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queenrileyTitle: 5 Things Z Had To Do First, and 1 Thing Bridge Beat Her To
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Pairing: Bridge/Z
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Z has to make all the first moves in their relationship.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were, because there'd have been more romance and far more ACTUAL Jewishness... but as evidence by the episodes, I don't own any part of them. I just like to take them out to play once in awhile.
Warning: Character death. Hint at the possibility of sex without any graphic information.
I. 2026
Z never understood why Bridge liked watching her read. It baffled her and he’d never been able to offer an explanation that made any sort of sense. But then, that was Bridge. She found his staring, his observing, very distracting, sometimes to the point of not even being able to finish reading. He didn’t seem to care, though, and that irritated her more than the watching. He would just sit and watch with a small smile on his face, as if he knew something she didn’t.
Sometimes he’d be across the room, casually observing her while she read. She didn’t even always notice when he watched her like that, and when she did, she didn’t mind as much. He was out of the way. Unobtrusive. But then there were times like this one. Times he would sit so close she could hear him breathing, could feel the heat coming off his body. His eyes would bore into her head no matter which way she turned and then it would bother her. He was sitting there now, right behind her, so close that if she leaned back even a fraction of an inch, she’d be leaning against his chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Watching you read,” he answered. She rolled her eyes. That was the most obnoxious, obvious answer she’d ever heard.
“Can you not?” She shifted and felt her shoulder brush up against his chest.
“No. I like to.” She sighed and slammed her book shut.
“Why? I’m just reading. It’s nothing special.” She really wished he’d stop.
“You let your guard down when you’re distracted. Your face shows everything you’re feeling and thinking and doing. Or will do. Or want to do. Or whatever. I can guess what’s going on with you. You read your book and I read you.” That was the most irritating answer she could have gotten, and certainly not what she expected to hear. He made little sense and what she had picked up sounded almost like an insult. An unintentional insult, yes, but an insult nonetheless.
“So you think I’m predictable?” she asked, turning to face him. They were so close. She should back up or this could get ugly, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to take her knee off his.
“Uh-huh!” he responded as he waggled his eyebrows. If he were eating toast, she’d shove it in that smug little mouth of his. But he wasn’t eating toast, not today. And she wasn’t predictable. She’d prove it.
“Know what I’m going to do now?” she asked. He flinched.
“Yell at me?” he asked. She didn’t want him to be right. She had to change course of action and fast.
“I’ll show you predictable,” she muttered as she leaned in to do the first opposite to yelling she could think of. She kissed him. She hadn’t intended it to linger more than a second or two, but his lips were soft and he tasted so smooth. She didn’t want to stop, and he certainly didn’t seem to be pulling back anytime soon either. She had to stop this. This wasn’t what she’d meant to do. She pulled back and tried to catch her breath, tried to stop her heart from pounding.
He surprised her when he reached up and slid his hand along the back of her neck. The leather of his gloves was cool to the touch and sent a shiver up her spine. He nudged her, gently, towards him, and it was all the prompting she needed. She eagerly leaned back towards him as he met her halfway, kissing her slowly, savouring every second, and holding absolutely nothing back. This was what it was supposed to be like. This was heaven.
II. 2026
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since the first accidental kiss. There’d been plenty more after that, moments stolen in closets or empty bedrooms, long walks and empty classrooms. They were practically joined at the hip when they weren’t working. And yet she was still waiting for him to say something, to ask her on a proper date. She was getting tired of waiting.
She found him one afternoon hunched over a table in the common room. He had a computer open in front of him, parts strewn everywhere as he tried to revive it from whatever catastrophic death it had recently faced. There was a yellow screwdriver in his mouth, bobbing up and down as he mumbled around it. He was lost in his own world, his hair sticking up at odd angles from where he’d run his hands through it. She loved to see him like this, doing what he loved. Her heart swelled and that was it. She was done waiting.
“Hey Bridge,” she said, sitting down in the chair next to him. He looked over at her and dropped the screwdriver in his lap.
“Hey, Z! I thought you were on duty all afternoon.” He beamed at her and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Lunch break. I wanted to ask you something. Do you want to go to a movie on Thursday? We’re both off after 7.” She reached up and began to straighten his hair. It would never lie flat, she knew, but she could at least get it into some semblance of an order. Besides, he liked it when she played with his hair. It relaxed him. He hummed low in his throat.
