FanFic100: #057 Lunch
Title: In trouble deep
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Cadman/Lorne
Prompt: #057 Lunch
Word Count: 2.902
Rating: K+
Summary: Evan Lorne might have thought it was difficult to talk to Laura Cadman... but he forgot his mother is also a force to be reckoned with.
Author's Notes: Eh, couldn't have someone reminded me I wanted to post this already a few days ago? Anyway, now that I'm done with the emo!whump "Protect and Survive" bunny (yes, I'm still writing this series, albeit not as fast as I used to... apart from this special bunny, I mean) that attacked me sometime this week, I can give you another twiniverse story (the name for this 'verse was mackenziesmomma's idea and it's thoroughly fitting, isn't it? ;)), sequel to "Something that ain't real" and "Made the neighbors jealous". Hope you like it :) And here's the LDT.
In trouble deep
“Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby.”
Madonna, “Papa Don’t Preach”
He’s been here for two and a half days now and it’s really about time that he finally tells his mother where he spent his last week… and with whom… and why. It’s just that… Edith Lorne has a very definite set of rules and principles and accidentally knocking up a girl you aren’t involved with is not part of these rules and principles. For the last two and a half days, he could pretend that there was nothing he had to confess to his mother but it’s becoming increasingly hard not to think of Laura… and the twins.
And he knows his mother. She’s not dumb and most of all not blind. It won’t take long until she sees on her own that something is occupying his mind enough that he’s not really paying attention to her and everything else around him. A little nervous, he sits down at the kitchen counter, opposite where his mother is preparing today’s lunch. She’s chopping vegetables, meticulously, neatly like she always did for him and his sister. It looks like she’s totally engrossed in it but he knows very well that his mother knows exactly that he just sat down… and that he’s a little nervous. You don’t raise two children on your own without developing that kind of sixth sense.
So without chit-chat or a preamble, he says, “Mom… we need to talk.”
She continues chopping but smiles. “You didn’t happen to knock up some random girl, did you?”
Holy crap. How the hell did she just manage that? He clears his throat, blushing. “Well… um…”
Now his mother has stopped chopping and looks at him, slightly alarmed. “You did, didn’t you?”
A little disgruntled he says the first thing that gets into his head, “She wasn’t a random girl.” Yeah, great. He already feels the need to defend Laura against everyone and everything. She would not be amused about that.
His mother raises an eyebrow, much like he usually does with his subordinates. “You got a secret girlfriend? Fiancé? Wife?”
That is such a humiliating question, for several reasons, and she knows it. And the worst thing is that the only answer that comes to his mind is, “Well, no…”
His mother puts the knife away. Okay, here it comes. “Let me get this straight. You, Evan Marcus Lorne, my son… got a girl who is in no relationship to you pregnant. Is that about right?”
Something in him and in that accusation makes him lash out, at least a little bit. “She’s not a stranger, mom.” Honestly, the last thing he wants his mom to think about Laura is that she’s just some one-night stand he picked up in a seedy bar and who’s now suing him for financial support.
“Then who is she?” And now he can see that his mother is starting to get impatient as well. So she had seen him being preoccupied these last two days.
He growls. “I would have told you if you’d just let me finish.”
Great. This is starting to get difficult already. His mother has crossed her arms in front of her chest now and is already trying to stare him down. “Alright, go on, finish. And better be fast, young man.”
He takes a deep breath. “She’s… was a co-worker…”
Another raised eyebrow. “Civilian?”
“Mom!” She really wasn’t supposed to get to the core of the problem so fast. But at the scathing look from his mother, he feels himself humbled very fast. “And yes… I mean… she’s a civilian now.”
“You aren’t saying… Evan… you slept with a fellow soldier?” Yeah, of course she would pick that up fast, if she already asked the right question. Why is it that she doesn’t even have to work really hard to corner him?
It starts to really annoy him. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, dammit!”
“Watch your language!” Argh. He so needs to keep a cool head now.
“Mom!” Well… not like this. Better try again. “Do you want to know how it happened or don’t you?”
