They Grow Up So Fast

[Electra]

"It was," Stesha began, meeting Megan's eyes for a moment, then looking away towards the windows. It seemed wrong to talk about her own problems when Megan's plate was already so full, but once she started, it was hard to stop. For all of Stesha's many friends, very few of them were women with whom she could talk about personal things. "I knew what I was getting into, knew that he worked in space and that he'd been away from Earth a long time. But when we were dating, he was on Earth more often than not, and we spent so much time together. It was perfect. But after we got engaged, after... after I got pregnant with Ammy, things changed." 

 

She pressed one hand against the center of her forehead, releasing a breath that could've been a frustrated laugh. "It wasn't his fault. Some intergalatic treaty collapsed somewhere, like they do, and there was a big war on all of a sudden. He had to go. I thought about calling off the wedding, but he came back for a little while, and he was so sure we could make it all work. And we loved each other, and there was the baby to think about. The first year was really hard. I missed him so much, all the time. But there's so much to do between Freedom City and Sanctuary, it's not hard to keep busy, keep my mind occupied. Eventually maybe I just stopped expecting him to be there." 

 

Stesha paused a moment, running the side of her index finger under her eye. "When he called last week, that was the first time I've heard from him in four months," she admitted softly. "He's not going to be home for Christmas. And when I think of him... his face is fuzzy in my mind. When I think of him, I see Dark Star. And I don't know what I'm doing anymore." 

[Thevshi]

Megan listened as her teammate began to revel the problems with her marriage, a great sense of sympathy for the other woman's problems.  Megan had a history of failed relationships, usually a direct result of her being Velocity, though that had ended this year when Robert had learned her secret.  But compared with Stesha's problems, Megan's old romantic trials seemed so trivial. 

 

When Stesha brushed away a tear, there was another brief blur of movement and Megan was leaning forward offering a tissue box to the green haired plant controller, having not missed a syllable of what she had been saying.  "I'm so sorry to bring this up Stesha, I knew Derrick was off world a lot, but I did not realize it was this bad."

 

She paused a brief moment before continuing.  "While I would hardly say it was quite the same, things were sort of like that when I was growing up.  My father is a senior partner at Hartford, Grayson & Cole, and while I was young, it was not uncommon for us to only see him a little bit on the weekends and very rarely during the week.  I can recall a lot of dance recitals or gymnastics meets for which he was a no show."

 

"What you're dealing with is well beyond the mostly absent parent or spouse, so I can completely understand not really knowing how to feel about it all."

[Electra]

Stesha smiled at the offer of tissues, though she was already looking a little embarrassed over how much she had let spill. "I try to think of it as being like a deployment; he's away fighting, I'm at home waiting. But I know it's never going to be over. He's never going to retire or take a desk job, and I can't ask him to. But I still feel like he should want to. Is one lifetime that much to ask when you've got a thousand years?" She shook her head and wiped her eyes, crumpling the tissue in her hand before disappearing it into one of the flowers in her daisy crown. Finishing up her coffee gave her a moment to finish composing herself, and she put it to good use.

 

"I think it's just the holidays coming up," she mused, "they can make anyone feel a little melancholy.  I know it's barely November, but the music and decorations are already everywhere. What are you all doing for Christmas? If you're not busy, you should come by Sanctuary, we're planning a heck of a not-exactly-Christmas-but-close-enough party. I've heard stories of Santa bees." 

Edited December 2, 2013 by Electra

[Thevshi]

Megan gave a nod of agreement at Stesha's comment about how Derrick should want to come home at some point to be with her and Ammy.  "The holidays probably are not helping, but it is really enough to get to anyone Stesha."  She replied.

 

As her teammate turned to other subjects, the blonde speedster figured it was best to leave the other issues behind.  Hopefully Stesha would not feel hesitant about bringing up those problems again in the future if she felt the need to do so.  "Well, we have not really given a lot of thought about Christmas this year just yet, seeing as to us we are back after being gone so long."  Megan replied with a smile.

 

"We might be considering having it in England with Robert's mother and sister.  But, even if we do, it's not like we could not make a quick hop back here to go to Sanctuary for awhile.  It sounds like a wonderful time."

[Electra]

"Well you're welcome anytime. We've got plenty of space for guests, and the harvest this year is looking amazing." Stesha looked quite personally pleased about this accomplishment. "I'm sure it'll be an exciting season for Laurence, first Christmas in Freedom City and on Earth. There'll be so many new things!" She paused for a moment to consider that. "How is he adjusting to all the new things, really? It must be quite a change from what he's used to, but he seems so calm and self-possessed. And quite a reader, it sounds like!" 

[Thevshi]

Megan smiled as Stesha seemed to brighten up while talking about the harvest on Sanctuary.  "We will have to make a trip there soon.  I am sure Lawrence would enjoy it."

 

The blonde speedster then gave a small nod as her teammate mentioned how exciting all the changes must be for Lawrence.  "Yeah, it should be a really exciting for him to have his first real Thanksgiving as well.  And it will be the first time he will get to see snow."

 

She paused a moment as well, and gave a little shrug at Stesha's question about how he was adjusting.  "So far so good on adjusting, but then we took things slow.  Like I said, we took him out to Fiji after meeting with Deadalus and Captain Thunder first, and he and I just came back here to Freedom City two days ago.  Needless to say he was awed by actually seeing a city in something other than pictures or a movie.  But he got over that rather quickly."

"It is almost scary how smart he is, but Robert said he was reading things well above that level when he was six as well, so, I guess it is not too surprising."

[Electra]

"Nicholson will be good for that, too," Stesha said with a nod. "Especially if he's a speed reader like you." She smiled at her own pun. "I suppose if you don't want to move all the way out of Freedom City, you could just relocate into one of the townhouses in the Family Village around Nicholson. It's kind of a neat setup, they bought up the blocks of residential neighborhood around the school and reserved them for the families of the children who are attending. It keeps the families close to their kids, plus it provides a buffer zone around the school of people who are 'in the know,' just in case one of the children has a slip-up on a disguise or secret identity. I imagine it's nice to have other families with similar situations living close together, too. I've thought of looking into it when Ammy starts preschool, but I'm sort of full-timing it on Sanctuary lately." She smiled ruefully. "You can only take care of so many houses. But I hear they're nice!" 

[Thevshi]

Megan grinned at Stesha's pun.  "Oh, he certainly is, though he still has a good ways to go before he really catches up with me."  She replied.

 

The young speedster then considered what her teammate had to say about the Nicholson School's family village.  "Hmm, well, I could probably take care of a good number of houses.  Question is would I want to do so?"  She replied with a grin.  "But I might take a look at that, although a townhouse is probably not what we are really looking for.  Lawrence is rather used to having a lot of space to run around and the like.  Even being here in this apartment for only a couple of days now is starting to get to him."