May 2015...
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As she put the phone down onto the counter, the brunette was swiftly met with Becker's scowl, and the raised eyebrows that followed only made her smile grow. "Something wrong?" She questioned, keeping her tone light as she folded her arms in front of her.
"Like you don't know," Had been all he said back, his gaze flickering to the phone before meeting hers again.
Jayme put on her best confused face, innocent eyes looking up at him, "I have no idea," She stated, trying her hardest to not let a laugh slip through the cracks at his expression.
"Double dating, seriously?" He finally asked, surprise and frustration in his voice and at that she found it incredibly difficult to not smile at him, "I love Abby and Connor, and so help me if you tell them I said that I'll kill you, but I don't think I could handle a double date, you know what Connor's like,"
"No, I don't. Tell me, Becker, what's Connor like?" The brunette queried, and she couldn't help but feel proud of the innocent voice she used, knowing fine well it would only irritate him more.
"Normally? Not too bad, but he's suggested double dating before and I know exactly what he'll be like by the way he acted then. He'll ask a bunch of annoying questions about us that I really don't want to answer,"
"He means well, Becker. And I don't know if I'll enjoy it either, but there's only one way to find out," He didn't answer, and she could only smirk at the glare he was sending her; she knew she was winning him over, it wasn't nearly as serious a glare as it had been earlier. "And, as long as you play nice," The brunette began, stepping closer to him, "I'll happily reward you when we get back," She promised, one hand playing with the fabric of his shirt as she talked, and when she looked up at him, he surrendered to a smile.
"Fine, but you better be serious," The soldier warned; everything in his voice showing clear reluctance.
"Dead serious," She repeated, nodding her head at the man, "But you have to be on best behaviour,"
"You too, I know how you can get, and with Connor there it won't take long until you..."
"Until I what?" Jayme questioned, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows at him, "Hmm?"
The soldier took a moment in thought, opening his mouth once and then closing it abruptly, instead he settled on another approach, "I love you,"
The glare she sent him wasn't unexpected, but he couldn't help the smile on his lips as he watched her, "Yeah, yeah," She muttered, shaking her head at him before walking out of the kitchen.
"Deal's still on, right?"
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"Connor!"
This had to be the fifth time she'd called his name, and still no response. What on earth was that man up to? The blonde gently lay down the sleeping baby in her arms into the crib, planting a light kiss on her forehead and smiling down at her. Their daughter had to be the cutest baby she had ever laid eyes on. Though a shout from the other room stole her attention, and she shook her head before grabbing the jacket on the bed.
"You'll be lucky if you reach a year and I haven't killed daddy," Abby whispered down to Sarah, and for a second she could've sworn she'd seen a twitch by her small lips and her imagination only led her to believe the sleeping angel wanted to smile at her words. "Be good for Auntie Jess," She added, pulling the patch-work blanket over her body, a blanket that had belonged to Connor when he was a baby and had insisted their child should use. It was cute, each patch had a different animal stitched on, and for once she had to admit Connor had been right, their baby did love it.
"Connor?" The blonde called again as she left their room, throwing the jacket at his head as she found him on the sofa, game controller in hand and shouting at the T.V.
"Abby! I was on a winning streak, what did you do that for?" The man whined, and she could only grin at him, it was unbelievable how much of a kid her husband could be.
"Oh, I don't know, Con. Does the word date ring a bell?"
"It's seven already?" Connor questioned, surprise in his tone and once again she didn't have a clue how to react to his words.
"The dinner's at seven, so we leave at half six. Honestly, I'm sure you never listen to me," The blonde stated, sighing, "Now put your jacket on and turn of the telly," She ordered, taking one last look before sorting her purse out and grabbing her own jacket from the coat hangers. Before even having a chance to slide into it, the clothing was stolen from her hands, held out behind her so that she could put it on with ease. At that, she could only shake her head, "Being a gentleman doesn't let you off the hook, y'know?"
"Aw, come on, Abs. You know I don't mean to annoy you," The man murmured, now facing her, "Or forget, or lose track of time. But I do listen to you," He stated, giving her the puppy dog look, big brown eyes gazing at her, and she failed at resisting a smile and the second she let it slip, he grinned. A grin that made his dimples stand out, and his face soften even more, and his eyes glint in that way that made her heart skip a beat.
"I know," She sighed, pecking his lips before being distracted by the door opening, and Jess wandering into the apartment, exactly on time. "This was your idea, so you better be good, yeah?"
"What do you mean? I'm always good,"
He was met on with double the rolling of eyes, one from Abby, one from Jess. "Have a great night, you guys. Sarah will be perfectly happy with Auntie Jess," The field co-ordinator stated, sending a smile towards the two.
