Chapter 25: "Wish You Were Here"
"So, remind me again why we're down here," Vaughn muttered as he moved dusty boxes around his mother's basement.
"Michael," Elise sighed, "I told you that I'm trying to find the* box with your old baby clothes."
"Which begs the question, why did you keep my old baby clothes?"
Elise shrugged. "I don't know. Sentimental reasons mostly."
Vaughn looked up from the boxes just in time to catch the wistful expression on his mother's face before it was replaced with a tiny frown. He hesitated for a moment before asking his mother the question that had just popped into his mind.
"Did you and Dad ever want to have more children?"
Elise smiled and her eyes took on a far-away look. "We talked about it a lot for a couple of years after you were born, but that was just around the time that both your father and I were finally starting to reach our professional goals. I was taking on a lot more responsibility at the firm and your father was advancing so quickly at the agency that we were both satisfied with the way things were already. We had our jobs and each other and the most adorable little boy, and we were happy with that. We agreed that maybe we would have more kids after I made partner and he left the field, but obviously we never got the chance."
Vaughn studied his mother for a moment, in awe of the quiet composure she always had whenever she talked about his father. He couldn't imagine how he would ever keep it together if Sydney died, and that made him admire her remarkable strength even more.
"You know, if I had it to do all over again," she said thoughtfully, "I wouldn't have been so focused on my career. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my professional life, but sometimes I think that it would have been nice to have had more children, more reminders of your father.
"Then again, I can't imagine that anyone could remind me of him as much as you do and, in a way, I always liked that it was just the two of us after he was gone. I'm not sure that our relationship would be as close as it is if you had a brother or a sister. What made you ask if we wanted more children?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know. I guess I was just wondering if the reason that you kept my baby clothes was because you thought that you might need them again one day."
"Hmm. That may have been in the back of my mind thirty years ago, but consciously, I just kept them to remind me of your childhood. But what are all of these question about, Michael? Did you used to wish that you had siblings?"
"Sometimes," Vaughn shrugged. "But every time we went to France or Pennsylvania, there were always so many cousins running around that it felt like having siblings. It was nice for a few weeks at a time, but it actually made me appreciate being an only child," he laughed.
"Oh, you just enjoyed being an only child because I spoiled you," Elise grinned. She freely admitted that since the day he was born, she had showered her only child with affection and given him everything he wanted. Thankfully, instead of turning out to be a spoiled brat, he had grown to be a caring, responsible gentleman. She couldn't have asked for a better or more devoted son, and she couldn't wait to see what kind of father he would be to his own children one day.
"You should have known better than to open the door to a discussion about children, Michael," she laughed. "But not that you have, how many children do you think you want to have?"
Vaughn shook his head and smiled. "You'd die if I said none, wouldn't you?" Elise gave him a dirty look and he held his hands up in mock surrender. "Actually, I'd like two or three, but it's not really up to me since I won't be the one giving birth, is it?"
"Never let it be said that I didn't raise an intelligent son," Elise smiled. "Speaking of my future grandchildren," she began casually, "how is Sydney?"
"What does one topic have to do with the other?" Vaughn asked, feigning ignorance.
"Michael, please. You went all the way to L.A. for less than two days just to surprise her for her birthday. It's not such a crazy leap to think that you might decide to ask her to marry you one day."
"Maybe," he said with a noncommittal shrug as he turned his head away from her and tried to suppress the smile growing across his face.
"Well, it was terribly sweet of you to surprise her that way and I'm sure that she appreciated it. I can't even imagine how much the two of you must miss each other."
"*I** couldn't have imagined how much I would miss her. When I decided to take the assignment here, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to be away from her. I mistakenly thought that the months would just fly by, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Being away from her is wrong," he frowned as he picked up another box and moved it out of the way.
"Well, I can't believe that I'm saying this, because I've loved every minute that you've been here, but I'll actually be very happy for both you and Sydney when you go back home."
"Really?"
"Yes, because it's obvious how desperately you want to be with her. All I want is for you to be happy and the two of you looked disgustingly happy when she was here," Elise laughed. "Besides, if your relationship is going to progress, the two of you need to be together, and I certainly hope that your relationship progresses, because I really like Sydney. In fact, my advice to you is don't let her get away."
"Trust me, I have no intention of doing that, Mom," he smiled. He knew that this would be the perfect time to tell her about their engagement, but he was determined to keep his word to Sydney; he really did want her to be with him when he finally told his mother.
"You don't know how happy I am to hear that," she said with a sigh of relief. I know that you probably think that the only reason I'm interested in your relationship with Sydney is because I want grandchildren, but honestly, it's not. Even if you and Sydney never have children, I think she's perfect for you and I've never seen anyone make you so happy. She's definitely the one," Elise smiled confidently.
"Yeah, she is," Vaughn said softly. It meant a lot to him that his mother seemed to love Sydney almost as much as he did and he couldn't believe his incredible luck in having two completely amazing women in his life. He moved yet another box and called her over. "Is this the one you're looking for?"
"Yes, that's it," Elise smiled.
Vaughn picked up a damp towel and wiped a thin layer of dust from the box, coughing exaggeratedly as he did so. "I hate it down here," he grumbled.
"You didn't always use to feel that way," Elise smirked.
"What does *that* mean?" Vaughn asked in bewilderment.
Elise fixed him with a knowing stare. "Michael, I'm not stupid. I know what you used to do down here when you were in high school."
Vaughn cleared his throat in embarrassment. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said weakly as he turned away from her and began to stack the boxes back in the corner again.
"Relax, sweetheart, I'm just teasing you. You were in high school -- of course you made out with girls down here. I probably would have worried about you if you didn't."
"Well that was a really long time ago," he said as he sat on the couch next to the box that she was opening eagerly. "Trust me, my basement days are long over."
"I'm glad to hear that, darling. Sydney is much too good for the basement anyway." She began to coo excitedly as she removed Vaughn's baby clothes from the box.
