CHAPTER 57 – GOING BALLISTIC

Elizabeth was already across the hallway and walking through the doorway to the baby's room when she stopped abruptly.

Her eyes widened but she didn't even notice the adorably cute animal motif which she and Jack had painted on the walls for their son, or the stuffed animals that lined the bookcase.

Every one of her senses was brutally forced onto heightened alert as Jack's actions and words came back pounding at her mind. Pelting her like a hailstorm until she made sense of it. Until she solved the clues that had been right in front of her when she hadn't even realized Jack was trying to tell her something important.

He was late coming home from work.

His lack of appetite at dinner. Because he was pre-occupied!

"I had this meeting with the Commander."

"We need to talk."

His suggestion that she could live with fewer clothes.

The need for a replacement in Coal Valley.

"Someone who's experienced. Been there before. Knows the routine."

"It was a good assignment. Loss of closeness for a young family."

She whipped her head around and went back to the doorway of their bedroom.

"No?" she questioned in disbelief as she stared at Jack.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly and gave her a guilty look.

"No," she said warningly.

"Elizabeth –"

No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO! NO! NOOOOO!"

Ten minutes later, Elizabeth was no longer hyperventilating, but Jack was still concerned.

She had paced the floor.

Thrown up her hands in exasperation.

Threatened to march over to the Commander's house to confront the man.

Interrogated Jack repeatedly for a verbatim account of exactly what had happened at work.

And asked him to quit his job and become a stay-at-home dad.

"It won't be so bad," Jack repeated for the third time in an effort to soothe her. "We liked Coal Valley. And it's not forever. Four months there. A sixteen-month stay. And then four months back."

"That's TWO YEARS!"

"Two years is not that long a time."

"Two years away from our families!"

"Families are over-rated. You just said the other day that Julie and your mom were driving you crazy. And half the time you can't stand Viola."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Jack before spitting out her next words.

"Two years away from stores and restaurants and concerts and plays!"

"Think of all the money we'll save. And we haven't been to a concert or play since we've lived here."

"Aaron Daniel will be almost three by the time we get back to Earth!" Elizabeth wailed.

"In twenty-four months, he'll be almost three regardless of whether it's here on Earth or in Coal Valley. Time doesn't change."

"You know what I mean," she growled. "He'll grow up and be walking and talking and never have even been on a pony or to the beach or even seen a real sunset!"

"Okay, let's be realistic. We were not going to have him on a pony before he's three. We don't live near a beach anyway. And I doubt he cares about sunsets. So, unless you were planning on some elaborate pony ride on a beach at sunset that you forgot to tell me about, I think we're okay. And he'll be three when we get back. Not thirty."

Elizabeth threw Jack a nasty glare and went back to pacing.

"You liked it there," he reminded her. "You cried when we said goodbye."

"Because I'm sentimental and thought I'd never be back. That doesn't mean I actually wanted to go back! Especially not this soon!"

"It will be two great years," Jack said encouragingly. "We can even show Aaron where he was conceived. Won't that be great? We never thought we'd do that."

"If we go back there, Aaron might just be an only child. You ever thought of that?"

Jack crinkled his eyebrows in confusion and then dismissively waived his hand. "Nah, it will be fine. There were no adverse effect on your health or his. We'll be able to -," he stopped in mid-sentence when he realized he had missed her point. "Oh, 'cuz you'll never have sex with me again. That's what you meant."

"Exactly," she said coldly.

Jack temporarily ignored the disturbing thought and tried another tactic. "Come on, think of how nice it will be living in a small colony again."

"WE OWN A HOUSE. WITH A MORTGAGE! HERE! ON EARTH!"

Jack cringed at her bellowing. "I've thought of that. Just listen. Julie has been wanting some independence from your folks but she's too unmotivated to actually become an adult. This will be perfect. She can move in here. Pay us rent. Grow up a little while keeping this place lived in."

If he had been hoping for Elizabeth to smile and thank him for coming up with such a wonderful solution, he had been delusional.

She fixed her steely eyes on him.

"I am going to go sit in the living room on the soft couch that we bought for our home. I am going to wrap myself in my thick heavy faux fur blanket and forget everything you have said. I am going to pretend that you did not just tell me that we are going back to a sterile colony thousands and thousands of miles away from our families. And you are not going to bother me. I repeat. You are not going to bother me."

