More Than Darkness

He had been about
to say that she should have said something sooner, but there hadn't really been
an opportunity, had there? "Alright. Come on. I should probably go ask
kitty if she wants any first," he murmured to himself.

Salida allowed
herself to be pulled as far as the living room, but there she rebelled and sat
herself don thn the couch. Walking
was...uncomfortable...at the moment.
"You ask," she told her husband.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I'll sit."

Jeffrey frowned a
little at that, but nodded. "Alright. I'll be right back." When she
nodded in return, he gave her one last frowning, worried look before turning
and climbing the stairs up to Aida and Sands' room. He didn't bother knocking,
he wasn't that kind of a person, he just popped his head in to make sure she
was actually there, and walked in when he saw her sleeping on the bed. He felt
a twinge of something or other to be waking her up just to ask about pizza
toppings, but if he didn't now she would be out of luck later. "Kitty?
Wake up for a minute. It won't take long," he called out as gently as he
could while still trying to wake her up.

Aida sighed and
rubbed at her eyes, but she did open them and look up at Jeffrey, clearly
waiting for him to explain himself.

you, but I was getting pizza for vixen and I wanted to know if you wanted
anything. I can s Sas Sands, but I figured I'd better ask you."

"No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I'm not hungry."

"You sure? You
can get something now and eat it later if you want. But this is your only
chance."

"I'm very
sure," she murmured. "I...I
don't want to eat."

Jeffrey gave her a
weighing look then shrugged. "Alright. Suit yourself. If you don't want to
eat, you don't want to eat."

Aida simply shook
her head and closed her eyes, a clear signal that she was ready to be left
alone again.

It wasn't his
problem if she ate or not, so he just left without another word and made his
way back downstairs to his wife. "She didn't want any, so I guess it'll
just be you and me tonight, vixen," he said with a small smile, not
displeased by this fact.

spanspan>"More for
me," she murmured, glancing up at him from behind a newspaper that someone
had picked up somewhere. Or stolen off a
neighbor's porch.

"I'll be right
back then," he said as he moved into the kitchen to order the pizza she
had wanted, ordering a second just plain cheese pizza. While he was definitely
a carnivore at heart, for some reason or another he couldn't stand meat on
pizza. He didn't know why and he didn't try an figure it out, he just ordered
cheese instead. He returned after the order had been made and took a seat on
the couch next to his wife.

"My doctor's
appointment is tomorrow," Salida announced after several moments of
silence. "At one."

"What's this
one for?"

"It's with Dr.
Osborne."

"Yeah, well do
you know what is going to happen during this appointment? Or is it just a
general check-up? That's what I meant, vixen."

"Oh.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Well, the doctor will probably want to talk,
considering the promising reon Ion I
had to the news. She'll give us numbers
of support groups for parents expecting multiples and all that rot.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Then she'll want to take another sonogram,
and we'll find out if the pregnancy has progressed long enough to tell the sex
of the children - which is what we wanted.
Right?"

Jeffrey nodded.
"Yeah, I want to know. Do you? If you don't and would rather wait, that's
ok. But I'd like to," he said with a shrug. He then grew thoughtful.
"I kind of steered things in the last visit, so…if you want to meet with
the doctor by yourself and ask your own questions…that's ok with me."

"No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I want you to come.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just in case I get overwhelmed again.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I need you there to support me."

"Then I
will," he said simply, pulling her towards him a little so that she was
pressed against his chest gently.kisskissed the top of her head and whispered,
"All you have to do is ask."

"I want you to
come. I do.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I want us to find out together what our
children are. I didn't mind the way you
asked all the questions last time because I couldn't really think anytanything. My mind was too blank.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But if you're there, you'll remember
everything she says, and you can remind me."

"Just consider
me your personal note-taker, wife mine," he said with a fond smile, glad
that she wanted him there with her. The doubts that still lingered in shadowed
corners of his mind after their fucking fights were beginning to melt away.
Well, they had been anyway… "What happened earlier, vixen? What made you
almost lose control like that?" he hadn't wanted to bring it up, but he
didn't want it to happen again either, so that meant talking about it. Or at
least, trying to. Unless it was a problem that couldn't be solved by simply
talking it over… He'd burn that bridge when he came to it.

"I don't
know," she whispered. "I think
it was just facts, and fiction, and fears all swirling together.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Everything was battling, or feeding off each
other like vinegar on baking soda; building up and building up, but there was
no where for it to go. I know now that I
couldn't have really felt anything,
but...but I thought I did. And it
hurt. I thought my head was going to
explode."

"Are you sure
that it was just psychological and not physical, vixen?" he asked softly,
trying not to worry, but knowing that the brain was a fucking tricksy thing.
Especially a schizophrenic's brain. Speaking of brains…had Sands gotten his MRI
back yet? Something told him that he had…as if he had seen them but hadn't
really been looking. When waat? at? He became a little lost in his thoughts and
therefore he didn't notice Salida's response.

"I don't think
my head was really going to explode," she murmured.

"What? I'm
sorry vixen I didn't hear you. What did you say? Something about exploding
heads?"

"Mine.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don't think it was really going to.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It's almost a physical impossibility.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> People's heads just don't explode without
beint, ot, or hitting, a object with a great deal of momentum.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It'd be like a watermelon that was sitting on
your counter suddenly exploding for no reason."

"That would be
a little…surprising. I'm very glad that's not going to happen to you, vixen.
But…you're sure you're alright? Not with the head exploding thing in particular,
but with everything else that came along with it?"

"Everything
else? What else was there?"

"You sounded
like you were about to fucking lose it, vixen. Sorry," he murmured after
remembering his curse.

"I was.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It hurt so much."

"Does it hurt
now?" he asked softly, pulling back a little to look into her eyes.

"No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It stopped before we went outside."

"Good,"
Jeffrey said with a nod, running a hand down her left cheek softly. "I
don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to you, Salida," he said
softly. After a moment he sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all moody
on you. I'm just glad you're alright."

"Me
too." But was she alright?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> All her doubts hadn't disappeared, they'd
just been shoved under the surface of her mind because she couldn't function
with them. But they were still
there. Waiting.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Perhaps they'd always be there, just below
her level of conscious thought. Perhaps
some day they'd come out. Perhaps they style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>would disappear.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Salida wished she knew.

They remained in
shared silence for a while longer until that silence was shattered by an
insistent knocking at the door. "You're dinner has arrived, vixen,"
he murmured, kissing her on the forehead again before leaning forward to grab
his wallet off of the coffee table and rising to his feet. "I'll be right
back, and I promise not to kill the delivery guy unless he got our order
wrong," he said with a smirk.

When Jeffrey came
back with the pizza boxes, Salida made him come back to the couch.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now that she could smell the food, she didn't
care about getting plates or napkins.
She just wanted to eat.

Jeffrey smiled a
little at her seemingly voracious appetite and set the pizza boxes on the
coffee table in front of and and wandered into the kitchen, returning a few
minutes with napkins. He didn't bother with plates. The boxes themselves were
good enough. "You know, I can't remember the last time I had pizza,
vixen?" mur murmured after taking a few bites of a piece of the cheese.

"Why did you
get a plain pizza?" she asked, frowning.

"It's not
plain. It's got cheese. I got it because I like cheese," he said with a
shrug. "Why did you get bacon, green peppers and pineapple?"

"But there's
no meat."

"I don't likeat oat on pizza. I don't know whoo ooo overcooked, maybe."

"You could put
your own meat on. I bet you'd like to
add steak."

Jeffrey shrugged.
"Maybe, but it's easier to just get cheese."

&;Thi;This is just
weird," she muttered, taking a bite of her own pizza.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I feel like you're going to announce
that you want a salad next.

Jeffrey made a
face. "No thanks. And, yeah it is a little weird under the
circumstances," he said as he finished off one piece, crust and all,style='mso-spacerun:yes'> and moved on to his second.

