Shattered Paradise
Chapter 3: It Looks Like Rain
A/N: Thanks, everyone!…No problem, Steph, anytime….I know exactly what you're talking about, Zoni. I usually try not to cry when I watch TV or movies, but that episode of ER made it very difficult…Alicia, first I want to say, I can't believe you printed out all of "The Dream." I mean, I have it saved as one big file on my computer and it's like a hundred pages. Thanks for the great review, though. I don't mind you taking up the space at all. :) Yeah, you guys can babble all you want, it's kind of nice…Well, I better get to the story. Hugefan16, please don't kill me when you get to the end of the chapter…Thanks again, everyone! You guys are great!
After what seemed like almost too quick a drive, Sydney's house finally came into view. There were cars parked in her driveway, but most of them were in the street. Michael must have made that they left room for her to come up the driveway. She pulled in and slowly got out of the car.
Sydney leaned against the side of her car. The sounds of music, laughter, and talking reached her ears. The picnic was in full swing in her backyard. She had been waiting eagerly for it, but she didn't want to go back there just yet. She needed time to sort her thoughts.
She ran a hand through her hair. A nervous habit that she somehow couldn't break. She still couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. It was too much to fathom. When the doctor had told her, she had made him repeat it twice just to make sure she wasn't hearing things. Just to make sure he wasn't wrong…
Her thoughts were interrupted when the sound of tinkling children's laughter reached her ears. A small boy rounded the corner of the house, running as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him and giggling madly.
His eyes grew wide when he saw her, and his irresistible smile became even bigger. "Auntie Syddy's here!"
He ran straight towards her, plowing into her shins and wrapping his arms tightly around her. She bent down and picked him up.
"Hey there, little man. What're you up to?"
"Nothing," he answered innocently, giving her an elfish smile. He wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a sticky kiss.
Sydney hugged him back and kissed him lightly on the top of the head.
"Really?" she asked, laughing. "And who's supposed to be watching you?"
"Cherry," the little boy answered, giving the name by which he affectionately referred to his older sister.
As if on cue, two little girls appeared in the front yard, barefoot and breathless.
"Seth!" the older girl yelled as she ran, her blond curls bouncing crazily around her face. "You were supposed to stay in the backyard!"
"Auntie Syddy's here, Cherry!" Seth yelled back happily, burying his face in Sydney's neck.
"Hi Aunt Syd!" the girl called when she spotted them, running up to Sydney and wrapping her arms around her legs as her little brother had done earlier.
"Hi Cherry Pie," Syd answered, smiling. "How's my favorite flower girl doing?"
"Good," Kerri replied, looking up at her brightly. "Me and Sara are watching Seth, but he keeps running away."
"I can see that," Sydney laughed, and then faced the other little girl. "Hi there, Sara."
"Hi Mrs. Vaughn," she answered shyly, digging her toes into the grass.
"Is your mom here?"
Sara nodded. Her mother was Sydney's closest friend at work. She taught history in a classroom down the hall from Sydney's.
Sydney shifted Seth so that she was holding him with one arm, and Kerri took her free hand.
"Come on, guys," she said, smiling at Seth and swinging Kerri's hand. "Let's go to the party."
Seth nodded vigorously. "I like it back there. They have M&M's."
"Do they?"
"Yup. Uncle Mikey gives me all the red ones."
"Yeah?" She asked, taking her hand from Kerri to tickle Seth's tummy.
"Uh huh," he answered, squirming and giggling. "I like M&M's."
"Me too."
Sydney offered her hand back to Kerri, and led her little troupe around the house.
"Uncle Mike said that you were at the doctor's," Kerri stated, tugging on her arm.
"Yeah, I was," Sydney answered, giving her niece's hand a squeeze.
"Did he give you a shot?" Kerri asked.
"Nope. No shots."
"Good," the little girl answered, sticking out her tongue and turning to face Sara. "I don't like shots," she explained.
"Me neither," Sara whispered, her eyes growing wide. "They hurt."
Sydney had been watching this exchange between the two friends, when she felt Seth's sticky fingers on her face. He turned her head so that she was facing him. "Auntie Syddy?"
