This is Prompt No. 29-Valentine's Day
Caitlyn regarded Shane with an expression of mixed pity and annoyance. She stood awkwardly from where she was sitting next to Nate and crossed the room to stand in front of her brother-in-law. "Would you please stop worrying" she said, "and have a cookie?" She held out the confection in Shane's direction with a concerned look on her face.
He smiled, looking up from where he was playing with Shania, and took the cookie. "Thanks," he said softly, "and I can't help it. I miss her."
"We all miss her!" Caitlyn snapped, even more annoyed.
"Caitlyn," Nate said in his soft, yet firm, tone. "Yelling isn't good for either Shane or the baby."
Caitlyn instinctively pressed a hand to her stomach and frowned, moving to sit down once again next to her husband. "Isn't there anything we can do?" she asked. "She's been gone too long."
Nate shook his head sadly. "I wish there was, but there isn't." He shrugged and looked dejected. "Queen Victoria entertains a guest whenever she feels like it. It could be months before Mitchie gets an audience. Maybe that's why she hasn't come home yet." His faux hopeful tone made Shane sigh heavily and hold Shania close to his chest.
Her husband's answer was not the one Caitlyn had wanted, so she pressed further. "Couldn't we send someone?" she asked, grasping at any edge she could think of.
Nate rolled his eyes and asked sarcastically, "Haven't we already discussed this?" He wagged his finger in the air. "I could've sworn that we've already been over this."
Caitlyn made a face at him. "We probably have, but I'm going over it again," she told him tartly. "I want to examine every angle."
"We have examined every angle, and we've all decided that there's nothing we can do," Nate told her practically.
Shane, though, latched on to any hope. "Could there be something that we've missed?" he asked hopefully. His brother gave him a look that clearly told him that they had missed nothing.
"She hasn't even written a letter!" Caitlyn whined.
"Who would she address it to?" Nate pointed out. "She'd lead them right to the base, and she knows it."
Caitlyn regarded him for a moment and then asked, "Why do you always have to be right?"
Nate smiled at her. "It's my job," he told her.
"Could we send in another agent?" Shane asked. "Just to make sure that she's okay," he added hastily.
Nate shook his head. "That would be far too risky and too suspicious. No country sends another diplomat to court simply to check up on the first one. Queen Victoria would be tipped off if we did that."
Caitlyn slumped back into her seat. "Today just isn't the same without Mitchie," she said, glancing down at the cookie in her hand. "I mean, she missed Christmas, which was bad enough, but Valentine's Day is an even worse holiday to miss. Everyone but the general has someone." She squeezed Nate's hand. "I have you, and Jason has Daniella from Sector 14." Her cheeks turned pink and she grinned. "I think he's going to ask her to marry him."
Nate rolled his eyes. "For someone who claims not to gossip, or like anything romantic, you sure do like the goings on here at the base."
"They're family!" Caitlyn protested, looking guilty.
Nate gave her an affectionate poke in the ribs. "Just leave them alone, and don't scare Daniella off," he warned her. "Jason actually wants to keep her around."
"Oh," Caitlyn said, teasing him right back. "So that means that I can't spill any of Jason's deep, dark secrets until after the wedding, right?"
Nate grinned. "Right," he told her.
Watching the two of them, Shane couldn't help but feel slightly out of place. He lightly bounced Shania on his knee, feeling his heart swell as he saw her smile, complete with one tooth. Teething was a terrible time, so Shane was enjoying this moment of happiness from his little girl. As he examined her, he noticed how much she looked like her mother, and the swelled heart deflated once again.
He had to find her. He had to make sure that she was okay. Every day that he spent without her, without knowing that she was alright, was torturous for him. Somehow, some way, he would find her, because he knew that he couldn't spend another Valentine's Day without her.
Thousands of miles away, Mitchie sat slumped against the warm bricks of the kitchen fireplace, hidden in the shadows. Only the young girl that stood in front of her, stirring three pots of soups at the same time, knew that she was there. She closed her eyes for a moment and let the loneliness fade away as she thought about her family. What were they doing today, on Valentine's Day? Were they thinking of her? How was Shane? Was Shania alright?
Those thoughts and others continued to surround her mind, and soon, she was exhausted by her mental worrying. She wished more than ever that she could go home. "Oh, Shane," she whispered, her forehead pressed against the warm bricks beside her.
The delivery door to the kitchen flew open and a young man stepped in out of the cold. He shivered as he pulled off his cap, pulling his coat tighter around his body. "Alice," he said softly.
The girl stirring the soups turned and dropped her ladle. Thankfully, it landed in one of the soup pots. "Gabe, what are you doing here?" she asked, her cheeks pink with excitement and delight, and her hands brushing futilely at her dirty kitchen dress.
The young man stepped closer and said, "You don't think I'd just forget about you on Valentine's Day, now do you?"
Alice smiled, obviously touched, and slipped into the arms he offered, rewarding him with a soft kiss. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I'm so glad you remembered."
Gabe grabbed her hands and pulled her toward the door. "Come with me," he said. "We'll get away from this place for a few hours on our own."
Mitchie could tell that Alice's everything, her heart, mind, and body, wanted to go with Gabe, but she shook her head sadly. "I can't," she said regretfully. "I have to stir these soups for dinner."
Mitchie decided that it was time to make herself known once again. She slipped out from the shadows and cleared her throat, causing Gabe to glance up and Alice to whirl around, embarrassed. "I believe that I can stir a couple of pots," Mitchie told Alice with a wink. "You go on."
"Oh, I couldn't!" Alice protested, but her feet were already carrying her closer to the door.
"Of course you can!" Mitchie said, making shooing motions with her hands. "You wouldn't want to be working on Valentine's Day. Go! I can stir these until they're done."
Alice needed no further urging. "Thank you, madam," she said, bobbing a hurried curtsy, and then she was out the door, barely remembering to grab her coat on the way out.
Gabe turned to Mitchie and doffed his hat. "Thank you, madam," he said softly.
Mitchie inclined her head. "You're welcome," she told him, and then smiled. "Make sure that she enjoys herself."
Gabe grinned back. "I will," he promised, and then he was gone, the door banging slightly behind him.
Mitchie turned back to the soups and picked up the ladle that Alice had haphazardly dropped. She dipped it into the warm liquids and began stirring one and then the other, her mind floating back to Virginia, stories below the earth. She was in the middle of imagining Shania taking her first steps when the door opened and Maria came through it.
The queen's snitch glanced from Mitchie to the soups with badly concealed horror. Finally, she controlled her emotions enough to say coldly, "Her Majesty will honor you with an audience."
Mitchie set the ladle down and removed the soups from the fire. "Then by all means," she said with barely concealed sarcasm, "lead the way."
Maria turned on her heel, and Mitchie followed her out of the kitchen. For the first time in months, Mitchie began to think about the story that could either make or break her mission. Everything depended on its authenticity. Everything.
A/N: Uh oh! What's going to happen next?? Please review, guys. It means a lot. Also, thanks so much to incywincyspider, who suggested a split chapter to clue you guys into Shane and Shania's wellbeing. Remember...review please!!!!