Salida stopped
talking for the time being, and focused on filling her empty stomach.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Every now and then she'd throw a curious look
at her husband, but she refrained from saying anything.

After the fourth or
fifth look he finally commented on it. "It's not that weird, vixen. Lots of people like cheese pizza."

"But you're
the one that likes to masticate on raw cow!"

"Not raw,
rare. Restaurants wouldn't serve it to me raw. They'd be worried I'd get food
poisoning and sue them or something. I fail to see your point, vixen. I don't
just "masticate on raw cow" as you so charmingly put it. I have been
known to eat other things than just red meat, you know."

"Not
often," she muttered, taking a bite of pizza.

"That's just
because I tend to prefer it to other food, vixen. But I do like other things."

"Ilikelike
you're not acting like yourself."

"It's food,
vixen. I'm eating it. There's not much acting involved."

"I don't
know..." she sighed. "I'm
sorry to make a such a big deal of this.
You just took me by surprise."

"I don't mind
really. It's rather amusing," Jeffrey said with a slight smirk. "I
also like fruit. Blueberries especially. I hate seafood and while I like
waffles and other breakfast things like that, I'm perfectly happy with cold
cereal."

That wasn't exactly
what she'd meant, but there was no way she was going to turn it into a
debate. If Jeffrey knew just
how...unbalanced she was still, how uneasy from the events of just that
morning, he'd be hurt. And she didn't
want to hurt him. He might get angry,
and despite her own protests to the contrary, she wasn't sure he wouldn't hurt
her again.

"Was there
anything else you wanted to know about
my eating habits, wife mine?" he asked with a gentle smile. " I
didn't mean to surprise you. I just prefer cheese, that's all. It's
simple."

Salida shook her
head and contemplatively ate her food.

Jeffrey pursed his
lips at that and furrowed his brow, but didn't say anything because he honestly
didn't know what to say to her right now. With that confusing thought in mind,
he settled back to follow his wife's example and ate his food in silence. When
he had finished, his hands immediately went to his pockets for his cigarettes,
but then remembered that she hadn't wanted him to smoke any more. He really
fucking wanted one, but he would do this for her. He settled on absently
gnawing the edge of a fingernail instead.

"You can go
outside and smoke," she said, noticing what could develop into a nervous
habit. "It's just not a good idea
for you to smoke around me."

"I wasn't
going to smoke in here," he murmured, still chewing on his fingernail, not
really noticing he was doing it. "You told me not to. Bad for me. I've
been good, I haven't smoked. C say say the same for Sands, but I haven't."

"I said that
you should cut back, not that you had to stop."

"You
sure?" he murmured around a new finger.

"Yes.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now go before your fingers start to
bleed."

"What?
Oh." He noticed what had had been doing and lowered his hand. "I'll
be right back." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and walked out onto the
porch, digging his cigarettes and lighter out of his pockets as he did so. Once
the door was closed behind him, he took a seat on a battered deck chair and
quickly lit a cigarette and took a long drag, relaxing a little as the nicotine
buzzed through his system. While he probably should have been hurrying back to
his wife, he took his time smoking his cigarette, blowing lazy smoke rings up
into the night. He didn't often like to smoutsoutside when it was dark like
this - the cherry of his cigarette was as good as a shout out to his
surroundings letting everyone know where he was - but this was a special
circumstance, and he wasn't about to waste it. When he had sighed out his last
exhalation of smoke he pinchef thf the burning edge of his cigarette butt and
tossed it into the yard. He then stood from his chair, breathed in the night
for a brief moment, and made his way back inside to his wife.

Salida had used her
husband's absence to make her painful way upstairs.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She hadn't wanted him to see as she slowly
climbed the staircase. It wouldn't do
anything but send him into bouts of guilt, and she couldn't handle that right
now. Despite everything - or perhaps
because of it - she was already eager to return to bed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She was still tired.

When he didn't find
his wife downstairs where he had left her, he sighed and put the remaining
pieces of pizza into one box and into the refrigerator before making his way
upstairs. "Vixen? Are you alright?" he called out gently upon
entering their room.

"Yeah.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just tired."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She smiled softly at him.

Jeffrey nodded,
moving into the room slightly. "Did you want me to let you sleep?"

"Is there
something you wanted to do?" If he
wanted her to stay up for awhile still, she would.

He shook his head
slowly. "It doesn't matter. You can sleep. That's more important."

"No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It does matter.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Everything about you matters to me.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What did you want?"

"I've been
just feeling a little stir-crazy lately. It's nothing."

"You can go
out," she said. "I'll be
fine."

"I don't like
the idea of leaving you here by yourself, vixen," he said with a slight
frown.

She shrugged.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Lock the door when you leave.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I'll be fine.
You don't have to watch me every minute of the day."

"I won't be gone
long, and I'll take my phone with me, alright? I just…I need to get out of here
for awhile. Not away from you, if you wanted to come you could, just…here. This
house. I like it and all, but I don't know…" he murmured.

"Go," she
said gently, rolling herself in her covers.
"Wake me when you get back."

"Are you sure?
It might be late. I don't know."

"I can go back
to sleep afterwards. I'll just want to
know that you got back safely."

"Alright, I
will." He walked over to her side of the bed and laid a few gentle kisses
on her cheeks, forehead, and her lips. "I love you Salida. I won't be gone
long."

"It's up to
you. I'm not your warden."

"I know you're
not, vixen. I just…I don't like being away from you."

"You're
addicted to me. Is that what I'm
hearing?"

"Unbelievably
so," Jeffrey answered without hesitation.

"Once upon a
time didndidn't even know I existed. You
didn't need me. What
happened?" Damnit, why couldn't she
see addiction in a positive light? Why
did she have to make this difficult for them both?

"I met you. I
spent time with you. I married you. I love you. I've loved you. Choose any and
all of the above, Salida."

"You shouldn't
be dependent on me," she said softly.

"Salida, I'm
your husband. I thought that came
standard with the ring. And visa versa," he said with a frown.

"Not to the
point of addiction." Her voice was
a mere whisper, and she was tensed, prepared in case she upset him too much.

"I don't
understand you. What is your problem with this? I love you, Salida. I like spending time with you. I tell you this
and you make it sound like I'm running to you for my next fix."

"I don't have
a problem," she said quickly.
"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just
tired. I don't have a problem.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Really."

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Then why do you sound like you're
trying very hard to convince one or the other of us of that?"

"I'm just
tired," she repeated.
"And...and hormonal. It
happens."

Jeffrey sighed,
wishing she didn't have such an effective catch-all reason she could use on
him. The bitch of it was, that he couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or
not; if she really was being fucked with by her hormones or if there was
something deeper at play here. His instinct leaned toward the latter, but he
wasn't going to accuse her. He wasn't going to start a fight. Not now. Not ever
again. "Alright. I'll…wake you up when I get back. Until then, get some
rest."

She nodded.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I love you."

"I love you
too." With a final look in her direction, seeing that she had already
rolled to a side and had her eyes closed, he grabbed his knives and keys and
made his way out into the night.

Jeffrey walked. He had parked the Porsche…somewhere, he'd
remember where later when he needed to, and walked the streets of New
Orleans at night. Bourbon
Street had no particular interest for him at this
time of night because it was teeming with people: drunks coming and going from
the bars, and horny old men and perverts flooding into the street's numerous
strip and dance clubs. None of this held any interest for him. He didn't want
to be around the people. He just wanted to be left alone until he decided he
didn't want to walk anymore or couldn't, and turned and headed back home.

He avoided the
cemeteries as well, as night tours by idiots dressed up as vampires and witches
were givightightly. He had no interest in such things. The only vampires he
knew of were the metaphorical kind, and witch was just a slightly kinder word
for bitch in his book. And still he wandered.

