Gideon Fischer ⚕️ Alex Karev (pediatrician) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2020-03-10 20:24:00 |
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They were getting married in forty-five days, and if Gideon Fischer knew anything at all, he knew that that merited celebration. So when he'd woken up, he'd gone downstairs to make coffee, but as it was brewing he'd texted Embry- who was still in bed.
He could have made pancakes, of course. And he was generally more inclined to make breakfast for them on their days off than to sleep in, really. But the weather forecast was promising, and there were ready-made pancakes at the airport across town. Surely that was worth getting out of bed for. At least temporarily. -- The countdown was dwindling day by day, and Embry felt new elation every single time she saw that new, lowered number. Though it still wasn’t going quite fast enough for her liking, they had a mere month and a half left before they officially said their vows in front of their friends and family. That was just the first of very exciting things happening for them soon, if all their plans worked out as they wished. Embry had made a small grumbling sound when she heard her phone chime in three successive messages. The only person whose messages even sounded through in the morning were Gideon’s, so she’d swiped her phone off of the night stand where it was charging and smiled just a little at his plans for their morning. So, she pointed her phone over her shoulder and took a picture of her ass, covered by only her underwear, and sent it followed by a few brief words.
She didn’t know if they’d end up at the airport - which they’d done a few times - or at one of the nearby restaurants, but Embry had gotten out of bed as promised. It had taken her a few minutes to sleepily pull some clothes on, but even then it had just been a pair of leggings and an oversized hoodie bearing the name of University of Washington. She’d purchased it when they went to Seattle the first time for her doctoral graduation, and had intentionally bought it a size too big so that it was extra comfortable. Embry had barely brushed her hair before pulling it up into a messy sort of bun, but she did floss and brush her teeth before she wandered downstairs barely five minutes after she’d sent her texts. She was still barefoot, but there were boots she could shove her feet into by the door. At the last step, a yawn barely bitten back, she announced, “I was promised coffee. And pancakes.” --
Gideon wasn't rushing them out the door, of course. He might have gone back upstairs to check on her if she had taken more than fifteen or twenty minutes, just in case she'd fallen back asleep after those messages, but Embry had joined him downstairs not long after- so any worries were easily alleviated. He laughed at her perhaps overdramatic sigh, but held up a travel coffee mug as he crossed from the kitchen over toward her. "Coffee, as promised. Exchange rate is one kiss, today. I'm feeling generous." -- She had checked her phone only once more, a smirk on her lips at his message about having a new phone background. She saw nothing wrong with it as long as he was the only one seeing that screen. Embry wouldn’t have taken the photo or sent it if she didn’t trust him implicitly. Embry smiled gently and took another few steps towards him, very easily pressing onto her toes for that quick kiss, though she very easily segued it into another, lingering on a little longer, “I am more than happy to give kisses in the plural.” Embry did take that travel mug of coffee into her hands, though, letting the warmth of it seep into her fingers, “Where do you want to go for pancakes?” -- "I'm a very lucky man," Gideon replied against her lips, smiling and easing into just one more kiss. For now. "I was thinking the airport," he offered, after a moment more. "We haven't been out there in a few months, anyway, and the weather is just nice enough to excuse a longer drive than merely going downtown. But that's as far as I've planned for the day." -- She had given a small hum of agreement against his lips, but of course they were both lucky. It wasn’t as though their relationship didn’t involve a lot of give and take. They were most often on the same page, but the two of them really tried to lift one another up if the scales were unbalanced for any reason. Embry tried her first sip of coffee - it was hot, but perfect - and a blissful little smile settled on her mouth, “Pancakes at the airport is always a good idea. It’s a pretty drive, and maybe we’ll catch Dahlia and Verity for a minute.” Dahlia had been one of Embry’s very best friends since they were children, and though they hadn’t always been located in the same place, they’d always kept in touch. “I love lazy days with you. We can do anything. Go for a drive, come home and nap in a pancake coma, watch a movie, get naked...the possibilities are endless,” Embry smirked a little, though she thought she had compiled a pretty good list of suggestions for just thinking on the fly. -- The past week had been stressful, for different reasons, so Gideon was all too ready to take advantage of a quiet day off with Embry. Even if they did absolutely nothing