A chastised Jack watched as she stormed out of the room.

Two minutes later, Jack ignored Elizabeth's order to not bother her, walked into the living room, lifted up a portion of the blanket, and sunk down in the seat cushion next to Elizabeth.

She remained motionless and tried to pretend that the man she loved wasn't looking at her with pleading eyes.

She actually tried to pretend he wasn't even there and that she had simply imagined the whole evening but that wasn't working out too well. Especially because he had a lingering scent of the cologne that she had him put on that morning. Darn, he's wearing the sexy stuff.

"I love you."

"Yeah. Yeah," she replied glumly.

"I know it's not ideal for us."

"Ideal? Do you even know what that words means? Because this is not even close to not being ideal."

"I'm sorry that you'll have to give up your job." As he spoke, he looked at the side of her face because she still refused to look at him despite the fact that he was sitting next to her with their thighs touching.

"The job I just started," she reminded him icily.

"But it's great for my career. I get a promotion."

"Goodie for you."

Jack cringed when he realized bragging about his promotion probably wasn't the best thing to say to his wife who was giving up the job she had just started after her maternity leave had recently ended.

"It will get us more family points," Jack reminded her as he tried another tactic.

It was true that another tour of duty in Coal Valley would earn them significant points towards family planning as set out by the World Committee to control Earth's population. But with Jack's level Two rating from his work in law enforcement, Elizabeth's Level Three rating from her work as a teacher, and their past trip to Coal Valley, they already had enough points to legally have several children.

"Were you planning on us having a few dozen children?" she snarked.

"I'd like a few dozen with you," he said meekly. He had learned early on in their marriage that sometimes it was best just to take the position of lowly loving husband who worshiped her.

She turned and gave him a look of disgust. "For Pete's sake, there's no need to go overboard."

Jack was happy just to get a response from her.

Now that she was looking at him, things would be fine. Exasperated look of disgust or not, she was looking at him. And that meant everything was going to be okay. He knew it.

And she knew it too.

A defeated Elizabeth leaned her head against his shoulder and allowed him to wrap an arm around her. "So, we're going back to Coal Valley," she said in resignation.

"Yep. Looks that way."

The pair sat silently as the seconds passed.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Elizabeth didn't move. Didn't speak.

"I can't go without you," Jack told her appreciatively. "You're my life. You and the baby."

"Ubi tu, ibi ego," she mumbled.

Jack frowned and for a moment wondered if the trauma of being told they were moving had caused Elizabeth to have a stroke.

"Did you say something?"

"Ubi tu, ibi ego."

"That's what I thought you said."

Elizabeth pulled back slightly, straightened her hair, and shook the dismay from her mind. "It's Latin. From Roman wedding vows."

"Ubi tu, ibi ego. . . . . . . Where you are, there am I!" Jack announced with relief after mentally translating from what he remembered of his high-school Latin class.

His wife speaking Latin words of love and devotion was much better than stroke-induced mumbling.

Elizabeth nodded.

"I guess I can give most of my clothes to Julie. And she can take care of the house for us. The school can find a replacement easy enough. It's a great job. They'll be no shortage of teachers applying for it."

"I'm sorry. When we get back, I'll have my choice of assignments. It will be your choice. Wherever you want to go, we'll go. Toronto, Saskatchewan, Montreal, New York, Montana. Wherever you want. Then it will be my turn to ubi tu, ibi ego", he added with a smile.

He kissed her lightly on her head, letting his lips linger in her hair as he appreciated the closeness. "I love you," he whispered. "You're my soul mate."

"I love you too."

"You're going to have sex with me again, aren't you?" he asked with just a hint of worry.

"Eventually."

Elizabeth snuggled closer and thought about all the things she'd have to do before they moved.

"When do we leave?" she asked.

"The first."

"The first of what?" she sighed.

"The first of the month."

Elizabeth felt her heart start to beat quicker in renewed anxiety. "The first of what month?!"

Jack cringed. "Next month," he replied meekly.

"That's in THREE DAYS!"

Dear Readers:

THANKS for all your reviews! I loved receiving them.

Some of you have asked about my other stories (Reversal, Jack's not going anywhere, and my Vignettes), I do have plans to continue those stories and have ideas brewing in my head for the next chapters/themes.