Morningstar Manor

Bea had been up since about five this morning since she had to be at that studio at six. It'd been a long shoot with lots of make up, hair, and interviewing, but it'd been fun. Callan was downright ridiculous, but he'd been funny and had made her feel at ease. They'd hit it off in a friendly sort of way and he'd also promised to give her some copies of the pictures to send to Eli. Declan had stopped in for a few minutes to oversee everything, and seemed very pleased by the proofs Callan was showing him of the pictures and the notes from the interview.  That made Bea feel a little better. 

After she'd gotten home she'd gone down to Eli's place with Pippa, changed into one of his t-shirts, and had taken a long nap in his bed. She periodically did that. It helped her feel closer to him, even though the sheets and the t-shirts no longer smelled like him or anything like that thanks to laundry. She still pretended they did, though. It was in his big bed that she picked up a notebook and decided to write him a letter.

Eli had gotten himself in a bit of hot water with their last conversation, and the result was a weekend of work. He did manage to set down and write her out a letter though, which wasn't as long as he wanted but it explained what was going on here.

( Letter #40 )

It was entirely silly and completely something he could do to brighten her day, so Eli had planned ahead and today Bea got a box delivered to her.

Inside was a note:
Sorry I can't be there to help, but hopefully your Pi Day goes well...
Love & miss you like whoa
Eli

Eli looked at his watch while they took a break. He was at work and even though the time zone was way off he'd kept his watch to home time. It was easier that way. Bea should be home sleeping, probably with Pippa tucked up in bed too. He wanted to go home but he'd be okay if he could see her again, maybe call her so she could hear he was actually there and okay.

The guys started back to work again, checking the rifles in the armory and cleaning the ones that'd just come back from the latest convoy. Eli sat there, thinking about how he wanted to spend his time once he got home. He thought about what he wanted to do with her and with a grin on his face, wrote it down so he'd remember to include it in her next letter.

Anastasia sat at a table shifting through her sketch book with a wrinkle between her brows. Her sketchbook was full of small, intricate paintings that once again, she didn't remember doing. What the hell was going on?

Niles sat sprawled out on a couch, fiddling with his new iPhone and writing a happy song on the iPhone's piano app. Things were good. So good, in fact, that he didn't even notice the pretty, but sad looking blonde woman that flickered in and out of sight beside him.

Isabella sat at a table staring at a slip of paper in front of her. It was a prescription for prenatal vitamins handed to her by her doctor this morning when she'd gone to confirm that the three pregnancy tests she'd taken on her lunch break Monday morning weren't lying.
She was pregnant. She didn't think she'd be a good mother. How could she bring a baby into her life where there would be so many people, like her father and Max, to protect it from?
But oh, a baby. Micah's baby. Smiling just a little, she put a hand on her stomach and tried to figure out how she was going to tell him.

Smith stood in line, staring at the back of someone's head that was in front of him. Man, he really didn't like that guy. It probably even showed on his face, not that he gave a shit.

Bea sat at a table with her laptop open in front of her, composing a blog for her website. She'd made her website more interactive and started blogging, which seemed to be going over well with her fans. There were some bizarre ones, but weren't there always?

Declan sat at a corner table on his phone, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Well, I can't crap out a deal for him, Mike. Tell him to call back after lunch and I'll give it a try." He hung up, but smiled to himself. He was still in too good of a mood from last night.

Olivia sat on one of the couches, idly flipping through a tabloid. Things were so different from the times when she'd been in these things constantly, she realized. That was a good thing, though.

Sterrin stood in line, ignoring everything around her as she shifted through some pictures on her phone. She hoped she never lost this anywhere, or at least hoped that with all of technology's advances they'd invent a self-destroy option for the phone soon for when people did.

Drew was in line as well, and he could feel eyes on the back of his head. When he turned around, he saw Laura's serial killer looking boyfriend giving him a stare down. He faced the front again and sighed internally. Awesome.

Kate sat at a table sipping cofffee and countng the chocolate chips in her cookie. This was supposed to be a double chocolate chip cookie, but it seemed average to her. "False advertising," she muttered to herself with a frown.

Rhiannon sat at a table with Harvey who'd decided he was going to wear an Optimus Prime helmet all day. He pushed it up just far enough to take a bite of his cookie and Rhiannon smiled as she flipped through a magazine, attempting to think of an idea as to what to fix for dinner tonight since her boyfriend was coming over. Boyfriend. It still made her feel a little giddy.

Bea had checked the mail first thing this morning before going to the grocery store and found Eli's letter.

