Heavy Lies the Crown 2/9
Dec. 1st, 2011 07:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whedonistTitle: Heavy Lies the Crown
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Rating: All over R – some parts more racy than others & some parts way less.
Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora along with all the other character’s from the pilot do not belong to me. They belong to Nancylee Myatt and others that I don’t know, but if in the off chance they want to get together for a chat I’m here. Then we can discuss why the excs at the T.V. station didn’t pick up the series and perhaps whap them about the face with a dead carp. It’s a just punishment for the crime. =0)
A/N Not a whole lot. Read and enjoy. =0)
Ch. 2 – Cheating Gravity
Usually it’s the eastern exposure and the sunlight sneaking through the window in Jill’s childhood room that’s been waking me up this past week.
Not today.
As my eyes crack open, my immediate response is to hold tighter to the thin frame snuggled against me.
I feel her faintly shudder in my arms and the dampness on my chest is unmistakable. “Shhh,” I coo thickly and run my hand through her hair.
She’s been like this off and on. The crying jags come and go.
It makes me remember when my dad was sick.
So I hold her tighter, trying to soothe some of the pain she’s in. My dad and I weren’t close for years before he got sick, but it didn’t take away from the fact that I loved him.
John and Jill are still close. I know they get together at least once a week if they can. She also talks to them daily. Maybe it’s a perk of being an only child.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles against my chest.
“Shh, you don’t have anything to be sorry for,” I insist gently, whispering into the top of her head before placing a kiss there. “Crying’s expected. If you didn’t, I’d be worried.”
We lay there, holding on to each other. Her breathing finally evens out and I roll onto my back. She follows, swinging a leg over my hips and burrowing her face in my neck. I smooth back her tousled hair and kiss her forehead, asking, “You better now?”
She nods her head, but stays silent. Instead, she plays with my medallion.
The house is quiet with Linda at the hospital; the only sound is the air conditioner pushing air through the vents. It takes a few more minutes, but Jill finally rolls off me and says, “I’m gonna go get ready.”
I nod and lace my fingers behind my head to watch her scurry off to the bathroom. Listening to her next door fumbling around in the shower, I stare up at the white textured ceiling.
I wish there was more I could do. I can think of half a dozen people off the top of my head that deserve this more.
And damn Ann.
I get it. Our line of work is hard, demanding and can pull you away from your family at the most inconvenient times, but she should be here.
I should be…no, I guess I should be here too, but Nikki should be with me.
I sigh, snatch the pillow from under my head and press it over my face as I softly scream in frustration. Our six year anniversary as a couple and I’m in Richmond, Virginia with my ex-girlfriend’s wife, sharing her bed and holding said wife at night.
I roll my eyes against the pillow and sigh again.
If my relationship with Jill and Ann were even remotely close to being normal, this wouldn’t be happening.
I give up trying to sort it out in my head; I should just accept that some relationships in life are far more complex than they need to be.
The only thing with that is that what I feel for the pair isn’t complex at all. It’s pretty simple. It’s as simple as what I feel for Nikki, just different.
And thinking of…
I reach over to the small nightstand and grab my phone, dialing Nikki’s number with ease.
“Beaumont,” comes her husky voice and I know I’ve woke her up.
“Morning, beautiful,” I whisper.
“Hmmm, Nora, baby, it’s…” she stops talking and I hear her curse before coming back on the line, “…it’s not even seven. I don’t have to be at the station ‘till nine.”
“I know, but we’re getting ready to leave and I just wanted to say happy anniversary.” I pick at the loose thread on my tank top and smile. I can’t help it. I haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet.
“Happy anniversary, sugga. You guys going to leave soon?” she asks perking up.
“Probably, but, I just…” I trail off not sure how to organize my thoughts.
“Well, then I’m glad you called. Even if you woke me up from a wonderful dream.”
“Hmm, and what kind of dream were you having?” I ask, curious to the answer and wondering if I should even start down this road.
“Me, a bottle of suntan oil, nude beach and…” she lingers before going in for the kill, “Maria Bello.”