“Sure. Should I ask Sky or Syd if they want to go? Or we could call Jack and see if he’s free. Get the whole old team together.” Z frowned. That’s not what she meant. She didn’t think he was being purposefully obtuse, though.
“No, Bridge, that’s not quite what I meant. I just meant, go to the movies, you and me. Just you and me. Together. Alone.” She watched as realization dawned on him.
“You and me… like a date?” he asked. She nodded.
“Yes, a date.” He knit his brow together and she was suddenly second guessing herself. Maybe she had misread him. Maybe she was expecting more out of their make out sessions than he was.
“Why?” he finally asked. She frowned.
“I kind of thought that part was obvious. I mean, you pull me into closets just as much as I do you. I thought you enjoyed our make out sessions.”
“I do! I do. A lot. I just… why ME?” He seemed so confused.
“Because I like you, Bridge. You make me happy. When I’m around you, I get this lightness in my chest. I want to go on dates. With you.” He blushed. It was endearing. She could get used to seeing him like that.
“Yeah, okay. A movie. I’d like that. We should have dinner too! My treat.” She smiled wide and kissed him on the cheek.
“It’s a date,” she said as she stood up to leave. He beamed at her and she could feel his eyes follow her out of the room.
So he hadn’t gotten the picture right away. So maybe she’d have to be the one to steer things. She’d have to be in control of the relationship. She could live with that if it meant seeing him smile like that more often.
III. 2027
She was sitting on his lap in his newly minted Red Ranger room. He’d been promoted as Sky moved up in the ranks and he now had his own room. Okay, so technically it was his old room, but he was alone in it, the second set of furniture having been moved out to give him his privacy. As leader of the active ranger team, he was entitled. And as his second in command, Z thought nothing of just walking in and locking the door behind her. She had plans for today, if he was ready.
They were kissing slowly, lazily, and he’d removed his gloves to better feel her. It always felt so intimate when he did that, touched her bare skin. He rarely touched anybody without his gloves, a form of protection for his mind and emotions, and the fact that he trusted her so much proved to her they were ready for this step. She pulled back and he tried to follow, but his name on her lips stopped him. He leaned against the wall and she shifted, feeling the tension in his jeans.
“I wanted to see if, maybe, you were… ready,” she asked hesitantly. He wrinkled his brow.
“Ready for… what?” he asked. He was holding her hand loosely and she focused on her confidence, hoping to project it to him.
“Sex.” She could see it in his eyes, the debate he was having with himself. He wanted it. She knew he wanted it. But she could also understand his fear. He’d have to give himself over to her. He’d have to trust her to hold back at a time when she’d be most out of control of herself. It was the most intimate of touches and if she couldn’t control herself, her emotions could overwhelm him. She knew he was afraid. She didn’t want him to worry. She knew she was ready.
“It’s a big step, I know. But I’m ready. I think we are ready.” Bridge gripped her hand tighter and searched her eyes. He was still worried. She focused on the positive emotions, just as Hannah had taught her. She flooded herself with the assurance, the confidence, the unerring trust, and all the love she felt for him. She knew if she blocked out the worry and fear, if she just regulated them to a little box in the back of her mind and paid it no attention, he would only feel the positive emotions. He smiled at her, one of his sweet and caring smiles.
“Yes. We’re ready. Just… if I can’t handle it, if I have to stop, we stop.” Z pulled her shirt over her head and moved in a little closer. Bridge trailed his fingers down her bare shoulders and cupped her breasts before sliding behind her to unhook her bra. He captured her mouth in a kiss that was far more passionate and desperate than any other he had given her before. He wasn’t going to hold anything back, and Z embraced it.
IV. 2029
They were walking back to the Academy after Shabbat dinner when she brought it up. She had started to wonder if he ever would and so, like most of the other important life changing decisions in their relationship, she made the first move.
“How long have we been together, Bridge?” she asked. She already knew the answer, and she was pretty sure he did too, but she wanted to see if she could lead him to her thought destination first.
