Chapter 16, part 2.
Alice and Rodriguez went back to their normal routine of finding small pieces of technology Alice could mend and resell at a profit, but it wasn't long before they began getting other types of jobs. The first time it happened, they had stopped at a booth selling drinks (there was no tavern on this planet) and as they stood, sipping their beers, they were approached by a fifty-something looking woman dressed head to toe in red leather. Mercenaries usually preferred muted colors—black and brown, mostly—so she attracted attention like a butterfly in a sea of moths.
"Hey," she said; her voice was deep and smooth, in sync with her whole persona. "You must be Nova Ray and Levi Kern. I'm Rianna."
Alice gave her a pleasant smile. "Hello, Rianna. What can we do for you?"
"Straight to business, I like that." She nodded. "I heard from a friend that you are good at fixing broken technology."
"You are mistaken," Alice contradicted with an air of arrogance. "I am great at it."
Rianna smirked. "Yes, I heard you have a healthy ego, too. They also say your services are expensive."
"If there is ever any serious competition stealing my clients, I'll lower my prices," Alice replied confidently. "But for now… a girl's gotta know her worth."
"Quite right." Rianna gave her a measuring look. "I like you, Nova Ray. You remind me of me in my youth."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Alice bowed her head just a little.
"You should," Rianna agreed. "You know why there aren't that many older people in this business?"
"You gotta be smart enough to survive."
Rianna grinned brightly, and gestured at Alice. "You got that right, girl. There's hope for you, yet."
"So what is it that you would like me to help you with?"
"My friend Krone told me you fixed his ship. Do you do Goa'uld technology, too?"
Alice shrugged. "Sure. It's less fun, but should be faster—and less pricey for you, as a consequence. That depends on what's broken, of course."
"Of course." Rianna nodded seriously. "I've recently come into possession of a couple old Al'kesh that just won't come off the ground—that a thing you could help with?"
"Sure. It might need some replacement parts—crystals and whatnot—and that comes extra, though."
"Not a problem. You tell me what exactly you need, and I'll make it happen," Rianna answered calmly. She was probably a smuggler, Alice thought—she must have had a lot of sources of goods she could leverage. "Let's talk price."
"It's a hundred pounds to determine what's wrong," Alice said; it was by far less than what she'd gotten from Krone, but Hebridian technology was not as well known as Goa'uld one. If she insisted on something more, Rianna might have just gone to someone else. "Only then I'll be able to say how much for the actual fix."
"Alright. A hundred, then—for both Al'kesh," Rianna agreed with a smirk.
Alice grimaced, but didn't challenge that. "Deal."
"I have to say, you're much easier to work with than I had expected—Krone gave me the impression that you were quite contrarian with him."
"That's because you're not as fucking annoying as he was," Alice replied, deadpan.
Rianna laughed. "Touché. I'm sure he was all over you all the time you've been working—that boy cannot keep it in his pants."
"He tried, but I can take care of myself." Alice shrugged, remembering her automatic reaction to his epithet—little flower, he'd called her.
"Isn't that why you have this hunky boy around?" Rianna threw Rodriguez an appreciative look.
Rodriguez sent her a smile and a wink. "I have many uses."
"He mostly lugs my equipment around," Alice joked. "Though he's not bad in a pickle, too."
"I bet," Rianna commented, returning the wink, and Alice had to amend her earlier assessment of the woman. She wasn't really that much better than Krone—less gross and more playful, perhaps, but equally lewd—it was just that it wasn't Alice at the receiving end, but Rodriguez, and he didn't seem to mind.
"Anyways—when do you want to do this? I need to get my equipment first."
The mercenary handed her a little piece of paper with a line of symbols on it. "Let's meet there in two days."
Alice nodded. "Sounds good." And then she extended her arm and they shook hands. "It was nice meeting you."
"Likewise, Nova. See you around."
Alice and Rodriguez watched her walk away, and eventually they moved on to continue their leisurely stroll through the merchant village.
Working with Rianna was much more pleasant than with Krone; Alice managed to fix her two Al'kesh with a few hours of work on each, and they parted satisfied—Rianna, because the ships were now flying again, and Alice, because she learned in the meantime that Rianna was actually part of Lucian Alliance—lower echelons, like Castor, but it was a promising step forward in her plan anyway.