The bark of laughter is covered up by my hand. I shake my head. “If it wasn’t me by your side on that beach, Nicollette, we will be having a serious talk later on today.”
She giggles into the phone and sighs, “Trust me, sug, it was all you and me.”
I hear the shower shut off and decide I need to get a move on. “Baby, I need to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, go back to your other brunette,” she teases me a little more. “I love you and happy anniversary, Nora Marie.”
My chest tightens and I reply, “Love you too and happy anniversary, Nik.”
Jill comes through the open door wrapped in a towel just as I say the last bit and hang up the phone. Her head cocks to the side and her eyes narrow ever so slightly as I set the phone back on the night stand. “Nikki?” she asks.
I nod and swing my legs onto the cold hardwood floor. “You leave me any hot water?” I ask slipping passed her towards the bathroom.
“A little,” she jokes as I shut the bathroom door.
As I strip and turn the shower on, I prepare myself for another long day of waiting.
I pass along the bottle of water and sit down next to Jill on the couch in the waiting room of V.C.U.’s Pauley Heart Center ‘s I.C.U. The hot coffee in my hand takes me back year, a decade – give or take, to when I was waiting in hospitals with my dad. “How long did the nurse say?” I set my coffee on the stock furniture and wrap my arm around Jill’s slim shoulders.
She leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder. I kiss the top of her head as she answers, “An hour, I think. The nurse…Darlene, said that she’d come get us when they were back.”
I nod and rest my cheek against the top of her head to wait along with her.
“Nora,” Jill’s voice is just above a whisper, “did I hear you right this morning, your’s and Nikki’s anniversary is today?”
“Hmm-hmm, it is,” my voice equally soft, it’s not like there are other people in the waiting room with us. I’m just following Jill’s lead.
“You should be down there with her. I’m sorry,” she sniffles and I hold a little tighter.
“Take it back, Jill. She’d be up here with me too if we both could have swung it. You know that. We’re good. I’ll make it up to her when I get home.” I stretch my legs and rest them on the coffee table. If my mama saw me, I shudder to think of the slap that would be coming my way, but…she’s not here and despite the time in bed last night, I’m tired.
“Do something nice for that woman of yours,” she sighs, choosing not to argue with me. I’m grateful for that.
“I will,” I promise and smile as some ideas of making it up to her cross my mind.
“Hey, Nora,” Jill cuts into my thoughts, some less than appropriate, “did I ever tell you about the time my dad took me and Ann out and tried to teach us to drive?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard that one. Tell me,” I say hoping that a story will distract her for a little.
“We were, I had just turned sixteen and Ann was going on seventeen. My dad was on me about learning how to drive. Poor Lee carted us everywhere in his little Ford Fiesta. We, uh, my dad took us out in his little truck to some back roads out by our house and just said, ‘Drive.’ Like it was that easy, ya know?” I release my hold as she shifts her position and turns to face me.
I turn in to her and mirror her position, my head propped in my hand, our knees touch and a ghost of a smile plays at the corner of her mouth. Unable to resist, I tuck a lock of hair that’s fallen from her ponytail behind her hear.
“Anyway, it was like this ‘sink or swim’ moment and I was so nervous. Ann had already been driving, but she didn’t have a car and didn’t see the point in getting her license until she had saved enough money to buy one.” Jill shakes her head at the memory and rolls her eyes. “I swear, I wonder sometimes how Annie did it. She was always working, screw school. She didn’t need to study for her classes. Do you know if it hadn’t been for her stupid family, she would have been valedictorian?”
I shake my head and answer, “Ann’s never shared that much, you know…”
Jill’s free hand closes over my knee and squeezes. “Trust me; if we hadn’t lived through it with her, I doubt I’d know half the bullshit they put her through. She was always super smart. Never studied. Always got A’s.” A rueful chuckle escapes her and she admits, “It used to annoy me so much. I’d bust my ass and end up at the most with a ‘B’ in a class. She slept through her AP classes and got ‘A’s’” She rolls her eyes and I smile.
