Re: Doug/Maura
They had been lucky, or TJ had been the usual reckless self and gotten them to Pittsburgh, making their transition slightly better, but Doug remembered well the shock at being at the island, making things real all of a sudden, showing him just how far out of his control things were. It had been a horrible feeling.
Doug stood up and buttoned his jacket before pulling her chair back as she stood up. He put an arm around her and kissed her temple. "They'll think we're going for a quickie," he whispered with a tiny smile. "Come on, let's go outside. We can walk on the beach, they can watch and make sure that nothing happens." It was always about compromises. No matter how much the circumstances changed, the mores things stayed the same.
He squeezed TJ's shoulder as they walked by. Not that he really needed to get his brother's attention, but he did it anyway, before opening the door for Maura and walking after her. Doug put an arm around her. "My family is hardly the normal one. We've never been normal, but we help each other out, at least when it comes to the outside world." They were good at tearing each other down, too, but that was always amongst the members of the family. "I know this isn't exactly a normal marriage either, but as far as everyone is concerned, you are my wife, and you will have that support, sometimes even when you don't want it, so be ready to tell them to back off when it becomes too much. "
He sighed. "You know we've talked about wedding, clothes, ceremony, just about everything. We've never talked about what you want out of the marriage. I know right now, there's hardly anyone you even want to talk to, let alone date, but if in the future, there's someone you think you might be interested-"