Chapter 15
"You guys got a head start." Danny said as he returned from a meeting to find Tex and Larrin carting out what looked to be the fourth roll of shag pile carpet out to the front lawn and dumping it.
"Yeah, we had some steam to use." Tex said to him as he and Larrin stopped to take a break. He had to admit that Rachel's faked death and absence made him angry. What made him angry most was the high-handedness to Tom. He always left wriggle room for Rachel to have her way but now he just packed her off without even giving her a choice as he knew Rachel wouldn't hide. She'd want to stay and face the danger.
"You owe me $20, the floorboards are in great nick." Larrin said to Danny as Tex handed Larrin a bottle of water to keep her hydrated.
Tex couldn't help but notice the girl was depressed and angry at the world but for slightly different reasons. What really surprised him was the fire in her belly. She really was just like a facsimile of her brother when it came to work. She pulled on boots that were too big and changed into a t-shirt and without a second thought went to work with him on the interior of the house. It seemed to help her work out her demons.
"Think of my child, do you want to take $20 from him." Danny asked her in an imploring manner.
"Her" Larrin corrected "and yeah, it's the principle of the thing. Your daughter will understand it's the principles of honoring an agreement and paying one's debts." she added in a mocking manner before she took a long sip of water. Danny would pay the debt but he looked to Tex for support only to find him smiling at them; staying completely neutral.
"Have Kara and Kat come home yet?" Danny asked moving to safer territory.
"No, I think they made a day of it with Tex's money." Larrin said as she rubbed the sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of the 'Navy' T-shirt she'd stolen from Wolf. Her brother was not going to want it back after today as it reeked.
"As they should. Money is only good for spending." Tex said to them as he was glad to see Kat bond with Kara and Larrin. He knew it would be a hard time without her mother to help her through her teens but at least she had some older female friends to help her out when Tex wasn't equipped to do so.
"Speaking of," Larrin said, she gestured behind Danny where Kara and Kat walked the footpath carrying numerous bags. They were close to a bus stop. Danny made a mental note to look into organising a car for Kara as he knew she would need it to get around to work and when the baby came.
"Hey," Danny said as he and the others walked up to the women. He took the bags off of Kara and gave her a quick kiss in greeting.
"You guys look successful." Tex said to them as he helped his daughter.
"Sort of, I forgot to get your shoe size and I went with long on the pants length." Kara said to Larrin.
"I don't think I told you but I'm a 9 and half. The pants length is perfect, thank you." Larrin said with a smile as she really appreciated them going shopping for her. She wasn't used to being out in the open and the idea of going to a mall filled with people made her anxious and uncomfortable.
"No problem but we will have to get you proper boots if you're going to keep working in the house." Kara said looking down at Larrin's feet to see that the woman was wearing two pairs of thick socks on her feet just to make them fit into the boots she was wearing.
"Yeah, these are just some I found in the downstairs closet." Larrin said as her feet looked ginormous in her current shoes.
"Of our place?" Kara asked a little worried. Larrin chuckled and shook her head.
"No, from Tex's" Larrin assured her.
"Our place, it's mine as much as yours." Tex told Larrin.
"Well, we can go back in the next couple of days and buy you boots that fit." Kara said her maternal instincts were really kicking in hard as she just wanted to make sure Kat and Larrin had everything they needed. She knew she was battle weary from so many months at sea and with what had happened but she felt it was nothing compared to what Kat and Larrin had experienced.
Maybe what made it seem worse for them over Kara was that Kara signed up knowing the Military what to expect and had combat experience while these two young women like many civilians had suffered through a pandemic completely unprepared and awakened to the horrible side of human nature.
"We'll be tied up for the next few days." Danny told Kara. She looked to Danny and frowned.
"Why?" She asked as far as she knew they all had R&R for at least a week before they were dragged in for more briefings and meetings on how to proceed with what intelligence they had.
"No one called you?" Danny asked her.
"My phone died." Kara told him.
"Dr Scott is dead." Danny told her.
Three days later,
Miller sat at the dining table deep in his own thoughts as he couldn't sleep and like the others had been stuck in a sombre mood. Dr Scott's death had affected them all greatly, Kara had withdrawn in herself from the grief when she first found out but by the afternoon managed to keep moving forward by helping Tex with his household. It was kind of like she'd become mother hen to them all as she made sure they were all taken care of and she with Kat's help liberated kitchen duties from Tex.
Dr Scott's funeral had been a big production which had made Miller uncomfortable as he felt it wasn't something the doctor would have wanted. He didn't know her well but she always seemed like she preferred to stay out of the spotlight and be quietly recognised for her accomplishments but the President had been adamant on large production of it with him right at the front reminding them all how tragic her loss was.
He agreed with that Dr Scott's death was tragic but he didn't like that Michener placed so much importance on hers while many other people had died but their deaths went unacknowledged like Michener didn't care about them. He just wanted to use Dr Scott's death as a platform for his presidency.
He had wished that maybe Dr Scott could have been honoured in a ceremony that celebrated the many lives she saved with her cure and the many more that would be once they continued distributing the cure. Something the Captain had touched on in his eulogy but it didn't seem enough.
At the wake, many of the sailors had talked about how the funeral had felt more like an advertisement for Michener than about the Doctor. Some saying that they'd prefer she be counted among the many who'd lost their lives before focusing on the positives of the legacy she left behind.
They all talked about how they were going use their R&R for more than a break which was when Danny said he'd be joining him, Alisha and Wolf in going up North. Burk jumped on board with the plan which meant they were going to have to get more supplies. Not a big deal but the back seat of the SUV was definitely going to be cosy at least until they found another vehicle in their travels.