“So anyway, she got to go first, easy as walking for her, the bitch,” Jill snickers good naturedly.
“Should I tell that wife of yours you’re calling her a bitch when she’s not here to defend herself?” I chide.
“She knows. Trust me. She knows.” Jill shakes her head and I feel her fingertips trace patterns over my lower thigh, “Annie just took to it, obviously, while, I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. Nearly ran us into a ditch. In fact, my dad and Ann switched spots ‘cause the cab of the truck was a small three seater. He put her next to me…” She trails off and looks at the open doorway. “I think, no, I know that even then he knew. I had no clue, but my dad knew what Ann and I were way before either of us did.”
“So he wasn’t too shocked then?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Nope,” she shakes her head, “He just sort of patted my shoulder and told me that as long as I was happy, he didn’t care. He loves Ann. When she was homeless, they asked her to stay with us.”
“Wait, what?” I feel the frown tug the corners of my mouth and try to school my features.
Jill just waves it away like it’s old news, “It wasn’t for long, she got into it with her family. She promptly got an apartment though. Lived in the back office of her second job for like a week.” Jill just shrugs it off and picks right back up, “So I mean when I came out to them, he was wonderful about it. My mom…”
My eyebrows rise. “She wasn’t okay with it?”
Jill snorts. “My mom was over the moon. She just smacked me on the back of my head and wondered what in the hell took me so long to figure it out.”
“You’re kidding?” I twist and rest my back against the couch to listen to the rest of the story.
“Nope. My mom, again, I swear if they could have had Ann for a kid…but yeah, I was lucky. My parents, in short, fucking rock, but I know not everyone’s that lucky.”
She looks at me, the set of her features tells me it’s not necessarily about me and my situation, but more of Ann’s and what her wife dealt with growing up. I think having Ann there, to show Jill a different reality, helped her. Not everything was the Americana she grew up with.
“She came out well though, no?” I ask, smiling at her.
She nods her head emphatically. “Way better than…she also managed to find some amazing friends when she…when I pushed her away.”
I shrug. “She helped me too, ya know? I don’t know…”
“Life’s funny like that though. And here we are. Which still doesn’t excuse the fact that Ann hasn’t called me in three days.” Her face sours and it’s my turn to reach out and soothe her.
“She’s fine. We would have heard something by now,” I remind her gently.
“I know. I just worry. She makes me be in this constant state of worry when John drags her away from me like this,” she tells me, looking down at her lap and playing with her wedding ring.
“You want me to kick her ass when she gets home?” I ask and make sure she knows I mean it.
“No,” she sighs, “I’ll kick her ass and then make her beg.” Jill wiggles her eyebrows at me and I shake my head.
“Mrs. Flemming, your father’s in his room,” the nurse says, her head poking around the door frame.
Jill nods and eases up from her position. Holding out her hand to me, I take it as she hoists me up. “Come on; let’s go bug my dad with stories about you now.” She links our arms together and leads me away from the waiting room.
“You really are the sweetest creature,” Nikki doesn’t even say hello when she picks up my call.
I look over at Jill next to me and can’t help the blush, hoping that she didn’t hear Nikki. “Well, hello to you too,” I reply back and settle back against the pillows against the wall.
“Not only do you send me flowers at the station, which I had to field questions about, half the floor saw the earrings,” she purrs. “My dear, even a thousand miles away you’re causing trouble.”
I shrug. “It’s what I do. Seriously though, you like the earrings?” I ask. Sometimes, I know exactly what she wants or I keep track of what she looks for if she drags me shopping. The earrings I picked up for her for our anniversary were all me though. Gold and sterling silver Fleur De Lis. Not too flashy, but something she can wear all the time or with a dress when she gets fancy.
“They’re perfect, sugga,” she gushes and adds, “I had to put them in right away. Benny says he didn’t know you were such a romantic. Dom says he’s taking you with him when his anniversary rolls around.”
“Oh boy, see I knew I should have made Darius or Bobby deliver them,” I moan thinking of the teasing I’m sure to get once I get back. I look over as the bed shifts and Jill stands readying to leave the room. I pull the phone away from my mouth and ask, “Where you going?”
