Wait 14
Author's Note: The reno and Liz's hormones create havoc. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Everyone!
Let me know what you think.
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It had been a few days since they returned from the hotel, and they were still living in chaos and Liz was not a happy woman.
"Here," he said as he handed her a bagel on a plate as he walked from an unexpected room and stepped over a pile of tiles.
"Why are you toasting a bagel in the second washroom?" Liz asked him.
"Don't ask," Ressler said as he leaned in and kissed her. She had been sufficiently distracted last night and this morning and now, in the light of day with the chaos around them he needed to tell her.
"The contractor's father had a heart attack," Ressler winced.
"Oh my god, is he okay?" Liz asked.
"It's touch and go," Ressler said. "But he's now in Philly…"
"Okay," Liz said.
"And our power is off in our part of the condo until he can finish the work and the inspector…"
"Is that why you…you said you wanted to christen the other rooms…"
"Yeah, I did," Ressler admitted. "But by christen I also mean, live with electricity."
Liz sighed and tilted her head to the side.
"I know you are sooo done with this," he said sadly.
"We slept on an air mattress last night and you are toasting a bagel in the washroom," Liz pointed out with some edge.
"I know," Ressler said. "Aram is coming over tonight to help me move our bed to one of these bedrooms, which one do you want, for now?"
"Can't we get another contractor to…?"
"No apparently, if the person who started the work doesn't finish, that's an entirely new permit that could take…"
Liz sighed heavily. She had been trying to reign in her emotions, but found that many days they consumed her. And living in this chaos had made her edgy and a little punchy. She had apologized to Don already twice in the last 24 hours for blowing her top over a couple of things.
Liz ate her bagel, tried to calm her anger, and walked through the dust and over some boxes and looked in each room.
"Well, this one is still a virgin unless…"
"Her husband was dead the entire time she lived here, and she was old," Ressler chuckled.
"Then this one," Liz said. "Wait, does this mean the entire and only kitchen we have is down? Like stove, micro…"
"I'll move the microwave onto a table in the expanded living room, on the new side," Ressler said. "I know this isn't…"
"No, it's…it's fine," she said, trying to get some perspective but still feeling the edge in her voice. "He had a heart attack…"
"We can do take out until…"
"It's not your fault," Liz said as she leaned in and hugged him with her bagel sticking out of her mouth. She needed to keep reminding herself to not take things out on Don, he was trying his best every single day to make this a better situation. Even toasting her a bagel in the washroom.
"You're taking this well," he hedged. When they had arrived back after a week in a hotel to discover that their water was off for the rest of the weekend, she had lost it.
"Maybe I'm just feeling really happy that you seem to be just taking care of everything," Liz hummed against him.
Ressler smiled and dropped his hand to her growing belly and rubbed it.
"I will take care of everything," he said as he kissed her cheek.
She sighed and relaxed against him.
"Oh, wow, he's active this morning," Ressler said as she looked up at him. "He was really quiet earlier this morning."
"He tends to lay low when my thoughts are occupied with the wonderful things you are doing to me," Liz smirked.
"I love doing those things to you," Ressler said as he continued to rub her ever-growing belly.
"Well, now he's awake and ready to go," Liz chuckled. "Twenty-two weeks today."
"We're over half way," Ressler chuckled before he leaned down and kissed her belly. "I'll figure this out, Liz."
She nodded and pulled back from him. "I know."
After work, Aram and Ressler were struggling to get his bed frame into the room and with all the sweat and swearing they had taken a break for a beer.
"It's not fitting in," Aram said. "I think we can get the mattress in, but that frame isn't…it's the angle of the door and the closet."
"I can't ask Liz to sleep on a mattress on the floor," Ressler said before he took a swig of his beer. "And she'd not going to go for the air mattress again. She's twenty-two weeks today and I have a date tonight."
"Excuse me?" Aram asked, practically spitting out his beer.
"The reporter from News 1, Katie Langfeld, I got her to come to the Courthouse so everyone would know about Liz? Katie…" Ressler said.
"Remind me why you are dating smoking hot Katie Langfeld when you are living with, having a child with, and seemingly in love with…"
"I'm not dating," Ressler said. "I promised Katie this because of what she did to help Liz. Then one thing after another happened for her and for me and finally, we're going out tonight."
Aram shook his head.
