Nothing Gold Can Stay aired on this date in 2015 and I'm protesting by posting another chapter of this. (This picks up right after the last chapter left off so you may wanna skim that.)


"Cho and Summer are sleeping together?"

Her husband shrugged. "I mean, that's what Jane said. And he's usually right about these things. Did I tell you he now thinks we're having a boy?"

Vega rolled her eyes. "He said we were having a girl the day before I had to leave work. He's clearly just trying to be able to say he guessed it no matter what."

"Well, he's pretty confident about Cho and Summer. He would have to be, since there's no real reason to make that guess. It's not like we even had any indication that they were talking."

"That's interesting."

"I'm sorry." He shook his head. "You're not having a good day, the last thing you probably want to hear about right now is Jane's predictions."

"Nah." Vega smiled. "Truth be told, being kept in the loop helps things feel normal." She sat up. "Did he say anything else?"

"Not much about Cho and Summer. Just that all the signs are there, whatever that means. Then followed it up with how he knows you and I aren't sleeping together right now, as if that makes a brilliant point about his observational skills when that's obvious since you're on medical leave."

Vega felt a pang of anxiety, and she bit her lip. "Are you sure that's how he knows?"

"I mean, I certainly didn't tell him that, but he knows you're not working so I'm sure that was easy to assume."

"No…" She found she wasn't sure how to phrase what she wanted to say. Every possibility that came to mind just sounded awkward or arrogant. She cleared her throat. "Is it bothering you that we can't? Be – because there's other stuff we can do. I know I haven't been overly affectionate lately and that's selfish of me and…"

"Michelle," Wyle said, reaching over and pressing a finger against her lips. He smiled affectionately. "Ma Belle." He leaned in, and Vega closed her eyes as his lips brushed hers. "It doesn't bother me at all."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I mean, it's a bit weird going from almost every day to not at all. But that's how things are when you do anything with less frequency. And it's not like we haven't had to abstain before." He reached out and stroked her cheek. "And you haven't been selfish." Vega pressed her cheek against his hand as he continued speaking. "What kind of man would you have married if I blamed you for being a little more distant than usual?"

"You're the best man I've ever met," Vega said firmly, scooting closer and putting her head on his shoulder. "God, what happened to us, Jay? When we first met, it was laughter and video games and ditching waffles for dancing and now it's like every damn day is a tragedy."

"You skipped over some stuff," he said, squeezing her shoulder. "You forgot sneaking fruit into your hotel room and kissing in the FWTC's courtyard and giggly first time sex in your little apartment in Humble and when we re – enacted the beginning of The Lion King in Lisbon's hospital room when Mimi was born and when you moved back here and we both got stuck in the elevator and while we were waiting to be rescued I proposed and everyone watched on the cameras and falling asleep on the beach and our wedding and when we found out about our little one and…" he stopped for breath. "Yeah, we've had our hard times. And I know how much greater your struggling is than mine. But Michelle, we're not a tragedy. We're the good and the bad and we're laughter and we're passion and we're fun. We're strong and we're persistent. We endure. We're a love story, Ma Belle. And we're one of the best ones."

She smiled, lifting her head, smiling at him as she looked into his eyes. "I like the way you put it, Lover."

He kissed her forehead. "I have an idea."

"Hmm, what's that?"

"Let's go in the kitchen and make waffles. Then we'll ignore them and dance to whatever is on the radio."

She raised her eyebrows. "That sounds great, Jay, but exertion could cause me to drop this baby and it's a bit early yet."

Wylie shrugged. "So if Love Shack comes on we'll skip the hopping."