Okay! Here it is finally!
____________________________________________________________
When Sydney sat up to turn of the alarm clock Thursday morning, she had to
grab the nightstand to steady herself as a wave of nausea coursed through
her. Clapping a hand to her mouth, she dashed to the toilet. Vaughn sat up,
trying to figure out where she had gone. As he heard the noises from the
bathroom, he was at her side in seconds, holding her hair and rubbing
circles on her back until she stopped heaving. As she leaned back to rest
against the tub, he moved to fill a small cup with water.
"Here, do you think you can drink this?" Michael asked, his green eyes dark with concern as he squatted down next to her. She could only mumble as she took the water and slowly sipped it, pressing the side of her face against the cool tile on the wall. Michael felt so helpless watching her. "Syd, can I do anything?"
"No, I think I'm going to try and shower."
"Are you sure? I can call the school. You don't have to go anywhere," he said.
"No, honey. I have the meeting with Eileen this morning and I'm giving a quiz on act four of Hamlet. I'll be okay." After the staff meeting the previous afternoon, Sydney had been summoned by the principal to set up a meeting in which to discuss her pregnancy and leave, and she knew she shouldn't reschedule.
"But if you're not feeling well, you should rest," insisted Michael.
"I doubt this is the last morning I'll be sick, and I can't take off everyday. It's the first time I've really felt pregnant, so it's actually kind of exciting. And Nenet is bringing the books by this afternoon, so maybe I'll find some tips on how to handle it better from here on out." She raised a hand to smooth the wrinkles from his brow. "But I love that you're so concerned. It's awfully sweet of you." His face relaxed into a grin.
"I wish I could make this easier for you."
"Oh, Michael, somehow I think the hard part is still a long bit off. And you're doing your part. I can't imagine any of this without you. Knowing that you're looking after me and supporting me every day is incredibly precious."
"Except for that first day where you kept the baby to yourself," he teased, bringing a hand to stroke her stomach.
"You're not going to drop that, are you?"
"Not soon," he smiled, offering her a hand as she began to stand up. When she was on her feet, she put a hand to his chest and stood there a moment, breathing deeply. "Doing okay?"
"Yup, just waiting for that wave to pass. I think I can shower now." She raised her head to grin up at him. "First, I am brushing my teeth."
"Well, I'll go make some breakfast. Just yell if you need me." He gave her hand a squeeze before closing the bathroom door. Sydney quickly brushed her teeth before she peeled of her t-shirt and underwear, turning on the shower to step under the steaming spray. The water soothed her and she began to feel a little better. By the time she had washed her hair and shaved her legs, she felt normal again. She turned off the shower and could hear Michael singing along with the radio, the smell of pancakes wafting from the kitchen as she wrapped herself in a towel. She had just begun to dry her hair when he came in with a cup of tea.
He kissed her temple as he set the cup on the sink. "Do you want to eat?"
"Yeah, I feel a lot better. I'll be out there in a minute." She smiled at his back, sipping the tea, as he turned to head back down the hall. She quickly finished with her hair and took the cup into their room, where she dressed in cotton dress, simple and comfortable. She went to the dressing table to brush on mascara and blush and added a dab of lip gloss before putting on her sandals and walking to the kitchen to join Michael.
As she came into the room, she was surprised to find him on the phone, his back to her as he flipped pancakes.
"Okay.hmm.We could try that.Around four?...okay.love you too.bye." He hung up and turned around, surprised to see her there.
She eyed him with curiosity. "Kind of early for a phone call."
"I was still worried about you, so I phoned Nenet to see if she had any advice and make sure she was bringing the books by," he explained.
"Ah. Did she say anything?"
"Her trick was to keep unsalted crackers by the bed and eat a couple before she even sat up in the morning. Apparently, part of the problem is having an empty stomach. So you should eat." He put a plate with two pancakes on the table for her. "And she's still planning on being over around four."
"Okay," Sydney replied as she sat down and picked up a fork. "I'll ask Dr. Trent for advice too, at my next appointment."
Michael brought a plate to sit across from her. "When's that?"
"Tuesday after next. I wanted to be done with school first."
"I'll go with you. What time?"
"Eleven, I'm pretty sure," she said through a mouth of pancake.
