Heavy Lies the Crown 8/9
Jan. 12th, 2012 08:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whedonistTitle: Heavy Lies the Crown
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki/Nora
Rating: All over R – some parts more racy than others & some parts way less.
Ch. 8 – Back Home
“Mama,” I call out entering my childhood home and hike Reyna up higher on my hip.
The little girl giggles happily at the action and I sigh. Chris so owes me for this. Not even home a day and he calls and asks if I could drop Reyna off to mom ‘cause he and my brother need to go look at fabric.
What the hell?
“Nora?” my mother’s voice rings out from the top of the steps.
I bump the front door closed with my hip and set her diaper bag down on the couch. “Yeah, ma, down here and I brought your favorite granddaughter with me.”
I look up and watch my mom come down the steps. It strikes me that age is being kind to her. She’s only sixty-three, but with four kids and the way my father was…
Her blonde hair has been over taken with grey which she doesn’t or won’t do anything about, but she’s pretty spry overall and her health is good. I’ll thank God for that small favor.
Her face lights up as she spots her “little angel” and she immediately takes her from me. “Who’s grandma’s precious little angel?” she coos and tickles the girl under her chin.
This elicits a happy squeal from Reyna while mama leans in to peck me on the cheek. “Nora, sweetie,” she pulls back and looks me over, “you haven’t been sleeping well.”
I plant my tongue in my cheek, but make a conscious effort to not roll my eyes.
There’s something about being in my childhood home that makes me revert to sixteen and angsty. It’s so bad that when I’m here for longer than an hour, all I want to do is go to my old room and hide.
Although….
I’m not nearly as confused now as I was then.
“So what have you been up to the past week and a half? The boys haven’t been very forthcoming and I left a few voicemails for Nikki, but from her limited response, I’m assuming you two had a big case.” She grabs a stuffed animal and a bottle from the side of the bag and presses them between her and my niece to hold.
I shake my head. “I was actually out of town. Jill’s dad was in the hospital, Ann was out of the country and asked me to come up until she could come home,” I answer prepared for the dressing down that she’s good at giving.
“Oh,” her lips turn down, “is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I follow her into the kitchen and watch as she places Reyna in the high chair she keeps here. “He had a heart attack and got sick right after the surgery, things were touch and go for a few days, but they brought him home on Monday and Ann came back that same day so…they’re doing okay.”
She bobs her head and to my surprise, keeps quiet about knowing I wasn’t in town.
“Nikki was stuck without me and work was a bit of a bear with the cases the squad had. She did tell me to say hello and to apologize to you for not returning the calls. She would have come with me today, but she had a meeting with he—our lawyer and couldn’t get away,” I offer her.
“Hmm, your lawyer?” she questions, looking up from the toy she was using to distract the baby.
“Well, uh,” I take a seat at the kitchen table and fold my arms across my chest, “Yeah, I mean Jen handles all the stuff that we need done. She’s taken care of paperwork, like power of attorney, our wills uh, stuff like that.”
“That’s nice,” she replies a little too coolly for my tastes.
“What?” I ask against the little voice in my head that tells me I should let sleeping dogs lay.
“Oh nothing, really,” she gives me a curt smile and rattles the stuffed animal again to keep Reyna occupied. “It’s just that it strikes me as funny, the way you and Nikki carry on.”
“Excuse me?”
“Now, don’t take that tone with me, young lady. You two parade around like ya’ll are gonna get old and gray together, but there ain’t anything there holding either of you down. What’s gonna happen in 10 years when the spark’s done gone away and it really starts to settle in? What’s going to keep the two of you from not running off with someone else?”
“Just where exactly is this coming from?” I snap, “We’ve talked about the meddling you’ve been known for, mama. I thought we were done with this?” My back straightens up as I try to keep the annoyance in check in front of my niece.
“We have and I did. What I’m telling you is that you were raised better than this and while I don’t understand you or your brother, I’ve tried my hardest to show the both of you and your partners nothing but respect. It just seems to me that the only other person trying to show their partner respect is Patrick, Nora Marie.”