Either way, since the funeral he, Wolf and the others was rushing to get ready to leave in the morning. He was eager to find his Mom but he was also sad to go as he was going to miss the mismatched family that was created in the walls of Tex's home. He was also going to miss Larrin, though she acted really happy and cool around everyone he could tell she was upset about Wolf going. Something he felt guilty about as he was the reason Wolf was leaving.
Miller heard footsteps come from the staircase and turned to see Larrin. He watched as she walked over to the kitchen and sifted through the cupboards. She looked half asleep as her hair was a mess and her sleepwear that consisted of a t-shirt dress with a pocket was rumpled from that ended a little higher than mid thigh.
He tried to keep his eyes up out of respect for her as the male part of his brain fully registered her long trim legs and her cheeky underwear encased backside as the hem of her t-shirt rose up as she reached up to look in an top cupboard. He was pretty sure he'd have the visuals memorised and later would blame it on his military training as he was supposed to be aware of his surroundings. Yep, if Wolf was here, Miller knew he'd be toast as that excuse wouldn't fly. But luckily for him; Wolf was asleep.
"You hungry?" he asked as Larrin who just moved to open the fridge. She jumped at his words and whirled around seeing him for the first time. He would have just sat quietly watching her but he felt it was just a little wrong to enjoy the view given she hadn't seen him in the dark.
"You scared me." Larrin said to Miller as she pressed a hand to her chest to calm herself. The light in the fridge illuminating the room.
"Didn't mean to. Are you ok?" Miller asked her as he couldn't help but notice that she had checked every cupboard that had food in it before opening the fridge. Something he'd learned about living with Larrin was that when she was hungry she just went straight for what she wanted. She didn't forage around the kitchen which is what made her looking through every cupboard a little weird.
"Yeah, and I'm not hungry. I just-" she scrunched her nose and shook her head "It's stupid." she told him with a wave of her hand too embarrassed to tell him.
"Tell me." Miller prompted in a gentle manner as he was curious. Larrin closed the door to the fridge and turned around to face him. Her night vision coming through now that the only light one now was the street lights outside.
"How about you tell me what happened when you ended up pointing to the ocean on that globe for your thursday night dinners." Larrin said changing the topic as she leaned on the kitchen bench and looked at him.
"We'd be pirates. Eat fish fingers and chips." Miller answered, Larrin gave a small smile as she liked it. She blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair.
"I like to make sure the food is still there. Like every night." She told him feeling incredibly embarrassed and because she was sharing something that she knew would make her sound like a crazy person. "Because I'm afraid that this is all some crazy dream. That I'm going to wake up alone and still running for my life." she explained her hands out in a 'I don't know' kind of gesture as she couldn't explain her weird tendencies she seemed to be growing in the wake of being in St Louis.
"Wolf is hiding chocolate caramel pop tarts in the laundry. You want to share one?" Miller asked her, she smiled as he didn't look at her with pity or like she was crazy. He just looked like he got an answer to a question and understood it for what it was instead of trying to make sense of it.
"Yeah ok." Larrin said, Miller disappeared to get the pop tarts and came back with one placing it into the toaster. A few minutes later, they were sitting on the couch with two glasses of milk on the coffee table and a plate with one pop tart on it cut in half sitting on the couch between them.
"I couldn't sleep." Miller said to her, he'd turn on a lamp so they could see each other. But dimmed it so as not to be completely blinded by the brightness.
"Anxious to find your Mum?" Larrin asked.
"Yeah. I'm worried about what I'll find out." Miller told her before he took a bite of his half of the pop tart.
"You never mention your Dad. Are you planning to find him too?" Larrin asked, she wanted to know roughly how long he'd be gone. Not just because Wolf was with him but she really liked him, really liked having him around her as he made her feel safe and sane. Not that the others didn't do that for her but Miller's presence was like a warm blanket on a cold night. But she didn't miss Miller's expression grow dark for a moment at the mention of his father.
"Ah no, he ran out on my Mom when she found out she was pregnant with me. He wasn't ready to be a Dad but then most people aren't ready to be parents at 18. I tracked him down when I was 16, he still wasn't interested in the job." Miller said uncomfortably as no one really asked him about his biological father knowing it was an off limits topic. He refused to call the man his 'Dad' as the guy didn't want an active role in his life.
"His loss." Larrin told him. Miller gave a tight smile as he liked that with two words she made him feel better about the loss of that type of relationship in his life.
"Yeah," Miller said even though he would have liked to have a father, to have that kind of relationship but his father wasn't that kind of man. "So have you figured out what you're going to do?" he asked changing topics.
"Apply for jobs here in St Louis. Destroy the interior of Kara and Danny's house. Wait for my brother and you to hopefully come back here." Larrin said looking to him as she broke a small piece off her pop tart and eating it.
"Sounds like a plan." Miller said to her, he could see she wasn't enthusiastic about it as she had about working with Dr Scott.
"Yeah, I wish Dr Scott was alive. I know it makes me heartless but I would have loved to learn from her." Larrin said with a wince. She didn't know Dr Scott like the others in the house had so her sadness was from a loss of another future for herself. She felt Dr Scott's loss as something more superficial.
"It's not heartless. I think you two would have made a great team." Miller said to her.
"You guys know what you're rolling into out there right?" Larrin asked.
"We're prepared." Miller assured her.
"You know, I was half tempted to go over to Danny and Kara's house tonight and rip some of those creepy lizards off the walls and surreptitiously place them around here to freak everyone out. You know to lighten the mood." Larrin said changing the topic. Miller gave a chuckle as he could just imagine it.
"We could do that. I think one on the floor of the shower." Miller suggested, Larrin's eyes lit up in excitement.
"Yeah, I was also thinking of one right on Wolf's pillow. Another on the dashboard of your SUV and one outside of Kara and Danny's granny flat." Larrin said with a smile.
