Even though he’s concentrating on killing Covenant aliens, he can tell something’s on her mind. She’s been on the same page of her book for the last ten minutes. She sighs and looks over at him, so he gives her a half smile, his eyes still focused on the television screen. She sets her book down and scoots closer to him. “Hey,” she says, in that tone that makes him think she wants to ask him something.
“Hey…” he glances quickly over at her and smiles before he guns down a Brute. When she snuggles up closer to him, he’s sure she wants something. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” she replies as she picks at a loose string on his shirt.
He sighs, a verbal equivalent of a shrug. He knows she’ll never be able to say what’s actually on her mind unless she’s willing to tell him herself. “Okay,” he lets her know he’s given up, which only seems to make her more eager.
“Well…” she starts, “not nothing, but…”
“Should I pause?” he turns to her and asks.
She’s flustered now, obviously embarrassed by what’s on her mind, and stammers out, “No, it’s really—Keep playing. It’s fine.”
“Okay…” he gives up again and continues to shoot at the aliens, only now she’s drawing imaginary patterns on his sleeve. He sighs again and realizes she does want to tell him something; she just needs a little prodding. He pauses his game and turns to her, “K, obviously it’s not nothing.”
“I just,” she bites her lip in her trademark fashion, and he responds with a curious eyebrow raise. “I was thinking, and…” She looks away and mumbles, “Do you want kids?”
“What?” He’s not sure if he heard her question correctly. It half shocks him that she’s actually asking him this.
“Do you want kids?” she repeats, this time looking directly at him, and it doesn’t take him more than a second to answer.
“Yeah, of course I want kids.”
She smiles wide, then puts in it check, trying to be nonchalant about it. It doesn’t work. “…I want kids too,” she tells him, her face flushed.
He stares at her for a moment, wondering if this is just the tip of this iceberg of a conversation, and when she doesn’t say anything more, he figures that’s all she wanted to know. “Okay,” he says, and turns back to his game.
“…What kinds of kids do you want?” she asks after a moment or two.
He pauses again, this time setting the controller down and turning to face her on the couch. “What kinds?” he asks as he mock-thinks. “Well, hopefully human ones. But I would settle for like, a chimpanzee kid—”
“Oh, cause I was thinking about a gorilla kid,” she grins, an obvious ploy to divert the conversation.
He plays along, “Still good. Sticking within the ape family.”
“I thought so,” her smile fades into a frown, as she realizes he never answered her question. “Seriously though, do you like, think about this at all? Like how you wanna raise your kids?”
“Yeah, I guess,” he shrugs, but he can tell she wants more of an answer than that. He tries to dig deeper, “I mean, I see my brother with his kids—and it’s kinda surreal cause it’s my brother and all—but, I see him with his kids, and it makes me think about you and when we’ll be in their shoes…” She’s nodding along, trying to conceal a delighted grin, and he feels the need to flush it out. “Wait, we are having this conversation because we’ll eventually end up in their shoes, right? You’re not just like, leading me on?”
“Oh no, I’m totally leading you on,” she replies, her smile in full force now.
“Thanks,” he tells her, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “That’s great.”
She attempts honest conversation again, if for nothing else than to reciprocate how openly he just spoke with her, “No, I definitely want to be there, someday, with you. I mean…” She stops herself, and he can see the hesitation in her eyes. “Okay, I know you don’t like it when I bring up the R word—”
He rolls his eyes, but assures her, “I’ll live. I promise.”
She continues, “But like, when we would talk about this kind of stuff, I realized that we wanted to raise kids two totally different ways. I mean, he wanted all boys who would be little mini football players, and who would be the next Manning brothers or something… And I don’t think that’s wrong; I just wouldn’t want to make them into something they might not be…” She stops herself and thinks over her rambling before asking, “Does that make any sense?”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” he nods. “All those expectations… it’s just asking for a letdown.”