She sighs. “Fine… but no slips of tongue anymore.” Good. At least for once he managed the distraction strategy. He really didn’t want to get into an argument about being in his mid-thirties and being allowed to use any kind of language he damn well chose.
A little grudgingly he nods. “Right. Anyway… her name… her name is Laura Cadman and she’s a Marine.”
A confused look. “Didn’t you say she is a civilian?” Why couldn’t he have a mother who is less perceptive and who didn’t listen so well to him if she chose to?
Holding back a sigh, he replies, “And she is. Well, technically. But there’s no such thing as a former Marine, you know.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Technicalities.”
It makes him grin a little… until he remembers what Laura would say to that. “Don’t let her hear that.” Oh great. He really shouldn’t have said that. Because that just gave him the idea that he could maybe arrange a little excursion for his mother to meet Laura in Pasadena… mh… seeing Laura again before going back to Atlantis…
“Whatever you say. Do I get the whole story now?” He blinks a little. Okay, no more thinking about meeting Laura again now. Concentrate on the task, soldier.
To cover up his slight absentmindedness, he replies a little gruffly, “Not if you continue interrupting me.” She just rolls her eyes. Oh well. On to the hard part then. “Anyway… it happened… on the base.” His mother already wants to say something but he manages to hold up his hand before she can even open her mouth. “I don’t want to hear anything, mom.” Pressing her lips together, his mother just shoots him an annoyed glare but lets him continue. “We were both off-duty, we were both just a little bit too drunk and one moment we were kind of flirting with each other and in the next I find myself waking up beside a little red-haired Lieutenant that used to be something close to a friend.”
He wishes she wouldn’t have made him tell her that. Every time he remembers waking up beside Laura that morning, the strange mixture of surprise, horror, confusion… and just a little bit of genuine satisfaction and affection is back again. That and the sudden knowledge that he probably just ruined something that could have been a great friendship. His mother seems to have seen that telling her his story did more to him than she had expected because she sounds much more subdued when she asks him, “Close to a friend?”
He sighs. “As close to a friend as subordinate and CO can get without people starting to throw them strange looks.”
More eye rolling. “Will I ever get a straight answer to that?”
Now he can’t help grinning just a little bit. “Maybe.”
“Thought so.” A little disgruntled look but she takes up the knife again to continue chopping the vegetables. Obviously… the storm is over. Well, for now. “When did you find out about her pregnancy?”
A little bold, he manages to steal a piece of carrot from her and starts munching on it. Between bites, he tells his mother the story in a nutshell, “A month about ago. A civilian scientist told me about it. I confronted our CO with it and he told me she didn’t want me to know back when she handed in that transfer request. Mom… first thing I did was grill her friends about her whereabouts and first chance I got I handed in a request for leave to get there. I swear, I never even thought about contemplating not acting on my responsibility.” And he really didn’t. The moment Katie Brown had told him that Laura was pregnant he’d known he needed to see her, for so many reasons. He’d never even thought about not calling her.
Waving her knife around a little his mother says, “I didn’t expect anything less of you, Evan. So did you see her?”
Of course she would ask that. He nods, after stealing just another piece of carrot and narrowly escaping his mother’s knife. “Yes. She lives in Pasadena now, doing post-grad work on a doctorate in chemistry.”
That brings a smile to his mother’s face for some reason. “Smart girl?”
That makes him smile as well. “Very smart girl.” To counter that unreasonable amount of pride welling up inside of him, he adds, “Most of the time, at least.” It’s true. There are some situations where he seriously doubted Laura’s intelligence… like, for example, when she tried to refuse his help. But yeah, an overwhelming amount of time it almost scares him how smart Laura can be. “Funny, too. Hell of a soldier. And… beautiful.” Argh.
“You like her.” The little smile on his mother’s face has widened into a teasing grin.
He huffs, “She’ll be the mother of my children. Of course I like her.” And another blunder. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut entirely in his mother’s vicinity.
“Of course you… wait… children?” For some reason, the utter shock on his mother’s face makes up for his irritation about his own blunders… and for his shock at his mother’s early wild guess.