“Since when is a ring and a piece of paper any more of a commitment,” I snip and jab the table top with my pointer, “Have you not been paying attention mama, divorce is the way fifty percent most marriages end up. Why do I need to bother with something that has a fifty/fifty shot at failure?”
She stops then, her mouth goes from slightly agape to a sneer and she shakes her head.
What did I miss?
She picks Reyna up from her seat and sets the little girl on her knees; the baby’s loose curls bounce up and down as my mama moves her leg. “Okay, young lady, let me try it this way, to me, marriage or in the case of your brother, his domestic partnership, which by the way just sounds silly, Chris is his husband, not a damn business partner. Anyhow, listen very closely, I don’t give a horse’s behind what others may or may not do with their marriage. I do care what I did and what my children do.”
She shifts Reyna and produces the bottle. Reyna takes it happily and begins sucking in earnest.
“I’d like to think that your father and I set an okay example in how you make a marriage work. We weren’t happy all the time, but for the most part and I wouldn’t trade the time I spent with that grumpy Gus for the world. I would also like to think that we raised you and your brothers with enough morals,” she pauses at this and raises her eyebrow, “a sense of responsibility and loyalty. We held each of you to your word and always expected you to keep it. The ring and the piece of paper doesn’t mean a whole lot. What does mean something is the implied promise in the words ‘wife’ and ‘husband’. What it does mean is that you, as an adult, have taken the necessary steps to devote yourself to the person you love.”
Reyna interrupts her rant as I sit there a little a stunned. Her fuss builds momentum and she begins to cry in earnest. My mother sighs and stands, bouncing Reyna to help quiet her some.
“Your niece has a dirty diaper, but just one last thing here, Nora Marie Delaney, you say you love Nikki and she loves you, that’s all well and good. I certainly believe her, she lives and works with you after all, but tell me is she still just a ‘girlfriend’ to you?”
With that I watch my mother stalk out of the kitchen, calling out over her shoulder, “I trust you can see yourself out the door.”
The squad room is just like I remember it.
It’s a comfort, really.
It’s also something that surprises me every time I go away for an extended period of time and come back. I expect everything to be in disarray. I expect the team to shout a chorus of gratitude that I’ve returned. Sometimes they do. Especially, Dom. He can’t handle Dan very well.
Well, no one can handle Dan very well when he’s got his head shoved up his ass by the powers that be, but that’s neither here nor there.
As I look over the squad room, all I can think is that it’s good to be home. A smile plays at the corner of my lips as the so-called detectives that I work with fail to notice me hovering in the entry way. A bump to my side pushes me into the arch way and a grumbled, “Watch it,” is said by Dom.
I don’t say anything at first, but grab his arm as he tries to go past me. His nose buried so deep in the file he has in his hands I’m surprised he can read the words on its pages. “Really, Barrett?”
My voice startles him and he looks up. “Ah, hell, Nora, I’m sorry, I…” his cheeks take on a nice blush and I wave him away.
Our little run in has gathered the attention of Georgia and Benny.
“Delaney!” Armstrong shouts from the middle of the room, “Get that cute little ass over here and give your Uncle Benny a kiss!”
The grin breaks out all on its own as I grab Dom’s shirt sleeve and drag him with me.
“Armstrong,” I warn as I open my arms up for the hug he’s offering, “I wouldn’t kiss you even if you held a gun to my head.”
“Pshaw, I call bullshit. You’ve been dyin’ to lay a those luscious lips on me since we started working together,” he says, squeezing me tight and then letting me go to receive a half hug from Georgia.
“Armstrong, lay off,” Georgia warns. “How are you doing?
I shrug and wave the paperwork in my hand. “I’ll be back on Monday. Things are good. How’s everything here?”
All three detectives shake their head. My eyebrows hike up and I ask, “Who’s done what?” Cutting a look at the case board, I follow up, “And what the hell is going on?” There’re three actives and four that have been crossed out. Nikki said they were busy, but…
“Oh, yeah, uhm,” Dom says rubbing his hand through his hair. “Benny, why don’t we go?” He waves the file that he was reading in the air, “We got the report back from traffic. We have a few people to go shake down.”