Moving through the
French Quarter at night was generally frowned upon and considered dangerous,
but that was the kind of mood he was in at the moment. Not that he was out
looking for danger, more so that he didn't care. If he found danger, so be it.
He could take care of himself. If it found him, even better. He was at
st
spoiling for a fight. Something. Anything to get his blood flowing again. But
no one came.

"This is
fucking bullshit. Dangerous my ass. This place is just boring," he
muttered to himself aloud.

"Hey
there. You look like you're looking for
something." A scantily dressed
woman stepped out of the shadows of a nearby building.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Anything I can do to..." her eyes
ran over him, clearly assessing how much money he had.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "To help?"

Jeffrey scowled in
the darkness with his face turned away from the prostitute. He turned toward
her and murmured. "I'm not looking for anything and I don't think I need
your help." She looked like someone who would stand on a Mardi Gras float
and throw out beads to the crowds. All she needed was a feather boa and a mask
and the image would be complete. Wait, make that just a mask. He saw a boa
draped around her elbows.

"You
sure?" She smiled wickedly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "You look like man with a lot on your
mind. I can help all that go away."

"Hm, perhaps
you could, but not in the way you probably think," he murmured to her.

"Oh, I've got
a vivid imagination," she assured him, coming closer.

"Of that I
have no doubt. But I don't think your imagination quite vivid enough for what I
have in mind." He let her come closer without moving away.

"This is New
Orleans," she reminded him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "City of heathens."

"Not just
heathens," he drawled, letting her move even closer. "All kinds of
different people make their homes here."

"Each with
their own...particular...vice."
Moving slowly, she leaned into his personal space.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "What's yours?"

He leaned over her
shoulder to whisper into her ear as one hand moved silently to pull the knife
off his left hip while his other moved to cover her mouth. "Murder,"
he whispered and pulled back just long enough for her to see the manic grin on
his face before his knife had entered her flesh. The inevitable scream she let
out upon contact was muffled by his hand as he extracted the knife to stab her
again. And again. And again. He finally let her fall to the ground, blood
dripping from the end of his knife and his body heaving for breath. "You
little fucking bitch," he addressed her bloodied corpse in a hissed
whisper. "Did you really think I would cheat on my fucking wife? Did you?
You fucking whores are all the same. You deserved to die." He crouched
down and stabbed her again for good measure before leaving her there, making
sure not to step in any of the many pools of blood that surrounded her body.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>You made a fucking mess. Put the goddamned
knife away and wipe your face and neck. Can't you feel the blood there? Stay
out of fucking crowds. If they see you covered in blood near the scene you're
fucked later. "I have killed a few people before, thank you,"
Jeffrey muttered, unclear as to whom he was speaking, but not caring either. He
just had to get home. Just make sure no
one follows you. "What, do you fucking sit around and watch cop and
spy movies all day? No one's going to follow me. And that whore was no one.
Nobody's going to miss her." You'd
better be right. "I am fucking
right. Now just shut the hell up and let me get home." Jeffrey and whoever
it had been was silent as Jeffrey made it back to the car and all the way back
home without incident.

When Jeffrey arrived home, Salida was sound asleep.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He quietly entered the room, took a seat next
to her, and laced the fingers of her right hand with his left.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I'm home, vixen."

His announcement
caused her to stir. The trip to
consciousness was a slow one, but it was made faster by the realization that
her fingers were touching something sticky.
The sensation was unpleasant, and she tried to pull away only to find
that they were gripped even tighter.

Jeffrey didn't move
his gaze from her fingers even as he had them gripped in his bloodied hand,
concentrating on the texture of her fingers in his; the not-quite-dry blood
transferring… He thought distantly that he should probably go get cleaned up-he
was pretty well covered in the dead prostitute's blood-but he didn't shift his
weight in the direction of the bathroom. He just kept staring.

She tried to move
her fingers again, groaning when nothing happened.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Blurrily, she opened her eyes and found her
husband sitting next to her. "What
did you do?" she asked in a rough voice.
"You're all sticky."
Against she flexed her fis, ws, with the same result.

Jeffrey shook his
head slowly at that. "Not sticky. Bloody. She tried to get me to cheat on
you," he murmured in response.

Who "she"
was, Salida couldn't say, but it didn't matter.
"Well, I'm very glad that you didn't, but I'm not a big fan of
touching drying blood. I don't like the
way it feels."

Jeffrey extracted
his hand gently from hers then and took a long look at it; the blood black in
the lig light of the bedroom. "Someone new showed up. Maybe. Hard to tell.
I was busy at the time."

"What do you
mean 'someone new?'"
"How did they act?"

He moved a tip of a
finger through the drying blood on the back of his left palm, making lines and
circles in blood as he spoke. "Annoying. Like I didn't know what I was
doing. Arrogant."

"But not
dangerous?"

Jeffrey gave a
little half shrug. "I don't know. I don't know if they were real or not
either, vixen. Didn't stop to ask."

"But not like
bastard?" she pressed.

"Didn't make
an appearance," Jeffrey murmured with a shake of his head.

"Good.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Good."
Salida relaxed a little.
"You should go clean up."

"Probably. No
telling what that whore had in her blood," he muttered to himself with a
slight scowl.

"Go," she
said, pushing at him. "And will you
bring me something so I can clean my hand?"

"You're not
going to come with me?" He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He had
killed, but he didn't feel the overwhelming arousal that usually accompanied
such an action. He wanted her as always, but not so bad that he felt like he
was going to burst on the spot like he did during his general murder-induced
arousal. Maybe it wasn't enough anymore. Maybe he didn't respond the way he
normally did anymore because seeing her kill had left him so much more aroused.
God, even the memory stirred his lust. He reached out, driven by this feeling,
to trace lines down her cheek and jaw with his bloodied fingers; leaving
reddened trails in their wake. He was getting her a washcloth anyway, so what
difference did it make? He just wanted to touch her. Like this; bloodied. He
found the lines of blood on her cheek from his fingers utterly fascinating, and
became a little transfixed at the sight.

"Why would I
come with you?" she asked as she tried not to cringe.

His brow furrowed
at her reaction and he frowned, letting his hand fall to his side. "No
showering alone," he murmured under her breath not to her but to himself.
"Never mind. I'll go get you your cloth."

"Thank
you." The feeling of having blood
dry on her skin - especially on her face - was revolting.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She didn't like blood.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Not anymore.

Jeffrey just nodded
in response and walked into the bathroom and washed his hands as best as he
could-blood was notoriously difficult to wash off-and returned to her a minute
later with a warm and wet washcloth in his clean hands. He handed it to her.
"If you need anything else I'll be in the shower."

"I'll be
here." She gazed up at him, half
hating herself for not being able to join him, and half relived that he wasn't
pressing the matter.

His eyes met hers
for a long moment, still questioning her decision even though he didn't say anything
before he turned and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Salida wished she
could explain her hesitance, and knew she'd have to eventually when he came to
bed and wanted to sleep with her, but she couldn't.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She was afraid to, afraid of how he'd
react. Her reluctance didn't seem to be
a strong barrier against his lust. But
if she just let him anyway, he'd get mad at her afterwards.

Once inside the
bathroom he turned and looked at the closed door with another frown, not quite
knowing why he had shut it in the first place. He didn't want to keep her out.
He wanted her to join him. But she won't.
She doesn't want to. She's sickened by it. She's sickened by style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>you. But can you really blame her?
He couldn't and that was the problem.

He rolled his
bloodied clothes in on themselves with the still clean parts on the outside so
that the floor wouldn't get flakes of dried blood all over it that would
eventually melt again back into wet blood in the humidity of the bathroom. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Vixen wouldn't like that either, he
thought to himself as he stepped ithe the near scalding hot water and braced
his arms against the wall in front of him and leaned into the hot spray, just
soaking up the warmth for awhile before attempting to do anything about the
blood. It was with a sigh a handful of minutes later that he finally grabbed a
clean washcloth and the soap and started scrubbing. His chest and arms were the
worst so that was where he concentrated, silently cursing silk for being so
porous as to let the blood through to his . He. He just kept scrubbing, looking
down at his feet to watch the bloody water swirl around the drain around and
around before disappearing. Not all of it was the prostitute's now, he noticed
as he felt himself beginning to rub his skin raw. He stopped with what he was
doing, judged himself clean enough after taking the time to wash his hair twice
in case there was any blood in it, and turned off the hot water and got out of
the shower.

