Irish Lass (Open)

[Kateri Rivera]

Two years gone, and here she was, back. It was a weird feeling. She stood at the door, box tucked under one arm, and the three-year-old's hand in the other. It smelled like whiteboards and cleaning supplies and crumpled paper. So yeah, basically like home. She'd missed this. Two years. Yes, it had been far too long.

The call had come in suddenly. Her mother, panicked, telling her that her father had had a stroke. Frequent flights back and forth turned into putting her things into storage, comforting a screaming one-year-old, and flying them back to Ireland. She'd come back, she promised. And she had. It had just been a bit of a fight.

Her father had been slow to recover. There was the therapy--physical and speech and psychological. Her mother had been a doctor but had been unable to see her strong Spanish husband brought low, and so it was Kat--with her brother Neil's help--who ferried him forward and back from the appointments, who helped him with his exercises. Her mother played with Meg until she was ready to face her husband. Kat started seeing a fellow--a nice, Irish boy she'd grown up with. And for a little bit, she'd considered staying. Her parents, both good Catholics, insisted that Meg couldn't grow up without a father (the biological details of which they never discussed, because they were good Catholics). They said they wanted to be near their grandchild. They said they wanted her to be closer to them. And for a few months, she convinced herself she liked the idea.

But it didn't last. The Irish boy was too--well, old-fashioned. Kateri was still restless. She missed her students and her life. It was a late night at the pub with her brother that decided it. They had sat, sipping a beer silently, until Neil had asked the question.

"What do you want?"

And that was that. She still had her house. She packed up her bags, told Meg what she was going to do, and had told her parents she was leaving. And then she'd left. She'd reestablished herself in town, had come to ask for her job back, and then had to reacquaint herself with things that had changed. Common core math? Ugh, she'd have to complain to Adam about that later.

In the meantime, time to open up the classroom and see how it went. She was here to load up her desk and supplies. Meg had come along because she hadn't found a new babysitter yet. She'd asked if the girl wanted to help her unpack, and Meg had thought about it. Then she'd said--no.

Fair enough.

Meg was normally a calm sort but she was restless. New/old place, new/old things. She was confused. She got that. She had been coloring but was now wriggling in her seat. "Meg," Kateri said warningly. Her Irish brogue had thickened over the last two years. "Behave."

Meg wrinkled her nose and wiggled more. Kat sighed and bent down to plug in the computer. She heard the door open, and her head snapped up, causing her to hit her head on the desk. She swore, colorfully, then hurried up and to the door, still holding her head, only to see Meg tugging at the bottom of someone's shirt.

"I am so, so sorry." She hurried forward to scoop her up, ignoring her plaintive cries.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Josh had recently turned fifty-six, which coincided with Sean taking off from Hammel for a couple of days. Coincided rather than directly caused, since the telepath hadn’t taken the time as vacation to celebrate his partner’s birthday; unfortunately, when the younger man woke up on Tuesday morning, he had been ill with the flu. Sean had put in for a few days of sick leave himself so that he could take care of Josh, and those past three days had consisted of holding him, making sure the other man had enough fluids to remain hydrated, giving him pain medication, holding him, cleaning up after him, bathing him, holding him, and doing all of the necessary work around the house he had to do for three days anyway.

Josh wasn’t recovered yet, but day four of a flu infection was a far more stable time than day one, and his partner had insisted that he go into Hammel for a few hours today, to make sure he was up on his files and his staff meetings, as well as to have sessions with two of the students in the greatest need of help.

Fortunately, despite the close quarters, Sean had no symptoms or signs of the flu; he felt fine. Unfortunately for the rest of the faculty, over the past three days, the telepath had eaten Josh’s entire birthday cake on his on (which he had warned his partner he would do if left to his own devices), and the lack of both baking homework and trips outside the house meant that he had nothing to bring to the staff lounge; he could make up for it when his partner was record. The lack might be a precaution, the psychiatrist had mused on his drive to Hammel, since his good fortune at not getting sick might not apply to baked goods being handled in the house.

He resolved to wash his hands thrice as frequently as he did on a typical day, just in case.

However, as Sean had settled into his office to check on his memos and student records, he had felt a familiar but long missing mental presence, and that had propelled him into motion. He didn’t have a session for almost an hour, which was more than enough time to check in with the person in question.

