Chapter 73: Supermarket Sweep

"A house is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body." – Margaret Fuller

"If it was not for guests all houses would be graves." – Kahlil Gibran


Sydney pulled into the grocery store parking lot and ran in, in a hurry. After spending over half a day away from Vaughn, she very much wanted nothing better than to go home and see him. She pulled a cart hurriedly out of the cart stalls and went through the automatic doors.

She made mental notes to herself of things she needed to pick up and made her first stop at the produce section.

She picked out various items and them moved on to the other sections and aisles of the store.

She made sure to get milk and a couple different kinds of juices, and picked out stuff that would be easy for Vaughn to eat without utensils. When she got to the check out, she realized she'd gone a little overboard, but she missed him all day and wanted to be able to be even EXTRA nice to him when she got home. Plus, she had to break it to him that Dr. Barnett was coming over, so she'd better have some good news.

The kid in the check out line looked at her rather strangely, but he couldn't have been more than 16, so Sydney didn't really pay any attention.

Finally, it seemed the kid couldn't hold back any longer, "You got a lot of kids lady?" he asked.

She turned to the boy, "No, why you wanna come over and eat at my house?"

The boy turned instantly red, but Sydney smiled, making sure that he knew she wasn't being mean.

Once through the check out line, she maneuvered her cart to the car, loaded it up with even more bags and went on her merry way home.

She admittedly sped all the way home, hoping that no cops were tailing her or were hiding from view around corners.

She looked at her watch when she pulled into the driveway; it was 5:27. She hoped that Amélie hadn't made dinner yet.

She walked up the path, carrying several bags and rather ceremoniously opened the door. She could hear voices just inside and called out a "Help!" to get someone over to the door.

Will's head appeared around the side of one of the bags and he lifted them out of her arms.

"Thank you!" she said, relieved to be rid of the bags.

"Are there more in the car?" he asked.

"Yeah, anything not in a grocery bag can go in my room," she smiled broadly, "If you don't mind…"

He smiled, "No…I'm a guy…I'm here to do the heavy lifting…"

She laughed and moved past him, walking into the house. She said hello to Francie and Amélie and she spotted Vaughn on the couch, looking rather comfortable, but he smiled just as widely back at her when he saw her.

She bounded over like she hadn't seen him in weeks and kissed him like they hadn't kissed in that long either, although it had only been hours.

"Mmm…I missed you," she said, nuzzling his nose as she arranged herself next to him on the couch.

"I missed you too…" he said.

Will came in with armloads of bags, "Jesus Syd! What'd you do, buy the whole store?"

Sydney smiled as Vaughn raised an eyebrow at her, "Later," she said and he nodded.

Will had to make one more trip out to the car to get all the bags in the house.

Amélie was seated across from the couple, "So, what did you do today Sydney?"

"Well…" she started, "I went to the gym and then I went to the mall and then I went to work for awhile, and then I went to the grocery store…then I came home…"

"You went to work?" Vaughn asked.

"Yeah, I stopped in because I couldn't come up with anywhere else to go…just to check in, see what was going on."

"Oh," Vaughn said.

She was going to say something else, to ask him why he thought that was strange, but she didn't get the chance because Will popped back in the living room.

"Well, now that I'm done being the carrier mule…did you tell Vaughn about the project?"

Sydney smiled, "You just willingly called yourself an ass, and no, I didn't, but I'll have to tell him now, won't I?" She shook her head, "So much for the surprise…"

"Oh…I'm sorry…" he said genuinely.

"Nah, I'm just messing with ya' Duckie…"

Will dropped his head, "Man…you are so mean…"

They laughed as he walked off again, back into the kitchen.

Sydney was just about to start telling Vaughn about work when Francie's voice yelled from the kitchen, "Sydney, be nice to Will…he says you're being mean…"

Sydney laughed, "Tell Duckie I'm sorry…"

Francie laughed and that was the end of Will's complaining.

Sydney started, "I went to work to check stuff out, and my dad and I had been talking about bringing work home for the last few days…and he had it in his office, so I brought it home…"

"Ok."

"It was actually Will's idea – we can work on stuff here…if you want to, if you feel up to it…" Sydney added.

Vaughn smiled, "What would we be doing?"

"A lot of it is research and analysis…" she left off, trying to get him to understand they shouldn't talk about it anymore now.

