Hi, *hides behind a desk*
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Once again RosalieThropp, I love you!
The sun returned to the beach house as usual that Sunday morning. Small rays of sun searched its way through the dim windows to the end of the couch where Nikita sat and read a book. She had concentrated expression as her eyes bore into the book she held on her now not so small baby bump. Without tearing her eyes away from the book, she took a sip from her cup of tea as she flipped through the pages in a slow pace.
"And what are you doing up at this early hour?" a deep, hoarse voice asked from behind her.
"Jesus Michael, you gave me a fright!" she complained, clutching the book to her chest.
He sat down beside her and tucked a stain of hair behind her left ear, smiling warmly at her. His eyes, however, were inquiring his previous question
"Oh, I couldn't sleep" she continued, opening the book again.
"Well I noticed that" he asked, a line of worry forming on his forehead "Are you feeling better?" he questioned then, his smile fading.
Ever since Alex had called three weeks ago Nikita had gone underground. She barely talked to anyone and she spent countless hours reading books and talking to nobody but their unborn child. Not even Michael could get through to her and he knew something was definitely bothering her.
"I would be lying if I said I am" she gave him a sad smile.
Michael gave her an incurring look to continue.
"Michael" she sighed "They know about our child" she swallowed a few tears "I think we need to run, I think we need to settle down and buy a house in Fiji or something. For once I think that we should do something selfish. I can't stand this! All the waiting, the uncertainty…We'll be stuck here until Alex and Owen find the last box which can take years since Percy moved the last one" she took a deep breath "Plus, we also have to worry about oversight and the US government. Our child can't live like that! We can't live like that! Constantly hiding, without friends and the chance to normality. We can't live like this." She sighed loudly and wiped at one single tear that had formed on the corner of her eye.
"Hey" Michael gently caressed her cheek "Calm down, okay? You can't be distressed like this. We'll find a way out" he promised.
"How?" she questioned, her voice trembling "There is no other way out but this, Michael"
"So you want us to flee? Run away from everything we believe and fought for? Do you realize what that means? If we do this, we'll always have to look over our shoulders. We would never feel safe."
"But I would feel a lot more safe than what I feel right now. And we would have a normal home for our child" she retorted
"I know, but it would only be temporar-" he countered, but didn't got to finish as he was interrupted by Nikita who dropped the book and reached for his hand. She placed it on the left side of her stomach.
"Can you feel it?" She excitedly asked him with smiled. "Maybe it's his head?" she questioned.
Michael let out a low chuckle and said "I'm pretty sure it's the foot, baby" he then pulled up her shirt a bit so they could take a look at her now not so petite stomach. The couple smiled as they could see the contours of a tiny foot on Nikita's skin.
She gently traced the outlines until it kicked one harsh kick.
"I think he will crack one of my ribs soon" She murmured with a painful expression.
Nikita lovingly stroked her womb and they fell silent for a while, just marveling at their baby.
"Maybe we should retire" Michael said after a few minutes of silence. "You're right. I can't help but agree with you. Its the best for us and our baby. We can't risk it" he gently stroked her stomach where he felt a kick "and I know that the gang will be okay with it"
"We are going to be okay about what, Mikey?" A sleepy creature in a morning robe asked from the top of the stairs. He looked at Nikita and his eyes went wide "Nikki that stomach of yours is starting to creep me out. Did you swallow an expandable balloon or something.? It's getting bigger and bigger each day" he teased her with a small smile.
"Get your ass over here nerd" she said and patted at the space between her and Michael.
"I feel like I just did something wrong and that now my parents are about to punish me" he murmured, but immediately stopped when Nikita caught his hand in hers and placed it on her stomach.
"WOW she's a freaking KICKASS chic" he laughed. "This will be a mutant baby!"
"She?" Nikita raised and questioning eyebrow.
"Uhm, yeah sorry. I got to go and make breakfast, some cookies." He murmured and got out of there as quickly as he could
Nikita exchanged a glance with a chuckling Michael and shook her head.
"It's a freaking boy" she rolled her eyes.