He took his time
getting dry, making sure he had cleaned off any and all traces of blood as best
he could for Salida's benefit, not his own. Once this was decided, he wrapped a
towel around his waist tightly before gathering up the ball of bloodied
clothing in his arms and putting them down the laundry shoot where he would
deal with them tomorrow. He then dug out a clean pair of boxers and pulled them
on, squeezed as much water as he could out of his hair into the towel which
also got sent down the shoot, and walked over slowly to join his wife in bed.

"I'm
sorry," she whispered as she turned towards him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I-I just couldn't."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It's
too soon.

Jeffrey just nodded
a bit dully and gave her a look as he moved to stand at her side of the bed.
"Do you want me to stay?" he asked softly, his face not showing any
emotion throughout the question.

"Yes.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Please.
I want you to hold me. Iat'sat's
alrighuot;uot;

Jeffrey nodded.
"Of course, vixen," he whispered as he walked around to his side of
the bed and was about to climb in bed next to her when he remembered he had
forgotten to turn off the bathroom light. He quickly took care of that and
slipped under the covers next to her, trying not to wince as the sheets rubbed
against his tender skin. "How do you want me to hold you, vixen?" he
asked softly.

"What would be
comfortable?" She was glad of the
dark because it meant that she no longer had to hide any of her bruises of her
face.

"This,"
he murmured as he moved over to her and pulled her back against his chest,
wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder with a slight
wince as he was reminded that it was still far from healed from earlier. He had
been ignoring it well enough before, but now it seemed as if that wasn't going
to work again. He just sighed a little and held her closer. This really was the
position he preferred to sleep in though, so that he could hold her close
without having the tangle of legs to deal with. It also seemed to have an added
bonus in the fact that he didn't have to face her while doing it.

"This is
good," she agreed, wigging to make herself a bit more comfortable.

He went still at
her wiggling against him, willing himself not to move and above all, not to
become any more aroused than he already was because his wife sure as hell
didn't seem like she was apt to do anything about it now. Not that she should.
"Yeah," he agreed softly.

After a few minutes
of silence, Salida hesitantly broached the subject foremost on her mind.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Jeffrey?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If I were to say 'marriage counseling,' what
would come to your mind?"

Jeffrey shut his
eyes tightly at that in a frown. "Why? Do you want to go? Is that
it?" he asked in a voice that was so soft she had to strain to hear him
even as close as she was.

"I-I don't
know. It was just a thought.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I just want to know what you think about it."

"I don't like
the idea of telling someone else our problems. But…that doesn't mean I won't if
that's what you want."

"That's
okay. I'm not sure how wet'd t'd work
anyway since we can't actually tell half our problems to anyone."

"We could
always just kill the doctor afterward, v. No. No witnesses, remember?" he
said with a little sigh.

"That seems to
be a waste. Anyone who could actually
help us probably deserves to live," she tried to joke.

"Maybe,"
Jeffrey murmured, not even cracking a smile bse sse smiling hurt at the moment
and he wasn't really in a mood for laughter right about now.

"I'm
sorry. I won't bring it up again."

"Why are you
sorry?" Jeffrey asked, confused by her comment. "You have nothing to
be sorry for."

"I didn't mean
to imply that we...that we couldn't sort through everything by ourselves.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We don't need anyone else.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We never have."

"Right,"
Jeffrey said with a weak smile. "I'm not upset with you for suggesting it
though, vixen. I'm not," he assured her.

"It was a
stupid idea," she muttered.

Jeffrey shrugged.
"Maybe. I don't know. Desperate times…" He frowned at his own
statement. "Are we desperate, Salida?" he asked softly.

"I think we
passed desperate ever so long ago."

Jeffrey didn't
argue that, however much it hurt. "What do we do about it?"

"I don't know
anymore," she whispered. "I
can barely even think straight."

"Then…maybe
you're right. Maybe we should talk to someone who can," he responded in a
defeated tone. "How did we get like this?" he asked more to himself
than to her. He didn't have any answers. "I love you, Salida. More than
anything. You may liy life worth fighting for every day just by being here at
my side. Without you…I'm nothing. There's no point. You once said you would
never leave me unless it was for my own good," he whispered. "But
what I'm more worried about now is you leaving for your own good. Not mine."

"I thought
about it," she admitted softly.
"Today...after you'd left. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But I couldn't."

Jeffrey crumbled a
little inside, but managed a nod and a whispered question. "What stopped
you?" It was probably a bid masochistic of him to ask, to pick at the
wound she had just dealt him even though he had deserved it, but he couldn't
help himself.

"I love
you." For such a tender sentiment,
it didn't sound as if it caused her any joy.
"And if I say that I'd never kill you, then I can't leave either
because that'd be tantamount to pulling the trigger."

Jeffrey didn't deny
it. He didn't say anything. He just held her in his arms tightly as if worried
that she would float away from him if he didn't keep her grounded. "I love
you too, Salida. Enough…enough to do whatever's necessary. To do what I have to
do to make things better. Like they were." Were they better? Of course they were. Weren't they? There had been
love and devotion and vows and laughter…where had it all gone? Who had stolen
it away from them? All fingers pointed back to him and his face became etched
with a few more lines of grim misery.

"We need to
stop fighting." That was the first
thing that came to mind. "We need
to forgive each other. For everything.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If we don't, we're never going to make
it. We're both too hotheaded and
impulsive. We have to start thinking
before we act."

Jeffrey nodded.
That made sense to him. "Alright, so what? We start from the beginning
again with the introductions? It's a little late for that, vixen. But…it's a
good idea. Salida, I officially forgive you for everything. No matter what it
was. It doesn't exist anymore. It's forgotten. And I promise to start using my
brain before my mouth in the future instead of the other way around. Is
that…what you had in mind?"

She nodded.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "And I forgive you, for everything
you've done or think you've done. I
don't blame you for anything. I promise
to start keeping a tighter reign on my mouth and my temper.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I love you, and I can't imagine doing any of
this without you."

"You won't
have to, vixen. I'm not going anywhere," he said with a soft smile. This
felt good and clean somehow. Like pressing the restart button. There was no
knowing if any of it was going to last or not, but he refused to let himself
think about that. Fuck pessimism or realism or whatever the fuck he so
constantly felt. He was resolved to make this work. He wasn't an optimist, he
probably never would be, but he was fuckingermiermined. "I love you, wife
mine," he whispered, laying his chin on her shoulder despite the pain. He
just wanted to be near her.

"I know."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now emotionally drained, she sighed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I know you do, and I don't what I'd do
if you didn't."

"Don't think
about it. Don't worry about it. You'll never have to. Just get some rest,
vixen. We'll deal with everything else in the morning."

"Don't leave
me," she breathed, closing her eyes.
Two tears escaped when she did.

"What? I'm not
leaving you, vixen," Jef sai said in a clearly worried voice. "Do you
feel my arms around you? They haven't moved. I haven't moved. I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right her
beside you. Where I belong."

"That's what I
meant. Don't leave me during the
night. I want to wake up next to
you."

"I won't. Even
if I have to stay awake all night telling everyone else to go to hell. I'm not
leaving you, vixen. You'll wake up tomorrow and I'll be right where you left
me. I swear it to you."

"Okay."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Sighing again, she let her thoughts drift and
she quickly fell asleep.

