Is everyone sitting around, twiddling their thumbs and grumbling about the lack of an update? ;-) I really wanted to put this up yesterday, but my Internet went down on Friday and it's not due to be fixed before Tuesday! Grr. Thankfully, I have RL friends who are willing to share their wifi.
Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on the last chapter/story so far. Welcome to new readers! You're reviews give me hope that the next few chapters will be well received. So, as promised at the end of the last chapter, here's Myka's birthday...
Chapter Six
Myka's eyes narrowed, her attention fixed on her fiancée as Helena knelt next to their daughter and whispered in the girl's ear. "Are you conspiring against me over there?" she called across the small apartment.
"Never you mind," HG called back, her grin mischievous as she waved her lover away.
Rolling her eyes, the brunette smiled to herself as she continued chopping carrots. This evening marked the end of their third day in Colorado Springs and tomorrow was her birthday. Her father had tried to convince her not to come to the store in the morning, but besides wanting to see her parents on the day of her birth, she knew that Helena had something up her sleeve and wanted to give her space to put her plan into action. Popping a slice of carrot in her mouth, she let her free hand rest against her bump and soothed over the little kicks from inside.
"I can't wait for you to meet your Mummy," she whispered to the boy making all the fuss. "She really is something."
After an evening finishing a jigsaw and promising an eight-year-old that she wouldn't stay up too late, Myka woke early Friday morning to the feel of hands stroking her arms and kisses on her shoulder.
She had anticipated something like this. Though intimacy had become effortless again and they wasted no opportunity to share even the smallest heated glance, this was the first birthday that either of them had spent together and there was no doubting that the Brit would strive to make it particularly memorable. Myka knew without a doubt that starting the day by making love would be the first thing on Helena's itinerary. She knew this because it was the first on hers.
She smiled to herself as she rose completely from her dream and captured a wandering hand with her own.
Desire surged swiftly from within as she found her lover's fingers with her lips, pulling them tight against her tongue and shivering as Helena's groan reverberated against the back of her neck. Her head turned to meet a questing mouth and she pushed the inventor's hand passed the elastic of her shorts.
A wayward thought questioned how long her lover had spent caressing her skin while she slept; her body was on fire with very little encouragement, but then Helena was moving within her and she lost all ability to think coherently. A nearby pillow caught the enthusiastic moans that fell from her lips and she rocked in time to her fiancée's thrusts before finding that peak of pleasure and falling over it.
Myka gasped for breath, tears gathering as she managed to roll over and bury her face in the hollow between Helena's neck and shoulders. Her mouth moved over smooth skin for several seconds, tasting and teasing all at the same time. Her over-stimulated nerves protested any further attempt to move however and she soon slipped back into a light sleep, the corners of her mouth curled up and her ears catching the wisps of a whispering voice...
"Happy birthday, love."
Helena pulled the car up beside one of the many other cars in the parking lot, killed the engine and leant over the divide to guide Myka's mouth to hers. She smiled as her tongue flicked against her fiancée's and the brunette groaned. Dark eyes watched teeth capturing a bottom lip and she very nearly let out a gasp. Scrambling to exit the vehicle, HG knew she needed to put as much distance between herself and her lover before she did something that got them both into a heap of trouble. "Alright then, everybody disembark!" she instructed energetically.
Christina unbuckled her seatbelt with lightning speed and jumped from the car. She opened the front passenger door and watched her Mama as she fumbled blindly with her own restraint. "I got it!" she reached over her mother's lap and pushed the release. "Hold my hand, Mama."
"You're not going to let me walk through mud, are you?" Myka wondered as she held onto the car door until she was sure that she had her balance. As much as she trusted her daughter to lead her in the right direction, she knew that a child would not necessarily be aware of the hazards along the way. The moment she felt a hand under her elbow though, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"I won't let you walk through mud," HG whispered into her lover's ear.
Myka focussed all of her energy on her remaining four senses; she felt the hands guiding her, the smell of barbecue and blossom, the taste of Helena's lipstick lingering on her lips and a dozen voices in the not too far distance. "Where are you taking me?" she hissed from the corner of her mouth.
