness, and sighed, reaching out for him to find his arms once more and move close into them.
I shouldn't complain, she thought, at least I get this every night.
"If I could get a giant bed like we had on, what was that world called, the one with the oils, I would…" he teased into her ear, Adrienne laughing.
"Cooyon."
"Let's get some sleep," he added, squeezing her tightly. Nuzzling close to him the best she could, she tried to shield her knees from pressing on the cold cinder blocks, wrapping the blanket up and around her legs.
When Adrienne awoke the next morning Daniel was already awake and in the shower. That was something else she noticed, he would dash awake in the mornings when they slept on base now so that he could shower, shave, get ready and get out before she got in there. They had tried getting ready at the same time and regardless of where they were standing in the room, they always ended up feuding over the sink, the shower, the mirror, so much so that some mornings Adrienne wondered if it was even worth staying the night with him, knowing that just a floor down she had her own space.
"Almost done," he shouted from the other side as she entered.
How romantic, she thought, what ever happened to 'do you want to join me'?
"Thanks cher," she answered, considering for a moment climbing in with him, choosing to 'join him' herself, however, they had discovered that didn't work well either when on base, discovered quite dramatically that it didn't work.
Adrienne's butt still remembered the last try, painfully.
Instead, she got out her arsenal of beauty products, her 'lotions and potions' that Daniel loved to harass her about, his every gripe making her laugh, lining up her items as they went through their new, cramped morning routine.
This morning Adrienne was working with Rodney, at her own volunteering, given her interest in the enzyme that they had recovered from that paradise of a planet that Vala was still talking about. For all of the times that Adrienne told Daniel that her father's insistence on her studying the STEM fields had driven her even further into cultural anthropology, the longer she worked at the SGC the more eager she seemed to be to act as a bridge between the hard sciences and the humanities, as her promotion afforded her the opportunity to serve as this bridge. But, the both of them had to admit that the time apart actually made them miss one another and that was nice. Neither of them could imagine really being together every waking moment of every day that they were heading for; it was good to have time apart, she had learned, it made her miss him that much more and long for when they were together.
He slipped out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the rack and leaving on the water as promised, Adrienne popping into the back, rubbing her eyes and wanting coffee already.
Forget the ceremony Daniel, she thought, we're already married and have been for a while.
Laughing at it all, she angled the shower head and turned the heat up, getting ready for her day.
Daniel was sitting on his bed lacing up his boots when Adrienne walked over to say goodbye, squeezing his shoulder softly.
"See you at lunch?" she asked.
"No breakfast?" he answered with a question of his own.
"Nah, I've got some stuff Rodney's let me keep down there since we started working on this and I'm hoping to finish early," Adrienne said as she pushed him back a bit on the bed, crawling into his lap, "so I can spend some time with you," she whispered, kissing his cheek, "alone," she added running her lips down his neck, noting that he had his hands on her arms, pushing her back slightly.
Daniel sighed.
"I'm probably going to be late tonight, Ad, I'm sorry," he looked up at her sincerely, disappointment clear in his eyes.
"It's ok; I was late last night. How about I finish early, and we plan on dinner together. I can go get us something from off-base, bring it back to the lab?" Adrienne offered, pulling away and smiling, trying to make him feel better.
"That sounds like a great idea" Daniel smiled and pulled her back into his arms, kissing her more appropriately this time. She broke away and hugged him tightly, tucking her face into his shoulder.
"See," she informed him, kissing his cheek again, "we make this work, no matter how busy things get."
"We do," he answered, squeezing her once more, the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with, watching her as she slipped away from his embrace and glided out of the door.
It was about 10 a.m. when Daniel realized that he brought the wrong set of journals down from their quarters.
"Dammit," he swore aloud, to no one in particular since Adrienne wasn't there, looking over, wishing that she was, because not only did he have to stop what he was doing, but he had to get up himself and try to go find the thing, leaving the lab empty and unattended while he looked with no one else here to answer the phone. He grunted in frustration, both at her absence and how used to having her do things for him that he'd become, and headed back to his quarters, hoping that Adrienne would be finished with this project soon.
The desk in their quarters was a mess.
Granted, he was the type of person to spread out and create piles, but he could always find everything, however, the desk had been organized, Adrienne organized, in some system that she had yet to explain, her things intermixed with his piles. His only saving grace was that he liked to write in leather bound journals and she in composition books so he just needed to get to said journals free without his world crashing down onto him.
It took him about 20 minutes, but he got what he needed, tucking them quickly under his arm to race up to the lab. As he was leaving he heard a crash behind him and he paused for just a moment at the door. There was no point, he knew what he would see without turning around, so he just didn't bother, closing the door behind him.
Adrienne had worked through lunch, determined to get finished in time to go get something really good for dinner, like Hibachi, but her stomach forced her to stop. Annoyed, but needing to control the rumble, she walked over to the small fridge and peeked inside. She must have eaten the last of the healthy food at breakfast, or Rodney had finished it during one of his many snack breaks, but the fridge was empty save one candy bar.
The archaeologist frowned.
She needed to eat.
"Rodney!" Adrienne shouted, loudly to get his attention, his face peering into a rather large microscope in concentration.
"Yes, Addy," he answered, finally calling her Addy as she had requested. It only took her volunteering to help him, trying to find him an assistant and saving his ass from Anubis, but at least it was happening.
"I'm gonna get something to eat from the commissary," she stated, "do you want me to get you anything?" she added trying to be polite, knowing he would refuse to leave what he was doing.
"No but thank you, I'll head down in a little bit to get something else. Are we out in the fridge?" he inquired over his shoulder, no scowl, in fact, it actually looked like there was a smile on his face.
"Yea," she laughed, not placing the blame where she knew it needed to go.
