An Undefinable Sweetness
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
Dedications
Okay, I lied, there is going to be one more after this one too. Agh, sorry I just keep on forgetting things I want to write and I swear I'm trying to wrap it up!!! (I'm actually cutting a bunch of stuff out if that makes you feel better a.k.a. J/I stuff and the connection between Irina and Sloane I let die too)~
Thank you sooooo much for all the amazing support that you have given me and for your willingness to stay with this fic for so long. Like Vaughn said to Sydney, these last four months have been incredibly fulfilling.
To:
Jade: I am so absolutely certain I have dedicated to you before but you definitely should get another. You are one of those incredibly awesome readers who reviews every chapter, always gives encouragement and shows enthusiasm every time. So thank you so much, I had a blast.
Kittyfantastico: you reviews rock. What else can I say? I love reading them and I'm glad you like reading the fic. Hope the last few chaps make you happy J
speedy: from one cynical adolescent to another, thanks. You always make me feel great and I love how funny your reviews can be…or maybe I just have no social life and then find reviews funny… whatever
cowpenguin: no offense taken, I would have avoided this story too because I also detest the first couple of chapters…namely all of them until like 16 or 17. Nice to know you like it now though J
LeiraNoxid: Your review made my day…which also kind of shows that it doesn't take much to make my day but it was wonderful nevertheless. I definitely had a ton of fun writing that (it's sad but the condom-candle thing still makes me laugh even though it stopped really being funny the moment I woke up). Anyway, I'm digressing.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
A/N: This is not the last chapter... I realized that I had forgotten a pivotal scene which must take this chapter and I apologize if this aggravates you but that's the way it goes. So thanks to all of your for your undying support and here is the second-to-last chapter.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
I think I may have to get a copyright for that candles-in-the-condom-drawer thing,,, cough cough Becky cough cough HAHA just kidding, I'm flattered.
41.
"How do I look?" Her voice was worried, carrying a twinge of a nervousness that he had never heard before. At least not from her. He turned and looked at her and smiled, giving her a silent wolf-whistle of approval.
She didn't notice or didn't believe him, turning back to the mirror and smoothing the line of her skirt and adjusting the strings of her top. "Is this too provocative? I think this may be too provocative." She turned to go back to her closet when she felt his arms stopping her.
There was a laugh in his voice. "Sydney, what's going on? I have never seen you this nervous before and I know that you've done a lot of things that are worth being nervous over."
"What's going on? Maybe it's not that important to you Michael because you've already given your first impression but she hasn't even met me yet Vaughn! Don't you understand how important this is?" Her eyes were wide, panicked, her voice slurred and unsteady.
She turned around quickly, forsaking the mirror and the blush brush that dangled lifelessly in her hand as her eyes went wide in horror. "Vaughn? What will she say when she finds out I'm pregnant? Oh my God, she's going to think I'm a tramp." She swatted at his arm. "Damn you for seducing me!"
She stopped when she heard his laugh and then couldn't help but laugh herself. She sat down, shaking her head. "Oh my God. I'm looking at myself and I can't believe I'm such a wreak."
His reassuring hand rested lightly on her back. "Sydney, she is going to love you. We're engaged. And besides, if you don't want her to know, she doesn't have to know. Syd... If my mother can love me based on my first impression... which came with unparalleled pain, crying, and a screaming baby, I think she can find it in her heart to love you," he smiled softly, smoothing away the scrunched skin between her eyebrows. "In fact, I can guarantee that she will love you."
Sydney grinned before realizing something else. "Vaughn...does she know that we're engaged already? What if she's angry? What if she wanted to meet me beforehand? Should...should I ask for your hand or something?"
He laughed at her. "Sydney...you may not believe me but my mother already loves you. Do you seriously think that I could stand not telling my own mother about the woman I love? And even if I had tried to hide it, she would have known. My mother has a radar for love that is absolutely unsurpassable," he watched as she turned back to toy with her hair. "Syd," he said softly, taking her hands away, "You look absolutely perfect so stop changing. You look really pretty."
She relaxed into him, smelling the sweet scent of his cologne and the smell that somehow only belonged to him lying under that. "Thank you," she said, smiling.
They drove in a comfortable silence to the house, hands softly clasped together. Sydney's voice broke that with a single question. "Vaughn...does your mother know...who my mother is?"
"No."
"Should she know?"
"I'm not sure yet."
~:~
The doorbell had barely finished its trill when the door opened, revealing a petite smiling woman. The woman who had always smiled so gaily at the camera in the pictures that lined Michael's apartment.
"Ah, mon beaux fils!" She smiled and placed her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him lightly, eyes brightening before she turned to Sydney and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, I completely lost myself. What will you think of me now?"
Sydney couldn't help smiling at the simple charm of this woman with her lilting accent and sheepish grin. She walked into the older woman's hug and kissed her cheeks lightly.
"Sydney can speak French, maman."
"Really? That's lovely." His mother smiled indulgently, believing the extent of this French to be of high-school level. She clasped her hands in her own and drew her inside. "Please come in, I have been so excited to meet you."
She nodded and stepped inside, turning backwards just in time to catch Michael's self-satisfied grin of "I told you so."
They sat around the small marble table though she immediately got up to get the steaming tray of tea that was already waiting on the counter in the kitchen. Michael quickly stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Maman, I know where the tray is, why don't you sit down and talk with Sydney while I get it?"
