Dearka & Miriallia
Book II
Author's Note: I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed some time off. And here is the newest chapter. I hope you guys like it. Hugs!!!
Disclaimer: It is obvious by now if I'm here that I do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny or any other Gundam Series. But any characters I create to place in this world are mine (But I don't mind if you guys want to use them too. I have no problem with that. You don't even need to ask me. I enjoy sharing to make other stories the best they can be.)
Chapter 26
Relaxation
Early Afternoon…
A chime was heard throughout the house making heads turn. Miriallia stood up from her spot on the bottom stair leaving Kelley where she was. Looking at her mother from across the room she saw her nod in agreement. It made Mr. Haw grunt in agitation turning back to his search for decent programming on the television.
She cautiously made her way to the door. It was finally time, she was going to see him again after two long months. There was so much she wanted to tell him and so many things she had left unsaid from the past few days. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
There he was, finally, with the ever so handsome smirk lining his features. She stood there almost in a state of disbelief. It was really him; the only thing between them was silence and the doorway.
"At the risk of sounding cliché; hi honey, I'm home," he said breaking the silence and making her smile expand.
The excitement took over her and she ran into his arms. He felt the collision into his pained body but held back his complaints except for a small grunt that she hadn't even noticed.
His arms felt so warm and welcoming and she felt him quickly tilt her chin up to look straight into her gorgeous eyes. Gently he leaned down and kissed her fully on the lips, the passion growing between them.
Before anyone else had a chance to interrupt their intense long-awaited reunion, their lips parted. Dearka had heard a sound that had been a long time coming for him. "Daddy!" Belle cried running to the door, practically knocking her mother out of the way.
Dearka caught Miriallia from falling back with one hand and helped Belle jump into his arms with the other. Once Miriallia was secured and able to regain her balance he dropped his connection with her in order to adjust Belle.
"Hi sweetheart," he replied looking at the little girl who was nuzzling against his chest.
He missed feeling her in his arms and putting her to bed at nights. In one short year, she had become his entire world. "To think, it wasn't that long ago that I didn't even know you existed," he thought holding her tighter.
"Daddy, are you staying?" she asked with the apparent increase in her vocabulary and grammar. He had only been gone two months, but the development of her speech made it seem like years.
"For a bit," he replied as he held her close.
"Hey, if you plan on staying, why don't you stop wasting the heat and close the door already," Mr. Haw said with his usual irritation.
"Well it's good to see you haven't changed. I was beginning to wonder with everything that's happened, what was ever going to tether me back to the way things used to be to make me feel more comfortable?" Dearka said with sarcasm as he walked in the door.
Miriallia looked up again and noticed the young woman behind Dearka. She shyly moved forward but kept her head up and eyes forward. Miriallia walked by Dearka and extended her hand. "You must be Cadey. My name is Miriallia and it's nice to finally meet you," Miriallia said kindly, but even Dearka could hear the slight uncertainty in her voice.
"No, the pleasure is all mine," Cadey replied accepting Miriallia's welcome.
"Please come in. I'm sure having Kelley here will make your stay more comfortable with us," Miriallia said trying to break the ice a bit.
"Thank you," Cadey said feeling Dearka's eyes on her now too as he twisted his head to see their exchange.
At that same moment Belle peeked around her father at the other voice she recognized. "Cadey!" she cried out happily.
The declaration made Miriallia bite her lower lip and cringe a little. Luckily for her, Dearka was the only one who noticed. Cadey and Kelley had both looked to Belle when she called out.
Quickly, Belle pushed herself out of her fathers' grip and slid down to the floor. Her patent leather shoes clapping on the floor as she ran over to give the young woman a hug. "Hey there sweetie," she answered lifting her up and giving her the hug she had been looking for.
"Are you going to stay here with us too?" Belle asked excitedly.
"Well of course I am. I came to see how you were doing after all," Cadey stated making Belle even happier.