With a long stride, the telepath walked down the corridors from the administrative offices wing to the main portion of the school that contained the classrooms. Quickly, he made his way towards the particular classroom that he needed, and he opened the door – not flinging it open as though he was a teenage boy with no self-control, but his footsteps were heavy and doors tended to creak.

Then, before he could offer a welcome back, he heard a thud followed by a string of colorful metaphors. He grimaced to himself, since it sounded painful, but the voice and choice of language confirmed it was Kateri.

Meg had come over to greet him, and Sean quickly smiled down at her, crouching so that they were on somewhat of the same level. “I should have brought some candy,” he apologized to her, but Meg replied by giving his suit jacket a tug.

That was fine; it wasn’t his tie, which meant he needn’t worry about choking.

He waved off Kateri’s apology, as he rose to his feet. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He asked, turning his full smile on her. He could hear that her accent had thickened, which was a byproduct of moving back to one’s home for two years Otherwise, she looked mostly the same, and it was wonderful to see her again.

For his own part, he knew that he looked two years older (although the difference wasn’t as stark as it was for Meg, which was the effect of being a man in his mid-to-late fifties as opposed to a baby turned toddler), and, more starkly, he had the beard that he had grown for the past five weeks.

[Kateri Rivera]

It was strange to be back. Admittedly, Kateri had been gone from a place for longer than that before. It wasn't all that abnormal. But it had been weird to walk into a place she'd known so well for so long but hadn't been in for…quite some time. She wondered how it was for Meg. Did the girl remember this place? She'd only been one when she'd left. She'd screamed bloody murder when they'd been leaving Ireland, saying that it was her home and she hadn't wanted to leave uncle Neil (which Kat didn't blame her for, as she hadn't really wanted to leave uncle Neil either). Oddly enough, she'd been okay with leaving the grandparents. "You always end up yelling at them," the little girl had explained, matter-of-fact. Kat had winced at that, but hadn't argued. How could you argue when it was just the truth? That was just one reason that she'd ended up back here.

But truthfully, she'd missed it here. She'd missed the people, her friends. She'd stayed in touch when she could, although the time difference made it hard, and she'd been very busy for the first few months, and then the months after that. She could've been better at that, she acknowledged. But now she was here and she could start to make up for it.

Starting with, apparently, this one. Kateri had been so focused on the baby that she hadn't realized who the girl was initially going to meet. When she realized who it was, her lips spread into a broad grin. "Sean!" It was hard to say who was happier--the girl or her mother. Then again, it might have been easier. Meg had perked up when Sean had said candy, but as soon as she realized the man didn't have any she'd pouted and decided clinging to her mother was a better fit. Well, for a bit. Then she wanted to be let down. Kat did so, and she went back to coloring. Figures. Kateri turned back to Sean and offered him a broad smile, stepping forward to hug him firmly, then stepping back to get a better look at him.

"It's very good to see you. And what's that? A beard?" She laughed. "I leave for two years and you decide to go rugged on me. That's not fair. You should give an Irish lass some warning. I heard you were out, though, taking care of Josh." She motioned to one of the desks and came to sat down at another, straddling the chair and propping her chin on her folded hands. Her eyes were bright, even if there were still bags under her eyes that indicated the jetlag and some of what she'd gone through. Still, she was glad to see him. She'd missed his down-to-earth, practical and yet liberal air.

Especially in Ireland. Oh yes.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean smiled ever wider when the young woman called his name. “Kateri,” he replied warmly, and he opened his arms to her for the embrace that he knew would follow, despite lacking any precognitive abilities whatsoever. When she came closer, he swept her up into his arms in what could be described as a bear hug. Then he let her go so that she could step back.

At her question, he chuckled lightly and inclined his head a single time, conceding that she was correct, and it was, in fact, a beard. “It’s temporary,” he assured her. He wouldn’t go around announcing that he had grown it as a birthday present for his partner, and so he kept his explanation simple. However, if he wanted to maintain a beard with this much grey in it, he would never have shaved his old beard off all those years ago. He found this one difficult to maintain, insofar as it itched growing in, and he had to take more care eating and washing with it. He found his grooming routine in the mornings took longer, even with no longer having to shave, because he trimmed it to keep it neat and healthy.