“Together like dating? Or together as friends? Because that would be four years. But if you mean together as a team, that would be four and a half. Except we’re not a team anymore because I stepped down and work on the network now and you’re Red. Only you’re still Yellow. Did you see how proud my mom was when you told her you refused to give up your colour and that Yellow could lead just as well as Red? I’ve never seen her give a more complimentary and involved blessing in my entire life.” Z smiled an indulgent little smile. Sure, he had taken it somewhere she hadn’t meant for him to go, but she liked his little tangents, even if she’d never admit it.
“I did. But that’s not what I meant. I meant how long we’ve been dating.”
“Oh. Three years, give or take a few months.” He knew that at least.
“I love you, you know that, right?” she asked. He stopped at the street light and smiled fondly at her.
“I feel your love all the time. And I love you just as much as you love me and I’m probably the only person that can say that with certainty. You are the most important person to me. I’d tear down the universe to get to you.” She felt her face flush and scuffed her feet to hide it. He never failed to make her feel special and it still made her uncomfortable sometimes.
“Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me, Bridge?” she asked. He seemed taken aback by the question, but he didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“I want to spend forever with you.”
“Let’s make it official.” She felt a rush of confidence surge through her as she looked up into his wide blue eyes.
“Do you want me to buy you a ring?” he asked. He at least knew what she intended with this conversation, but she suspected he wanted to hear her say it. And that was okay. She kind of liked being in control of this. When she answered, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Marry me, Bridge.”
V. 2033
She knew this would be a delicate conversation. They’d skirted around it before, but she’d never had the guts to bring it right out into the open. She knew he wouldn’t. She was pretty sure he’d say no. He was scared. She couldn’t blame him. She thought she understood his fears, but this was too big for her to just ignore. It was too important to just leave to chance.
“What’s bothering you?” Bridge asked over dinner. She looked up from her plate and caught his concern. He knew something was wrong.
“I’ve been thinking about where we’re going in life,” she said. He frowned and looked around them. They’d just bought this house not but a year ago. It was close to the Academy and close to Hannah. Z had accepted a teaching position with the new recruits and she’d happily handed the reins of leader over to Syd. It was the first time a Pink had been leader, but she was ready. Z didn’t want to be on active duty any longer. They were just settling in and she knew she was about to turn their world upside down yet again.
“Everything okay?” he asked. She pushed her green beans around her plate while she tried to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. “Baby, you’ve never had trouble talking to me before. What is it?” he whispered, reaching across the table for her hand. The minute he touched her, she blurted it out.
“I want to have a baby,” she said rather more bluntly than intended. Bridge pulled back immediately, almost as if burned.
“I thought we talked about this,” he mumbled, stabbing his green beans so forcefully the inside seed popped out. Z sighed.
“No, we haven’t really. I know you’re worried. It’ll be okay though. You’re great with the kids at the Academy. You’ll be a great dad.” She reached for him but he leaned back.
“Z…” he started.
“You’re not your father, Bridge.” She was so sure. He was worried for nothing.
“I know I’m not my father. He wasn’t a mutant with abnormal genes. I am. And so are you. What hope does a child with our combined genes have?” He was angry with her now; she could see it on his face. They rarely fought and it made her stomach turn. But she couldn’t back down, not until they’d really talked this out.
“Would it be so bad to have a child like us?” She searched his eyes, hoping to have hit something inside of him that might get him to open his ears and listen. He softened at her words.
“No, of course not. But we made it because we had a fighting chance at some normal genes. Any kids we have? Two parents with mutated genes? Z, would there be any hope they could even survive, that they’d be healthy? Could they make it? I couldn’t lose a child, Z. Get attached to the potential for life and then have it slip away because we’re broken. You might be strong enough, but I’m not.” She got it now. She thought she had understood, but he’d come up with the one concern that had never crossed her mind. She never even thought she wouldn’t be able to have children. She’d just always wanted them. He reached across the table and took her hand. She hadn’t realized she was crying.
“I’ll compromise. We’ll talk to Kat, see if she can do some genetic mapping, figure out what the odds are of having a healthy baby. Then we’ll talk about it, okay?” She nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to finish her dinner.
---------------------------
Two months later, Kat sat them down in her office. She’d done testing on both of them, bloodwork, reproductive virility, everything she could think of. She’d run the gamut, and then run it again just to make sure. And even with her thoroughness, Z was still terrified.