"Oh my gosh, this is the outfit that I brought you home from the hospital in and, oh, look at this!" She held up a tiny Philadelphia Flyers hockey jersey and smiled. "The week after I told your father that I was pregnant, he had to fly back to the States for a meeting at Langley, and when he came back, he brought this with him. He was so happy and excited when he gave it to me and I just knew that whether we had a boy or a girl, he or she was going to end up playing hockey."
Vaughn took the jersey from her hands and laughed. "Do you mind if I keep this?"
"Really? I thought you were a Kings fan, despite your father's best efforts."
"I am a Kings fan, but you know that my first love was the Flyers. That was all his doing."
Elise placed her hand on Vaughn's forearm and smiled. "I think your father would love it if you kept that. I'm pretty sure there are also some little Eagles and Phillies t-shirts somewhere around here, if you want those too. You know, I think the only reservation your father had about me in the beginning of our relationship were because I knew nothing about sports, especially American sports. He always tried to explain them to me, but it still took me years to understand. Of course, when we first met, he couldn't tell a Matisse from a Monet, but he indulged my love of art the same way that I watched all of his games with him. There's a lot to be said for compromise in a relationship. Never lose sight of that," she laughed as she pulled a tiny, white linen gown from the box. "Finally, here's what I was looking for."
"What's that?"
"Your christening gown. Your grandfather bought it for you," she said softly. "That was really the first gesture he made to repair the damage he caused to our relationship after I married your father. I cried for hours after he gave it to me," she sighed as she stroked the material.
"Anyway, Nathalie saw it in some old pictures and thought that it would be sweet if Christian wore it at his baptism, and I agreed. Maybe it will be the start of a new Delorme family tradition," she said hopefully, "so I'll have to be sure to ask for it back so your kids can wear it one day."
"Yeah, be sure to do that." Vaughn smiled at his mother but resisted the urge to tease her again about her preoccupation with grandchildren. She had been such a wonderful mother that he knew she would be an even better grandmother one day. He knew that she would probably instill his and Sydney's children with her love of art and culture, as well as an appreciation for their French heritage. He silently laughed, wondering if her influence would be enough to counteract Jack's influence. He could already imagine Jack sitting his grandchildren on his knees as he instructed them in the finer points of game theory. Oddly enough, though, he thought that Jack would be a terrific grandfather, overcompensating for his former absence in Sydney's life by being super-involved in his grandchildren's lives. At any rate, he couldn't wait to see Grandma Elise and Grandpa Jack in action one day, but he decided to wait until later to think about what kind of influence Irina might have on his children's lives, assuming that they got to know her at all.
*****
Half a world away, Sydney glanced around a crowded ballroom and hoped that she looked as bored as she felt. She and Dixon were attending a formal party being hosted by Marc Bruguere, a wealthy Parisian attorney whose client list included some of the most notorious arms dealers in Western Europe. For reasons that he hadn't explained satisfactorily, Sloane wanted to get his hands on Bruguere's client records, which were stored on a disk that he kept in his home office. Sydney and Dixon had therefore been dispatched to attend the party and retrieve the disk.
Truth be told, Sydney usually enjoyed the missions when she got to wear a fabulous dress and pretend to be someone else, but tonight wasn't one of those times. Tonight, she felt nervous and jumpy for reasons that she couldn't fully articulate. She sensed, however, that it had less to do with the mission and more to do with Sloane himself. He had been acting strangely ever since her birthday and his behavior was starting to fill her with a sense of dread. She was so close to the finish line with SD-6 that she could almost taste her freedom, but Sloane still remained a formidable obstacle, one that she was increasingly determined to remove at any cost.
"Syd, heads up. Bruguere's on his way down the staircase," Dixon's voice crackled over her comm link.
She looked up and saw Bruguere making a dramatic entrance into the ballroom, slowly walking down the room's grand marble staircase. He looked confident, cocky and smug, and had the perfect accessory on his arm, a rather vapid looking blonde. Sydney fought a smile as she realized that his date's bored expression almost matched her own. She continued to watch as the couple completed their descent into the room and Bruguere graciously greeted guest after guest. The man oozed charm and, insincere as it might be, she realized that it must have served him well in building his legal practice. She shuddered to think about how many criminals she was rubbing shoulders with at the moment.
"Dixon, he's coming this way," she said in a barely audible whisper.
"Copy that, Syd. I'm going upstairs to disable the security system and video cameras."
As Bruguere and his date approached the section of the room where she was standing, Sydney leaned against a tall column and took a sip of champagne, making sure to look as pouty and bored as possible. She knew that once Bruguere saw her, a beautiful woman standing alone, appearing not to enjoy the party, he would probably attempt to strike up a conversation with her. Sure enough, the minute his date turned her back, he approached her.
"Excuse me, miss, you don't look like you're having a very good time," he said in perfect, unaccented English.
She turned her head, gave him a once over, and resumed her bored expression and stiff posture. "How did you know that I was American?"
"Because everything about you screams 'California Girl,'" he laughed smoothly.
Sydney laughed in spite of herself. "So you wouldn't believe me if I said I was from Nebraska?"
"No I wouldn't," he smiled as he extended his hand. "I'm Marc Bruguere, by the way."
"Stephanie Collins," she replied as he kissed her hand.
"So, Stephanie Collins, is my party not exciting enough for you? Should I be insulted that you're not having a good time?"
"Your party is fine. It's just that my date has stood me up, apparently." She stood up straighter, brushed a hand across the skirt of her black dress and turned her lips into a sultry pout. "I'm not used to being stood up."
"I can certainly see why," Bruguere said with a slightly lecherous smile that made Sydney's skin crawl. If she had a dime for every time a man had looked at her that way in the past nine years, she probably could have bought her way out of SD-6.
"Well, I feel like I got dressed up and came here for nothing."
"No, not for nothing," Bruguere smiled as he lightly ran a finger along her bare arm. "In fact, I'd like to thank your date for not showing up."
Sydney shot him a seductive smile. "I doubt that *your* date would feel the same way."