"Cool," he said smiling.

She smiled in response and kissed him again, "I really missed you…"

"Me too…"

Amélie cleared her throat.

"But mom took real good care of me…and we had lots of fun…" he said smiling over at his mother.

She smiled back, "Thank you!"

Sydney laughed, "So what did you two do while I was away?"

"We read…and mom made me grilled cheese and tomato soup…" he grinned.

Sydney thought he looked adorable, "Well, you must have been a good little boy then."

"Yes, he was good," Amélie said, "He ate all his lunch and he took his medicine like a good boy…and he fell asleep like he usually did when I read to him."

Sydney smiled, "You did?"

"Uh huh…" he said, nine year old shining through.

"That's sweet…you're so adorable," she said leaning down and nuzzling his nose. Then she backed away and ruffled his hair.

"Ok…let's pretend I'm not a little boy anymore, ok?" he said.

Both Sydney and Amélie laughed at the distress on his face.

"No honey, you're all man…" she said winking.

Amélie shook her head, "Ok…I'm going into the kitchen…I didn't need to hear that…"

This time it was Sydney and Vaughn who laughed as his mother walked out.

Once alone, Sydney smiled and gave him a proper kiss to show him how much she'd missed him.

"Wow…I guess you really did miss me…"

"Yup…"

"So you gonna tell me what's in all those bags?"

"Well…I'll tell you about my time at the mall…"

"What about work?"

"Yeah…I'll get to that."

"Ok."

"Anyway, I went to the mall after the gym, and well…I missed you…and I was in a really strange mood."

"Why?"

"I guess a lot of frustration got let out at the gym…and then I was just thinking way too much."

"About?"

"About you…about what happened, about how much I hate he-who-will-not-be-named."

Vaughn smiled, "You feeling guilty again?"

Sydney looked embarrassed, "Yeah…I just hate that I go out and you stay here…I mean you move from the couch to the bed…and from the bed to the couch…and once in awhile you get to go to a lawn chair or the bathroom…I mean…I just want you to be able to go with me…I feel bad that I can go and you can't."

"We've been over this…"

"Well that doesn't change the way I feel."

"You don't need to feel guilty."

"Well, at any rate, I did…and I was getting really depressed–"

Vaughn cut her off, "Aw…Syd…I…I'm sorry…you shouldn't have to feel that way…"

"No – let me finish…I was really depressed because I saw all the places you and I went before this happened, the coffee shop and the book store…everything reminded me of you…and I was pretty much going to leave, but I passed this men's clothing store, and I saw this shirt that I thought would look just yummy on you," she stopped when she saw him smile, and then continued, "so I went in and the clerk decided it was her personal mission to assist me, so we pretty much picked out a whole bunch of clothes for you…"

"You bought me clothes?"

"Yeah…well…I mean, you don't have that many here…and…well…it made me feel better…"

"Buying me clothes made you feel better?"

"I think it was more the idea that I was buying it because I love you…and I missed you…and I was thinking about you…and that made me happy…"

He smiled.

"And then of course I bought something for myself, and then I was really happy…"

He laughed.

"But that's for you too," she said raising her eyebrows.

"Oh it is?"

"Yup…but that'll have to wait until later…you can look at the clothes then too and see if I'm way off on anything."

"I'm sure you're not…"

"Well, you should still check…oh…" Sydney thought suddenly, really wishing she didn't have to reveal the next part, "about work…"

"Yeah?"

"Well…I got the work from my dad, which you can totally help with too…"

"That'll be good…at least I can feel somewhat useful…"

She smacked him lightly on the arm, "Hey – I find you VERY useful…"

He smiled, "And?"

"Well…that's the good part…there's a bad part too…well not BAD…but…well…you aren't gonna like it."

"What?" he asked, looking at her intently.

"I sort of ran into Dr. Barnett…"

"Oh," Vaughn said, not really looking surprised, but his reaction was hard to read.

"She's coming over on Friday to see you…"

"Why?"

"She just wants to check in…make sure you're doing ok…"

"Is that all?" he asked sensing more.

She sighed, "Well…she pried the whole incident from a few days ago out of me…"

He groaned, shifting uncomfortably already.

"Hey, listen…she's not taking you away from me either ok? She just wants to talk to you about some stuff…you know…maybe it'll help…" Sydney offered.