Jeffrey was as good
as his word. Although he was tired, he stayed up ent entire night and just watched
her sleep, reminding himself firmly of the promise every time he felt himself
start to drift off. He would be tired tomorrow, but that was nothing compared
to a promise. A little lost sleep could be dealt with. Broken promises weren't
as easy to fix.

Once again, Salida found herself on an examination table,
her shirt flipped up to reveal her bulging belly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She held on to Jeffrey's hand tightly, trying
to keep calm. It wasn't every day that
they would find out what their children were.

Jeffrey brought her
fingers to his lips and kissed them gently, giving her a small smile that he
hoped was reassuring. The smile wasn't all that hard to give though, as he was
amused by the site of her rounded belly. He found the sight stirred something
in him. Not arousal necessarily, something more like fondness and amusement. Or
love. "Everything is going to be fine, Salida. You'll see," he
whispered to her.

"I know, but
I'm still holding you to that," she whispered back.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The doctor was taking her own sweet time
about this and that annoyed Salida.

"Feel
free," he responded back to her with another smile before beginning to
grow annoyed with the doctor as well. Couldn't she see that they were both
becoming irritated at the delay? What the hell was taking so long?

Dr. Osborne glanced
over when she heard one of the two expecting parents sigh.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Let me just say this in my defense -
you have the most obstinate children I've ever seen.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Each of them is turned just enough to make my
job difficult." She smiled.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Give me a moment."

Jeffrey felt oddly
proud at that for some reason and quirked a small smin San Salida's direction
as a result.

"Figures,"
she muttered. "They'd better get
over that before coming out because I'm certainly not going to let them get
away with it."

Jeffrey's smile
just broadened. "I know you won't, vixen." He kissed her hand again.

"Alright, I've
got something . . ." the doctor murmured finally.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "The one to the far left is a boy."

"Oh I'm sure
he'll be a handful. A stubborn handful And a lady-killer of course,"
Jeffrey said with a smirk before frowning at his unintentional pun.
"That's not what I meant, vixen. I'm sure he'll-" He cut himself off
when he remembered the doctor was with them and able to hear everything he said.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," he continued slowly.

"He certainly
looks fine," Osborne agreed, moving her wand around.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Now, let's see if I can get anyone else
to tell."

Jeffrey turned to
gauge his wife's reaction but turned his attention back to the screen when she
wasn't saying anything. There would be plenty of time to talk later after this
was finished.

"Oh, there we
go. Looks like a girl.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now come here you," she muttered at the
screen.

"Even if she
only half looks like you, she'll be more than beautiful, Salida," he said
softly.

"Sweet-talker,"
she accused without taking her own eyes from the screen.

"Sweet though
it may be, it's still the truth," he returned. "I hope she has your
eyes."

"I just hope
he doesn't look like h..." she stopped herself.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Like my father."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Salida shuddered at the thought.

"She won't,
Salida. She'll look just like you. You'll see."

"I'm not sure
I could stand the competition," she teased while thinking, style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>I wish the bitch would hurry up.

"There will be
no competition," he said softly, bringing her hand to his lips once more.
"You'll always be my wife. My first love." His voice dropped down to
a whisper so only she could hear it. "You taught me how."

"Do you two
want the good news or the bad news first?" the doctor interrupted.

After the initial
worry had worn off over what she was going to say, Jeffrey grew angry with the
doctor's lack of candor, and muttered. "Just tell us. Don't make us dance
around the room first."

"Alright.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Good news is, the baby is healthy.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Bad news is that I can't be more than ninety
percent sure that the third child is a boy."

"Why is that
bad news? And why only ninety percent?" Jeffrey asked with a frown.

"Like I said,
you have very stubborn children. I can't
get a clear enough view to know what I'm looking at, but I'm reasonably sure
its a boy. I should be able to tell next
visit."

"Two sons and
a daughter…" he said slowly, attempting to process this. Two boys…fuck. He
desperately hoped that they wouldn't end uke tke their father. He himself had
no real regrets for anything he did, but he never wanted to have to see one of
his children on America's
Most Wanted. That was an occurrence that was not going to develop into family
tradition.

Salida's take on
things was a bit different however. All
she could think about were the people involved in this and the cruelties of
fate. If she thought it about it too
much longer, she was going to freak right out.

"Are we
finished here, doctor?" he asked suddenly, feeling a need to get out of
here. After a quick glance towards his wife he could see it was the same for
her.

"You don't get
to leave without a prescription for your pre-natal vitamins this time, but
yes. Other than that you're free to
go."

Jeffrey told the
doctor to write out the prescription and then released Salida's hand briefly so
that she could get-redressed. "Is this it?" he asked, taking the
prescription from the doctor when Salida didn't.

"I'd like you
to come back next week. In these s
os
of pregnancies, its best to check the progression of things often.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Remember that you can call anytime you hve
questions."

"Alright.
We'll call if we think of something," he murmured, offering Salida a hand
and helping her off of the examination table. "Thank you, Dr.
Osborn," he said with a small nod in the doctor's direction. "Let's
go, Salida."

She went willingly,
her eyes a little blank. It was only by
blocking out nearly all thought that she was able to keep from screaming her
hysteria to all within hearing range. A
scene was the last thing she wanted to cause right now.

While Jeffrey had
reached the car after a seemingly endless journey through the hospital with her
following silently at his side, he didn't stop there, instead moving on to a
park across the street and up a block. He moved slowly, not wanting to tire
her, and finally stopped when he had found a sunny park bench and directed her
to take a seat. He sat down next to her and gave her a look. "You don't
have to hold it in any longer, vixen. We're alone. Say whatever you want;
whatever you need to. I'm listening and we're pretty much alone right now, so
go ahead."

"You'll be
upset with me," she whispered.
"I'm being silly."

"Let me be the
judge of that, vixen. Come on, lay it on me. I want to know what you're
thinking."

"Two boys and
a girl?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"Apparently
so. Keep going," he asked gently.

it?" Her voice rose sharply.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "One for me, one for you, and one for
Sands?"

"Is style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>that what you think? That's not how I
feel, vixen. It never has been. Why would you think that?" he asked, a
little hurt at the accusation.

"I told you
I'm being silly," she said, her eyes widening as she made a face.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "After all, it's not as if personalities
determine fertility and gender."

"I determine
the gender, vixen," he murmured. "I'm the one who gave you two sons
and a daughter. My fault."

"No!" she
shook her head. "Not your
fault. I'm not blaming you.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There's nothing you could have done to
control anything. I told you.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I'm just being silly."

"Alright.
You're being silly," he allowed her. "Thank you for telling me how
you thought though anyway."

"I don't want
to think like that," she moaned, leaning against him.

"Then don't.
You may not think so, but it can be as simple as that if you let it,
vixen," he said, wrapping an arm around her but bringing it back to his
mouth quickly as he coughed into it.

"You try being
pregnant and see how easily you can control your
thoughts. It doesn't help that I'm
insane on top of that."

"I suppose
not," he said with a shrug and another cough accompanied by a frown.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "I'm sorry I can't understand better do do something to help. I would if I could, vixen."

"I know you
would," she assured him.
"Listening is enough. It
really is."

He gave her a half
smile and a small nod. "Alright. I can do that." He managed to hold
back another cough this time, but he was growing irritated. "Is there
anything else you wanted to talk about? I'm still listening."

"No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> No, that was it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Are you alright?"

"My throat
itches. I probably just need a drink of water or something."

"Well, we can
go if you want. Or go somewhere to get
something to drink. I think...I think
I'm a little hungry."

"We don't have
to ust ust yet if you'd like to be in the sun a little longer." He
squinted u the the bright sky above, wishing he had brought his sunglasses with
him. "It's why I chose this bench. But if you're hungry, we can go."

"You're so
sweet," she murmured, kissing his cheek.
"But I'm sure we can find someplace where we could dine al fresco.”

