Connection Unknown: Chapter 5 Part 1 of 3 (Patreon)

Chapter:5

10/03/2242

Brad woke up and looked around. He spotted the glass of water on the bedside and rolled over to drink it.

He rose to sitting and looked around Stuart and Mary’s spare room. He finished off the cup of water and stretched, with only a mild hangover.

After a quick shuffle to the bathroom and standing there long enough to swear he’d drunk half the Atlantic Ocean and his legs were getting pins and needles, Brad was ready for the day. He pulled on his pants and T-shirt. At least being the boss meant he could wear what he wanted, which meant-dress casual. A lifetime of uniforms with the Coalition Navy it was hard to break from hard learned habits.

He opened the door and walked down the hall to the living room. The smells of breakfast wafted in from the attached kitchen. Stuart was drinking juice and holding onto the island in moral support. Mary was cooking up a storm around him while he fried bacon in a pan.

The hungover division of labor.

“Ah, Brad! How are you feeling, dear?” Mary smiled. She’d aged with the years but there was still that energetic and idealistic, strong woman there.

“Pretty good. Classic drinking waters between beers seemed to have done the trick.”

“At least you learn—unlike this one,” she said conspiratorially, tucking her chin and glancing at Stuart.

“You liked the kebab,” Stuart muttered, poking the bacon with a spatula.

Mary snorted and Brad smiled.

“Juice, coffee?”

“Juice, please, Mary. Anything I can do to help?” Brad came around the island to see Brad was only half focusing on the bacon, the rest of his attention was on the screen next to the stovetop.

“No, no, we’re nearly sorted here. You timed waking up well.” Mary poured out some juice and passed it to Brad.

“Thank you.”

“I’m heading out to see your daughter today…more furniture for the baby.” Mary raised her voice as she pulled out plates.

“Ah, and I guess Felipe has pleaded with his mother to deal with the pains of furniture shopping?”

“Something of that kind.” Mary laughed.

“Remember when they were kids, always making fun of each other?” Brad smiled.

“You’re making me feel old.” Mary smiled as she looked over to Stuart. “Are you cooking or reading?”

“Sorry,” Stuart said, distracted. He turned the screen and pushed it toward Brad.

It showed the total users online. They’d topped two hundred thousand and it was ticking over like seconds on a clock.

Brad looked at the rest of the information, including news media attention. Brad pressed play on a video.

“OBE stock rose by nearly one hundred percent in the last six hours! With the stock shorted by nearly two hundred percent, there are going to be some very unhappy people out there,” some talking head said.

“They’re playing a dangerous game. Look at this—stock way out of proportion! There’s no way OBE is worth that much, I say!” Loud horns and noises blared. “They’re gooooone—just some two-bit game to rake in the cash!”

“Dumbass,” Brad muttered, the blaring lights and noises not helping his near hangover.

Mary put down a plate in front of Brad; he’d lost track.

“Thanks. Sorry, screens get me, just zone into them.” Brad smiled.

“I know. You two are the same when something catches your attention.” She circled around Stuart, who put the pan into the sink.

“It’s how I know this one loves me.” She grinned at Stuart’s attention and moved to kiss him. Instead, she winced at the smell and kissed him on the cheek. “You do know how to brush your teeth, right?”

“I taught the girls and Felipe.” Stuart wrapped his hands around Mary, grinning as he leaned forward.

“Stop it.” She giggled, hitting him with the dish towel, half-heartedly. He grinned and came in, exacting a real kiss as Brad started in on his breakfast.

They broke up and sat at the island, talking about the week, about Kira and Felipe’s preparations.

“How is Jynx doing?” Mary asked, a note of seriousness threaded in.

Brad cleared his last mouthful with juice. “Thank you for breakfast.”

“Mi casa, su casa, how do I say, office, car, garage and everything else I own and you’ve used?” Stuart waved him off and took his plate, giving them some semi-privacy.

Brad looked at his hands, one arm on the corner of his chair, the other on the island.

“Well, you know how she was when Xi passed away. His death hit her hard.”

Mary reached out and squeezed his shoulder, her lips pressed together.

He raised his eyes with an equally terse smile. He took a deep breath. “She’s set on working as a game developer, but she spends most of her time on the net. And when she’s not, she’s throwing herself into study. I hardly see her when I’m home. I talked to Fin. He’s doing well.” His smile came easier as he looked at Mary.

“Needed to get away from his mother as fast and far as possible.” She drank from her coffee.

He laughed, relaxing a bit.

Mary rubbed his shoulder. “She’s a strong girl. She’ll be okay. I’ll see if I can’t pull her into a girls’ coffee date, see if I can’t get some more from her.”

“Thank you, Mary.” Brad looked at her, softening. He felt the weariness deep in his bones.

“And how are you?”

Her words made him suck in a breath, as if he’d been punched in the gut. His eyes fluttered at the sudden wave of emotion.

Stuart was taking his time cleaning the dishes. Brad sniffed and looked to the right of the kitchen.

“I miss him. Stars, I miss him.”

Mary hugged him and he hugged her back.

“I do miss his hungover eggs and pancakes.” Mary’s voice trembled as they released, their elbows down at their sides as they faced each other.

Brad let out a rough chuckle. “He was an amazing chef. The only person I know who could turn protein substrate into a delicacy.”

Mary laughed. “It tastes just like chicken!” Brad chorused with her to more head shakes and smiles.

Brad looked at the corner of the floor, where it met the side of the island. “The hardest things are when I forget he’s gone. When I turn over in bed, waking myself up so that I shuffle back to not take his side and find his side cold and empty. I forget sometimes and say good-bye to the house or call out when I go home and he’s just—” Brad shrugged, letting his shoulders drop heavily. “He’s not there anymore.”

He took a moment and sighed. A smile spread across his face, like a sun rising on the darkest morning, burning the fog away. Tears brimmed in his eyes. “I was so lucky to have a husband like that.”

“And he was lucky to have you.” Stuart walked up behind Mary, putting his hand on her shoulder as she leaned into him.

“Gah, just, oh, we lived a good life. We loved each other each and every day. We had our arguments.” Brad raised his hand in admittance. “But we were there for each other, for the girls. I see so much of him in them, and I’m so happy that some of Xi will continue in them.”

Brad calmed, feeling like a little bit of the ice in his back had cracked and the sun reached deeper than it did before, warming him some. “So, I’m sad, but I am grateful and oh so lucky. Just taking it slowly now.”

“If you ever need anything, a coffee date even…” Mary said.

“Thank you, Mary.” Brad smiled, trying to convey even a part of how thankful he was.

“But, Stuart and I have a problem to figure out.” He clapped his hands and picked up the screen on the island as he slid out of his seat.

“Yeah, that’s going to be fun,” Stuart muttered.