Getting the families together
"Miss Sidle!" Sara literally jumped of her chair, turned and started breathing again.
"Marie, don't do that to me."
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if I can still scare you. I can. Boost for my ego." The captain laughed with a warm smile on her lips.
"This ego thing must be a family problem. What are you doing here?"
"Telling you it's time to go home, you're off since half an hour." Marie walked to Sara and hugged her. "Say in a proper way 'hello' to your mother-in-law. I want to be hugged when we meet and we're not working."
"You're off?"
"The morning, yes. I thought I invite you, Steve and Sofia for breakfast. My children are about to finish so I wanted to have a look what you're doing. Of course you were working too."
"Sofia wanted to come along when she's done that's why I was working. I was waiting for her." Sara tried to defense herself. Going home on time still felt strange for her. The center of her life had been the lab for years, having something more important than work in her life, Sara was sometimes overtaxed.
"Now you've got her mother coming to you. Come on, Love, let's get out of here. You spend too much time in here anyway."
"Do I?" Sara was amused. Marie sounded like a mother should sound. Sara liked that. It was a nice feeling to have a kind of mother around even when her real mother wasn't too far away either. Thinking of her reminded Sara of a question she had to ask the captain.
"Marie?"
"Yes Dear?"
"My mother wanted me to ask you a question…"
"I can't get your brother out of prison if he's in there. He probably deserves it for hitting on too many women. Leave in there for a night, the company of men will make him appreciate woman more and maybe he'll treat them better, with more respect."
"No, it's not about Tony, he's fine, still scared of you and doesn't want to come back to Vegas in the next few weeks. Not until he has got a new licence plate."
"Coward."
"You'd stop him again."
"No, it's not that funny when you do it the second time. I saw him whining around. How is your mother? Are you a good daughter and talk to her on a regular basis? And I don't mean like once a month."
"We talk once a week."
"Not that much but I guess for our job and your difficult relationship to her, it's good. You're a good girl."
"It's still a little bit weird but it feels nice to know I am talking to my mother and she is interested in how I am, what I do." Her adoptive mother had necer asked how Sara was, what she had done during the day.
"Something new?"
"Yes."
"You can also call your mother-in-law, if you need a mother who can be there in a few minutes, you know that, don't you?"
"I do." Sara smiled. Marie told her that a few times.
"Good. Look, there are my – I don't want to say perfect but lovely – children."
"We should be your perfect children, mother." Steve said.
"Well, it's up to you to act like a perfect child not like you do."
"Ouch." He grinned. "Diner or home?"
"I've got all we need in my car, we can go to your place and then you don't have to drive after breakfast and can sleep."
"Sounds good." Sofia smiled when she stroke Sara's hand quickly.
"Get your hands off the investigator, detective!" Her mother said firmly.
"We're off duty, captain."
"As long as you're in the department I don't want to see any private feelings, do you hear me?"
"I do hear you, I do understand you and I do not agree, captain. If you don't want me to have any private feelings to the investigator while we're in the department, you have to fire me because I won't do what you want me to do."
"I might talk to your captain about that."
"Brass will kick you out of his office. He likes 'Sofie' too much." Sara chuckled. "Am I not right? I just say 'Hey Sofie" and…"
"Shut up!"
"Is your boss flirting with you?" Her mother stopped for a moment.
"No mom, he isn't. He just likes to take care of me."
"I was surprised for a moment. Not that I could blame Jim for that…"
"Mom, please. Change the topic or talk to yourself while you're in the car." Sofia threw her keys to Steve. "You drive the car I'll go with Sara."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Because you're a clever baby bro." Sofia grinned, jumped next to Sara in the car and kissed her as soon as they had closed the doors.
"I missed you the whole night." Sofia whispered in Sara's ear.
"Ditto. Jim said he was sorry that he was there and not you, that was quite funny."
"So much for him flirting with me. My mom."
"She was already thinking how to kill him…hitting on her daughter…"
"Her daughter who has a lovely girlfriend. Well, only a CSI, but…" Sara's look let Sofia move away from her, in anticipation of a slap.
"A CSI is nothing compared to a captain, I know."
"Nothing is anything compared to my CSI." Sofia smiled.
"Don't try to get yourself out of the shit."
"I'll make up for it later."
"Maybe I'll go home after breakfast."
"Neither Steve nor I will let you go. Don't waste any power on trying it. You'll stay with me, if you like it or not and you do like it."
"You think."
"I know." Sofia bent over and kissed Sara's cheek.
"You're playing unfair."
"And you like it." Sofia smiled coy and took Sara's hand. She loved sitting next to her, holding her hand while they were driving around. It was hard not to do that when they were on duty and shared a car for an interview with a suspect.
"What was it that you are suppose to asked me?" Marie asked when they were sitting around the table. "We never came to this question."
"Oh yes, it's perfect that we're all here because Karen's question is also for Steve and Sofia. She asked if you could imagine that we all meet up in Vegas or Los Angeles. She thinks, the families should meet."
"Didn't Anthony's story scare her?"
"I think she highly agrees with what you did to him and wants to thank you for that in person. She thinks her son needs a strong and firm hand who'll teach him some manners."
"Must be a problem with sons."
"My manners are perfect, nobody – except you mother – ever complained about them."
"Your ex-wife."
"That's why she is an ex."
Marie shook her head. There was no reason why to talk to her son about that, they would never come to an agreement. "How is her daughter? Not like the son?"
"No, absolutely not. She's…boring. Married, pregnant…I like my baby bro, he's more like me." Sara grinned.