With her other remark, the telepath nodded a second time. “I was out, and I’m only in for a half-day today.” Long enough for him to tend to some paperwork and to check in with two students who needed these sessions even more than his partner needed someone at home to make sure he didn’t fall out of bed or choke on his own vomit.

It was not an appealing mental image, injury to his partner notwithstanding.

With the indication to sit, he followed her to the desks and so very carefully sat down. None of these were designed for a grown man of his build.

“When I finish here, I need to run an errand, and then I go home to continue nursing him back to health.” Unfortunately, since this was the flu, it could take anywhere from a week to ten days for his partner to recover, assuming that he didn’t develop pneumonia; Sean was doing everything in his power to prevent Josh from developing pneumonia.

“But it seems I chose a wonderful day to do my half-day.” Although this was serendipity not choice at work.

[Kateri Rivera]

Kateri couldn't help laughing at the bear hug. Partially as she hadn't expected it from Sean, and partially because the joy of just seeing a friendly face after two years was heady. Plus, she was just a person who liked to laugh. What was wrong with that? Meg gave her a weird look, but she ignored it. "I forgot just how tall you were," she said, craning her neck to look up at him. It wasn't quite that bad, but she liked to exaggerate how short she was. Especially when standing next to Sean. It was always fun to tease him. He took it with that slightly awkward grace. It was good.

"Temporary, huh?" She eyed him. "Josh doesn't like it? Well, bring him in to talk to me and I'll put some sense back into the fool." She alternated. Sometimes she liked a man with a beard (okay, quite a bit of the time), and sometimes she liked them clean shaven. But there were definite benefits to both, and if Josh didn't know that…well, she'd definitely talk him around to it.

Half day? Well, she was only here for an afternoon before she had to keep moving in, so she supposed she couldn't talk. But seeing him now reminded her how much she'd missed him--missed everyone. Dinner later, she resolved. She'd have both of them over. Did Josh like kids? She couldn't remember. Oh well, she didn't care. Where she went, Meg went.

"Bad luck," she said. "Send him my regards. I'll send him along some of my mother's famous bangers and mash. That should cheer him right up." She considered it. "Or give him a heart attack. I've never been able to decide." Her smile turned into a beam. "You chose a good day? I chose a wonderful one! What were the odds we'd end up here at the same time. It is just too perfect. So. Tell me…." She drummed her fingers on the table. Meg wandered over, looking for attention, and Kat absently picked her up and held her in her lap, bobbing her knee in a way that she knew the girl liked. "Tell me everything," she decided at last. "Yeah. That'll do it."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean was careful not to squeeze too tightly. He might be middle-aged and lack a physical power, but he remained strong for his age, owing to his build, and Kateri was much smaller than her. His smile widened at her remark. “I hear that a lot.” From friends and coworkers, and the occasional student. Of course, some other students thought he was taller than he was.

Sean quickly shook his head to deny the inference that Josh didn’t like his beard. Heaven forfend. The telepath had only grown it for his partner’s enjoyment in the first place, as a birthday gift that the younger man had yet to take advantage of, due to his influenza. “It’s too much maintenance,” he explained, which was true; having fallen out of the habit of facial hair for a decade, he found he preferred shaving daily and not having to worry about special cleaning products to keep it soft and healthy, and not having to comb it to rid it of whatever morsels of food that got caught. Not to mention the gray hairs; facial hair always went grey earlier than head hair, which had led him to shave it in the first place.

“Everything?” He asked with a chuckle. They had two years to catch up on, and not much time to do it, at least not right now, since they were both on the clock. He could try to provide her with the condensed version.

“Where to begin? Josh ran for town council again in 2014, and we had a better campaign the second time, but he still lost. He didn’t run a third time, which might be for the best. It was nice to have him around last summer and autumn, rather than running campaign events.” The psychiatrist had served as Josh’s campaign manager, which might have contributed to his loss, insofar as Sean had no formal experience or training in managing campaigns.

Then his expression softened with affection, while his eyes lit up with excitement. “And my nephew is finally getting married.”

Finally, because he and Shiya had been together longer than Sean and Josh had been since their reconciliation.