Here we are, another piece to this one. We'll soon be meeting Wesley's friend on Caldos.
I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!
111
"She's very healthy, Nana," Beverly said. "Everything looks wonderful."
The conversation had fallen away from their little one almost as soon as they'd gotten into the kitchen. Felisa had insisted on serving Beverly what she called a snack, but Jean-Luc wasn't sure that Beverly would even have the ability to eat her dinner after such a snack as the one that her grandmother put before—expecting, of course, that every last bit of it be consumed for the benefit of both Beverly and the baby.
After Beverly's snack had been served, and Felisa was satisfied that Beverly was dedicated to eating it, Felisa turned her full attention on Jean-Luc and his cooking skills, and she'd gotten so absorbed in his tutelage that she'd forgotten entirely about quizzing Beverly about her great-grandchild-to-be.
Now that they were settling in for their dinner, however, Felisa's attention had been turned back to the little one that had, arguably and without Felisa's explicit knowledge of the fact, been the thing that had finally spurred Beverly and Jean-Luc into truly working on a relationship together.
Jean-Luc, of course, would be forever grateful for the minor indiscretion that had blossomed into the greatest happiness of his life.
"Just the same, I'd like to look at you both," Felisa said. "For my own peace of mind."
Beverly smiled at her grandmother.
"Of course, Nana," Beverly said. "After dinner?"
One healer to another, Jean-Luc assumed, Beverly understood Felisa's need to ensure that her granddaughter was well, and that the child she carried was equally as healthy.
Felisa simply nodded her agreement with that. Jean-Luc interrupted them when he brought the last of the soup bowls and placed it in front of Beverly's spot at the table. Wesley, following behind him, brought the basket of crusty bread that had already been cut into numerous chunks for easier consumption.
"Now," Jean-Luc said, pretending that he hadn't been overhearing, "I do hope that you'll enjoy this, Beverly. But—if you don't, then please know that I will only improve with practice."
Beverly laughed quietly and caught his hand as he pulled it away from the bowl that he put down. She squeezed his hand, and he returned the gesture, catching her eyes and winking when he had them.
"Is she moving well?" Felisa asked, undeterred now that her attention was on the baby. "Are you keeping track of her movements?"
"I haven't really felt any need to keep track, Nana. She moves all the time," Beverly said. "She's very active. I think that her favorite time to sleep is when I'm working. If I'm calm and busy? She'll sleep. As soon as I sit down, though, it's like she's urging me to get up and do something."
"Both of the leading ladies in my life are quite active. I have to spend an equal amount of my time urging Beverly to rest," Jean-Luc teased.
"Exercise is good," Felisa said. "But rest is important, too. You're eating enough? Taking care of yourself?"
Beverly smiled.
"I hardly have to take care of myself at all," she said. "Wesley is already a wonderful brother, and the best son a mother could ask for, and Jean-Luc is a doting father."
Jean-Luc didn't know if what Beverly said was actually true at this point, but the warmth that flooded his chest at the words told him that it was clearly something he found important to become. He wanted that. He wanted to be that—for Beverly, for himself, and for their growing family.
Jean-Luc cleared his throat.
"Beverly hasn't told you yet about the incident that happened some days ago," Jean-Luc said. "The reason, really, that we have extended leave for what would have been a short holiday." He made eye contact with Beverly. He couldn't tell exactly what she was thinking. She didn't disapprove entirely, that much he knew, but she probably wished that it wasn't something her Nana had to know at all. The truth was, none of them ever liked admitting to their families that their lives had been in danger and that, with some slight twist of fate, this conversation might have gone a great deal differently. When they chose to share such news, they all tried to focus on the positive outcomes instead of the possibility of what might have been.
"What happened?" Felisa asked.
"This soup is wonderful," Beverly offered. "Really…it's just what I've wanted…"
"Beverly," Felisa said, a hint of warning in her tone.
"Everything is fine, Nana," Beverly said. "I'm fine. The baby is healthy."
"There was a conflict," Jean-Luc said, deciding to spare Felisa too many details. "Beverly was doing what she does best. She was leading a team…helping those who needed it. She was taken hostage and, in the process, she was injured when a building collapsed in the attempt to subdue those who were threatening her life and the lives of others."
"You went into a conflict?" Felisa asked.
"It's my job," Beverly said.
"And your life…is that your concern, Beverly? Your baby's life?"
Jean-Luc realized that his family wasn't the only one who struggled, at least to some degree, with the demands of a Starfleet life. Felisa likely understood, but it didn't mean that she wasn't against anything that threatened the life of her granddaughter.
"I'm a Starfleet officer, Nana," Beverly said, effectively ending the discussion. Felisa's expression said that this wasn't the first time she'd heard it, and it wasn't the first time they'd been through this—it probably wouldn't be the last, either.
"Thank goodness you both survived," Felisa half-muttered.
"Thank goodness, indeed," Jean-Luc said. "We are grateful for Beverly's health and safety—and for the chance, now, to rest as a family."
"I do wish your work wasn't so dangerous…" Felisa said, shaking her head. "I think of all that can happen—all that has happened."
"And part of the reason that I do what I do is to keep terrible things from happening to innocent people," Beverly said. "And to help them when it does happen."
"As a healer, Nana," Jean-Luc said, putting as much good nature behind the name she'd asked him to call her, "I'm sure you understand Beverly's dedication to her craft."
Felisa seemed to soften slightly. Jean-Luc understood, of course, her reason for being tense.
"I would wish to keep Beverly safe in absolutely every situation," Jean-Luc said. "Even if I could, however, I hardly believe that Beverly would allow it." Beverly smiled at him, clearly swallowing some amusement with the soup that she was eating, despite the size of the snack she'd consumed earlier to make her grandmother happy. "You have raised an intelligent, interesting, and very independent woman, Nana."