He laughed at her mumbled speech. "Easy, I'll just take an extended lunch."
"Okay. I can pick you up. It'll give me a chance to say hi to Dixon and Marshall and everyone." She finished her pancakes and reached to take one of his. He shot her a glance. "What? I'm hungry."
He just smiled and walked to the stove to make more. "Syd, do you need me to pick anything up for dinner tonight?" Will and Eric were coming over, with Will's girlfriend Sherry.
"Well, they'll want beer and I think we're almost out of salad dressing. I was going to go on my lunch, but since you're offering, I'll just take the time to grade papers."
"Or rest," he put in, bringing the pan over. "Do you want another?"
Sydney thought a moment. "No, I think that's enough. I should really get going."
"Okay," he said, putting the pancakes on his plate. He set the pan back on the stove and came to kiss Sydney as she rinsed her plate. "I'm going to go jump in the shower, so I'll see you tonight."
"Bye. Have a good day," she replied, putting the plate down to give him a hug.
"Same to the both of you," Michael said, returning the hug.
"Oh we will, now that my stomach is happily settled with pancakes. Now scoot or Kendall will be all scowls."
"Eh, what else is new?" came his reply as he walked toward the bathroom. Sydney put her plate in the drainer and finished her tea. Taking her lunch from the fridge, she went back to their room to grab her jacket, bag and purse. Walking by the bathroom, she cracked the door. "Love you, handsome. Thanks for the pancakes," she called.
"Anytime," came his garbled reply from the shower. "Love you too."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* The day at school had raced by and when Sydney was finally back behind the wheel of her car, headed home, she relished the minutes of solitude to settle and regroup. Her window was open, the warm breeze moving through the car as she drove the streets back to the house.
Her meeting with Eileen had gone surprisingly well. The older woman seemed pleased that she wasn't leaving immediately, giving the school more time to arrange a replacement. They had only met for a few minutes and Sydney had time to photocopy her quizzes before students began to arrive. But the warm weather and looming end to school made her students antsy and she had a hard time keeping them focused. By the time lunch period came, she felt more tired than usual and was glad Michael had offered to do the grocery shopping, small as it was. She closed the door to her classroom and turned of the lights, pulling her desk chair back so that she could put her feet up and relax, her lunch in her lap. But the forty minutes of quiet didn't feel half as long and she was glad when the bell rang to signal the end of the day, leaving almost as quickly as the students.
It was just before three when Sydney pulled into the driveway and grabbed her stuff out of the car. She was determined to grade quizzes until Nenet arrived, since she'd put it off at lunch. Settling down at the kitchen table with a glass of water, she tried to lose herself in marking the ten questions. It wasn't until the doorbell sounded that she realized that she'd nodded off again. Shaking her head to clear the fuzziness, she went to greet Nenet.
"Hi Syd. Oh! Were you sleeping?" Nenet's smile faded into worry.
"It's fine. I dozed off while I was grading. Do you want to come in?"
"I'd love to, but Teddy's asleep in the car and I need to run a few more errands before I start dinner. But here are the three books I liked best. The top one has great morning sickness advice, which I understand you need already," Nenet said with a smile of sympathy.
"Yeah, we had a rough start this morning."
"Well let me know if I can do anything. And we need to get together again soon."
"Definitely," Sydney concurred. "School is out after next week, so I'll have more time to work something out."
"Wonderful," Nenet said, giving Sydney a hug. "I have to run, but I look forward to that. Give Michael my love, and tell him watch it with the overprotective routine-remember you aren't the first woman to become pregnant. It's all normal."
Sydney laughed. "I'll do that. Give our love to Craig and Teddy." She waved as Nenet got back in the car, before carrying the books back into the house. She looked at the titles: The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy, Your Pregnancy Week by Week, and Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy. Sydney carried them back to the kitchen and began to thumb through them.
That's how Michael found her an hour and a half later as he came in the front door. Her feet were on the chair across from her, water glass empty, and quizzes long forgotten as she laughed at a joke in the mood swings chapter of Girlfriends'. She didn't notice him until he was leaning against the doorjamb of the kitchen.
"Hi Sweetie. I didn't hear you come in." He smiled and came to kiss her.
"Good book?"
