Babies and Baseball [an RP moment]
OOC: Backdated because of vacation busyness! Ficced from original log-form.
Monday, August 3.
After Alex and Ellie disappeared down the hallway, Connie closed the apartment door and went back inside. They’d come over to see her wedding dress and visit. Now, though, it was getting late and they had to head back to Queens. While Connie waited for Michael to return home from his dinner meeting with the D.A., she picked up around the living room. It wasn’t messy by any means, but she was a tidy person and definitely not used to having a toddler running around the new apartment…or any apartment, really. She didn’t have a lot of friends with babies -at least not ones she saw often-and she didn’t yet have nieces or nephews.
Connie loved kids and she couldn’t wait to be a mother, but Ellie’s presence that evening reminded her of the fact that she and Michael hadn’t discussed kids other than the general ‘we’d like to have some in the future’ conversation, which had been awhile ago. As she settled down with a few briefs that needed looking over, she wondered how to approach the subject again.
Half an hour later, the key turned in the front door lock and Michael walked in. It had been a drawn-out day and he’d long since shed his suit jacket. He left his briefcase by the door and came into the living room, going for the TV remote.
“Hi,” Connie said as she looked up from her work.
“Oh, hi,” Michael sat down beside her as he turned the channel to ESPN. “You ready for the game on Saturday?”
“…that’s a few days away, but yes,” she couldn’t help smirking at his enthusiasm. “Nice to see you, too.”
He smiled. “It’s great to see you. I thought that was a given.”
She grinned back. “How was dinner with Jack?”
“It was…dinner.” His voice indicated he was too tired of work at the moment for work talk.
“Right,” she said, knowing the feeling. It had been busy for both of them lately, between work and the wedding planning. “Hope we don’t have to wait till Saturday to actually have an evening to ourselves.”
“Well, we live in the same place,” Michael glanced over at her.
“You’d think that would make it easier,” she said, scooting closer to him.
“It does,” he said, putting his arm around her. “See?”
Connie smiled again and kissed him. Michael took a moment to return the kiss, then glanced back at the TV to see the Yankees highlights that had just started.
“Alex and Ellie came over earlier to see my dress,” Connie said when the wrap-up finished a couple of minutes later.
“Oh, they did?” he asked. “Are you going to show me?”
“It's bad luck for you to see it before the wedding,” she said.
“I don't believe that,” he said. “…how long did it take you to pick it?” He only knew that she’d just found it that weekend - he didn’t actually know how much time had been spent in the last few weeks specifically looking for the dress.
“Forever,” Connie said. “Well, it felt like forever.”
“You were with your sister,” Michael pointed out.
“Both of them. They...tried...to help.” She paused. “If you really want to see it, I can show you.”
“No, it's okay. If you're worried, I can wait,” he said.
“It's more of tradition than anything else.” Connie smiled. “I'm not worried about me and you...maybe about the wedding itself not going according to plan…but I think I'm going to have to let it go and relax about that one. “ Something always went off schedule, she knew. She was going to have to live with it. Really, what would him seeing the dress matter?
“ I don't have to add to your stress,” he told her.
“....I'll show you, but I won't try it on,” Connie said, getting up to go get the dress. “That way you won't see me in it till the wedding day.”
A few moments later, Connie came back from the spare bedroom with a garment bag. She took the dress out.
Michael looked up. “It’s nice.” He stopped and really looked at the detail of the dress. “It’s very nice.”
“I think so,” Connie said. “I'm glad you like it, too. I'm also glad we have a spare bedroom...it's becoming Wedding Central."
“ ...you could always store things at my mother's,” he suggested.
“...that's true. It's nice having things on hand, though. Like the favors and centerpieces - my sisters and I are hand-arranging those. ...or we will be, once we finally get everything settled.” Just thinking about the process made Connie a bit anxious - both with worry and excitement. “I swear, I don't think I've ever seen more ribbon samples in my life. Ribbon samples.”
“Why did you look at so many?” Michael asked.