He turned to look at the tall blonde for a moment, and satisfied that she wasn't paying him any attention, he stepped closer to Sydney. "I think you misunderstand. Veronique and I are just friends. I needed a date for my party," he shrugged lightly. "Had I known that a woman as stunning as you would be here alone, I wouldn't have bothered."
Sydney was about to respond when she heard Dixon's voice in her ear again, telling her that it was safe to head up to Bruguere's office. She turned to him with a dazzling smile, deciding that it was time to get this mission over with.
"Marc, would you mind terribly if I used one of your phones? I just want to call my date to make sure that he's not laying dead on the side of a road somewhere."
"Why should you care?" he asked with a small frown.
"I don't, really. I just want to make sure that he's not hurt so I won't feel guilty about spending the rest of my evening with another man." She smiled at him meaningfully, hoping that he got the hint. When he smiled back appreciatively, she almost wanted to laugh at how easy it was to manipulate him.
"Well, by all means then, you should definitely call him. Come with me." He took her hand and led her through the crowded ballroom, to a more discrete staircase than the one in the center of the room. Once upstairs, she followed him down a long hallway until they reached a small table with a phone resting on top. She hid a frown as she realized that he wasn't going to take her to his office, but she nevertheless picked up the phone and quickly dialed the number to her hotel. She let it ring a few times before hanging up with a frustrated sigh.
"Well, the bad news is that he wasn't there. The good news," she said, stepping closer to Bruguere, "is that now I'm completely free to enjoy myself."
"I can help you enjoy yourself all night long," he replied in a low voice that made Sydney cringe. He was trying much too hard to be sexy, not realizing that his efforts were wasted on her.
"You have such a lovely home, Marc. I meant to tell you that earlier. I know that you need to return to your guests, but would it be terribly rude of me to ask for a quick tour?"
"Of course not," he smiled as he offered his arm to her.
A few minutes later, he opened a door a crack and allowed her to peek inside. "This is my office, but I'm sure there's nothing you want to see in there."
"Au contraire," she protested as she pushed past him into the office. It actually was a beautiful room, with mahogany wood panelling and sleek, black leather chairs. "This room is gorgeous," she said in an impressed tone as she lightly ran her fingers along the front of his desk. "It suits someone as obviously powerful and successful as you are."
"*You* suit someone like me. I've wanted to get you alone since the moment I saw you."
Bruguere spun her around to face him and she felt the edge of the desk dig into the backs of her thighs. In an instant, his hands and lips were all over her, and she shrank away from him. He mistook her reluctance as an attempt to play hard-to-get and pulled her closer to him as he continued to assault her mouth with his own. She roughly pushed him away and his eyes registered momentary shock before she slammed her elbow into his temple and his body crumpled to the floor. She reached down into the pocket of his tuxedo and removed a handkerchief, using it to wipe her mouth and remove all traces of his lecherous kiss. She shook her head as she tried to remove all thoughts of it as well, and raced around the room trying to find the safe in which the disk was located. After that kiss, she wanted nothing but to hurry up, find the disk and get the hell out of Bruguere's home.
She ran her hand along the bottom of his desk until her fingers came into contact with a cool, metal button. She pressed it and two of the mahogany panels in the room slid open, revealing the safe. She removed her watch from her wrist and pressed it against the safe and a few seconds later, the locking mechanism released and the door opened. She quickly found the disk and shoved it in her purse, then bent down for a moment to make sure that Bruguere was still knocked out before she left the office.
"Dixon, I've got the disk and I'm on my way out."
"Alright, Syd, I'll meet you out front."
*****
"Sydney, are you sure you're okay?" Dixon's voice was full of concern as they stepped off of the elevator onto their floor. "You were so quiet on the drive back."
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I'm not feeling that well, so I'm going to go ahead and call it a night."
"Okay then. I'll see you in the morning. I guess we should probably leave for the airport around 8:30."
"Alright, see you then. Goodnight, Dixon," she said, forcing a smile.
She opened the door to her room and rested her forehead against it as soon as it was closed. The events at Bruguere's party had left her feeling dirty and depressed and she wanted to forget everything about the evening. She realized, however, that she still had one last thing to do before she called it a night, and she retrieved her laptop so she could upload the disk's information onto one of the CIA's servers. She fired off a quick e-mail to Agent Miles, letting her know that the mission had been successful, and once the upload was completed, she shut the computer down and put the disk away to give to Sloane when she got back.
She kicked off her heels and laid down on the bed, not even bothering to change out of her dress. She was in a total funk, but she couldn't figure out why. Tonight wasn't the first time she had ever had to flirt her way through a mission and it certainly wasn't the first time that a man had made unwelcome advances at her, so why was she so bothered by her encounter with Bruguere?
She brought her hands up to cover her face, and that was when it hit her. She looked at her bare ring finger and wanted to cry. Suddenly her mood made all the sense in the world when she realized that tonight was the first time she had kissed another man since the night she first told Vaughn that she loved him. Even though she had only been doing her job, it felt so wrong to kiss another man.
She sighed deeply and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was shortly after midnight in Paris, and therefore, a little after six on the East coast. She got up from the bed and dug around in her suitcase until she found her secure cell phone. She pressed the first speed dial button and flopped back down onto the bed. She felt knots in her stomach as the phone rang, but they completely disappeared the minute that Vaughn answered his phone.
"FiancŽs 'R Us. How can I help you?"
A huge smile spread across her face and she silently thanked the person who invented Caller ID. "You just did. You have no idea how much I needed a laugh just now."
"Well, I'm glad that I made you laugh, but what's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that you're not here and I wish you were," she sighed.
"Are you at home?"
"No, I'm in a lonely hotel room in Paris."
"So Sloane sent you on a mission? That's good, right? Weren't you concerned a couple of weeks ago that he seemed suspicious of you?"
"Yeah, I was."
When she returned to work on the Monday following Vaughn's visit, Sloane surprised her when he expressed concern about her "illness" the previous Friday. She explained to him that she'd had too much to drink on her birthday and simply needed the next day to recover. He had almost seemed relieved by her explanation, but the encounter nevertheless had left her feeling unsettled. It simply wasn't like Sloane to express so much concern over the mere fact that she had taken a sick day.