"Fine, but get back. I plan on holding you to your promise of finishing this today," he responded.
"Don't worry," she said as she left, heading for the elevators to the commissary, thinking that all she really wanted to do was finish as fast as possible to get back to Daniel, even if it was to hang out with him over take-out Japanese food while he worked.
She could hear the commotion before she made it to the entrance, stopping in her tracks as she saw John Sheppard exiting the mess hall, shaking his head obviously frustrated over something.
"What's goin' on in there?" she asked, confused, trying to peek around his shoulder.
"Broken stove. People are arguing over toast in there," he replied curtly, stopping in front of her to talk, annoyed.
"Are you serious?" Adrienne clarified, trying to see around him yet again as the commotion was growing louder, shouts leaking out into the hallway.
"We're a hungry crew," he shrugged, continuing his march down the hall.
"Where are you going?" she turned around, her stomach ordering her to follow the colonel to wherever he was headed, hoping it was to a source of food.
"To collect pizza money," he answered over his shoulder without stopping, "You want in?"
"No, but thanks, I'll figure something out," Adrienne said, knowing that would tear her stomach up, it did every time she gave in and let Daniel order it, changing directions to head for their quarters since she knew she had some food stashed in there.
A quick jog down the hall, a brief ride on the elevator and she was coding herself into their room, opening the door hurriedly. Disregarding the light switch, as she had the tiny room memorized, she stepped out, feeling something slick under her foot.
And fell to the floor, landing, like she always seemed to do, on her butt.
"Dammit!" she exclaimed in pain, reaching under herself to pull out a composition book, one of her composition books. Muttering a plethora of cajun swears under her breath she stood, carefully this time, and clicked on the light, her jaw dropping.
Their desk had exploded, the contents shot like shrapnel onto the floor, pens, pencils, notebooks, journals, loose papers, file folders, everything.
All…
Over…
EVERYWHERE.
It would take some pretty careful maneuvering to get anywhere in the room through this mess, maneuvering that the very angry cajun was not willing to do.
Adrienne had had enough.
Reaching for her cell phone, she texted Sheppard to add her to the pizza count, storming out of the room to find Daniel.
He was sitting at his desk like it was just any other day, that same intense look on his face he always had, clicking away at the computer keys.
"Daniel," Adrienne said as she entered the room, "I can't take this anymore."
"On it," he responded, not looking up.
"I mean, I get that we live far away, it's just the layout of DC lends itself to either living in the city center or far outskirts for a decent apartment, but we're either gonna have to just knock off early and decide where we are going for the night, or go to our separate rooms here on base. I can't continue to live in a closet," she pleaded, not rudely or angrily, just desperate, like a woman who had had enough.
"I'm on it Ad," Daniel repeated, holding up a finger in her direction, his eyes still locked on the screen.
"On what?" she asked as she walked over to the desk, trying to figure out exactly what he was 'on'.
"This," he said, backing up from the computer, on the screen a picture of the inside of a living room. Confused, Adrienne scrunched up her face, looking at him strangely.
"What's that?" she asked, tapping her finger lightly to the screen.
"Our solution," he answered, smiling, seemingly pleased with himself. Squinting, Adrienne peered closer, scanning the rest of the page, realizing what it was.
Her heart stopped.
"It's a townhouse," she said simply, not wanting to jump to conclusions, there was no way, no, he must mean...
"Yeah. It's five minutes from here, we can even take the subway if we prefer, not that I ever expect you to leave the beetle behind. It's not even that expensive with no maintenance, there's an association for that, because we both work too much to worry about that on top of everything else," he explained as she stood gazing at him in utter shock as he continued to ramble on.
"It's a three bedroom, so we can have separate offices, or use one as a guest room, two baths; the one in the master is quite large, so no more feuding. I can keep reading to you, but it's right here if you want to take a look at it. I think I'm gonna call to see if we can see it tomorrow," he listed off, sitting back in the chair awaiting a response but she said nothing, just stood there with her mouth open.
"You don't like it?" he asked.
"No, it's really nice and that's a deal, but who exactly is going to purchase said townhouse?" she inquired, frowning.
"We are," he replied quickly, trying to read her face.
Adrienne shook her head.
"I can't…"
"Was it something that I, we, Adrienne, I'm just trying to come up with a solution," he answered, lost again, why was he so lost with her lately. Her face serious, Adrienne grabbed a chair from the center table and sat down, looking him in the eyes.
"Daniel, my credit it a total nightmare," she admitted slowly, "Between defaulting on my student loans because of dad's treatment and then the expenses that were not written off after dad passed, and that one terrible credit card I had to live off of…"she paused, embarrassed, "I have no idea how Sam got them to offer me anything with that on my background. I've been working on it, this job has allowed me to do that, but I had none of the furniture before I moved up here and Apollo needed so much work that I had to put off…"
Daniel reached across, setting his hand gently on her knee.
"Ad," he said, shaking his head, "We don't need your credit, we don't need credit at all."
She frowned, confused, "What are you talking about?"
Daniel sighed, sitting back, realizing that this was a conversation that should have happened long ago, especially given that they were planning on getting married. He had alluded to this before, but at this very moment he had no idea if he had ever discussed his financial situation with her.
"Adrienne, we don't need a mortgage."
"Why not?" she asked, though he could tell by the tone that he knew the answer.
"Remember when I, in your words," he tried to joke and smile, "threw a tantrum and said we'd quit and travel the world."
"Yeah…"
"Well, we could and we can because I really don't need to work anymore…"
Adrienne frowned a second time, "You mean like you can retire…"
"No," he continued to explain, "I mean that my salary here is extremely generous, most of my expenses have been covered and I invested wisely."
