Bombshell
WHO: Jilleen Simmons and Blake Hayward WHERE: Caprica City, Caprica WHEN: Second day of liberty
In the Athens Park District, not so far from her townhouse, Jilleen walked on the sidewalk and wore a flowery light color skirt with a silky peach blouse, and high heels. She took advantage of her short days off in the city to wear nothing resembling a uniform. She was excited to meet a friend that she had known since James' time in the hospital.
She could see the green table umbrellas of the wine garden as she neared the little Gemenese cafe. She may not completely appreciate the Gemenese culture, but this was one of her favorite neighborhood restaurants. She checked to see if Blake was sitting at one of the tables.
The few days she had off were being well used. Blake had left Jon to his own vices since he seemed to know the colony pretty well, he bragged as much to her. It was refreshing to breathe fresh air, to be unrestricted by a uniform for a change. She was somewhat looking forward to this little get together with a friend.
Blake was as ever punctual, already sitting at a table. She hadn't been there long, a few moments, taking in the sunlight when she caught sight of Jill. "Jill! Over here!" The fact that she had disturbed a few business lunches and romantic rendezvous' didn't really matter to her.
"Hey," she replied and walked pass the other tables. "Mars, its so good to see." She laid her purse on the table and sat down in the chair across from her friend.
"I'd hoped to see you while Avalon was making a visit to Caprica." A waitress quickly came and asked what she like to drink. "The house wine, please." Jilleen turned her attention back to the doctor and smiled. "So what's going on in the life of Mars?"
"Oh you know, this and that." Blake smiled as she crossed her arms and leaned forward on the table. It had been ages since she had seen Jill. She observed her friend for a moment and then raised an eyebrow, "What about you? You have that glow about you?"
"Well," her cheeks blushed. "You know, I haven't seen James in ages since leaving for Sagittaron. You can say we enjoy each's other company."
She nodded with a slight grin printed across her lips, "I can see that yeah...." The waitress returned with the house wine. "Thank you." Blake took her full glass and took a sip before commenting back to Jill. "Nice choice..."
"It should be it's from Aerilon," she smiled into her glass when she took a sip. "It is nice, the best white wine for warm afternoon's like this." She searched the immediate area with her eyes. "Do you ever miss it here?"
Blake seemed to follow her friends search of the area, taking her own view before then returning her gaze forward to Jill and shrugged, "Sometimes...the quiet life." She hadn't been here in a long while. It was beautiful. "So tell me, what have you been up to?" It was clear from the glow that her friend Jill had been enjoying her lifestyle. Blake took another sip of her wine.
"The quiet life! Oh right, you were busy being a resident at the hospital to enjoy all that Cap City had to offer. I wished I had more time to show you around while you are on liberty," Jilleen said before another sip from her wine. Other than visiting family on her mother's side of the family, she only lived here the one time after Jame's was transferred to the military hospital in Caprica City.
"Don't get me wrong, I love Casperon back home, and Tauron was fun too," she leaned over the table a little, "but there is something about life on Caprica that's always exciting. Now don't quote me, as saying that, the Aerilon press would have a field day knowing I enjoy life here on Caprica."
"I have to agree with that." Blake nodded in agreement with that statement that this place, where they were now was tranquil. She missed having this time to relax, not having to rush to emergencies all the time. "So how is work?"
"Sagittaron, it's not dull, at least not with Admiral Pearce. He likes to be out front, visiting with his troops. So I get to see all aspects of the Colony. The one thing I could go without is the damn funeral pyre smoke. They like to light most of those on Fridays, a Sagittarius religious tradition. Gods it difficult to get used to the smell of the smoke, they include some kind of spice to the fire. Its an awful smell." Jilleen made a face. "They always want to be difficult."
"I thought you'd be used to that. Believe me, colony life is better than up there." Blake had to admit, she rarely had any serious injuries to treat and besides, she was only a flight surgeon, she wasn't in charge of the infirmary on Avalon. She was too young for that role. Blake reached into her purse and pulled out a engraved case and flipped it open - her mother's gift last birthday. It was a cigarette case, beautifully crafted and marked another attempt from her mother to get a rise from her. It had worked. They hadn't spoken for months. "Jill?" The case was held in her palm as she held it mid-table, offering her friend one. Jon was a pain in the ass about it.
"No thank you, I'd quit remember, my little sacrifice to the gods for restoring James to full health. Not that I become a Sagittaron convert, the medical services did most of the work, but its better to be safe than sorry, right." She smiled. Jilleen had turned more to religion in the last few years. Her family had always attended temple services on Aerilon, but she fell out of practice after the academy.
"I can't get James to quit, but I make him smoke outside, because girl, its hard to give up the habit." She laughed.
"Tell me about it. My mother gave me this just to taunt me into another fight." It was disappointing to be at odds with her mother so much. "You seem to have done alright for yourself." Habits were habits, they weren't easily kicked aside without sheer determination. She closed the case opting not to take one herself, it was perhaps rude and to be honest, taking one was just a reminder that her mother was winning. "So how is the man of your dreams"?
Her thoughts drifted a little bit while Blake mentioned fighting with her mother. It reminded her the times she was at odds with her own mother over what now seem like insignificant things. She wished she had been a better daughter to her mother before she passed away a couple of years ago. The last few years had been terrible, almost lost her husband, and then her best friend, and mother died less than a year apart.
"He's great and I'm still so very proud of him." She then glared at Blake, "I'm jealous, you probably spent more time with him on Avalon than I have in total the last few months ." She teased.
