James was a light sleeper.
She had never noticed it before, but after sleeping in the same bed with him two weeks in a row, she became aware of it. He stirred at the smallest sound, climbing out of bed at all hours of the night. He kept a loaded gun right beside the bed. When she told him they had an alarm system, he laughed at her.
He made her late for work a couple of times. 00's weren't expected to report to MI6 until noon. She needed to be there at eight. But once they dropped off Christina at school, he always convinced her to go back home for "a minute". That turned into an hour- since after the amazing sex she always had to have a shower.
Work, pick up Christina, have dinner, have sex, lay in bed talking. They had almost a...routine? It was strange to have the words "James" and "routine" in the same sentence. The first few days she was leery of the situation. The next few she was tentatively comfortable. Then after a week, she stopped holding her breath.
She knew he would have to jet off on some mission soon. But he made no plans of returning to his own flat. Instead he brought over all of his clothes, hanging them in her small closet. He had no interest in television or internet and instead of cooking, he wanted to go out for dinner every night.
After Christina was asleep, he would run his fingers through Eve's hair as she talked. She confided in him. She told him her worries about not being taken seriously at work. She talked about her childhood, how she wanted better for Christina. He always listened. He never said anything.
Until one night, he did.
He placed a kiss on Eve's forehead and said, out of the blue, "We should take Christina on vacation."
"To where?" she asked, leaning into his kiss.
"What about that place with all the fairy tale characters?"
She stared at him blankly. "What place with all the...oh. You mean Disney World?"
"Right."
"James, that's like a twelve hour flight away."
"So? She would enjoy that. We can afford it."
Eve held her tongue. No matter what objections she had about anything, he always waved it off with "we can afford it". Which wasn't exactly true. He could afford it. Eve couldn't.
"That's a really long trip for a four year old, James."
He swung his gaze to her and she recoiled slightly, surprised by the icy seriousness in those blue eyes. "What?"
"Why is it whenever I come up with something for Christina, you argue with me about it?" he stared at her intently. "You always have an excuse for why we shouldn't."
"That's not true," she replied, but she had the nagging suspicion he was right. "It's just...that's a long trip, James. It's not exactly something we can throw together overnight."
"Did I suggest throwing it together at the last minute?"
"I didn't think you could take off that much time from work just to go on holiday."
"I can ask for time off, the same as you."
"It's a lot of money."
"And I can handle it. You're still throwing out excuses, Eve."
"I'm her mother. I have to think these things over."
"I'm her father. I can make some decisions in her life."
Eve opened her mouth and then closed it. He's trying. He's really trying, and you won't give him a damn chance. Stop being afraid and let this happen.
"I'm sorry," she whispered after a long moment. "You're right. You're right."
James was still watching her carefully, like he was trying to dig around in her brain. He finally nodded. "So we've agreed on taking a vacation?"
"I guess so," she laughed. "You're not going to spend the entire plane ride trolling for terrorists, right?"
"I'll try not to. Can't make any promises."
At MI6 two days later, Q handed her a cup of coffee. "A vacation to Disney World. With Bond. You must be joking."
"I'm not," Eve promised with a grin as she stirred in a teaspoon of sugar. "It was his idea. He said he wants to take Christina somewhere. We've both put in for time off, before he gets sent to Turkey or something."
"I'm just surprised he's stuck around this long."
"You and me both."
Q leaned against the counter, his face thoughtful. He tapped his spoon against his cup. "So...you think this is a good idea?"
"What is a good idea?" Eve averted her eyes, playing with the hem of her skirt.
"You know what. This...thing with Bond. Is it good for you? For Christina?"
"I don't know." Eve felt her doubts roll around in her stomach. "I don't know. But I'm happy with him. She's happy with him. He's trying, Q. He's trying really hard. He hasn't went out a single night in two weeks. I know he hasn't seen another woman."
"But that's two weeks, Eve. That's not the same as forever."
"I know that." Eve's voice was testy. "Trust me, I know. I'm the one who had a kid with him. I think I know him fairly well."
They were quiet for a moment and Eve hated that. Q was her best friend. She knew he was thinking that she was making a mistake. And she hated that he couldn't understand.
"I just think you should be careful," he said at last.
"Don't you think I am?"