“I’m giving you a bit of privacy,” she informs and speaks loud enough that I know Nikki can hear her, “And happy anniversary, Nik. You two don’t say or do anything, I haven’t done.” With that and a wink, she slips out of her room, locking the door behind her.
I hear Nikki laugh in my ear as she says, “That woman is something else.”
“Who are you telling?” I joke back. “So, Ms. Beaumont, how was your day?” I ask, settling back once again into the bed.
“Ugh,” she grunts and I know it can’t be good. “Where would you like me to start? The assault-homicide we pulled from the Fourth or the Meyer trial the D.A. is screwing up for us? Ah, I know, we can discuss the collective ass chewing your old partner gave us this morning because our close rate is slipping.”
“That good, huh?” I try and joke, but get a sigh in return. “Tell me about the case first, run it down for me?”
“It’s an assault gone south. I’m not even sure where to start. We interviewed the family today, nothing there. His last known location was a bar that really doesn’t remember the guy. They also have no security cameras and right now, we’re waiting on a subpoena from Lantagne so we can get credit and debit card receipts for that night. Although something tells me that a large portion of their clientele pays cash more often than not.”
“No odd wound patterns? Trace? What about the vic’s personal phone records or banking information?” I ask trying to be helpful.
“Nora, honey, this isn’t my first rodeo. We’ve busted on everything so far. The vic was taken in to emergency at the University hospital. He coded on the table. The intake nurse was less than responsible with his clothes so anything that could have been pulled isn’t going to help. Charlie won’t get to him until tomorrow, at the earliest, and the only numbers on the phone were to family and two girls the guy was seeing,” she grumbles at me.
Okay, so, none of that’s going to help. “Should I even bother asking about the follow up on the women?”
“No, they both knew he was seeing other women and didn’t seem too broken up by the news.” Her frustration pours from her voice.
I offer the only thing I can, “You’ll figure it out and if you want to bounce ideas off me…”
“I know,” she cuts me off. “Now the Meyer trial…sometimes, I just don’t understand what goes on inside a lawyer’s head,” she growls.
I can’t think of anything that could possibly go wrong with that. We handed a signed confession over to the D.A., we had enough physical evidence and an eyewitness that put the guy in the area where the rape occurred.
“What’s going on there?” I press. “McGrotty’s the A.D.A. on the case, yes?”
“He is and he’s letting that rat, Briseno, run roughshod over him in the court room. Meyer’s calling coercion from the arresting detectives…”
“Which was us,” I grumble right along with her now.
“Exactly and we both know it was clean. McGrotty was there when we did the interrogation. Shelly Wirtz is having second thoughts too. She doesn’t want to testify.”
“Damn.” I shake my head. “We handed him the damn thing wrapped up with a bow for Christ’s sake.”
“I know, sugga, I know. I’ll know more tomorrow. She’s supposed to testify and I’m there for the morning. Les and I did the prep right before I left the station. We’ll see,” she finally settles a little.
Of course, now I’m kind of pissed.
“Enough about my day though, there’s really only so much bitching I can do and Pat already got an earful when he swung buy with Mister. How’s everything on your end?” she asks as I hear ice being dropped into a glass.
“It was the same as yesterday. We hang out, play cards, chat and watch the monitors in the hospital room.” Running a hand through my hair, I shift and lay down on the bed. My feet dangle over the end and I toe my shoes off. “I’m sorry I’m not there for our anniversary, Nik. I can’t think of anything better than slipping into the tub with you.”
“Hmm, that sounds pretty wonderful right about now. I’ll take a rain check, detective. That okay?” she groans.
“More than.” My eyes flick to the locked door Jill was kind enough to provide and I decide what the hell, “So, if we were together and the bath was just right, what exactly would you do to me?”
I grin as she answers, “Oh, sugga let me tell you…”
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Rating: All over R – some parts more racy than others & some parts way less.
Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora along with all the other character’s from the pilot do not belong to me. They belong to Nancylee Myatt and others that I don’t know, but if in the off chance they want to get together for a chat I’m here. Then we can discuss why the excs at the T.V. station didn’t pick up the series and perhaps whap them about the face with a dead carp. It’s a just punishment for the crime. =0)
A/N Not a whole lot. Read and enjoy. =0)
Usually it’s the eastern exposure and the sunlight sneaking through the window in Jill’s childhood room that’s been waking me up this past week.
Not today.
As my eyes crack open, my immediate response is to hold tighter to the thin frame snuggled against me.
I feel her faintly shudder in my arms and the dampness on my chest is unmistakable. “Shhh,” I coo thickly and run my hand through her hair.
She’s been like this off and on. The crying jags come and go.
It makes me remember when my dad was sick.
So I hold her tighter, trying to soothe some of the pain she’s in. My dad and I weren’t close for years before he got sick, but it didn’t take away from the fact that I loved him.
John and Jill are still close. I know they get together at least once a week if they can. She also talks to them daily. Maybe it’s a perk of being an only child.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles against my chest.
“Shh, you don’t have anything to be sorry for,” I insist gently, whispering into the top of her head before placing a kiss there. “Crying’s expected. If you didn’t, I’d be worried.”
We lay there, holding on to each other. Her breathing finally evens out and I roll onto my back. She follows, swinging a leg over my hips and burrowing her face in my neck. I smooth back her tousled hair and kiss her forehead, asking, “You better now?”
She nods her head, but stays silent. Instead, she plays with my medallion.
The house is quiet with Linda at the hospital; the only sound is the air conditioner pushing air through the vents. It takes a few more minutes, but Jill finally rolls off me and says, “I’m gonna go get ready.”
I nod and lace my fingers behind my head to watch her scurry off to the bathroom. Listening to her next door fumbling around in the shower, I stare up at the white textured ceiling.
I wish there was more I could do. I can think of half a dozen people off the top of my head that deserve this more.
And damn Ann.
I get it. Our line of work is hard, demanding and can pull you away from your family at the most inconvenient times, but she should be here.
I should be…no, I guess I should be here too, but Nikki should be with me.
I sigh, snatch the pillow from under my head and press it over my face as I softly scream in frustration. Our six year anniversary as a couple and I’m in Richmond, Virginia with my ex-girlfriend’s wife, sharing her bed and holding said wife at night.
I roll my eyes against the pillow and sigh again.
If my relationship with Jill and Ann were even remotely close to being normal, this wouldn’t be happening.
I give up trying to sort it out in my head; I should just accept that some relationships in life are far more complex than they need to be.
The only thing with that is that what I feel for the pair isn’t complex at all. It’s pretty simple. It’s as simple as what I feel for Nikki, just different.
And thinking of…
I reach over to the small nightstand and grab my phone, dialing Nikki’s number with ease.
“Beaumont,” comes her husky voice and I know I’ve woke her up.
“Morning, beautiful,” I whisper.
“Hmmm, Nora, baby, it’s…” she stops talking and I hear her curse before coming back on the line, “…it’s not even seven. I don’t have to be at the station ‘till nine.”
“I know, but we’re getting ready to leave and I just wanted to say happy anniversary.” I pick at the loose thread on my tank top and smile. I can’t help it. I haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet.
“Happy anniversary, sugga. You guys going to leave soon?” she asks perking up.
“Probably, but, I just…” I trail off not sure how to organize my thoughts.
“Well, then I’m glad you called. Even if you woke me up from a wonderful dream.”
“Hmm, and what kind of dream were you having?” I ask, curious to the answer and wondering if I should even start down this road.
“Me, a bottle of suntan oil, nude beach and…” she lingers before going in for the kill, “Maria Bello.”
The bark of laughter is covered up by my hand. I shake my head. “If it wasn’t me by your side on that beach, Nicollette, we will be having a serious talk later on today.”
She giggles into the phone and sighs, “Trust me, sug, it was all you and me.”
