The Tegan Chronicles

Thicker than Blood 12

"You've been awfully quiet." Tegan pulled Janet's suitcase off the conveyor belt in luggage claim and sat it at her feet.

Janet pointed to Tegan's suitcase as it came through the shoot. "Are you going back to work?"

"Is that what's been bugging you?" She smiled and reached for her suitcase. "I'm taking my leave. You?"

"Same." Janet let out a small sigh of relief as she spotted Cassie coming towards them. "Did you have any problems getting here?"

"No." Cassie handed the keys to Tegan. "Why'd you come back early?"

"Well..." Tegan looked at Janet and grinned. "We did everything we wanted to do in Hawaii."

"Gross." Cassie rolled her eyes.

"What's gross?" Janet asked.

"You guys had make up sex." She gave a knowing smile.

"What do you know about make up sex?"

"I'm not twelve any more mom."

"And you've..."

"No!" Cassie blushed. "It's in all the good movies."

"Yeah Janet, it's in all the 'good' movies." Tegan winked.

"So?" Cassie asked. "You guys are cool?"

Tegan nodded.

"Of course." Janet put her arm around Cassie. "What do I always tell you?"

"That love is thicker than blood."

"You're restless." They'd been home two days.

"I'm not restless." Tegan blew in Gallagher's ear causing him to turn and glare briefly at her.

"Yes, you are."

Tegan licked her lips carefully focusing on the tuft of gray-white fur in his ear, she pursed her lips and exhaled a steady stream at her target. He flicked his ear and turned batting at her face with his paw. It was a soft warning with his claws retracted. She smiled.

"You're tormenting the cat."

Tegan shrugged. "It's fun."

"You never tormented Shadow."

She frowned lightly. "Why don't we go out tonight? We can leave pizza money with Cassie."

"Go where?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Somewhere nice for dinner."

"Sure, just let me know what to wear."

"Something sexy." Tegan grinned.

"Not too sexy, Cassie will be here when we get back."

"I know." Tegan nodded.

Tegan came down stairs wearing a green sparkly cocktail dress.

"Nice threads." Cassie looked up from her science project as Tegan walked into the dinning room.

"Where's your mom?"

"Right here." Janet stepped out of her office wearing a strappy black dress that stopped at the knee.

"You know that look you said the stewardess on our flight to Hawaii was wearing?"

"Yeah?"

"This," she pointed to herself, "is that look."

Janet grinned.

When their dinner orders arrived Tegan cut into her steak and looked over at Janet's lobster and filet mignon. "Do you believe in an afterlife?"

Janet looked up wondering where the question had come from. "I don't know, you've been to the brink and back enough times, I thought maybe you could tell me."

Tegan shrugged as she swallowed a mouthful of baked potato.

"Why'd you ask?"

"When I was.." She poked a piece of steak with her fork. "Before I regained consciousness, I... I dreamt about Shadow, and my grandmother. It was, it was so real."

Janet nodded, a flicker of sadness in her eyes.

"What?"

"What did you talk to her about?"

"I asked her if I was dying."

"What did she tell you?"

"That the rest of the journey was up to me."

Janet nodded. "Aside from when I was on the beach and couldn't save you from the shark did you dream about me?"

Tegan was cutting into her steak and froze. "Why?"

"You told me goodbye, and to this day I don't believe for a second it was a dream. I could feel you, and when I opened my eyes I could still smell you in my quarters."

"Always and forever."

Janet nodded. "That's how long..."

"I'll love you." Tegan smiled lightly as her mobile rang. She pulled her phone out and hit the answer button. "Kiser. - Yes she is. - We'll be there."

"Rain check on dessert?"

"Yeah, we're being called to base."