"It's great. Very straightforward, but hilarious at the same time. It's how a conversation with Francie about pregnancy would have been." A sad smile came and went from her face as she closed the book, straightening the papers on the table. Michael walked over and kissed her head as she asked "What time is it?"
"Five thirty. Eric, Will and Sherry will be here in about an hour." He went to put the beer in the fridge.
"Oh! I've got to get moving. I wanted to straighten the bathroom and vacuum."
"Syd, I doubt Will and Eric care if we've vacuumed."
"But I care. It'll only take a minute. You can get started with the food." She stood and gathered her books and papers.
"Okay, but I'll do the bathroom. The grill won't take long."
"I'm getting spoiled, Mr. Vaughn. Pancakes and toilet scrubbing in the same day?" she teased.
"Oh, the things I do for love of you, Mrs. Vaughn!" he answered back, following her down the hall to change out of his suit.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* ".and so, he says 'Twice a week!'" Eric finished the joke with a peal of laughter louder than any of his audience. They sat around the table on the deck, enjoying the fading sunlight and the warm night. Sydney sat next to Sherry and Will, who were holding hands. Eric sat between Will and Michael, and Sydney smiled at her friends as she rose from the table.
"Does anyone want another drink?"
"No," Will answered. "I'm driving."
"I'm good too, Syd" Eric replied. Sherry shook her head.
"Honey?" Sydney put a hand on Vaughn's shoulder.
"No, thanks though." He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them before releasing her hand.
"Ah, would you look at that. Married for months and they're still all smoochy," Eric whined as Sydney walked back into the kitchen to get another glass of milk.
"Oh Weiss, with the right girl, you'll be all smoochy too," Will predicted, smiling at Sherry.
"Doubtful," Eric said.
"Which?" asked Michael. "That you'll find the right girl or be smoochy?"
"Either, both. I just know that I'm the only single guy here tonight, and the prospects are looking slimmer by the day."
"I can't wait to remind you of this conversation when you're married and all starry eyed over some amazing woman." Sydney said as she came back to sit on Michael's lap, leaning against his shoulder.
"Well, maybe," Eric conceded. "But if that doesn't happen I'm giving your kid all my yo-yo knowledge."
"I'm touched, man. Really touched." Michael said, reaching to put a hand on Eric's arm as they all laughed.
"When are you due, Sydney?" Sherry asked.
"Mid February. We still have quite a wait."
"I should get the name of this maternity boutique that my cousin loved. I think it's on Ventura Boulevard, but I'll check for sure."
"Great," Sydney replied. "One of my friends from work is already insisting on a shopping expedition."
"Ah, women and shopping! I heard a new joke about that," Eric said, and started the funny story.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ He pulled onto the street of nice, tidy homes and found hers quickly. He was here a day ahead of schedule. But in the context of a year, what was a day, really. There were four cars in the driveway, which indicated company. Two were obviously government-issue blah. Probably CIA friends over for dinner. He drove into the dark shadow under a tree half a block down and parked. It was ten till nine, and he wondered how long he'd have to wait for their friends to leave. Taking out his cell phone, he punched the speed dial.
"Alek," he said by way of greeting when she answered. "I'm in place. They have visitors now, looks like another agency car. I will wait to place exterior surveillance until the others have left and they've gone to bed." He sighed, shaking his blond head. "Yes.I'll contact you again tomorrow.Understood."
He hung up and glanced into his rearview mirror just as the front door of their house opened. Perfect. He grabbed the camera scope as two men and a woman walked out. He focused the scope and immediately recognized Will, but the woman whose hand he was holding and the darker complexioned guy were not familiar. Snapping a few pictures, knew he'd have to check on them. He turned the scope to the doorway and spotted Sydney and Vaughn, his hand around her waist, waving goodbye. He snapped several more photos, knowing Irina would appreciate the pictures. They made a pretty couple, and the last time he'd seen them together was when he had done surveillance on their wedding. He had watched Sydney during the four days in October that Vaughn was on a mission in Europe, but this was the first time he'd been back since. The cars came towards him down the street and he slouched down, noting the plate numbers for both. When they had passed, he looked back at the house and saw that the door was closed and the lights in front were off.