But he better play at a little sheepishness now. “Oh… uh… well… yeah.”
Eyes still wide in shock. “Evan? What the hell?”
It almost makes him laugh out loud but he can cover it up well enough to look serious and hold up his index finger. “Language, mom.”
She grimaces. “Very funny. Now… go on, give me the rest. Talk your old mom into an early grave.”
With a smile that surprises even himself a little in the department of tenderness, he replies, “It’s twins, mom. Laura’s expecting twins.”
After a moment where she doesn’t really know what to say, his mother just shakes her head a little resignedly and sighs, “Right. Twins. Son… when you do something… you don’t ever do it halfway, do you?” He can only shake his head, grinning. And for the first time he allows himself to think freely and without a bad conscious of those kids and their mother that he has seen so much of for the last week. He thinks about talking for hours with Laura about everything from her studies to the latest Atlantis gossip, he thinks about that one time she took him back to his motel and they kind of ended up on his bed and talked for so long that she ended up asleep beside him, he thinks about arguing about carrying her grocery bags for her… and he thinks about seeing the twins… his twins on the ultrasound monitor for the first time. “Hey! Earth to Major Lorne. Care to tell me into which galaxy you just vanished?”
He blinks again. Dammit. No thinking of Laura anymore. Friends. That’s all. Friends. With kids, granted, but friends. “Sorry, just thinking about some work-related stuff. What did you just say?” She looks at him and that clearly tells him ‘Work related, my ass,’ but she chooses not to dwell on it.
“I just asked how you imagine your future. You and your Laura, I mean.” His first instinct is to snap at his mother that it’s not his Laura but he remembers just in time that this would just add fuel to the fire.
Her question was complicated enough anyway. He rubs his neck. “Well… Guess I’ll transfer back stateside and then we’ll see about everything else.”
Something looking suspiciously like relief and a little bit of genuine joy crosses his mother’s face and once again he feels a stab of guilt at leaving her all alone and in the dark about what he’s actually doing just for the sake of his career. And another stab of guilt because there are now three more people who are or will be worried about him when he’s away… maybe even more worried because at least Laura knows exactly what he’s facing every day in the Pegasus galaxy.
His mother is now done chopping the vegetables and has turned to peeling the potatoes. Without a word, he takes up a knife of his own and starts helping his mother. “About time you lend me a hand here, son.” He resists the temptation to stick out his tongue and keeps peeling. “Just let me guess: You haven’t told Laura about your decision yet, huh?” God, are all moms like that? And can that reading thoughts thing also work on other people than just their kids? If so… he’ll be so screwed once Laura gave birth to the twins.
Careful to concentrate on his potato, he replies, “No, I didn’t. And yes, I have a reason for that.” Keep on peeling, don’t look at your mother… you really don’t want to see the smugness there right now. “I just… have to find the right way to tell her. She’ll see my reasoning, I’m sure.”
“She’ll refuse to see it if she feels excluded from your decision.” Of course she will. But that’s his job and his career and it’s his fucking right to give it another bend if he chooses to. “Evan, seriously, this girl sounds like someone who doesn’t take crap from anyone and who doesn’t like anyone to steamroll her.” Just like you, mom, he nearly says but can hold his tongue just in time.
“Mom… trust me. I’ll get it to work. I mean… I got her to accept my help, so…” His mother snorts.
“Son… you had to convince her to take your help and you seriously think you’ll get her to accept that you throw away your career for her without even asking her first?” He growls.
“I am not throwing away my career, mom.” Even though he keeps his eyes on the potatoes, he can mentally see her rolling her eyes.
“From a certain point of view, you are. And she’ll see exactly that point. She’ll also be afraid that sooner or later you’ll regret your decision… and somehow blame it on her.” He feels a slight shudder coming up… just how much exactly did his mother keep from him about the time before his father left their then very young family?
“Look, mom…” He can hear his mother put away her knife again and feels compelled to look at her again.