“Sounds like a plan Stan,” Benny answers and grabs his jacket from the back of the chair. They start moving towards the door, but Benny stops, turns around and points between Georgia and me, “Drinks tomorrow night. No getting out of it.”
“You buyin’?” Georgia and I ask at the same time.
“Dom is,” Benny cackles, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Git!” Georgia shoos him out of the room as we all laugh.
“I swear, those boys…” Georgia finally speaks.
Sitting down in the chair next to her desk, I ask, “Where’s Jess?”
“One of the kids broke their arm at school,” Georgia answers, “He met Julie at the hospital.”
I wince. “Everything okay though?”
Georgia nods. “Yeah, he called a half hour ago and said that they’re getting ready to put a cast on Max’s arm. What about you, though? Everything good?”
I bob my head. “Yeah, just, uhm, a good friend’s father had a heart attack. I needed to be there.”
Georgia picks up a pen and raps it against the desk. “Well, it’s good to see you. Monday, right?”
“Yup, I came to drop off the paperwork to H.R. and then the duplicates over to Dan…who is where by the way?” I look towards his closed office door, but don’t see any lights on. We were supposed to go over to the center today.
“He got called in upstairs,” Georgia shrugs.
“All right, we were also supposed to get together.” I glance down at the watch Nikki got me for Christmas. She was excited about it; said something about it being one of the first designs by Montblanc.
Georgia’s gaze follows my wrist and she cocks her head to the side, “New?
I shake my head. “Christmas present this past year. I usually don’t take it off,” surprised she hasn’t seen it before. Georgia likes her jewelry.
She grabs my wrist and looks the watch over. “Hmm,” she hums and drops my hand, “must not have noticed. Who was so thoughtful?” She bats her lashes, smiling at me.
“Nikki actually. Said I wouldn’t need another watch ever again.” I shrug. “Considering my last one took a shot against a brick wall, I’m hoping this one’ll last a little longer.”
Georgia bites her cheek and shakes her head. “Speaking of, where is she?”
“I would know because?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest.
“Well, you two are partners, just like Jesse and me. I just thought she would have told you the Feds spirited her away to work on some case,” she replies.
Conceding her point, I tell her, “I talked to her today. She was getting ready to meet with some lawyers and said she’d be back by Monday at the latest.”
“Figures,” the other detective snips a little, “You have leave and then she gets called away like the rest of us aren’t busting our ass. She probably just took off for a getaway to Cancun and got a friend of the family to call in a favor and give her an excuse to leave.”
The small wave of guilt I have for realizing that it wasn’t Nikki’s doing, but my friends’ goes away just as quickly as it started. Replacing that is a healthy dose of annoyance at my coworker. My head cocks as I look Georgia over. “There’s something you really want to say, Sarte, I suggest you just come right out and say it.” I’m not really not feeling the implications here.
Georgia shakes her head. “Nothing, Delaney. The silver spooned princess has had you wrapped around her finger since jump. She takes the better cases; you’ve been riding her coat tails since you were partnered up. I suppose you keep the little people off her back.” A sneer ghosts over her face before she snips a little more, “I mean why else would she buy you something that cost as much as that,” she points to the watch.
“Georgia,” I drop my voice and threaten her, “we’ve worked together a while, but the chip you have about Nikki…make it go away. She’s just as good a cop as the rest of us here. She never asks for the cases Dan assigns. I’ve never asked. You have an issue of how the cases are doled out, talk to our boss.” I stand and grab up the folder I placed on the edge of the desk.
“If Nikki says you’ve started causing problems for her, detective, you and I will have a set of our own…” I let the threat linger before straightening to my full height and stomping off. I can go wait in Dan’s office.
Checking the heat under the sauce, I adjust the flame and go back to cleaning up the downstairs. If Mister doesn’t learn the difference between a box of tissues and his chew toys we buy, I’m going to take him to the vet and have his teeth removed.
I love the mutt to death, but some days…
The dog in question follows me, tail wagging, as I bend down around the dining room and kitchen picking up the shredded pieces of tissue.