Bridgette Vaughn smiled in understanding and gratefulness. "Merci beaucoup Michèl, that's just what I had wanted you to do."
He smiled and kissed her cheek. "You know me too well."
"I'm your mother."
~:~
Sydney fingered the picture that lay on the coffee table. "Is this Michael's father, Mrs. Vaughn?"
Bridgette Vaughn leaned and nodded at the picture, eyes growing misty despite the years that had put themselves between the present and his death so long ago. "Yes. Yes, that is my William."
"Michael looks just like him," Sydney looked up, grinning despite the sudden twisting guilt that wracked her entire body. "I can certainly see why you fell in love with him."
The older woman smiled gratefully and sat next to Sydney, clasping her hands once more. "Call me Bridgette. And I must say that you certainly know how to get your way into a mother's heart. Complimenting her son is always a good way to get in her good graces," she said with a wink.
"But it's the truth," Sydney stated earnestly, "Mrs- Bridgette, there was a point in my life where I felt as if there was nothing worth living for anymore, I felt as if every aspect of my life was a lie and that I didn't even deserve to be a part of it anymore. And then when I met Michael… he's been more than anyone else could have been to me. I haven't even told him this yet but it's the truth. He brought me out of that depression and by the time I could stand on my own two feet again, the truth is, I didn't want to."
Bridgette's eyes reflected a sort of mixture of happiness and sorrow, her eyes wrinkling with a small smile. "That, my dear, is how I know that what you feel is true. That is exactly how I felt about my husband. But I have to tell you-" here her voice hushed, "I know that what I am about to say to you will not make any sense to you but I'm asking you not to ask anyone questions and to just believe what I am telling you. My husband was killed in the line of duty."
Sydney swallowed, nodding. It suddenly dawned on her that Michael's mother was unaware of her own occupation.
"Michael is in a line of work that calls upon him to risk his life everyday. I thought that I could accept it when William told me about his erratic hours, I believed in my heart that I would learn to accept that there would be moments when he would dash away at a moment's notice at any minute of the day. But when he left me… a part of me died. It is still dead. There is no pain that hurts more than the pain that you feel in the deepest reaches of your heart at the moment you realize that the love of your life is gone.
"You tell me that you were in a place in your life where you felt lost, alone, where you felt that everyone and everything was a complete lie. I have been there and I want to tell you that as much as I believe that you are the perfect woman for my son and I want you to become a part of my family already, if you are expecting him to continue to be by your side for the rest of your life… things might change. He might only be able to stay with you for the rest of his life. And that might not be so long."
She didn't know what to say, was still attempting to process what his mother wanted her to do, what he wanted her to say when she heard Michael's voice from the door. "Mother, I don't think you have to worry about that. You don't understand our relationship and I think that it is time that you learn."
It was Bridgette's turn to have a moment of realization as her gaze shifted from Michael to Sydney and back again. "You met because of your work?" Her question was cautious.
He sat down in the chair in front of her. "Sydney is a CIA agent. Until yesterday, she was a double-agent for SD-6. The chance of her dying is far more probable than the chance of me dying. Mother… that was what Dad was working on. It was taken down yesterday."
Sydney could almost hear the older woman's throat choking up though she could slightly feel that not all of it was from shock. It was almost as if she was happy. That her husband had not died in vain. That perhaps his life had had more meaning and contribution than she had originally thought.
"So you two are not… together?" Confusion was setting in.
"No, no, mother you don't understand." Michael sat down next to Sydney and took her hand in his. "We are. I was her handler for the past two years and we've been seeing each other for the last 5 months."
"But I know that CIA protocol-" she stopped, a slight grin overcoming her face, "She is the woman you were telling me about last year?"
He chuckled. "More like the woman you forced me to tell you about Maman."
"You were never good at hiding your feelings, Michèl, I'm surprised they allow you to work at the CIA. So when you were telling me about that woman that you wanted but couldn't have…"
He nodded, a flush spreading over his cheeks and he inwardly resolved not to look at Sydney's face until he was sure that the topic had changed and the smirk he knew was there was gone.
Bridgette looked over at Sydney, winking roguishly, "You must think me quite rude for what I said earlier. But I can tell you now for sure that my son truly adores you."
It was her turn to blush and Michael turned to his mother. "Maman, it's more than just adoration. I love her."
The tears came back full force into his mother's eyes as a smile cracked open. "I'm so glad Michael, I was beginning to lose hope…" she smiled at Sydney. "I'm so glad that he chose you instead of that other one. She was nice but never meant for him."
Sydney couldn't help but nod with agreement.
"Maman, yesterday I was almost killed."
The sentence hung in the air like a heavy curtain and the joy that had been in the room was suddenly cut off. His mother's worst fears had been about to come true and now all of her walls were built back up, protection of her family had become a primal instinct.
"Before you say anything, let me just say that I am perfectly fine and everything was a complete success. But what almost happened to me gave me new perspective on my life, on the people in my life."
She waited, knowing that there was more.
"I proposed to Sydney last night, maman. We wanted to personally invite you to our wedding."
TBC…
If you want the last chapter and you know it, clap your hands. *Reading this over… there actually might be yet another chapter before the last but I doubt it*
(and then push the little purple button and review… and tell me if you actually clapped because that's fun stuff)
Muchos loves~
-JeNnifER