-x-
Have you ever dreamed of going to an airport, look at all the available flight departures and then just pick one and say "I'm gonna take that flight" ?
That's exactly what Michael and Nikita did.
They left the city with nothing more than the teams blessing, a generous amount of Birkhoff's money and a hand bag. Nothing else.
"How about Hong Kong?" Michael suggested.
"I don't feel like Asia is the right place" Nikita said and looked up at the big list with a smile.
"What about Europe? Denmark, Paris, Barcelona, Rom"
"No" she shook her head..
They fell silent for a few moments.
"What about Australia?" Michael suggested then.
"I like Australia" she said and pulled him over to the check in desk.
-x-
Find a house wasn't that hard. They decided to move to a town just a couple of miles outside of Sydney. I was on a street with a friendly they found their dream house.
From the outside it might just look like any other house, but from the moment you stepped inside it you could see there was more to it than a simply suburban home.
The garden was what had first drawn Nikita to the house; she'd been enchanted by it, the green filled the space with a lot of trees and flowers, some benches and a beautiful outdoor space. There was also a little spot where she could seed her own vegetables.
Windows was the other thing. There was a big skylight in the middle of the living room. At daytime the sun streamed through it and shone through the house, and by night the moon and the stars lit up the place giving it a serene and peaceful appearance.
The whole place was always filled with warmth and light.
It had three bedrooms and an open kitchen led directly into the diner and living room. A spiral staircase led up to the second floor
"We can make it baby-proof it later" Michael whispered in her ear when the real-estate agent showed them the house.
"And this bedroom has its own bathroom attached to it and a little balcony" The sweet real-estate woman continued.
They moved to the next bedroom, and as the woman stared at Nikita's stomach with a meaning glance she proposed it could be the child's room.
Nikita unconsciously stroked her belly and whispered "I'm in love with this place" to Michael.
The next room was a bathroom and the one after that was another bedroom.
"This can be an extra room until you get more children" the nice lady suggested when she looked back at the happy couple.
Nikita and Michael quickly exchanged glances both mumbling that "another kid wasn't an option". The real estate lady continued with showing them the rest of the house as she talked about a playground and a daycare just in the area
Without further ado they bought the house.
They painted the nursery in a bright yellow tone, almost white and then drove to the furniture store. It took a month before they were all set up, but when they finished they finally got that feeling of normality they've been so desperately seeking.
"So this is normal Michael and Nikita" Michael mused from the couch as he watched Nikita cook dinner.
She looked up from whatever it was she was cooking to smile brightly at him
"Guess so" she winked, making him laugh.
They carried on with their normal lives by visiting a couple of neighbors. It was almost comical to see Michael and Nikita all happy and full of joy, knocking around at doors and introduced themselves... They both couldn't help but laugh, they had done this before but without the giant belly.
By that time they had gotten the question about children and they both had had a small heart attack - not wanting to discuss the subject. But this time it was actually 'real' or as real as it can be.
When the neighbors Charlie and Sarah Parker opened the door they immediately invited Michael and Nikita in for dinner. Sarah, also vegan, got instant along with Nikita. It turned out that Sarah and Charlie just had had a son named Sebastian, only a week old.
"He's adorable" Nikita said and stroked the baby's cheek with her hand. Her hand was automatically on her stomach and she smiled when she noticed it.
"He's our miracle" Sarah said and glanced at Charlie that were just about to offer Michael a drink.
It was hard to not to like Sarah. She had a lot of common with Nikita. Except the food she also loved and adored dogs and she felt that it was her duty to help and rescue them all. They shared and exchanged a couple of vegan recipes before they ate a really nice and well-cooked meal.
Their new friends asked a little more about their background. How they met and what they worked with. Nikita looked over at Michael and he knew that she wanted him to take this one. He started to tell a story about two social workers 'saving' kids from the streets and falling in love while doing it. Then looking for new challenges and adventures and there of the move to Aussie.
After a long night Nikita and Michael headed home.
"That was" Nikita started
"Amazing" Michael said and finished her sentence.
"So that's what it feels like, to have a normal life, normal house with normal friends. I could get used to this" she said with a contented smile.