"I missed you so much," Belle replied still hugging her.
Dearka could see how hurt Miriallia was by Belle's words and was impressed with how well she was handling it. He could tell how all she wanted to do was yell at their little girl to not be excited from this woman's visit, but she held her tongue. "You really are something else," he thought with a smile.
"Kelley, why don't you show Cadey to one of the guest rooms," Dearka said in an attempt to stop the awkward feeling he knew was torturing Miriallia.
"Yes sir," she answered staying in her own character now making him the awkward feeling one. Other than at the hospital for a split moment, he hadn't engaged with Kelley in such a formal setting. It was quite different from what he remembered when she used to be glued to Cadey's side tormenting him.
"Thank you Kelley," Miriallia said trying to extend the same consideration Dearka had just done for her.
Cadey put Belle down and picked up her bag again. "I'll see you later, okay kiddo," she replied to the disappointed girl. Belle hadn't wanted to be put down yet and made it evident by her frown.
"Can I go with you too?" Belle asked changing her tone to a happy one.
"If your mother says you can," Cadey replied leaving the ball in Miriallia's court.
"Mommy, mommy, can I please?" Belle ran over to her as she jumped up and down and begged.
Miriallia shook the cobwebs out of her head and plastered a false smile on her face. "Of course, just don't get in her way though, okay?" Miriallia said giving her daughter permission to follow.
"I won't I promise," Belle squeaked as she headed off to follow the two girls up the stairs.
When Dearka was sure they were out of earshot, he looked back at her. "Sorry about that, I know it had to hurt a little," he answered her look.
Miriallia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she let it out, her eyes reopened and a real smile filled her features as she shook her head gently from side-to-side.
"No worries, I'll be okay. Besides, it's only temporary and in the end, she was probably more open to her than I was back then," Miriallia admitted.
"Well, I'm going to get back in the kitchen to start prepping dinner. It's good to see you are home Dearka and doing well," Mrs. Haw spoke up, walking over to him for a hug.
"Thank you for taking care of them while I was gone. You don't know how much it means to me, knowing they are all safe when I'm away," he said returning her hug.
As they parted, he felt Mr. Haw glaring at him again. "You have something else you want to say?" Dearka said becoming defensive.
Miriallia shot a look at her father that told him to behave. "Just for the children's sake and Miriallia's as well, I'm glad you weren't hurt," he stated roughly as turned back around to the television.
Dearka was taken off guard by his comment. "Uh, thank you," he said leaving it at that. The last thing he wanted to do was turn a positive from that man into a negative.
Miriallia jumped back to life and grabbed his hand. "Come on, I want to show you around," she said sounding as excited as their daughter had been earlier.
"Wait, before that, where's Nora?" he asked noticing she wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Napping. Come on, let's take advantage of it while we can, there's so much I want to show you," Miriallia replied.
Dearka's face dropped with some disappointment of his own. Mr. Haw had turned around again to see the exchange between his daughter and son-in-law. "Don't worry, you'll have all night to hold her. She doesn't like to sleep at night," he said with a sadistic grin knowing it would ruin anything romantic the two may plan.
"Honestly, leave the two of them alone," Mrs. Haw called from the kitchen in the distance.
Dearka smiled realizing what Mr. Haw was worried about and decided to hit him back. "I guess I can see her later then. Why don't we start the tour in our bedroom? I want to know how the bed feels," Dearka replied now pulling at Miriallia.
Miriallia laughed when she saw her father sink into the couch, grumbling under his breath. "Sure, let's start with our bedroom. It sounds like the most fun place to start," she answered playing Dearka's game and teasing her father.
Miriallia took the lead back from Dearka and walked up the stairs with him never releasing his hand. Everything about them together in the house finally felt right to her. She no longer cared that they were forced to marry the way they had been or that they were living in a house they didn't pick themselves. She was determined to take back control of their relationship from both sides of the family.