"Wait," she led, "So you're saying that you were just gonna buy it and pay that," she pointed at the price, while a good deal for the DC area was still more than she could ever pay, "outright."
Daniel nodded.
"So, you're buying a townhouse," she clarified.
"No," he countered, "We are."
"With your money…"
"Which technically, since we will reside in Virginia, will also be your money at the moment we say 'I do'," he noted, Adrienne biting her lower lip, remaining silent for a moment before she finally spoke.
"That doesn't bother you?" she now asked and Daniel shook his head.
"No, you're gonna be my wife," he responded candidly, "It doesn't bother me in the least."
She was silent again.
"Does it bother you?" he questioned, carefully, trying to look into her dark eyes to gauge her answer.
"It doesn't feel deserved I guess…"
"I can see your point," Daniel conceded, "But it's not as if you're going to quit your job and go on a shopping spree nor are you only marrying me for that because you had no idea that that even existed."
"I guess not," she added quietly. Daniel turned away for a moment, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling across the top before setting his pen aside and handing the paper to Adrienne.
"That's how much," he said, "The investments, not my pension, that's separate, but I had to look it up this morning so I could have what I needed in case we were to buy this townhouse."
Adrienne peered down at the paper, her jaw dropping.
"Just so you know, I think we probably need to discuss these things…"
The cajun was silent, her heart pounding and her stomach sinking. She had no idea at all; why had she never thought about that, about any of it, she herself was good with money, but she had always straddled the poverty line until this job, and now, a year in a half into it or so, she was just starting to get her financial affairs in order.
Daniel on the other hand, apparently had more money than she ever dreamt of seeing…
"Ad?" he asked softly, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," she said nodding, passing it back to him, "I'm fine."
"You want me to call the realtor?"
Adrienne's thoughts swirled.
No, I want to go running out of here in embarrassment because you're rich and I'm nothing but a poor bumpkin.
Yes, call, I want a home with you, I want everything with you…
You're just like other women, find your gold and dig, dig, dig…
What's he going to try to pay for next?
This is more than a meal…
I don't want to be taken care of…
I wanted an equal…
Did you seriously think you were this man's equal!?
"Adrienne, I can figure out something else, it was just one idea," he offered, but Adrienne composed herself, shaking her head quickly.
"No, no, give them a call," she replied, "What can at least looking at it hurt, right? I may fall in love with the bathtub and then it's all over."
Daniel laughed, reaching for his cell phone and peering back at the screen as Adrienne walked over to her fridge, only to find a couple of protein shakes inside. She sighed, her stomach now aching terribly; she was so hungry that she was getting dizzy. Thinking that it was better than nothing, but still so very confused about how to handle this entire townhouse situation, Adrienne opened it, chugging it down before peering back at the fridge, grabbing the second.
"Ad?" he asked from behind her, "Does 9 am work for you?"
"Sure," she answered as she opened a second shake, chugging it down, hoping he didn't hear the fear in her voice.
"Yes sir, 9 am would be fine for us…" he continued, Adrienne walking over and kissing his temple lightly, pointing to the door to indicate that she was heading back to work. He nodded and kept talking, the cajun trying to focus on her work for the day...
The next morning they were standing on the curb waiting for the real estate agent to arrive when Adrienne began to get nervous, again. She kept looking over at Daniel, who seemed very calm and collected and organized and she just couldn't believe that she had agreed to be there. Her thoughts flashed back to last night, after Adrienne had brought back the promised Hibachi, Daniel calling Sam during their dinner to ensure that the pair of them could take time off to see the townhouse in person. Sam was thrilled, even through the phone she couldn't hide her excitement as she informed them that there would be paperwork they had to fill out, because apparently having the same address prior to the marriage was something Sam had to make official, on paper, that general public knowledge didn't replace.
Sensing her nerves, that tiny voice inside his head still telling him that she may bolt, Daniel reached out to her, peering over into her eyes.
"We don't have to do this," he whispered as he looked down at her, slipping his hand onto her back, "if it's too fast we can slow down and I can try to think of something else."
Shaking her head, she stepped over, running her arm through his. Granted she was nervous, she hadn't slept most of the night, laying beside him watching him sleep. He loved her, she knew that, and he had been even more protective since last month, when he had almost lost her to the trinium leaking into her back. He blamed himself, as if Anubis' plot to get to him and get into the SGC was somehow his fault, and had spent every waking moment making it up to her.
She guessed, despite how confusing this entire situation was, that this was part of him making it all up to her as well.
Addy this is huge...
"No, it's just weird. Not only have I never owned a home myself, but, well, let's just say I never thought I'd be buying one with you," she answered, choking up a bit at the end. Smiling, Daniel wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him, the sound of a car coming to a stop interrupting their tender moment.
"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, sorry to keep you waiting," a short well-dressed man apologized, dashing out of a gray Volvo, his feet heavy as he plodded along the sidewalk. Adrienne made a face at the salutation but Daniel just looked down at her, trying not to laugh.
"I know, I know, the Puritans," he said, raising his eyebrows, as he walked over to the realtor.
"As long as you start realizing that I'm gonna keep correcting once things are official, we're fine," Adrienne said, to herself apparently, following, hoping he really understood her stance on that as well.
"So, Crystal City is really the neighborhood for professionals such as yourselves that are wanting the feeling of a community with convenience of their proximity to the DC area. Do you both work in DC?" the realtor began his spiel, looking, of course at Daniel.
Might as well start now Addy.
"Yes we do," Adrienne answered, "We work at the Pentagon."
"Perfect!" the realtor finally looked at her, a grin across his broad face, "In fact, the blue line station is only 5 miles that way," he said as he pointed down the road, "And many folks will bike there or carpool."
The man continued to ramble about transit as he led them into the home, Daniel following behind, Adrienne lagging.
