A Port in the Storm
If someone had taken an emotional meter reading at Wells Corp that day, the needle would waivered so hard back and forth between the extremes, that it probably would have broken. As Myka's tears of sadness turned to joy as she rested one hand on her stomach while the other one cupped Helena's face, - it truly seemed that all that mattered to her was blissfully in her own hands.
On the other end of the emotional spectrum was Irene.
Whether it was because remnants of original oneness with Helena still resided inside her or because she simply knew the woman so well, Irene sensed something was wrong. Running into Gloria exiting the executive's waiting area made her think the cause was physical. Refusing to let Gloria pass to get on the elevator, Irene pressed her for answers.
"What do you mean she's okay?" Irene asked, certain the woman was incorrect.
"She's with Myka now," Gloria explained because surely that was proof enough of Helena's state.
Irene stared at the woman whom she understood to be relatively new to the Bering-Wells way of doing things. The nurse watched with great interest as chestnut eyes glared at her, unsettled and worried. The duo now became a trio of emotional exchanges, she thought. "I feel as if you want to ask me something directly," Gloria said, letting Irene know she could let out the inquiry that seemed tied to her tongue.
Irene looked at Helena's door, hoping she would emerge and save her from making a fool of herself by asking - "Did you upset her in any way? – but the words were out before she knew it.
"I might have," Gloria answered truthfully because she saw the obvious change in Helena and then the return to calm, but she wasn't quite sure why.
Irene's concerned look became piercingly sharp. "I think you should explain that to me – and quickly."
Gloria knew Irene was protective of the Brit. She had no idea it could be accompanied by a wrath – because the woman always appeared so calm. Unless, she learned, it had to do with Helena.
"Irene, first let me assure you that Helena is okay. Whatever reaction she had, dissipated when Myka joined us. Perhaps you can shed some light on why she reacted the way she did to an old photograph that I shared with her; one of my great-great grandmother and her ancestor, Helena Wells," Gloria said and her medically trained reflexes caught Irene before she lost her balance.
Irene had no idea who Gloria's relative was, but she understood the implications of the picture.
"Are you okay?" Gloria asked, as Irene steadied herself and thanked her.
"I need to…yes, thank you," Irene said and forced a congenial smile on her face and went to the door and opened it.
She didn't even knock. She couldn't - she had to see if Helena was okay.
"I'm so sorry," she said to Myka, who turned to see who was barging in. Helena still lay asleep in her lap. Myka took one look at Irene's expression and knew she was worried. She waved Irene closer so she could see for herself. Irene approached and looked down at Helena, who slept peacefully now.
"Is she okay?" Irene mouthed the words and Myka nodded her head - yes. She picked the picture up and handed it to Irene. The HR Director knew better than to stand here and look at it, so she walked to the window before viewing it. "Oh my word," she said softly as she gazed at the two women in the photo. Like Myka, she too, was taken at how young Helena looked. It looked like one of those pictures they purposely make to look aged with people dressed up in vintage clothing to make it look like a period piece. Irene smiled at how happy Helena looked. Then it finally dawned on her who else was in the picture and what it really showed. While Helena stood still in time, the midwife's life continued through the generations. "Gloria's?" Irene asked, coming back to sit near Myka.
"Yes!" Myka said, as amazed as Irene was. "She had no idea," she said in the nurse's defense.
"Of course," Irene concurred and looked at Helena. She could imagine how blindsided the woman was by all of this. "Can I do anything?"
Myka smiled and suggested that Irene be around later, in case Helena needed her. Myka understood that Helena's need for Irene's presence sometimes went unspoken by the Brit. Often Irene provided a way for Helena to regain her composure. "Of course," Irene said and put the photo down. She patted Myka's hand, took one more look at Helena and left quietly.
Irene emerged much the same way a guard dog patrols the fence – bordering on ferocious. "Do not let anyone in and do not let that phone ring," she told Sui sharply. The android practically saluted in response. She then marched to Eileen's office and walked in. "Have her tea waiting," she said, without even stopping to explain why.
It was all hands on deck on the SS Bering-Wells, and Captain Irene Frederic was calling the shots.
Irene knew she couldn't expect anyone who didn't know Helena's backstory to understand what happened, but she didn't need them to. She just needed them to follow orders. Leena was told to make a special meal – something that was Helena's favorite; Pete was told to be ready to take them home as soon as Myka called; Claudia and Eileen were instructed not to mention the wedding again after they confessed they may have overloaded their boss with details.
"We…may..have..(ahem)…agreed to let her …take care of the wedding," the fiancées' admitted, but had to speak the words together as their throats closed under the weight of Irene's glare. She hadn't even asked them; they simply spout out the confession to her.
"It's okay," she said to the couple who had stopped breathing in her presence. "We'll sort that out later." She could imagine that the two went to Helena overwhelmed and she swooped in to save them.
It was a rather accurate interpretation.
"We…are…so …sorry," they said together and Irene assured them they didn't cause anything.
While Irene was taking charge of, well, everything outside of Helena's office, the Brit was slowly waking up from her deep slumber. Even before opening her eyes, she pressed her cheek into Myka's hand and held it there. "I fell asleep?" Helena asked, amazed at how quickly that happened.
"Yes, I insisted," Myka said, tracing her thumb across the smile that appeared on Helena's face. She enjoyed it whenever Myka – insisted.
Slowly the details of what had occurred came back to Helena and she tried to sit up quickly, but Myka pressed down on her shoulder, gently holding her in place. "Where are you going?" she asked softly, not allowing her wife to move.
"Myka?" Helena said, and the event replayed in her dark eyes as Myka watched the feelings surge back.