“I have good news. Your children, should you chose to reproduce, have as much likelihood of being healthy as any genetically normal couple. There could be some mutations that result in powers like your own, but if you are willing to risk raising a child with the same unique special needs you have dealt with, you have my all clear for a healthy baby.”
Z felt her eyes swim with tears of happiness. Bridge put his head between his knees as if he were about to pass out and she could hear him muttering under his breath. Baruch Hashem, over and over again. He was thanking a god he didn’t even believe in. Z couldn’t help it, she ran around the desk to hug Kat. She had given them hope. She went to hug Bridge, but instead of standing up, he collapsed to his knees on the ground and rested his forehead against her stomach.
“She’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. It’s alright.” Z didn’t understand what he meant. She cupped his cheeks in her hands and was surprised to find them wet with tears. He looked up into her eyes with such joy, such relief, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Bridge? We can talk about it now?” she asked quietly. He shook his head and her heart fell.
“Too late for talking. You’re already pregnant. Have been for about three weeks now. Purple ball, center of your aura, right in your womb. So scared. I was so scared, Z. I thought we’d lose her. But she’s going to be okay. She’s going to be okay!” She was glad Bridge was holding her so tight. As the shock hit her, she was sure she’d have to sit down.
Devorah Michelle was born 8 months later, happy, healthy, and strong as could be. Two years later, Bridge would bring up having another, and Zelda Lior would join her sister as the light of their father’s life. And like everything else she did in her life, their third child came as quite a surprise. Hannah Naomi was born five years after her big sister.
VI. 2089
Bridge was tired, so tired. His time was almost up, he knew. He’d held on for so long, didn’t want to miss a moment of his life, but now things were winding down. He wouldn’t make it much longer. He carefully rolled over in the bed he’d shared with Z for the past sixty years. Her frail body was a warm spot in a bed that always seemed cold these days. He snuggled in closer.
Sixty years they’d been married. They’d made and raised three wonderful daughters, all dealing with both the blessing and curse of unusual abilities, powers granted by unintentional genetic modification. Their daughters had gone on to be their own strong, beautiful women with full lives of their own and Bridge was proud of each and every one of them. He wouldn’t have traded his girls for anything.
Z had taught generations of students to protect the world. Bridge had worked on the technology to keep them safe. They’d had good friends, come and gone, and so much love he almost couldn’t believe it. He’d come such a long way from the lonely little boy, bullied and shunned for being different in more ways than one. Z, also, had overcome abandonment, bullying, and hardships Bridge hoped no child would ever have to face again. And she was an amazing woman. Bridge knew his life was all the richer for having had her in it.
But it was time to go now. Eighty five years was a long life to live for anybody. He wanted to stay, to see what would happen next, to spend just one more day with his wife. But he couldn’t. He was so tired. He didn’t have the strength left in him to fight any longer. He looked at her sleeping form, her grey hair fanned on the pillow beside him. Her breathing was steady and strong, her body warm and soft. He hugged her to him, gripping her hand in his shaking, frail fingers. Bridge closed his eyes and sighed, one last, deep breath. Holding his entire life in his arms, he slipped away peacefully in his sleep.
Z woke to a cool heaviness in the bed beside her. She knew immediately what had happened, and her heart shattered before she even looked at him. He was still smiling. Her daughters and granddaughters took over the arrangements, set up the funeral, and made sure there were enough shomerim to sit with his body until the burial. They took care of the house and each other. They said kaddish with her, their hearts torn asunder. Z sat shiva, but it was all a blur. A huge piece of her was missing, buried in the ground and at eighty-one years old, she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from the loss. Z had always had to do everything first. She’d never expected Bridge to beat her to death.
A week after the funeral, Devorah came by the house to bring her mother to Shabbat dinner. She walked in to find Z sitting in her chair in the living room, the lights off, a book fallen on the floor in front of her. Devorah cried bitter tears as she closed her mother’s eyes, and for the second time in as many weeks, made a devastating call to her sisters.
“Mom’s gone to join Dad.”
“Should have expected it. They were a team, right to the end.”
“He had to make sure everything was perfect for her, I guess.”
“It’s just us now. I’ll miss them.”
“Love you, Mom. Take care of her, Dad.”
“Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash shemei raba…”
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Pairing: Bridge/Z
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Z has to make all the first moves in their relationship.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were, because there'd have been more romance and far more ACTUAL Jewishness... but as evidence by the episodes, I don't own any part of them. I just like to take them out to play once in awhile.
Warning: Character death. Hint at the possibility of sex without any graphic information.
I. 2026
Z never understood why Bridge liked watching her read. It baffled her and he’d never been able to offer an explanation that made any sort of sense. But then, that was Bridge. She found his staring, his observing, very distracting, sometimes to the point of not even being able to finish reading. He didn’t seem to care, though, and that irritated her more than the watching. He would just sit and watch with a small smile on his face, as if he knew something she didn’t.
Sometimes he’d be across the room, casually observing her while she read. She didn’t even always notice when he watched her like that, and when she did, she didn’t mind as much. He was out of the way. Unobtrusive. But then there were times like this one. Times he would sit so close she could hear him breathing, could feel the heat coming off his body. His eyes would bore into her head no matter which way she turned and then it would bother her. He was sitting there now, right behind her, so close that if she leaned back even a fraction of an inch, she’d be leaning against his chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Watching you read,” he answered. She rolled her eyes. That was the most obnoxious, obvious answer she’d ever heard.
“Can you not?” She shifted and felt her shoulder brush up against his chest.
“No. I like to.” She sighed and slammed her book shut.
“Why? I’m just reading. It’s nothing special.” She really wished he’d stop.
“You let your guard down when you’re distracted. Your face shows everything you’re feeling and thinking and doing. Or will do. Or want to do. Or whatever. I can guess what’s going on with you. You read your book and I read you.” That was the most irritating answer she could have gotten, and certainly not what she expected to hear. He made little sense and what she had picked up sounded almost like an insult. An unintentional insult, yes, but an insult nonetheless.
“So you think I’m predictable?” she asked, turning to face him. They were so close. She should back up or this could get ugly, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to take her knee off his.
“Uh-huh!” he responded as he waggled his eyebrows. If he were eating toast, she’d shove it in that smug little mouth of his. But he wasn’t eating toast, not today. And she wasn’t predictable. She’d prove it.
“Know what I’m going to do now?” she asked. He flinched.
“Yell at me?” he asked. She didn’t want him to be right. She had to change course of action and fast.
“I’ll show you predictable,” she muttered as she leaned in to do the first opposite to yelling she could think of. She kissed him. She hadn’t intended it to linger more than a second or two, but his lips were soft and he tasted so smooth. She didn’t want to stop, and he certainly didn’t seem to be pulling back anytime soon either. She had to stop this. This wasn’t what she’d meant to do. She pulled back and tried to catch her breath, tried to stop her heart from pounding.
He surprised her when he reached up and slid his hand along the back of her neck. The leather of his gloves was cool to the touch and sent a shiver up her spine. He nudged her, gently, towards him, and it was all the prompting she needed. She eagerly leaned back towards him as he met her halfway, kissing her slowly, savouring every second, and holding absolutely nothing back. This was what it was supposed to be like. This was heaven.
II. 2026
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since the first accidental kiss. There’d been plenty more after that, moments stolen in closets or empty bedrooms, long walks and empty classrooms. They were practically joined at the hip when they weren’t working. And yet she was still waiting for him to say something, to ask her on a proper date. She was getting tired of waiting.
She found him one afternoon hunched over a table in the common room. He had a computer open in front of him, parts strewn everywhere as he tried to revive it from whatever catastrophic death it had recently faced. There was a yellow screwdriver in his mouth, bobbing up and down as he mumbled around it. He was lost in his own world, his hair sticking up at odd angles from where he’d run his hands through it. She loved to see him like this, doing what he loved. Her heart swelled and that was it. She was done waiting.
“Hey Bridge,” she said, sitting down in the chair next to him. He looked over at her and dropped the screwdriver in his lap.
“Hey, Z! I thought you were on duty all afternoon.” He beamed at her and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Lunch break. I wanted to ask you something. Do you want to go to a movie on Thursday? We’re both off after 7.” She reached up and began to straighten his hair. It would never lie flat, she knew, but she could at least get it into some semblance of an order. Besides, he liked it when she played with his hair. It relaxed him. He hummed low in his throat.
