Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)
Rated: NC-17
Disclaimer: All characters within this fiction are the property of Cameron/ Eglee. I just like to play with them.
Timeline: Six weeks after FN.
Pairing M/A
Summary: An unexpected accident causes Max to think about the future in a new way.
Chapter Eight
A Picture’s Worth
Max had finally left Joshua’s still no closer to an answer than she had been when Joshua first asked his ultimate question. ‘You gonna tell Alec?’ Was she? Could she tell Alec what she had told Joshua? That she had no memory of falling in love with him. That she didn’t remember being in an accident, or being sick or any of the multitude of things that had happened in that long time. She shuddered slightly as she let herself into their apartment. She stood in the doorway, taking in the evidence of their life. ‘How the hell could I lose a year and a half of my life?’ she demanded of herself angrily. And such an important time it was too. Of all the happenings in her life, these were the most momentous. She had gotten married for God’s sake.
She slid the door shut behind her, seeing no reason to have more strange behavior attributed to her by anyone passing by. She glanced at the clock mounted in the kitchen, above the counter by the stove. She still had an hour before Alec had said he’d be home. And right now, all she wanted was a nice long soak to try and forget the things weighing so heavily on her mind.
*****
It was a few minutes after six when Max finally roused herself out of the water. She’d sensed the time internally and confirmed it when she emerged from the bathroom, tightening the sash on her robe. She bit her lip, wondering why Alec was late. Although his lateness was minor, it was still a relief in a way for her. She had certainly not solved her new dilemma. To tell or not to tell. She looked at the clock again, then at the front door. He had said that he would be home fro dinner. Dinner was at six-thirty. She was certain of that. So that still gave her some time to come up with a meal. But Max had the feeling that she still wasn’t any great shakes in the kitchen. But still, she could at least get something started. An idea would come to her, or by that time Alec would be home and he’d take over like he usually did. She barely even noticed the jolt of recognition as she recalled another piece of their lives. She smiled softly as she made her way into the kitchen. A hurried glance through the cupboards showed the evidence of her inadequacy in the kitchen. She rifled through the pre-packaged foods and easy to make dinner boxes that someone had stocked up on. A cursory glance through the refrigerator told the same story. She giggled to herself as she finally chose a few things and set them on the counter. But as she was pulling a pan from the lower cupboard, the telephone rang.
She hurried over to it, not liking how loud the tone was set. Obviously Alec was a heavy sleeper if the phone had to be set that loud. "Hello?"
"Hey Alec," she smiled even though he couldn’t see her, her knees going a little bit weaker in a way that had nothing to do with the steaming hot bath she’d just finished.
"Where else would I be?" she demanded sulkily, but playful. It just felt so right to be bantering like this. Back and forth without the former animosity.
"I got home about an hour ago," she informed him. "Took a nice hot bath, relaxed a bit." She lowered her voice slightly, taunting him. He groaned, he whined.
She chuckled low in her throat. "Well then hurry up and get it done and get your ass home."
He laughed as well.
Max laughed again as she set the phone down, but her eyes caught the gleam of her rings once again. Could she tell Alec? Should she? Her eyelids drooped closed as she imagined the pained look on his face that would certainly be there if she told him the truth. She lifted her hand to her cheek, feeling the slim band and rough gem rubbing over the satiny skin of her jawbone. How could she do that to him? She lifted her other hand and adjusted the rings, making them sparkle even more as the light caught them anew. She couldn’t. It was as plain and as simple as that. While these feelings of love might be new to her, they weren’t for Alec. And there was no way she was going to possibly ruin what they had, what she’d unconsciously craved all her life, hurt him unnecessarily just because her memories were on the run for a while. And she was determined that they would come back. One way or another, she’d remember.
The problem was, she didn’t know where to start. All day long, the memories had just seeped in, catching her unaware. She tried forcing them, but that hadn’t really panned out. What she needed was a trigger. She inhaled sharply as she realized that there had to be one somewhere in the apartment. Dinner forgotten, she hurried over to the bookshelf that stood in the living room. She ran her hand along the shelves, looking for something. With a small shout of triumph, she found what she wanted.
Joshua had had a picture of her and Alec from their wedding. One wedding photograph usually meant more. Why have just one picture of such a happy occasion? From what she remembered of Bennet and Marianne Cale’s wedding, the photographer they’d hired had been endlessly snapping pictures. Unless of course she and Alec hadn’t been able to get a photographer. But they’d been all dressed up, it seemed like it had been a big affair. Curiously, she opened up the large white volume in her hands to the first page. She sighed in relief as it was definitely what she’d hoped it had been. Their wedding album. She hurried over to the couch, making herself comfortable, drawing her legs up in a familiar position. She opened the book reverently, taking in the first page. Her lips curled up in a smile as she read the inscription on the first page.
