Galena
Chapter 7
2 weeks later.
Jesse woke up slowly as Galena shifted in his arms. He pulled her close to him and kissed her as he buried his face in her long, dark hair. He intertwined his fingers with hers as he closed his eyes again.
Galena's eye fluttered open as she shifted again. She carefully began to disentangle herself from Jesse's arms.
"Where are you going?" Jesse asked, still half asleep.
"I'm supposed to fix breakfast, and there is no way for me to cook breakfast if I'm in bed." she turned over to face him and gently kissed him. "Do you want to come help me?"
"I'd rather keep you here."
"You only wish you could." Galena giggled slightly and curled closer into Jesse's arms. 'Breakfast is never going to get cooked this way."
"They can scrounge around for themselves." Jesse held her close as they laid quietly together for a moment.
"Are you happy like this?" Galena asked softly.
"What do you mean?"
"Us, together. Are you happy that we're dating and sharing this room?"
"I've always been happy with us. I don't think I could even begin to imagine a life without you. Is something bothering you about us?"
"No." Galena shook her head slightly. "I just wanted to make sure that you were still happy."
Jesse gently brushed his fingertips along her jaw line. "We are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You know that I love you, right?"
"I know." Galena kissed him again. "What are we going to do? Brennan is getting more and more nervous about everything?"
"I'll talk to him." Jesse promised. "I'll see if I can't find him later today and talk to him about it."
"Then let me kiss you for good luck." she brushed her lips gently against his and then kissed him more firmly.
Jesse held her tighter as she pressed closer against him. When the kiss broke he softly trailed kisses along her jaw line and then down her neck.
Galena sighed slightly as her nails dug into his skin. Her heart rate began to speed up and her pulse raced. "Oh, Jess." she whispered softly as he kissed her again.
His fingers trailed along her heated skin and his own pulse increased to match hers. He reached up to gently caress her face and softly kissed her.
Galena shivered with excitement as she fell into his arms. Her eyes were bright and sparkled brilliantly.
"Jess!" Brennan's voice came over the com link. "Adam needs you!"
"Be right there." Jesse sighed. He softly kissed galena and slipped out of the bed. "We'll have sometime alone later."
"I know." she sulked slightly. "I just don't want you to leave right now. We've hardly had a chance to spend anytime alone lately."
"Adam said that after you take it easy for another week we can go out and have some fun." he sighed slightly. "I know this has been hard on you, and I'm going to do all I can to make it up to you."
"I know." Galena nodded , she could feel her eyes filling with tears. 'I can't stand this! I don't like spending all day in bed with nothing to do, and I don't like having to limit how long we make love or how incense we get! I just want to go out and have fun! Even helping you with the computers or a drive would be nice!"
"Alright." Jesse agreed. "Get dressed and you can come to the lab with me."
"Really!" Galena asked as she got up and half ran to her closet. "I love you!"
"Just a couple of rules. You are going to stay quiet or I'm bringing you back in here, and if Adam says you have to go back to bed you are going to listen to him."
"That's fine!" she pulled on a soft cotton dress and quickly combed through her hair. "I'm ready!"
"Just half a second." Jesse pulled out a faded pair of jeans and an old white t-shirt that was stained with printer ink and quickly dressed.
"For as sloppy as you look I think you look pretty hot." Galena giggled and softly kissed him.
"Come on." he took her hand and led her to the lab. "she begged to be free."
Adam smiled slightly and shook his head. 'She's your responsibility. Keep her quite."
"I promised him I'd be good." Galena said as she sat down in a chair. "I just couldn't stand staying in bed all day long. The only thing I've gotten to do over the last two weeks is cook and eat."
"Jesse, you are excused from work for the day." Adam decided. "I want you to take Galena out for a while. Nothing too extreme, but a chance for her to get out of here."
"I can really get out of here!" Galena sprang out of her chair and ran over to hug Adam. "Thank you!"
"I want you to remember to stay calm. You are still not up to a lot of activity. I think that if you have a chance to completely recover you will bounce backs stronger."
"Are you sure that she's up to it?" Jesse asked as he reached for Galena's hand.
"She will be fine. I only ask that she takes it easy today and gets plenty of rest tonight."
"You're letting them go out today?" Brennan asked as he came in.
"Galena has done well, and I think that she is rested enough for a quiet day trip." Adam answered as he returned to his work. "Now if you would please give me the reports and go back to your work."
"Right." Brennan handed Adam the reports and then turned to leave. "Jess, I need to have a word with you."
"Of course." Jesse followed Brennan out of the lab. "What can I do for you?"
"Leave Galena at home today. I don't want her out of here until Adam gives complete permission."
"It was Adam's idea for me to take her out of Sanctuary for the day."