"Sweet and a
sweet-talker. I must be doing something right," he teased gently before
coughing again. "Of course. And we can have a fruit throwing rematch now
that I have the use of both of my hands again. You're going down, wife
mine," he said with a smirk.

Her smile turned
into an all-out grin as he reminded her of better times.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Yes.
I'd enjoy that."

"Just remember
that you said that when you lose," he teased as he rose from the bench and
offered a hand to her.

"I won't.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I never lose."

"I seem to
remember a pool game once upon a time," he said with a smirk. "Small
bar, innuendo-laden pool game, being yelled at by some old fucker-sorry-for
kissing? Any of this ringing a bell, wife mine?" he asked as they walked
back to the car.

"That wasn't
me loosing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

"That's a
euphemism if I've ever heard one," he said with a smirk as they reached
the car. "Did you want to walk somewhere or drive?"

"I don't
care. You can choose since you'd have to
drive."

Jeffrey looked at
the car, pursed his lips in thought and winced a little when that pulled at his
still healing chin, then shrugged. "Let's walk. There are a few
restaurants in the area, maybe one of them will suit, and I don't really
feeling like driving. I don't enjoy it the way Sands does."

"That's
alright. I enjoy walking and I don't do
it as often as I should. Just because
pregnant women are supposed to gain weight doesn't mean they can't gain too
much weight."

Jeffrey's answer
was circumvented by another round of coughing that left his throat a little
sore. "I must have swallowed some dust or something," he
rationalized, rubbing fingers at his sore throat gently as they walked.
"What would you like to eat?"

She ignored his
question. "You know what?style='mso-spaceyes'yes'> I think you have a cold."

Jeffrey shook his
head. "I don't get colds. Never have. Besides, who would I have gotten it
from?"

"I don't know,
but it sounds like a cold to me."

"It was just a
couple of coughs, that's it. I do not have a cold."

"Have it your
way, lover." Despite her words, she
gently pulled her hand away. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>She wasn't going to catch anything.

"How about
this place?" he murmured, not really noticing her avoidance as he gestured
to a small restaurant. "I'm not sure about the name, but I think I've
heard of it. Petunia's. Supposedly good crepes or something according to
whatever it is I'm remembering."

"It's...pink,"
she said, looking it over.

"Yes, that
would seem an accurate description," Jeffrey murmured as he looked over
the pink walls, menus and even pink fresh-cut roses in small vases on each
table atop of pink tablecloths. The restaurant seemed to be a gutted out home
filled with as many tables as they could cram into the space. "Did you
want to eat here? Or too much pink?"

She made a
faspanspan style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "We can't eat outside,"
she pointed out.

Jeffrey nodded.
"Another place then." He cast another glance around the pink restaurant,
noticing another thing: there were no female waiters. Not a one. "Come
on," he murmured as they turned and left the restaurant and continued on.

Salida moved closer
to her husband as they walked, wrapping her arm around his waist and leaning
her head against his shoulder. It was
nice to simply be walking with him with no particular destination or outcome in
mind.

Jeffrey managed to
enjoy her company for a few blocks before coughing again into his right hand
away from her. "Sorry," he murmured. "How about this
place?" he asked gesturing up to the small café they had come to when he
had stopped to cough. "They've got outdoor dining." He took a step
towards the restaurant and read the laminated menu posted on the door. "Italian.
Sound good? Or something else?"

"I'd really
like Mexican," she said apologetically.

"That's fine.
This is a fairly large city. A port even," he teased gently. "There's
d tod to be a Mexican restaurant here somewhere. We'll find it."

She smiled,
relieved. "Thank you."

"Don't worry
about it," he said with a smile and another cough. "Damnit, this is
getting irritating," he murmured. "Not you, I don't mind finding a
Mexican restaurant for you if that's what you want, it's just this cough…"
He coughed again and scowled.

"Told you it
was a cold," she murmured.

"It's not a
cold," he insisted stubbornly as they began to walk again.

"So I've heard
you say. I don't believe it yet.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just how close did that woman get last
night?"

"Close enough
to have ruined a perfectly good shirt," he muttered with a scowl.

"But not close
enough to give you a cold?"

"I don't get
colds."

"That's not an
answer to my question. Did she get close
enough to give you something?"

"I killed her
with my knife. I didn't throw it. She was a prostitute who came on to me. Does
that answer your question?" he murmured, coughing again and scowling again
as he did so.

"Why are you
refusing to give me a straight answer?" she asked, keeping her voice
light.

"Sorry. I didn't
mean to. Ask me a straight question and I'll give you a straight answer."

"Did she get
close enough to give you a cold?"

"Yes, but I
don't get-"

"Colds.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Yes, you've said it and I don't believe
it."

"But I've
never had a cold before. I've never even been sick before as far as I know. Why
would I get a cold now?"

"I don't know,
but that doesn't mean you can't."

"Alright fine.
I'll still maintain that I don't have a cold, but I'll withhold further
judgment until all the facts are in," he murmured. Looking up he noticed a
small stucco building off in the distance. "I may be wrong, vixen, but I
think we've found your Mexican restaurant."

The place he’d
pointed out had a stucco façade. The
building was white while the trim was red and green, and the Mexican flag was
hung over the door. “This looks like a
good place,” she agreed.

"You can tell
all that from the outside, can?&qu?" he teased gently before coughing
again and cursing under his breath. "Don't say it."

"Are you going
to stop being stubborn so I don't have to?"

Jeffrey thought
about it for a moment as they walked into the restaurant. "Not
likely," he said at last.

"Fine.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Then you have cold."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There was a sign saying that they should seat
themselves, and after Salida spied a small courtyard, they did.

"I don't have
ld. ld. People get colds in the wintertime. It's probably a 100 degrees out
today, vixen."

"You've never
heard of a summer cold?" she asked as a waitress came out with water and
menus. "Gracias," she murmured
to the woman.

"De nada,"
the womanmuremured back.

"If I say I
have a cold, will you stop asking me about it?" Jeffrey asked after a
considering frown, opening the menu flat in front of him and gazing down into
its contents.

"Yes.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> As long as you don't ignore it and take care
of yourself."

Jeffrey grumbled at
that. "What do you mean, take care of myself? It's a cold. What can you do
to it besides wait it out?"

"Take vitamin
C, get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, was your hands often so you
don't give it to anyone else -"

"What, you
don't want my cold? I'd think it'd be romantic," he interrupted dryly.
"Sharing Kleenex boxes, reminding the other to take their vitamins. It
would be a load of fun."

"It could be
bad for the kids."

That brought any
further sarcastic comments he might have made up short. "Alright. No
sharing of the cold for vixen. Got it."

"And make sure
Sands gets it through his head that he's got the cold too.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Grant's got no white blood cells.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She can't afford to get sick right now."

"Why? What
would happen?" Jeffrey asked with a frown. "It's just a cold. It's
not like I'm deathly ill or anything."

"But she has
no immune system at the moment. A simple
cold could turn into pneumonia."
Salida looked up from her own menu.
"Chemo is nasty business."

"It certainly
sounds like it," Jeffrey murmured with a frown before closing his menu
with distaste. "I don't know what to get. I don't often have Mexican food.
Any suggestions, vixen?"

"Hmmm...."
she scanned the menu. "I was
thinking abouvingving taquitos for an appetizer and a chicken enchilada."

"That sounds
good, I suppose, but that doesn't help me
vixen," he teased gently.

"Well...do you
want an enchilada? They come in chicken,
pork, beef ..."

"Sure. Beef.
Or pork. No, chicken." He cursed softly. "This shouldn't be so
difficult." He opened the menu again. "Beef enchiladas. Good enough.
Oh yeah, they come with other things… With…lettuce, tomato and cheese." He
closed the menu again and a hand strayed to his cigarettes before he stopped
himself. "Sorry. Something about eating always makes me want to
smoke." He shrugged and coughed again into a hand.