If it's too fast we can slow down…
"Not sure if I really have that option anymore," Adrienne muttered to herself as she passed through the doorway, pulling the door closed behind her.
Daniel had agreed to purchase it an hour later, calling a military attorney from the Jeep before they were out of the neighborhood.
So much for shopping around, Adrienne thought, although she had to admit that she really did like the place, a lot.
The bathtub was even better than expected, a soaker with jets…
Daniel had done his homework.
As they rode back to the Pentagon, Daniel on the phone with first the attorney, then Jack, and then someone she could only guess dealt with real estate for employees with their clearance level; she wasn't sure, Adrienne gazed out of the window at the DC spring. Tour buses were everywhere to be seen, spilling schoolchildren out onto the streets for end of the year field trips. Food trucks and other vendors lined the sidewalks, selling everything from hot dogs to ice cream to happy tourists wearing various American themed merchandise. This was her home now, now the humid bayou dripping in French influence, but the nation's capital, a homage to the red whtee and blue draped over a shell of the Roman empire. She had been alright with that, was alright with that, but with everything that had happened in the past few weeks she was starting to question everything.
"You'd think having worked for the program for what," Daniel said into the phone, "Seventeen years I would have a better idea of how all of this works, I know."
Seventeen years, Adrienne thought, Daniel has been doing this for seventeen years…
I don't even know what I want my life to look like in seven years, much less seventeen…
Adrienne didn't say a word, looking down at her hand, at the beautiful rings Daniel had brought back from Pusflet. She loved him, she was sure of that, and she really felt as if he were here partner, her other, the one person she wanted to bounce ideas off of for thee rest of her life but a house?
A wedding?
This mysterious small fortune she had no idea existed?
Could she stay here for 17, 27, 37 years?
Forever?
"Ad?" Daniel asked, breaking her train of thought, "Hey, I think I've got the ball rolling. We should celebrate! What do you want?"
"I've got a ton to get done before Rodney moves into phase 2," she answered, quickly, "Raincheck?"
"Of course," he answered, smiling, "I am actually slightly ahead so how about I grab a nice bottle of champagne and head to my place and cook…"
She smiled softly, reaching to set her hand on his leg, "That sounds great cher. Thank you."
"We really got lucky with this place, I mean the layout alone…." Daniel continued on, talking about the various details of the house as Adrienne tried to feign interest, her mind a million miles away.
Daniel noticed Adrienne's silence over the course of the rest of the day. He had thought she was excited, the closet and tub alone made her face light up, but she was quiet and subdued. A number of times he wanted to ask her if she was alright, but he didn't, respecting her silence and working himself to finish early as promised in order to head to the grocery store and get some salmon and couscous. His personal goal was to finish by 3, but shortly after one thirty Daniel had gotten to his initial stopping mpoint. Smiling, pleased with himself, he peered over at Adrienne who was sitting back from her computer, staring at nothing and not typing.
"Adrienne?" he asked, finally, his fianceé peering over at him.
"Yeah…"
"You ok?"
She shook her head, "Stuck, headache, just off today. Sorry."
"Don't be," he answered sweetly, "Actually, I'm even further ahead. Why don't you go for a run and I can finish up for you."
"Really?" she asked, Daniel nodding.
"Yeah, you've done it for me plenty of times."
Adrienne sighed out, rubbing her face in her hands.
He loves you Adrienne. He really loves you.
"I could use a few miles…"
Daniel stood, walking over to her desk setting her hands on his shoulders, peering to kiss her cheek lightly.
"Go…"
She laughed lightly, taking a deep breath before looking up at him.
"Ok, ok," she replied, "I'm going."
Without further argument she pulled gently from his grasp, standing and stretching and heading to her locker. She paused when she got there, looking back.
"You sure cher?"
"Absolutely," he answered, "Run, shower and then we can go to the store together or even someplace nice."
She nodded in silence, grabbing her gym bag and tossing it over her shoulder. She walked by him, squeezing his shoulder one more time before exiting the lab.
"Ok," Daniel coached himself looking at her screen, "I hope I can get through this; I forget that you are no longer my assistant so…" he muttered to himself, clicking around, frowning, "Good, still database, but cloning, more cloning, she really is interested in this stuff of Rodney's…" he glanced up, clicking to check the other tab, sitting back in her chair when he saw what was on that tab.
It was her email, open to her 'bills' folder, and a .pdf file of her student loan balance for the current month displayed on the screen.
She owed over eighty thousand dollars in student loans…
He put his hand to his mouth, peering to see if she was there, but she was really gone, and he could now understand her headache.
Daniel glanced back at the screen, scanning her bills inbox. There was a bill from the Tulane Health System, her father's name in the subject line.
Thirty two thousand dollars…
He saw other emails, a credit card, what looked to be a personal loan. He knew she was paid well and she had made jokes here and there about paying off things, and he knew she was, but given that she did have to fix her car, furnish her apartment, pay for food, clothes, everything their expenses did not cover…
Adrienne was completely buried in debt, all because she had chosen her father to care for and help him, above herself.
"Dammit Ad," he muttered, "Why didn't you tell me?"
But he knew the answer to that, it was the reason that he feared Adrienne would never say yes to a proposal.
Adrienne didn't want to be taken care of; she wanted to stand on her own two feet.
Torn inside, and not knowing what to do, Daniel reset the screen to how he found it, returning to finish her work as promised.
Over the next few weeks, things proceeded as normal, or as normal as things could be considering the entire base was buzzing that Drs. Jackson and Rowan had bought a house together, so the wedding must be on the horizon. While they were waiting on the paperwork to be completed, they worked as they would have normally, late most nights, staying on base and smashing themselves into Daniel's tight quarters. Once they had a closing date, they split what little free time they had between his apartment and hers, packing things and preparing to move, Adrienne torn between being truly excited they were moving in together and terrified of losing a part of herself.