"Hush, darling," the inventor chuckled under her breath. "You will spoil the surprise."
"As if I haven't known that you were up to something for the last month," Myka grumbled half to herself. She felt the ground change from hard concrete to springy grass and inhaled the fresh scents. Feeling a sudden bought of nerves, she forced her body to a halt. "Swear to me that you didn't try anything embarrassingly funny like, I don't know, squid surprise and a candid camera?"
"Darling, I would not attempt to make light of your phobia. Be assured, this day with be as free as cephalopods as I can possibly be expected to predict," Helena attempted to reassure her mate as she laboured pressure on the brunette's lower back to start her moving again.
"Ok, I trust you," Myka tried to sound confident.
She really did trust Helena but not being able to see what was happening around her created an underlying layer of caution over her actions. She breathed slowly in and out while trying to control her thoughts. Before long, her guide's came to a stop and she was forced to wait while they deliberated over removing her blindfold. She was seconds away from stamping her foot when gentle fingers laced through her hair and began untying the knot at the back of the cloth obstructing her vision. Light invaded her eyes and she blinked for several seconds before several things caught her attention.
The first things she saw were her fiancée's dark eyes gazing lovingly into her own and for several second all she wanted to do was bask in the light of those orbs. "Hello," she greeted as her body automatically sank into Helena's. "Are you here to wish me a happy birthday?" she teased.
HG let her lips fall over Myka's and lingered there. All sound fell away for a moment. "I believe I did that this morning," the inventor whispered.
Myka shivered at the memory of her early morning wake up before turning to look around. She glanced over an open park and a dozen figures before she realised that most of them were people she knew. "What...?" Familiar smiles and waves greeted her as she stepped hesitantly closer to the gathering. "Oh my... Helena, did you call everyone I know?"
"Happy birthday, love," HG whispered for the second time that day.
"You realise that you're raising the bar rather high for birthday standards?"
"Somehow I doubt you will have to worry about tracking down my family and friends," Helena tried to joke, unsuccessfully.
The brunette paused in her advance toward the assembled revellers and turned back towards her fiancée. "Helena, look around you. Most of your family and friends are right here." She rubbed her hands over the inventor's upper arms in a soothing motion. "We'll find a way to include anyone who can't be with us."
Helena smiled and kissed her fellow agent soundly. "Thank you, darling. I appreciate the thought. Right at this moment though, we have a rather important event to celebrate."
"Yes, Mama. Everybody's waiting," Christina reminded the brunette and resumed tugging on her arm.
Letting herself be pulled over to the waiting well-wishers, Myka's smile was almost as big as her daughter's. In the picnic area, where several tables were laden with food, drink and presents, her Warehouse family was the first to greet her, with energetic hugs all round and squeals of 'how awesome is this?' from Claudia.
Pete retreated to hover near the barbecue with Steve, Meghan, Abigail and Jason while Leena chatted serenely with Lila and made sure that there were enough provisions for all.
As Helena caught up with her, she did a swift headcount, including Artie and Vanessa and caught her lover's hand in a tight grip. "Helena, who's...?"
"Mrs Fredrick is on guard," HG soothed the brunette's worries, knowing instinctively where Myka's thoughts would lead her. "Claudia is keeping an eye on her 'app' also."
Appeased, Agent Bering returned to the celebrations, turning her attention to her blood relatives. She felt Helena slip away unobtrusively as she finished greeting her sister, brother-in-law and nephew, and met her parents.
"Hey, Dad!" She sank almost comfortably into her father's arms, surprised to see him there. "I can't believe you're here. You said you and Mom were going to mind the shop this afternoon."
"Well, Helena insisted that this was more important and I couldn't agree with her more." He glanced around at all of the people assembled. Large crowds didn't exactly make him comfortable but there was something about the affable nature of those present that allowed him to cope well with the change.