"So did the mission go okay?" The concern in Vaughn's voice was evident and it amazed her how easily he slipped back into "handler" mode.
"Yeah, yeah, it went fine. Dixon and I went to a party at this rich lawyer's house and I had to retrieve a disk from a safe in his office. It wasn't a big deal," she hurriedly finished.
"Good, I'm glad it went well. You sounded so morose a few minutes ago that I was starting to won --"
"He kissed me," Sydney suddenly blurted out, taking them both by surprise.
"He what?"
"He kissed me -- the lawyer guy did -- when we were in his office, and it disgusted me. It's not like it's the first time that's ever happened, but it's the first time . . . it's the first time that it's happened since we got engaged," she said softly.
"I hope so," Vaughn laughed. "I kind of hope it's the last time, too."
"Yeah, so do I," she said absently before his words sank in. "Wait a minute, shouldn't you be more upset about this?"
"Well, I'm certainly not thrilled about it, but it's not as if you were cheating on me or anything. Besides, at least I didn't have to *watch* you with him, unlike that unfortunate incident on that flight a few months ago."
"God Vaughn, don't remind me of that," she half-laughed, half-groaned. "Ugh, just when I had finally purged all the memories of the flight from hell, you just *had* to bring it back up, didn't you?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. But wait, back up for a minute -- did you really purge *all* the memories of that flight from your mind?"
She grinned as she remembered their interlude in the airplane lavatory and the way that Vaughn had completely redefined the meaning of "flying the friendly skies."
"Okay, maybe not all of the memories. Damn. Now that I'm remembering that, I really wish that you were here to help me forget the last hour of my life. Seriously? I think I actually liked it better when the bad guys just used to lick my face."
Vaughn laughed sympathetically. "Poor Syd. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that. What can I do to make it better?"
"You already are," she smiled. Just the sound of his voice was already helping her forget Bruguere. "So what were you doing when I called? I didn't interrupt you, did I?"
"No. I just got back from my mom's."
"Really?" Sydney asked, her voice brightening. "How's she doing?"
"She's great. She's getting ready to leave for France in a few days. I'm not sure if I ever told you about my cousin Nathalie, but she and her husband had a baby a few months ago, and my mom's going for the christening."
"All the way to France? Wow."
"Well, she's going to mix in some business too, while she's over there, but she adores Nathalie, so she really wanted to be there."
"Aw, your mom's so sweet. Is this Nathalie's first baby?"
"Yeah. His name is Christian and I haven't seen him in person yet, but my mom says he's adorable. Actually, I should try to visit them soon, and maybe I will. I *did* promise a certain someone a trip to the vineyard."
"Yeah, you did, and I'm holding you to that promise. Maybe -- never mind," she laughed.
"Maybe what? And don't say 'nothing.'"
"Fine, twist my arm. It's really nothing, just that during the cab ride from the airport to our hotel, I realized that I've been to Paris at least 10 times, but I've never been here as a tourist. Every time, I've been on some kind of mission and never had the chance to just enjoy the city. Even when I was here with you, it was just for a night, and we didn't exactly spend that time sightseeing," she laughed.
"So, I started thinking about how well you know the city since you used to work here and how much you love it, and I thought that . . . well, I thought that maybe it would be the perfect place to come for our honeymoon. And when you mentioned the vineyard, it occurred to me that if we're going to be in France anyway, maybe we could go there at the same time."
"Did you just plan our honeymoon, Syd?" Vaughn laughed. "Seriously, I love that idea. We could spend a week in Paris and a few days at the Vineyard, and then maybe we could go to Italy for a few days, too."
"Italy, too?" she asked with surprise. She could tell by the excited tone in his voice that Vaughn was getting carried away, but she loved it. "How long do you intend for this honeymoon last, Vaughn?"
"As long as possible," he laughed. "Look, one of two things is going to happen after SD-6 goes down. Either you're going to quit the spy biz and have a lot more free time on your hands, or you're going to stay with the CIA. Devlin really wants you to stay, and I'm sure that he'll do anything to make that happen, so if you request the moon, or three weeks off after your wedding, he's probably going to give it to you."
"Yeah, but what about you?"
"The week I spent in in Lake Tahoe was the first real vacation I'd taken in three years, and Devlin practically had to force me to leave. So I have a lot of vacation time stored up, and I can't imagine a better way to spend it than on a long honeymoon with you. Just think, after a couple of weeks in Europe, we could take the last week to go back to L.A. and get settled in our house."
Sydney's breath caught in her throat for a minute, and when she spoke again, it was in a soft, but excited voice.
"Vaughn, did you just hear yourself just now? You said *our house.* That's the first time that it hit me that we're going to live together, in an actual home that belongs to Michael and Sydney. Is that the most amazing thought, or what? I can't even tell you how much I love the idea of that."
"Yeah, so do I. I hadn't really given it much thought before now, but you're right. Hey, maybe when you get back to L.A., you could start looking for houses that you like."
"Seriously? But don't you want to be there for that?"
"Of course, I do, but even once I get back, it's not like we can go looking for houses together. So you go ahead and start looking and let me know what you like. I'm sure that I'll love anything that you pick out."
"Okay, I'll start looking, but I'm just warning you now that I'm ridiculously excited about this. I might get a little carried away," she grinned.
"That's okay. Knock yourself out," he laughed. "Hey, Syd?"
"Yeah?"
"I love hearing you so happy," he said sincerely.
"You know that you're the only person who could make me feel this way, right? I'll be even happier when I see you again."
"We both will, trust me. So now that we've discussed our honeymoon and you're going to start looking for somewhere for us to live, can we discuss something *really** important?"
"Sure. What it is it?"
"What did you wear to the party?" he asked in a low voice.
She shook her head and laughed. Even across an ocean, he could drive her crazy. If they kept this up, they were going to kill each other one day, but she knew that she was going to love every minute of it.