-x-
Michael and Nikita called their team mates at least once (sometimes twice) a day. After two months Alex and Birkhoff got sick of it. Michael and Nikita both received a text message from Birkhoff
'I'm so tired of hearing your voices every single day, you flew away for a reason, now go and live. We'll call you if there's an emergency.'
It also let the couple know they had changed numbers.
Michael and Nikita felt a jab of worry and a little bit of sorrow, but tried to maintain their lives as normal as possible because that was what they wanted, wasn't it?
Eventually they got bored and started to work at a volunteer center near Sydney, taking care of kids and animals.
Simple things like shopping or grabbing a cup of coffee were something that Nikita never had experienced before. Sarah took her to a wonderful shopping center nearby and for the first time in months were Nikita went on a shopping spree.
When she arrived home she showed off three different dresses and one shirt for Michael. His favorite was a white pregnancy dress with strawberries on it.
He watched in delight as she spun around and laughed at him while sporting said dress.
Michael couldn't help but reach for the video camera as she danced around the garden.
"You look beautiful" he said as he pressed the 'record' button.
She just responded with a smile.
"Anything you would like to say to your unborn child?" he said while zooming in on her belly
She stepped closer to him and looked up at Michael with sparkling eyes.
"Well" she started "Today was a wonderful day, and I got a new dress" She spun around once more and she looked absolutely beautiful in the dress and the flower surrounding them made the scenario even more beautiful.
"And" she said and pulled Michael as close to her as her swollen stomach would allow. The camera now focused on her face as she continued. "And that I love your father very much " she said and kissed Michael's lips.
"You're so beautiful" he repeated as she broke away and he scanned her body.
"I miss my waist though" she said and smirked as she made her way into the house.
The waist came back eventually, after a 13 hour long labor a week later. The pain had started in the middle of the night. A sharp intake of air and Michael had immediately woken up.
"This is a contraction" she stated and closed her eyes of pain.
There was no discussion; he drove her to the hospital right away.
Thirteen hours of "This is more painful than a gun wound" and "Why did you just have to sleep with me, you should have killed me with that darn gun instead"; both statements had caused a couple of raised eyebrows. But after the longest thirteen hours of their lives,she arrived. Filled with silent wonder. She didn't scream her lungs out like most babies, she just whined until she placed at her mother's chest. At the contact with Nikita's skin the baby immediately calmed down, while her tiny fingers gripped a strand of her mother's hair.
Silent tears streamed down the mother and father's faces as they watched their little miracle close her eyes to sleep.
"I was right" he said teasingly as he stroked Nikita's hair. He smiled and buried his nose into her hair.
"Ohh shut it, Michael" she with a laugh "Do you already have a name for her too?" she asked as she reached for his face and followed the lines of his jaw.
Michael gave her a coy smile "Isobel?" he questioned.
"Isobel, Izzie." She tested the name "I like it" she said, and returned her attention to her daughters face. "My Isobel Mears" she said and touched her daughters nose lightly.
-x-
Time went by. Izzie, learned how to crawl, speak (a couple of words), laugh, walk (unsteadily) and blessed with blue eyes; Michael said that his mother had had exactly the same eyes. She had Nikita's mocha skin and beautiful little curls.
Izzie however was always a light sleeper, especially when her mom and dad were supposed to have some fun.
Nikita sighed as Michael left her arms when they heard the loud cries from the baby's room
"Are you seriously going to leave me naked?" she said and pulled her hair back.
"With parenthood comes certain responsibilities" he said and kissed her on her lips "I'll be back though, don't get dressed."
Nikita laughed and relaxed on the pillows, marveling at her loving, caring husband.
She then woke up the next morning, naked and alone. As she tiptoed along the corridor she heard a little snore from her daughter's room. She quietly pushed the door open, Michael had fallen asleep with their daughter in his arms, but the snore didn't come from the father.
Nikita giggled, carefully grabbed her snoring daughter to feed her while letting her almost naked husband sleep some more.
"moma's little baby" she said and kissed Isobel's forehead.