I also check the time. Nikki said the meeting was running late and she should be home by seven. That leaves me just under forty minutes to cook the pasta and the bread. I’m not really sure what’s going on.
I just have a feeling it’s not good.
She was distracted in Virginia. The two calls from Jen while we were there together were pretty distracting. This morning, she was just impossible.
I shake my head and go back to the kitchen to dump the pieces of tissue in the trash. Spinning on my heel, I point to my dog and say, “Do it again, young man, and I’ll see if you make as comfy a rug as you look.”
His tail droops and he lays down, head between his paws.
I wish I knew what she was up to.
Some inkling would be good.
Sighing, I go to the now boiling water and dump in the linguini. I really wanted to just have a nice night with Nikki. It’s been kind of crazy the past two weeks…okay so the few weeks leading up to the phone call from Ann and Jill wasn’t spectacular either. Back to back shifts and a few cases that made me consider not calling myself a human being.
We were managing, like we usually do.
Something else has her in a fit, but every time I ask, she stonewalls me.
So, maybe tonight, with a good wine and, I look over at the pots bubbling on the stove, a not too disastrous attempt at me cooking, her lips will loosen and she’ll finally tell me what the hell is going on.
I prep the bread and make sure the ovens on.
Then there’s that business with my mother. Just what the hell?
It’s not like I can tell Nancy Delaney that her daughter has thought of getting married. It’s not like I don’t see exactly what my mother was trying to say, but…Nikki’s put me off on coming out at work. I still need to figure out something for when we do come out and more than likely lose my job. ‘Cause it’s not like I haven’t thought this through a million and ten times over the past few years.
Three years ago, the idea of coming out at work was enough to give me a panic attack. Two years ago, I accepted it as inevitable and the past year…
The different scenarios for when it does happen have been stuck on repeat.
I get I am slow. I get that I am the luckiest woman on the planet to find a woman that’s willing to put up with my…
I cringe.
Internalized homophobia. Yes, I’ve admitted it.
She’s been, for the most part, patient with me. Too much it would seem, but now…
Now, when I’m trying to be the best that I can and finally be one-hundred percent out with her…
She says no.
She says ‘not yet.’
And my mom, with her snarky little, ‘is she still just a girlfriend to you?’ bullshit…
Honestly, no, Nikki isn’t my girlfriend. The term sours on my tongue.
She’s more than that.
I huff and put the bread on the rack in the oven, leaving the door cracked open. Turning around to the stove, I shut the pasta off and carry the steaming pot over to the sink to drain.
Calling Nikki my wife wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would be the right thing.
I just can’t do that to her without being able to say anything at work.
And work…
I’m going to throttle Georgia if she doesn’t drop the attitude towards my Nikki. I can’t believe I never noticed it before. Georgia can come off a little…brash, but she’s been nice to me in the seven years she’s been with S.C.U. I just never paid attention to how she was with Nikki until recently.
She could cause problems if she finds out Nikki and I are together before we’re ready.
With the pasta drained I put it back in the pot, poor a ladle of sauce over it and cover it back up. The bread should be about done and the table’s set.
Keys in the side door give me notice of what I was waiting on. Cleaning my hands on a nearby dishtowel, I sip the glass of wine I poured while cooking and sit on a stool at the kitchen counter.
“Nora?” Nikki calls from the doorway not looking up from dumping her keys in her purse. She doesn’t notice me sitting there yet, but as she looks up the smile spreading over her is a very welcome site after the run-ins I’ve had today.
“Hey.” I grin and stand, deciding I should help her with the satchel she took with her. I move towards her and slip the strap from her shoulders. Pecking her cheek, I tell her, “Come sit. I made dinner.”
“Spaghetti?” Why she bothers asking, I have no clue. It’s one of the only things I can cook with a modicum of success. “Well, it smells wonderful. I had a soggy sandwich somewhere around two and a diet coke.”
“Well, I’ve made plenty, so,” I grab her hand and set her purse on the counter, “go sit and I’ll bring in food.”