"She was right," Jeannie injected softly from her position to her husband's right. "Happy birthday, Myka." Mrs Bering held out a hand to invite her daughter closer and waited stiffly to see what she would do.
The brunette hesitated before she stepped forward and accepted the hug wordlessly. They had not crossed paths much during the week but when they had, her mother had been polite, occasionally bordering on affectionate. It was an odd situation to find herself in; receiving warmth from her father who had always kept himself at such a distance, and distance from her mother who had always been so warm. Progress was a good thing but the pace and Jeannie's stubborn refusal to accept what was right in front of her continued to hurt Myka.
If they could put their differences aside for one day, it was an acceptable step in the right direction. Maybe there was hope for them after all.
Her aunt wished her well and congratulated her on her pregnancy but skirted around the taboo topic of her relationship. Her young cousin Ryan however more than made up for his mother's reticence by gushing at Helena's coolness and Christina's brilliance. As a third year as a criminology student, he told Myka how her job as a secret service agent had motivated him to pursue a career in law enforcement.
Flattered and surprised, Myka introduced him to her Warehouse friends and advised him to talk to her fiancée about learning kenpo. He did as he was told until he became distracted by an argument between Pete and Claudia and soon got caught up in their games. The last Myka would see of him before the day's end, he would be sitting opposite the enigmatic young red-head, completely enthralled by whatever pearls of wisdom she was bestowing upon him.
Pete had already announced the first burgers to come off the barbecue by the time Myka reached the last of her guests. Before they could make a run on food, she introduced Helena and Christina to her old colleagues at the secret service. Now ravenously hungry, in her own words, it took the eight-year-old all of five seconds to offer her greeting before she asked to be excused and ran off at the sound of the cowbell.
The inventor shook hands with the now lead agent and couldn't help but notice the awkward way he shifted as he addressed them. From what Pete had told her of Myka's ex-co-workers, the only one who didn't get the nod of approval was now in jail. So what was making this man so nervous?
Myka had noticed the odd behaviour too and narrowed her eyes at her old friend. "Are you about to tell me something else about the whole Leo fiasco or do you just really need to go to the bathroom?" she joked to try to break the tension.
"No, we settled everything. Jim is behind bars and he's staying there for a long while if I have anything to say about it," he sighed. "You're as sharp as ever Bering," he conceded.
Myka felt Helena tense beside her and ran a soothing hand along her arm. "So what is it Zach?"
"Er, I don't suppose you saw my plus-one yet, did you?" He glanced over her shoulder and nodded towards the drinks table where a blonde stood talking to Leena.
Agent Bering followed his gaze automatically and felt her jaw drop. "Alison?" she asked as she looked back and caught his mildly guilty expression. "You're dating Alison?"
"Who's Alison?" HG asked, now satisfied that there was no real cause for alarm.
"Sam's ex-wife," Myka explained. "I thought I spotted her earlier but I didn't realise that she came with anyone." Turning to her fiancée, she added, "I was surprised by some of the people you invited but when I saw her I began to question your sanity."
"That one's on me," Zach admitted freely. "I wasn't sure whether to or not, but she said the two of you came to an understanding last time you met and that she's come to terms with how guilt free you are in regards to everything that happened way back when."
"Yeah," Myka said softly. Shaking off the memory, she turned again and this time caught the woman's eye. Seeing the nervous expression on her face, the agent smiled and turned back to her old friend. "It's fine. I'm glad actually. Sam cared about all of us; he'd have wanted to see us happy." She pulled her fiancée closer, to demonstrate to all watching and to remind herself that she was the happiest she had ever been.
After talking briefly with Sam's ex-wife and feeling a strange sense of satisfaction for being the more domestic of the two of them, Myka found herself dragged over to the desert table to blow out the candles on her cake.
"It's a good job we're doing this outside," she commented as she realised that all thirty-three candles to mark her age had been evenly spaced over the surface of the icing.