TBC . . .
"So, remind me again why we're down here," Vaughn muttered as he moved dusty boxes around his mother's basement.
"Michael," Elise sighed, "I told you that I'm trying to find the* box with your old baby clothes."
"Which begs the question, why did you keep my old baby clothes?"
Elise shrugged. "I don't know. Sentimental reasons mostly."
Vaughn looked up from the boxes just in time to catch the wistful expression on his mother's face before it was replaced with a tiny frown. He hesitated for a moment before asking his mother the question that had just popped into his mind.
"Did you and Dad ever want to have more children?"
Elise smiled and her eyes took on a far-away look. "We talked about it a lot for a couple of years after you were born, but that was just around the time that both your father and I were finally starting to reach our professional goals. I was taking on a lot more responsibility at the firm and your father was advancing so quickly at the agency that we were both satisfied with the way things were already. We had our jobs and each other and the most adorable little boy, and we were happy with that. We agreed that maybe we would have more kids after I made partner and he left the field, but obviously we never got the chance."
Vaughn studied his mother for a moment, in awe of the quiet composure she always had whenever she talked about his father. He couldn't imagine how he would ever keep it together if Sydney died, and that made him admire her remarkable strength even more.
"You know, if I had it to do all over again," she said thoughtfully, "I wouldn't have been so focused on my career. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my professional life, but sometimes I think that it would have been nice to have had more children, more reminders of your father.
"Then again, I can't imagine that anyone could remind me of him as much as you do and, in a way, I always liked that it was just the two of us after he was gone. I'm not sure that our relationship would be as close as it is if you had a brother or a sister. What made you ask if we wanted more children?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know. I guess I was just wondering if the reason that you kept my baby clothes was because you thought that you might need them again one day."
"Hmm. That may have been in the back of my mind thirty years ago, but consciously, I just kept them to remind me of your childhood. But what are all of these question about, Michael? Did you used to wish that you had siblings?"
"Sometimes," Vaughn shrugged. "But every time we went to France or Pennsylvania, there were always so many cousins running around that it felt like having siblings. It was nice for a few weeks at a time, but it actually made me appreciate being an only child," he laughed.
"Oh, you just enjoyed being an only child because I spoiled you," Elise grinned. She freely admitted that since the day he was born, she had showered her only child with affection and given him everything he wanted. Thankfully, instead of turning out to be a spoiled brat, he had grown to be a caring, responsible gentleman. She couldn't have asked for a better or more devoted son, and she couldn't wait to see what kind of father he would be to his own children one day.
"You should have known better than to open the door to a discussion about children, Michael," she laughed. "But not that you have, how many children do you think you want to have?"
Vaughn shook his head and smiled. "You'd die if I said none, wouldn't you?" Elise gave him a dirty look and he held his hands up in mock surrender. "Actually, I'd like two or three, but it's not really up to me since I won't be the one giving birth, is it?"
"Never let it be said that I didn't raise an intelligent son," Elise smiled. "Speaking of my future grandchildren," she began casually, "how is Sydney?"
"What does one topic have to do with the other?" Vaughn asked, feigning ignorance.
"Michael, please. You went all the way to L.A. for less than two days just to surprise her for her birthday. It's not such a crazy leap to think that you might decide to ask her to marry you one day."
"Maybe," he said with a noncommittal shrug as he turned his head away from her and tried to suppress the smile growing across his face.
"Well, it was terribly sweet of you to surprise her that way and I'm sure that she appreciated it. I can't even imagine how much the two of you must miss each other."
"*I** couldn't have imagined how much I would miss her. When I decided to take the assignment here, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to be away from her. I mistakenly thought that the months would just fly by, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Being away from her is wrong," he frowned as he picked up another box and moved it out of the way.
"Well, I can't believe that I'm saying this, because I've loved every minute that you've been here, but I'll actually be very happy for both you and Sydney when you go back home."
"Really?"
"Yes, because it's obvious how desperately you want to be with her. All I want is for you to be happy and the two of you looked disgustingly happy when she was here," Elise laughed. "Besides, if your relationship is going to progress, the two of you need to be together, and I certainly hope that your relationship progresses, because I really like Sydney. In fact, my advice to you is don't let her get away."
"Trust me, I have no intention of doing that, Mom," he smiled. He knew that this would be the perfect time to tell her about their engagement, but he was determined to keep his word to Sydney; he really did want her to be with him when he finally told his mother.
"You don't know how happy I am to hear that," she said with a sigh of relief. I know that you probably think that the only reason I'm interested in your relationship with Sydney is because I want grandchildren, but honestly, it's not. Even if you and Sydney never have children, I think she's perfect for you and I've never seen anyone make you so happy. She's definitely the one," Elise smiled confidently.
"Yeah, she is," Vaughn said softly. It meant a lot to him that his mother seemed to love Sydney almost as much as he did and he couldn't believe his incredible luck in having two completely amazing women in his life. He moved yet another box and called her over. "Is this the one you're looking for?"
"Yes, that's it," Elise smiled.
Vaughn picked up a damp towel and wiped a thin layer of dust from the box, coughing exaggeratedly as he did so. "I hate it down here," he grumbled.
"You didn't always use to feel that way," Elise smirked.
"What does *that* mean?" Vaughn asked in bewilderment.
Elise fixed him with a knowing stare. "Michael, I'm not stupid. I know what you used to do down here when you were in high school."
Vaughn cleared his throat in embarrassment. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said weakly as he turned away from her and began to stack the boxes back in the corner again.
"Relax, sweetheart, I'm just teasing you. You were in high school -- of course you made out with girls down here. I probably would have worried about you if you didn't."
"Well that was a really long time ago," he said as he sat on the couch next to the box that she was opening eagerly. "Trust me, my basement days are long over."
"I'm glad to hear that, darling. Sydney is much too good for the basement anyway." She began to coo excitedly as she removed Vaughn's baby clothes from the box.
