There's Got To Be A Morning After


"It's all there, you know," Joimus sighed, snuggling more  deeply into Maximus' bare chest.

"My chest hairs?" he chuckled. He felt great this morning. He hadn't drunk much during the party, feeling of  responsibility as his to watch over its progress and the well-being of his guests. And he laid there now, in his own bed, a well-loved man.

She  nipped at them in response, eliciting a small,  "Ooo!"

"Everything  but the cold things," she replied, shaking her head slightly. "And those were improperly stuffed into the refrigerator just so they wouldn't rot  overnight."

"I will help," he offered.

"You've got the horses to  tend to, my beloved husband."

"East is there now. It will not take me  nearly as long, you know."

She nodded, glad of that. "I guess I should  get up. None of it is going to go away all by itself."  Then she became  aware of something against her thigh that was also not going to go away. 

"The bowls of chips can wait, I suppose," she smiled, turning completely into him.

Later, showered and dressed in slacks, she stood in her  kitchen surveying the debris from New Year's Eve. Fifty or so guests eating  and drinking could do that to a house. But she was glad she'd had the party.  It had given her the opportunity to meet so many of their new neighbors and for  them also to meet each other. The sense of community in the Glen had deepened as  a result.

A goodly number of the balloons had sagged in the night,  hanging woundedly in odd-looking suspension or resting on the seats of  furniture, some on the floor. She got out a sewing needle and set about  popping them. They would take up less room that way in the  trash.


Jack Aubrey jumped out of bed with a start. He'd been dreaming  of a great battle at sea and suddenly there was gunfire, gunfire that seemed  very real.

His heart was beating a mile a minute until he realized where  he was. A smile crossed his face and he shook his head.

His beloved  Siren was still sound asleep and he wondered what filled her dreams right  now.  Her reached down to stroke her hair but she didn't stir. 

"Sleep, my dear." He whispered before kissing her cheek.

A short  while later he arrived in the living room, his hair still damp from the quick  shower he took. Jack was feeling pretty dang fine this morning. He had no ill  effects from the previous nights bout of drinking and fun. Typical.


"Good morning, Joimus," he announced, startling the heck out  of her. "Do accept my apology, my good woman, but is it not the most glorious  morning of this year so far?"

"Jack!" She dropped the partially-filled  bowl of pretzels on the kitchen floor, its contents skittering under the  refrigerator and elsewhere like little mice frightened by a cat.  "You're  up?" she said then shook her head. Obviously he was up. "Glorious morning?" she  repeated, waiting for her heart to stop pounding. "I guess so, Jack." She  took a deep breath. "It is, you may remember, the only morning we've had so far  this year."

"My apologies, Joimus."

Jack bent to pick up some of  the pretzels at about the same time she did. They bumped heads with a dull  'clunk' and he backed up, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. 

"Please, accept my apologies again. Sit down, Joimus, and let me get  these blasted twisted ...things."

He did make an interesting sight down  there on his hands and knees. The big sailor was not quite built for fishing  things out from under a refrigerator. When he stood the color of his face was as  red as the cross in the Union
Jack. "I do know that this is the first morning of  the year, my friend, but it is a fine day, a very fine day indeed. I awoke  feeling rejuvenated, which I believe is more than I can say for  Bridgid."

"Oh, dear," Joimus sighed, not really surprised. "How is she  doing?"

"Sleeping like a new born babe," he grinned as he handed her the  bowl. "I would venture a guess that when she awakes she will more than likely  have the personality of a mean old she-bear, though." He thought for a moment, 
wondering why the thoughts of a she-bear scared him. Shaking it off, he cleared  his throat. "What else can I assist you with? I am not much when it comes to domestic issues but I am sure I can be of some assistance in retrieving these flying orbs."

Too bad he didn't see Bridgid standing in the door frame.  Her arms were crossed over her chest and her hair was as wild as ever. She  tapped her toe rather loudly after his statement.

"Good morning ,Joi,"  she rumbled with her dry throat. "Good morning, Jack. She-bear, huh?" 

Jack raised his chin and clasped his hands behind his back as if he were  not the least bit rattled. "Siren, are you well?"

"I'm not hibernating  any longer, if that answerers your question." She tried not to grin and it  actually wasn't hard considering how badly her head was pounding. "Joi, what can  I help you with?"

"Well," Joimus replied, trying to take into  consideration that any task that required bending over would probably explode  her cousin's head, "if you could gather up some of the paper plates and  napkins? I have a big trash bag here for those."  She actually thought  Bridgid should probably just sit down, but knew she wouldn't. "Maximus will  return shortly from the stables and we can all have breakfast. Would you like  some scrambled eggs, Bridgid?"

The very thought of scrambled eggs just  sent her into a tail spin. She raised her hands to her head and swooned as her  stomach churned.

Jack on the other hand rubbed his hands together. "Breakfast. I knew there was something on my mind. Eggs sound perfect, Joimus. I  will go to the stable to see where the General is. Bridgid can help you prepare  the  morning meal."

He took long strides toward the back door,  stopping briefly to kiss Bridgid who was quite green around the gills. She  watched as Jack vanished. Taking a deep cleansing breath, she turned to her  friend.  "Have you got any secret recipes for hangover relief, Joi? I'm  really paying for last night."

"Um, well, not really. I've heard of  something with raw eggs, tomato juice and Tabasco sauce, I believe. There may be  more ingredients. I'm not sure. We could try those three, though. Would you like  me to whip you up some?"

