A/N: Heh, 'nother chapter! Mac said I should slap a language warning on it so... consider it slapped. Also, remember when I posted that side trip I said could trigger problematic things? This is the chapter that refers to it (it's taking place three months later). Not really graphic content or anything but it states what happened in Possibly the Complications, so you might want to be careful reading it.
Three
"God, am I glad that Charlie and Anna got here yesterday," Laura sighs and lies back in her seat, turning her profile to him, her eyes closed behind the sun shades, her face turned towards the sun. She does look a little strained and that takes him a little by surprise. Who would have thought that nearly six months of wedding preparations could be the one thing really wearing her down? Well, or at least he hopes that it was just the wedding preparations.
However, he knows she'd kick his ass if he mentioned any of that at all so he keeps it at a snort and, "You mean because my mom found someone else to fuss about?" Well, at least that's the reason why he is glad that his sister's family finally came down to the City.
Laura goes as far as uttering a little sigh. "Yeah, that and Toby and Felix are totally occupying my mom." Oh yeah, that's true… it had been quite surprising, actually. Toby and Felix are really lively and intelligent and since the only kid to date in Laura's close family is a nine month old baby, Laura's mother had been absolutely charmed by his sister's sons. However… Laura doesn't seem to find it such a good thing because she adds, sounding glum, "On the downside… she started asking me about kids."
Ah, yeah, that probably was to be expected. But what wasn't expected is the uncomfortable twitch in his stomach he feels at the not exactly happy tone in Laura's voice when she mentioned the topic of kids. Ever since her training accident three months ago and the following miscarriage he still hasn't told her about, he tries to steer clear of the issue of kids. Jennifer keeps bugging him and he knows she's right but… there really hadn't been the right moment to tell her about it. And it isn't now, either. So he just says, "What did you tell her?"
She turns back to him, her eyebrows raised high enough that he can see them peaking out from behind her shades. "That it's our business?"
It makes him raise his eyebrow and hold back a grin. "Not in that tone, I hope."
Now he can't see her eyes but he can very well imagine the pointed look she's giving him, saying 'Just how stupid do you think I am?' and yeah, she says, "Gee, it's not like I have a death wish."
Uh-huh, right. "Said the woman who gets turned on by blowing stuff up."
She takes off the shades and glares at him. "I do not…" Another raised eyebrow from him and a pointed look. A grumble from her. "Okay, maybe a little."
That makes him grin and wishing just a little they weren't in a public place but somewhere secluded; somewhere he could doze away this hot summer afternoon with her and maybe… get on to other activities when it's not quite as hot anymore. However, they're still in a very public café. But the least he can do is smirk and reply, "I knew it. Ah, the possibilities…"
For a moment it looks like Laura is about to kick him under the table or do something else that would hurt but then… oh God, how he loves that wicked grin. And how he longs for that private secluded place now. "Just remember: no government property involved. Paperwork would be a bitch."
Okay… okay, find something else to talk about. Something that doesn't involve him picturing their bed on Atlantis, sheets rumbled, sea breeze wafting in, sun dancing over Laura's naked body… He clears his throat. "Good point." Yeah, Laura looks very much like she knows exactly what's going on in his head at the moment. Time to give them both a cold shower. "Oh, regarding bitches… is it just me or was Charlie kind of… twitchy yesterday?"
She rolls her eyes and puts on the shades again, turning her face back towards the sun. He really hopes she didn't forget the sunscreen because sun and Laura's skin don't really like each other. But then again… more sun means more freckles. And freckles on Laura's skin equal… "Isn't he always kind of twitchy when he's around us?"
Right. Back to the topic at hand. And yeah, it is something that's been bothering him. He shakes his head. "Not like that, no. Tom said something in that direction as well." Actually, Tom said something like 'I think we should ask Keller if she could dislodge that stick he's got up his ass… it's really getting worse,' but it's not necessary to give Laura the exact wording.
She snorts, though, as if she could imagine very well what he said. "Tom just wanted to be an ass again." Probably. And probably he nailed the issue right on the head.
Which is the reason why he admonishes her, "Laura!"
She gives him a pointed and somewhat exasperated look. Or at least he thinks she did, priding himself in knowing her well enough to recognize that even with her wearing shades. "What?"
He shakes his head. This is getting more serious than he thought it would because dammit, didn't she see it? "Something's wrong with Charlie and I have a bad feeling it's got something to do with us."
She takes off her shades again, now serious as well. "Evan, seriously… nothing's wrong with Charlie and of course he wasn't comfortable around us. Would you be, in his stead?"