"Thanks Jess," The blonde replied, grabbing her husband's hand and pulling him towards the door, "If she wakes up-"
"I know where the milk is, and I know how to make it," Jess interjected, and just as Abby began to open her mouth again, the field co-ordinator spoke, "Rex's feeding time is in an hour, the salad's already made up in the fridge, Sid and Nancy have already ate, and are asleep and let's face it they probably won't wake until morning. Abby, we've been over this; all you need to do is have a good time, everything's under control,"
"Right," The blonde responded, nodding her head, "Just ring if you need anything," She added, giving her one last smile before the door closed, and the two could start on the double date. She could only hope that this night would actually go ok. Though, with both Connor and Becker there, she wasn't certain on her chances.
.
Once they had arrived at the restaurant, Connor and Abby half walked, half jogged, through the doors, borderline late. The blonde soon spotted Becker at the bar, and she suppressed a smile as she noticed his obliviousness to the intentions of the young waitress serving him, fluttering her false lashes and laughing at whatever he was saying, though she highly doubted it was actually that funny. She almost laughed herself as she watched the hand to the arm move, and Connor gave her a confused look as she did so; that is up until she whispered her reason behind it. Becker really could be naive to flirting at times, she'd seen it enough when Jess nursed that crush on him years ago, though that was thankfully in the past; it would've been slightly awkward if it wasn't given she and Jayme were good friends now.
"Where's the Mrs?" Connor questioned as they reached the bar, and Becker could only choke on his drink in response.
Abby raised an eyebrow, smirking at the recovering Captain as the waitress walked away to serve someone else, though by the look she gave him, the blonde was fairly certain she might try round two later in the night. That would be interesting.
"No need to sound so repulsed by marriage, action man," Abby gave him a light elbow in the side as Connor finished speaking, and he could only look at her with a surprised expression, not having the faintest idea why she had done so.
"Connor, really, I'm pretty sure they're not quite there yet," The blonde explained, sighing at her man; for someone so incredibly smart he could be so stupid at times. Though she was fairly certain it only served as another reason why she loved him.
"Bickering like an old married couple already?" Becker queried, his turn to raise an eyebrow at the two.
"Please, it was like this long before we were even together," Abby clarified, shaking her head as she thought back to when they were just friends, always arguing, but always caring about each other through thick and thin. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
"That's true," The soldier agreed, "We might as well get a table now, she'll only be five minutes or so," He added, glancing down at his watch before standing up from the stool.
"Where is she anyway?" Connor asked, looking around as if the answer to his question was plastered on one of the walls.
"She spent the day with Danny, according to him they had a long overdue catch up," Becker told them, smiling; "Pretty sure it's the girliest thing he's ever said,"
"C'mon, they're bound to have a good dependency on each other after working together through the anomalies," The blonde stated as they wandered over to the table they were shown to.
"Yeah, it's good too, he's usually brutally honest with her, and she opens up to him, at least some of the time," The soldier explained, though his concentration was swiftly stolen by the cry from the other table.
"If I wanted to listen to a baby cry all day I'd stay at home," Connor murmured, though being abruptly met with Abby's glare. The man was thankfully saved from Abby's response by the new distraction, Jayme entering the restaurant. "Looks like your waitress girlfriend doesn't like your actual girlfriend," He teased, and as he turned his head to face Becker, he was met with the second glare of the night so far.
"How did we get to the waitress being my girlfriend?"
"She was flirting with you," Abby informed, smirking at his confused expression.
"No she- Never mind," Becker responded, not really wanting to go up against the blonde in this argument, she had a tendency to be very persistent, to the point of insanity.
"I think I'll go save her now," Abby added, standing up to correct any 'mistakes' the waitress had 'accidently' found in the reservation book, "She's with us," The blonde told her, though when met with a particular snooty look from the waitress she simply raised her eyebrows.
"Do you have some sort of problem with me walking past this point in the restaurant?" Jayme questioned sarcastically, already exhausted with trying to convince the woman there was a table under the name Becker and they were in fact in view of where she was standing.
"C'mon, before she gives some condescending reply and you start a fight," Abby suggested, keeping her voice quiet as she steered the tired-looking brunette towards the table.
"Hey, are you alright?" Becker questioned as Jayme sat down beside him, and he wrapped an arm around her, kissing her temple.
"Long day," The brunette replied, "Deal might have to wait until tomorrow," She added in a whisper, causing him to smirk and Connor to stare in puzzlement. "What's with the waitress anyway?"
"Becker's girlfriend," Connor stated; grinning from eye to eye as the soldier glared at him once more; he was sure soon enough it would beat his record of most glares from him in a day.
"She's not my girlfriend," Becker defended; his pitch rising, and Jayme could only look at him with a smirk on her face.