They walked down the long hallway and Dearka looked at all the doors. "This place is huge," he proclaimed.
"Yeah, I think it's almost as big as your home on Februarius 1," Miriallia stated as she stopped and opened the door to their new bedroom.
"Huh?" Dearka asked confused with his brow furrowed. To his knowledge she hadn't ever seen his home.
Miriallia opened the door they had stopped in front of and stepped in. The dark drapes allowed next to no light into the room. As Miriallia hit the switch on the wall, his eyes widened. "When did you?" he began to ask.
"Last week, after I spoke with you. I hope you're not mad at me," she said pulling him through the door.
"But how did you ever get them to let go?" he asked seeing things around the room that had once decorated his own bedroom.
"I have my ways," she said with a seductive smile. As he walked around he saw most of his furniture lining the room. Although there were plenty of new items, Miriallia had made sure to match the design exactly.
She closed the door, hit the lock and watched as he moved around the room. It wasn't like he had a run of the mill bedroom set. He came from an abundance of wealth and even if Miriallia didn't want to admit it, his mother had good taste and spared no expense even in her teenage sons' room.
"You do like it, don't you? I mean, it's not something you never wanted to see again, right?" she asked now feeling uncomfortable.
"Well yeah, oddly enough I picked out this stuff myself," he replied remembering when he was younger.
"You did?" Miriallia asked surprised. She had just been thinking it was his mothers' design and was shocked that he actually chose it.
"Well, I only had so many options, but I always liked this stuff," he answered jumping on the bed.
Miriallia moved closer when she saw his face. "Yes, I did replace the mattress. I hope you're not angry about that either," she answered the look.
"No, not angry at all. In fact, it had seen better days," he replied with a smirk.
Miriallia put her hands on her hips and huffed at him. She knew exactly what he was insinuating and in the end it was exactly the reason she bought a new mattress. She didn't want any other woman to have been in their bed.
"I also got rid of the sheets," she said as she walked over still annoyed.
"I don't doubt it. Come here already," he said laughing softly at her jealousy.
She moved closer to him until she was standing in front of him. He looked up at her beautiful features and noticed she was no longer smiling. "Hey baby, what's the matter?" he asked with concern.
"I wanted to tell you how sorry I am," she replied with sadness in her voice.
He looked at her, his brow now furrowed again. He tried to make sense of her change in emotion. "What are you sorry for?" he asked not sure what it was about.
"The requiem and those six PLANT colonies that were destroyed. I didn't want to say anything over the phone when Kelley told me you were still coming. You seemed so upset and sad a couple of days ago that I didn't want to add to anything you were feeling. I just… I just wanted you to know how sorry I was too and how happy I am that you and Yzak are all right," she replied with tears now streaming down her cheeks.
She knew his ship was in part of the battle. They had televised it all over PLANT and all she could do was watch knowing her husband was out there fighting to protect them all.
"You really are a sweetheart, aren't you?" he asked reaching up to wipe away her tears. He pulled her down next to him on the bed and held her close.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. You weren't the one who pulled the trigger. If I've learned anything from being with you, it's that just because you happen to be a Natural, it doesn't mean you are the same as the ones doing these heinous acts. And I've also known, ever since you stopped that girl from shooting me, that's the same way you felt about me," he answered feeling her nestle herself into his chest and embrace.
"Still, it feels like it did back then and I just don't want to lose anyone else," she said with her face buried.
Dearka's eyes softened at her kindness. He had never known anyone else so caring and concerned for others. She was indeed a rare find and he had no intention of letting her slip from his grasp.
"I know this may sound selfish, but maybe we should leave the tragedy outside the door and focus on us. I think, all things considered, we've earned that much. Besides with things as heated up as they are, I may be back on that shuttle in a matter of hours and I want to enjoy every moment with you," he said trying to lighten the mood.
She nodded her head in agreement as she looked up to meet his gaze. He tenderly moved in for a kiss and felt her hands run up his chest. As they fell back on the bed, she felt him cringe under her.