I hear the shower shut off and decide I need to get a move on. “Baby, I need to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, go back to your other brunette,” she teases me a little more. “I love you and happy anniversary, Nora Marie.”
My chest tightens and I reply, “Love you too and happy anniversary, Nik.”
Jill comes through the open door wrapped in a towel just as I say the last bit and hang up the phone. Her head cocks to the side and her eyes narrow ever so slightly as I set the phone back on the night stand. “Nikki?” she asks.
I nod and swing my legs onto the cold hardwood floor. “You leave me any hot water?” I ask slipping passed her towards the bathroom.
“A little,” she jokes as I shut the bathroom door.
As I strip and turn the shower on, I prepare myself for another long day of waiting.
I pass along the bottle of water and sit down next to Jill on the couch in the waiting room of V.C.U.’s Pauley Heart Center ‘s I.C.U. The hot coffee in my hand takes me back year, a decade – give or take, to when I was waiting in hospitals with my dad. “How long did the nurse say?” I set my coffee on the stock furniture and wrap my arm around Jill’s slim shoulders.
She leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder. I kiss the top of her head as she answers, “An hour, I think. The nurse…Darlene, said that she’d come get us when they were back.”
I nod and rest my cheek against the top of her head to wait along with her.
“Nora,” Jill’s voice is just above a whisper, “did I hear you right this morning, your’s and Nikki’s anniversary is today?”
“Hmm-hmm, it is,” my voice equally soft, it’s not like there are other people in the waiting room with us. I’m just following Jill’s lead.
“You should be down there with her. I’m sorry,” she sniffles and I hold a little tighter.
“Take it back, Jill. She’d be up here with me too if we both could have swung it. You know that. We’re good. I’ll make it up to her when I get home.” I stretch my legs and rest them on the coffee table. If my mama saw me, I shudder to think of the slap that would be coming my way, but…she’s not here and despite the time in bed last night, I’m tired.
“Do something nice for that woman of yours,” she sighs, choosing not to argue with me. I’m grateful for that.
“I will,” I promise and smile as some ideas of making it up to her cross my mind.
“Hey, Nora,” Jill cuts into my thoughts, some less than appropriate, “did I ever tell you about the time my dad took me and Ann out and tried to teach us to drive?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard that one. Tell me,” I say hoping that a story will distract her for a little.
“We were, I had just turned sixteen and Ann was going on seventeen. My dad was on me about learning how to drive. Poor Lee carted us everywhere in his little Ford Fiesta. We, uh, my dad took us out in his little truck to some back roads out by our house and just said, ‘Drive.’ Like it was that easy, ya know?” I release my hold as she shifts her position and turns to face me.
I turn in to her and mirror her position, my head propped in my hand, our knees touch and a ghost of a smile plays at the corner of her mouth. Unable to resist, I tuck a lock of hair that’s fallen from her ponytail behind her hear.
“Anyway, it was like this ‘sink or swim’ moment and I was so nervous. Ann had already been driving, but she didn’t have a car and didn’t see the point in getting her license until she had saved enough money to buy one.” Jill shakes her head at the memory and rolls her eyes. “I swear, I wonder sometimes how Annie did it. She was always working, screw school. She didn’t need to study for her classes. Do you know if it hadn’t been for her stupid family, she would have been valedictorian?”
I shake my head and answer, “Ann’s never shared that much, you know…”
Jill’s free hand closes over my knee and squeezes. “Trust me; if we hadn’t lived through it with her, I doubt I’d know half the bullshit they put her through. She was always super smart. Never studied. Always got A’s.” A rueful chuckle escapes her and she admits, “It used to annoy me so much. I’d bust my ass and end up at the most with a ‘B’ in a class. She slept through her AP classes and got ‘A’s’” She rolls her eyes and I smile.
“So anyway, she got to go first, easy as walking for her, the bitch,” Jill snickers good naturedly.
“Should I tell that wife of yours you’re calling her a bitch when she’s not here to defend herself?” I chide.
