Jeff Tracy and Lee Taylor made history when they returned the first men to step on Mars.
Once the quarantine time was over their lives were not their own. NASA, in hostile negotiations to be taken over by the upcoming Global Defence Force, capitalised on the pair's fame, hoping to delay the inevitable.
Lucy watched from afar as her fiancé and his best friend barely had time to rest and eat. They got to smile at each other across crowded rooms and Lucy knew that when she was there Jeff's eyes were only on her.
She had her man. She could wait a few more days.
A few more days turned into weeks. It threatened to turn into months but Jeff finally put his foot down after an interviewer brought up the subject of partners and incorrectly paired him off with one of his closest friends, Val Casey, never mind that Casey was herself newly married.
They set the record straight immediately, but it was just the reason that Jeff needed to call the whole thing off and return home.
Home to Lucy.
Before he'd even taken a step into her apartment block Jeff was down on one knee again, this time with a ring, a simple octagon barion-cut azurite set in white gold. Lucy was overjoyed with it – her favourite colour without it being a sapphire, a stone whose history she didn't like.
They ordered take-out and didn't leave her apartment for the three days Jeff had demanded off. And when they did venture out it was to secure a full month off for both of them. NASA had balked, but Jeff was a smooth talker and great negotiator, and before the day was out he was flying them home to Kansas with Lee while the Caseys would meet them at the Tracy Farm on Friday morning in time to take the couple out shopping.
Friday shopping in such a small town was an experience after Houston, but being able to shop in such a place where everyone knew everyone else…their two-hour window extended longer than NASA's PR trip...and Lucy loved it.
She found an ivory tea dress with pale blue shoes and a shawl with embroidered powder blue and dusky pink roses. Ruth had gifted Lucy her own mother's veil and silver circlet of tiny ivy leaves.
They were married that weekend in a simple ceremony at the local church followed by a small get together back at the farmhouse with their closest friends.
Jeff and Lucy spent their month off on a slow road trip around the back roads of Kansas, where he showed her the sights and sounds of where he grew up. They crossed the border into Colorado before heading south back to Houston via New Mexico.
By the time they arrived back at Lucy's apartment they had three days left of their leave to decide where they were going to live and organise everything.
Eventually they settled on moving into Lucy's place and the pair enjoyed the rush of sorting and moving everything with so little time to spare.
That first day back into work Jeff needed to leave earlier than Lucy, which she found highly amusing and she teased him mercilessly. Which resulted in a tickling match and ultimately meant Jeff was late leaving…to no one's surprise.
When Lucy eventually dragged herself up and left for work she almost fell over the bright red package on the step. Frowning, she picked it up. It was light, barely weighing anything, and there was no sound when she gave it a gentle shake.
She almost left it for later, but the sudden pooling of dread in her stomach had her return inside and tear at the paper. When the…gift…revealed itself she dropped it, watching as it rolled on the floor until the chair leg stopped it.
With shaking hands she picked up the red and green Matryoshka doll and pulled it apart.
There were three dolls in total, an unusual amount for the nesting dolls and an unmistakable message:
Part one of her mission was complete. Now to move on to part two.
She was being watched.