I let her get sorted in the dining room and go grab our food.
Next>>>
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: 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)
Author’s Note: Well, hello there. I don’t have much to say this morning. Read and enjoy the second to last to chapter of this piece. Take care and see you next week.
“Mama,” I call out entering my childhood home and hike Reyna up higher on my hip.
The little girl giggles happily at the action and I sigh. Chris so owes me for this. Not even home a day and he calls and asks if I could drop Reyna off to mom ‘cause he and my brother need to go look at fabric.
What the hell?
“Nora?” my mother’s voice rings out from the top of the steps.
I bump the front door closed with my hip and set her diaper bag down on the couch. “Yeah, ma, down here and I brought your favorite granddaughter with me.”
I look up and watch my mom come down the steps. It strikes me that age is being kind to her. She’s only sixty-three, but with four kids and the way my father was…
Her blonde hair has been over taken with grey which she doesn’t or won’t do anything about, but she’s pretty spry overall and her health is good. I’ll thank God for that small favor.
Her face lights up as she spots her “little angel” and she immediately takes her from me. “Who’s grandma’s precious little angel?” she coos and tickles the girl under her chin.
This elicits a happy squeal from Reyna while mama leans in to peck me on the cheek. “Nora, sweetie,” she pulls back and looks me over, “you haven’t been sleeping well.”
I plant my tongue in my cheek, but make a conscious effort to not roll my eyes.
There’s something about being in my childhood home that makes me revert to sixteen and angsty. It’s so bad that when I’m here for longer than an hour, all I want to do is go to my old room and hide.
Although….
I’m not nearly as confused now as I was then.
“So what have you been up to the past week and a half? The boys haven’t been very forthcoming and I left a few voicemails for Nikki, but from her limited response, I’m assuming you two had a big case.” She grabs a stuffed animal and a bottle from the side of the bag and presses them between her and my niece to hold.
I shake my head. “I was actually out of town. Jill’s dad was in the hospital, Ann was out of the country and asked me to come up until she could come home,” I answer prepared for the dressing down that she’s good at giving.
“Oh,” her lips turn down, “is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I follow her into the kitchen and watch as she places Reyna in the high chair she keeps here. “He had a heart attack and got sick right after the surgery, things were touch and go for a few days, but they brought him home on Monday and Ann came back that same day so…they’re doing okay.”
She bobs her head and to my surprise, keeps quiet about knowing I wasn’t in town.
“Nikki was stuck without me and work was a bit of a bear with the cases the squad had. She did tell me to say hello and to apologize to you for not returning the calls. She would have come with me today, but she had a meeting with he—our lawyer and couldn’t get away,” I offer her.
“Hmm, your lawyer?” she questions, looking up from the toy she was using to distract the baby.
“Well, uh,” I take a seat at the kitchen table and fold my arms across my chest, “Yeah, I mean Jen handles all the stuff that we need done. She’s taken care of paperwork, like power of attorney, our wills uh, stuff like that.”
“That’s nice,” she replies a little too coolly for my tastes.
“What?” I ask against the little voice in my head that tells me I should let sleeping dogs lay.
“Oh nothing, really,” she gives me a curt smile and rattles the stuffed animal again to keep Reyna occupied. “It’s just that it strikes me as funny, the way you and Nikki carry on.”
“Excuse me?”
“Now, don’t take that tone with me, young lady. You two parade around like ya’ll are gonna get old and gray together, but there ain’t anything there holding either of you down. What’s gonna happen in 10 years when the spark’s done gone away and it really starts to settle in? What’s going to keep the two of you from not running off with someone else?”
“Just where exactly is this coming from?” I snap, “We’ve talked about the meddling you’ve been known for, mama. I thought we were done with this?” My back straightens up as I try to keep the annoyance in check in front of my niece.
“We have and I did. What I’m telling you is that you were raised better than this and while I don’t understand you or your brother, I’ve tried my hardest to show the both of you and your partners nothing but respect. It just seems to me that the only other person trying to show their partner respect is Patrick, Nora Marie.”