Connie rolled her eyes. “Ileana. Being helpful. She decided I needed to review my options. At least they were of some use. Ellie found a roll of it while we were in there looking at the dress and played with it like it was an actual toy.”
“Couldn't you get Enslow to take her on vacation?” Michael wondered.
“Oddly enough, the guy has to work,” Connie said.
Michael looked at her in mock disbelief. “ He works?”
“Well they don't give him all that money for nothing.”
“ I thought they gave him that money to leave,” Michael shook his head.
“Nope.”
Michael’s attention turned back to the TV and so did Connie’s, instead of to her work. As she glanced over, she noticed that the baseball Ellie had found to play with earlier had been set on the coffee table, presumably by Alex before they’d gone. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ribbon and your baseball,” she said aloud. “That's what Ellie found the most fascinating while they were here.”
“My ball?” The look on Michael’s face was like a child unwilling to share. He picked it up and checked for teethmarks. “It’s not a toy.”
Connie laughed. “It’s a baseball. It’s meant to be played with.”
“By me,” he retorted, clutching it.
“Next time I'll tell her that you said she's not allowed,” Connie said dryly. She paused. “ There wasn't anything else for her to play with here...I didn't realize how...lacking in children’s playthings we are.”
“It’s not surprising, considering we lack children,” Michael said.
“Thanks,” Connie rolled her eyes. “I just meant…it'll be nice when we do have kid toys around...” She shrugged and looked back at her brief.
“...I don't want to buy kid toys,” Michael said, missing the point.
“I meant when we have kids,” Connie said.
“Oh…then yes, we’ll have toys.”
It was now or never, Connie realized. “…we haven’t really talked about that, you know.”
“We haven't?” He looked puzzled. “I thought you said you wanted children.”
She actually put a palm to her face. “I meant when.”
“Oh...uh, I think that ball's in your court...” He made a face at his word choice. “I mean...argh. It's up to you.”
Connie was torn between laughing and being annoyed. “It’s still something you have to deal with, too.”
“Well, yes...but not the "when," right?” he looked back at her.
“You're going to be affected by it, too, both at work and at home. I mean, I want to get started...but I also want to have some time just the two of us after we get married...but...I also don't want to wait too long,” she tried to explain.
Michael nodded. “That makes sense. See, you have it all thought out.”
“Not really,” she said. “And I want us to be on the same page...”
“But we are. You’ll know when, and I'm okay with that,” he said.
“I think I will know...” Connie took a breath. “I was kind of thinking maybe nine months or a year...from now, actually...”
“From now, or from the wedding?” he asked.
“ The wedding, I mean,” she clarified.
“Oh....well, that's an idea.” He thought about this a moment, in a way he hadn’t before.
“Were you hoping sooner or later?” Connie wondered.
“ ...I hadn't really thought about it,” Michael admitted. “And hearing you say it, it sounds soon. I mean - in nine months, we could certainly start talking about it, seriously. Whether it seems like a good time, that sort of thing. Yes.”
“....right.” She tried to take in what he was saying. Well, that’s what talking about it was for, right? And of course, he was a guy-they thought differently about babies than women did. Frankly, most men she’d known ran from the subject.
“What?” he asked, wondering about the look on her face.
“Nothing...one minute you're content to let me plan it all, the next minute you're afraid of even starting a conversation several months from now about it...”
“I'm not afraid,” he said, making sure she knew that wasn’t it. “I was just...taken aback. I said it was a good idea.”
“…I'm sorry.” Connie sighed. “I--it was on my mind...it's been on my mind here and there the last few weeks...I wanted to talk to you about it before the wedding..I'm not sure why...” She gave a small smile. “I'm really excited about--marrying you and everything that comes after...I see Ellie or other babies and…” She glanced down, a bit embarrassed at how it all sounded out loud.
“Oh...” He put his arm back around her. “You could have said something.”
“I wasn't quite sure how,” she admitted. “And we've both been busy...it just sort of got away from me till now.”
“It's all right,” Michael said. “It just - the timing wasn't something I considered. I think talking about it then will be good. I think we'll know.”