He pulled out his computer. Running the plates on those cars and researching what he could on the owners should take him enough time that Sydney and Vaughn would have gone to bed, and then he could start with the surveillance set up. He knew the basic specs of the system they had in place, so his first step would be to scan the house and patch in to what was already there. It would be a long night. With a sigh, he turned his blue eyes back to his laptop and began typing.
"Here, do you think you can drink this?" Michael asked, his green eyes dark with concern as he squatted down next to her. She could only mumble as she took the water and slowly sipped it, pressing the side of her face against the cool tile on the wall. Michael felt so helpless watching her. "Syd, can I do anything?"
"No, I think I'm going to try and shower."
"Are you sure? I can call the school. You don't have to go anywhere," he said.
"No, honey. I have the meeting with Eileen this morning and I'm giving a quiz on act four of Hamlet. I'll be okay." After the staff meeting the previous afternoon, Sydney had been summoned by the principal to set up a meeting in which to discuss her pregnancy and leave, and she knew she shouldn't reschedule.
"But if you're not feeling well, you should rest," insisted Michael.
"I doubt this is the last morning I'll be sick, and I can't take off everyday. It's the first time I've really felt pregnant, so it's actually kind of exciting. And Nenet is bringing the books by this afternoon, so maybe I'll find some tips on how to handle it better from here on out." She raised a hand to smooth the wrinkles from his brow. "But I love that you're so concerned. It's awfully sweet of you." His face relaxed into a grin.
"I wish I could make this easier for you."
"Oh, Michael, somehow I think the hard part is still a long bit off. And you're doing your part. I can't imagine any of this without you. Knowing that you're looking after me and supporting me every day is incredibly precious."
"Except for that first day where you kept the baby to yourself," he teased, bringing a hand to stroke her stomach.
"You're not going to drop that, are you?"
"Not soon," he smiled, offering her a hand as she began to stand up. When she was on her feet, she put a hand to his chest and stood there a moment, breathing deeply. "Doing okay?"
"Yup, just waiting for that wave to pass. I think I can shower now." She raised her head to grin up at him. "First, I am brushing my teeth."
"Well, I'll go make some breakfast. Just yell if you need me." He gave her hand a squeeze before closing the bathroom door. Sydney quickly brushed her teeth before she peeled of her t-shirt and underwear, turning on the shower to step under the steaming spray. The water soothed her and she began to feel a little better. By the time she had washed her hair and shaved her legs, she felt normal again. She turned off the shower and could hear Michael singing along with the radio, the smell of pancakes wafting from the kitchen as she wrapped herself in a towel. She had just begun to dry her hair when he came in with a cup of tea.
He kissed her temple as he set the cup on the sink. "Do you want to eat?"
"Yeah, I feel a lot better. I'll be out there in a minute." She smiled at his back, sipping the tea, as he turned to head back down the hall. She quickly finished with her hair and took the cup into their room, where she dressed in cotton dress, simple and comfortable. She went to the dressing table to brush on mascara and blush and added a dab of lip gloss before putting on her sandals and walking to the kitchen to join Michael.
As she came into the room, she was surprised to find him on the phone, his back to her as he flipped pancakes.
"Okay.hmm.We could try that.Around four?...okay.love you too.bye." He hung up and turned around, surprised to see her there.
She eyed him with curiosity. "Kind of early for a phone call."
"I was still worried about you, so I phoned Nenet to see if she had any advice and make sure she was bringing the books by," he explained.
"Ah. Did she say anything?"
"Her trick was to keep unsalted crackers by the bed and eat a couple before she even sat up in the morning. Apparently, part of the problem is having an empty stomach. So you should eat." He put a plate with two pancakes on the table for her. "And she's still planning on being over around four."
"Okay," Sydney replied as she sat down and picked up a fork. "I'll ask Dr. Trent for advice too, at my next appointment."
Michael brought a plate to sit across from her. "When's that?"
"Tuesday after next. I wanted to be done with school first."
"I'll go with you. What time?"
"Eleven, I'm pretty sure," she said through a mouth of pancake.
He laughed at her mumbled speech. "Easy, I'll just take an extended lunch."
"Okay. I can pick you up. It'll give me a chance to say hi to Dixon and Marshall and everyone." She finished her pancakes and reached to take one of his. He shot her a glance. "What? I'm hungry."