"We're
outside.< sty style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You can smoke if you want.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It'll just aggravate your cough
though." The waitress came back -
this time with chips and two kinds of salsa - and Salida ordered rapidly in
Spanish.

options as he smiled to hear the Spanish flow off of her tongue. He had always
liked hearing her speak in it. When she wasn't cursing or yelling or freaking
out on him that is. Nicotine or cold.
Cold or nicotine… He deliberated for a few seconds longer before deciding
the cold could go fuck itself and grabbing for a cigarette.

"Don't say I
didn't warn you," she murmured, picking up a hot-from-the-oven chip and
dipping it in the salsa verde.

"I
won't," he murmured in response, letting out a pillar of smoke above his
head before wincing a little and coughing. "Stupid fucking cold," he
muttered, but that didn't stop him from smoking.

Looking around at
her surroundings, Salida suddenly became violently homesick.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Stupidsa.
Why had she had to leave Mexico?
Salida liked Mexico.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> And now she could never go back.

"What's
wrong?" he asked upon her look, knocking off the ash of his cigarette on
the ground and frowning a little at her.

"I miss my
home," she whispered. "And
because Tessa is a necia, I can never
go back."

"Who says you
can't? We can be careful, vixen. Tess' family can't be in all of Mexico all the
time, can they?"

"And the
people working for them?" she asked sadly.
"And if not them, rival cartels?"style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Salida shook her head.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "It's not worth the risk."

"I'm sorry,
Salida," he said softly, dropping his cigarette bund snd snubbing it under
a shoe before reaching over to take one of hands in his. "I mean that. I
wish there was something I could do."

She squeezed his
hand. "My own fault for burning the
bridges, I suppose, but I didn't have any other choices."

He rubbed a thumb
across her fingers slowly as he spoke. "I'm still sorry. It's frustrating
have the means to go wherever you want and yet not able to go the one place you
really want to."

"Where would
you really like to go?"

Jeffrey shrugged.
"I'm sur sure. Somewhere out of the US where I wouldn't have to worry
about cops on my fucking tail all the time," he muttered before coughing
again into his free hand.

"Yeah.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> That'd be nice.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Of course, with your proclivities, we'd have
to move every year." She smiled a
bit.

"Not style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>every year. Maybe every other," he
responded with a small smile of his own.

She laughed,
discreetly rubbing her nose. "I
suppose I overestimate even your appetites."style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just as those words escaped her, the waitress
brought by the bowl of fruit she'd requested, and the taquitos.

"Probably not.
You know me pretty well, by now," he said with a smirk as he leaned back
in the chair and looked at the bowl of fruit with a growing smile. "Ready
for a rematch, wife mine?"

"Sure.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You're not going to win, but try your
best." Leaning on her elbows she
opened her mouth.

"What's your
poison first, wife mine?" he asked, looking over the selection of fruit.

"I'll eat
anything."

"Hmm, alright.
You probably want me to wash my hands first though, don't you?"

"Well, since
you've been coughing into them all afternoon..."

"It hasn't
been all afternoon," he muttered but rose from his chair all the same.
"I'll be right back, vixen." He kissed the top of her head gently as
he passed her to go into the restaurant to use the bathroom. He returned a few
minutes later and offered his now clean hands to her as if expecting her to
inspect them. "I even managed to get the dirt off of the backs of my
hands. I think it had been there for awhile,t; ht; he teased as he sat down.

"With your
love of showering, I sincerely doubt that," she teased, once more leaning
forward on the table. "Care to take
your chances now?"

"There will be
no chance involved. Only victory," he said as he drew a raspberry from the
bowl. After taking a moment to aim, he threw it to her mouth, getting it in on
the first try. He raised his arms in victory afterwards like a little kid,
grinning wide. "Told you."

She picked up a
grape and pretended to aim. an>&an>"I
think the only fair way to do this is to trade off until one of us misses.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What do you think, lover?"

"What happens
when one of us misses?" he asked, leaning forward as she had and opening
his mouth.

"That's when
you lose," she grinned, easily tossing the grape into his mouth.

"Lose, huh? I don't
like losing," he murmured as he chewed the grape. He picked a blueberry
out of the bowl and was about to throw it when she moved back a little. When
she informed him that she couldn't make things eas easy on him he simply
snorted and threw the small fruit, managing to get it into her mouth despite
all. "Your turn," he said with a smirk.

She picked up
another grape and tossed it. It grazed
his lip, but still got in.

"That was a
close one, vixen," he said with a grin. It was his turn to pick up a grape
this time, but unfortunately for him, the second he had been about to launch it
into the air, the very second, he had
had to cough into his arm. As a consequence, the grape bounced off her nose and
landed on the table. "Aw fuck," he murmured. "Sorry, but that
wasn't fair. Stupid cold," he grumbled. "Alright, I guess you win.
Congratulations, vixen."

"No, that one
doesn't count. I don't have a cold, so
you can go ahead and try again. This is
your one do-over though."

"How gracious
of you," he said with a small smile and a bow of his head before selecting
another raspberry this time, having determined grapes were bad luck. Once he
was positive he wasn't going to cough again, he let the small fruit fly, and it
landed directly into her mouth as he knew it would.

"Have you
given any more thought to names?" his wife asked as she tossed a grape -
her fruit of choice - into his mouth.

&qn>"Now that we
know what they are, you mean?" he asked, letting another blueberry sail
into her mouth. "Yeah, I've thought about it a little I guess."

"And what have
you thought?" This time she merely
looked at the fruit instead of throwing it.

"Katelyn.
Vittorio. Korbin. Aiden. Merric. Anita. Mia." He shrugged. "I don't
know. I'm not good with names, remember?"

"Vittorio?"
she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I
don't think so. Where did you even hear
that name in the first place?"

"Don't ask
me," he said, raising his hand in defense. "It's Italian, I know that
much. Blame Sands' over-education."

"Yes well,
we're not using it. Katelyn is nice
though. I wouldn't mind naming our
daughter that."

"Well there's
one. What about you? Did you think of any new names?"

"No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But we could buy a baby book or
something."

"I suppose
that works," he said with a shrug, popping a blueberry into his mouth and
chewing it thoughtfully.

The waitress came
with their food, interrupting their discussion and their game.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Not bothering to start talking again, Salida
immediately dug in, humming as she approved of the food.

Jeffrey smiled a
bit at her reaction and started in on his own food since it was obvious she
wasn't going to be talking any time soon. The enchiladas he had gotten were
surprisingly good, although they needed a little salsa so he added some from
the small dish he had been provided. When the now salsa-hot food was met with
satisfaction, he began polishing off the rest of his meal, taking the time to
cough or take a sip of water every so often between bites. "So maybe I do
have a cold," he muttered after a round of coughing into his napkin left
him a little hoarse. "I should kill her again."

"Colds take
more than a few hours to start showing symptoms," she murmured.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "You probably got it from somewhere
else."

"How long do
they take? Maybe I can blame this on Sands," he muttered.

"Two days,
perhaps a week, depending on how strong your immune system is."

"Great. It
could have been from anything then. I think Sands went out a few days ago,
there was the hospital before that, and before that? Who the fuck
remembers?" he said with a sigh. "I don't know how strong my immune
system is. I've never gotten sick. I can remember Sands getting the chickenpox
or something when he was younger though. That was a load of fun," he said
dryly.

"I have no idea
whether Tess gets sick easily or not, although since I can't remember ever
being sick except for the morning sickness, I'd be inclined to say she
doesn't. Or is that I don't?"

Jeffrey shrugged.
"It's your life now. Might as well use the proper pronouns," he said
with a smile before warding off a cough by another sip of his water.

"Yes, I
suppose it is."

"There's no
supposing about it, vixen. It's yours. If it wasn't, this marriage would get
very complicated."

"You mean more
complicated." Salida picked at her
food.

"Yeah, I
suppose any marriage where there are two wives for one man, different
personalities or not, in a society were polygamy is illegal, is
complicated," he said with a shrug. "Have we learned to manage, you
think?"