"You don't need to be jealous...besides I'm taken" Blake stated in reply with a near blush.
"Taken?" Blake had peaked Jilleen attention. "Don't tell me Mars has given up on her free spirited ways for a man. Who is he, and is he any good in bed?" She then sipped from her wine.
"Well...." the near blush turned into a blush within seconds. "He'd have to be..."
Jilleen smiled for her friend. "Of course he would. Is he someone you met on Aerilon? A farmer maybe?" The idea of her friend being with a farmer struck her as being funny.
"Actually he isn't a farmer and when I said, he'd have to be...I was meaning really REALLY good" Blake leaned forward a little more and raised an eyebrow to her friend, wanting her to read between the lines.
"You're in love!" Jilleen assumed. She was excited for Blake, because she could really enjoy attending another wedding in the near future. "Who is this man that's 'taken' you?"
Blake sighed, "No! Well maybe...I don't know...but it isn't that. I'm...." She gestured for her to fill in the blank, take her little hint. It was deadly serious, she had a lot of decisions to make but she just couldn't help but glow at the prospect.
Jilleen waited for Blake to fill the pause, but a couple of beats later it occurred to her. "Are you pregnant?" she said in a more hushed tone.
"No...I'm just growing bigger because I love my food that much!" Blake smirked and leaned in, whispering almost with a nod, "Yes...I am."
Jilleen's jaw dropped, surprised by the news. "Wow, that was absolutely unexpected. You don't look it. How far along are you?" Almost on cue, some woman on the sidewalk strode by their table with a baby carriage. "I mean who's the father, Mars? Do I know him? I have to meet him."
"Calm down with all the questions Jill. I'm only a few weeks...I won't be showing yet...which is good news...I still need to break the news to the father...and no you don't know him...I don't think so anyway." Blake got herself distracted with the baby carriage, she was in that early stage.
"Well then," she got the hint. Jilleen leaned closer and grabbed Blake's glass of wine. "You don't need to drink anymore of this ... it probably got you trouble in the first place." She smirked, and moved the glass to her side of the table. "The cigarettes too, Miss Hayward, and don't make me turned that into an order." She extended a open palm to receive the cigarettes.
Blake nodded with reluctance as she handed over her case. She wanted to have this baby regardless of what the father said. She needed to kick a few habits and this one was starting right now. "You're the boss...."
Jilleen placed the case on her side of the table. "You haven't answered my question. Who's the father?"
"I can't say yet. I need to tell him first before I tell anyone else...even you Jill." Blake was ready to chew on her nails in worry because she had no idea how to tell the father or even how he would react. She had a feeling it would be hard.
The blond shook her head. "I hope it's not Major Mackenzie's." A thought that came out of no where. "That's mean of me to say. I don't know why I said that, he's not the type to ... never mind I mentioned it." She quickly had a sip of wine. It was weird that even crossed her mind.
Part of her felt guilty that she had not tried to visit with him while he was on leave as well. After Bridget's death, they slowly drifted apart as friends. Bridget would be upset with her for allowing that to happen, but it had been so difficult. They still exchanged holiday cards and James were still good friends with him.
"No it isn't his...why would you even think that?" Blake knew this would happen but also knew that this would be the easiest part.
"It was a stupid thing to say." She wanted to avoid dwelling on her reasoning for making such a comment, so she wanted to change the subject. "He's not even your type." She smirked.
"Anyway are you okay with it? Becoming a mother soon. This means you will have to give up your wicked ways," she smirked.
"I need to give up my wicked ways anyway...so yes...I'm ready for this." It was a semi confident reply met with a lot of thought behind it.
"Well you still can have some fun. I'm married but I still enjoy flirting with strangers," Jilleen laughed. "I think James does the same thing when I'm not around." She stopped to think of that, "Hmm, thinking about it, he sometimes does it in front of me to make me jealous, but he really does it to get my attention." This was something she learned when they were seeing a marriage counselor back when there was trouble in their relationship.
"But this isn't marriage...this is more serious..." Blake was worried about it, she didn't want to appear too calm about it because she had yet to break the news to the father and he might want nothing to do with it. Who knows what her parents would say.
"Okay," said Jilleen. "You're right. We're speaking about a new life that's growing in your womb. I'm sorry if I've been insensitive. Maybe it's envy? I sometimes wanted to start a family, but something always got in the way." She sighed.
"It's scary." Jilleen added.
"I know but...if I don't do this then I think I would regret it later down the line." She nodded reassuring herself that this was the right thing to do. "And why don't you make the time?"
"We've tried for a little while when we last lived here, but I don't think we were ready. James was trying so hard to get back into Special Operations. I was trying to find a new direction in my career." She looked away for a moment down the avenue. "I guess I lost my focus. My great friend Bridget, which I'd known since I was twelve, was killed by a drunk driver, and then my mother died not too long afterward." It had become easier to mention those events these days.
Jilleen looked back at Blake. "This is not about me, I've got over it. You're going to be a mom, and I'm so happy for you." She reached out to squeeze Blake's hand and smiled. "What are your plans?'
"Well I thought I should tell the father before making any plans." Blake smirked knowing it was the most logical first step.
"That's a good plan. I think who ever is this mystery man of yours would appreciate knowing you are carrying his child." Jilleen let go of her hand and then took her phone out of her purse, and flipped the camera on. "Might as well take a picture for preserve this moment for the archives. Smile."
"Jill..." Blake looked away all red in the face as her friend tried to capture the moment in camera.