"Stubborn," Nana offered.
Jean-Luc didn't feel bad laughing because, at once, everyone at the table erupted into laughter—a laughter that, thankfully, broke any tension that remained.
"Stubborn, perhaps," Jean-Luc said, when the laughter subsided. "But—I would have her no other way. And I hope that our daughter is just like her mother."
"You might want to be careful what you wish for, Jean-Luc," Beverly teased.
"Oh—don't worry," he said, reaching and catching her hand to squeeze it for a moment. "I always am."
111
"Jean-Luc…" Beverly said.
There was enough to her tone that words weren't needed. Jean-Luc laughed to himself.
"You are beautiful when you pout, Beverly," he offered.
"Don't try to change the subject," Beverly warned.
"What do you want me to say that I haven't already said?" Jean-Luc asked. "It's simply that it feels awkward, Beverly, to even think of making love to you in your childhood bedroom."
"Are you forgetting that we made love in your childhood bedroom?" Beverly asked.
"Not with your son on the other side of that wall and your Nana just below us," Jean-Luc pointed out. "I can't rationalize it for you, if that's what you're waiting for. It simply makes me feel like I'm about to be caught doing something that I absolutely shouldn't be doing."
Beverly's pout softened and she closed the little distance she'd put between them in the bed to drape her arms around Jean-Luc's neck and kiss him. The kiss sent the expected shockwave through Jean-Luc's body and he realized that his resolve was likely not to last too long—and he knew that Beverly knew that, too. She smiled at him when she pulled out of the kiss, and she stroked his face delicately with her fingers.
"Jean-Luc, we're married," Beverly said.
"Indeed, we are," Jean-Luc said. "However…"
"And I'm…well…I'm noticeably pregnant," Beverly said. "Everyone in this household knows that I'm pregnant. And even Wesley's old enough to know exactly how this particular condition came to be."
"I am well aware," Jean-Luc said.
"You won't be punished for making love to me," Beverly said. "In fact, if you'll let me, I'll make it a reward for being such a wonderful husband to me today."
"Only today?" Jean-Luc teased.
"Every day," Beverly said. "But—you're beginning to make me rethink today, Jean-Luc."
Jean-Luc laughed.
"It isn't that I don't want to make love to you," he said. "Beverly—believe me when I tell you that I want to make love to you all the time, even when it's inconvenient or entirely inappropriate. Please do not mistake my hesitation for even the smallest lack of desire, on my part, to be with you. It's only that—I'm not sure of the sound-blocking integrity of these walls."
"Then, we'll just have to be quiet," Beverly said, laughing quietly. "Does it make you feel better if I tell you that…as far as I know, Nana was never aware when I would have someone climb through the window from that tree outside."
Jean-Luc raised an eyebrow at her.
"I am not entirely aware that that alleviates any of my trouble," Jean-Luc said. "In fact, I believe it raises a great deal of questions that I have for you." Beverly smirked at him. "Beverly…am I to understand that…you invited suitors into your bedroom at night?"
"Jean-Luc," Beverly said, with a noticeably performative sigh, as she moved to sit beside Jean-Luc on the edge of the bed. "I have something to tell you." She took his hand and held it like she was about to deliver quite serious news. There was a sparkle in her eyes, though, that he could see despite the dim lighting, and it made it difficult for him to pretend that he was at all concerned about what she might say. "I—I wasn't a virgin…when we got married."
Jean-Luc closed his eyes and shook his head. He was, mostly, swallowing back amusement, to try to match her pretended sincerity for a moment.
"I can't believe it," he said. "I suspected something—with the presence of Wesley and…of course…with our daughter…and our previous activities, I had some questions, but…"
"I know," Beverly said, nodding her head. "It's a lot to take in."
Jean-Luc held her eyes with his own. She didn't try to hold back her smile anymore, and it warmed him. Everything about the moment warmed him. The lightness, good humor, and relaxation felt good. Jean-Luc caught Beverly's face and, leaning toward her for a kiss, found that he was met with a kiss that was fully sincere.
"I love you," he told her as the kiss broke.
"Even if you weren't my first?" She teased.
"As long as I'm your last," Jean-Luc said. "Or—if I should die before you, as long as I am the only one you love while I'm alive."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"You would want me to find someone else?" She asked.
"I would want you to always have happiness," Jean-Luc said, "and I would never want you to know guilt. So, for that reason, I absolve you of all guilt that you may ever feel after my passing."
Beverly nodded her understanding.
"I love you, too, Jean-Luc. And if I go first," she said. "I hope you'll feel the same."
"The only difference is that I have never known love, Beverly, like the love I know now—and I suspect that such great love only comes to us once in a lifetime."
"That is beautiful, Jean-Luc," Beverly said. "But…it also makes me feel like I haven't offered you enough of myself."
"You have given me everything you have to give," Jean-Luc said. "And I could never ask for more."
Beverly requested another kiss, and Jean-Luc gave her what she wanted. This time, they held it for a while, simply enjoying the exchange and the affection. As he pulled out of the kiss, Beverly looked at him with a tenderness that made his heart ache.
"You're sure you won't make love to me?" Beverly asked.
Jean-Luc could sense the desire she felt—not just for sexual satisfaction, but for the intimacy and closeness that the act would bring them both.
"I believe we have to, now," Jean-Luc said with a laugh. "We can consider it a training exercise in stealth."
Beverly laughed.
"And the chance of getting caught is bound to add a little excitement," she offered with a wink as she reached toward him to kiss him again, now that her invitation had been unquestionably accepted.