I have spent the past few months almost chronically exhausted, which makes it hard to write things after work. But it's Wega Wednesday, and I have been slowly drafting this for over a week now, and it's time to finally post it. Hope you guys like this update.
"Don't forget we leave in an hour to go meet the Janeling at the park," Wylie called as he knocked lightly on the bathroom door.
"Yup!" came her voice over the shower. Wylie raised an eyebrow as he realized it was still running. She'd been in there for thirty minutes already. Michelle Vega was not someone who generally took long showers. In and out, she would always say. Time to start the day.
"Okay, well, my clothes are in there," he said. "I'm about to do dishes in my underwear!"
"That's hot."
He rolled his eyes, smirking as he left for the kitchen.
When the shower was still running after the dishes were in the drainer, he cracked the bathroom door open. "Michelle?"
Nothing. He frowned. "Hey, you okay?" He walked to the shower door and hesitantly opened it, finding her standing still, hands at her sides, the water playing off the back of her head. Her eyes were open, but she didn't seem to notice him at first. "Hey," he said. "What are you thinking about?"
She stared at him for several seconds before responding. "I haven't even washed my hair yet."
It wasn't necessarily an answer to his question, but hey, Wylie would take it. "You planning on doing that?"
"Eh," she said tiredly.
He smiled, closed the shower door briefly and removed his boxers before reopening the door and entering the shower with her. "Come on, Michelle, we don't want to keep Mimi waiting." He reached for her shampoo bottle, opening the cap and making a spiral pattern on the top of her head.
"Wylie!" she protested. "That's too much!" She put her hands in her hair, attempting to grab handfuls of the stuff, and wiped it on his shoulders. He grinned, putting his hands in her hair, working the shampoo into a lather. She was grinning up at him, the water from the shower hitting her neck and bouncing off in all directions.
"Hey, tip it back," he said, putting pressure under her chin so the water would be able to rinse her hair. She closed her eyes, her hands coming up to rest on his chest. When he'd rinsed her hair, he pulled her closer to him, kissing the top of her head. She tipped hers forward, resting her forehead on his chest. "I'm not going to be very fun for Mimi today, am I?"
"Considering how Jane has been overcompensating for everything that's happened in the past week by being excruciatingly cheerful," Wylie said, "I doubt Mimi won't appreciate the down time."
She smiled, lifting her head to look up at him. "Hey, remember when we tried to do it in here and you broke your wrist?"
Wylie cleared his throat. "No. See you outside."
Vega was glad that Mimi chose Wylie as the one to run to when she saw them – the doctor didn't want her lifting anything heavy at the moment. Wylie, on the other hand, was perfectly capable and willing to pick the little girl up and spin her around. She giggled, but Vega was relieved when Wylie hugged her and she quieted right down, cuddling up to him. She was mellow today.
"Auntie Shell," Mimi said, dropping to her knees when Wylie set her down. She picked a flowering weed out of the grass and got up, walking over to Vega. "This is for you."
"Aw," Vega said, hunkering down and kissing the girl's forehead. "Thank you. I'll put it right behind my ear, how does that sound?"
"Okay." She smiled. "Mommy says you haven't been feeling good."
"She's right," Vega said, "but I'm feeling better today. I haven't gotten to see you in a long time! Did you miss us?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"We missed you too." She touched the girl's nose. "Do you want to go down to the river and feed the ducks?"
"Yes!"
She skipped ahead, looking back every minute or so to make sure she hadn't made the gap between herself and Wylie and Vega too far. "She's a good kid," Wylie said, letting his fingers curl around his wife's as they walked.
"She's Jane's second chance and Lisbon's only chance," Vega said. "They're putting one hundred and ten percent into everything to do with her." She looked at the ground. "I think part of why...part of why I'm so scared something's going to happen with this pregnancy is..." she knew there was a pained look on her face when she stopped and faced him. "I feel like this baby is...is both. Our second chance. And our only one."
"Mimi, hang on a sec," Wylie called to the girl before facing Vega again. He took both her hands. "I got a second chance with you. And it's hard, sometimes, going day to day without worrying about if I'll lose you again. But I can't let that control my life. Remember how Jane fell apart when he thought he might lose Lisbon? Loss exists. Angela and Charlotte. Your dad. You, for a few weeks. But if we let ourselves get paralyzed by fear of loss, eventually we'll lose more than what we feared."