“Right,” she smiles, then knits her brows together. “But I just… don’t want to make the same mistake twice. Cause, if you really are serious about, you know…” She gestures with her hands, but the way he’s smiling tells her he’s going to make her say it. “About… asking me to marry you.” He nods his head, a triumphant smile on his lips. She continues, “Then I want to make sure we’re on the same page with things like that.”
“I think that’s fair,” he takes her hand in his and gives it a gentle squeeze. “And… I think that we are on the same page.”
“I think so too.”
They smile at each other for a long moment before they realize they’ve gotten too serious. He breaks their tender moment first, “I mean, we’re both on board with the chimp babies and stuff. That is what we agreed on, isn’t it?”
“Dork,” she shakes her head at him, secretly relieved they don’t take themselves too seriously. They lean back against the couch and enjoy each other’s warmth for a bit before he speaks up again.
“Hey, I have an idea.”
“Okay,” she replies, a silent let’s hear about it in her tone.
He turns into her and uses his hands to help reveal his plan: “Let’s start with a puppy, and if that works out, we know we’ll be able to handle kids.”
She smiles, thrilled by the suggestion. “What kind of puppy would you want?” she asks, knowing he’s probably thought about it enough to have an answer.
He plays it like he’s thinking off the top of his head, “What was that dog in the Disney movie… a hound? The Fox and the Hound?”
“You want a hound dog?” she giggles.
“Absolutely,” he assures her. “We could name him Elvis.”
“We could name him Elvis…” She smiles, thinking about the two of them walking a small basset hound named Elvis through the local park. She’s embarrassed by how happy the thought makes her. “Why a hound dog?” she inquires, trying to distract herself.
“I dunno…” he puts an arm around her, trying to be as aloof as possible. “I always liked the one in the movie... I liked his floppy ears.”
She smiles at him, pleased with how childish his reason for wanting a basset hound is. “His floppy ears were very cute,” she agrees.
“So… are we seriously thinking about getting a puppy?” he asks, realizing that this time it’s him who needs the reassurance that they’re on the same page.
“Yeah…” she nods her head in approval. Then suggests, “How about when I get back from New York?”
“That sounds good…” They settle into a comfortable silence, his arm around her, her tracing circles on his knee with her finger. They’re both content with the conclusion they’ve come to, until a visible smirk forms on his face. He hides it quickly, and says as innocently as possible, “But, who would the puppy live with?”
She bites her lip, “Hmm… Well, we’ll just cross that bridge when we come to it I guess.”
“Yeah,” his grin is easily noticeable by now. He tells her in a sly voice, “Who knows, we may have moved in together by then.”
“Jim,” she addresses him a tad disdainfully, “I told you, I wouldn’t live with a guy unless I was engaged to him.”
“I know,” his grin softens into a delicate smile, and for a moment she feels completely transparent and vulnerable under his gaze. “I remember you saying that.”
“Oh… Okay.” She turns away quickly and picks up her book, shocked and embarrassed and elated all at the same time. The thought runs on repeat in her brain: they’ll be engaged before she moves back from New York.
“What, the conversation’s over? Just like that?” he asks, his smug smirk returning to his face.
She can’t look him in the eye, but she manages to get out, “I feel like I’ve kept you from your game long enough.”
He looks at her for another minute, wondering if it was just too much to give her an actual timeline, but she continues to stare at her book, not wavering in her expression. He figures she’s just processing, so he sighs, “Whatever you say, Beesly,” and picks up his controller to continue his game.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
This was inspired, one, from the (most recent?) DM newsletter which suggests that Jim spends a lot of time playing Xbox, and two, from a deleted scene in Goodbye Toby where they make mention of getting a puppy. Naturally, this mental image of them with a puppy delighted me to no end, and so thusly, this story came to fruition. Please read, review, and enjoy!
This was inspired, one, from the (most recent?) DM newsletter which suggests that Jim spends a lot of time playing Xbox, and two, from a deleted scene in Goodbye Toby where they make mention of getting a puppy. Naturally, this mental image of them with a puppy delighted me to no end, and so thusly, this story came to fruition. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
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