Presents followed and as was polite, she made sure to examine each and every one of them with careful consideration and thanked the gift-giver with a heartfelt hug. It felt awkward being watched by so many people, but thankfully some of them began to drift after seeing their own presents opened and small pockets of conversations broke out around her until she was left with her Warehouse family close by and her blood relatives a short distance away. It was only then that she truly began to feel emotional over their efforts.
Artie and Vanessa gave her tickets for The Phantom of the Opera and promised to have Christina for the evening whenever she and Helena wanted to go. Abigail had created her own compilation of soothing classical tracks for sleep, hinting that she use them to relax with now and hopefully, Freddy would find them equally soothing in the future. Leena's was a book of spa treatments, some which were again for her and Helena but most that allowed children so the whole family could indulge. Steve and Claudia had co-created a family montage, artfully designed in a timeline theme to cover any long stretch of wall and with space to grow.
Pete and Lila had also gone with the image theme and had vouchers for two professional photo shoots, one for now and another for after the baby was born. Pete had also made his own album just for him and Myka with a comic-book style cover and the story of their adventures together. She could see how much thought he'd put into it as she opened the cover and saw that he'd depicted them both as superheroes, brother and sister, the events very close to real life but easy to mistake for fiction by an outsider.
Already with tears in her eyes, Christina's first complete story 'An Arctic Adventure', self illustrated and bound with string, had the agent crying with unbridled joy. Even as Helena passed her the final gift, they all agreed that the eight-year-old's was by far the best.
Beneath heavy, textured paper, Myka found a slim black box. She felt her fiancée's hand wind around her waist and leant instinctively into the inventor's body.
"I didn't make it myself I'm afraid," HG pre-warned with something resembling shame. "Though I did design it and had it made to exacting specifications."
Myka turned her head slightly to roll her eyes at her lover's self-depreciation. "Anything you thought to get me is just over the top at this point," she gestured to their surroundings. "But I love it anyway."
Helena drifted closer so that she was almost flush against the American's back. "Open it."
Following the suggestion, Myka pulled back the hinged lid and chuckled at the familiar sight that met her eyes - her favourite candy. She felt a puff of air against the back of her neck and turned to kiss the inventor. "Made to your exacting specifications? I'll be sure to ration them."
"Look underneath them," HG urged when it seemed like her lover would close the lid.
Hesitating, Myka peeled the plastic package away to reveal a shimmer of metal. She handed her Twizzlers to Helena and gasped at what remained. "Oh, Helena," she whispered as she removed the necklace and placed the box to one side. "It's beautiful."
Though the inventor rarely wore her locket now, preferring not to carry with her a reminder of some of the worst years of her life, she still treasured the sentiment of keeping a loved one close to heart and wanted her fiancée to have her own keepsake.
The chain was thick like her own but each gold link formed a symbol for eternity. The locket itself was much lighter, its surface the shape of an ovoid clock with delicate filigree marking the general placement of numbers and hands.
On further inspection, Myka found that the catch opened smoothly, revealing a book-like inner with an extra 'page' in the centre. Enough space for each of them and their children. It snapped shut just as cleanly. She ran her fingers over the fine crafting and then turned it over to find what she had unconsciously expected – an inscription.
To my One, from your One.
To finding everlasting wonder,
Together.
Always and Forever.
Always and forever, she thought. Our past and our future. Wasting no more time, she looped the chain around her neck and pulled her fiancée into a kiss that was not nearly long enough and yet apparently acted as a signal for someone to wolf-whistle. Probably Pete. She buried her head close to the rhythmic beat of her lover's pulse and breathed deeply. "Always and forever," she whispered.
It was sometime later, after taking the opportunity to sit while scoffing two burgers and a large salad, that there were a couple of late arrivals to replace those who had had to leave early. Agent Bering greeted several old high-school acquaintances and discovered that they had heard about the party through the grapevine and decided to crash. As they had had at least one or two friendly conversations in the past, Myka was content to let them stay but she wandered back to her partner, the organiser, with a gathering frown on her forehead. It was the head of that grapevine who confused her.