more than the plans she'd just offered off the top of her head. It would be perfect. "Naked pancake coma movie watching. You know the real key to my heart." Reaching for Embry's free hand, Gideon held it and led her toward the garage- pausing as was necessary to get their shoes and the like. He held the doors open for her as they went, even the passenger-side car door, shutting it gently behind her. It wasn't quite warm enough to roll the windows down as he drove, but the sun was up and he pulled his sunglasses down from the visor. -- "We love many of the same things. I'm good with combining them," she said with a grin, though they had their own interests, too. Gideon didn't share her same obsession with crafts on Etsy, after all, but they were supportive of one another. Embry had slipped into her boots easily there by the door, though she didn't let go of Gideon's hand until they got to the car. She had paused just briefly to steal yet another kiss just before she slipped into the passenger's seat. She pulled her seat belt across her lap before he had even gotten into the car, sipping a little more on her coffee. She found her own sunglasses as he pulled out of their garage, and out onto the street, "I bet you I can eat two stacks of pancakes." -- "Wait," he held up a hand from the wheel, needing to clarify the terms of the bet before he could agree. "Do I lose, then, if I eat anything less or more than exactly two stacks of pancakes? I'm onto your games, Marshall." -- Embry took a long sip of her coffee, a small smirk on her lips, "Maybe." The answer was coy and playful, but she glanced over to Gideon and turned just a little more towards him, "Although I could be persuaded to more equal terms since you were generous enough to make me coffee." -- He glanced aside at her coy answer, a grin bright even below the darkened lenses of his sunglasses. Gideon knew, of course, that there were no real stakes here- it was all in fun, as their wagers always were. "By that measure, I should always have the more generous side of the wager, since I bought the espresso machine." That had been in a time before their finances had been truly combined, anyway- he wasn't normally so concerned over what was his-versus-hers. -- Sometimes they bet actual money which was then often used for one of them to “pay” for taking the other out or in a purchase of some item that they didn’t really need, but wanted. It was all good fun in the end because their finances were all combined and had been for the last few years. The main thing they would have to do - which she was immensely excited for - was just change her name on their accounts and secure a new card that would match her name. Embry shook her head a little, even as she drank a little more of her coffee, “No, excuse you. I found the store for the greatest espresso beans ever that we put into the espresso machine, which makes our coffee amazing. A machine is only good as what you put into it. And I bought the travel mugs. You barely had a single coffee cup when I moved in, even with your big, fancy kitchen gadgets. That evens the odds, surely.” They actually had matching plates and bowls and flatware at their loft now, and a few matching cups. The small collection of coffee mugs that they’d collected were a little eclectic, and she had no regrets about it. -- He eyed her a little sideways, behind his lenses, even as he reached for the traitorous travel mug in question. After a sip, Gideon heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine. We can call it even on the coffee-related biases." "But back to the pancakes…" Gideon couldn't help his foolish grin. "Two stacks or less, you win. More than two stacks, I win." -- She gave a small fist-pump of victory that he conceded the terms of calling it even for their coffee contributions over the years. Things had changed a lot since those early days of scrambling trying to find a cup to easily pulling one down from a shelf. Before they’d even started dating, she had turned that around. Embry considered this a moment before finally agreeing, “Okay, but you have to match me for bacon and scrambled egg consumption, and if I manage to go over two stacks, we up the stakes. What are we winning?” -- In defense of his past, he only used the mug for coffee or water. Everything else he drank, then, came in a glass bottle. It had just seemed simpler. "Loser has to plan our next date night. But-" Gideon held up a finger between them, "it has to be something entirely new. Nothing we've done or nowhere we've been before." -- Embry reached out to him, and though they usually kissed on bets and promises, he was driving so she merely caught his pinky with her own and made something of a pinky-swear, “I agree to the terms. It’s a good challenge.” Especially since over the area, they really had explored quite often to anywhere that sounded decent. It would prevent one of them from copping out to a date to Sal’s though she didn’t anticipate that would have really happened anyway. Their bets were always in good fun, and if she lost, she wasn’t a sore loser. She’d just plan a fantastic date and they would have yet another great evening or day together. Plus, she was about to enjoy some really