"And whose idea was it for her to be out of bed already?"
"All I had said was she could sit with me while I worked today. The whole idea of taking her out today came from Adam." Jesse leaned back against a wall. "I am going to take care of her today. If she comes home in less than perfect condition you can blame it all on me."
"I'll hold you to that. I'm also going to hold you to your promise to marry her."
"I've actually meant to talk to you about that. I want to marry her and I'm ready to ask her."
"Is she pregnant?" Brennan asked quickly.
"No, of course she's not. I'm not stupid enough to get her pregnant before we get married."
"I didn't mean to ask that." Brennan shook his head. "Are you sure that you are ready for this?"
'I love her and we've talked about this."
"You know that I'm not comfortable with the idea of her dating you, and I'm definitely not comfortable with the idea of her marrying you"
"What do I have to do to prove that I'm not going to hurt her?"
"I don't' know." Brennan shook his head. "I'm just now starting to accept the fact that Juliet's death was not fully your fault. She's my cousin, Jess, and I don't want her to get hurt. She fell in love the day she met you."
"I'm not asking you to tell me things that I already know. Will you give me permission to marry her or not?"
"All right." Brennan sighed. "You can marry her, but I want you to know that if you ever hurt her I will make sure that you pay for it."
"Don't' worry I'll take care of her."
"You'd better. And do yourself a favor, give her some time before the wedding, I don't want her to rush into anything."
"She's got all of the time she wants. I've still got to figure out how I'm going to pay for the wedding."
Brennan laughed and shook his head. "Of course you still have to get the money. She's not going to care about having a big wedding or a life filled with luxuries. She's never had that stuff and she's not going to care if the wedding is just us or for five hundred people."
"She'll get what she deserves." Jesse leaned against the wall. "You do realize that we'll be officially related."
"Don't make me take my blessing on this back. I guess you should go on so you can take her out for the day."
"Right. Don't tell her I asked you. I want to surprise her when I take her out next week."
"Just go. I won't tell her anything."
Jesse nodded and left to find Galena. The second he stepped into the bed room he immediately found the girl in his arms, wrapping her arms tight around him. "Excited to go out?"
"Extremely." she whispered and then kissed him. "We can drive to the beach and sit in the car and watch the waves come in."
"I think it is a little too cool for the beach." he softly kissed her nose and then leaned his forehead against hers. "You want to go shopping?"
Galena smiled brightly and kissed him. "Can we really get away with that?"
"As long as you don't over do it. We'll go to the mall and look at a few of your favorite stores and maybe grab lunch. I want to make sure that you get enough rest while we're out, so if I tell you to sit down for a while you'll have to listen."
"I'll do whatever you tell me to." she promised and slipped away from him. "I'd better change into something warmer. This dress is fine for inside Sanctuary, but I'll freeze if I don't change clothes before we go out."
"I've got to change too. I don't want to go out in my old work clothes."
"Then hurry up." Galena answered as she pulled her clothes out of the closet. She slipped out of her cotton dress and pulled on a pair of ultra low rise jeans and a emerald green ballet neck sweater. She dug through the shoes in the bottom of the closet until she found a pair of soft, brown leather boots. "I'm ready to go!"
"Alright, just give me a second." Jesse answered. He had changed into a pair of good jeans and was looking for a shirt. "Don't you have to do your hair or put on your make up?"
"Fine, I'll do something so you don't feel like your holding me up!" she laughed and picked up a pony-tail holder. She gathered up her long curls and put them into a pony tail and then carefully brushed on some mascara. "Are you ready to go, or do I need to stall some more?" she asked as she smeared on some lip gloss.
"I guess." He pulled on a soft black long sleeved top and picked up their jackets. "You are going to keep warm too." He helped her put on her black suede jacket and then put her white flannel beret on her head.
"Don't you dare start acting like Adam and Brennan." she scolded him slightly, and then giggled as he kissed her. "I love you, Jess."
"Love you too, Baby." he took her hand in hers and intertwined his fingers with hers. "Now lets get out of here so we can have a little fun today."
2 hours later
Galena sat on a bench in the mall, snuggly leaning against Jesse with her head on his shoulder and his arm tight around her. At their feet were several shopping bags filled with the clothes and things that Galena had managed to talk Jesse into buying for her. She closed her eyes as she snuggled closer to him, seeking the warmth of his body.
"You tired, Baby?" Jesse asked as he gently rubbed her arm.
"A little." she could feel her self falling asleep. "Can we get something to eat and then go somewhere to talk?"
"Maybe we should just head back home. We could pick up lunch on the way and then we could spend the day cuddled up in bed talking."