"What happened? Did I hurt you?" she asked now slightly panicked and moving out of his embrace.
"No, no," he replied sitting up himself and feeling the pain ravaging his body again. Whenever he sat still, he was fine and even on their walk upstairs he hadn't noticed much pain, but the minute any added weight was on his body, he felt his muscles and flesh burning.
"Then what's wrong?" she asked twisting her head in bewilderment.
"So, it's a funny story actually," he said half giggling.
She raised an eyebrow at him, knowing what his giggling actually meant. He was embarrassed about something. "So, what did you do?" Miriallia asked with the hint of blame in her voice.
"Why do you assume everything is my fault?" he asked defensively.
"Because it usually is," she replied nonchalantly.
"Fine, I told Cadey about me and Kelley and she was, at the time, in Scarlet's stall," he began.
"Scarlet?" Miriallia asked with more annoyance that he was so friendly with Cadey's pet.
"You know, no matter how angry you get, it isn't going to change the fact that Cadey and I actually had a relationship at one point," he snipped at her as the pain worsened a little.
"Alright, what happened then?" she questioned in order to change the subject, not wanting to be reminded of the girl in the other wing of the house.
"Well, I told her, she got upset and startled the horse. You know how protective I can be, so I grabbed her as quickly as I could and threw her toward the stall door. Unfortunately, I didn't get out as quickly and Scarlet knocked me over. I took a pretty bad hit. So Cadey called the family doctor to check me out and I was given some medicine for the pain, but I haven't taken any yet," he admitted.
"Why wouldn't you take the medication?" she asked in frustration.
"Because I'm sure it's a muscle relaxant and that's the last thing I would want to take with just Cadey around," Dearka stated.
"Touché," Miriallia replied.
"So, maybe we can get the medicine from my bags downstairs and try this rendezvous again?" he asked with the most handsome grin on his face.
"I can call down," she replied standing up and walking to their bedside.
"Call down, huh? You're getting awfully comfortable having people attend to your every need," he said laughing at her.
"Well, why not? In the end, my mother and I still do a lot around the house and I'm always busy with Annabella and Nora. So why not take advantage of having this staff your father hired? It's why they're here, right; so he looks like the good guy when our marriage quote, unquote falls apart?" Miriallia questioned.
"I guess you're right. Too bad he's got another thing coming when it comes to us falling apart," he said with a smile.
The phone clicked on the other end as a staff member answered the call. "Can you have Lt Elsman's bags brought up to the bedroom please?" Miriallia ordered politely.
"Yes ma'am, right away," the young woman answered.
"Thank you," Miriallia replied before hanging up the phone.
Miriallia looked over at Dearka. "What?" she asked noticing him staring at her.
"You have no idea what I want to do with you right now," he responded. She had been unknowingly biting her bottom lip in thought while she was waiting for someone from the staff to answer the phone. And the way she was leaning on the bedside table made her look so sexy that he was having trouble focusing.
"Somehow, I'm sure I know what you are planning in that dirty mind of yours," she answered as they waited for the bags.
"Not to kill the mood, but I almost forgot to ask before. Are you okay to do this?" he asked curiously.
"Maybe that's something I should be asking you," she answered back.
Dearka smiled at her. "As soon as I take the medication, I can guarantee that it's more than okay," he insinuated for some of the effects of the drug.
She laughed at his comment and went into the bathroom to get a glass of water ready. He sat patiently waiting for her answer and the bags. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't want me to…"
She exited the bathroom and handed him the water glass placing her finger up to his mouth in order to shush him. "You don't have to do anything. I'm okay and I have everything under control," she told him.
The sound of a knock at the door pulled her away from him. She answered it and allowed their family's butler to bring the bags in. "Will there be anything else, Mrs. Elsman?" he asked politely.
"No thank you Marcus, we'll be all right," Miriallia responded.