"They're both in love with the bike…oh well, who isn't?" Sofia sighed. She had taken Steve's bike for a ride yesterday. Two hours only the bike, the desert and her. A great tour.
"They're keen to come to Vegas for a few days, I think Karen's husband wants to gamble a little bit and wouldn't mind if we get her of his back." Sara grinned.
"I'd be pleased to meet them. They can't be bad, they're your family."
"Yeah." Sara smiled. Her family. What a lovely sentence. "They want to meet you and they especially want to see Sofia again."
"That would be Anthony, the little Don Juan."
"He didn't try to flirt after the experience in the department." Sara grinned wide.
"Of course not, you bitches scared him. It took me two nights to get him ready for the chicks. I'm sure if they come over, Tony and me will hit the chicks again."
"Bitches?" Marie eyed Steve so that he shrank on his chair. "Young man, you might be an adult but I'm sure I'm still able to spank your backside. It seems like you need that."
"Don't worry about him, we'll take care of that." Sofia smiled. "We'll take his bike."
"You are riding this more than I do and I'm not living more in this apartment than you do."
"It's not my mistake that you spend so many nights with women."
"It's your mistake that they're not welcome here."
"You make your decision for one and she'll be more than welcome. As long as you fuck everything you see, they're not welcome."
"Language please, Sofia."
"I'm sorry but I couldn't find a better word for that what he's doing. It's definitely not making love."
"Mind your own business, sis."
"I do."
"Don't fight. Please." Sara got up and walked to the bench. Fights always reminded her of her childhood. Everything there had started with fights, with words that became hands and fists and…
"Sara." Steve was behind her, closed his arms around her. "Hey, it's alright, we're not fighting." He pulled her in his arms.
"I'm sorry I just…I don't like fights." Could it be that she was still shaky from the child abuse case? She had to think of Ed a few times a day, she had a nightmare, seeing him in the movie she had watched at Heather's place. She tried hard to let go, to get her mind off these things but somehow it was there. All the time and sometimes it hit her hard and threw her off the road.
"This family doesn't fight." Sofia came to them, got Sara out of Steve's arms and pulled her in hers. "There's no reason and no sense in fights for us, mom is always right. No matter what the issue is."
"I'm sorry, I had a stupid flashback…the child case and…I don't know…I'm…fucked up…"
"Sara, Honey, you must know, no matter what we throw each other at the head, we love each other, we respect each other and there'll never be anything like physical violence in this family." Marie was with them, taking Sara's hand. "And you're not fucked up."
"Language please, I know."
"Screw that. You're my daughters girlfriend, you're my daughter-in-law, you can't be fucked up. We don't have fuck-ups in our family…"
"Besides uncle Fred." Steve said with a grin.
"He's a politician, that says everything about him." Marie grumbled. That man was a part of her family she did not want to talk about. It was bad enough he existed.
"I haven't met him, have I?"
"No, and if you're a lucky person you will never meet him." Sofia kissed Sara's cheek where she saw a single tear. "He wouldn't agree with our relationship, he's very old-fashioned, a true old south state American, women belong to a man, have to stay at home their whole life, take care of the house, give birth to a lot children and always agree on what their man says. You can imagine him and mom."
"Yes." Sara had to smile. Oh yes, she could imagine how the captain would talk to this man and how they fight over everything.
"You haven't arrested him yet? Is there nothing you can frame on him?"
"Unfortunately you can't lock people up for stupidity. Or living in a world that existed two hundered years ago."
"I don't think I want to meet him."
"We won't invite him to our wedding."
"Did you make a secret wedding list?"
"I did. We'll have a small wedding."
"When will you ask me?"
"About the celebration or if you want to marry me?"
"Both."
"Later. After I finished thinking of it, made all plans and can surprise you with a great party and a dream honeymoon. I was thinking of Mexico, Acapulco or Puerto Vallarta."
"Both is right at the ocean, that means I like both."
"Wait a moment." Marie stopped them. "You are thinking of getting married? Is that what you want to tell us?"
"Don't get excited mom, I'm only dreaming. There won't be a wedding this year or next year. We know what happens when you marry too fast."
"It ends in a disaster. You're right, big sis, nothing wrong in marrying lovely Sara but take your time. I'm sure you'll be a stunning wedding couple in two or three years."
"Nobody is asking me." Sara wondered.
"I will ask you, Honey, don't worry. I'll ask you when the time is right. Or you'll ask me. Don't feel being under pressure, we've got all the time in the world. The next step will be moving in together."
"We can't kick Steve out then we'll lose the bike and when you move to me, he'll keep it too." Sara grinned.
"We have to sacrifice our life together for the bike? Why don't we move in together and buy our own bike? Would be much easier and it's our. Ready whenever we need it for a long trip."
"I don't like your ideas." Steve said. "I want you here. Both."
"Cute but I don't want to get dressed all the time when I get some coffee from the kitchen."
"Sara, I don't mind if you're walking around naked."
"I'm not surprised to hear that but I do mind walking around naked and having you around."
"They don't love me." Steve sighed.
"Get yourself a girlfriend, one for longer than a night and start your own family." Marie told him. "You should see every day the benefits of a relationship. Learn from them and use it for your own life."
"Mother, I won't get married again. I made this mistake once, that's enough. You have to build your hope on Sofia when you're looking for a wedding…grandchildren."
"I won't get pregnant." Sara's words were fast.
"I might think about that later." Sofia smiled and kissed Sara. But that was a thought that had even more time than a wedding. Becoming a mom was something that would change her and Sara's life forever, they had to think about that good and talk about all the changes that they had to make then.
And that's it. Thanks for reading and reviewing