“Sure. Should I ask Sky or Syd if they want to go? Or we could call Jack and see if he’s free. Get the whole old team together.” Z frowned. That’s not what she meant. She didn’t think he was being purposefully obtuse, though.
“No, Bridge, that’s not quite what I meant. I just meant, go to the movies, you and me. Just you and me. Together. Alone.” She watched as realization dawned on him.
“You and me… like a date?” he asked. She nodded.
“Yes, a date.” He knit his brow together and she was suddenly second guessing herself. Maybe she had misread him. Maybe she was expecting more out of their make out sessions than he was.
“Why?” he finally asked. She frowned.
“I kind of thought that part was obvious. I mean, you pull me into closets just as much as I do you. I thought you enjoyed our make out sessions.”
“I do! I do. A lot. I just… why ME?” He seemed so confused.
“Because I like you, Bridge. You make me happy. When I’m around you, I get this lightness in my chest. I want to go on dates. With you.” He blushed. It was endearing. She could get used to seeing him like that.
“Yeah, okay. A movie. I’d like that. We should have dinner too! My treat.” She smiled wide and kissed him on the cheek.
“It’s a date,” she said as she stood up to leave. He beamed at her and she could feel his eyes follow her out of the room.
So he hadn’t gotten the picture right away. So maybe she’d have to be the one to steer things. She’d have to be in control of the relationship. She could live with that if it meant seeing him smile like that more often.
III. 2027
She was sitting on his lap in his newly minted Red Ranger room. He’d been promoted as Sky moved up in the ranks and he now had his own room. Okay, so technically it was his old room, but he was alone in it, the second set of furniture having been moved out to give him his privacy. As leader of the active ranger team, he was entitled. And as his second in command, Z thought nothing of just walking in and locking the door behind her. She had plans for today, if he was ready.
They were kissing slowly, lazily, and he’d removed his gloves to better feel her. It always felt so intimate when he did that, touched her bare skin. He rarely touched anybody without his gloves, a form of protection for his mind and emotions, and the fact that he trusted her so much proved to her they were ready for this step. She pulled back and he tried to follow, but his name on her lips stopped him. He leaned against the wall and she shifted, feeling the tension in his jeans.
“I wanted to see if, maybe, you were… ready,” she asked hesitantly. He wrinkled his brow.
“Ready for… what?” he asked. He was holding her hand loosely and she focused on her confidence, hoping to project it to him.
“Sex.” She could see it in his eyes, the debate he was having with himself. He wanted it. She knew he wanted it. But she could also understand his fear. He’d have to give himself over to her. He’d have to trust her to hold back at a time when she’d be most out of control of herself. It was the most intimate of touches and if she couldn’t control herself, her emotions could overwhelm him. She knew he was afraid. She didn’t want him to worry. She knew she was ready.
“It’s a big step, I know. But I’m ready. I think we are ready.” Bridge gripped her hand tighter and searched her eyes. He was still worried. She focused on the positive emotions, just as Hannah had taught her. She flooded herself with the assurance, the confidence, the unerring trust, and all the love she felt for him. She knew if she blocked out the worry and fear, if she just regulated them to a little box in the back of her mind and paid it no attention, he would only feel the positive emotions. He smiled at her, one of his sweet and caring smiles.
“Yes. We’re ready. Just… if I can’t handle it, if I have to stop, we stop.” Z pulled her shirt over her head and moved in a little closer. Bridge trailed his fingers down her bare shoulders and cupped her breasts before sliding behind her to unhook her bra. He captured her mouth in a kiss that was far more passionate and desperate than any other he had given her before. He wasn’t going to hold anything back, and Z embraced it.
IV. 2029
They were walking back to the Academy after Shabbat dinner when she brought it up. She had started to wonder if he ever would and so, like most of the other important life changing decisions in their relationship, she made the first move.
“How long have we been together, Bridge?” she asked. She already knew the answer, and she was pretty sure he did too, but she wanted to see if she could lead him to her thought destination first.