Closing day came and went, Adrienne confirming at the signing, as she carefully scripted her name on the deed, that there was indeed no mortgage; Daniel had paid for the house in full, not asking her for even one cent.
This is really happening, she thought, as she set down the pen, sliding the papers back across the desk.
Dr. Adrienne Rowan now owned a home, with Dr. Daniel Jackson.
He even bought more champagne for the occasion.
Adrienne ate very little at dinner, letting the champagne bubbles lull her to sleep early, crawling into bed before him at his apartment.
She wished she could be more excited, she really did, but for the rest of her week Dr. Adrienne Rowan was just a zombie.
Meanwhile, the rest of her friend circle couldn't be more thrilled.
"Ok, Jackson lives farthest away so we start there. We'll be picking up the moving truck right at 7 a.m.," Cameron announced from the head of the cafeteria table the night before the move, making himself, of course, the self-appointed move director.
"Cam?" Adrienne raised her hand, it was stupid, she knew, but it was just easier to get his attention that way, "they don't open until eight on Saturdays."
"I called ahead, we'll be there at seven," he answered without missing a beat, Adrienne leaning over to Daniel, reading his mind.
"Sorry, he offered and I thought he could make this run more smoothly," she whisppered, knowing that she was going to hear it from Daniel for not making him stop.
"Smoothly?" he questioned, looking at her over his glasses so she elbowed him, Cameron continuing, oblivious to the exchange.
"As I said, we'll be getting Jackson's things first and then moving onto Addy's place. Our goal is to get to the townhouse no later than 1 p.m.," Cameron continued.
This time it was Daniel that elbowed Adrienne, who peeked over at him, glaring viciously with those eyes of hers.
"He's set a time limit on our move. Why couldn't we just do this ourselves?" Daniel hissed under his breath, blue orbs darting around the room to see if he was being noticed, which he wasn't, as Cam began to give a minute by minute itinerary of the entire ordeal.
"Everyone wanted to help. Jack and Sam just eloped and everything was done overnight but we're - " Adrienne stopped herself realizing that they were just moving in together, not getting married, not yet, her face flushing at her slip. She must have said something right, however, as Daniel smiled and reached his arm around her.
"I know what you mean," he whispered back to her.
And we have no date at all yet either, he thought to himself, but kept quiet, his mind back at her email, those bills, and the printed payoff plan he had found at her apartment as they packed, where she would have all of that overburdening debt plus some money finally saved in case she was ever unable to work by 2017…
Three and a half years away.
"Ok, does everyone know what we need to do?" Cameron finished, breaking Daniel's trance, exaggerating his words, apparently having noticed the side conversation in the back.
Adrienne just shrugged, elbowing Daniel, who quickly did the same.
"Great!" Cameron declared, "I'll see everyone in the morning bright and early!"
Adrienne whacked her arm on concrete the next morning as she awoke from the alarm, shouting out in pain.
"I heard ow, are you alright?" Daniel asked as he rubbed his face, yawning groggily, Adrienne sitting up and rubbing her elbow. He sat, reaching out for her arm, now gently rubbing the limb in question.
"Look on the brightside," he groaned, "That will be your last 'ow' ever."
"From that dumb wall at least," she grumbled, laying back down in the bed and closing her eyes.
No turning back now...
"Come on Ad," he uttered, shoving her gently as he chuckled, "wake-up. We've got moving to do."
He loves you. You love him. Get your fool tchew up and let yourself be happy...
Letting out a groan, Adrienne opened her eyes and there was Daniel, peering down at her and tugging at the blanket.
You can do this Ad. This is a good thing.
"Fine, I'm up, I'm up," she whined, standing, making her way to the shower.
"You need to hurry Ad, I wanna get in there too, moving or not," he requested. She nodded, staggering to the bathroom when she felt a grip at her wrist. Confused, she peered back to see Daniel, cutting his eyes at the shower, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Really?" she clarified, puzzled, her eyes darting to the clock to check the time.
That might be nice...
"Uh huh," he replied, stepping forward and pulling her right to the room in question.
"Can you not drop me this time, I actually have to lift and move things today," she teased, smiling, the thought of being close in that way making her feel somewhat better, waiting for his reaction.
"I didn't mean to drop you," he defended, frowning, but not stopping his advance.
Nice wake-up before a hard day, she thought, as long as I don't end up bruising my ass.
"Uh huh," she said with a giggle, following.
"Guys! Are you up yet!? Why aren't you answering your phones!?" Cam was screaming from the other side of the door as Daniel worked his lips down Adrienne's neck, the water pounding down his back and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.
"I'm a patient man, but that's gonna get on my nerves, fast," Daniel whispered, not moving, not pulling away, thankfully her body added, so Adrienne tried not to laugh, despite the sheer ludicrousness of the situation.
"Do you want me to get rid of him?" she offered, not really wanting to stop, after all, he had managed not to drop her yet.
"No, I want him to take a hint, go away, and let me finish what I was doing," Daniel hissed, resuming his earlier movements.
"I've ruined you," she joked, returning her lips to his.
"Dammit guys, this isn't funny! I know Addy isn't sleeping through this!" Cam shouted again, banging on the door, Daniel's head coming to a rest on her shoulder.
"And he's killed it," he sighed, pecking her collarbone and turning his head to rest it there as he returned her feet gently to the floor of the stall.
"It's alright cher, I'll go get rid of him," Adrienne apologized, disappointed, slipping away from his embrace, frowning as she exited the shower.
She was in a towel when she answered the door, subtly trying to prove her point.