"Oh my gosh, this is the outfit that I brought you home from the hospital in and, oh, look at this!" She held up a tiny Philadelphia Flyers hockey jersey and smiled. "The week after I told your father that I was pregnant, he had to fly back to the States for a meeting at Langley, and when he came back, he brought this with him. He was so happy and excited when he gave it to me and I just knew that whether we had a boy or a girl, he or she was going to end up playing hockey."
Vaughn took the jersey from her hands and laughed. "Do you mind if I keep this?"
"Really? I thought you were a Kings fan, despite your father's best efforts."
"I am a Kings fan, but you know that my first love was the Flyers. That was all his doing."
Elise placed her hand on Vaughn's forearm and smiled. "I think your father would love it if you kept that. I'm pretty sure there are also some little Eagles and Phillies t-shirts somewhere around here, if you want those too. You know, I think the only reservation your father had about me in the beginning of our relationship were because I knew nothing about sports, especially American sports. He always tried to explain them to me, but it still took me years to understand. Of course, when we first met, he couldn't tell a Matisse from a Monet, but he indulged my love of art the same way that I watched all of his games with him. There's a lot to be said for compromise in a relationship. Never lose sight of that," she laughed as she pulled a tiny, white linen gown from the box. "Finally, here's what I was looking for."
"What's that?"
"Your christening gown. Your grandfather bought it for you," she said softly. "That was really the first gesture he made to repair the damage he caused to our relationship after I married your father. I cried for hours after he gave it to me," she sighed as she stroked the material.
"Anyway, Nathalie saw it in some old pictures and thought that it would be sweet if Christian wore it at his baptism, and I agreed. Maybe it will be the start of a new Delorme family tradition," she said hopefully, "so I'll have to be sure to ask for it back so your kids can wear it one day."
"Yeah, be sure to do that." Vaughn smiled at his mother but resisted the urge to tease her again about her preoccupation with grandchildren. She had been such a wonderful mother that he knew she would be an even better grandmother one day. He knew that she would probably instill his and Sydney's children with her love of art and culture, as well as an appreciation for their French heritage. He silently laughed, wondering if her influence would be enough to counteract Jack's influence. He could already imagine Jack sitting his grandchildren on his knees as he instructed them in the finer points of game theory. Oddly enough, though, he thought that Jack would be a terrific grandfather, overcompensating for his former absence in Sydney's life by being super-involved in his grandchildren's lives. At any rate, he couldn't wait to see Grandma Elise and Grandpa Jack in action one day, but he decided to wait until later to think about what kind of influence Irina might have on his children's lives, assuming that they got to know her at all.
*****
Half a world away, Sydney glanced around a crowded ballroom and hoped that she looked as bored as she felt. She and Dixon were attending a formal party being hosted by Marc Bruguere, a wealthy Parisian attorney whose client list included some of the most notorious arms dealers in Western Europe. For reasons that he hadn't explained satisfactorily, Sloane wanted to get his hands on Bruguere's client records, which were stored on a disk that he kept in his home office. Sydney and Dixon had therefore been dispatched to attend the party and retrieve the disk.
Truth be told, Sydney usually enjoyed the missions when she got to wear a fabulous dress and pretend to be someone else, but tonight wasn't one of those times. Tonight, she felt nervous and jumpy for reasons that she couldn't fully articulate. She sensed, however, that it had less to do with the mission and more to do with Sloane himself. He had been acting strangely ever since her birthday and his behavior was starting to fill her with a sense of dread. She was so close to the finish line with SD-6 that she could almost taste her freedom, but Sloane still remained a formidable obstacle, one that she was increasingly determined to remove at any cost.
"Syd, heads up. Bruguere's on his way down the staircase," Dixon's voice crackled over her comm link.
She looked up and saw Bruguere making a dramatic entrance into the ballroom, slowly walking down the room's grand marble staircase. He looked confident, cocky and smug, and had the perfect accessory on his arm, a rather vapid looking blonde. Sydney fought a smile as she realized that his date's bored expression almost matched her own. She continued to watch as the couple completed their descent into the room and Bruguere graciously greeted guest after guest. The man oozed charm and, insincere as it might be, she realized that it must have served him well in building his legal practice. She shuddered to think about how many criminals she was rubbing shoulders with at the moment.
"Dixon, he's coming this way," she said in a barely audible whisper.
"Copy that, Syd. I'm going upstairs to disable the security system and video cameras."
As Bruguere and his date approached the section of the room where she was standing, Sydney leaned against a tall column and took a sip of champagne, making sure to look as pouty and bored as possible. She knew that once Bruguere saw her, a beautiful woman standing alone, appearing not to enjoy the party, he would probably attempt to strike up a conversation with her. Sure enough, the minute his date turned her back, he approached her.
"Excuse me, miss, you don't look like you're having a very good time," he said in perfect, unaccented English.
She turned her head, gave him a once over, and resumed her bored expression and stiff posture. "How did you know that I was American?"
"Because everything about you screams 'California Girl,'" he laughed smoothly.
Sydney laughed in spite of herself. "So you wouldn't believe me if I said I was from Nebraska?"
"No I wouldn't," he smiled as he extended his hand. "I'm Marc Bruguere, by the way."
"Stephanie Collins," she replied as he kissed her hand.
"So, Stephanie Collins, is my party not exciting enough for you? Should I be insulted that you're not having a good time?"
"Your party is fine. It's just that my date has stood me up, apparently." She stood up straighter, brushed a hand across the skirt of her black dress and turned her lips into a sultry pout. "I'm not used to being stood up."
"I can certainly see why," Bruguere said with a slightly lecherous smile that made Sydney's skin crawl. If she had a dime for every time a man had looked at her that way in the past nine years, she probably could have bought her way out of SD-6.
"Well, I feel like I got dressed up and came here for nothing."
"No, not for nothing," Bruguere smiled as he lightly ran a finger along her bare arm. "In fact, I'd like to thank your date for not showing up."
Sydney shot him a seductive smile. "I doubt that *your* date would feel the same way."