“Together like dating? Or together as friends? Because that would be four years. But if you mean together as a team, that would be four and a half. Except we’re not a team anymore because I stepped down and work on the network now and you’re Red. Only you’re still Yellow. Did you see how proud my mom was when you told her you refused to give up your colour and that Yellow could lead just as well as Red? I’ve never seen her give a more complimentary and involved blessing in my entire life.” Z smiled an indulgent little smile. Sure, he had taken it somewhere she hadn’t meant for him to go, but she liked his little tangents, even if she’d never admit it.
“I did. But that’s not what I meant. I meant how long we’ve been dating.”
“Oh. Three years, give or take a few months.” He knew that at least.
“I love you, you know that, right?” she asked. He stopped at the street light and smiled fondly at her.
“I feel your love all the time. And I love you just as much as you love me and I’m probably the only person that can say that with certainty. You are the most important person to me. I’d tear down the universe to get to you.” She felt her face flush and scuffed her feet to hide it. He never failed to make her feel special and it still made her uncomfortable sometimes.
“Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me, Bridge?” she asked. He seemed taken aback by the question, but he didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“I want to spend forever with you.”
“Let’s make it official.” She felt a rush of confidence surge through her as she looked up into his wide blue eyes.
“Do you want me to buy you a ring?” he asked. He at least knew what she intended with this conversation, but she suspected he wanted to hear her say it. And that was okay. She kind of liked being in control of this. When she answered, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Marry me, Bridge.”
V. 2033
She knew this would be a delicate conversation. They’d skirted around it before, but she’d never had the guts to bring it right out into the open. She knew he wouldn’t. She was pretty sure he’d say no. He was scared. She couldn’t blame him. She thought she understood his fears, but this was too big for her to just ignore. It was too important to just leave to chance.
“What’s bothering you?” Bridge asked over dinner. She looked up from her plate and caught his concern. He knew something was wrong.
“I’ve been thinking about where we’re going in life,” she said. He frowned and looked around them. They’d just bought this house not but a year ago. It was close to the Academy and close to Hannah. Z had accepted a teaching position with the new recruits and she’d happily handed the reins of leader over to Syd. It was the first time a Pink had been leader, but she was ready. Z didn’t want to be on active duty any longer. They were just settling in and she knew she was about to turn their world upside down yet again.
“Everything okay?” he asked. She pushed her green beans around her plate while she tried to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. “Baby, you’ve never had trouble talking to me before. What is it?” he whispered, reaching across the table for her hand. The minute he touched her, she blurted it out.
“I want to have a baby,” she said rather more bluntly than intended. Bridge pulled back immediately, almost as if burned.
“I thought we talked about this,” he mumbled, stabbing his green beans so forcefully the inside seed popped out. Z sighed.
“No, we haven’t really. I know you’re worried. It’ll be okay though. You’re great with the kids at the Academy. You’ll be a great dad.” She reached for him but he leaned back.
“Z…” he started.
“You’re not your father, Bridge.” She was so sure. He was worried for nothing.
“I know I’m not my father. He wasn’t a mutant with abnormal genes. I am. And so are you. What hope does a child with our combined genes have?” He was angry with her now; she could see it on his face. They rarely fought and it made her stomach turn. But she couldn’t back down, not until they’d really talked this out.
“Would it be so bad to have a child like us?” She searched his eyes, hoping to have hit something inside of him that might get him to open his ears and listen. He softened at her words.
“No, of course not. But we made it because we had a fighting chance at some normal genes. Any kids we have? Two parents with mutated genes? Z, would there be any hope they could even survive, that they’d be healthy? Could they make it? I couldn’t lose a child, Z. Get attached to the potential for life and then have it slip away because we’re broken. You might be strong enough, but I’m not.” She got it now. She thought she had understood, but he’d come up with the one concern that had never crossed her mind. She never even thought she wouldn’t be able to have children. She’d just always wanted them. He reached across the table and took her hand. She hadn’t realized she was crying.
“I’ll compromise. We’ll talk to Kat, see if she can do some genetic mapping, figure out what the odds are of having a healthy baby. Then we’ll talk about it, okay?” She nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to finish her dinner.
---------------------------
Two months later, Kat sat them down in her office. She’d done testing on both of them, bloodwork, reproductive virility, everything she could think of. She’d run the gamut, and then run it again just to make sure. And even with her thoroughness, Z was still terrified.