"Oh sorry Addy, I didn't realize you were in the shower. Where's Daniel? Why didn't he answer the door?" Cam continued, but Adrienne didn't reply, just cleared her throat, cutting her eyes down at her attire.
"Oh... Cam replied, catching the hint, "sorry 'bout that..."
Smiling, Adrienne shook her head.
"Cam, shug, I appreciate it, I really do, but can you just calm down a bit. Just a bit. I'd like for Daniel not to have a stroke," Adrienne finally spoke, frowning at him.
"I'm sorry, really, but we need to get moving, Addy. I'm not trying to be annoying, I'm just trying to keep this going. You wanna sleep here another night?" Cameron asked, knowing the answer.
Adrienne often complained to him of not sleeping well anymore, she didn't like their on-base room but she hated sleeping alone and he knew how to get to her, obviously, as she gave him a dirty look.
"Go get the van, meet us at Daniel's. We'll take the Jeep," Adrienne answered, shutting the door on him before he could argue and turned to face Daniel, who had gotten himself out of the shower and was pulling a t-shirt over his head.
"We're going to meet him there," Adrienne declared, Daniel sighing in relief.
"Thank you," he answered, the tension still in his voice. Smiling, and starting to feel a bit better about all of this, maybe even a touch excited, Adrienne walked over, resting her hand on his cheek and kissing his lips softly.
"Raincheck?" she asked as she pulled away, Daniel grinning.
"If we have the energy after today," he joked, moving so she could get her clothes she had laid out and get dressed.
Nerves in their stomach they headed out, both from excitement and from the realization that this was happening, that they were taking this huge step together, they grabbed the final boxes, opting for breakfast on the road, and made their way to the Jeep.
Their moving crew was outside of Daniel's complex waiting for them, each dressed in their own moving attire. Cam and Teal'c were wearing jeans and t-shirts like normal people, but Vala looked like something out of Fame, leggings, a blouse hanging off of her shoulder, her hair in pigtails cascading down her shoulders.
Adrienne decided to refrain from commenting; she just knew that was going to be a bad wardrobe decision. In fact, she believed that bad wardrobe decisions were something about her friend that she was never going to be able to fix.
When she looked over at Daniel, who had calmed considerably on the ride over, she could tell that he was trying not to kill Cameron, who was already approaching the Jeep, looking at his watch. She rubbed his leg up quickly, leaning over to peek at his face, but he didn't say a word, so she just remained silent, trying not to laugh and making a mental note of the location of her phone, in case there was something blackmail worthy to photograph later.
See Addy, this is fun and exciting.
It's ok to be happy.
Sighing, he pulled the car up into a space in the lot, shifting the gear into park, finally looking over at Adrienne.
"No going back now," Daniel said, worried, leaning over to try to gaze into her eyes.
This is huge, he thought, bigger than a ring and a promise.
This, he knew in his heart, was really the step, that there would no longer be a Daniel and an Adrienne just Daniel and Adrienne, as a unit, a one. Her face, however, wasn't what he expected, it wasn't what he had worried about, she seemed calm, happy even, like this wasn't anything unexpected at all.
It wasn't anything like the face she had given him a few weeks before when he had suggested all of this...
"I was pretty clear on that when we signed the papers, cher," she noted, reaching her hand across.
I'd hoped so, he thought again, considering I put your name as 50% of everything.
Maybe I should tell her that part; that it wasn't just the townhouse, it was the investments, the pension, it was everything...
Turning his hand over to take hers into his own, he squeezed it lightly, leaning over the console to kiss her lips, getting lost for a moment, forgetting where they were, reaching his hand behind her neck, before she pulled away, giggling.
"We've got to go," she whispered, pecking his nose lightly.
"I love you Adrienne," he replied, running his fingers down her cheek, turning to pull the keys out of the ignition.
"I love you too Daniel," she said with a smile, reaching for the door handle.
It was time to face their future.
"I've got it Teal'c!" Vala snapped, glaring up the stairs at her teammate as they carefully moved Daniel's sofa down the steps to the next floor, Teal'c's assistance making her more unsure of her footing than were he just holding half of the weight.
"ValaMalDoran this is very heavy and I do not wish to crush you," he yelled down below, thinking to himself he could have just gotten the piece of furniture down the side stairs by himself, however she had insisted on helping. Taking a breath, he relinquished more of the weight forward, and he was correct, it was more than she could handle, a slew of swears now flung in his direction.
"Keep moving people, this box isn't light," Cameron shouted behind them, a large cardboard container of wall decor in his hands, Daniel's assortment of artifacts and replicas that Adrienne still had no idea where she would be putting in their new home.
One's face in a scowl, the other suppressing laughter, Adrienne and Daniel were shortly behind carrying his dining room table in between them.
"This is insanity," Daniel stated, frowning, glaring at Adrienne shaking his head. He didn't even want to look at Cam, between the moving agenda and the fact he was now carrying a box of his prized possessions Daniel was starting to wonder if he would have a complete meltdown before or after they got this table loaded.
"Personally, I find it kind of amusing," Adrienne answered, laughing again as she heard Vala refer to Teal'c as a muscle bound idiot from the back of the truck.
"You would," he replied, grimacing, Adrienne lifting the table higher to adjust her grip, making a face at the effort.
"Too heavy?" he asked, mocking her because he knew her answer, and that answer, to him, was as amusing as Adrienne was finding the rest of this fiasco.
"No, too ugly," she answered, winking at him, "I can't believe we're keeping this."
"Nuh uh," Daniel responded, quickly, "we're NOT doing this. This is a move together, not a hostile Adrienne takeover," he tried to sound serious but he was laughing knowing full well that despite his protests he was going to end up with faux grapevine hanging in his dining room, and probably throughout the entire house.