"I don't like it either," Ressler admitted. "But she wants to do a story about the Agent tasked with bringing in Keen before the story cools."
"It hasn't already? It's been a couple of months…"
"Yeah, Katie…I think she's suspicious about the baby," Ressler said. "She seemed like she was going to drop the story but then about a week ago got really anxious to speak again. I haven't figured out what I'm…"
"What are you going to say?" Aram asked.
Ressler shook his head and took another drink. "I don't know, and I haven't spoken with Liz about it with everything going on here, I didn't want to send her over the edge."
"Over the edge?"
"She has been crying a lot," Ressler admitted. "And sometimes yelling."
"About you?" Aram asked, worried about his friends.
"No," Ressler chuckled. "About everything. I kiss her and she cries, she watches TV, and she cries…the other day we were driving to work, and she saw an old bag lady with a cart, and we pulled over to give her twenty bucks and help her with her cart that seemed to be broken. Liz cried through the entire interaction. She lost her shit when our water was shut off…it's stuff like that too."
"I didn't…she seems pretty pulled together at work," Aram said, surprised.
"Don't say anything," Ressler said as he leaned forward and looked at Aram. "She calls me from the washroom a lot and I meet her in there."
"The women's washroom at the Post Office?" Aram asked.
"There have been a few uncomfortable moments when someone walks in," Ressler admitted with a chuckle. "But it's usually short-lived at work."
"Oh, good," Aram sighed.
"So, you can see why I really need this to work," Ressler said.
Aram nodded and stood, setting down his beer.
"Let's get your bed in there so your pregnant emotional girlfriend doesn't lose her crap while you're out on your date tonight," Aram said.
Ressler laughed at his assessment of the situation.
"That's a statement I didn't think I would ever hear someone say to me," Ressler laughed.
They went back to the bed and took apart another section of the frame and carefully fitted it into the room, scraping a chunk off the wall, a piece off the corner of the closet, and nicking the corner of the frame pretty badly. Regardless of the damage, it was in the room, and they'd buy a new fucking bed if they needed to for their room when the electricity was back to that side of their place.
Ressler thanked Aram at the door and jumped in the shower so he could not smell like sweat before he got dressed for his date. It felt surreal going to this dinner with Katie, but he was a man who fulfilled his promises. Liz had gone to visit with Reddington tonight and he didn't expect that he would see her until he got home, hopefully early, tonight. He would call Liz from the car as he was driving to Torrini's and ask her how she'd like him to answer any questions about them or their child. She hadn't said much about his date, so he assumed she was good with it; she had been earlier and hadn't expressed any opposition to it since.
"Hey Liz, when you get this message can you give me a call? I'm headed to Torrini's to meet Katie and I sense she's going to ask about us and possibly the baby and I wanted to know your thoughts on that before I said anything," Ressler said as he turned a corner. "I hope it's going well with Reddington."
He disconnected and continued his drive. When he got to the parking lot next to the restaurant, he tried her again. And got her voicemail again.
"Hey, it's me again," he sighed. "I'm about to head inside and, until I hear from you, I'm going to dodge her questions so call me as soon as you can so I'm not dodging all night."
Ressler got out of his car and walked into the restaurant. It was an expensive place and his dinner with Katie was going to cost more than three nights at the hotel he and Liz stayed at for a week.
He stepped into the entry and Katie immediately placed a hand on his chest and leaned in and kissed his lips before he could react.
"Glad we were finally able to do this," Katie said as she pulled back and smiled at him, her hand still on his chest.
Ressler didn't want to make a big deal about the kiss, he needed Katie on his and Liz's side for this interview/dinner.
"Glad our schedules finally aligned," Ressler smiled down at her.
"Ressler, party of two?" The hostess called.
"That's us," Katie said as she took Don's hand and followed the hostess toward their table. They were seated at one by the fireplace and Ressler couldn't help but wonder how they ended up with the most romantic table in the restaurant when he booked it as a work dinner with the hostess when he made the reservation.
"This is really nice," Ressler said as he looked around.
"I know the hostess," Katie said with the wave of her hand. "They were going to seat us over there against the wall and I wouldn't have it."
Ressler turned to see the considerably less romantic table and sighed. That would have been far better.
"So, are you worried about another attack on Keen?" Katie asked as she opened her menu.
