Bobby wasn't lying when he said he would wait forever for the two most beautiful girls in the world. He has been looking forward to this day since Alex asked him to join them last week. Alex probably thinks I'm just interested in the new renovations, but she has to know by now that I would go with her anywhere.
As he sits and waits for Alex and Kaitlin to return from the ladies' room, he remembers the first time he met Alex's niece. He distinctly recalls that it was a really bad day at Major Case, as he and Alex were hitting nothing but dead ends on their latest case. He just kicked the broken printer in the copy room when he returned to find a Mini Alex Eames dressed in a delicate pink dress, swinging in circles on his old orange chair.
"Who do we have here?" Bobby asks.
He must have startled the little girl as she suddenly stopped her twirling and looked up directly into his eyes. The curls on her head still bounced from her previous movements and her little cupid mouth twitched mischievously.
"Bobby, this is my niece, Kaitlin. Kaitlin, this is Bobby," Alex introduced.
Bobby crouched down next to his chair, "Hello, Kaitlin, it's very nice to meet you."
Mini Alex surprised Bobby by presenting him with her hand in a soft handshake, "Hi, it's my birf-day today. You got a present for me?" Bobby smothered his laugh as Alex's sister reminded Kaitlin that it was not polite to ask or expect gifts.
"It's okay, Kaitlin. I think I do see something for you," he replied, pulling a dime out from behind her ear. Kaitlin dissolved into a burst of giggles as she uncharacteristically jumped down and hugged Bobby.
"I have never seen her take to someone like that," Colleen remarked to Alex.
For the remainder of her visit, Kaitlin followed Bobby all around the bullpen and when seated, asked to sit on his lap.
Bobby laughs remembering Alex's remark later that day. "It looks like my niece has a crush on you, Bobby."
At first, Bobby had to admit a curiosity with the little girl who so resembled his tiny partner. When Kaitlin showed her own unique and engaging personality, Bobby became another fan in the Kaitlin fan club.
As Bobby lifted his eyes to see Alex and Kaitlin returning from the bathroom, a lovely combination of hope and love crashed over him.
The usually silent guarded part of his heart spoke to him, 'You could have a beautiful daughter just like her with Alex.'
To indulge in wishful thinking like that used to be a dangerous thing for Bobby. Finally, after too many years, Bobby learned to hope again. That hope came in the form of the beautiful Alexandra Eames.
"Unca Bobby, what are we going to see next?" Kaitlin asked holding onto Alex's hand.
They spent the remainder of the day wandering from one exhibit to the next with Bobby explaining the complicated ideas into a language Kaitlin could best understand. At her age, Bobby and Alex knew that she most likely was enjoying the lights and colors most of all. The scientific aspect of the creation of the universe would have to wait a few more years.
All that mattered to Kaitlin was that she got to spend the day with her Aunt Alex and Uncle Bobby.
"Well, I don't know about you two, but my feet are pretty tired," Alex says as they exit the planetarium. "Why don't we grab some dinner before heading home?"
"Unca Bobby, will you come too?" Kaitlin looked at him with her little doe eyes.
"I'd love to. What are you in the mood for?" Bobby asks.
"Pizza!" she exclaims with a bright smile.
Bobby took them to a little Italian place he knew of which served everything from Pasta to Pizza. The waitress seating them asked if they needed a higher chair for their daughter, Bobby shook his head in the negative, not bothering to correct her. If he could just pretend for a few more minutes that this was his wife and child, it would make up for the years of loneliness he had suffered.
As Alex warned Caitlin about how hot the pizza was, Bobby bit into a greasy pepperoni slice and almost comically dropped his slice back down.
"Whoa, that's really hot," he said gingerly as he nursed his burning tongue against his cheek.
Bobby couldn't help but laugh as Kaitlin clearly enjoyed his mishap. She had somehow gotten pizza sauce on her cheek and chin.
"Kit-Kat, you do know that you eat with your mouth, right?" he teases, as Alex wipes her face.
"I know that, Unca Bobby!" she exclaims almost too indignantly for a four year old. "You need to blow on your food before you eat it, silly," she says, sweetly leaning over and blowing small puffs of air on Bobby's pizza slice.
As Alex's eyes meeting Bobby's, she clearly receives his unspoken statement.