“She knows. Trust me. She knows.” Jill shakes her head and I feel her fingertips trace patterns over my lower thigh, “Annie just took to it, obviously, while, I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. Nearly ran us into a ditch. In fact, my dad and Ann switched spots ‘cause the cab of the truck was a small three seater. He put her next to me…” She trails off and looks at the open doorway. “I think, no, I know that even then he knew. I had no clue, but my dad knew what Ann and I were way before either of us did.”
“So he wasn’t too shocked then?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Nope,” she shakes her head, “He just sort of patted my shoulder and told me that as long as I was happy, he didn’t care. He loves Ann. When she was homeless, they asked her to stay with us.”
“Wait, what?” I feel the frown tug the corners of my mouth and try to school my features.
Jill just waves it away like it’s old news, “It wasn’t for long, she got into it with her family. She promptly got an apartment though. Lived in the back office of her second job for like a week.” Jill just shrugs it off and picks right back up, “So I mean when I came out to them, he was wonderful about it. My mom…”
My eyebrows rise. “She wasn’t okay with it?”
Jill snorts. “My mom was over the moon. She just smacked me on the back of my head and wondered what in the hell took me so long to figure it out.”
“You’re kidding?” I twist and rest my back against the couch to listen to the rest of the story.
“Nope. My mom, again, I swear if they could have had Ann for a kid…but yeah, I was lucky. My parents, in short, fucking rock, but I know not everyone’s that lucky.”
She looks at me, the set of her features tells me it’s not necessarily about me and my situation, but more of Ann’s and what her wife dealt with growing up. I think having Ann there, to show Jill a different reality, helped her. Not everything was the Americana she grew up with.
“She came out well though, no?” I ask, smiling at her.
She nods her head emphatically. “Way better than…she also managed to find some amazing friends when she…when I pushed her away.”
I shrug. “She helped me too, ya know? I don’t know…”
“Life’s funny like that though. And here we are. Which still doesn’t excuse the fact that Ann hasn’t called me in three days.” Her face sours and it’s my turn to reach out and soothe her.
“She’s fine. We would have heard something by now,” I remind her gently.
“I know. I just worry. She makes me be in this constant state of worry when John drags her away from me like this,” she tells me, looking down at her lap and playing with her wedding ring.
“You want me to kick her ass when she gets home?” I ask and make sure she knows I mean it.
“No,” she sighs, “I’ll kick her ass and then make her beg.” Jill wiggles her eyebrows at me and I shake my head.
“Mrs. Flemming, your father’s in his room,” the nurse says, her head poking around the door frame.
Jill nods and eases up from her position. Holding out her hand to me, I take it as she hoists me up. “Come on; let’s go bug my dad with stories about you now.” She links our arms together and leads me away from the waiting room.
“You really are the sweetest creature,” Nikki doesn’t even say hello when she picks up my call.
I look over at Jill next to me and can’t help the blush, hoping that she didn’t hear Nikki. “Well, hello to you too,” I reply back and settle back against the pillows against the wall.
“Not only do you send me flowers at the station, which I had to field questions about, half the floor saw the earrings,” she purrs. “My dear, even a thousand miles away you’re causing trouble.”
I shrug. “It’s what I do. Seriously though, you like the earrings?” I ask. Sometimes, I know exactly what she wants or I keep track of what she looks for if she drags me shopping. The earrings I picked up for her for our anniversary were all me though. Gold and sterling silver Fleur De Lis. Not too flashy, but something she can wear all the time or with a dress when she gets fancy.
“They’re perfect, sugga,” she gushes and adds, “I had to put them in right away. Benny says he didn’t know you were such a romantic. Dom says he’s taking you with him when his anniversary rolls around.”
“Oh boy, see I knew I should have made Darius or Bobby deliver them,” I moan thinking of the teasing I’m sure to get once I get back. I look over as the bed shifts and Jill stands readying to leave the room. I pull the phone away from my mouth and ask, “Where you going?”
“I’m giving you a bit of privacy,” she informs and speaks loud enough that I know Nikki can hear her, “And happy anniversary, Nik. You two don’t say or do anything, I haven’t done.” With that and a wink, she slips out of her room, locking the door behind her.