“I have good news. Your children, should you chose to reproduce, have as much likelihood of being healthy as any genetically normal couple. There could be some mutations that result in powers like your own, but if you are willing to risk raising a child with the same unique special needs you have dealt with, you have my all clear for a healthy baby.”
Z felt her eyes swim with tears of happiness. Bridge put his head between his knees as if he were about to pass out and she could hear him muttering under his breath. Baruch Hashem, over and over again. He was thanking a god he didn’t even believe in. Z couldn’t help it, she ran around the desk to hug Kat. She had given them hope. She went to hug Bridge, but instead of standing up, he collapsed to his knees on the ground and rested his forehead against her stomach.
“She’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. It’s alright.” Z didn’t understand what he meant. She cupped his cheeks in her hands and was surprised to find them wet with tears. He looked up into her eyes with such joy, such relief, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Bridge? We can talk about it now?” she asked quietly. He shook his head and her heart fell.
“Too late for talking. You’re already pregnant. Have been for about three weeks now. Purple ball, center of your aura, right in your womb. So scared. I was so scared, Z. I thought we’d lose her. But she’s going to be okay. She’s going to be okay!” She was glad Bridge was holding her so tight. As the shock hit her, she was sure she’d have to sit down.
Devorah Michelle was born 8 months later, happy, healthy, and strong as could be. Two years later, Bridge would bring up having another, and Zelda Lior would join her sister as the light of their father’s life. And like everything else she did in her life, their third child came as quite a surprise. Hannah Naomi was born five years after her big sister.
VI. 2089
Bridge was tired, so tired. His time was almost up, he knew. He’d held on for so long, didn’t want to miss a moment of his life, but now things were winding down. He wouldn’t make it much longer. He carefully rolled over in the bed he’d shared with Z for the past sixty years. Her frail body was a warm spot in a bed that always seemed cold these days. He snuggled in closer.
Sixty years they’d been married. They’d made and raised three wonderful daughters, all dealing with both the blessing and curse of unusual abilities, powers granted by unintentional genetic modification. Their daughters had gone on to be their own strong, beautiful women with full lives of their own and Bridge was proud of each and every one of them. He wouldn’t have traded his girls for anything.
Z had taught generations of students to protect the world. Bridge had worked on the technology to keep them safe. They’d had good friends, come and gone, and so much love he almost couldn’t believe it. He’d come such a long way from the lonely little boy, bullied and shunned for being different in more ways than one. Z, also, had overcome abandonment, bullying, and hardships Bridge hoped no child would ever have to face again. And she was an amazing woman. Bridge knew his life was all the richer for having had her in it.
But it was time to go now. Eighty five years was a long life to live for anybody. He wanted to stay, to see what would happen next, to spend just one more day with his wife. But he couldn’t. He was so tired. He didn’t have the strength left in him to fight any longer. He looked at her sleeping form, her grey hair fanned on the pillow beside him. Her breathing was steady and strong, her body warm and soft. He hugged her to him, gripping her hand in his shaking, frail fingers. Bridge closed his eyes and sighed, one last, deep breath. Holding his entire life in his arms, he slipped away peacefully in his sleep.
Z woke to a cool heaviness in the bed beside her. She knew immediately what had happened, and her heart shattered before she even looked at him. He was still smiling. Her daughters and granddaughters took over the arrangements, set up the funeral, and made sure there were enough shomerim to sit with his body until the burial. They took care of the house and each other. They said kaddish with her, their hearts torn asunder. Z sat shiva, but it was all a blur. A huge piece of her was missing, buried in the ground and at eighty-one years old, she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from the loss. Z had always had to do everything first. She’d never expected Bridge to beat her to death.
A week after the funeral, Devorah came by the house to bring her mother to Shabbat dinner. She walked in to find Z sitting in her chair in the living room, the lights off, a book fallen on the floor in front of her. Devorah cried bitter tears as she closed her mother’s eyes, and for the second time in as many weeks, made a devastating call to her sisters.
“Mom’s gone to join Dad.”
“Should have expected it. They were a team, right to the end.”
“He had to make sure everything was perfect for her, I guess.”
“It’s just us now. I’ll miss them.”
“Love you, Mom. Take care of her, Dad.”
“Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash shemei raba…”
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Date: 2010-05-02 02:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-02 02:05 pm (UTC)