“Mark my words, Evan; she’ll give you hell if you don’t give her a chance to get used to this decision.” Fuzzy memories from his childhood come back, of fights between his mother and his grandparents, scraps about having driven her husband out of the house and having been miserable with a frustrated career lawyer… but he isn't like that. He’ll never make Laura feel like it’s her fault that he didn’t stay as long in Atlantis as it would have been best for his career. She’s smart enough to see that, he’s sure of that.
But because he doesn’t want to argue any more with his mother, he just picks up the knife and the potato again and concedes, “I’ll think about it, mom.” And then he remembers a fleeting thought from sometime ago. “And mom… speaking of which… I thought that maybe… you might want to meet her?” Well… that question mark wasn’t supposed to appear there. And… that suggestion wasn’t supposed to be spoken aloud. Did he just trick himself into trying to see Laura again?
She smirks. “Pasadena’s… what, 5 hours from here?”
He grins a little sheepishly. “Look, we don’t have to go there now. But I could phone her and maybe arrange something… how about a little road trip, just you and me?”
“Of course that’s not just an excuse to call her… or maybe even see her,” his mother says matter-of-factly and with no hint of sarcasm but he knows exactly how she meant that. And accordingly feels himself blushing heavily. Oh God, he’s so in trouble if Laura ever develops all these skills as well. “But you’re right I do want to meet her. A woman that’s got you so wound up… and who has the gut to refuse your help… yeah, that’s someone I’d really like to meet. Go on, call her.”
For just a moment he’s ready to jump up and race to the phone but then he remembers he’s in his mid-thirties, 2IC of an international forward operating base in another galaxy and about to become a father of twins and not a 16 year old. He forces himself to keep peeling potatoes. “Nah, no need to hurry. She’ll still be there after lunch.”
“I’m sure she will. And you might want to leave some potatoes for eating, son.” With a smirk his mother picks the potato he’d just nearly massacred out of his hand and keeps on preparing lunch, almost elegantly keeping him from doing any more helping. Ever since she agreed to visit Laura with him… he isn't much help anyway because his thoughts are not really in this kitchen anymore. They’re in Pasadena and he’s given up fighting against them by now. They’re far too nice for that anyway.
~*~
TBC in A Game of Give And Take
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Cadman/Lorne
Prompt: #057 Lunch
Word Count: 2.902
Rating: K+
Summary: Evan Lorne might have thought it was difficult to talk to Laura Cadman... but he forgot his mother is also a force to be reckoned with.
Author's Notes: Eh, couldn't have someone reminded me I wanted to post this already a few days ago? Anyway, now that I'm done with the emo!whump "Protect and Survive" bunny (yes, I'm still writing this series, albeit not as fast as I used to... apart from this special bunny, I mean) that attacked me sometime this week, I can give you another twiniverse story (the name for this 'verse was mackenziesmomma's idea and it's thoroughly fitting, isn't it? ;)), sequel to "Something that ain't real" and "Made the neighbors jealous". Hope you like it :) And here's the LDT.
In trouble deep
“Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby.”
Madonna, “Papa Don’t Preach”
He’s been here for two and a half days now and it’s really about time that he finally tells his mother where he spent his last week… and with whom… and why. It’s just that… Edith Lorne has a very definite set of rules and principles and accidentally knocking up a girl you aren’t involved with is not part of these rules and principles. For the last two and a half days, he could pretend that there was nothing he had to confess to his mother but it’s becoming increasingly hard not to think of Laura… and the twins.
And he knows his mother. She’s not dumb and most of all not blind. It won’t take long until she sees on her own that something is occupying his mind enough that he’s not really paying attention to her and everything else around him. A little nervous, he sits down at the kitchen counter, opposite where his mother is preparing today’s lunch. She’s chopping vegetables, meticulously, neatly like she always did for him and his sister. It looks like she’s totally engrossed in it but he knows very well that his mother knows exactly that he just sat down… and that he’s a little nervous. You don’t raise two children on your own without developing that kind of sixth sense.
So without chit-chat or a preamble, he says, “Mom… we need to talk.”
She continues chopping but smiles. “You didn’t happen to knock up some random girl, did you?”