delicious pancakes. Her stomach growled a little just at the thought, “I’m so hungry.” -- He didn't really think either of them would be a loser in this case, since, regardless, they'd each get a new date out of the occasion. Gideon squeezed Embry's offered pinky, sealing the deal. Gideon laughed at her admission. "It's a good thing I dragged you out of bed, then, hm? Or would you have preferred I sourced pancakes and brought them upstairs to you on a silver platter?" -- Embry laughed at the idea of Gideon serving her pancakes - syrup and all - on a real silver platter, "I like going out with you, even when I dress for comfort and it means getting out of bed." She was trying now not to drink too much of her coffee so that she would have plenty of room for pancakes. "Though, I'm not opposed to breakfast in bed. I don't require any silver platters, though I'm willing to bet pancakes in bed would turn out very messy." -- "It will be a sad day indeed when not even pancakes can tempt you to spend time with me," he teased, genially. "I'm glad you don't require a silver platter, though, since we definitely don't own one, and it's probably too late now to add it to our wedding registry." Especially considering their wedding registry was basically nonexistent. -- Embry rolled her eyes liberally even behind those dark sunglasses, even though she knew it was a tease. She still pointed out, “I need no temptation to spend time with you, Gideon. I am, in fact, incredibly cranky when I don’t get to spend time with you.” Their wedding registry, in honesty, had been something they scrambled to put together under duress once it was demanded of them by some of the guests - including her parents. She hadn’t wanted to make one at all since they had most of what they needed anyway, but she’d consented to putting a few things on there. It mostly consisted of gift cards, some new bedding, and a few random things they’d spotted that they did not particularly need, but would not mind having, “Probably. We’d just let it tarnish anyway. If you bring me breakfast in bed, just bring me a fried egg and bologna sandwich with cheese on toast...and a paper plate.” -- He could tell she'd rolled her eyes even just from the movement at the periphery of his vision, and Gideon did his best to hide a smile. "The feeling is decidedly mutual, Embry." Gideon's eyebrows raised even over the frame of his glasses, and he barely stifled a laugh at her suggestion of what would make a proper breakfast in bed. No requests for hand-squeezed orange juice or a fancy tray adorned with fresh-cut flowers. No. No, Embry Soon-to-be-Fischer could be wooed with a bologna sandwich. "God damn do I love you." -- “It better be,” she said with a small smirk, though the words were playfully taunting. She really had no doubts about that. Over the last several years, Gideon had proven to her time and time again that time together was always something to be cherished. Though he might have laughed at her request for a very southern breakfast sandwich, she really thought it was one of the finer things in life. She would be just as happy with a simple egg and bologna sandwich as she was with...egg tartlets and hashbrowns and made from scratch gravy. She would love and appreciate anything he did for her, but it did not take much to please Embry. “I love you, too,” she assured him, “I’m glad you love me and all my southern charm.” She put a little extra emphasis on her already prevalent Virginian accent, just at her last few words, more than happy to poke a little fun at herself, too. -- His laugh only continued with the effect she put on. After all, Gideon had grown up barely two hours north of where she did, still technically the south, though perhaps not quite so... secluded, having been in a city much larger than Dunhaven. "I'm hardly a yankee," Gideon protested, though good-naturedly. "But I suppose it's my... clearly posh upbringing that makes me seem so refined." -- She had been to the city where he was raised, and it was vastly different than the small town southern charm of Dunhaven. It was a diverse, bustling city in comparison to the sleepy, sometimes judgmental town where they now resided. She got looks, on occasion, for having lived with Gideon so long unwed. Mostly those looks came from the little old ladies who didn’t like the answers to the prying questions that they asked, but Embry wasn’t bothered by it. It just was different. “If you were like an hour further north, you’d be a yankee,” she teased, though maybe that was also a slight exaggeration, “To be fair to you, going to private school in Dunhaven makes you an honorary true southerner, probably. Even if Aurelius served like...fancy breakfast potatoes and omelets made with real eggs instead of powdered scrambled eggs or pop tarts.” Embry honestly had no problem with how either of them were raised. She loved both of their families, though they had their differences. -- "Private school in Dunhaven and then retreating further north still, only to seek solace back here. It's all full circle. Though I'm not sure if I'm supposed to defend Aurelius' eggs or not." A quick glance aside, then back to the road ahead. "Your strong feelings on pop tarts aside, at least our