She did one more similar job before Krone came back to mend and tune up the shields and communications array, after all; he didn't even seem too awful this time around. After him came a steady stream of other similar jobs—fixing and improving ships of different designs. Mostly, it was Goa'uld technology, but from time to time something new came up. Alice liked the opportunity to learn new things, even though it was also a bit stressful—there was no guarantee she would be able to complete the job on technology she'd never seen before; and yet, though some of them took a bit of time, she was always managing to succeed.
In between those bigger stints, Alice and Rodriguez continued their routine with the merchants, but they also were spending more time in taverns and other watering holes, talking to people and listening to gossip. They were becoming known in the world of smugglers and mercenaries, less of a new thing and more of a fixture; and that was exactly their goal.
A few days after their job for Rianna, Alice was in her lab, mulling over a report from Groom Lake; her invention, the X-801, a P90/Wraith stunner hybrid weapon, had gone through end-to-end testing at the facility and the unit's head, Tracey Campbell, was recommending that it should pass to field testing now. Alice was reading the detailed results when the sound of the door sliding open interrupted her. She lifted her head to look at the man standing on the threshold. He was around five-eight and somewhat softer around the edges than men in the military usually were—at least those in the Program. He had dark brown hair, cut to the regulatory two inches in bulk, with sideburns extending almost to the end of his ears; his eyes were muddy blue and his face a bit round, making him look more cute than handsome—if one were prone to such descriptions. He was wearing blues—Class B uniform, dress pants and long-sleeved shirt without a jacket. His epaulets proclaimed him to be a captain and his nametag said SCOTT. He was smiling, a bit nervously she thought, as he entered the room.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I don't mean to disturb you but I was wondering if you had the chance to complete the team assessment of yesterday's exercise run?" He asked in a pleasant tenor.
Alice blinked quickly in surprise. "I didn't participate in yesterday's run," she answered, leaning back on her chair. "You'll have to ask Lieutenant Rodriguez—though if I know him, it's probably already filed. Why are you asking about it, anyway?"
"Oh, sorry, ma'am—I thought you knew," he said, looking a bit flustered. "General Carter announced it this morning—I'm her new Executive Officer. I'm Captain Roger Scott." He straightened out to attention.
"Oooh, right, I didn't know she's made her decision!" Alice stood up and reached out to shake his hand. "I'm Major Alice Boyd—though I presume you already know this, seeing as you've walked in here knowing what you wanted." She smiled. "I was off-world this morning—I'm sure there was a memo, too, I must have missed it. Welcome to the unit."
"Thank you, ma'am." He beamed. "It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of all this." He twirled his fingers around to indicate the entire base.
"Yes, it is—and I'm sure you'll live up to it, otherwise General Carter wouldn't've picked you. So, this is your first day?" She sat back down and waved at him to take a seat on the other side of her desk.
"Yes, ma'am—I've had my orientation in the morning and the general has already put me to work!" He seemed quite proud of this fact.
"Well, good!" Alice nodded. "If you pick up all the administration stuff, she might be able to get back in the lab a little."
"That's what she said." He grinned again. "I'm sure it'll take me a moment to get my bearings but I intend to do my best to help her achieve that."
"I'm sure you'll do well," Alice reassured him and got rewarded with another brilliant smile. "But I'm curious, what did you do before this?"
"I have just come off from three years as General Carto's XO, and before that I did a stint for Colonel Adams at the Air University."
Alice nodded. She didn't know Colonel Adams, but Carto was the deputy director of concepts and strategy futures in the Pentagon. Those were two high-profile billets; it was a sign that Scott might actually know what he was doing. On the other hand, he had no other experience but being an Executive Officer—essentially a glorified administrative assistant. She had to wonder if he'd adapt easily to the somewhat chaotic environment of the SGC.
"You'll find work in the Program a tad different than the Air University or the Pentagon," she warned him.
"So I gather," he agreed readily. "It's gonna be a learning curve, for sure—but I'm excited to be here. I mean, I think I've read most of the reports from the SGC, and some from Atlantis, and I find it all completely fascinating. Just thinking of some of the things you all have seen and gone through—you, General Carter, Colonel Mitchell, Doctor Jackson…" He shook his head incredulously. "You are real heroes, in every sense of the word."
"I wouldn't lump myself in with those people," Alice amended light-heartedly. "But you're right about them, of course—"
He cocked his head to the side. "Forgive me, ma'am, but from everything I've read about you, you absolutely fit in with them. And what you're doing now—your undercover mission—I mean, wow…"
Alice smirked. His clear admiration flattered her, even though it was misguided. "I think one needs to save the world at least, like, ten times, and the universe twice, to have a prayer of measuring up to the likes of Samantha Carter or Daniel Jackson."