He turned to look at the tall blonde for a moment, and satisfied that she wasn't paying him any attention, he stepped closer to Sydney. "I think you misunderstand. Veronique and I are just friends. I needed a date for my party," he shrugged lightly. "Had I known that a woman as stunning as you would be here alone, I wouldn't have bothered."
Sydney was about to respond when she heard Dixon's voice in her ear again, telling her that it was safe to head up to Bruguere's office. She turned to him with a dazzling smile, deciding that it was time to get this mission over with.
"Marc, would you mind terribly if I used one of your phones? I just want to call my date to make sure that he's not laying dead on the side of a road somewhere."
"Why should you care?" he asked with a small frown.
"I don't, really. I just want to make sure that he's not hurt so I won't feel guilty about spending the rest of my evening with another man." She smiled at him meaningfully, hoping that he got the hint. When he smiled back appreciatively, she almost wanted to laugh at how easy it was to manipulate him.
"Well, by all means then, you should definitely call him. Come with me." He took her hand and led her through the crowded ballroom, to a more discrete staircase than the one in the center of the room. Once upstairs, she followed him down a long hallway until they reached a small table with a phone resting on top. She hid a frown as she realized that he wasn't going to take her to his office, but she nevertheless picked up the phone and quickly dialed the number to her hotel. She let it ring a few times before hanging up with a frustrated sigh.
"Well, the bad news is that he wasn't there. The good news," she said, stepping closer to Bruguere, "is that now I'm completely free to enjoy myself."
"I can help you enjoy yourself all night long," he replied in a low voice that made Sydney cringe. He was trying much too hard to be sexy, not realizing that his efforts were wasted on her.
"You have such a lovely home, Marc. I meant to tell you that earlier. I know that you need to return to your guests, but would it be terribly rude of me to ask for a quick tour?"
"Of course not," he smiled as he offered his arm to her.
A few minutes later, he opened a door a crack and allowed her to peek inside. "This is my office, but I'm sure there's nothing you want to see in there."
"Au contraire," she protested as she pushed past him into the office. It actually was a beautiful room, with mahogany wood panelling and sleek, black leather chairs. "This room is gorgeous," she said in an impressed tone as she lightly ran her fingers along the front of his desk. "It suits someone as obviously powerful and successful as you are."
"*You* suit someone like me. I've wanted to get you alone since the moment I saw you."
Bruguere spun her around to face him and she felt the edge of the desk dig into the backs of her thighs. In an instant, his hands and lips were all over her, and she shrank away from him. He mistook her reluctance as an attempt to play hard-to-get and pulled her closer to him as he continued to assault her mouth with his own. She roughly pushed him away and his eyes registered momentary shock before she slammed her elbow into his temple and his body crumpled to the floor. She reached down into the pocket of his tuxedo and removed a handkerchief, using it to wipe her mouth and remove all traces of his lecherous kiss. She shook her head as she tried to remove all thoughts of it as well, and raced around the room trying to find the safe in which the disk was located. After that kiss, she wanted nothing but to hurry up, find the disk and get the hell out of Bruguere's home.
She ran her hand along the bottom of his desk until her fingers came into contact with a cool, metal button. She pressed it and two of the mahogany panels in the room slid open, revealing the safe. She removed her watch from her wrist and pressed it against the safe and a few seconds later, the locking mechanism released and the door opened. She quickly found the disk and shoved it in her purse, then bent down for a moment to make sure that Bruguere was still knocked out before she left the office.
"Dixon, I've got the disk and I'm on my way out."
"Alright, Syd, I'll meet you out front."
*****
"Sydney, are you sure you're okay?" Dixon's voice was full of concern as they stepped off of the elevator onto their floor. "You were so quiet on the drive back."
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I'm not feeling that well, so I'm going to go ahead and call it a night."
"Okay then. I'll see you in the morning. I guess we should probably leave for the airport around 8:30."
"Alright, see you then. Goodnight, Dixon," she said, forcing a smile.
She opened the door to her room and rested her forehead against it as soon as it was closed. The events at Bruguere's party had left her feeling dirty and depressed and she wanted to forget everything about the evening. She realized, however, that she still had one last thing to do before she called it a night, and she retrieved her laptop so she could upload the disk's information onto one of the CIA's servers. She fired off a quick e-mail to Agent Miles, letting her know that the mission had been successful, and once the upload was completed, she shut the computer down and put the disk away to give to Sloane when she got back.
She kicked off her heels and laid down on the bed, not even bothering to change out of her dress. She was in a total funk, but she couldn't figure out why. Tonight wasn't the first time she had ever had to flirt her way through a mission and it certainly wasn't the first time that a man had made unwelcome advances at her, so why was she so bothered by her encounter with Bruguere?
She brought her hands up to cover her face, and that was when it hit her. She looked at her bare ring finger and wanted to cry. Suddenly her mood made all the sense in the world when she realized that tonight was the first time she had kissed another man since the night she first told Vaughn that she loved him. Even though she had only been doing her job, it felt so wrong to kiss another man.
She sighed deeply and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was shortly after midnight in Paris, and therefore, a little after six on the East coast. She got up from the bed and dug around in her suitcase until she found her secure cell phone. She pressed the first speed dial button and flopped back down onto the bed. She felt knots in her stomach as the phone rang, but they completely disappeared the minute that Vaughn answered his phone.
"FiancŽs 'R Us. How can I help you?"
A huge smile spread across her face and she silently thanked the person who invented Caller ID. "You just did. You have no idea how much I needed a laugh just now."
"Well, I'm glad that I made you laugh, but what's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that you're not here and I wish you were," she sighed.
"Are you at home?"
"No, I'm in a lonely hotel room in Paris."
"So Sloane sent you on a mission? That's good, right? Weren't you concerned a couple of weeks ago that he seemed suspicious of you?"
"Yeah, I was."
When she returned to work on the Monday following Vaughn's visit, Sloane surprised her when he expressed concern about her "illness" the previous Friday. She explained to him that she'd had too much to drink on her birthday and simply needed the next day to recover. He had almost seemed relieved by her explanation, but the encounter nevertheless had left her feeling unsettled. It simply wasn't like Sloane to express so much concern over the mere fact that she had taken a sick day.