"He's a little sensitive," Abby informed her with a grin.
"That's not a surprise," Jayme added.
"New subject anyone?" Becker asked, or more so demanded in desperation as his gaze flickered between the two woman, though his attention was quickly averted to the two year old throwing a cup to the floor from the table near theirs. "And there you have one of the reasons why a restaurant like this shouldn't allow kids who throw tantrums like that,"
"Smart move, say that in front of the friends who have a kid of their own," Jayme teased.
Connor's quip in response was drowned out by a shriek this time, and more eyes glanced over to the table with the child. The brunette was beginning to give Becker the benefit of a doubt with his comment; she didn't blame him when it concerned a child that loud.
"Can we just pray that Sarah will skip that phase?" Abby questioned, wincing slightly as the child threw the cup to the floor once more and she was beginning to wonder if the parents had any control over him. They didn't seem like they cared anymore.
"I'll make sure of it," Connor assured, "Especially when action man's around,"
"It's not like I would shoot the kid, Temple," The soldier defended, "Well, at least not yours anyway," He murmured, eyes glancing back over the two year old boy. "Great, now they've let it loose,"
"It's not a- He's not a wild animal," Jayme corrected, though he smirked at the mistake in her words, "Ok, you win. I'm pretty sure no one's stopping that thing from wreaking havoc,"
"I don't like where this is going," Connor stated, watching as the mother gave her son a small bowl of spaghetti, "I remember one time my parents told me about when I was eating spaghetti in a restaurant, and I got the sauce everywhere, they refused to take me out again for a long while after that,"
"So basically this kid is what you were like?" Becker questioned, smirking slightly at the thought.
"I was nowhere near as bad as that!" Connor defended, "At least I don't think I was,"
"You still get food everywhere though, well, when you cook anyway," The blonde told him, smiling at her husband before watching as the child jumped off the chair.
"I never ran with the food," Connor exclaimed, a little louder than they'd expected, "Sorry, just thought I'd slip that in there," He added, though chuckling as he saw the mother get up to go after her son; he felt a little sorry for her, but he couldn't deny it was amusing.
The two year old kept running, as if it was a game and he shouldn't let anyone catch him. The bowl in his spaghetti covered hands was starting to slip from grip, and as the young boy tried to keep steady, his little feet tripped over, and the bowl went flying.
"Becker-" Jayme's words had come a little late, and the spaghetti slapped against the soldier's shirt as he jumped in surprise. If it hadn't been for the fact the boy was crying and to be truthful he was sure the mother was on the verge of tears herself, he would have complained, loudly, instead he kept his mouth shut. However, Connor's explosion of laughter didn't make it any easier.
"I am so sorry," The mother stated, as she picked her son up, and Jayme and Abby could only bite back a smile as Becker assured her it was alright.
"Are you ready to order?" The four looked up as the waitress had walked over, and Connor could only wonder about how bad her timing was, it was as if, to the restaurant, nothing had happened.
Abby and Connor gave their orders, though it had taken a few moments for her husband to take a breath before he could say his, and she was certain she'd never seen that shade of red on a person's face ever before, and he could only carry on laughing silently as his gaze fell upon Becker again. However, it was the waitress Abby was more interested in, she'd barely looked at herself and Connor, and instead her gaze was focused primarily on the food covered soldier, who still looked in a state of shock as he glanced down at his shirt. When he focussed back on ordering, he was first met with the waitress' stare, then Abby's, and he could tell by the raise of her eyebrows the blonde was amused by the situation.
"I'll have the Classic Burger, whereas my girlfriend..." Becker began, emphasising the words as he wrapped an arm around her, "Will have the Steak Pie," He finished, glancing at the waitress briefly before settling on smiling at the brunette. Abby had seemed a little too pleased at the scene as she grinned at the couple, and as soon as the waitress had walked away, slightly unimpressed by the soldier, Jayme passed him his arm back, although she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
"I have spaghetti on my arm now," The brunette stated, taking a napkin and cleaning the food off her, "You're covered in it," She added, laughing at him, "But I guess I kind of love you,"
"Really? That's the first time you said that to me in front of anyone else," He told her, and he couldn't help the smile on his face, ignoring the stares from the couple opposite, "I love you too," He murmured, before pressing a soft kiss against her lips in satisfaction.
"Get a room," Connor muttered, as they separated, though Abby could see the happy glint in his eye as he spoke; he always was a sucker for romance.
"You might want to get cleaned up too," Jayme suggested, gesturing towards the sauce on his shirt.
"Yeah, the toilets are down there," Abby added, smirking at the soldier as he complied, shaking his hands free from food as he stood up, and then looking back up at the three.
"Good idea,"