She'd read it in the parking lot of the grocery store and was ashamed to admit that she'd started crying in relief. She hadn't heard anything out of him in 3 weeks, and the first sign that he was still alive and well had brought her to tears. She read his letter several times after getting home before carefully folding it and putting it in the box that she kept all of his letters in, even the ones he'd written her before they met officially.

Sitting down, she started to write a reply.

Eli hadn't gotten Bea's letter until after Valentine's day. He hated the mail system, but at least he'd gotten it. The photo made him smile and the sound from the card caused a couple of the other guys to stop and try reading over his shoulder. He figured it couldn't hurt to show off the photo she'd sent so he did.

Later when it was quieter he sat down to write back. ( Letter #1 )

As she had promised, Bea had mailed out her first letter and a Valentine's day card to Eli before he even left, so she was hoping he got it sometime close to Valentine's day.

With minimal preparations needing to be done for tonight's ball, Tristan whistled contently as he dropped off presents at the front desk for both Anastasia Rhiannon and Harvey. His phone in hand he also arranged flower deliveries for Anastasia and apartment 117.

~*~
From were he sat, fully clad in uniform on the edge of his cot, Eli hoped his package was being delivered to Bea. Sure, they'd celebrated earlier, but Jerry had promised to deliver Bea's last Valentines present on time.

Not to override her brother, Liz had put in a call for flowers, two dozen of them since one dozen didn't seem like enough.

~*~
Erin, not entirely in the mood to celebrate but still going to get ready for the ball, stopped by Joe's apartment and hung a small gift bag on his door knob. Inside was a present and a note saying You should always have a little luck within reach.

As for the other men she'd thought about for this particular holiday, well, she'd see how tonight went.

Bea had set an alarm to wake them up, fearing that she'd subconsciously try to sabotage him leaving by letting them oversleep. Especially after the night they'd had before.

Bea went down to Eli's apartment wearing nothing but a tiny zebra print bikini.  Mostly because she was planning on making him going swimming and sit in the hot tub with her tonight, but also because she knew her walking through the Manor like this would put him into a conniption and she did adore teasing him.
She thanked whatever higher power had decided that she should have such an adorably and easily flusterd boyfriend. It sure made life interesting.
When she got to his door, she knocked. No room for a key in a bikini, after all.

He'd called his sister earlier today when he went in to do paperwork. In and out of briefings today meant that he'd missed her call back. Now that he was home, checking his mail and relatively alone, he called her back. "Liz, hey. I need a favor. Grab a pen and paper."

He put his key in the box and opened it. "Good. I'm giving you a fax number. Send them a copy of your birth certificate and social security card. I'm making you my soul beneficiary for the time being and my CO wants proof you're a relative."

Pulling a couple envelopes out of the box he sat them on the table to sort through. "Keep it on the D-L though because I haven't asked her yet." He chucked a flier into the recycle bin and prayed Bea didn't come through the door now. "I know you'll make sure she's taken care of if anything happens. We're not engaged yet and I'm leaving in a month. Yeah. I'll write to you about it when it happens." Eli was speaking in hushed tones and his sister was laughing at him for it. Well, that and not having enough balls to propose to Bea yet. "Yes, I'll behave Liz. Yeah I love you too. Bye."

Bea sat in the passenger seat of the car she and Eli had rented as he turned into the long drive of her grandfather's ranch. It was still exactly how she remembered, and her hands shook as she mentally cursed herself for not calling him ahead of time. 
She hadn't changed her hair for him or covered her tattoos as she'd done for Eli's parents. He was her family and she wasn't going to hide from him.  Still...
"I think I'm going to be sick," she said as she ran a hand over her face. "God."

Bea was sitting on her couch dressed for bed and watching reruns of South Park. Pippa lay at her feet snoring softly, and she briefly contemplated getting out her sketchbook, but she wasn't feeling very creative.
She'd thought about taking Pippa and going down to Eli's earlier, but when she'd seen him earlier in the week he'd seemed down and she figured he'd probably need some alone time, and understandably so. So, she'd resolved to let him come to her when he felt like having company again since she had given him a key.

Eli was tired and quite honestly worn out. He'd been overhearing things from meetings and he didn't like what was being said. Marines were going to be gone for Christmas this year and he didn't know what he was going to do if he got sent with them.

When he'd gotten home, Bea wasn't in the apartment. Feeling guilty for being thankful for that little bit of quiet, he changed out of uniform and into sweats then went out on a run. Which was why he was now sitting at a table in the Mocha, cup of soup in front of him and everything he'd been thinking about just swimming in his mind.