"As you wish," he replied with a bow.
When the door closed again, Dearka tilted his head at her. "Don't worry, the more you're here, the more you'll get to know them," Miriallia stated.
"That's not why I'm looking at you like this," Dearka countered.
Miriallia twisted her head in his direction and blinked perplexed. Without answering his concern, she bent down and began going through his bags for the prescription.
"It's in the front pocket and I'm waiting for an answer," he declared.
"I… was able to see someone," she said.
"I'm listening," he replied.
"It's nothing bad, I just wanted to take a break from having children so my mother had my OB/GYN fly here. There aren't many options in PLANT because of the child bearing issue, so I had to call in a favor from my homeland," she said matter-of-factly.
When she found the bottle, she brought it over to her husband. She opened it and gave him the pill. After he swallowed it, she took the water glass and placed it on the nightstand.
"Did you ever think that maybe it was something we should have discussed and decided on together?" he asked in annoyance.
"No because in the end, it's my decision," she snipped.
"I'm not saying this for the reasons you think I am. I'm not against being protected, especially with our history. But I am against you taking any medications without knowing all the side effects due to what the EAF did to you. Not to mention, what if one of the side effects is that it doesn't even work on you anymore because of the drugs that were forced into your body?" Dearka asked concerned.
"I understand what you're saying, but sometimes I don't think you give me enough credit. Everything was done under the supervision of the doctor still treating me here and I've been tested to make sure the birth control is doing its' job. I've pretty much been on it since I got here. I made sure to get things moving right away so I'd be ready when this day finally arrived. I'm am officially 99.9% safe," she teased with the accuracy.
"And you said, you want to take a break, huh?" he asked now reading into her other comment.
"I…" she paused.
"Don't worry Mir, if you want more kids in the future, then I do too," he replied.
"Are you sure?" she asked. It was the first time they really discussed anything they wanted from life other than when they were on Orb discussing their possible living arrangements before the agreement happened.
"I'm sure I want everything you want," he said smiling and grabbing her hand.
"And if I said I want ten more, that wouldn't worry you?" she asked teasing him.
"Then ten you'll have. Although, I'm pretty sure that isn't anywhere near the number you want, so I'm not really that worried," he joked.
She couldn't help but laugh with him. "So how many do you think you do want?" he asked now being more serious.
"I don't know if I'll want anymore at all, but I didn't want to take away our option if in the end we decided we both wanted more. All I know is that I want to be with you all the time and without anything between us. I don't want to be watching calendars or playing the 'is it safe' game. I just want to be free to be with you whenever and wherever we want to be," she answered.
"Just remember there's always that .1% chance," he said knowingly.
"And if it's meant to be, even with every precaution, it's meant to be," she replied leaning down for a kiss.
"I just want to be absolutely sure, if anything happened you wouldn't be upset over more children," he said in between kisses.
She pulled away realizing why he was so curious. "You really do want more, don't you?" she asked.
"I agree with you that now isn't the time. I mean Nora's only two months old and although we have two children, we're still young. But I guess, in a few years, I wouldn't mind another one," he admitted.
"Well look at you, you are more of a family man than even I had pegged you for," she said smiling.
"I don't know. I've never felt this way before, but having you and the girls in my life really does make me finally feel complete," he said gently.
"No, I think it's more than that," Miriallia replied tapping him playfully.
"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.
"I think, what you really want is to not be so completely outnumbered by your three girls," she said getting to the heart of the matter.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said with a smirk and pulling her in to him.
"I guess though, if you really want us to have a baby boy someday, we should make sure we keep practicing until we're both ready again," she said seductively.
"Mrs. Elsman, you're trying to seduce me," Dearka teased as he dragged her down to the bed and began to kiss the woman he'd been away from for far longer than he would have preferred.
Author's Preview: No preview this time guys, sorry – not sure which path I'm taking at my proverbial fork in the road. :) Please read and review for me so I can continue on my happy way.