kids can commute, if we decide to enroll them in private school." -- “You don’t have to defend the eggs,” she laughed, though she really took no offense to them. She had most often eaten at home - or in the car on the way to school - even though she had attended public school. Embry enjoyed that the way they spoke about their future children was still so effortless. They did not exist just yet, but she had no problems imagining what that future would look like. The children she imagined often looked different, sometimes boys or girls or one of each, though they were always a mix of the both of them, “Commuting definitely. We don’t have to make any big decisions about school until they finish elementary, but...I always hear good things about the private schools and their smaller class sizes. I don’t feel like I severely lacked in public education because they didn’t let me slip through the cracks, bored out of my mind, but maybe I would have been challenged more at Athena.” -- Gideon had gone to Aurelius- and his siblings had followed (or to Athena, in turn)- because his father was a legacy, though he wouldn't have been particularly upset if he and Embry had decided on keeping their children in public school when that time came. After all, public school had been just as good for the damn genius that was his soon-to-be wife. "If you'd been challenged more, you might not have ended up at CHOP when I was there," Gideon replied. "It must have been fate." And Embry knew, better than anyone, what Gideon thought of that. -- They still had plenty of time to make the decision for their children. At least a decade, really. She supposed it would depend upon if they were thriving in the public school, or what benefit they might see from transferring them to the private school in the end. She laughed a little and added, “I mean, we were both at CHOP for quite a few years, so I like to think we’d have crossed paths anyway. But even if we hadn’t, you came back here.” There had been a time when Embry put more than her fair share in fate, and she had seen the error in that particular way of thinking. It had caused far more problems than good, when she had feared that marriage just wasn’t something written in the stars for herself or any of her siblings. Embry hadn’t thought that way for several long years now, and it was freeing, “Bless the public school system and dual credits for allowing me to graduate from University at seventeen, and travel to CHOP where I delivered a baby in an elevator and met a super hot peds resident. Amen.” -- His smile was a little wry, as it almost always was when Embry complimented him. All these years, and he still had to remind himself not to refute those words. She knew what she was talking about. "Amen," he tried to cross himself, but got the order of the hand motions almost entirely wrong. Pulling into the public parking lot at the airport, Gideon found a spot not far from the door. But by the time he'd gotten out, Embry had already opened her door and stepped out- so, instead, he offered an arm to escort her. "Our syrupy destiny awaits. Shall we?" -- She couldn't help but laugh when he crossed himself almost sort of backwards and sideways, though she was no expert at that either. Dunhaven was largely Baptist, though Embry didn't really abide to any sort of religion personally. Embry had been a little too eager for pancakes to let him do the gentlemanly thing and open her door. Still, she took his offered arm there with a bright smile, "I do believe we shall." As predicted, they had seen Dahlia and Verity shortly after walking through the door and stopped to chat with them briefly at the front of the building. Everything smelled like breakfast, and Embry promised Dahlia they would do coffee or something the next week. They had paid for their food, and Embry had taken two plates - one of just pancakes, the other with cheesy eggs and bacon and breakfast potatoes - to a table. Embry had barely sat down before she was cutting into her buttered, syrupy pancakes. She speared a rather large bite and shoved it directly into her mouth, a happy sigh escaping her. -- He hadn't really escorted her far, since they'd both need their hands free to go through the buffet line that was set up for breakfast. But Gideon followed suit with Embry, filling up two plates- one of pancakes, the other with eggs and grits with cheese. (Who said he wasn't southern, after all?) There was no pretense of propriety, and, honestly, Gideon really preferred it that way. It felt more honest, besides. Still, he couldn't help but grin at the look that crossed Embry's face with that first bite. "So I'm forgiven for waking you up?" he asked, before his own first bite. -- Embry had savored that first bite of pancakes, her mouth watering a little just at that first taste. She gave a hum and nodded even as she picked up a piece of bacon, "Totally forgiven. I am now mildly caffeinated and my stomach is already very happy." She ate a bite of that bacon, pleased that they had managed to snag a quiet table even though there was a small gathering of people milling about, "The airport was a good pick. Not that somewhere in town wouldn't have also been delicious, but all of this is cooked