Connie nodded, then smiled at something Alex had told her before. “Alex said we could babysit Ellie any time we wanted to get us more acquainted with taking care of kids.”
“I'll pass, thanks,” Michael said.
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “I don't have to spend time with other people's children to know about ours.”
“That's true,” Connie said. “The idea was that it could help prepare us for ours. I'm also her godmother.”
“I don't mind having her over,” he said.
“Good. I'd like to be able to have her over without Alex, when you're around.”
“Either way-if I’m here or not, it doesn’t matter,” he told her.
She settled back against him. “I'll tell Alex to make sure to pack her her own toys. Since she's not allowed to play with your baseball.” It was clear she was still amused by this.
“It's not a toy,” he said again.
“It's not like you don't have dozens of them,” she teased.
“I don't.” He picked up the ball again and tossed it lightly.
“You have a good amount, anyway.” Connie stopped to think a moment. “Did your brother play keep-away with your baseballs when you were little or something? I don't think I've ever seen you so possessive, unless it was a case you wanted kept in your jurisdiction.”
Michael made a face. “Leave Sam out of any and all discussions about children.”
“I'll take that as a yes.” She kissed his cheek. “You poor thing.” Her tone was nice, yet still a tad on the teasing side.
He continued to frown, a bit like a small child.
“Don't worry, you'll be able to teach our kids all about sharing their baseballs. And playing baseball, for that matter,” she reminded him.
“That's true...although we'll have to buy more tickets to games.” Now he was thinking about it.
“That's true, too,” she agreed. “ I'm a bit sad that you'll probably have them outfitted in matching Yankees jerseys...but I know baseball means much more to you than it does to me.”
At the last half of her sentence, Michael made a mock outraged face. “...what? The wedding is OFF.”
“You knew I was a Mets fan the first week you knew me,” she laughed.
“Yes, but it's still BASEBALL!”
“Oh, that. Michael, I'm sorry, no one loves baseball as much as you do.” Connie really couldn’t think of anyone she knew who did.
“You could try…”
Monday, August 3.
After Alex and Ellie disappeared down the hallway, Connie closed the apartment door and went back inside. They’d come over to see her wedding dress and visit. Now, though, it was getting late and they had to head back to Queens. While Connie waited for Michael to return home from his dinner meeting with the D.A., she picked up around the living room. It wasn’t messy by any means, but she was a tidy person and definitely not used to having a toddler running around the new apartment…or any apartment, really. She didn’t have a lot of friends with babies -at least not ones she saw often-and she didn’t yet have nieces or nephews.
Connie loved kids and she couldn’t wait to be a mother, but Ellie’s presence that evening reminded her of the fact that she and Michael hadn’t discussed kids other than the general ‘we’d like to have some in the future’ conversation, which had been awhile ago. As she settled down with a few briefs that needed looking over, she wondered how to approach the subject again.
Half an hour later, the key turned in the front door lock and Michael walked in. It had been a drawn-out day and he’d long since shed his suit jacket. He left his briefcase by the door and came into the living room, going for the TV remote.
“Hi,” Connie said as she looked up from her work.
“Oh, hi,” Michael sat down beside her as he turned the channel to ESPN. “You ready for the game on Saturday?”
“…that’s a few days away, but yes,” she couldn’t help smirking at his enthusiasm. “Nice to see you, too.”
He smiled. “It’s great to see you. I thought that was a given.”
She grinned back. “How was dinner with Jack?”
“It was…dinner.” His voice indicated he was too tired of work at the moment for work talk.
“Right,” she said, knowing the feeling. It had been busy for both of them lately, between work and the wedding planning. “Hope we don’t have to wait till Saturday to actually have an evening to ourselves.”
“Well, we live in the same place,” Michael glanced over at her.
“You’d think that would make it easier,” she said, scooting closer to him.
“It does,” he said, putting his arm around her. “See?”
Connie smiled again and kissed him. Michael took a moment to return the kiss, then glanced back at the TV to see the Yankees highlights that had just started.