To Alec & Max McDowell
For their wedding
February 28th 2022
Love, Cindy
All photographs courtesy of Calvin S. Theodore
She chuckled. Good old Sketchy had put his camera to good use for once. She wondered idly what he was doing now. But she was much more interested in what she had been up to. She slowly leafed through the pages, taking in each photo with a practiced eye, searching for details that would possibly provide more clues. She made it all the way to the end, still remembering nothing. She sighed as she shut the book forcibly. She had really thought this would help. Her head fell back against the cushions behind her. Was she trying to hard? Probably. She opened it again to her favorite picture so far. She stared at it, a dreamy look coming over her face. Original Cindy’s delicate scrawl underneath the picture outlined for her the moment, as if she couldn’t have guessed. Their first kiss as husband and wife. Max waited a moment, but nothing came. She flipped over to another page, finding a copy of the photograph that Joshua was painting from. But still there was nothing. She moved on into the reception. She recognized the familiar building, seeing HQ all dolled up in honor of them.
Her eye was caught on Alec’s face in one of the photos. She smirked to himself as she took in the picture again. Above that picture were shots of them cutting a large sheet cake with their names written in burgundy and pink frosting. The picture that had captured her attention was one of her feeding Alec a bite of cake. He looked hungry for more than just the cake she was offering him and she felt a warm tingle go straight down her spine. She relished it for a moment, waiting for more memories of heated looks, but none came.
‘I wonder if I did the time honored tradition of smushing the cake in his face?’ she mused. But she couldn’t have, because shortly after the dancing had begun, some of the younger X- series had gotten into a food fight with it. Max grinned as she flipped through the rest of the book quickly again. She was right. She’d just had another memory, as nowhere in the book were there signs of the food fight that she remembered as if it were yesterday. She laughed out loud just as the door slammed shut.
"Hey honey," Alec called. "I’m home."
"Hey," Max gasped out between chuckles. Alec moved into view kicking off his shoes. He was about to flop down next to her on the couch, but she recovered enough to give him somewhat of an evil eye.
"Oh all right, all right," he moaned as he moved back to pick up the shoes where they lay. "Happy?" he asked, grumpily.
"No," she muttered, frowning at him. He stared at her moment, puzzled, until she pointed at the other pair from before. With a roll of his eyes, he swept them up as well and mimed carry a large load as he pretended to stagger towards the bedroom. Max grinned at his back and quickly schooled her features into a calm manner. The smile threatened again as he just chucked the shoes into the bedroom, not caring where they landed. A little rebellion, one that she let slide. He returned to lean over the couch.
"What’cha looking at?" he asked sweetly.
"Wedding album," she answered softly, glancing up over her shoulder at him. He was looking down at the book in her lap.
"Oh yeah," he nodded, giving her a quick peck on her temple. "Man, we haven’t looked at that in a while." She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
"I was just remembering the food fight,’ she was proud of how steady her voice was.
"Christ!" he swore, laughing as the memory caught him. "Remember Mole? I still can’t believe that Dirk snuffed his cigar in the remains. That kid ruined the only good piece left of the cake. I was going to eat it too," he sighed regretfully. Max was glad that her chuckles seemed to satisfy him. She didn’t remember that. But just imagining the big lizard’s reaction to that was enough to set her off. "Speaking of food," Alec continued, "what’s for supper?"
"Food," she replied absently.
"What kind of food?"
"Edible food."
"What kind of edible food?" he asked in a sing-song voice, as if this was all familiar to him.
"Edible food from the kitchen," she grinned up at him. This definitely felt familiar. He rolled his eyes at her.
"Don’t tell me you didn’t at least start something cooking?" he groaned.
"Hey, I got caught up looking at pictures of our wedding," she paused and added softly. "Our absolutely beautiful wedding." Alec tickled her shoulder, enjoying the dreamy look in her eyes. He pushed off the sofa, and headed to the kitchen. Max could hear him rattling around as she looked back at her favorite photo again.
"You know what my favorite part of the wedding was?" he called out to her.
"What?"
"The wedding night!"
Max’s breath caught in her chest. She hadn’t even thought of that. Was that the first time they’d made love. She recalled that morning and was almost sure it hadn’t been. But it had to have been special. Their first time as husband and wife. But Max could recall none of it. She closed the book, and set it on the coffee table, her movements jerky and absent-minded. She cursed inwardly again, for what seemed the millionth time that day. She looked towards the kitchen, taking in Alec’s strong form as he moved back and forth between the counter and the fridge. Pulling out more items to whip something up.
Max was tired already of the situation. She wanted her memories back. The good, the bad, the lovemaking. But her wish was not to be granted. Determined, she stood and moved towards her husband. ‘If I can’t have my memories back just yet, then I’ll have to make some new ones.
"So, you in the mood for pas-tah?" Alec called out with a laugh, accentuating the last word.
"I don’t think I’m hungry right now," Max whispered. Alec continued what he was doing, putting the pan under the stream of water he’d started in the sink.
"Oh come on Maxie," he chuckled. “Supper is like, the third most important meal of the day."
"I’m not hungry," she murmured again. Something in her tone finally caught her attention as he glanced back over his shoulder to see the robe she’d been wearing slipping down over her shoulders to lay tantalizingly across her gleaming breasts. Alec swallowed heavily, barely realizing that the pot he was holding was overflowing, sloshing warm water all over his hand. "Not for food, anyway," she amended, smiling seductively at him.
Chapter Nine
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