Well… "No… okay, I wouldn't. But… trust me, Laura, this is beyond his usual squeamishness around us. Something's just…" He shakes his head again. Indeed, Charlie had acted pretty strange yesterday. Somehow… evasive. Like there had been something on his mind he couldn't share and at first he'd though that there was something wrong with Anna or the kids but they had seemed absolutely normal… and the strange behavior had increased tenfold every time they'd started to get into a real conversation.
But suddenly… exhaustion and irritation are visible very plainly on Laura's face and very noticeable in her voice. "Evan… could we please not talk about this now?" His first impulse is to snap back, accusing her of being selfish but the weariness stays on in her voice and on her face and he remembers the dozen or so phone calls she gets every day; from her mother or even his mother and the pack of wedding planners they foisted on them and a million other people.
And he also remembers that the only reason that she's sitting here now and didn't have to go through months of recovery was that they had access to SGC and Tok'ra technology and that the picture of her lying in that bed has been accompanying him every day and most of all every night since the accident happened and he feels very, very sorry that he lets himself be dragged into work so often and thus can avoid it all so easily. She rubs a hand over her eyes. "Just… for a few more hours. I promise we'll talk about it but I just… I feel like I'm going insane right now and I just…"
He puts his hand on top of hers and squeezes it, mentally promising he'll not leave almost all the planning to her anymore. And to finally find someone who can keep their mothers off her back. "It's okay, Laura. Sorry for… you know… I just…"
She sighs and squeezes back, even giving him a little brave smile. "It's okay, Evan. Part of this is my fault. After all, I could have asked for your help."
Yeah, she could have. And he could have taken a closer look months ago… for example in the weeks of her recovery after the training accident. He did do his best to shield her from her mother's worry – he perfectly understood her mother but he also knew something ugly would happen if he let her get too close to Laura and he values peace in his domestic life more than the peace of mind of Laura's mother – and got everyone else who wanted something from her that was wedding related off her back by simply telling them to shut up but… he didn't actually do anything about the planning.
But yeah… at least they didn't get into a huge fight before they both realized their mistakes. That really is a big step forward. He gives her a tight little smile of his own. "Still, I'm sorry. So… what do you want to talk about?"
She leans back again, letting go of his hand but not taking hers away… it's close enough that their fingertips are still touching. "Oh, I don't know… um… zero-gravity sex?" Right. That's payback. Bitch of a payback, actually. Because… oh God, the images.
He clears his throat. "Excuse me?"
Innocently, she smiles at him. "What? That was the first thing that came to my mind."
Yeah, uh-huh, right. Of course. "Zero-gravity sex was the first random topic that came to your mind when I asked you what you wanted to talk about to stop you from going insane?"
"Yeah. What's so bad about it?" Well, for example all those images in his head… even though he knows that technically it's impossible anyway. But no one ever said zero-gravity… cuddling was impossible.
A little exasperated, he shakes his head, hoping no one here was listening in on their conversation… not even that blond girl there on the next table who just bent down to pick something up beside Laura's handbag. He's not sure but it did look like she'd perked up just for a very short moment at the mentioning of 'zero-gravity sex'. "It's just… sometimes I really… Jesus fucking Christ."
Unfortunately, seeing his obvious discomfort does nothing to diminish Laura's interest in the topic. Instead… it seems to increase it, if anything. "So, have you ever... you know..."
Right. "Have I ever… what?"
Now it's her turn to blush and that's definitely not a sudden case of sunburn. "Um... trieditoutImean."
Wha… how the hell… why does… holy crap. He clears his throat again and tries to appear absolutely unfazed. "Right. Uh. You do know that it's impossible, right?"
Damn. Wrong thing to say because the wicked gleam is back and… oh the things it does to his… body. "Oh, so you did try it?"
"That's not what I said. 'Sides... that's public knowledge," he adds and tries to look smug.
"Really? And here I was told in college that real science meant not believing in something just because everyone says so." Argh, no. Why in hell did he think marrying a woman as evil as her would be a good idea? She knows he's got a mountain of paper work in front of him when they get back to Atlantis – how that could accumulate when they're still sitting in the San Francisco bay exactly where they landed six months ago is still beyond him but that's not the point now – and that he won't get to do anything else than going through it for at least two more hours. And having those… thoughts of her in his head will not help in speeding up the process.