Holy crap. How the hell did she just manage that? He clears his throat, blushing. “Well… um…”
Now his mother has stopped chopping and looks at him, slightly alarmed. “You did, didn’t you?”
A little disgruntled he says the first thing that gets into his head, “She wasn’t a random girl.” Yeah, great. He already feels the need to defend Laura against everyone and everything. She would not be amused about that.
His mother raises an eyebrow, much like he usually does with his subordinates. “You got a secret girlfriend? Fiancé? Wife?”
That is such a humiliating question, for several reasons, and she knows it. And the worst thing is that the only answer that comes to his mind is, “Well, no…”
His mother puts the knife away. Okay, here it comes. “Let me get this straight. You, Evan Marcus Lorne, my son… got a girl who is in no relationship to you pregnant. Is that about right?”
Something in him and in that accusation makes him lash out, at least a little bit. “She’s not a stranger, mom.” Honestly, the last thing he wants his mom to think about Laura is that she’s just some one-night stand he picked up in a seedy bar and who’s now suing him for financial support.
“Then who is she?” And now he can see that his mother is starting to get impatient as well. So she had seen him being preoccupied these last two days.
He growls. “I would have told you if you’d just let me finish.”
Great. This is starting to get difficult already. His mother has crossed her arms in front of her chest now and is already trying to stare him down. “Alright, go on, finish. And better be fast, young man.”
He takes a deep breath. “She’s… was a co-worker…”
Another raised eyebrow. “Civilian?”
“Mom!” She really wasn’t supposed to get to the core of the problem so fast. But at the scathing look from his mother, he feels himself humbled very fast. “And yes… I mean… she’s a civilian now.”
“You aren’t saying… Evan… you slept with a fellow soldier?” Yeah, of course she would pick that up fast, if she already asked the right question. Why is it that she doesn’t even have to work really hard to corner him?
It starts to really annoy him. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, dammit!”
“Watch your language!” Argh. He so needs to keep a cool head now.
“Mom!” Well… not like this. Better try again. “Do you want to know how it happened or don’t you?”
She sighs. “Fine… but no slips of tongue anymore.” Good. At least for once he managed the distraction strategy. He really didn’t want to get into an argument about being in his mid-thirties and being allowed to use any kind of language he damn well chose.
A little grudgingly he nods. “Right. Anyway… her name… her name is Laura Cadman and she’s a Marine.”
A confused look. “Didn’t you say she is a civilian?” Why couldn’t he have a mother who is less perceptive and who didn’t listen so well to him if she chose to?
Holding back a sigh, he replies, “And she is. Well, technically. But there’s no such thing as a former Marine, you know.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Technicalities.”
It makes him grin a little… until he remembers what Laura would say to that. “Don’t let her hear that.” Oh great. He really shouldn’t have said that. Because that just gave him the idea that he could maybe arrange a little excursion for his mother to meet Laura in Pasadena… mh… seeing Laura again before going back to Atlantis…
“Whatever you say. Do I get the whole story now?” He blinks a little. Okay, no more thinking about meeting Laura again now. Concentrate on the task, soldier.
To cover up his slight absentmindedness, he replies a little gruffly, “Not if you continue interrupting me.” She just rolls her eyes. Oh well. On to the hard part then. “Anyway… it happened… on the base.” His mother already wants to say something but he manages to hold up his hand before she can even open her mouth. “I don’t want to hear anything, mom.” Pressing her lips together, his mother just shoots him an annoyed glare but lets him continue. “We were both off-duty, we were both just a little bit too drunk and one moment we were kind of flirting with each other and in the next I find myself waking up beside a little red-haired Lieutenant that used to be something close to a friend.”
He wishes she wouldn’t have made him tell her that. Every time he remembers waking up beside Laura that morning, the strange mixture of surprise, horror, confusion… and just a little bit of genuine satisfaction and affection is back again. That and the sudden knowledge that he probably just ruined something that could have been a great friendship. His mother seems to have seen that telling her his story did more to him than she had expected because she sounds much more subdued when she asks him, “Close to a friend?”
He sighs. “As close to a friend as subordinate and CO can get without people starting to throw them strange looks.”