"No way. I just got out of that place for a while, and I plan on spending as much time with you as I can and I do not want you to argue that we can spend all day together at home. I'm free for a while. Free of all of the insanity that I have been going through for the last few weeks, and free from my cousin driving me crazy. All that I want is to spend time with you without us having to deal with everyone else."
"It's all right, Gal. We'll stay out for a while longer, but we're going to take it a little slower than we have been. I'm not going to have you running yourself down so you can get through every store here."
"You know that if I slow up and take my time that you'll end up completely broke. I'll see so many more things that I want to buy, and I'll just have to beg you to buy them for me." she took his hand in hers and intertwined her fingers with his. "I love you, Jesse."
"I love you too, Baby. Do you have any where that you want to go with out me? I've got to take care of something real quick."
"Well, buying lingerie for you is not as much fun if you see it in the store before you see it on me." she twisted just enough that she could softly kiss him. "If you give me that credit card of yours I'll go to Victoria's Secret while you take care of whatever it is that you need to do."
"Alright." Jesse pulled out his wallet and then found his credit card. "Just don't go too crazy in the store."
"I'll try not to." she took the credit card and kissed him. "Do you need me to take the shopping bags or do you have them?"
"I'll get them. It is times like these that I wish we had a baby. I'd just throw everything into the stroller and carry the baby." he cupped her chin and softly kissed her. "But that is still a few years off."
"We could have a baby now. We could elope or have a tiny ceremony soon, and then we could get pregnant in the next couple of months."
"We'll just think about it for now. I want you to have a beautiful, perfect wedding; not some courthouse ceremony. Besides, we aren't even engaged yet." he quickly gathered up the shopping bags. "Meet me back here in about forty-five minutes."
"All right." Galena smiled softly and then left to go shopping.
Jesse watched as she left and then ducked into the jewelry store across the walk way. A few minutes later he walked out with a small jewelry box tucked into the shopping bag that held the new computer equipment that he had bought. He headed down a few stores and slipped into a bath and body store.
One hour and twenty minutes after they had split up.
Galena paced back and forth in front of the bench where she was supposed to meet Jesse. Her hazel eyes scanned the area, trying to spot him.
Jesse sighed as he walked up and saw the cross look on Galena's face. "Hey, sorry that I took so long to get back to you." he set the shopping bags down and pulled her to him for a soft kiss. "I got a little tied up in one of the stores. The sales girl was determined not to let me leave until I bought something, and I couldn't see anything that I would have bought and there was no one else to save me."
"I was worried about you." Galena whispered as she relaxed into his arms. "I love you, Jess."
"I love you too, Baby." he held her tight for a second and then stepped back to pick up her shopping bags. "Where do you want to go next?"
"Out to lunch. We've spent enough money for one day." She laughed slightly. "And then after lunch we can go to a movie and chill out."
"That should be fine. There's actually this new bistro nearby that you'd probably like. It's a combination of French and Italian foods."
"Sounds like a good plan."
"Then that is what we'll do." he put an arm around her waist and led her out to the parking lot.
Galena smiled brightly as they walked out to the car and got in. "I bet Brennan was really upset that Adam let you take me out today."
"Oh, your cousin definitely tried to keep me from taking you out today. He's just trying to protect you, Gal. You gave us all a scare."
"Does it bother you that I may be dieing? I won't hold you to your promise to marry me. I'll understand if you are too scared to get that deeply involved."
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and no matter how long we have together I want to be with you. I don't care if we have only the next few minutes of the next fifty years. All that matters is that I'm with you."
"I'm scared. Adam won't tell me anything about my condition except that things are looking good. He never says if I'm doing better or if I'm getting worse."
"Adam would tell you if you were getting worse. He's not going to lie to you about something as important as your health. He's going to do everything that he can do to keep you alive. I'll do whatever I have to do if it means that I get to keep you."
"You are never going to be able to understand." she turned and stared out the window. "I'm just starting to understand why I am the way I am and now I find out that because of who I am, I could die. I just started living, and now I have to worry that my life is going to be taken away from me." she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "You and I are supposed to spend our lives together, but I'm not going to be able to do that. I want to have kids, lots and lots of kids. How can I marry someone and probably start a family if I'm on a thin line already? I don't know if my body could even handle a pregnancy."
"We don't have to have kids of our own. We could just adopt instead." he reached over and took her hand. "We've already won against your cousin, and we are going to beat this too."
"Take me home. I just want to get in bed and sleep the day away."
"Alright." he softly squeezed her hand. "Look at me, Gal." he waited until she turned back to face him. "I love you more than anything, and we are going to beat this. I'm not going to let you die."
"You can't stop the progression of life. My mother wasn't all that much older than I am when she died."
"I'm not going to let you talk like that. We are all going to do whatever we can to save you. Adam has a number of friends who may be able to help you. You've got to believe that we care about you."