“Since when is a ring and a piece of paper any more of a commitment,” I snip and jab the table top with my pointer, “Have you not been paying attention mama, divorce is the way fifty percent most marriages end up. Why do I need to bother with something that has a fifty/fifty shot at failure?”
She stops then, her mouth goes from slightly agape to a sneer and she shakes her head.
What did I miss?
She picks Reyna up from her seat and sets the little girl on her knees; the baby’s loose curls bounce up and down as my mama moves her leg. “Okay, young lady, let me try it this way, to me, marriage or in the case of your brother, his domestic partnership, which by the way just sounds silly, Chris is his husband, not a damn business partner. Anyhow, listen very closely, I don’t give a horse’s behind what others may or may not do with their marriage. I do care what I did and what my children do.”
She shifts Reyna and produces the bottle. Reyna takes it happily and begins sucking in earnest.
“I’d like to think that your father and I set an okay example in how you make a marriage work. We weren’t happy all the time, but for the most part and I wouldn’t trade the time I spent with that grumpy Gus for the world. I would also like to think that we raised you and your brothers with enough morals,” she pauses at this and raises her eyebrow, “a sense of responsibility and loyalty. We held each of you to your word and always expected you to keep it. The ring and the piece of paper doesn’t mean a whole lot. What does mean something is the implied promise in the words ‘wife’ and ‘husband’. What it does mean is that you, as an adult, have taken the necessary steps to devote yourself to the person you love.”
Reyna interrupts her rant as I sit there a little a stunned. Her fuss builds momentum and she begins to cry in earnest. My mother sighs and stands, bouncing Reyna to help quiet her some.
“Your niece has a dirty diaper, but just one last thing here, Nora Marie Delaney, you say you love Nikki and she loves you, that’s all well and good. I certainly believe her, she lives and works with you after all, but tell me is she still just a ‘girlfriend’ to you?”
With that I watch my mother stalk out of the kitchen, calling out over her shoulder, “I trust you can see yourself out the door.”
The squad room is just like I remember it.
It’s a comfort, really.
It’s also something that surprises me every time I go away for an extended period of time and come back. I expect everything to be in disarray. I expect the team to shout a chorus of gratitude that I’ve returned. Sometimes they do. Especially, Dom. He can’t handle Dan very well.
Well, no one can handle Dan very well when he’s got his head shoved up his ass by the powers that be, but that’s neither here nor there.
As I look over the squad room, all I can think is that it’s good to be home. A smile plays at the corner of my lips as the so-called detectives that I work with fail to notice me hovering in the entry way. A bump to my side pushes me into the arch way and a grumbled, “Watch it,” is said by Dom.
I don’t say anything at first, but grab his arm as he tries to go past me. His nose buried so deep in the file he has in his hands I’m surprised he can read the words on its pages. “Really, Barrett?”
My voice startles him and he looks up. “Ah, hell, Nora, I’m sorry, I…” his cheeks take on a nice blush and I wave him away.
Our little run in has gathered the attention of Georgia and Benny.
“Delaney!” Armstrong shouts from the middle of the room, “Get that cute little ass over here and give your Uncle Benny a kiss!”
The grin breaks out all on its own as I grab Dom’s shirt sleeve and drag him with me.
“Armstrong,” I warn as I open my arms up for the hug he’s offering, “I wouldn’t kiss you even if you held a gun to my head.”
“Pshaw, I call bullshit. You’ve been dyin’ to lay a those luscious lips on me since we started working together,” he says, squeezing me tight and then letting me go to receive a half hug from Georgia.
“Armstrong, lay off,” Georgia warns. “How are you doing?
I shrug and wave the paperwork in my hand. “I’ll be back on Monday. Things are good. How’s everything here?”
All three detectives shake their head. My eyebrows hike up and I ask, “Who’s done what?” Cutting a look at the case board, I follow up, “And what the hell is going on?” There’re three actives and four that have been crossed out. Nikki said they were busy, but…
“Oh, yeah, uhm,” Dom says rubbing his hand through his hair. “Benny, why don’t we go?” He waves the file that he was reading in the air, “We got the report back from traffic. We have a few people to go shake down.”