"Those are some high standards," he commented, smiling.
"Yeah, well, and for a good reason. Each one of them has done that and more. You should feel very lucky to be able to work for and learn from someone like General Carter."
"I feel extremely lucky, and honored," he assured her.
"Rightly so." She nodded. "Anyway, I don't want to detain you. I've delegated all of the paperwork I could to my second-in-command, Lieutenant Rodriguez—check in with him for the assessment."
He rose from the chair. "Yes, ma'am, thank you." He came to attention again, bowing his head respectfully, and then retreated from the room.
Alice shook her head. He was about her own age—she began her career two years earlier than most airmen did, so it wasn't unusual for her to outrank people her age—but for some reason he seemed younger. Maybe it was his eager enthusiasm, the cute round face, or just the fact that he had never been in the field—and therefore hadn't acquired that special something people had in their eyes after they've been in battle—but either way, he didn't look thirty.
She focused on the X-801's testing report, but it wasn't even twenty minutes before the door opened again, admitting no other than General Carter herself.
Alice got to her feet, a bit surprised. Usually, Carter would call her in to her office, not come up here.
"General! What brings you up here?"
"I needed to stretch my legs," she replied and Alice nodded understanding. Sitting at one's desk all day made one restless for sure. "And I wanted to discuss that testing report that just came in today, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone."
Alice gestured at her to take a seat and they both dropped onto chairs. "I was just going through it myself—looks very promising, wouldn't you agree?"
"I would." Carter nodded, smiling. "Tracey suggested to move it to field testing. Normally I would say your team should try it out, since you invented the thing, but your mission doesn't allow for Earth-looking weapons. Any thoughts on which unit should get to test it?"
Alice thought it over. "One that will actually use it, I suppose—perhaps one of the Marine combat units?"
"I was thinking the same," Carter agreed. "How about SG-5, Major Petruchenko's team?"
Alice smiled. It was Jake's old unit, before he had been reassigned to Atlantis. "Sounds good. With your permission, ma'am, I'll contact Doctor Campbell and ask to ship the prototypes over. I understand that they produced five of them, in addition to the one I built, but we'll only need four, of course."
"Yes, shoot her an email—and then if you could give a short intro to Petruchenko and his men?"
"Of course, ma'am, with pleasure." She hasn't interacted much with that particular team; they were a combat support unit, and Alice never needed backup in any of her missions at the SGC—at least, not yet.
"Good." Carter stretched on her chair, but didn't get up just yet. "So I just realized that you're not in tomorrow—I remember approving the leave request, but it slipped my mind since," she admitted. "It's so unlike you to take any time off that it's little wonder that it did, though."
Alice smiled, a little embarrassed. "If you need me to stay—"
"God, no!" Carter interrupted, horrified. "That's the exact opposite of what I'm saying. I'm glad you're finally taking some time for yourself. You deserve it, you've been working like crazy over the past few months."
"No more than you," Alice murmured, defiantly.
The general frowned. "Oh, yes, you have, and you know it. I don't spend every weeknight here."
Alice shrugged. Working was better than going home to an awkward evening with Deanna and the horror of idleness and sleeplessness at night.
Carter sighed. "So, do you have any plans for this four-day leave?"
"An old friend of mine is getting married," Alice explained with a little sigh of her own. "It's like a whole thing, a destination wedding with three days in a spa resort in Napa Valley, a reception at a restaurant with three Michelin stars, golfing, swimming, wine tasting trip, the whole pizzazz."
The general whistled. "Wow. That sounds amazing—and very expensive!"
"Oh, it's all expenses paid for—my friend is part of the band and they're all ridiculously rich now." Alice rolled her eyes.
"Is that Aaron, the boy I met on your promotion ceremony?"
"Oh, no, no—I mean, yes, Aaron is part of the band, too, the frontman, actually. But I've known the whole band for many years, went to school with four out of five of them and we've been good friends all this time. It's Zach, the drummer, who's getting married—and his fiancée is actually a researcher at CalTech and a fellow at the Keck Institute, specializing in CMB. She even read the report on the CMB you did after that trip out of bounds of Milky Way we did on the Prometheus years ago."
"Really?" Carter seemed impressed. "She must be a real expert in the area, then—not many people were granted access to that report outside of the Program, even after we've cleansed it from any of the risky bits. What's her name, maybe I know her?"
"Chiyo Ishikawa, she used to work at the Tokyo University but moved to CalTech after she met Zach."
