I was going to make this longer, but I'm very tired and I have a friend who may need a little cheering up tonight, so I thought I'd post this edited part and then just post the second half of the chapter in the next few days.
So this is for Roxanne. The Young Frankenstein reference is for me (and for whoever picks up on it I suppose haha).
Vega lasted about twenty minutes in the Jane cabin before running to the bathroom, hearing a quiet "uh oh..." from Mimi before slamming the door and dropping to her knees in front of the toilet. She hated herself for having let her hair down when she was around so many strong smells.
There was a knock at the door. "Michelle?"
"Give me a minute," she said.
"You've been in there ten minutes."
What? "Oh. Come in."
Vega looked up at her husband as he entered the bathroom, then another wave of nausea hit her and she launched herself back toward the toilet.
He was behind her then, grabbing her hair and pulling it back. "You're okay. It's probably just a reflex now. Deep breaths."
Vega gagged once more, then sucked in a deep, quick breath, let it out slowly, trying to get her body to relax. After a few moments, she puffed out her cheeks as she exhaled, the nausea passing.
"I was doing so well, too," she said, giving a little laugh. "No morning sickness. No dizziness. None of that."
"Well hey, Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of different tastes and smells," Wylie said. "It can be overwhelming. The doctor said your sense of smell might be heightened.
"I'd say that's accurate." She leaned back against him, tipping her head back. "I think I'm okay now. Ugh. Pregnancy clichés. I hate them. Did you know," she said to Wylie, "that the overwhelming majority of women have contractions before their waters break. But if you watch TV or movies, it's always the woman is like 'oooh, my water broke!'. Why does Hollywood do that? What is so dramatic and fascinating about water breaking first?"
"Of all of us, Jane is the closest to have been in that industry," he said. "Maybe ask him. Or this ex-girlfriend of Cho's. I guess once her son was born she did some acting in commercials. I guess he saw her in a local commercial when we did that case on one of Lisbon's old coworkers in Washington State and got kinda quiet and sullen. I mean, more than he usually is..."
"How much of a gossip are you?" she asked with a laugh.
"You know if I was nosy, our lives would be very different."
She shifted her weight until she was facing him. "And today's definitely the day to be thankful for that." She touched his face. "Now let's go eat. My stomach is empty."
Wylie made a face, taking her hand and helping her to her feet.
Mimi ran over to Vega as she and Wylie exited the bathroom. "Auntie Shell," she said. "Are you okay?"
"I am, little one," she said, ruffling Mimi's hair.
"Is the baby okay?"
"The baby," Vega said, kneeling and touching Mimi's chin. "Is absolutely fine." She looked over at Cho and smiled when he nodded at her confidence. She smiled up at Wylie and furrowed her brow when he looked less than pleased. "What's wrong, Jay?"
Lisbon, Jane and Kemper peeked in from the kitchen. "Dinner is ready!"
"Oh gosh," Wylie said. "I was going to help."
"I think we're all glad you didn't," Kemper quipped. Lisbon smirked. Vega hid hers behind her hand.
"Hey," Wylie said. "I can put the cranberry sauce in a bowl."
"Hey," Jane said. "Let's not take the jobs away from me, please."
"Hey now." Lisbon patted him on the shoulder. "You make great tea."
"I am not here for this patronization," Jane said.
"Your own medicine tastes kinda bitter, doesn't it?" Cho quipped.
"I wish Wayne and Grace could be here," Lisbon said suddenly.
They all understood why they couldn't be, but Vega most of all. This year, Thanksgiving fell on the anniversary of Van Pelt's sister's suicide, and Vega couldn't imagine not being at her father's grave on the anniversary of his death. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked.
"Yeah," Mimi piped up. "Don't puke on the food."
"You know what?" she asked, sticking her hands under Mimi's arms and lifting her up. "I've had just about enough of that attitude of yours, Missy."
Knowing she was playacting, Mimi giggled, kicking her feet, her giggles turning into a shriek when Vega dumped her on the couch and began to tickle. "Jay, come help, we got us a live one!"
It was Vega's turn to shriek. "Not me, Mimi!"
Shooting a grin at her ally, Mimi darted off toward the kitchen.
"Stop it, Wylie!" She tried to grab his hands. Fortunately, her scarring had limited where she was actually ticklish, but the remaining tickle spots were difficult to defend while she was lying on a couch. "God dammit!"
"She said a dirty word! She said a dirty word!" She could hear Mimi shouting from the kitchen.
"That's not a dirty word," came Kemper's voice.
"It's a bad word!"
"You do realize you're doing this in front of your boss."
Wylie and Vega both froze, looking over at Cho, who remained where he was in the chair, his eyebrows raised pointedly.
They both cleared their throats and rushed to help set the table.