"So did the mission go okay?" The concern in Vaughn's voice was evident and it amazed her how easily he slipped back into "handler" mode.
"Yeah, yeah, it went fine. Dixon and I went to a party at this rich lawyer's house and I had to retrieve a disk from a safe in his office. It wasn't a big deal," she hurriedly finished.
"Good, I'm glad it went well. You sounded so morose a few minutes ago that I was starting to won --"
"He kissed me," Sydney suddenly blurted out, taking them both by surprise.
"He what?"
"He kissed me -- the lawyer guy did -- when we were in his office, and it disgusted me. It's not like it's the first time that's ever happened, but it's the first time . . . it's the first time that it's happened since we got engaged," she said softly.
"I hope so," Vaughn laughed. "I kind of hope it's the last time, too."
"Yeah, so do I," she said absently before his words sank in. "Wait a minute, shouldn't you be more upset about this?"
"Well, I'm certainly not thrilled about it, but it's not as if you were cheating on me or anything. Besides, at least I didn't have to *watch* you with him, unlike that unfortunate incident on that flight a few months ago."
"God Vaughn, don't remind me of that," she half-laughed, half-groaned. "Ugh, just when I had finally purged all the memories of the flight from hell, you just *had* to bring it back up, didn't you?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. But wait, back up for a minute -- did you really purge *all* the memories of that flight from your mind?"
She grinned as she remembered their interlude in the airplane lavatory and the way that Vaughn had completely redefined the meaning of "flying the friendly skies."
"Okay, maybe not all of the memories. Damn. Now that I'm remembering that, I really wish that you were here to help me forget the last hour of my life. Seriously? I think I actually liked it better when the bad guys just used to lick my face."
Vaughn laughed sympathetically. "Poor Syd. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that. What can I do to make it better?"
"You already are," she smiled. Just the sound of his voice was already helping her forget Bruguere. "So what were you doing when I called? I didn't interrupt you, did I?"
"No. I just got back from my mom's."
"Really?" Sydney asked, her voice brightening. "How's she doing?"
"She's great. She's getting ready to leave for France in a few days. I'm not sure if I ever told you about my cousin Nathalie, but she and her husband had a baby a few months ago, and my mom's going for the christening."
"All the way to France? Wow."
"Well, she's going to mix in some business too, while she's over there, but she adores Nathalie, so she really wanted to be there."
"Aw, your mom's so sweet. Is this Nathalie's first baby?"
"Yeah. His name is Christian and I haven't seen him in person yet, but my mom says he's adorable. Actually, I should try to visit them soon, and maybe I will. I *did* promise a certain someone a trip to the vineyard."
"Yeah, you did, and I'm holding you to that promise. Maybe -- never mind," she laughed.
"Maybe what? And don't say 'nothing.'"
"Fine, twist my arm. It's really nothing, just that during the cab ride from the airport to our hotel, I realized that I've been to Paris at least 10 times, but I've never been here as a tourist. Every time, I've been on some kind of mission and never had the chance to just enjoy the city. Even when I was here with you, it was just for a night, and we didn't exactly spend that time sightseeing," she laughed.
"So, I started thinking about how well you know the city since you used to work here and how much you love it, and I thought that . . . well, I thought that maybe it would be the perfect place to come for our honeymoon. And when you mentioned the vineyard, it occurred to me that if we're going to be in France anyway, maybe we could go there at the same time."
"Did you just plan our honeymoon, Syd?" Vaughn laughed. "Seriously, I love that idea. We could spend a week in Paris and a few days at the Vineyard, and then maybe we could go to Italy for a few days, too."
"Italy, too?" she asked with surprise. She could tell by the excited tone in his voice that Vaughn was getting carried away, but she loved it. "How long do you intend for this honeymoon last, Vaughn?"
"As long as possible," he laughed. "Look, one of two things is going to happen after SD-6 goes down. Either you're going to quit the spy biz and have a lot more free time on your hands, or you're going to stay with the CIA. Devlin really wants you to stay, and I'm sure that he'll do anything to make that happen, so if you request the moon, or three weeks off after your wedding, he's probably going to give it to you."
"Yeah, but what about you?"
"The week I spent in in Lake Tahoe was the first real vacation I'd taken in three years, and Devlin practically had to force me to leave. So I have a lot of vacation time stored up, and I can't imagine a better way to spend it than on a long honeymoon with you. Just think, after a couple of weeks in Europe, we could take the last week to go back to L.A. and get settled in our house."
Sydney's breath caught in her throat for a minute, and when she spoke again, it was in a soft, but excited voice.
"Vaughn, did you just hear yourself just now? You said *our house.* That's the first time that it hit me that we're going to live together, in an actual home that belongs to Michael and Sydney. Is that the most amazing thought, or what? I can't even tell you how much I love the idea of that."
"Yeah, so do I. I hadn't really given it much thought before now, but you're right. Hey, maybe when you get back to L.A., you could start looking for houses that you like."
"Seriously? But don't you want to be there for that?"
"Of course, I do, but even once I get back, it's not like we can go looking for houses together. So you go ahead and start looking and let me know what you like. I'm sure that I'll love anything that you pick out."
"Okay, I'll start looking, but I'm just warning you now that I'm ridiculously excited about this. I might get a little carried away," she grinned.
"That's okay. Knock yourself out," he laughed. "Hey, Syd?"
"Yeah?"
"I love hearing you so happy," he said sincerely.
"You know that you're the only person who could make me feel this way, right? I'll be even happier when I see you again."
"We both will, trust me. So now that we've discussed our honeymoon and you're going to start looking for somewhere for us to live, can we discuss something *really** important?"
"Sure. What it is it?"
"What did you wear to the party?" he asked in a low voice.
She shook her head and laughed. Even across an ocean, he could drive her crazy. If they kept this up, they were going to kill each other one day, but she knew that she was going to love every minute of it.
TBC . . .