Carter shook her head. "Doesn't ring a bell, but like I said—she must be good. It's sounds like you have a nice thing planned, then. Yet somehow, you don't seem excited—any particular reason?"
"Oh, I'm excited," Alice assured her, forcing a smile. "It's always nice to see my family and friends—but there's gonna be lots of people I don't know there, and that is somewhat less enticing." Not to mention lots of idle downtime.
"Aah. Of course, you've never been a particularly outgoing person, though it's gotten much better in the recent years, if I may say so myself."
Alice nodded. "Thank you. I'm a little better than I used to be in social situations but I still don't particularly enjoy them, unless it's with people I know really well. And I'm not fond of big parties, either." She shrugged. "But the way I see it, I am going there for Zach and Chiyo, to celebrate them and ensure they both have a wonderful time."
Carter smiled warmly. "That's very thoughtful and kind—but don't forget to have fun, too. I'm sure that's what they want for all their guests."
"Yes, ma'am." Alice made an indeterminate gesture that was something between a shrug and a nod.
The general sighed, shook her head, and then stood up, prompting Alice to get to her feet, too.
"Alright, I'll let you finish your work in peace, now. Don't stay too late."
"Yes, ma'am, thank you."
Alice watched her Commanding Officer leave and then got back to the testing report. She wrote to Doctor Campbell, asking to ship four prototypes to Stargate Command with the next transport from Groom Lake, and then set up a proper intro session for Petruchenko and his team for Monday morning. That done, she immersed herself in one of her research projects until late in the evening, forgetting that she had promised Carter not to.
She took an early flight from Denver to LAX, got a rental and drove home to spend the day with her mom and Jake. They would fly out to San Francisco together the next day, but she was looking forward to having some alone time with her family first—she hadn't seen them in over six weeks. This was not unusual, of course—actually, she was seeing them much more often nowadays then when she was part of the X-304 squadron, not to mention Atlantis. But she got used to it pretty quickly and she had to admit she missed them.
Jake was alone at the house when she came in.
"Mom's at her weekly therapy session," he told her after they'd hugged each other tightly for a greeting. "She should be back within half an hour."
Alice nodded and stepped back a little to look at him. "You look good!"
He beamed at her, but she noted there was a little bit of a nervous energy about him. "Yeah, I've been able to start running a bit in the morning and doing some light workouts. The docs still don't want me to push myself too much, but let me tell you—as little as I've been able to do, it's been a blessing. I already feel much more like myself."
"That's wonderful to hear!" She smiled back, dismissing her concern for the moment. "So does that mean we're going for a run tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah, bring it." He grinned again. "Even when I'm not a hundred percent, I can still bury you!"
She rolled her eyes, smirking. "Yeah, dream on, big boy." His legs were much longer than hers, but she was a whole lot lighter and more limber, so she was always winning on shorter distances while he beat her on longer ones.
He made a face at her and she had to laugh. She had forgotten already how good it made her feel to just be around him—he had such an optimistic, positive energy that it spilled onto her and actually pulled her out of the darkness for a while. It always, inevitably came back, but she decided to enjoy it for as long as she could.
"I need coffee," she said. "You want some?"
"Sure." He nodded and followed her into the kitchen, and once again she noticed some anxiety in his normally calm face. He sat at the breakfast island and watched as she prepared the brew.
"So I did something," he confessed, the nervousness spilling into his voice now.
Alice put the mugs on the surface and took a seat opposite him. "What did you do?"
"I invited Oliver to be my plus one."
"Oh, that's great!" She exclaimed, delighted at the opportunity to meet her brother's new boyfriend. But then she saw him grimace and frowned. "Not great?" He gave her a look and finally it clicked. "Oh, because you're not out to anyone—so that's gonna be your coming out… that's, um, brave."
"Insane is what it is," he muttered darkly. "I don't know what came into me, we were out on a date and it just sort of spilled out…"
"Aww, that's adorable!" She reached out and grabbed his hand. "Listen, it's gonna be alright. You know the band's gonna be cool with it, there's no question about it—and who cares about all these other people?" She shrugged. "They're strangers, fuck them if they kick up any fuss. And me and Aaron are gonna be there to support you both."
He smiled and squeezed her hand back. "I know, I'm not that worried about that part. But—" He hesitated for a moment "—it means telling mom, too. I was supposed to do it before, I had been planning to, but then I just… didn't. And now it's the day before and I have to forewarn her, and—"
"Stop." Alice shook her head emphatically. "There is no scenario in which mom's reaction will be anything but totally supportive, you must know that!"
