Chapter 26 - Proud
He had fallen into a comfortable routine and he knew it. It didn't concern him in the slightest. He got up, went to work, spent evenings with Juliet, Friday nights with Miles and Jin, and Saturday nights they would go to whatever social event was happening. It was a pretty good life.
He never thought he would or could settle in a job, never mind enjoy it. He became good at his job, knew it like the back of his hand, was called upon if any thing happened.
He was respected.
He had never been looked up to before. Never worked hard at a job. When he realized what was happening he pointed it out to Juliet. She seemed surprised that he was surprised by it.
She told him he deserved and earned their respect, that he was a good man. He liked that she thought and noticed it. He felt he had to show her he wasn't the same guy he used to be. He had grown up.
When Horace asked him to come to his office one morning he had been concerned. He ran through in his head what could have gone wrong. The most worrying being about their lie, the least that he had forgotten something on his last shift.
Horace had asked him to sit down, and then seated himself behind his desk, which couldn't been seen as it was covered in paperwork.
When he was offered the head of security job he felt his mouth nearly hit the floor. Horace smiled warmly at him and rose to shake his hand in congratulations before James had even formed a response.
He smiled stupidly, shook Horace's hand before thanking him and stumbling out of the office. Once outside he looked around and took a deep breath. There was one person he needed to tell.
He had to force himself not to run to the motor pool, but when he got there he hesitated. Maybe this wasn't a big deal and could wait, she might not want him to show her up in front of her work mates. Being female she had to work a lot harder to get them to respect her.
The decision was made for him when she emerged from underneath a hood of a van and saw him stood in the sunshine. She greeted him with a 'Hey you' but when he didn't respond she moved towards him, concern on her face. 'Whats wrong?'
He snapped out of it and told her nothing was wrong, she looked at him suspiciously. So he burst out with his news. She didn't need any time to let it sink in, she beamed at him and threw her arms around his neck.
When she said she was proud of him his chest swelled. He squeezed her and laughed. She told him he deserved it and would do a good job, which he knew, but it made him believe it more because she did too.
They broke apart when they heard some wolf whistles from the motor pool workers. She promised they would celebrate that evening and repeated that she was proud.
He left the motor pool with a skip in his step.
He was proud . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~
In a strange time traveling evil island kinda way she had everything she imagined her marriage would be like. She was in love, had a nice house, decent job and friends. She spent time with James alone and he took her places, they were passionate and caring, they could talk or just sit together. She had a pretty good life here.
She had never thought she would end up in a manual job, she had spent years poring over books and taking exams to get where she was. She had made sacrifices and pushed herself. It irked her slightly now she knew she was happy working on cars. She could have had a social life if she had chosen this career path to start with.
She had to pull her weight and make sure there were no mistakes made on her part to gain the little respect she had. The guys treated her well, they had a joke around, but she knew they weren't that sure about a woman doing a 'mans' job.
The job was hard. She liked getting dirty and being physically tired when she got home. It was a good feeling after being so emotionally tired from her old job. It was nice to be able to leave her job at the end of the day, she didn't have to take it home with her and worry about it all night.
When James got promoted she was so proud. He had worked so hard, not to get ahead but because he genuinely liked his job and was good at it. She loved how pleased he was, it was sad he had never really been proud of himself before. So she made a big deal over it.
She was so angry with him when Amy was in labor. She had no idea where he got the nerve to come to her. He knew she would do it and asked her anyway. It frightened her.
She had felt safe here, in this time and place. She couldn't lose Amy.
She decided to try, if she left Amy she would die so if she tried to save them at least she was doing something to help.
When she started the procedure she cursed James. She forgot about her anger as she got to work, putting all her energy on doing it right.
For some reason she liked that he was waiting outside for her. He was trying to support her.
She didn't relax until she made it outside to tell him that they had made it. She saw his concern and knew a part of it was for her.
She double checked on the mother and child, and left for home. She showered and cooked dinner, needing her hands to be busy as she was still pumped from the surgery.
When he came home with the flower she forgave him instantly. He was just trying to save them, and maybe he had saved a little of her Juliet too. She had finally delivered a live healthy baby.
He told her he was proud of her.
Maybe she was a little proud too . . .