"Why would you ask that?" Ressler asked as he opened his menu.
"I have a source that says she's been staying with you since she was released," Katie said. "At first I thought it was because she had nowhere else to go. Then I thought it was because of the attack, but that was weeks ago and still Liz is staying at Casa Ressler…"
Ressler continued to look at his menu.
"What Katie, you get attacked by a complete stranger who puts you in the hospital and you aren't feeling so crazy about staying on your own suddenly?" Ressler asked her.
She nodded her head from side to side in agreement. "I'll give you that."
The waiter arrived, Ressler ordered a nice bottle of wine for them, and they placed their dinner orders. He was not looking to drag this night out any longer than it needed to. After some initial questions about the early days of his partnership with Liz, appetizers arrived.
Ressler looked at the appetizer confused. "I'm sorry, I don't think we…"
"The chef always sends me something nice," Katie smiled at him as she dug into her plate of puffed pastries with various fillings.
Ressler looked down at his shrimp cocktail and sighed. She was not going to let this be quick.
"Thanks," he said as he picked up his fork and a woman across the restaurant pointed to him.
He looked over his shoulder and seeing no one behind him, wasn't sure why she was pointing at him.
He went to work on his shrimp cocktail while Katie continued to ask questions about his working relationship with Liz. She asked him to share a couple of stories from their early days and he told her about their work with the Kenyon family and Milton Bobbit.
"I'm sorry, I just need to…" Katie said as she pulled out her phone from her purse.
"Go ahead, I have heard it buzzing for the last hour in your purse," Ressler chuckled. "Someone really wants to speak with you."
She smiled at her phone and pushed her head back slightly. "I'm sorry, I need to call someone back. It'll only take a minute."
"Be my guest," Ressler smiled at her, aware that Liz had still not called him back and he could take the opportunity to try her once more.
She placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned down and kissed his cheek before she left, and Ressler realized when she got back, he'd at least have to set the record straight that this was a work meal and that he was in a relationship with someone. He didn't need to tell her who, just that he was.
He reached in his coat pocket and saw no calls from Liz but a text from Dembe that asked him to call him. Ressler was not going to place that now and decided to call the man on his way home.
He called Liz again, "Hey, I don't know if you're napping or just busy, but I've been trying to get in touch with you about some questions that may or may not happen and I want your opinion. Can you call me back, or text me, okay? I love you."
He put away his phone and was sitting enjoying his wine when he felt some delicate fingers make their way across his shoulders before she passed him and took her seat.
"So, Katie," Ressler said as he leaned forward.
Just then, their main course came, and the waiter took an inordinate amount of time to explain the intricacies of the dishes. When he finally left, Ressler smiled at Katie and leaned forward.
"So, Katie…" Ressler started again. "I don't want to make this uncomfortable, but I hope that I was clear that this is a work dinner and not a date."
She looked at him with a furrowed brow.
"Why would you say that?" Katie asked as she started to cut into her fish.
"Uh, the kisses, the hand holding, the touches…not that I'm not flattered, I totally am, but I am in a relationship with someone and I'm not sure she would appreciate…"
"Fine," Katie said dismissively, not meeting his eyes.
Ressler looked at her surprised but pleased she hadn't asked for more information.
"Speaking of relationships, what did you think of the relationship between Liz Keen and Tom Keen?" Katie asked getting right to business.
"Uh, it was a marriage that isn't anymore?" Ressler answered, surprised she didn't have anything to say about his comment. He started to cut into his steak.
"Yes, but did you like him?" Katie asked as she cut her green beans.
"No, early on, I was never a fan of the mans, but I wasn't married to him," Ressler answered honestly, putting some garlic mashed potato on his fork.
"And he's virtually disappeared, except from dropping off Karakurt, so you two were working together?" Katie asked.
"Yes, we were," Ressler nodded. "He wanted to help clear Liz's name."
"Why?" Katie asked, reaching for her wine.
"I don't know that man's motives," Ressler explained.
"Are he and Liz Keen back together?" Katie asked.
"Not that I am aware of," Ressler answered.
"But he saved her with Karakurt, surely she feels some sort of…"
"I don't see Liz as owing anyone anything," Ressler clarified. "She was innocent and cleared."
"She did kill Tom Connolly in cold blood," Katie reminded him.