"I know." He hung his head, looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. "But also—I mean, throughout all of these years, I haven't heard her mention the word gay like, ever, so I gotta wonder—"
"Man, it's mom. It would be a totally different story if we were talking about Simon or Alastar, but mom—"
"Yeah, but that's the thing—she was raised in the same house and by the same people as Alastar. It must've rubbed off on her in one way or another…"
"If it did, she's long have shrugged it off," Alice contradicted with conviction. "You have nothing to worry about—but I agree, you should tell her today. And remember that I'm here and I've got your back, too."
He smiled at her, but his eyes were a little wet. It was such an incongruous sight—her big brother, both older and physically imposing, always so calm and positive—and now so nervous and vulnerable. She had seen him like this only once before, and it was after Robert's death. It was incredible that fighting life-sucking monsters in space never shook him the way emotions and relationships did—but, also, it seemed completely normal, at least to her.
"Thanks, sis. It's good to hear that."
She replied with a smile and that's when they heard the sound of a car pulling out into the driveway. They both got up to greet their mom and a bit of time passed on hugging and catching up, and then mom retreated to the kitchen to make lunch. Jake and Alice were barred from helping so they sat at the island and bantered with each other and mom. Jake hasn't broached the subject throughout the meal, and Alice understood that he was still feeling anxious. She remembered how nervous Deanna had looked as she was spilling her heart out to her, and realized that it was one experience she would never truly comprehend. To make yourself so vulnerable, to show your true self to someone, hoping for acceptance but fearing rejection—it wasn't something that she'd ever had to do. She had her own quota of anxiety and difficulties, but at least she would never have to be afraid to be authentically who she was.
It was afternoon and they were lounging in the backyard with tall virgin drinks in hand when Jake finally took a deep breath, shot Alice a nervous look, and sat up straighter, angling his body towards mom. She responded immediately with the same, smiling at him expectantly, as if she knew something was up.
"So, mom," he began, his voice a bit rough. "There's something I need to tell you. But I need you to promise me to try and be open-minded about it."
"Of course, honey!" She replied, a slight crease forming between her brows.
He inhaled deeply and his words spilled out quickly, as if he thought getting them out fast would somehow help. "So I've asked someone to be my plus one at the wedding, and you're gonna meet him tomorrow so I need you to know that it's a him and that's because I'm—I'm gay."
There was a beat of silence that followed as they both looked into their mother's face; she seemed frozen in surprise for a moment, but recovered quickly and turned to Alice.
"Did you know about this?"
"Yes," Alice replied levelly. "For about two years, though I've had my suspicions for a long time before that."
Eileen turned back around to Jake and sighed. "I am really disappointed in you," she said, but she continued so quickly that he didn't even had the time to feel crushed: "For not telling me earlier. I am your mom, I should know these things!"
Jake let out a breath and Alice thought he must have been holding it in all this time.
Mom got to her feet and walked around the table to approach him and then hugged him to her chest as he sat there.
"You shouldn't have kept it bottled up for so long," she told him softly. "It's unhealthy. Were you nervous to tell me?"
"Yes," he murmured into her shirt.
She sighed. "Honey, I'm your mom. It's literally my job to love and support you, and it's the easiest job in the world. I love you, now and forever, unconditionally, no matter what."
He wrapped his arms around her slender form. "Oh, mom," he choked out, his eyes wet once again.
Alice smiled at him, feeling her own throat constrict a little. "Toldya," she mouthed to him and he actually chuckled soundlessly at that.
"My little baby boy," mom murmured, giving him one more squeeze and then she stepped out of his embrace to look at him. "You'll always be my little baby boy, no matter how tall you grow."
"Hopefully not much taller than now…" Alice muttered under her breath, her eyes twinkling with mirth. It was such a beautiful affirmation of family love—borne out of anxiety, but resulting in this wonderful moment of motherly affection.
Mom ignored Alice's light-hearted jibe. "I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me. You can tell me anything," she declared, and then looked at her daughter. "Both of you."
Alice's responding smile was just a touch less genuine as she thought about all the things she was keeping from Eileen—and even Jake. He at least knew about Karim, but mom didn't; Alice's memories from the first few weeks after Karim's death were a bit hazy, but she did remember making extra effort to hide the depth of her grief from mom. Even so, she was sure mom had felt there was something profoundly wrong, but with understanding and grace that only someone who's gone through hell herself could fully muster, she gave Alice support without question.