Eli had thought about this all weekend long. He had talked things over with his father and his brother in law. With their confidence and the family's well received compliments about Bea, he'd taken the one thing passed down through the generations of Scott men. A simple solitaire ring sat in a beautifully carved wooden box in his dresser. He couldn't do it yet. He hadn't even been able to muster enough courage to tell her he loved her yet. No way could he skip that. But he could do this one more little step.

Getting up and dressed in his uniform, he watched as she and Pippa slept in his bed. He pulled a key out of his pocket, set it on the note for her and hoped she'd be there when he got back. His note said You'll need this if you're going to be here any time you want. I lock my door when I leave. When she didn't stir, he leaned over to kiss her lightly then left for work.

They'd flown in late last night and gotten a hotel room by the airport. Eli always flew home when he wanted to get a little bit of an edge. Just that element of surprise was enough to keep his Mother content. He wasn't sure if he'd need it today or not and his stomach was all jumbles as he drove the rental car up the drive to the house. "Ready baby?" He asked, hand closed tightly around Bea's.

Travis was in the lobby, notebook open and scribbling notes as he sipped on his tea. This was the last bit of major homework before the Thanksgiving break and he had to get a good grade on it. Writing papers on cultural observation hadn't seemed this difficult last week...

Erin had gone down to check her mail. With the exception of a couple cuts and a slower paced stride, she didn't look much different than she had before her attack. She still had he ribs taped up though her limitations were starting to fade out into dull ache and not sharp pains.

Memphis and Demon were outside in the gardens. It was chilly enough to make Memphis want to be back home again. Pretty soon the snow was going to start swirling around and then he'd be outside even less. Demon brought him back the tennis ball and Memphis squatted down to retrieve it.

Chad was sitting downstairs, in the laundry room, his notebook of cases in his lap. Icene had forwarded evidence results to him and he was trying to figure out where these two serial muggers were staying. If he could catch them in another act then he'd have a solid case. Right now the case was only pieced together. It would be hit or miss to present it to a judge right now.

Roxy had her laptop open at a corner table in the Mocha. She knew that it wasn't Thanksgiving yet ad she shouldn't be looking at Christmas decorations yet, but she had offered to help Spencer out with the Michaels' Bro's Christmas party. She was looking forward to helping out with fun because he worked too hard and a helping hand could be a good relief.

Logan was avoiding the laundry by playing arcade games in the games room. He had to go back in an hour or so to help out with folding, but in the meantime he'd let his Dad grumble at a notebook and put in some pinball time in the process.

Eli was wandering around, dressed in jeans, a button down shirt and a sweater over top of that. For once he felt comfortable not in his uniform and he contemplated how things could go with taking Bea home. Nearly to the elevator in the lobby, he saw a door that wasn't marked. He didn't remember seeing it there before. Should he poke his head through to see what was on the other side?

Chad was down in the laundry room, waiting on a load of jeans to hit the spin cycle. He had a couple manila folders with hi and a notebook. He probably should call Icene to find out if there were any new leads, but they'd picked up a good deal of evidence this time around. There had been a blood trail at the scene and fingerprints in the charred up car.

~*~
Eli was grumpy, still confused about why he'd gone against his own rules to date Bea. Sure he liked her, but why had he broken the rule? Now there would surely be hurt the next time he got called up to go. And then inviting her home for Thanksgiving? Oh what a tizzy that would be with the family. He hadn't taken anybody home for a holiday... Ever.

In an effort to think more, he'd gone up to the pool for some quiet time where he could participate in some sort of activity as well.

*~*
Erin had bandages that spanned around her sides, covered her stomach and back, to prevent unnecessary jarring on her ribs. Three were cracked and one was broken. She had been treated, observed, then discharged earlier this afternoon. Her objective was to stay holed away in her apartment, but she'd wanted something and in the process of trying to figure out just what, she'd gone to the Mocha. If anybody asked what had happened, she'd tell them, but she wasn't going to go seeking out any sympathies. Just something comforting and most likely chocolate...

Bea was kind of nervous about this whole artist event she was attending tonight. They apparently wanted to give her an award or something for Stilletto, and it was a fan convention thing. The whole thought of the pressure and having to give a speech just made her sick to her stomach. She was glad she was going to have Eli tonight.
She dressed conservatively, for her anyway, in the black dress that clung to her figure and pearls she'd borrowed from Andy, a pair of black, strappy heels, her make up done in an intricate fashion and with the hair that she did have styled in retro vintage waves, she made her way down to Eli's apartment and knocked on his door.