Vaughn looked unconvinced, "why can't I just talk to you?"

She smiled, "I tried that one too…but what she said Vaughn, it was true…she said that I'm not a trained professional, and I'm not…I can listen and I can try to make you feel better, but let's face it…sexual healing is not going to solve all of your problems…she'd not interested in the physical injuries, she concerned about your emotional ones…the psychological ones…"

"I know that…"

"Well…"

"You do a good job Sydney…I don't feel like I need to talk to someone else," he stated.

She smiled gently, "Look," she made sure her voice sounded soothing, "I love you…and I want to help you…and I love talking to you…and I couldn't be happier that you tell me everything. And I don't want it to stop. I can handle whatever you tell me…but for your own sake, and if you ever want to go back to work, you're going to have to talk to her. It's not going to be easy, I know…but will you at least try? If not for yourself, than for me?" she asked hopefully.

He just looked her in the eyes for a few moments and for a fleeting second, she thought that maybe he wouldn't agree.

He lowered his head and averted his gaze and she thought for sure that she'd lost him.

He said quietly, "Ok…I'll do it…"

She smiled and kissed him, "I know you're gonna worry about it now, but really, she's pretty easy to talk to…and she promised to be gentle."

He turned to her again, a questioning look in his eyes.

"I made her promise…" she admitted, "and I think she got my drift that if she hurt you in any way, I'd kick her ass."

Vaughn laughed, "That's my girl…"

"You bet it is," she said, joining in his laughter and kissing him gently.

"So how fast can we make everyone go away so I can be alone with you and get my presents?"

"Patience little Michael," she said smiling and kissing him slowly.

His eye brow raised, "I love it when you call me Michael…"

"I know," she said.

They could hear the rest of the group coming nearer and Vaughn pulled her closer for a minute, "I really missed you too…my mom being here was nice…lunch and reading were nice…but you're much better at keeping me occupied."

She smiled, "Soon…"

Francie, Will and Amélie trailed in with plates of food and drink. The dinner hour was a relaxed atmosphere, what Sydney thought was the perfect fit for Vaughn. He seemed settled and genuinely happy despite all the things she knew wore on his mind.

She enjoyed watching him interact with his mother and their friends, and both Sydney and Vaughn enjoyed Francie and Will getting to know his mother better.

After dinner and clean up, Amélie announced that she would be going home that night.

Everyone protested, saying that staying another night would be nice and it would be easier to leave in the morning, but she insisted that she would be fine. She also added a comment about nights in the noisy household, which made Vaughn and Sydney blush immensely and left Will and Francie slightly confused. Thankfully for Vaughn and Sydney's sake, they didn't press the issue.

Amélie excused herself to go pack up her things and Sydney followed after her a few minutes later.

"Amélie?" she asked, poking her head into the room.

"Yes dear?" Amélie said turning to face Sydney.

"I wanted to thank you for coming to see Michael and for staying with him today…letting me have a break."

"It was my pleasure Sydney. I really enjoyed spending the whole day with him. I've missed him…"

"I'm sure you have," Sydney said sweetly. She then added, "Well…feel free to stop by again whenever you want…I'm sure Michael would love to see you more often now that he can."

"Oh…we'll see about that…he might get tired of me!" she said chuckling.

"Well, I certainly enjoyed having you here…and I'm really glad I finally got to meet you…"

"Me too Sydney."

They shared a hug and then they moved out to the living room together.

Amélie said her goodbyes to Will and Francie and then moved over to the couch, sitting down next to her son.

"Well Michael…I certainly hope you'll pick up the phone now once in a while to tell me what's going on? Keep me updated?"

"I will mom…"

"Good…I'll come by sometime next week to check up on you, ok?"

"That'd be great…" he said smiling.

"Ok…you take care now…be good," she said, kissing his forehead and giving him a gentle hug. "I love you Michael."

"I love you too mom."

She got up from the couch and hugged Sydney one last time, "You take good care of him now."

"I will," Sydney said.

"I know," Amélie replied. She kneeled down by Donovan before leaving, scratching his ears as his tail wagged happily. She had spent some time with him while Michael was sleeping. He bounded to the door with her and she turned, waving and closing the door behind her as she went. Donovan stared at the door for a minute and then moved back to the hall, finding his bed.