"Thanks, momma," Jake said on behalf of both of them. "I guess I was nervous because—well, I've heard a lot about gays from Uncle Alastar…"
"Oh, psh!" She waved her hand dismissively, taking her seat again. "Alastar is not a bad person, but he's wrong about most things. Don't you listen to him; he will come to his senses. And if not, then it's on him, not on you—never on you."
"It must have been really difficult," Alice said quietly, realizing this for the first time. "All these times, when we were younger, at family dinners when Alastar or Simon would go on a rant, with you sitting right there…" She sighed. "I'm so sorry, Jake."
He shook his head. "No, sis, don't be. I mean, it was hard, but what I remember best from those times was you always telling them off…"
Alice smiled sadly. She did often argue with her uncles about stuff like LGBT+ rights, never knowing she was doing it on behalf of her brother—and that was the crux of her heartache. Despite how vocal she had been, he hadn't trusted her enough to share this part of his life until he was literally forced to. She didn't blame him for not telling her—far from it. But she did feel disappointed and wondered what had she done to make him feel insecure about her unconditional affection for him. In this, she supposed, her and mom were the same.
"I should've been there and telling them to quit, too," mom acknowledged. "I'm sorry, Jake—I just never felt like I had the energy to argue with them, and it felt harmless to let them rant on. I realize now that it's never harmless to let people spew hatred so casually. Words have an impact beyond what's immediate."
"No, guys, please, do not feel bad," Jake objected. "You didn't know, and that's because I didn't tell you—that's on me. And I don't want you to feel—I mean, I never felt abandoned. I always knew you had my back, I just…" He hesitated. "I guess I internalized a lot of the bad stuff I've heard all around me and I felt bad with myself for a very long time. If I wasn't okay with myself, then how could you be, you know?" He shook his head. "It wasn't until I met Robert—I mean he was the first person who made me feel like that part of me was okay."
"Is Robert the boy I'm gonna meet tomorrow?" Mom asked eagerly and then frowned, seeing Jake's expression darken a little.
"No. Robert's gone," he replied and then sighed. "I'd met him in Iraq, before I got hurt—he was a medic. Two years ago he was out in the field, helping to evacuate some guys in the hot zone and got caught in the crossfire. The man he was trying to save made it—but he didn't…"
"Oh, honey!" Mom reached out over the table to squeeze his hand. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay, mom. It was hard at first, but—" he looked at Alice and smiled "—I had help. I still miss him sometimes, but I am ready to move on. So when I met Oliver about a month ago I decided to go for it and we've been dating ever since."
"Oh, so that's where you've been each time when you were out with some friends!" Mom rolled her eyes at him. "I should've known there was something more going on." Then she shook her head and added, more seriously: "I am really happy that you've found a way to move on, baby. God knows it took me many, many years to do the same. I still miss your dad, but I know now that he would want me to be happy—and I'm sure Robert would want the same for you."
"Yes." He nodded, a warm smile playing on his lips. Then he looked directly at Alice. "That's what love really is—wanting the other person to be happy. Even if that means letting go."
She glanced away, trying to seem casual, but she knew mom caught it. She didn't ask, though—mom wasn't a prying type.
"That's exactly right—you've hit the nail on the head, baby. And that's what I want for you both—to be happy." She picked up her mocktail that had been standing on the table, neglected all this time, and took a sip. "So tell me more about this Oliver."
"Well, you'll meet him tomorrow…"
"Yes, that's why I want to know something about him—what does he do? Where is he from? How old is he? You know, the basics."
Alice shifted her eyes back to Jake, curious. Since the first time he told her about Oliver he had mentioned him a few times over the phone, but never more than a few words.
Jake rolled his eyes. "He's a paramedic at the hospital where I go for my checkups," he explained. "He's born and bred in South L.A. but lives in East Hollywood nowadays. And he's a couple years younger than me, thirty-one."
"Oh, that's nice!" Mom enthused. "I can't wait to meet him!"
"Yeah, me too!" Alice put in with a bit of a perverse smile. "I can't wait to play the protective sister and go and tell him something like if you hurt my brother, I'll break all your bones."
Both Jake and mom laughed.
"He's like four inches taller and seventy pounds heavier than you," Jake commented with a smirk.
Alice crossed her arms on her chest and looked at him through narrowed eyes.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine. You probably could take him—but it wouldn't be easy!"
They all laughed this time, and continued to banter with each other lightly, sipping their drinks in the dying light of a warm California day.