"It's okay, Helena," Myka assured her and felt Helena's body finally relax.
Helena took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before telling Myka - "Amelia was a wonderful woman, truly. She was so capable and had the bedside manner of an angel. I often thought, given the circumstances, that she was one – sent by a God that didn't cast aspersions on me," the Time Traveler admitted. Myka played with the stands of hair that crossed Helena's forehead as she listened.
"I am grateful she was there for you," Myka said of the woman's kindness.
"It's remarkable, when you think about it," Helena said, feeling safe in Myka's touch. "That I should meet her offspring, at a time when we will have our child."
There was no shortage of amazement on that serendipitous event.
"Are you feeling okay?" green pools of concern asked.
"I am, thanks to you," Helena said, looking up at Myka. "You anchor me in any storm."
"Do I?" Myka asked, caressing the face she loved.
"Gravity... has less pull on me than you do, Darling, " Helena said sweetly.
"Helena?" Myka smiled, when the sensation returned to her stomach. Helena sat up as Myka pulled her hand and placed it where she could feel the baby. "Do you feel that?" Helena pressed down, but couldn't feel it…yet. It would take a couple of more weeks before that happened. It didn't matter – the fact that Myka could feel it was enough for tears to well in Helena's eyes and join Myka's. "Isn't it wonderful?" Myka said, as she held Helena's hand in place.
Helena's gaze turned to look at the expectant mother. "You, Myka Bering-Wells are the very source of wonderful to me."
Helena reached over to seal that declaration with a kiss and then gently placed one where Myka's hand had covered her abdomen.
When Myka was certain that Helena had recovered from being taken unawares, she kissed her goodbye and said she would check back on her soon. She was texting Irene with one hand before her other hand was even on the doorknob to leave.
In spite of feeling much better, Helena sat down at her desk, trying to gather her thoughts. "Focus on now," she instructed herself in hopes on maintaining that settled feeling that Myka provided.
Myka smiled when she closed the door behind her and heard the distinctive sound of her text being received – only a few feet away. Irene rose from the couch with papers she managed to procure for Helena to sign. None of them urgent, but only she knew that.
"These need her signature," she said to Myka and the lawyer hung her head and smiled at how protective the HR Director was. The usually cool, calm and collected woman practically came unhinged when it came to Helena lately, and no one understood that better than Myka.
"You said to let no one in," a very confused Sui announced as Irene put her hand on the door. She shot him such a severe look that Myka was surprised circuits didn't blow in the poor android. Myka knew she was leaving Helena in good hands.
"Helena?" Irene said softly from the entryway. "Do you have …..?"
"YES!" Helena said enthusiastically because if anything got her head on straight, it was bantering with Irene. And only Irene could make Myka's absence more tolerable.
"I could use your signature on these," Irene said, pushing the papers across the desk and never moving her eyes off her boss. She seemed to be okay, but Irene wasn't done checking.
Helena accepted the papers, opened her Mont Blanc fountain pen, and started to affix her name on them in swirling script. The usually tranquil HR Director was tapping her index finger nervously on Helena's desk; something she never did.
"What are you doing?" Helena asked, while reading the papers she signed.
"What?" Irene asked, suddenly aware of her fidgeting. "Sorry. That one there," Irene started to say to occupy her mind, but it was too late, "…..is the one…..we talked…..before."
Helena picked her head up and put her pen down slowly…..and stared. "What is going on with you? You're behaving oddly, I mean, even for you."
Irene's mind scrambled to say something. "Does that concern you?
"It annoys me," Helena answered without skipping a beat.
Irene tried to smile away the accusation, but it only made her face make an even odder expression.
"For an HR Director, you don't do well when something is on your mind. Now, out with it," Helena demanded – gently.
Irene stared back, wishing she could handle this more gracefully, but where her feelings about Helena were concerned, poise wasn't always an option. She sat back in her seat as Helena waited as patiently as she knew how. "I know about the picture," Irene said - her tone a mixture of anger that she didn't prevent it and worry.
"Ah, yes," Helena said and looked over at the armrest on the couch where it sat silently. "What are the odds?" she asked, trying to make light of it.
Irene didn't care what the odds were. "Are you okay? Do you want me to speak to her?" In spite of the fact that every fiber of Irene's body told her Gloria's intentions were nothing but pure, she still wanted to do something.
Helena watched the severity of her friend's expression cast over her. "Be careful, Irene, or will have to get Beware of the HR Director signs and put them up," Helena teased, but Irene's expression didn't soften. She was taking this very… personally.
This is why Helena abruptly stood up and rounded the desk to take the seat next to Irene. The HR Director got what her boss was doing immediately and pursed her lips not to let out how endearing the action was.
"I'm assuming this is what you need?" Helena asked nonchalantly because she was in uncharted waters with this personal-sit-across-from-people stuff.
Irene's eyes exploded in a smile before her lips moved. "Yes, thank you," she said, touched at how Helena took in what she said. "I want to make sure you're okay," Irene said truthfully.
"Well, I hate to say that I never saw that coming," Helena admitted and even though there was no way for anyone to predict that, it was still hard for her to confess.
"I'm so sorry, Helena," Irene said and Helena could tell she was somehow feeling responsible.
"Thank you, Irene, but the woman did so with great intent and as soon as Myka got here, I found it easier to wrap my head around the fact that was I was staring back in time all those years," the Time Traveler said.
"What will you do with it?" Irene asked.
Helena smiled and then looked over out the window of her office, as if contemplating her options.
"I'm going to give Amelia Brown her due," the CEO said smiling.