Hell, she could decorate the entire damn thing, he didn't care, as long as she was there, with him, from here on out...
"You watch it Indy," she threatened, "I'll let go and we'll solve this argument right now."
Raising her eyebrows, she dropped the table just a bit, just enough to make him gasp, and pulled it back up, giving him an evil grin.
She's happy Daniel; it's gonna be ok...
"You do realize that's a declaration of war ja-wer," he stated, starting down the stairs.
"Bring it on," she answered, giggling, following close behind, "You don't scare me."
He beamed, feeling less concerned for the first time in weeks.
Cameron was pleasantly surprised when they finished up at Daniel's place early and moved onto Adrienne's, very pleasantly surprised, ordering Teal'c to drive the van to the next stop while he rearranged their schedule, Daniel's advance to choke him only stopped by Adrienne literally grabbing his waist from behind.
"Play nice," she ordered in his ear, feeling him breathe deeply in and out but not turning around to face her.
"Want me to chill Mitchell," Vala offered, trying not to laugh at the vein throbbing on Daniel's forehead.
"Please," Adrienne requested, turning her very annoyed beloved around, gazing into his eyes.
"I'm going to kill him," Daniel hissed through his teeth, continuing with what Adrienne swore was Kelnareen breathing.
"He's trying to help," Adrienne reminded him, telling Vala with her eyes to get the moving truck out of here and fast.
"He's trying to give me a heart attack. This is OUR house, not his, and if a single one of my artifacts is broken..." Daniel began to rant, Adrienne standing on her toes to shut him up with a kiss, one hand wrapped around his neck, the other waving Teal'c to drive.
Seeing the truck turn left out of the corner of her eye, she backed away, Daniel sighing as she did.
"You're trying to distract me," he accused, trying not to smile.
"Is it working?" she asked, rubbing his arms lightly.
"Come on," he replied, frowning, grabbing her hand to pull her over to the Jeep.
Adrienne's place was pretty cut and dry, Daniel even managing to not go storming after Cam screaming, which was a miracle given his rant in the Jeep on the way to her apartment. As Adrienne had not only carefully packed and labeled every item, but also lived on the ground floor, the team had everything moved out and stowed safely into the moving truck in record time.
That was, until it came to her wine cabinet.
"What is that?" Cameron asked, looking at the last thing in the apartment, a huge mass of bubble wrap sitting beside three wooden crates.
"That mon ami is my wine cabinet, with which you are quite familiar, minus the protective covering of course," Adrienne stood with her hands on her hips, examining both the object and packaging with pride while Daniel shook his head.
That's going in our house too, he thought, that damn shrine to Dionysus.
He laughed, pinching his nose under his glasses.
"That is what AdrienneRowan?" Teal'c knew what wine was, and had seen the cabinet, but could not believe what she had done to prepare to move her precious piece of furniture, in fact, he never realized how big the thing was until he was staring right at it, alone in the dining room of her apartment covered in plastic.
"That Muscles is her alcohol collection," Vala clarified.
"No," Adrienne corrected, pointing to six neatly labeled crates, red, white, blush, champagne, liquor, microbrew, "That is my alcohol collection. This just holds my alcohol collection."
Vala laughed, glancing at Daniel as she stepped forward to grab a crate.
"Adrienne's loves in order: her car, her wine, running and then Daniel," Vala joked.
"Don't forget fighting, somewhere after running," Cameron added, stepping up to examine the encased mass he was expected to move.
"And you must list her staff weapon close to fighting," Teal'c chimed in, moving to join Cameron, reaching for two crates.
"And I've just been moved to sixth place," Daniel sighed as he reached for a crate of red wine. Laughing, Adrienne leaned over to kiss him, wrapping her arms right around his waist from behind.
"No, you're second cher, right behind the car," she teased and pecked his cheek, grabbing the last precious crate, turning to lead Vala to the truck.
Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Supermover, was at a loss after about three minutes of struggling with the obscenely large final piece before he was yelling for Daniel to help them. Frowning, Daniel looked over at Adrienne before he went inside, an expression on his face she could have read before they were a couple.
"You've wrapped that thing so much that it's double in size, round as a ball, yet you didn't think to construct some handles?" he asked, peering down at her over his glasses.
"Good idea Indy, why don't you go make some," she smiled, patting his shoulder.
Shaking his head, he walked back into the apartment.
She's acting like we used to.
We're gonna be ok...
Somehow, and surprisingly only twenty minutes later, Cameron, Daniel and Teal'c managed to load the cabinet into the truck, no suggested handles, no screaming, no fighting, and everything intact.
Adrienne decided not to ask for details and since Daniel didn't seem like he wanted to punch Cam in the face and it looked as though everything was alright. Smiling, she went to thank them, however, rather than speak, they each made a face at Adrienne as they entered the truck, faces that made her smile of gratitude feel a little silly.
"We need to make a stop," Adrienne ordered Daniel, as soon as he got into the Jeep and shut the door behind him.
"Why? Cam wants to keep to this schedule of his," Daniel answered, the sarcasm dripping as he tried to keep the moving truck in his sights.
"Daniel, have you ever moved?" she asked, knowing the reply.
"Uh yeah, would you like me to start counting the times? And would you like me to count them with or without deaths?" he retorted, cutting his eyes over at her, smirking.
"Then you should know that we have to stop for pizza and beer for our friends. Now I've already ordered and paid for the pizza by phone but in Virginia one cannot order beer with an iPhone," she informed him, disregarding his smart remark.
"And who made that rule?" he inquired, snarkily.
"Seriously, what did you do before I came along?" she shot back, grinning.
"Apparently have no real social skills," he quipped back, heading to the requested destination.