"For an incredibly good reason, did you not hear that he was a member of the Cabal?" Ressler asked.
"You seem to think that taking the law into her own hands was justified?" Katie asked.
"In this case, yes I do," Ressler answered before he ate a piece of steak.
"And Tom was an integral part of freeing Keen?" Katie asked.
"He was," Ressler nodded.
"And they're having a child together?" Katie asked.
Ressler choked on his steak and reached for his water to clear his throat.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'?" Katie asked him with a smile. "She's been wearing loose jackets, but the wind caught her jacket the other day and low and behold she was pregnant. Very pregnant."
Ressler continued to cough and clear his throat.
"And the timing, she looked about 18-20 weeks, I'm thinking, that would place conception firmly while she was on the run, so unless it's Reddington's baby…"
Ressler shook his head in the negative as he drank some water.
"Yeah, Marcus was sure there was something kinky there, but I only ever got the daddy-daughter vibe from them," Katie said as she took another drink of wine.
Ressler sat back in his chair and looked at her, his heart still racing from the choking and his mind reeling from the fact that Katie seemed to think Liz and Tom were not only back together but having a child together. It may be the perfect out, he could feign ignorance and let her draw her own conclusions. That would keep any relationship he and Liz had out of the article, keep their baby protected, and keep their relationship a secret for as long as possible.
"So, it's Tom's?" Katie asked.
Ressler clamped his mouth shut and looked at her unflinching.
"You're not going to confirm?" Katie asked.
Ressler sat and looked at her, saying nothing.
She reached for her wine and smiled at him. "You know when I made the connection? When I realized that he was the man that dropped Karakurt off, and that you and he were working together, that he and Liz were working together, and that the three of you were quite the little team."
Ressler looked at her confused.
"How else can they keep her and their baby safe but if she stayed with good old reliable Donald Ressler, the big brother she inherited when she joined the task force?" Katie smiled at him.
"Big brother?" Ressler asked, his eyebrow raised. If Katie only knew…
"I can see it in the way you talk about her," Katie smiled. "You seem incredibly proud of her, you speak about her professionally, one would never know if she was male or female in your comments even, she's one of the guys to you."
Ressler sighed and sat back in his chair.
"Well, I guess you've got it all figured out," he smiled at her before he heard a staff member calling someone and chatter in the restaurant start to rise.
Ressler turned to see what the commotion was about and saw Liz, red-faced, crying and making a beeline for his table.
He was so confused he didn't even get up to meet her halfway, but rather sat there looking at her approach dumbfounded.
"Liz?" He asked as she got closer.
She threw her phone down on the plate in front of him and it landed in his mashed potatoes.
"What's this?!" She yelled as she cried a little harder.
He looked between her and the phone and saw an image of Katie kissing him on the screen.
"What the hell?" he asked as he reached for the phone as he rose from his seat. It was open to a DC gossip column page. "Liz…"
"You know, I thought I learned from Tom and…"
"Liz, it's not…" Ressler started as he grabbed her elbow.
"Don't!" Liz said, pulling her arm back.
"Oh my god, I was totally off on the big brother angle and…" Katie started.
"Katie, please shut up," Ressler turned to looked at her briefly before he turned back to Liz.
She was a blubbering mess in front of him and looked exhausted.
"This isn't real," he said quietly as he pointed to the phone in his hand covered in mashed potatoes. "She just leaned in and…"
"And you were already kissing her, so why not?!" Liz hiccoughed as she cried.
"Hon, that's not…" Ressler said as he stepped toward her. "Take a breath and let's…"
"Don't blame this on my hormones," Liz chided him. "You're kissing her and holding her…holding her hand and…and…and…"
"I'm not blaming your hormones," Ressler said softly. "Look, I don't know why this is on here, but I do know that I am just here for work, nothing else. And maybe whatever is on here looks…bad, but honestly, I wouldn't ever, ever…"
"How long have you two been together?" Katie asked over his shoulder.
"Did you do this?" He asked as he turned and looked at Katie over his shoulder.
She saw the pregnant woman in front of them crying and hiccoughing and decided to come clean.
She leaned in and quietly explained.
"Look, I really didn't know about you two," Katie said quietly. "Driscoll from the Wizards just dumped me, and I was trying to get some better PR with Don here…that's all it was."