More eye rolling. “Will I ever get a straight answer to that?”
Now he can’t help grinning just a little bit. “Maybe.”
“Thought so.” A little disgruntled look but she takes up the knife again to continue chopping the vegetables. Obviously… the storm is over. Well, for now. “When did you find out about her pregnancy?”
A little bold, he manages to steal a piece of carrot from her and starts munching on it. Between bites, he tells his mother the story in a nutshell, “A month about ago. A civilian scientist told me about it. I confronted our CO with it and he told me she didn’t want me to know back when she handed in that transfer request. Mom… first thing I did was grill her friends about her whereabouts and first chance I got I handed in a request for leave to get there. I swear, I never even thought about contemplating not acting on my responsibility.” And he really didn’t. The moment Katie Brown had told him that Laura was pregnant he’d known he needed to see her, for so many reasons. He’d never even thought about not calling her.
Waving her knife around a little his mother says, “I didn’t expect anything less of you, Evan. So did you see her?”
Of course she would ask that. He nods, after stealing just another piece of carrot and narrowly escaping his mother’s knife. “Yes. She lives in Pasadena now, doing post-grad work on a doctorate in chemistry.”
That brings a smile to his mother’s face for some reason. “Smart girl?”
That makes him smile as well. “Very smart girl.” To counter that unreasonable amount of pride welling up inside of him, he adds, “Most of the time, at least.” It’s true. There are some situations where he seriously doubted Laura’s intelligence… like, for example, when she tried to refuse his help. But yeah, an overwhelming amount of time it almost scares him how smart Laura can be. “Funny, too. Hell of a soldier. And… beautiful.” Argh.
“You like her.” The little smile on his mother’s face has widened into a teasing grin.
He huffs, “She’ll be the mother of my children. Of course I like her.” And another blunder. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut entirely in his mother’s vicinity.
“Of course you… wait… children?” For some reason, the utter shock on his mother’s face makes up for his irritation about his own blunders… and for his shock at his mother’s early wild guess.
But he better play at a little sheepishness now. “Oh… uh… well… yeah.”
Eyes still wide in shock. “Evan? What the hell?”
It almost makes him laugh out loud but he can cover it up well enough to look serious and hold up his index finger. “Language, mom.”
She grimaces. “Very funny. Now… go on, give me the rest. Talk your old mom into an early grave.”
With a smile that surprises even himself a little in the department of tenderness, he replies, “It’s twins, mom. Laura’s expecting twins.”
After a moment where she doesn’t really know what to say, his mother just shakes her head a little resignedly and sighs, “Right. Twins. Son… when you do something… you don’t ever do it halfway, do you?” He can only shake his head, grinning. And for the first time he allows himself to think freely and without a bad conscious of those kids and their mother that he has seen so much of for the last week. He thinks about talking for hours with Laura about everything from her studies to the latest Atlantis gossip, he thinks about that one time she took him back to his motel and they kind of ended up on his bed and talked for so long that she ended up asleep beside him, he thinks about arguing about carrying her grocery bags for her… and he thinks about seeing the twins… his twins on the ultrasound monitor for the first time. “Hey! Earth to Major Lorne. Care to tell me into which galaxy you just vanished?”
He blinks again. Dammit. No thinking of Laura anymore. Friends. That’s all. Friends. With kids, granted, but friends. “Sorry, just thinking about some work-related stuff. What did you just say?” She looks at him and that clearly tells him ‘Work related, my ass,’ but she chooses not to dwell on it.
“I just asked how you imagine your future. You and your Laura, I mean.” His first instinct is to snap at his mother that it’s not his Laura but he remembers just in time that this would just add fuel to the fire.
Her question was complicated enough anyway. He rubs his neck. “Well… Guess I’ll transfer back stateside and then we’ll see about everything else.”
Something looking suspiciously like relief and a little bit of genuine joy crosses his mother’s face and once again he feels a stab of guilt at leaving her all alone and in the dark about what he’s actually doing just for the sake of his career. And another stab of guilt because there are now three more people who are or will be worried about him when he’s away… maybe even more worried because at least Laura knows exactly what he’s facing every day in the Pegasus galaxy.