She's definitely got the Eames' attitude. God help me from petite woman with audacious personalities.
During their ride home, Bobby entertains Kaitlin with stories of Arabian Nights and surprisingly, Anne of Green Gables. Alex feels a sense of peace for the first time in quite a while. She completely enjoyed her day with her two favorite people and the added bonus of seeing her usually reticent partner openly emotional caused her body to flush in happiness.
Their partnership has never been stronger. Since the kidnapping and his mother's illness, the boundaries of their partnership have slightly shifted. The deep need to comfort and understand each other has given way to a more personal relationship. Intimacy in the past consisted of friendly, brief hugs or an occasional peck on the cheek, and that only on holidays.
The image of him sleeping next to her hospital bed, night after night, holding onto her hand will remain with her to her dying day. Without a word, Bobby had conveyed his feelings to her with his kind, gentle gestures and the deep glances given with his beautifully sad chocolate eyes.
After the Wisinsky cases, she could sense his anxiety over his mother's illness, as well as her own recovery. Day after day she would notice the darkness under his eyes deepen and more worry lines crease his forehead. He wasn't sleeping and worse of all, he wasn't talking to her, venting his fear to allow him some relief.
She didn't know what prompted her out of her warm bed at 1 a.m. a few weeks ago. As if dragged by an invisible thread, she pulled on her coat over her flannel pajama pants and shirt and rushed down her stairs to her car. When she arrived at his door, she noticed that she had driven here with her fuzzy pink slippers on her feet.
He's going to think I've lost my mind, she laughs.
When her knocks went unanswered, she slipped her key into the lock and entered his darkened apartment. She found the source of the only light gleaming under his bedroom door. At any other time in their partnership, she would have hesitated to open his door in fear of finding him with someone in bed. This is no longer an option as they have somehow independently acknowledged to themselves that this is a marriage of sorts. No physical relationship could ever compare to the emotional bond they share. Even without sex, their bodies belong to one another.
Alex softly opens his bedroom door to find him shirtless and sweaty with a open book on his chest. The sweat has no doubt formed from the nightmare she is currently seeing him experience. His breathing erratic and muscles bunching, she cannot make out the soft tortured words spilling from his lips.
She discards her coat and lightly touches his shoulder and whispers to him, "Bobby, come back to me, it's just a bad dream," she says. Leaning forward to hear his words, her breath catches and heart breaks all over again for him.
"Where is she? Eames, I can't find you…" he murmurs softly into the pillow, tears spilling down his cheeks.
"Oh Bobby, I'm right here," she brushes back his wet curls.
The pressure of her hand jolts Bobby out of his sleep and with a strangled moan, he pulls Alex down into the bed, enveloping her in a smothering embrace.
"I thought I'd lost you forever, Eames," he quietly sobs into her hair. "I felt like dying and would have if I didn't think there was a hope of you still being alive."
"Shh, Bobby, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," she soothes him, rubbing her hands along his broad naked back.
"There are only two people in this world that I love more than anything," he says, "I understand the natural cycle of losing my mother, it's the way of life, I suppose. But you," he says, burrowing his head further into her neck, tears splashing her bare shoulder, "we need more time, there's so much left to..."
"I know Bobby. Let's not waste anymore time," she whispers in his ear, her voice shaky from her own blinding tears.
They held each other all night and slept peacefully as the moon above sheltered them, keeping them both safe. The walls were crumbling and the golden warmness was seeping into their souls after their self-exiled bitter winter.
"Eames?" Bobby says.
"Sorry, I was in la-la land just now," she admits.
"I see that," he smiles. "It looks like Kaitlin is out for the count," he motions to the little girl fast asleep in the back seat. "Thanks for inviting me, I had a great time."
"You are always invited. Maybe next time we can all go get pedicures," she teases.
"Cute, Eames. What are you doing tomorrow?"
"I have to drop Kaitlin off around noon tomorrow and then I predict an afternoon of laundry," she grouses.
"How about dinner? My place tomorrow around 5?" he asks, almost timidly, his hand brushing along his stubbled cheek.
"Ok. I'll bring the wine since you're cooking," she smiles.
"Night, Eames," he says, brushing his soft lips against her cheek.
Sweet Dreams, Bobby.