"Ack!" she replied. Her face was twisted up as  if she were going to barf. "How about we skip anything and everything to do with  eggs. I'll just take the tomato juice with the Tabasco and a couple of paracetamol. Dang why don't they call them Tylenol over here?"

Bridgid  sat down at the table in Joi's kitchen. A balloon popped and scared the tar out  of her, causing her hands to go from her head to her chest. "Holy cow I think  I'm going to die. Joi, will you see to it that Jack is taken care of if I do?  Remind him on a daily basis that it was his fault this happened
to  me."

"Yes, Bridgid, I will be sure to remind him. You can count on  me."  She produced the requisite Tylenol from a cabinet, provided a cup of  water, and then poured a tall glass of tomato juice. Looking back at the  miserable woman at
her table, she smiled fondly. "How much Tabasco, do you  think?"

"Just keep pouring. I don't want drops, I want teaspoons of it.  It'll either make me barf and get this over with or kill me. Ohhhh, I really  want to die right now."

"I'd rather you didn't," Joimus chuckled. "You'd  probably crush the pretzels Jack left on the floor."  When Bridgid moaned  again, she dumped an unknown amount of Tabasco in the juice, hurriedly  stirred it, and set it in front of her
cousin. "Here, try it. I hope it'll  help."  She eyed the glass. It seemed very...brown...to her. Oh, dear.


Maximus looked up as Jack wandered into the stables. He set  down the hoof he and East had been examining together. "Good morning, Jack. Is  breakfast ready?" He presumed that was why the Captain had come down. 

"Good day to you, General. The woman are working on breakfast and I  reckoned it best I stay out of their way." He nodded to East, remembering him  from the night before. "Good day, sir. Is there a problem with this horse?" he 
asked, just to kill time. "A bit of thrush perhaps?"

Maximus looked back  at the mare. "A slight bit of inflammation of the frog. Nothing serious yet, but  I want to keep it that way." Jack followed him to the sink as he washed his  hands. "East has a way with the horses," he smiled.
"He is a good man."   They both looked back to where East was murmuring something softly near the  mare's ear.

Turning his gaze to the Captain again, he asked, "How is  Bridgid this morning?"

Jack shook his head. "My Siren is in need of a tonic with a bit of  the hair of the dog, I fear. She will, however, be fine in a few hours. A  lesson learned. Never try to outdo one who is more experienced with the evil side of the
grape."

Taking a deep breath, Jack let it out with a grumble. "I never could understand the desire to dwell amongst these beasts. You are lucky to have a man such as East who seems to be favored by them. He does seem a bit of a lone wolf, though. A decade or two in the service would fix that right up. Anyway, should we see if there is a hot breakfast waiting for us? I am quite famished."

"I am, as well." Maximus turned briefly to East. "You are all right?" When the young man smiled and nodded, then continued to tend the mare, Maximus put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "A good breakfast, yes? A perfect start to a new year." His smile widened when he considered how truly perfect a start he'd had shortly before leaving his bed.

When they arrived side by side in the kitchen, Joimus was still putting chips back into bags and going back and forth to the refrigerator with containers of properly stored food. Balloons still sagged here and there, the trash was nearly overflowing, and the sink was filled with scraped but not yet washed dishes. Bridgid sat at the table, only one eye open, staring at a glass of disgustingly brown something.

Maximus' smile immediately faded and he came to his wife, giving her a small kiss on her temple. "Let me empty the trash," he said, "then I shall be back to rid the house of balloons."

"I haven't had a chance to start breakfast yet," she sighed, kicking a pretzel.

"We could go out for breakfast," Bridgid groaned. "I'm sure Millie's is serving. It would be a lot easier."

Peeking through her fingers she noticed the look on both of the men's faces. They surely preferred a home cooked meal to eating in a restaurant even if the food at Millie's was pretty darn good. How could she even suggest it?

"Never mind. Forget I mentioned it. Joi, I'll get this mess cleaned up if you'd like to start the eggs. I'm being a pretty bad guest, sitting here on my arse. Just please, start the coffee first"

She stood up with another groan and headed for the sink. Dishes first seemed to be the logical order.

Joimus wasn't at all sure Bridgid could actually stand up at the sink, but decided to let her try. Her cousin had a very determined look on her face at the moment.

"Just stuff things in the dishwasher," she suggested. "It's pretty good at getting food off by itself.  I'll make a big pot of coffee right now." Casting another look at the woman by the sink, she added under her breath,

"Strong, very, very strong."

"Okay," Bridgid replied, sounding more like a little girl than a grown woman.

This day should be marked in history as some kind of holiday other than New Year's because Jack was alongside her to lend a hand. He never really did that at home.

"Siren, perhaps you have some other affliction aside from the obvious. Should I be worried?"

"No, Jack. It's just a case of over indulgence and I'll never do it again. You have my word on that."

He smiled a little, knowing it was only a partially true statement. In all of their time together he'd never seen her suffer this much and it did concern him.

They made short work of the dishes none the less and the coffee was done brewing by the time the last plate was in the dishwasher. With the four of them working in harmony in the kitchen it must have looked like some kind of contemporary ballet. Soon enough, Bridgid was sitting at the table with a big steaming mug of Joi's joe in front of her.

"Joi, Maximus. We never did say thank you for letting us stay here last night," Bridgid managed to smile at the General who sat directly across from her. "Thank you. No one could ever ask for better friends."

Jack added "Or more hospitable hosts. Thank you, both."