I vetoed the Time Machine
Who: Harley, Helena and NPC kiddo When: recently Where: Their house What: Cheering Helena up Status: complete Rating: PG-13
It was that time of year. Harley knew it well, and she didn’t blame her wife for it. One night, she brought home Kirk, and the next a curvy stripper, (and the third day both at once and the fourth day probably shouldn’t be described as anything but indescribably kinky and illegal in at least fourteen states) but even that probably wasn’t going to keep Helena occupied past the 14th. It would take more drastic measures.
The kid would never understand why her mother got funked out, but she wanted to help, so Harley got her to help her with her grand plan.
It turned out to be a handcrafted model made based on the description of the space ship from The First Men in the Moon. Mostly made by Christine.
When it was ready, she called out, “Hey dollface, come up for lunch!”
The sexual escapades were certainly good distraction, and Helena tended to actually sleep for a while at night after them. However, nightmares would inevitably wake her up eventually, and she’d go to her workroom to work on something to try and give herself something to do.
Telling Christina why she got weird at this time of year wasn’t an option. At least not now. Maybe when she was a bit older, but it was only a maybe. Helena didn’t want her to ever start dreaming of that life, and she didn’t precisely want to describe that Christina had died in another version of their lives. So for now, she’d chalk it up to pretty much anything else if Christina ever asked. She’d probably blame it on Christina’s sperm donor if anything. He was always a good scapegoat when Helena needed one.
She was working on a project when she heard Harley. “Just a moment!” She called back before she went about finishing up what she was currently doing. With that done, she set it aside and headed off to find Harley. “Did you want to go out for lunch or stay in?” She asked, completely unaware that anything other than lunch was going to be happening here.
“We’ve got lunch already! Home made skillet lunch with ham and cheese and a special present made by Christine and yours truely! Mostly by Christine!”
Harley winked at her step-daughter, and then ran to get the plates served up.
“That sounds like a good lunch you have made.” It smelled good, too. Helena hadn’t realized that she was hungry until she’d come into the kitchen and smelled the food. Though she had to raise her eyebrows in question at the mention of a present. “Present?”
Christina grinned at Harley, then turned that grin onto Helena. “Yes, present. Something that just might help cheer you up.” She then ran off to get said present. She was careful with it as she came back and presented it to Helena. “For you, mummy!”
Helena of course instantly recognized what the rocket was. It was the description of the one she herself had written in her dreams. She couldn’t help but to smile as she took the rocket carefully. “You both made this?” She asked, looking from the rocket to her daughter to her wife and back.
Harley grinned proudly as Christina raced off. She stole a kiss while they waited, then resumed setting the table with characteristic flair. She sat on the counter when Christina returned, swinging her legs, eyes lit up as Helena recognized the rocket. “Christina did most of the work! I procured the materials when you wasn’t lookin’! And she did all the readin’ and I sketched the schematicals!”
“Thank you, both of you,” Helena said, giving Christina a hug and a kiss to her cheek. Helena then went to give Harley and hug and a proper kiss. “This is a wonderful gift, I love it and I love both of you.”
Christina grinned proudly. “I love you too, mummy! And I’m very happy that you like it!”
“It was her idea,” Harley added. She’d brought up that her mother seemed down, and Harley had suggested they do something special for her. “She knows how much you love Wells. I vetoed the Time Machine, and you were already working on War of the Worlds, so we thought, Men in the Moon!”
Another reason she loved Harley, talking Christina out of the time Machine. That definitely would’ve backfired in a very spectacularly horrible way. Helena smile, reaching out and stroking Christina’s hair. “Very clever of both of you. Especially in taking something from one of Wells’ less popular works.”
Helena had almost said her works, but managed to catch herself. One day, if and when they explained the nature of Orange County to Christina, then perhaps Helena would tell her that she was actually H.G. Wells. But for now, that was a secret between Harley and Helena.
At least it gave Christine a healthy appreciation and love of science fiction, which suited Harley just fine. It was more fun to have a kid around who liked that sort of stuff - she could let out her inner geek. She winked at Helena, “Thank you, honey bun. I’ll have something for you later, too.”
If Christine rolled her eyes, Harley ignored it.
“Well then, I shall look. Forward to that,” Helena said with a smile. At least her smiling currently was genuine. And she wasn’t so lodged within her storm of emotions that came with this time of year.
Christina did roll her eyes and made a bit of a face before she grinned at both of her parents. “Now, I hope you’re hungry because lunch is going to be amazing!”
“She made it all by herself,” Harley lied. It was a harmless lie, the best kind of lie. Harley knew very well who the actual most important person in Helena’s life was, and she honestly wouldn’t change that.
“Mostly by myself!” Christina corrected. She wanted to give Harley credit where it was due. She was also just the type that didn’t really lie. It was one of the few ways that Christina differed from her mother. Christina tended to be more upfront and honest. Helena didn’t lie about the big things, but she tended to talk around the truth at times.
“Well, I’m very proud of you! You always have had a knack for projects.” Perhaps Christina would grow up to be an inventor or something of the sort? It was difficult to tell some days.
“Okay I helped a little.” Harley hopped to the floor and wrapped one arm around each of her girls. And they were her girls, each and both of them. “See, I got the plates all set up? Now lets set the heck down and eat it!”
Helena slid an arm around Harley. She did feel a little better now, though she was certain she’d eventually slip back into the bad mood. But at least for now, she could be happy and living in the present instead of in a past that only existed in her dreams.
“Yes, let’s eat. I’m rather famished.” That was another thing that went by the wayside when Helena was in these moods, she tended to forget to eat.
Christina grinned and gave Harley a little squeeze. She was grinning brightly, more than happy to have made Helena smile again for the meantime.