“Sounds like a plan Stan,” Benny answers and grabs his jacket from the back of the chair. They start moving towards the door, but Benny stops, turns around and points between Georgia and me, “Drinks tomorrow night. No getting out of it.”
“You buyin’?” Georgia and I ask at the same time.
“Dom is,” Benny cackles, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Git!” Georgia shoos him out of the room as we all laugh.
“I swear, those boys…” Georgia finally speaks.
Sitting down in the chair next to her desk, I ask, “Where’s Jess?”
“One of the kids broke their arm at school,” Georgia answers, “He met Julie at the hospital.”
I wince. “Everything okay though?”
Georgia nods. “Yeah, he called a half hour ago and said that they’re getting ready to put a cast on Max’s arm. What about you, though? Everything good?”
I bob my head. “Yeah, just, uhm, a good friend’s father had a heart attack. I needed to be there.”
Georgia picks up a pen and raps it against the desk. “Well, it’s good to see you. Monday, right?”
“Yup, I came to drop off the paperwork to H.R. and then the duplicates over to Dan…who is where by the way?” I look towards his closed office door, but don’t see any lights on. We were supposed to go over to the center today.
“He got called in upstairs,” Georgia shrugs.
“All right, we were also supposed to get together.” I glance down at the watch Nikki got me for Christmas. She was excited about it; said something about it being one of the first designs by Montblanc.
Georgia’s gaze follows my wrist and she cocks her head to the side, “New?
I shake my head. “Christmas present this past year. I usually don’t take it off,” surprised she hasn’t seen it before. Georgia likes her jewelry.
She grabs my wrist and looks the watch over. “Hmm,” she hums and drops my hand, “must not have noticed. Who was so thoughtful?” She bats her lashes, smiling at me.
“Nikki actually. Said I wouldn’t need another watch ever again.” I shrug. “Considering my last one took a shot against a brick wall, I’m hoping this one’ll last a little longer.”
Georgia bites her cheek and shakes her head. “Speaking of, where is she?”
“I would know because?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest.
“Well, you two are partners, just like Jesse and me. I just thought she would have told you the Feds spirited her away to work on some case,” she replies.
Conceding her point, I tell her, “I talked to her today. She was getting ready to meet with some lawyers and said she’d be back by Monday at the latest.”
“Figures,” the other detective snips a little, “You have leave and then she gets called away like the rest of us aren’t busting our ass. She probably just took off for a getaway to Cancun and got a friend of the family to call in a favor and give her an excuse to leave.”
The small wave of guilt I have for realizing that it wasn’t Nikki’s doing, but my friends’ goes away just as quickly as it started. Replacing that is a healthy dose of annoyance at my coworker. My head cocks as I look Georgia over. “There’s something you really want to say, Sarte, I suggest you just come right out and say it.” I’m not really not feeling the implications here.
Georgia shakes her head. “Nothing, Delaney. The silver spooned princess has had you wrapped around her finger since jump. She takes the better cases; you’ve been riding her coat tails since you were partnered up. I suppose you keep the little people off her back.” A sneer ghosts over her face before she snips a little more, “I mean why else would she buy you something that cost as much as that,” she points to the watch.
“Georgia,” I drop my voice and threaten her, “we’ve worked together a while, but the chip you have about Nikki…make it go away. She’s just as good a cop as the rest of us here. She never asks for the cases Dan assigns. I’ve never asked. You have an issue of how the cases are doled out, talk to our boss.” I stand and grab up the folder I placed on the edge of the desk.
“If Nikki says you’ve started causing problems for her, detective, you and I will have a set of our own…” I let the threat linger before straightening to my full height and stomping off. I can go wait in Dan’s office.
Checking the heat under the sauce, I adjust the flame and go back to cleaning up the downstairs. If Mister doesn’t learn the difference between a box of tissues and his chew toys we buy, I’m going to take him to the vet and have his teeth removed.
I love the mutt to death, but some days…
The dog in question follows me, tail wagging, as I bend down around the dining room and kitchen picking up the shredded pieces of tissue.