"A lot of people cared about my mother and it didn't do her a bit of good."
"Your mother didn't have the connections or resources that we have. Adam knows people who can help you out, and he's not going to rest until he manages to find away to cure you. All that he's done for you since you moved in has been because he cares about you. None of us are related by blood, but we are a family."
"I'm probably just a replacement for Juliet to him." her eyes turned back to the window. "I think the only thing I am to most of you is a replacement for her. The only one who really seems to understand that I'm not her is you. Even Brennan seems to think that I'm a replacement. He pushes me to become a good fighter and tries to get me to do your jobs."
"Brennan pushes you that way so you'll be able to protect yourself. We have a dangerous job, and we have to do all that we can to protect ourselves. That means that you need to be able to protect yourself even if you aren't planning on taking an active role in the team. What would happen if we were attacked while we were at the mall or out on a date?" he pulled into the parking lot of a small diner. "Lets go in and get something to eat. You've got to be in a better mood when I take you back home or that cousin of yours will kill me."
"Lets just go get married. There is no way Brennan is going to agree to letting me marry you so why don't we just go to Vegas and have a quick wedding. I really don't need a real wedding. I mean the who fancy wedding thing would be nice, but I don't really need it." she quickly wiped at her eyes, trying not to show that she was crying. "Besides, we can't afford it."
"We'll be able to afford it in a couple of years." Jesse got out of the car and walked around to get Galena's door. "I've been trying to do what I could to save some money, and in a couple more years we'll be able to afford a wonderful wedding. Besides, Adam will try to give you some money to help you pay for the wedding."
"You know that I'm not going to accept a single cent that he tries to give me." she answered stubbornly as she got out of the car. "We can't accept the money that any of them try to give us. The second either of us accepts that money we're accepting the fate that they have wanted to make for us." she followed Jesse into the diner and back to a small table. "If you take money from any of them for the wedding Brennan will be convinced that you can't support us and he'll put a stop to our plans."
Jesse smiled slightly as he looked at how the girl's eyes light up as her annoyance with her cousin built up slightly to anger. After a few seconds of listening to her rant he leaned over the table and lightly kissed her. "Just leave it alone, Baby. If you don't want to accept any money you don't have to. We can pay for a beautiful wedding on our own. Now, we've got the rest of the day to spend together , and I don't want you to spend the day worrying about your cousin and the wedding."
Galena took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. "Alright no more fussing about the wedding. Lets get something eat and then drive down to some low life hotel near the beach. We can get a room for the afternoon and just spend the rest of the day together."
"You've already spent a fair amount of time out today, and I promised Adam that I wouldn't let you get too worn out." he softly ran one finger down the side of her face. "As soon as Adam gives you the clearance to do what you want I'll take you out for a night like our first date. We can go to 'Bella Noche' and then I'll take you somewhere nice for the night. Maybe this time I won't spill the wine on your dress."
"I don't recall our first date ending in either of our beds." she raised an eyebrow. "Of course I won't object to a night somewhere nice as long as you let me get away with anything I want to."
"You are just going to be the death of me. Lets get something to eat and then we can decide what to do from there."
"So a hotel room might not be out of the question after all." Galena's eyes sparkled. "I've really missed the way we normally make love. The last couple of weeks have been almost impossible, and now that I've got you to myself again I really want to enjoy our little bit of time together."
"We'll see about it." Jesse finally looked over the menu that had been set in front of them by the waitress and then put in their order.
One week later.
Galena sat quietly in the chair, slightly swinging her legs, as she waited for Adam to finish going over the results of her scans.
"As far as I can tell you are doing well enough to go back to your normal life." Adam announced as turned away from the computer screen. "You have gone back to the level of strength that you were at before the accident, and your body seems to have sufficiently rested from the stress. I still do not want you to use your powers unless it is an emergency, but for the most part you are fine. However I do have one order for you."
"What is it?" Galena asked, slightly nervous about what he would say.
"Tell Jesse that I have made a reservation for two at Bella Noche, and that I expect him to take you there tonight. You two have been impossibly good about following my directions for the past few weeks and you have earned a treat."
"Thank you!" she said as she got up and hugged the man. "Jesse is going to be so excited to hear this!"
"I think that he needs a night off as much as you do. He's been extremely worried about you for the last few weeks."
"I know. Have you heard back from Dr. Rickers yet?"
"Not yet, but I'm expecting to hear from her anytime now."
"Maybe once we actually hear something from her Jesse will be able to calm down a bit."
"I hope that he does calm down a bit. I've had to pull him off the computers because he's been making too many mistakes." Adam sighed and smiled at the girl. "He really loves you. He loves you more than anything."
"I know." she smiled softly. "I guess I'd better go find the computer wonder."