-x-
Izzie had grown fond of Charlie and Sarah's Parkers son, Sebastian.
Nikita had just taught 16 months old Isobel to give people a 'peck' on the lips, and earlier that week Michael had bought his daughter a little toy car. So when Sarah and Charlie came and visited Michael and Nikita that weekend for dinner, they discovered that Izzie's new favorite activity was to sit in the car and give Sebastian pecks all over his face. The parents had quite a laugh about that since Sebastian paid more attention to the car than to her.
"Pumpkin" Michael said when Izzie tried to steal another kiss from Sebastian, who looked scared. He picked her up and looked her right into the light blue eyes "Sebastian doesn't enjoy when you kiss him like this, you should ask for permission first."
Nikita couldn't hold back a chuckle as Izzie just looked up at her father with those adorable eyes gave him a square kiss on the lips.
A sweeter gesture was hard to find and Michael couldn't help but to laugh. But repeated the 'ask first kiss later' phrase once more, just in case. She just nodded in return and Michael put her down next to Sebastian in the car again.
The her parents delight, Izzie was highly developed. Michael and Nikita knew that Isobel understood a lot more than she should and had passed Sebastian intellectually who was two months older than her.
Charlie and Sarah had already planned a future wedding for the two children as they were as enchanted as everyone else of little Isobel's personality and abilities.
"Isobel might just be the sweetest, incredible, amazing and intelligent child you could ask for" Sarah said.
Michael and Nikita just exchanged proud looks and then looked at their little girl. She had an ability to charm everyone around her with those blue eyes and long eyelashes, except her parents. They held her tight and taught her good manners, so she couldn't lure them with those pouty lips or winking lashes.
"This is amazing" Sarah said in delight.
"Thank you" Nikita responded and filled Isobel's plate with food.
Isobel who wasn't in the mood for food threw some at her friend Sebastian who laughed with pleasure.
"Isobel" Nikita said warningly. "Where do we put the food?" she asked her daughter.
Izzie brought her had up to her mouth.
"Exactly" her mother said and restructured the spoon in her hand. "Bring it to the mouth now honey"
And when the little girl did as she was asked, the four adults swooned with enchantment.
"So" Sarah said smiling, "what's your secret" she asked Nikita while helping her clear the table.
"What do you mean" she responded
"I mean, how did you get that body of yours? Where did you find that husband and child? And how did you lean to cook like a master chef?"
Nikita didn't know how to respond, it seemed so perfect but yet it wasn't. She got in shape because she needed to, in case of emergency. It wasn't the body she wanted back; it was the ability to defend her child. Her husband, they didn't meet at a club or through friends. They didn't go on several dates; he didn't go down on one knee and proposed. They didn't decide to have a baby. Their daughter was an accident (the greatest accident she could have ever asked for, yes, but yet an accident) but that was just details. From everybody else's perspective their lives were perfect.
"Well the cooking took me years of practice" she responded and Sarah just laughed and rolled her eyes.
When the night came to its end, Charlie and Sarah thanked the hosts for the dinner and grabbed little Sebastian, whom had fallen asleep on the couch with Isobel.
Michael scooped up Izzie and the infant rested her head against her father's chest; her pacifier hanging loosely from her lips.
"Can you change her into her pajamas?" Nikita questioned and turned off the lights in the kitchen.
That was when Michael noticed something shiny and bright on the floor. "Is this yours?" Michael said as he picked up a golden earring.
"I think it's Sarah's" she answered. As if on cue, the doorbell rang
"It's probably her." Michael said handing the earring to Nikita.
"Hi Sarah, you lost one earrin-"Nikita started, but never got to finish the sentence as the woman outside the door wasn't Sarah.
Heeey guys, are you still with me? What did you think about SDCC and that shower scene? Just me that died and just LOVED Shaggie's reaction? But seriously, my apologies, so sorry guys. I'm back though, and I'll update more! (I'm almost finished with chapter eight AND it will come sooner if you push that review button.)
Also, do the same on Miami Blackheart's story marbles, because it's awesome AND I want her to update NOW!