"Yes, baby?"
She said it accidentally; it was what she used to call him when he was younger. But he wasn't so little anymore. Just last week he had called her on the phone (all by himself except that Mommy had dialed the numbers, he had said) and told her what a big boy he was. She waited for him to tell her that now, to tell her that he wasn't a baby anymore.
But he didn't. He watched her with solemn green eyes. Those gorgeous eyes that matched Michael's so well; they must run in the family.
"Did the doctor make your ouchies all better?"
Sydney stopped watching and gazed at the concern in that little face. She took a deep breath as she searched for an answer that would satisfy her little nephew. She couldn't find one. The truth was, she didn't know. Maybe he had, or maybe he had made them worse…
She looked toward the sky, as if searching there for her answer.
"It looks like rain," she said, finally All three children turned their faces skyward, and Sydney closed her eyes and sighed.
"Hey Syd!" someone called.
Sydney opened her eyes to find that the owner of the voice was none other then Francie. She and Vaughn's sister Jacqueline had come looking for the children.
"Hi," Sydney answered as she walked over and hugged Francie and her sister-in-law.
"I think I've found something that belongs to you, Jacky," she said as she handed over her nephew.
"Thanks," she laughed, as she took the little boy.
"No! I want Auntie Syddy!" Seth shrieked as he held out his arms to his aunt. A year ago, Kerri and Seth had hardly known Sydney (or Michael either, for that matter, he had been kept so busy with work), but now the story was quite different, and the children adored their aunt and uncle.
"Auntie Syd's tired, sweetie," Jacqueline explained. "She needs a break, and so does Mommy." She put the little boy on the ground. "Kerri, you and Sara take Seth and go play."
Without any further prodding, the children ran off to go join the others in a game of tag.
"How'd it go, Syd?" Francie asked.
"Oh, fine," Sydney answered automatically. "How's everything here? How's Mike holding up?"
"Everything's great," Francie replied.
"And Michael's holding up just fine," Jacqueline added. "He'll be glad to know that you're here, though. He was worried."
"Hey Franice, where's Eric?" Sydney asked, quickly changing the subject.
"He's with your dad and Mr. Anderson and some other guys discussing business."
Sydney nodded. Doug Anderson was an old "business" friend of Jack's; his grandson Sammy had been the ring bearer at Sydney's wedding. Unlike most of Sydney's other friends at the party, Francie knew exactly what kind of business they were discussing, and that seemed to be the only time she'd let go of Weiss' arm.
The three women arrived in the backyard. Francie immediately ran off when she noticed that Eric was done talking with the men, and after a few words, Jacqueline went to join her husband.
Sydney surveyed the scene. All of their close friends, family, and neighbors were there. There were so many people, a lot more than they could have ever fit in their apartment.
Finally, she spotted what she was looking for. Michael was across the yard with two giggling little girls hanging onto his arms. She quickly recognized them as Rachel and Abby, the four year old twins of their new next door neighbors.
That seemed to pose a slight problem, however. Not the fact that Michael was playing with the twins, but that he was across the yard.
The mission: to make it across the yard in as little time as possible. It wasn't going to be easy.
First, she was sidetracked by Mrs. Vaughn. She couldn't very well pass by her mother-in-law without saying hello.
"Hi Mom," Sydney said, giving her a peck on the cheek.
"My Sydney!" Mrs. Vaughn exclaimed, wrapping her in a huge hug.
Sydney spent the next five minutes talking with her mother-in-law, and listening to her compliments on both her son's new house and wonderful choice in women.
Sydney finally managed to politely turn away from Mrs. Vaughn, only to be surrounded by a group of children.
"Sydney, play tag with us!" Sammy yelled, smiling up at her.
"Please!" A group of six or seven rosy-cheeked children chorused.
"I don't know…" Normally she would have, no questions asked; but there was something else on her mind.
"See," Sammy said, putting his hands on his hips and turning to face the other children. "I told you she might need some convincing."
