Waking Up In Vegas
Chapter Four
Quatre stared out the window. This time, though, it wasn't an airplane window. They'd left the airport behind some time ago. Now, they were driving in a simple white jeep along winding country roads, through one-post-office towns. Quatre had laughed when Trowa'd called Nashville a big city. Nashville was nothing compared to New York. But, Quatre had revised his opinion when he seen some of the towns they passed through. If those were what Trowa was used to.... then yes, Nashville would seem pretty big.
He absently twisted the gold ring on his finger. He'd never taken it off. It seemed right, somehow. Like it belonged there, right there on his ring finger. He remembered little things now. Like how Trowa's eyes had simply glowed when he'd said 'I do'. He remembered that Trowa'd been gentle during their lovemaking; he remembered sighs and moans, sweet ecstasy. Somehow, he had the feeling that he should remember more but couldn't. He wanted to remember more.
Because the more he learned from Trowa... the more intrigued he became.
"There's Cool Water," Trowa said, breaking him out of his thoughts. Quatre looked up ahead. A small sign with the town's name. A few buildings that looked like it might be a convenience store, a diner, a post office and a church. And houses. Around ten he saw from first glance, on this main road. Trowa slowed the Jeep as they got to the town. A man in front of the store in a rocking chair waved at them, Trowa lifted a hand in return. When they passed the third house after the store, Trowa turned left down a smaller road, passing a good four more houses before pulling into the driveway of a medium-sized house.
It was made of wood and stone... both aged and simply glossed over. But the green steel roof was newer, and the flowers on the porch bloomed beautifully in their hanging pots. Another similar house sat of to the side, smaller and down a small little hill. Close, but not intrusive or crowding. Tall trees shaded the area, green grass carpeted the ground... littered with small little purple-pink flowers.
"Is this your house?" He asked as Trowa stepped out of the white jeep.
"Yeah. Home Sweet Home," was the response. Quatre crossed over to stand beside Trowa and take in the view. Beautiful, he thought. Breathtaking. It was someplace he could call 'home'... the thought came from nowhere and didn't sit well with Quatre. Birds chattered somewhere overhead, but the peace was breached by a squeal of pure delight.
"Trowa!!!"
Quatre barely managed to duck out of the way as the petite red-head barreled past him, colliding into Trowa hard enough to knock his taller husband back into the side of the jeep.
"Marimaia?" was the confused gasp as Trowa tried to regain his breath, a hard thing to accomplish with the thin arms crushing him in a bear-hug. "Maia... what are you doing here?"
"Mama said she couldn't get nothin' done with me underfoot, so she sent me here for the whole summer! Isn't that great? Two whole months! I got here about four hours ago, but Mrs. Henderson said you wasn't back yet, but that you'd be here soon."
"Huh? Wait... what? All summer?"
"Yeah. Ain't that great? And oh... who's the bond? He looks hot! He's even cuter than that Chinese guy... Duo's boy-toy."
Quatre's head tilted. His exposure to the species better known as twelve-year old girls was limited to his still quite young nieces... all three of whom were quiet and demure- as if decorum and style were inbreed into them.
"Maia... slow down," Trowa said, pushing her back by her shoulders. "Now, start back at the beginning... about Leia and coming here."
"Mama said that I was annoying her too much and that since Cathy's not here that it would be good if I came and kept you company! Isn't that great? Just me and you all summer long!"
"But... Maia. Your mother sent you down here by yourself?"
"Jim drove me here from the airport, and I waited over with Mrs. Henderson." The girl took a few gulps of air, then looked at Quatre as if seeing him again, as if she had forgotten him. Her heat tilted to the side, red curls bobbing around her face. "Hi! I'm Marimaia Elizabeth Barton. Who are you?"
"Enchate', Mademoiselle Marimaia. My name's Quatre Raberba Winner," Quatre replied, glad the girl had some semblance of manners.
