Whom I Will

Carolyn flung the front door to her house open before Vala even had a chance to pull into the driveway all the way.

"Where the HELL have you been?!" She cried, anger replacing the fear she'd been suffering with most of the day.

Vala slammed the door closed, walking up to her friend with a casual stride. "It's nice to see you too." She grinned, tapping a finger against Carolyn's nose before stepping in the house.

Mouth agape, it took a moment for Carolyn to follow. "That's all you have to say? You told me you'd call me back HOURS ago, Vala. I called you, and called you, and left like a bazillion phone messages, and still nothing. I thought something HAPPENED to you!" She trailed behind Vala as the slightly taller woman moved into the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Something DID happen." Vala laughed, almost unbelievably. She popped the cork on the bottle of red wine, and poured a generous amount into each glass. Turning, she handed one off to Carolyn who was watching expectantly. "Well, you know I had that flat tire?"

Carolyn nodded impatiently, leaning against the edge of the kitchen table. "Yeah, the one you were gonna get fixed and CALL ME afterwards."

Sipping her wine, Vala nodded. "Yep, that's the one." She grinned as her friend rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well, apparently the world was against me today. I couldn't seem to find anyone in that damn parking lot to help me."

"I told you I could have called Cam to come and help you."

Vala leaned over a little to look out into the living room. "You mean that Cam?" She indicated with her wine glass to the man sprawled out lazily across the rug in front of the tv, his soft snoring drifting above the movie their children was watching.

Carolyn sighed, turning her gaze to her husband. "Yeah, that Cam. I had to go pick his ass up from pulling that tree after he'd been out in the sun for too long and had too many beers. And he's gonna do it all over again tomorrow at the barbeque. Sometimes, I swear I have three children instead of two." She turned back to Vala, who was smiling. "Anyway, back to why you DIDN'T let your BEST FRIEND know you were okay."

"Yes." Vala sipped her wine again. "There I was, cursing the entire human race and..." She paused dramatically.

Carolyn shook her free hand at Vala. "AND?!"

"I found someone." Vala offered timidly, letting her words signifying more than just in terms of someone to fix her tire. Carolyn seemed to get the hint as her eyes widened. She pushed off the table and stepped up close to her friend.

"Are you serious?" She whispered conspiratorially. At Vala's hesitant nod, Carolyn took a deep drink from her glass. "And you're sure that this is the one you've been looking for? Or rather NOT looking for?"

Vala laughed, then nodded again. "I don't know, actually. But I saw him, and I talked to him all afternoon, and there's just something about him." At Carolyn's skeptical look, Vala stomped her foot. "Oh, come on Carolyn! You're the one always getting on me about finding someone new!" She moved away from her friend, pouring more wine as she did. "Well, I didn't need to find this one." Vala turned back to look at Carolyn, who still looked unconvinced. "He found me."

"In a parking lot, Vala!" Carolyn had been hoping for this moment to come for a while, but never had she expected for Vala to find her next love, and that's what it was cause she could see it in her young friend's grey eyes already, while fixing a flat tire. It seemed all too - abrupt. "When I said you needed to find someone new, I didn't mean like this. I meant through dating and time and a long, thorough thought process. You don't know who this guy could be!"

Agitation built up in Vala's chest. "You didn't even SEE him, meet him or talk to him, Carolyn!" She began pacing. "He's so sweet and kind. He didn't even want to accept payment for helping me." Vala held out her hand for emphasis. "And he's cute...Handsome even!" She sighed, wanting to cry over it all. Her mind was telling her this was way too fast. Her best friend was telling her this wasn't right even before hearing about the man. But her heart refused to budge on the subject. "We sat and talked and drank coffee all afternoon, and it was GREAT to be able to just BE ME again."

"That's the thing, hunny." Carolyn could see her friend was getting upset over it, and she didn't want that. "You aren't just YOU anymore. You have Hayden. Did you even think about that? Did you even tell him you are a mother?"

"Of course I thought about Hayden!" Vala's voice rose a little. "I KNOW it's not just me anymore. And YES, I told him about her. Though I didn't have to. He saw the carseat while he was fixing the tire, and asked me about it. I told him, and he told me he loves kids. That he has a godson named Charlie, and that he just loves him!" She drew in a deep breath and fixed her friend with a significant look. "He asked if Hayden had my eyes, and if she did she was the luckiest girl because he'd never seen more beautiful eyes his entire life."

Carolyn really couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Vala..." She sighed.

"He asked to see me again - asked me out to dinner tomorrow night." Vala replied in a defiant tone.

Brown eyes met grey. "Tell me you told him you'd need some time to think on it at least because I doubt you just said no."

Vala smiled smugly. "I did say no actually." She drained her glass, watching as Carolyn relaxed a bit at the admission. "Then I invited him to the barbeque tomorrow."

"Vala!" Carolyn squeaked, fixing her with an unbelieving stare. "You just met the man today! And you want to bring him to your house, meet your daughter, when you don't know more than a few hours worth of coffee shop talk about him? This is NOT what I meant when..." She trailed off, blinking. "This is the same reckless behavior that led you to be a mother at 20!"

Heels clicking on the tile floor, Vala stepped up close to her friend. Her anger over the words was evident in the way she practically slammed her glass down on the counter.

"If having Hayden was the price I had to pay for that reckless behavior, I would do it over again in a heartbeat." Her voice was dead calm even as the tears stung in her eyes. She was so desperately wishing for the overwhelming contentment she'd felt not even a few hours earlier. "And if this so called reckless behavior gives me the possibility of the life you've been so wonderfully blessed with, then I'll take it. Because I don't know what I wouldn't give to just have to go pick my husband up, and have him pass out drunk in my living room. To have someone there to be a father to Hayden, and have that warm body lay next to mine every night."

Vala moved away from Carolyn, and snatched up her keys from the kitchen table where she'd tossed them when she'd first come in. "I thought you, as my closest friend, would understand that."

"I do, Vala." Carolyn pleaded, feeling guilty as Vala moved into the living room. She watched as her friend carefully lifted her sleeping daughter into her arms. "But I don't want you rushing into something so soon. I want you to completely trust it, him, first. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Stopping at the door, her face fighting to stay calm, Vala looked back at Carolyn with slight betrayal. "I trust this, Carolyn. I trust this, and as rushed and reckless as it sounds, I know I can trust him. I can feel it. I can trust Daniel - that's his name, if you're curious at all. Daniel Jackson, who is on his way to getting a doctorate in archaeology. I could see it in his beautiful blue eyes - the fact that he wants this as much as I do. I'm just really upset that you can't trust ME enough to know better."

"Vala..." Carolyn whispered as her friend started for her car.

"I'll call you tomorrow." Vala mumbled as she opened the rear passenger door to place Hayden in her seat. After she got her situated, she moved to get in the car herself. "Give you heads up before I bring my new stranger friend anywhere near your children."

Before Carolyn had a chance to say anything else, Vala had slammed the door and was out of the driveway.

A/N: It was only natural for Carolyn to react that way, was it not? This chapter helped me keep the 'good relationship pace' in line. LoL. I'm working on the next chapter now, and have the following one all finished and ready to go. So I will get to work on that as SOON as I watch the 'Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave' scene from Titanic. I can't help but watch it now and think of my fic! -is selfish in that way, yesh-

And ofcourse, you know reviews are LVOE!