Resigning himself to the fact that Cam would have to wait, and God forbid be fifteen minutes off his schedule, Daniel pulled into the first grocery store.
Their friends were waiting for them when they arrived and while Daniel was expecting a run-down of where they should be in the schedule, Cam was especially appreciative of the beer, opening a bottle and downing it quickly.
Laughing and joking, the real stress of it all gone, they sat together on the front stoop, eating every last slice of pizza before unloading.
The rest was simple, since they had no idea how much space their things would fill, Daniel was finally able to take over, ordering the boxes to just be taken to the rooms that they were labeled as, a plan that Cam did not question. Pleased to finally be in charge of something, Daniel stood at the back of the truck, passing out orders and boxes and furniture.
About an hour in, Adrienne's arms were killing her, as it seemed that every box Daniel passed her was for the kitchen or an office, boxes full of dishes and books while he kept taking the boxes labeled bedroom for himself, disappearing in there for breaks as often as he could. She was really annoyed not only because those boxes were much lighter but because every time he needed to take a break she felt like he was just checking out of the entire process. He didn't need to do that anymore, Cam had calmed down considerably and there was no reason to be stressed now that they were here.
Maybe he is having second thoughts...
After she was on about her fourth trip to his office, a fourth trip of books upon books, she got to the truck to find that Vala was now distributing boxes, Daniel yet again nowhere to be seen.
"Where did Daniel go?" Adrienne demanded, "Is he taking another "break"? He's been taking the easy route all day long!"
"I don't know. He said he had something to take care of and told me to read box labels. Here's more kitchen," Vala passed her a box and Adrienne took it, annoyed, but delivered it to its destination.
Merde, he realizes it was a mistake and now it's too late.
He doesn't want to have to take care of a mess like me.
I don't want him to take care of me.
I wonder if Sam has already reassigned my apartment…
Trying to reign in her self-doubt, Adrienne pushed through the door, setting the box onto the floor of the kitchen.
At last the truck was empty and everyone was gone, leaving Daniel and Adrienne standing in the foyer, in their foyer, looking at the mountain of boxes that didn't have a home. Both annoyed, still, at Daniel and overwhelmed, her compulsion to organize starting to take over her exhaustion as Adrienne's dark cajun eyes scanned the mess laid out in front of them.
"Dear Gawd," she said, "Where in da hell do we start?"
Daniel, however, just stood there, smiling, not saying a word.
"Offices? I'm thinking that books might be the least stressful. Books and bookshelves," Adrienne declared, trying to quell the worry and frustration in the pit of her stomach, but he shook his head, that same silly grin on his face.
"We can start unpacking tomorrow," Daniel replied, turning to walk to the back of the townhouse, past the kitchen and down the hall, heading for the bedroom.
"Daniel, where are we gonna do anything?! This place is a disaster! I can't live like this," Adrienne was fussing but following.
Again, not speaking, Daniel just reached for her wrist and pulled her along, past the offices and the hall bathroom.
"Daniel, I'm serious," Adrienne pulled away, growling, angry and ready to have it out with him, "I've worked all day long while you took all of the easy stuff and now you just wanna sloth around when our home looks like a disaster. What is wrong with you?"
Shaking his head, he just smiled, walking the rest of the way down the hall to the bedroom and opened the door.
That grin plastered across his face, Daniel leaned against the doorframe gazing back at Adrienne as she continued to rant.
"If you think that I'm even for a second in the mood for that, and on what I might add, you're out of your mind," she stormed up to him and looked into the bedroom, her jaw dropping.
Sitting in the center of the room was her beautiful dark carved canopy bed, completely reassembled, its sheer curtains pulled back to the side, pinned together by what looked like ornate grape decorated pulls, new pulls, pulls that she had never seen before. The curtains were a deep purple, wait, those weren't her faded curtains with that coffee stain on them, these were new and obviously silk, as purple as the matching comforter lying across the bed, her comforter, he had matched it perfectly. There were pillows spread about, new additions as well, each with gold accents and tassels.
It was amazing, simply amazing.
The rest of the room was an explosion of boxes and whatnot, but the masterpiece in the center made up for it.
He really loves you Addy...he's just, well, Daniel...
"No concrete walls," he said, smiling as Adrienne finally realized what he had done, that he wanted her to finally be able to relax and sleep well.
She looks happy, really happy.
Grabbing his hand, quickly changing her mind, she pulled him into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them when he stopped her, pulling away.
"What's wrong?" she asked confused, trying to figure out where he was going as he headed down the hall.
"Hold that thought, I need to put a note on the front door," he said over his shoulder, powering down the hall.
"A note, for who?" she continued, stepping into the hallway.
"For Cam, in case he decides he needs to be helpful again..."
Daniel wasn't ever sure that he would ever get used to sleeping on satin sheets, but he had to admit that seeing the deep purple fabric lying across Adrienne's bare and lightly tattooed back was breathtaking. He loved her so much and honestly couldn't believe that they were here, in their home, his ring on her finger hopefully soon to be joined by a second one.
There was just one more thing to take care of…
Daniel stood, making his way to the pile of items on the chair in the corner, his messenger back sitting on top. He grabbed it, making his way carefully across the sea of moving boxes to their bedroom door. Trying to be as quiet as possible, though Adrienne slept like the dead when she wasn't comfortable in her own bed, hee slipped out, pulling the door closed behind him and headed for the dining room table he knew Cameron had set up. The table was there, though covered in boxes, but he just needed to make a little space. He grabbed a few boxes, setting them on the floor beside the table, snagging a dining chair and setting it at the table. He sat, opening his bag and removing his laptop, reaching in his bag to grab his legal pad. Logging into the machine, and thankful Cameron had also kindly set up the router, Daniel took out his wallet to get started.