perfectly." -- Even with the perhaps modest surroundings of a large meeting room in a regional airport hangar, it still felt... like a special occasion. Maybe just because this wasn't something they could do every day- just once a month. "Who knew that pilots made such excellent cooks, hm?" Gideon gestured around them with a piece of bacon before biting it in half. "Maybe that's why they only do it once a month. The other restaurants in town would run scared." -- She laughed at the idea that the other businesses in town - at least the ones that did breakfast - might run scared if put in competition with the airport breakfast, "You know Grandma's would survive. Stella's, too. They can hold their own." They also had a very varied menu, and were town favorites. "It's a special treat, with it only happening once a month," Embry said, and at that, they only made it out once every few months, it seemed. Sometimes their schedules didn't coincide, or they simply didn't think about it, but they always enjoyed it, "Last time I tried to make pancakes, they were burned and horribly disfigured." -- "In your defense," he offered, considering the situation she was referencing, "you were… trying to make pancakes that spelled out our names. You know I'm not a boastful person, but I was… rather fond of God and Eby. Maybe we can add one of those pancake batter squeeze bottles to our wedding registry, too." -- It was true. She'd made both of their names and burned about half of the letters in her attempt of being cute. The edges of the ones that had survived had still been a little crisp, and they hadn't been very fluffy, "It was pure coincidence that the letters of your name that survived were the most important ones." Not, again, that Embry was religious, but she'd more than one time commented on Gideon's God-like status. "I'm sure our guests will be thrilled that there would be one more thing for them to actually buy for us that's not a gift card." Embry had thought once to just register for baby products, but she didn't want to get that far ahead of herself. -- Gideon rolled his eyes rather liberally, even though he knew Embry's words were mostly in jest. "I don't know why they'd be complaining. I'd love to be invited to a wedding with an open bar and no gift-giving mandate. But maybe that's just my own irrepressible beatific deity speaking." And, really, he thought that anyone who claimed they wouldn't use an Amazon gift card was a damn liar, these days. -- "To be fair to the rest of the guests, it's mostly my mother that has complained," Embry admitted with a small smile, though that really should come as no surprise to Gideon. Her parents were wonderful people. Her mother just tried to be a little too helpful sometimes. It occasionally came across as meddling, even if she meant well, and it was difficult to be mad at her because she just cared so damn much. "I'm hoping we get a bunch of gift cards that we can hoard for baby supplies," she admitted taking another large bite of pancakes, "I'll actually make a baby registry. Mom's mind will be blown." -- Gideon didn't mind Embry's mother, not really. Insofar as future-mothers-in-law went, he really could have had much worse luck. So long as Embry was able to keep the separation of too much meddling, he doubted they'd have much of an issue, going forward. "If you really want to blow her mind, accidentally," he used air-quotes, "send out a baby registry as an updated wedding one." -- Embry really didn't have any issue with reminding her mother that they were adults who could make their own decisions. Thankfully, her mother was usually very supportive. She didn't usually take offense to being told she was stepping a little too far. She snorted into her pancakes even as she ate another bite of them thoughtfully, "Don't think I haven't considered it. But she'll immediately think we're already expecting, and weep when she finds out we aren't." Though that was hopefully going to change in another few months. -- Embry knew her mother better, of course, so Gideon wouldn't insist on any sort of trickery that might bring her frustration or sadness. Instead he just nodded thoughtfully, then offered Embry a little grin. "It's on my to-do list. Don't worry." -- "Mine, too. In 60 days or less. Although, I rather love being permanently on your to-do list, actively trying to get pregnant or not," she smirked and ate a bite of her eggs. She didn't really expect to immediately find herself pregnant, but they had already discussed taking out her implant within a few days of returning home from their honeymoon. -- Though he'd started the joke, Gideon still hadn't anticipated Embry's reply, and he gave a snort of laughter around his last bite of pancakes, hurriedly covering his mouth with a hand so he didn't embarrass himself. Once he'd swallowed, he lowered his hand and looked back to her with a bright, amused grin. "Your place there is etched into stone, no doubt." -- Embry was still smirking, pleased with herself for having gotten to him, when she took her last bite of pancakes. She’d been pacing herself, making certain that she kept up with him. They would each need a fresh stack, but that was easily obtained. She hadn’t wanted to get