“Alex and Ellie came over earlier to see my dress,” Connie said when the wrap-up finished a couple of minutes later.
“Oh, they did?” he asked. “Are you going to show me?”
“It's bad luck for you to see it before the wedding,” she said.
“I don't believe that,” he said. “…how long did it take you to pick it?” He only knew that she’d just found it that weekend - he didn’t actually know how much time had been spent in the last few weeks specifically looking for the dress.
“Forever,” Connie said. “Well, it felt like forever.”
“You were with your sister,” Michael pointed out.
“Both of them. They...tried...to help.” She paused. “If you really want to see it, I can show you.”
“No, it's okay. If you're worried, I can wait,” he said.
“It's more of tradition than anything else.” Connie smiled. “I'm not worried about me and you...maybe about the wedding itself not going according to plan…but I think I'm going to have to let it go and relax about that one. “ Something always went off schedule, she knew. She was going to have to live with it. Really, what would him seeing the dress matter?
“ I don't have to add to your stress,” he told her.
“....I'll show you, but I won't try it on,” Connie said, getting up to go get the dress. “That way you won't see me in it till the wedding day.”
A few moments later, Connie came back from the spare bedroom with a garment bag. She took the dress out.
Michael looked up. “It’s nice.” He stopped and really looked at the detail of the dress. “It’s very nice.”
“I think so,” Connie said. “I'm glad you like it, too. I'm also glad we have a spare bedroom...it's becoming Wedding Central."
“ ...you could always store things at my mother's,” he suggested.
“...that's true. It's nice having things on hand, though. Like the favors and centerpieces - my sisters and I are hand-arranging those. ...or we will be, once we finally get everything settled.” Just thinking about the process made Connie a bit anxious - both with worry and excitement. “I swear, I don't think I've ever seen more ribbon samples in my life. Ribbon samples.”
“Why did you look at so many?” Michael asked.
Connie rolled her eyes. “Ileana. Being helpful. She decided I needed to review my options. At least they were of some use. Ellie found a roll of it while we were in there looking at the dress and played with it like it was an actual toy.”
“Couldn't you get Enslow to take her on vacation?” Michael wondered.
“Oddly enough, the guy has to work,” Connie said.
Michael looked at her in mock disbelief. “ He works?”
“Well they don't give him all that money for nothing.”
“ I thought they gave him that money to leave,” Michael shook his head.
“Nope.”
Michael’s attention turned back to the TV and so did Connie’s, instead of to her work. As she glanced over, she noticed that the baseball Ellie had found to play with earlier had been set on the coffee table, presumably by Alex before they’d gone. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ribbon and your baseball,” she said aloud. “That's what Ellie found the most fascinating while they were here.”
“My ball?” The look on Michael’s face was like a child unwilling to share. He picked it up and checked for teethmarks. “It’s not a toy.”
Connie laughed. “It’s a baseball. It’s meant to be played with.”
“By me,” he retorted, clutching it.
“Next time I'll tell her that you said she's not allowed,” Connie said dryly. She paused. “ There wasn't anything else for her to play with here...I didn't realize how...lacking in children’s playthings we are.”
“It’s not surprising, considering we lack children,” Michael said.
“Thanks,” Connie rolled her eyes. “I just meant…it'll be nice when we do have kid toys around...” She shrugged and looked back at her brief.
“...I don't want to buy kid toys,” Michael said, missing the point.
“I meant when we have kids,” Connie said.
“Oh…then yes, we’ll have toys.”
It was now or never, Connie realized. “…we haven’t really talked about that, you know.”
“We haven't?” He looked puzzled. “I thought you said you wanted children.”
She actually put a palm to her face. “I meant when.”
“Oh...uh, I think that ball's in your court...” He made a face at his word choice. “I mean...argh. It's up to you.”
Connie was torn between laughing and being annoyed. “It’s still something you have to deal with, too.”
“Well, yes...but not the "when," right?” he looked back at her.