"Jesus Christ, Katie…" Ressler hissed.
Liz started to cry harder.
"Liz?" Ressler asked.
"I…I need to get out of here," Liz said as she wiped at her eyes and looked for an exit.
"Uh, we need to get out of here," Ressler said as he reached for his wallet and handed their waiter, who had approached the drama, his credit card. "I'll pick it up tomorrow."
He hustled Liz out of the restaurant, past all the nattering patrons and staff and out onto the street.
"Oh my god," Liz started to cry harder, and he pulled her against him and held her tight for a couple of minutes.
"It's okay," he said calmly as he rocked her slightly from side to side. He could feel their son going wild in her belly pressed between them. "Breathe with me, Liz. In and out, nice and slow…"
He held her as some patrons left and whispered going past them. He held her when the waiter came out to hand him his card. And he held her when Katie appeared, apologizing again and quietly telling Ressler she'd give him 24 hours before the story about him and Liz broke.
When he started to feel her breathing slow and her heart rate go back to normal and when the crying slowed, he pulled back slightly and looked down at her.
"You okay?" He asked with a soft smile.
"No," she said with a slight chuckle.
He smirked.
"I just burst in on your dinner with a reporter accused you of cheating on me and basically gave everything away and made a scene that…"
"It doesn't matter," he said as she rubbed his hand up and down her back. "Are you okay?"
"Ressler…" Liz said. "I'm so sorry. I should have never thought that…I just saw red and…and…and after Tom cheating it's a sore…"
"Can I be absolutely clear?" Ressler asked her as he held her shoulders. She nodded. "I will never, ever, and I do mean ever, cheat on you Liz."
A few tears fell from her eyes, and she quickly wiped at them.
"She kissed me as I walked in the door," Ressler said. "I was caught completely off guard, the hand thing happened fast, as did the cheek kiss…are those pictures too? Look, when she got back from placing a call, I very clearly said I was in a relationship, and this was work-related. She seemed to accept it, but I guess by then, the pictures were out there, or her plan was in motion. I thought she was anxious to see me because she learned about the baby. She had, but thought it was Tom's. What she was really anxious to do was make her ex jealous."
"I fucked up," Liz said, swallowing hard. "I…Dembe's phone…he showed it to Reddington, and I saw it as I was coming back from the washroom. I don't think they were sure I saw it, but I left right away and went straight to you."
"Dembe texted me to call him," Ressler snickered. "He must have wanted to give me the heads up. I find it hard to believe Dembe follows a gossip site…"
Liz shrugged. "I'm so sorry. Oh my god Don, I am such a hormonal fool lately. I hate…I hate that I'm like this."
"I know," he said as he pulled her against the side of his body and started to walk with her toward his car.
"My car…" Liz pointed in the other direction.
"We'll get it tomorrow," he said quietly.
"She's writing it, isn't she?" Liz asked.
"Yeah," he answered honestly.
"Everything was fine until I…"
Ressler stopped walking and decided a different outlook was needed.
"Wait, this will be fine," he said as he bent slightly and looked right into her eyes. "I am proud of my relationship with you. Proud of the little man we're going to have. We've kept it quiet too long, Liz. I'm not ashamed that we're in love and starting a family. I'm proud of that. Proud of us. So, let Katie write whatever the fuck she's going to write. Okay?"
Liz sniffled and wiped at the corner of her eyes. "Ressler, I love you."
He gave her a small smile in return.
"Good, because Aram and I did a lot of damage to the bedroom getting the bed frame in," Ressler joked as they turned and continued toward his car. "And if you didn't love me, you'd hit the roof."
She laughed at his joke and walked with him toward the car.
"It's going to be okay, isn't it?" She sighed.
He truly wasn't sure what bullshit Katie was going to write about them. He was sure the scene Liz created in Torrini's tonight would be a big part of the story. He was pretty sure she was going to imply a torrid affair while she was on the run. He was sure there would be an investigation by the FBI to see if he colluded with Liz while she was on the run. And he was sure he was about to get suspended pending any investigation.
"As long as we're good?" Ressler asked her with a raised eyebrow.
She nodded.
"Then who the fuck cares about anything else?" He chuckled.
She laughed with him and snuggled further into his frame.
"Let's go home, Liz," he said as he kissed the top of her head.
To be continued…