I also check the time. Nikki said the meeting was running late and she should be home by seven. That leaves me just under forty minutes to cook the pasta and the bread. I’m not really sure what’s going on.
I just have a feeling it’s not good.
She was distracted in Virginia. The two calls from Jen while we were there together were pretty distracting. This morning, she was just impossible.
I shake my head and go back to the kitchen to dump the pieces of tissue in the trash. Spinning on my heel, I point to my dog and say, “Do it again, young man, and I’ll see if you make as comfy a rug as you look.”
His tail droops and he lays down, head between his paws.
I wish I knew what she was up to.
Some inkling would be good.
Sighing, I go to the now boiling water and dump in the linguini. I really wanted to just have a nice night with Nikki. It’s been kind of crazy the past two weeks…okay so the few weeks leading up to the phone call from Ann and Jill wasn’t spectacular either. Back to back shifts and a few cases that made me consider not calling myself a human being.
We were managing, like we usually do.
Something else has her in a fit, but every time I ask, she stonewalls me.
So, maybe tonight, with a good wine and, I look over at the pots bubbling on the stove, a not too disastrous attempt at me cooking, her lips will loosen and she’ll finally tell me what the hell is going on.
I prep the bread and make sure the ovens on.
Then there’s that business with my mother. Just what the hell?
It’s not like I can tell Nancy Delaney that her daughter has thought of getting married. It’s not like I don’t see exactly what my mother was trying to say, but…Nikki’s put me off on coming out at work. I still need to figure out something for when we do come out and more than likely lose my job. ‘Cause it’s not like I haven’t thought this through a million and ten times over the past few years.
Three years ago, the idea of coming out at work was enough to give me a panic attack. Two years ago, I accepted it as inevitable and the past year…
The different scenarios for when it does happen have been stuck on repeat.
I get I am slow. I get that I am the luckiest woman on the planet to find a woman that’s willing to put up with my…
I cringe.
Internalized homophobia. Yes, I’ve admitted it.
She’s been, for the most part, patient with me. Too much it would seem, but now…
Now, when I’m trying to be the best that I can and finally be one-hundred percent out with her…
She says no.
She says ‘not yet.’
And my mom, with her snarky little, ‘is she still just a girlfriend to you?’ bullshit…
Honestly, no, Nikki isn’t my girlfriend. The term sours on my tongue.
She’s more than that.
I huff and put the bread on the rack in the oven, leaving the door cracked open. Turning around to the stove, I shut the pasta off and carry the steaming pot over to the sink to drain.
Calling Nikki my wife wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would be the right thing.
I just can’t do that to her without being able to say anything at work.
And work…
I’m going to throttle Georgia if she doesn’t drop the attitude towards my Nikki. I can’t believe I never noticed it before. Georgia can come off a little…brash, but she’s been nice to me in the seven years she’s been with S.C.U. I just never paid attention to how she was with Nikki until recently.
She could cause problems if she finds out Nikki and I are together before we’re ready.
With the pasta drained I put it back in the pot, poor a ladle of sauce over it and cover it back up. The bread should be about done and the table’s set.
Keys in the side door give me notice of what I was waiting on. Cleaning my hands on a nearby dishtowel, I sip the glass of wine I poured while cooking and sit on a stool at the kitchen counter.
“Nora?” Nikki calls from the doorway not looking up from dumping her keys in her purse. She doesn’t notice me sitting there yet, but as she looks up the smile spreading over her is a very welcome site after the run-ins I’ve had today.
“Hey.” I grin and stand, deciding I should help her with the satchel she took with her. I move towards her and slip the strap from her shoulders. Pecking her cheek, I tell her, “Come sit. I made dinner.”
“Spaghetti?” Why she bothers asking, I have no clue. It’s one of the only things I can cook with a modicum of success. “Well, it smells wonderful. I had a soggy sandwich somewhere around two and a diet coke.”
“Well, I’ve made plenty, so,” I grab her hand and set her purse on the counter, “go sit and I’ll bring in food.”
I let her get sorted in the dining room and go grab our food.
Next>>>