two plates right off just so that the second would still be warm when she started in on them. “I’m the top of the to-do list. Always a priority. Never crossed off, even once I’ve been thoroughly done,” she finished off what was on her secondary plate as well, fully planning on focusing only on pancakes in the next round, “Ready for second stack?” -- "Exactly." Even if there was some hyperbole to their words, there was a layer of truth underneath it all, and Gideon loved the openness they had between them. Their used plates were stacked up off to the side, and as Embry added hers to that little pile, Gideon stood from the table. "I'll get them for us," he offered. He returned just a few minutes later, bearing two plates of pancakes, each already layered with the proper amounts of butter and syrup. Gideon slid Embry's plate across to her. "Onward we go." -- Embry wasn't at all embarrassed of the want that they had for one another even after almost four years of being together. She expected the same would remain years from now. She had spent far too many years looking in all the wrong places for someone exactly like him, and she wouldn't waste a moment more. When Gideon returned with that second stack of pancakes, Embry clapped her hands once, rubbing then together in a show of anticipation and readiness. "I believe in myself," she told him with a grin even as she cut into this new plate of pancakes, shoveling in the first bite without a care of how it may have looked to anyone else. -- He stifled a laugh (around another bite)- both at Embry's words and the way she unceremoniously shoveled pancakes into her mouth. While it may not have been sexy in any traditional sense, there was still something to be said for the general sense of not-giving-a-fuck. As they worked their way through their respective stacks, however, Gideon… found himself slowing down. Getting toward the end of things, he was starting to have doubts about the possibility of a third plate- or, indeed, finishing this second one. "Those grits were really filling," he lamented, even as he poked at another slice of syrupy pancake and lifted it to his lips. -- Embry was…determined. She was slowing a little, but taking bigger bites in hopes that it might trick her stomach into not realizing how much she was actually eating. She didn't know how much sense that really made, but she was also drinking a few sips of water to cleanse her palate and get her through. "So were the potatoes," she agreed, even as she stuffed another bite of pancakes into her mouth - just a few left to go. Embry took a breath, and cut another piece, "Pancake coma, here I come." -- He tried. He really, really did. But Gideon had a full quarter of a pancake left on his plate when he finally pushed it forward, lying his head down on his crossed arms there at the table in utter defeat. "You win, Marshall. One date, coming up," he muttered there against the table. -- Embry sopped up the remaining syrup off the plate with her last bite and finished the full two stacks, as she said she would. She was…very, very full and may not eat another real meal that day, but she had done it and smiled victoriously. "I will enjoy my victory…with a much deserved nap, probably," she said with a small laugh, "You alright there, Fischer?" -- Gideon gave a little groan in response, but turned his head so he could look across the table at Embry. He reached a hand up, and... swiped a finger across some of the syrup still left on his plate, bringing it to his lips and licking it off. Eyes closed, and another playfully pathetic whimper. "I am undone." -- She laughed a little at his comment, and the small taste of syrup that he took, "I've seen you undone. This is different." She winked at him, leaning her elbows onto the table and putting her chin in her hands, "I'd offer to finish the last of your pancake so that it doesn't go to waste, but I think if I eat another bite I might explode and I have a lot of living left to do." -- Gideon just wrinkled his nose back in Embry's direction in playful defiance of her words. Not that she... was actually wrong of course. "Damn right you do," he added, a little smile finally tugging at his lips. "Another sixty-to-seventy years at least." Not that such things could really be predicted, but, well, why not err on the side of hopeful? After this last week, hopeful seemed a nice change. -- Embry was a logical, scientific person, but she still had a difficult time imagining that far into the future. They could not predict what might happen, but she wanted to grow old with him and celebrate as many years together as possible. It was the only part of their age difference that frightened her...that there may come a time when she’d be without him, and it wasn’t something she could even begin to fathom. She shook that off, and smiled, intentionally bringing happier thoughts to mind, “At least that long. And you’ll be there, too...still telling me my ass is perfect, and I’ll be asking what you said because I never listened when my parents told me to turn my music down. So you’ll just pinch my butt, and I’ll know.” The prediction might not turn out entirely right, but it was - to her - a heartwarming image of a lifetime of love. |