"Kwatrah Rabarber Winner?" She wrinkled her nose, giggled- both at his name and his charming manners. "Sounds like a vegetable. Or like something from Arabian Nights. Like Ali Baba."
"I have a uncle named Ali," Quatre replied. "And between you and me... my father's Arabic."
"That's so cool. Does he have a magic carpet? Like Aladdin?"
"No. I'm afraid not," he watched her enraptured face fall a little. "But..." he pulled out his carry-on. "I do have a magic necklace." He withdrew the little golden chain and the simple gold star from the side pocket. He had bought the necklace in Vegas his first night there for his oldest niece, only to be told later that day that she despised gold. He'd never had time to return it, and he'd thought of giving it to his secretary to give to her daughter. But it seemed to him that buying friends in a new place might just serve him well.
"Here" he held the necklace up. "This necklace is magic. You can tell it all your troubles, and then the star will carry your troubles away into the sky."
Her eyes twinkled, and he knew she could see right through his story. "Here," he took the chain and hooked it around her neck before she had a chance to duck away. "You keep it for me, okay? Let me know if it really works."
"Oh... wow. Gee... thank you Mr. Winner."
He smiled at her. "Just call me Cat. It's what my sister Iria calls me."
"Maia, here," Trowa handed her a key. "Why don't you go put your stuff in the house. We'll get all of this sorted out later."
"Okay!" She grabbed her bag and bounded up the steps and across the porch.
Trowa took a deep breath, let it out in a shuddering sigh.
"Do you have cousins?" he asked, looking at Quatre.
Quatre shook his head no. "Nope. Not really, at least. My mother was an only child, and my uncle Ali never married. He probably has a few illegitimate kids somewhere... but none that any of us know off. And my other uncle, Rashid... his wife and only daughter... Morgan and Elizabeth... died when I was just a teenager. Auda, I think I mentioned him. He was Elizabeth's husband. They were married for less than a year before her car-wreck. But they were grown-up when I was still just a pre-teen. But I do like children, though my exposure to them has been limited. She's your cousin?"
"My father's sister's daughter," he clarified. "She's a handful, that one. But I love her. I apologize. I had no idea she'd be..."
"It's okay," Quatre placed his hand on Trowa's arm. "You didn't know. I hate to admit it... but I guess I'm using you. I needed a vacation, but I never really wanted one, you know? But you've provided me with a perfect reason to get away from my own life for a while... experience something different. And trust me... pre-teen girls are completely alien to me," he laughed.
Trowa smiled softly at him. "You really are something, Quatre Raberba Winner," he whispered.
"Thank you," was the reply. "I think."
Quatre raised his eyes, and was met with crystal clear Emerald. That gaze held his, and through some force he couldn't explain, he felt himself being drawn up, in. Eyes locked with Trowa's, their lips just a breath apart....
"Trowa! Can we have pizza for din.....er." Maia burst back onto the porch, but her shout trailed off as she saw her cousin and the new blond only millimeters apart, lips almost touching.
Trowa swallowed, but took one step back slowly. "Do you like pizza, Quatre?"
Quatre nodded, a little shaky. "Just... can you leave a few slices without meat? No peperoni or anything?"
"Vegetarian?"
"Oh, no. Sort of, I guess. Eating pork in the afternoon causes me night terrors, so I try not to eat it."{1}
"Sure, my mother had the same problem. Hey, Maia... call down to Sylvia's and order two medium pizzas. One peperoni, and another veggie. I think we can introduce Quatre to Syl and the others later, after he's had a chance to breath."
"Oh.... okay..." Maia turned to go back inside, still a little surprised.
"A chance to breath," Quatre whispered. "I think I'll need it."
~*~*~*~*~*~
{1} Yes, this is true... at least I'm pretty sure it is. My sister-in-law used to suffer from these things, but after she became a vegetarian, they stopped (she blamed them on pork, but I dunno how true that is). And night terrors, for those who don't know, are extremely vivid *real* nightmares. People have died from these things before... they're pretty horrible.