"How do you
mean?" There were some things they
managed well, but others they still had a difficult time with.

"Oh, I don't
know. I don't argue as much with Sands over when he gets to see kitty and when
I get to see you. We've got an imperfect system, but it seems to be
working." He felt an urge to knock on wood just then.

"Okay...that's
the part I thought you meant. And yes,
that's working well."

"Don't ask me
how the kid's going to fit in if he ever decides to show his face again, but
for now we all seem to fit in an albeit twisted kind of way," he admitted style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This was all only one element of their
marriage though. But I don't want to talk about depressing topics, she mused, taking
a bite of her rice. "Yes, I suppose
we do."

"And that's
something, right?" he asked giving her a small smile that let her know
that it was a safe bet that his thoughts had been running in the same circles
as hers had.

"Yes.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Its a very big something to not have to worry
about that."

"Yeah,"
he said, and it was his turn to pick at his food now.

"What?"
she asked, setting down her fork to touch the back of his hand lightly.

"I didn't say
anything," he said as he looked at her with a confused turn of his mouth.

"You're
picking at your food. Did I say something
wrong?"

"No, I'm just
not really hungry anymore. My throat kind of hurts," he murmured i qui quiet voice, waiting for her to tell him 'I told you so.'

"Alright.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I've had enough.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We can go if you want."

"Are you sure?
This is for you, vixen. Not me. I wanted to take you out into the sun," he
said with a slight shrug.

"I can sit in
the sun at home too."

"Yeah, I
suppose you can. Do you want to?"

"If you're
ready to go." She smiled
encouragingly.

Jeffrey frowned a
little at that and coughed a little more, but nodded. "Alright. Stay here
and I'll go pay the bill. I'll be right back," he said, rising to his feet
and laying his napkin down on his plate.

She stayed,
nibbling on fruit as she did so. When
Jeffrey returned, he found his wife absently staring into space.

"What? What is
it?" he asked, casting his eyes in the direction hers seemed to be looking
in. He didn't really see anything of interest.

"Hmmm?"style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She looked up.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Oh.
Nothing." Her brows crossed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Nothing at all."

"That wasn't a
'nothing' look, vixen. That was a 'something' look. What were you looking at?
Or thinking about?" he asked with a small frown. "Or do you not want
to tell me? It's ok if you don't."

"No...I want
to tell you. I just don't remember.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don't remember thinking about
anything."

"You don't
remember?" Jeffrey asked, beginning to grow a little worried. "Was
this just a simple daydream kind of moment or something else, vixen?"

She shook her head
and murmured, "I don't know."
After letting out a long sigh, she said, "Perhaps I'm just
tired."

Jeffrey looked at
her for a moment. “You practically slept the whole day—never mind. You want to
go home and take a nap? That’s fine with me. Let’s go.”

"I don't style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>feel tired," she complained confusedly
as she followed. "Maybe I wasn't thinking
of anything, and that's why I don't remember."

“If you weren’t
thinking of anything then you wouldn’t have had anything to forget about.” He
paused and examined that statement. “You
know what? Forget it. It doesn’t matter. Did you have a nice lunch at least?”
he asked, slowing a little so that he was walking beside her rather than in
front of her.

Salida nodded.
"They had good food. I wish I'd found them a few weeks ago. Did you like
it?"

Jeffrey shrugged.
“I like that you liked it. But yeah, I had fun at least. Wait a second, did we
figure out who won the fruit throwing contest? If not, then we’ll only have to
come back again for another rematch. It’s only fair.”

"What's your
definition of winning?" she asked suspiciously. "Because neither of
us missed, but you had more turns than I did."

Jeffrey had to stop
and think about that. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never thought about it. Maybe
we should keep score or something next time,” he said with a smirk. “Based on
difficulty, distance, and choice of fruit.” He nodded. “Yeah, I think that
could work.”

Salida had to
smile, and more than that, she had to stop him right in the middle of the
street for a kiss. Using gentle movements, she drew his head down to hers and
then slowly brushed her lips against his.

Once they had
pulled away, him being too surprised and admittedly touched by her gesture
despite everything they had gone through lately, he had to ask softly, “What
was that for, vixen?”

"I wanted you
to know how much I enjoyed today. And your company."

Jeffrey gave her an
almost bashful smile. “I’m glad, vixen. We don’t have days like this often
enough. I’m sorry for that.” They walked a little further, with him trying to
hold his coughing back as to not spoil the mood. “You know we don’t have to go
back just yet if you don’t want to. Today doesn’t have to be over just yet.”

"But Sands
would probably like to see Grant," she said softly. "I've been
occupying a lot of your time, and while no one has complained yet, I'd like to
keep it that way. I don't want to lose you yet, but I don't see that we have
another option."

Jeffrey sighed.
“That f—um, that sucks big time,” he managed with a slight smirk despite dis disappointment. “And no, I did not say ‘fum,’” he said wryly. “But you’re
right. Keeping the peace and all that.”

"You know I'd
rather be selfish, don't you?" she asked quietly, worried that he might
think that she was simply trying to get rid of him using the most reasonable
excuse.

“I know it,” he
said withmilemile, reaching down to take her hand in his and bring to his lips,
all the while his eyes never left her face. “We can just as easily be selfish
later.”

"I don't know
if I can..." She stopped mid-confession, blushing in shame. How could she
say she didn't know if she was ready to be intimate after the afternoon they'd
had? After they'd ed ted to work through everything? It felt like a massive
betrayal, and while she could feel tension building in her at the thought of
making herself so vulnerable, she tried to force the feelings to go away. The
internal conflict kept her from finishing her statement.

Jeffrey frowned a
little at her reaction, but not for the reasons she might have thought. “Hey,
don’t do that,” he said, gently raising her chin with a single finger so that
she was looking at him again. “Everything is about you. Not me. If you’re not
ready, that’s alright.” It went against much of his character to say such
things, but he couldn’t help himself after seeing her reaction to his
unintentional innuendo. “I’d much rather be close to you because you want me to
be rather than you think you have to. Savvy? We’ve got all the time in the
world to work things out. I’m not going anywhere.” He let the hand that was
holding up her chin drop to his side. “Don’t think that you’re doing something
wrong by wanting to wait, vixen. You’re not. You’re doing what you feel is
right and that’s all that matters.”

She absorbed this
for several long moments before giving him a trembling smile, a whispered
"Savvy," and a tight hug. There were times that Jeffrey utterly
knocked her off her feet, and this was one of them. "I love you," she
whispered, burying her head in his chest. "So much I love you."

Jeffrey just wrapped
his arms around her and hugged her back. “I love you too, Salida. Enough to do
anything for you. All you need to do is ask,” he said softly. They were earning
stares by passers-by, but they didn’t seem to notice.

"Your patience
is more than enough," she assured him.

“That’s got to be a
first,” he said lightly, unconsciously moving fingers up and down slowly across
her back as he held her.

"I think
you're more patient that you realize at times," she whispered. "God
knows you have to be with me at times. And you'll need it with kids."

“I guess I’m
learning a virtue after all. How about that?” he said with a small smile even
though she couldn’t see it.

"It's a
miracle," she breathed.

“Yeah, probably,”
he murmured, his wandering hands moving up to play with the tips of her long
hair, gently curling strands around his fingers and releasing them only to do
it again.

"I think I'm
going to be selfish," she informed him as she felt his fingers in her
hair. "When we get home, will you do that until I fall asleep?" With
pious eyes, she looked up at him, hoping - knowing - he'd say yes.

Jeffrey just smiled
at her for a momenforefore answering. “All you need to do is ask, remember?”

"Then you
will?"

“Of course I will,
vixen. Anything for you. Be as selfish as you want. You just have to ask.”

She nodded and
smiled before moving away and pulling on his hand. "Lets go home."