"Helena, why is Kurt Smoller here?" Myka asked in an aside to her fiancée. Most of the people present made sense, even if she might not have thought of inviting them herself, but she didn't see the logic in this one.
HG frowned, sensing hesitancy in her partner's tone. "Pete said that you tutored him in high-school and that you kept in touch. Are you not friends, albeit from a distance?"
"Pete said?" Myka repeated, her eyes narrowing and searching for her friend. Finding him close by, she stuck out her neck and hissed at him, "Pete!"
The boy-wonder bounded over and threw an arm around her shoulder without noticing her expression. "'Sup birfday gurl?" he asked around the hotdog in his mouth.
"Kurt Smoller?" she asked simply, her fingers reaching to flick his ear.
Agent Lattimer flinched at the sharp pain but it was the sudden choking and laughing that made him double over for a minute while he tried to catch his breath.
"I take it I was mistaken?" Helena came to a realisation, her tone caught between annoyed and upset. She had gone to such lengths to make this event perfect.
Myka heard the underlying hurt in her lover's voice and placed a reassuring hand on the raven-haired agent's hip. "It's not a problem, he's a nice guy it's just..."
"Mykes crushed on him all through high school," Pete took over the explanation unrepentantly. He glanced over his friends' shoulders to find the man in question gazing in confusion at them. He chuckled to himself and winked at Myka. "Getting a taste of his own medicine now. Like to think I had something to do with that. The Pete-man's got skills," he added proudly, his head and upper body doing a little dance.
"He said you burped in his mouth," Myka told him as she tried not to grin at his antics. She glanced at her fiancée to find an expression of complete confusion there. "I tutored Kurt and had a huge crush on him. There was a reunion a couple of years ago and he was there. We chatted a bit, but it wasn't until I had a body swapping episode with this one," she poked Pete in the ribs, making him squeak. "That Kurt apparently decided that sport loving, tipsy, hot-wing-eating Myka was his kind of girl. Now Kurt kind of has a crush on Pete in my body, only he doesn't know that that's what happened."
"Ah," Helena responded succinctly, finally finding the humour in the situation. "In that case, the man clearly has good taste in looks and poor taste in personality."
HG wrapped her fingers through Myka's as she guided her over towards their mutual friends, trailing a frowning agent for several seconds before Pete caught the offence and cried, "Hey!"
"Keep up, Lattimer!" Myka called behind her, laughing at his indignant expression.
Happily exhausted, Myka sank into the couch back at the apartment and closed her eyes. She absorbed the quiet like a tonic and mentally thanked her sister for taking Christina out for the evening. As much as she adored her daughter's enthusiasm, she was relieved to have some time to recover from her afternoon celebrations.
Helena joined her with a pillow and a blanket, encouraging her to lie down. Myka mumbled something about checking on the progress of the mass clean-up at the park but she was insistently shushed, a hand reaching to pluck her phone from her grasp.
"All is being taken care of. Your job is to relax and enjoy." HG pulled her lover's feet into her lap and removed two striped socks one by one. Against protest, she began to run her fingers around the curves of a foot, covering the other temporarily with the blanket so it wouldn't get cold.
"I think I remember how this ends," Myka teased as she accepted her fate and sank back into the pillow with a suppressed yawn.
The inventor smiled and continued her ministrations. She watched green eyes disappear behind heavy lids and knew that there would be no repeat of that incident today. "As wonderful as that sounds, I had no intention of taking you on the couch. Not today at least," she added softly.
"I could take you on the couch," Myka offered with her eyes still closed.
Chuckling, HG watched the play of emotions on her fiancée's lips and ran the nail of her thumb intentionally over the brunette's instep to make her jump slightly. "The only thing you're going to be taking on this couch is a nap."
Agent Bering's eyes narrowed and she wriggled her foot from her partner's hands. "I won't if you do that again."
"Cease and desist your ridiculous declarations of intent then," the Brit countered as she recaptured the escaped appendage.