I hear Nikki laugh in my ear as she says, “That woman is something else.”
“Who are you telling?” I joke back. “So, Ms. Beaumont, how was your day?” I ask, settling back once again into the bed.
“Ugh,” she grunts and I know it can’t be good. “Where would you like me to start? The assault-homicide we pulled from the Fourth or the Meyer trial the D.A. is screwing up for us? Ah, I know, we can discuss the collective ass chewing your old partner gave us this morning because our close rate is slipping.”
“That good, huh?” I try and joke, but get a sigh in return. “Tell me about the case first, run it down for me?”
“It’s an assault gone south. I’m not even sure where to start. We interviewed the family today, nothing there. His last known location was a bar that really doesn’t remember the guy. They also have no security cameras and right now, we’re waiting on a subpoena from Lantagne so we can get credit and debit card receipts for that night. Although something tells me that a large portion of their clientele pays cash more often than not.”
“No odd wound patterns? Trace? What about the vic’s personal phone records or banking information?” I ask trying to be helpful.
“Nora, honey, this isn’t my first rodeo. We’ve busted on everything so far. The vic was taken in to emergency at the University hospital. He coded on the table. The intake nurse was less than responsible with his clothes so anything that could have been pulled isn’t going to help. Charlie won’t get to him until tomorrow, at the earliest, and the only numbers on the phone were to family and two girls the guy was seeing,” she grumbles at me.
Okay, so, none of that’s going to help. “Should I even bother asking about the follow up on the women?”
“No, they both knew he was seeing other women and didn’t seem too broken up by the news.” Her frustration pours from her voice.
I offer the only thing I can, “You’ll figure it out and if you want to bounce ideas off me…”
“I know,” she cuts me off. “Now the Meyer trial…sometimes, I just don’t understand what goes on inside a lawyer’s head,” she growls.
I can’t think of anything that could possibly go wrong with that. We handed a signed confession over to the D.A., we had enough physical evidence and an eyewitness that put the guy in the area where the rape occurred.
“What’s going on there?” I press. “McGrotty’s the A.D.A. on the case, yes?”
“He is and he’s letting that rat, Briseno, run roughshod over him in the court room. Meyer’s calling coercion from the arresting detectives…”
“Which was us,” I grumble right along with her now.
“Exactly and we both know it was clean. McGrotty was there when we did the interrogation. Shelly Wirtz is having second thoughts too. She doesn’t want to testify.”
“Damn.” I shake my head. “We handed him the damn thing wrapped up with a bow for Christ’s sake.”
“I know, sugga, I know. I’ll know more tomorrow. She’s supposed to testify and I’m there for the morning. Les and I did the prep right before I left the station. We’ll see,” she finally settles a little.
Of course, now I’m kind of pissed.
“Enough about my day though, there’s really only so much bitching I can do and Pat already got an earful when he swung buy with Mister. How’s everything on your end?” she asks as I hear ice being dropped into a glass.
“It was the same as yesterday. We hang out, play cards, chat and watch the monitors in the hospital room.” Running a hand through my hair, I shift and lay down on the bed. My feet dangle over the end and I toe my shoes off. “I’m sorry I’m not there for our anniversary, Nik. I can’t think of anything better than slipping into the tub with you.”
“Hmm, that sounds pretty wonderful right about now. I’ll take a rain check, detective. That okay?” she groans.
“More than.” My eyes flick to the locked door Jill was kind enough to provide and I decide what the hell, “So, if we were together and the bath was just right, what exactly would you do to me?”
I grin as she answers, “Oh, sugga let me tell you…”
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no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 05:06 pm (UTC)Great update, we get to see the softer side of Nora - she seemed to be the more "tough" one in the show.
Please keep the updates coming!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-07 03:33 am (UTC)She did seem to be the more tough one in the show, when it came to work. I think she was also the romantic one and that will translate to other relationships...at least that's how I saw it =0)
More soon. I'm halfway through the next story after this one so...