He just smiled and walked to the stove to make more. "Syd, do you need me to pick anything up for dinner tonight?" Will and Eric were coming over, with Will's girlfriend Sherry.
"Well, they'll want beer and I think we're almost out of salad dressing. I was going to go on my lunch, but since you're offering, I'll just take the time to grade papers."
"Or rest," he put in, bringing the pan over. "Do you want another?"
Sydney thought a moment. "No, I think that's enough. I should really get going."
"Okay," he said, putting the pancakes on his plate. He set the pan back on the stove and came to kiss Sydney as she rinsed her plate. "I'm going to go jump in the shower, so I'll see you tonight."
"Bye. Have a good day," she replied, putting the plate down to give him a hug.
"Same to the both of you," Michael said, returning the hug.
"Oh we will, now that my stomach is happily settled with pancakes. Now scoot or Kendall will be all scowls."
"Eh, what else is new?" came his reply as he walked toward the bathroom. Sydney put her plate in the drainer and finished her tea. Taking her lunch from the fridge, she went back to their room to grab her jacket, bag and purse. Walking by the bathroom, she cracked the door. "Love you, handsome. Thanks for the pancakes," she called.
"Anytime," came his garbled reply from the shower. "Love you too."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* The day at school had raced by and when Sydney was finally back behind the wheel of her car, headed home, she relished the minutes of solitude to settle and regroup. Her window was open, the warm breeze moving through the car as she drove the streets back to the house.
Her meeting with Eileen had gone surprisingly well. The older woman seemed pleased that she wasn't leaving immediately, giving the school more time to arrange a replacement. They had only met for a few minutes and Sydney had time to photocopy her quizzes before students began to arrive. But the warm weather and looming end to school made her students antsy and she had a hard time keeping them focused. By the time lunch period came, she felt more tired than usual and was glad Michael had offered to do the grocery shopping, small as it was. She closed the door to her classroom and turned of the lights, pulling her desk chair back so that she could put her feet up and relax, her lunch in her lap. But the forty minutes of quiet didn't feel half as long and she was glad when the bell rang to signal the end of the day, leaving almost as quickly as the students.
It was just before three when Sydney pulled into the driveway and grabbed her stuff out of the car. She was determined to grade quizzes until Nenet arrived, since she'd put it off at lunch. Settling down at the kitchen table with a glass of water, she tried to lose herself in marking the ten questions. It wasn't until the doorbell sounded that she realized that she'd nodded off again. Shaking her head to clear the fuzziness, she went to greet Nenet.
"Hi Syd. Oh! Were you sleeping?" Nenet's smile faded into worry.
"It's fine. I dozed off while I was grading. Do you want to come in?"
"I'd love to, but Teddy's asleep in the car and I need to run a few more errands before I start dinner. But here are the three books I liked best. The top one has great morning sickness advice, which I understand you need already," Nenet said with a smile of sympathy.
"Yeah, we had a rough start this morning."
"Well let me know if I can do anything. And we need to get together again soon."
"Definitely," Sydney concurred. "School is out after next week, so I'll have more time to work something out."
"Wonderful," Nenet said, giving Sydney a hug. "I have to run, but I look forward to that. Give Michael my love, and tell him watch it with the overprotective routine-remember you aren't the first woman to become pregnant. It's all normal."
Sydney laughed. "I'll do that. Give our love to Craig and Teddy." She waved as Nenet got back in the car, before carrying the books back into the house. She looked at the titles: The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy, Your Pregnancy Week by Week, and Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy. Sydney carried them back to the kitchen and began to thumb through them.
That's how Michael found her an hour and a half later as he came in the front door. Her feet were on the chair across from her, water glass empty, and quizzes long forgotten as she laughed at a joke in the mood swings chapter of Girlfriends'. She didn't notice him until he was leaning against the doorjamb of the kitchen.
"Hi Sweetie. I didn't hear you come in." He smiled and came to kiss her.
"Good book?"
"It's great. Very straightforward, but hilarious at the same time. It's how a conversation with Francie about pregnancy would have been." A sad smile came and went from her face as she closed the book, straightening the papers on the table. Michael walked over and kissed her head as she asked "What time is it?"
"Five thirty. Eric, Will and Sherry will be here in about an hour." He went to put the beer in the fridge.