His mother is now done chopping the vegetables and has turned to peeling the potatoes. Without a word, he takes up a knife of his own and starts helping his mother. “About time you lend me a hand here, son.” He resists the temptation to stick out his tongue and keeps peeling. “Just let me guess: You haven’t told Laura about your decision yet, huh?” God, are all moms like that? And can that reading thoughts thing also work on other people than just their kids? If so… he’ll be so screwed once Laura gave birth to the twins.
Careful to concentrate on his potato, he replies, “No, I didn’t. And yes, I have a reason for that.” Keep on peeling, don’t look at your mother… you really don’t want to see the smugness there right now. “I just… have to find the right way to tell her. She’ll see my reasoning, I’m sure.”
“She’ll refuse to see it if she feels excluded from your decision.” Of course she will. But that’s his job and his career and it’s his fucking right to give it another bend if he chooses to. “Evan, seriously, this girl sounds like someone who doesn’t take crap from anyone and who doesn’t like anyone to steamroll her.” Just like you, mom, he nearly says but can hold his tongue just in time.
“Mom… trust me. I’ll get it to work. I mean… I got her to accept my help, so…” His mother snorts.
“Son… you had to convince her to take your help and you seriously think you’ll get her to accept that you throw away your career for her without even asking her first?” He growls.
“I am not throwing away my career, mom.” Even though he keeps his eyes on the potatoes, he can mentally see her rolling her eyes.
“From a certain point of view, you are. And she’ll see exactly that point. She’ll also be afraid that sooner or later you’ll regret your decision… and somehow blame it on her.” He feels a slight shudder coming up… just how much exactly did his mother keep from him about the time before his father left their then very young family?
“Look, mom…” He can hear his mother put away her knife again and feels compelled to look at her again.
“Mark my words, Evan; she’ll give you hell if you don’t give her a chance to get used to this decision.” Fuzzy memories from his childhood come back, of fights between his mother and his grandparents, scraps about having driven her husband out of the house and having been miserable with a frustrated career lawyer… but he isn't like that. He’ll never make Laura feel like it’s her fault that he didn’t stay as long in Atlantis as it would have been best for his career. She’s smart enough to see that, he’s sure of that.
But because he doesn’t want to argue any more with his mother, he just picks up the knife and the potato again and concedes, “I’ll think about it, mom.” And then he remembers a fleeting thought from sometime ago. “And mom… speaking of which… I thought that maybe… you might want to meet her?” Well… that question mark wasn’t supposed to appear there. And… that suggestion wasn’t supposed to be spoken aloud. Did he just trick himself into trying to see Laura again?
She smirks. “Pasadena’s… what, 5 hours from here?”
He grins a little sheepishly. “Look, we don’t have to go there now. But I could phone her and maybe arrange something… how about a little road trip, just you and me?”
“Of course that’s not just an excuse to call her… or maybe even see her,” his mother says matter-of-factly and with no hint of sarcasm but he knows exactly how she meant that. And accordingly feels himself blushing heavily. Oh God, he’s so in trouble if Laura ever develops all these skills as well. “But you’re right I do want to meet her. A woman that’s got you so wound up… and who has the gut to refuse your help… yeah, that’s someone I’d really like to meet. Go on, call her.”
For just a moment he’s ready to jump up and race to the phone but then he remembers he’s in his mid-thirties, 2IC of an international forward operating base in another galaxy and about to become a father of twins and not a 16 year old. He forces himself to keep peeling potatoes. “Nah, no need to hurry. She’ll still be there after lunch.”
“I’m sure she will. And you might want to leave some potatoes for eating, son.” With a smirk his mother picks the potato he’d just nearly massacred out of his hand and keeps on preparing lunch, almost elegantly keeping him from doing any more helping. Ever since she agreed to visit Laura with him… he isn't much help anyway because his thoughts are not really in this kitchen anymore. They’re in Pasadena and he’s given up fighting against them by now. They’re far too nice for that anyway.
~*~
TBC in A Game of Give And Take