DISCLAIMER: These characters and situations do not belong to me in any way shape or form. I have borrowed them as part of my sanity maintenance.
SEQUEL/SERIES: This story is a sequel to Here's the Rub, Surely, Tomorrow Will Be Better, Slowly, But Surely, As Sure As Sure Can Be, Surely a Fail-Safe Plan, Tomorrow Surely Comes…And So Does Helena, Surety of a Mother's Love and And Then... The Sureness of a Father's Love.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Are You Sure It Happened That Way?
By Debbie
Helena slept the sleep of the dead. Somewhere deep in her subconscious, she heard a cry and her eyes shot open.
The room was dark and silent except for the sound of her partner's deep but gentle snore. Suddenly, her feline senses caught the sound of two other, much lighter, much softer sighs; she rolled over to see the solid form of Jesse and, beside him, two small bodies curled up together.
She coughed gently, hoping to wake her husband rather than the sleeping children. Jesse Reese opened his eyes slowly and, seeing her arched eyebrow, he laughed softly.
"Babs called to say the girls were in a bit of trouble and, if we'd watch over these two, she and Wade would help out where they could."
"What sort of trouble?" asked Helena starting to reach for her clothing. "Can I help?"
"No, get yourself back in bed you silly old woman. Charley and Jess just got caught without gas; you know what our Jess is like, running everything to its last dregs, trying to save money."
Helena nodded and smiled; she did know. It wasn't one of the traits her daughter had gained from her mom.
"So, how come we have the twins?"
"It seems Barbara was babysitting when the girls called to say they needed a ride home. She wouldn't let Wade go on his own; his eyesight, you know. And he wouldn't let Barbara go on her own; her…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture. What time was this?"
"Um, midnight."
"Why didn't you get me up?"
Jesse grinned. "You were sleeping soundly, and I thought you needed your beauty sleep."
"Jesse! You should have woken me."
"Why? You think I can't cope with my grandchildren, huh?"
A sleepy voice prevented their words escalating from banter to annoyance as it often did these days.
"Can I have a glass of water, Pappy?"
Helena watched Barbara prepare a tray full of coffees, marveling at how well her friend still looked as she approached her 60th birthday.
In the background, she could hear their daughters telling their dads about their misadventure, and just in the foreground, she could hear Jim telling his sister to make sure the clock tower was high enough.
"Selina, you need more bricks there; Gram's tower is much taller than that."
"I know that, silly, look I'm using the grey bricks for the clock, I…"
Helena chuckled as the kids argued back and forth. They were going to be a real handful in another few years; she envied their mothers the time they had to share. When she'd had Jessica, it had been during World War III; it had seemed a lifetime before peace was reinstated and life given back to the people.
At Helena's chuckle, Barbara looked up from her kitchen duties catching a glimpse of a wistful gaze in Helena's eyes.
"Hey you, what're you thinking?"
Helena waved her hand towards the various happy voices. "Why did we never have the courage to do this?"
Barbara wheeled over; as always, she knew exactly what Helena was asking. They may not have been lovers, but they'd been partners in every other sense of the word. She reached up to caress her friend's cheek.
"Don't go there, Hel; if we'd done that, we'd never have had this."
Helena sighed, the logic was indisputable, but that didn't mean it was right.
"Yeah, but…" the dark haired woman rested her hands on the seat of the wheelchair and leaned over into Barbara's steady touch. As if for the first time, she allowed the magnetic pull to draw her lips towards the redhead's.
Smiling, Helena hovered within a hairsbreadth of finally touching what she imagined to be satin soft lips. For some reason, tonight, she needed to follow this thing to its end. Her eyes closed in anticipation.
Suddenly, an excited voice broke the atmosphere, "GRAMMY!"
Her eyes flew open, and she let out an exasperated sigh. She rolled over to be met by the bemused gaze of the gorgeous green eyes of her lover.
Barbara's hand rested on Helena's cheek as she asked, "You okay, Hel?"
The End