"Oh! I've got to get moving. I wanted to straighten the bathroom and vacuum."
"Syd, I doubt Will and Eric care if we've vacuumed."
"But I care. It'll only take a minute. You can get started with the food." She stood and gathered her books and papers.
"Okay, but I'll do the bathroom. The grill won't take long."
"I'm getting spoiled, Mr. Vaughn. Pancakes and toilet scrubbing in the same day?" she teased.
"Oh, the things I do for love of you, Mrs. Vaughn!" he answered back, following her down the hall to change out of his suit.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* ".and so, he says 'Twice a week!'" Eric finished the joke with a peal of laughter louder than any of his audience. They sat around the table on the deck, enjoying the fading sunlight and the warm night. Sydney sat next to Sherry and Will, who were holding hands. Eric sat between Will and Michael, and Sydney smiled at her friends as she rose from the table.
"Does anyone want another drink?"
"No," Will answered. "I'm driving."
"I'm good too, Syd" Eric replied. Sherry shook her head.
"Honey?" Sydney put a hand on Vaughn's shoulder.
"No, thanks though." He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them before releasing her hand.
"Ah, would you look at that. Married for months and they're still all smoochy," Eric whined as Sydney walked back into the kitchen to get another glass of milk.
"Oh Weiss, with the right girl, you'll be all smoochy too," Will predicted, smiling at Sherry.
"Doubtful," Eric said.
"Which?" asked Michael. "That you'll find the right girl or be smoochy?"
"Either, both. I just know that I'm the only single guy here tonight, and the prospects are looking slimmer by the day."
"I can't wait to remind you of this conversation when you're married and all starry eyed over some amazing woman." Sydney said as she came back to sit on Michael's lap, leaning against his shoulder.
"Well, maybe," Eric conceded. "But if that doesn't happen I'm giving your kid all my yo-yo knowledge."
"I'm touched, man. Really touched." Michael said, reaching to put a hand on Eric's arm as they all laughed.
"When are you due, Sydney?" Sherry asked.
"Mid February. We still have quite a wait."
"I should get the name of this maternity boutique that my cousin loved. I think it's on Ventura Boulevard, but I'll check for sure."
"Great," Sydney replied. "One of my friends from work is already insisting on a shopping expedition."
"Ah, women and shopping! I heard a new joke about that," Eric said, and started the funny story.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ He pulled onto the street of nice, tidy homes and found hers quickly. He was here a day ahead of schedule. But in the context of a year, what was a day, really. There were four cars in the driveway, which indicated company. Two were obviously government-issue blah. Probably CIA friends over for dinner. He drove into the dark shadow under a tree half a block down and parked. It was ten till nine, and he wondered how long he'd have to wait for their friends to leave. Taking out his cell phone, he punched the speed dial.
"Alek," he said by way of greeting when she answered. "I'm in place. They have visitors now, looks like another agency car. I will wait to place exterior surveillance until the others have left and they've gone to bed." He sighed, shaking his blond head. "Yes.I'll contact you again tomorrow.Understood."
He hung up and glanced into his rearview mirror just as the front door of their house opened. Perfect. He grabbed the camera scope as two men and a woman walked out. He focused the scope and immediately recognized Will, but the woman whose hand he was holding and the darker complexioned guy were not familiar. Snapping a few pictures, knew he'd have to check on them. He turned the scope to the doorway and spotted Sydney and Vaughn, his hand around her waist, waving goodbye. He snapped several more photos, knowing Irina would appreciate the pictures. They made a pretty couple, and the last time he'd seen them together was when he had done surveillance on their wedding. He had watched Sydney during the four days in October that Vaughn was on a mission in Europe, but this was the first time he'd been back since. The cars came towards him down the street and he slouched down, noting the plate numbers for both. When they had passed, he looked back at the house and saw that the door was closed and the lights in front were off.
He pulled out his computer. Running the plates on those cars and researching what he could on the owners should take him enough time that Sydney and Vaughn would have gone to bed, and then he could start with the surveillance set up. He knew the basic specs of the system they had in place, so his first step would be to scan the house and patch in to what was already there. It would be a long night. With a sigh, he turned his blue eyes back to his laptop and began typing.