“You're going to be affected by it, too, both at work and at home. I mean, I want to get started...but I also want to have some time just the two of us after we get married...but...I also don't want to wait too long,” she tried to explain.
Michael nodded. “That makes sense. See, you have it all thought out.”
“Not really,” she said. “And I want us to be on the same page...”
“But we are. You’ll know when, and I'm okay with that,” he said.
“I think I will know...” Connie took a breath. “I was kind of thinking maybe nine months or a year...from now, actually...”
“From now, or from the wedding?” he asked.
“ The wedding, I mean,” she clarified.
“Oh....well, that's an idea.” He thought about this a moment, in a way he hadn’t before.
“Were you hoping sooner or later?” Connie wondered.
“ ...I hadn't really thought about it,” Michael admitted. “And hearing you say it, it sounds soon. I mean - in nine months, we could certainly start talking about it, seriously. Whether it seems like a good time, that sort of thing. Yes.”
“....right.” She tried to take in what he was saying. Well, that’s what talking about it was for, right? And of course, he was a guy-they thought differently about babies than women did. Frankly, most men she’d known ran from the subject.
“What?” he asked, wondering about the look on her face.
“Nothing...one minute you're content to let me plan it all, the next minute you're afraid of even starting a conversation several months from now about it...”
“I'm not afraid,” he said, making sure she knew that wasn’t it. “I was just...taken aback. I said it was a good idea.”
“…I'm sorry.” Connie sighed. “I--it was on my mind...it's been on my mind here and there the last few weeks...I wanted to talk to you about it before the wedding..I'm not sure why...” She gave a small smile. “I'm really excited about--marrying you and everything that comes after...I see Ellie or other babies and…” She glanced down, a bit embarrassed at how it all sounded out loud.
“Oh...” He put his arm back around her. “You could have said something.”
“I wasn't quite sure how,” she admitted. “And we've both been busy...it just sort of got away from me till now.”
“It's all right,” Michael said. “It just - the timing wasn't something I considered. I think talking about it then will be good. I think we'll know.”
Connie nodded, then smiled at something Alex had told her before. “Alex said we could babysit Ellie any time we wanted to get us more acquainted with taking care of kids.”
“I'll pass, thanks,” Michael said.
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “I don't have to spend time with other people's children to know about ours.”
“That's true,” Connie said. “The idea was that it could help prepare us for ours. I'm also her godmother.”
“I don't mind having her over,” he said.
“Good. I'd like to be able to have her over without Alex, when you're around.”
“Either way-if I’m here or not, it doesn’t matter,” he told her.
She settled back against him. “I'll tell Alex to make sure to pack her her own toys. Since she's not allowed to play with your baseball.” It was clear she was still amused by this.
“It's not a toy,” he said again.
“It's not like you don't have dozens of them,” she teased.
“I don't.” He picked up the ball again and tossed it lightly.
“You have a good amount, anyway.” Connie stopped to think a moment. “Did your brother play keep-away with your baseballs when you were little or something? I don't think I've ever seen you so possessive, unless it was a case you wanted kept in your jurisdiction.”
Michael made a face. “Leave Sam out of any and all discussions about children.”
“I'll take that as a yes.” She kissed his cheek. “You poor thing.” Her tone was nice, yet still a tad on the teasing side.
He continued to frown, a bit like a small child.
“Don't worry, you'll be able to teach our kids all about sharing their baseballs. And playing baseball, for that matter,” she reminded him.
“That's true...although we'll have to buy more tickets to games.” Now he was thinking about it.
“That's true, too,” she agreed. “ I'm a bit sad that you'll probably have them outfitted in matching Yankees jerseys...but I know baseball means much more to you than it does to me.”
At the last half of her sentence, Michael made a mock outraged face. “...what? The wedding is OFF.”
“You knew I was a Mets fan the first week you knew me,” she laughed.
“Yes, but it's still BASEBALL!”
“Oh, that. Michael, I'm sorry, no one loves baseball as much as you do.” Connie really couldn’t think of anyone she knew who did.
“You could try…”