A precocious child, he was clearly the leader of the bunch, even though there were others that were older than him. When he nodded, the children brought their hands from behind their backs. (She hadn't even noticed that they had been there. So much for all the spy training…") They happily revealed the flowers that they had so carefully collected for her; most of them weeds, some of the crushed, all of them perfect.
She couldn't refuse that, and spent the next ten minutes playing tag. She was laughing and smiling, but she wasn't having fun; her heart wasn't in it.
She managed to end the game when she was more then half way across the yard, which took some very strategic planning on her part. She was side by side with the group of men that had been discussing business earlier. She kissed her father, hugged Devlin, Dixon, and Mr. Anderson; and turned around to move on, only to come crashing into Will.
He had been talking with Marshall, and she spoke with the two of them, all the time glancing up at Michael. Inwardly, she was becoming frantic to get to him. She wanted to be close to him, to talk to him, to be held in his arms. She needed him. On the outside, though, she was enthusiastically playing the part of a good hostess.
Sydney left Will and Marshall and greeted everyone else at the party. Her friends from work, her neighbors, everyone. She figured that she might as well say hi to them all; she was almost half way done anyway. It seemed to take forever.
Finally, she had talked with everyone and was free to go to Michael. He was standing by a little table, busying himself with a bowl of M&M's. He felt her eyes on him, and looked up, relieved that she was finally approaching him.
She quickly walked over to him, and without a word, wrapped her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. He returned her embrace with equal fervor, rubbing her back and rocking her gently.
"Hey," he said, brushing her hair behind her ear after she finally pulled away from him. "How'd your appointment go?"
She wanted to tell him, she really did, but instead she gave him the same response she had given everyone else. "Fine."
It was an automatic answer; it wasn't the complete truth. "Fine" was never what it seemed, it meant anything but fine.
He knew. She could tell that he knew something was bothering her, just like he knew everything else about her.
"And…?" She knew he didn't want to push her, but he was also worried; he wanted to know, and she really should tell him…
She glanced around the yard and quickly changed the subject. "You did a great job setting up for the party."
"Thanks," he murmured, giving her a strange look before focusing his attention on the bowl of M&M's on the little table. He carefully picked some out of the bowl, and put his arm around her. She lay her head on his shoulder and held out her hand for some of the candy. He poured a rainbow of colors into it; green, orange, blue, brown, and yellow; but no red. There was never any red.
She had asked him once, why he never ate the red ones. He had just smiled at her and mumbled something about not liking the way they taste.
She hadn't asked him again.
They stood in silence for a few moments, crunching through the colorfully coated candy into the sweet chocolate beneath. The sun disappeared, swallowed up by a dark cloud.
Sydney sighed, lifting her head off his shoulder and turning to face him, standing not more than a few inches away.
"Mike?" A murmur; a mere whisper that almost rode away, unheard, on the wind.
"Yeah?"
"There's something I have to tell you."
His eyes clouded over with concern and the familiar wrinkles returned to his forehead. She wished that he had gone to the doctor's office with her, that she had let him come. It would have been so much easier if he had just heard it from the doctor. It would save her from having to tell him.
"I was going to wait till later, but…"
There were the tears, gliding slowly down her cheeks. Why was she crying? But she knew why a moment later. It was because of the question burning inside of her, seeming to eat her alive. How was he going to react?
"Shh, Syd," he whispered, as he gently wiped them away. "You can tell me anything."
"Michael…" Her voice dropped to barely a whisper, as she leaned closer to him and told him what the doctor had said.
She slowly backed away and gave him a weak smile. It wasn't that bad now that she had told him, but…
All the sounds of their party disappeared. Silence. Total, complete silence. A void that could only be filled by the sound of his voice. She waited.
He stared back at her, the shock clearly evident in his emerald eyes.
It started to rain; big, fat drops falling lazily from the sky. Spoiling their picnic, but perfect for the moment, mixing with the tears that splashed onto her cheeks.
"Michael, say something…please…"
::hides under desk to avoid flying objects:: Please, don't hurt me, guys! I was going to put more in this chapter, but it was getting way too long…The next chapter's written, though, and I just have to look it over before I post it. Review and let me know what you think. I can guarantee it'll make check and post the next chapter quicker…