There was a brief battle of wills as fiery gazes met and each of them tried not to give in to the amusement that bubbled beneath the surface. Without conscious effort, eyes softened incrementally until they found themselves staring and smiling softly through an unmistakable aura of love.
With unspoken consent, Helena returned to her task and Myka watched contentedly until her eyes drifted shut once more. It didn't take long before the brunette lost the battle to stay conscious and slipped into dreamland. Despite following her daughter's edict to get a good night's rest, the day had been long and eventful; sleep came easily to her exhausted body.
She woke to the feel of hands caressing her skin again, only this time, the waking came with the sound of voices drawing nearer and she quickly realised that it must be her sister dropping Christina off. Helena offered her an apologetic smile as she pulled herself out from beneath Myka's legs and moved to open the door.
A soft 'oof' escaped the inventor as a tired but cheerful looking eight-year-old fell against her. "Hello, love," HG greeted and leant down to kiss the girl before making room for her future sister-in-law to follow them inside.
Tracy wandered to the centre of the room and stood watching her niece climb half into her sister's lap. "I think we wore them both out," she observed as the pair rocked quietly in their embrace. "All your hard work paid off," she added her congratulations, knowing that if it had been her planning the day, she'd have given up her grand ideas long ago.
"So it would seem. Christina?" she called gently as she noticed the lengthening time between her daughter's blinks.
"Mummy?" the girl responded, her head barely lifting from her Mama's shoulder.
"Come and thank Aunt Tracy before she leaves, and then we'll get ready for bed so you can fall asleep in comfort." She saw hesitancy on the girl's face; the kind of reluctance born out of feeling too tired to move. Knowing that the grumpiness would only get worse the longer they left it, she narrowed her eyes and fixed the eight-year-old with a 'now please' stare. "It won't take long and you'll appreciate it when you're done," she reasoned.
Myka gave her daughter a prod, encouraging her to move. "You know she's right," she whispered.
Christina flopped from the couch and hugged her aunt. "Thank you for taking me to dinner," she said sweetly as she looked up into soft, brown eyes.
"You're very welcome young lady. It was a pleasure to have you with us." Tracy kissed her niece's cheek and released her to HG's care. "We'll have to do it again before you guys go back home," she promised and watched a pleased smile disappear in the direction of the bathroom. She exchanged a farewell with the inventor before she was left alone with her sister.
"Thank you for helping out today." Myka pushed herself from the couch and stretched, her hands reaching automatically for her lower back. "I can't believe how many people came."
"I was surprised at first," the younger sibling admitted. "But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Kids in high school might not have seen it, but all those people today respect you, they like you and lots of them love you. You've become this confident woman who knows what she wants and doesn't apologise for it." She chuckled as she watched her sister's face contort between disbelieving and bashful. "It's true. People are attracted to that. You're near the top of the social ladder now and you don't even realise it. You probably don't even care," Tracy added ruefully. "Did you ever think you'd see the day when you were more popular than me?"
Myka rolled her eyes finally and shook her head. "You're either crazy or a bad liar. I'm just lucky to have met a lot of good people."
Tracy smiled but knew better than to try to argue. "I'm glad you had a good time today, Myka. I think even Mom is starting to see how good Helena is for you."
"Definitely crazy," the agent chuckled and drew her sister into a hug. "But we can hope."
Both Christina and Helena returned from the bathroom wearing their pyjamas. Myka locked the door behind her sister and wandered into hers and HG's bedroom to fetch her nightgown. Dressed comfortably with nowhere else to go, the three of them snuggled back on the couch, the inventor in the middle with a book in hand.
Myka couldn't remember a birthday she had enjoyed more than this one. Even her seventh birthday party when other children had turned up and there had been cake, presents and games in the sun-streaked garden, it couldn't compare to the bliss of this day. Every part of that feeling had to do with the two people sitting with her.
So, more of Tracy being awesome and Jeannie being stubborn but showing promise. Any other thoughts you'd like to share, I'm happy to listen to.
Up next... Christina takes playing at being a shop assistant to another level.