He's about to answer but suddenly the blond girl turns around and for a moment, she looks at him, as if she knew exactly who he is and what he does for a living but then it's gone and only an oddly curious expression remains. "You know," she says and it sounds like she'd been part of the conversation the whole time and didn't just barge in, "you two sound like you could actually try that zero-gravity sex thing for real."
Wha… where did that come from? Laura apparently thought the same because she turns to the girl and glares at her. "Excuse me, miss? Do we know each other?"
The blonde shakes her head and gives them one of those grins that include squeezing your eyes and scrunching your nose for a moment and usually look fake. But with her… for some reason it looks real and so does the cheerful tone sound when she says, as if it's the most natural thing in the world, "Nah, just thought I'd ask. Sounds totally like fun. Maybe we could…" 'We?', he wants to ask, but she just goes on, "organize one of those… what are they called…"
"Vomit comets?" Laura helpfully supplies, sounding a little irritated but now he feels challenged by her. Vomit comet. Seriously? Seriously?
"Us pilots prefer the term C9-B," he just has to add and he just knows that if it weren't for that strange girl Laura would launch into an all out snark war.
But yeah, the blonde is still there. She perked up again as Laura insulted the fear-inspiring C9-B. "Yeah, one of those. Mh, I bet Eliot would totally… or maybe not." Huh, strange. He could have sworn she just paused a moment because she heard something… but it's gone too fast and suddenly, she gets up, saying, "Oh, sorry, gotta go. Bye, guys." With that she almost skips away and if he didn't know better he'd say she mumbled something like "You can be such a spoilsport."
Shaking his head he turns back to Laura, not really liking the look on her face… as if she got a little spooked by this as well. "What the hell was that about?" he asks her but only gets a shrug from her and a frown.
"No idea. But there was definitely something wrong with her," she answers only half in jest and not really looking comfortable anymore, she takes up her handbag and rummages around in it. "Come on," she says and keeps rummaging around, "we gotta…" and the rummaging stops as a look that's partly annoyed, partly shocked creeps on her face, "Where the hell's my purse?" Oh just great. Just. Fucking. Great.
"Laura?" The annoyance grows.
"I can't believe… this is just… now I also have to cancel the credit cards and do all the stupid paper work and stuff and… Oh. Fuck." That doesn't sound good. That doesn't sound good at all.
He frowns. "What's the matter?"
She runs a hand over her face and rests her head on the hand bag for a moment. Then she straightens up again and takes a deep breath. Uh-oh. "My cell phones are gone as well. Both of them." Which means… that the one that's got all the important numbers – as in NORAD, DOD and SGC important – is gone as well. How the… "Yeah, I'm wondering about that as well. I don't… It was hidden in there. As in slipped into a secret pouch that couldn't be sliced or found or… dammit." If he ever saw her close to panicking it's definitely now. He can see how the magnitude of this is unfolding before her inner eye and he even thinks he detected hints of a beginning hyperventilation so he signals for the waitress to come over.
"Laura," he says but she doesn't focus on him so he repeats it, this time a little more forcefully, "Laura! Hey, look at me. It's gonna be fine, okay?" He can see how she literally pulls herself together, taking a deep breath and straightening up again.
"Right. Yes. Of course." She doesn't sound quite convinced yet but he's pretty sure she's already trying to trace back every step she took since she last reassured herself that the important phone was still there in her head and that she's analyzing the situation, trying to come up with a solution.
He nods and the waitress finally comes up. He pays and Laura and he don't waste time to get up and leave the café. He knows Laura always does her best thinking when she's moving so he just falls into step with her when she nearly strides away from the café. After a few steps in silence, she turns to him and he's surprised to see a smirk on her face, when she says, "You know what? I just realized… for the first time in three months I have a very valuable excuse why I couldn't return anyone's phone calls. Turns out it was a very good idea not to give them your number, as well."
That… makes him grin, at least a little relieved. At least she still kept her sense of humor so things can't be that bad. He grins back. "Yeah but… you know that the coven still has my number, right?" It gets him an amused little laugh and an attempt at a scolding look from Laura. Yeah, okay, he really should quit calling the little… circle their mothers and a few other female relatives had formed as the preparations for the wedding had progressed had formed 'the coven' but really… there's no other word for it.
"Oh, but unfortunately, you forgot your phone at home today, you know." Oh right, of course he did. "Okay, so… lets get to work, huh?" Laura adds and without further ado he hands her the phone he 'forgot at home' and she starts making the calls. Tonight, he thinks, he'll really make up to her for all the stuff he let her deal with in the last six months; the training accident, wedding preparations and the occasional – no scratch that, the frequent – missions for the SGC for both of them included.
