Work Text:
Carol landed in the front garden. Her helmet disintegrated off her face and her hair hell back on her shoulders. She looked around. The house was obviously empty, though she could see Goose sleeping through one of the windows. The sun was hidden behind dusty gray clouds. It would rain soon, probably the following day. She quickly made her way to the door and picked up the emergency key under one of the porch's loose board. The house was empty indeed, but probably because the clock said it was two in the afternoon. Monica would still be at school, and Maria would definitely be at work.
A quick look at the kitchen calendar reassured Carol. It was the end of April '97. She'd been gone for four months. Still a lot of time away, but definitely not six years. Good. She smiled to herself and headed upstairs to change. Goose was seating in hers and Maria's room, against the window, bathing in the few rays of suns passing through. She barely raised her head when she saw Carol walk in. Apparently, Goose had not missed her.
She went through her – Maria and her – wardrobe and picked out an old pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. Her aviator shades still rested on her bedside table, and she picked them up. She walked back downstairs and thought for a second. Today was a Wednesday, so Monica would finish at three since she didn't have basketball practice. She smiled. She picked up the usual content of her pockets on the small table by the door – her wallet, a few coins, and keys. She put on her shoes and picked up her jacket from the coat hanger. She walked out of the house with a smile and took in a deep breath. The humid smell of trees made her heart warm up in her chest. She was Home.
She put her jacket on, then her sunglasses, and she went around the house. Her motorbike was still parked beside Maria's small plane. She hopped on and started the engine. It was still purring, just as she remembered. She almost forgot to put her helmet on before driving because of how excited she was. With a twist of the handle, she was off, passing around the house and driving down the road quickly.
She parked in front of the school and climbed off. She leaned against the bike, arms crossed, after checking her watch. Right on time. A few students were already walking out before the bell rang, and they almost all stopped to ogle the motorbike. Carol smirked, readjusting her sunglasses. After the bell rang, a swarm of preteens ran out the door, and Carol was afraid Monica wasn't going to see her and run for the bus. However, she suddenly heard a shout through the crowd:
"Aunty Carol!"
Monica made her way through the crowd at breakneck speed and threw herself at Carol. They hugged for a good minute, both happy to see the other. When they separated, they both smiled at each other. Carol could swear Monica was taller than she'd remembered.
"When did you come back?"
"Just an hour ago. I wanted to surprise you. Sundaes at Jodie's?" Carol suggested.
Monica smiled and nodded.
"Just give me a minute to say goodbye to my friends."
Monica ran off again, and Carol watched her go talk to a group of girls her age who were waiting by the bus stop. At one point, all the heads turned to her and she waved at them. She recognized most of them from the basketball team, though she didn't quite remember all of their names.
Monica returned after a few minutes of conversation, looking back at her friends and waving at them. Carol picked up an extra helmet from the bag on the side of the bike and handed it to Monica.
"Here you go, to protect your smart brain."
Monica rolled her eyes at the joke but put on the helmet nonetheless. Carol climbed on the bike and Monica sat behind her.
"Hold on tight, we're taking off," Carol warned.
They drove downtown, and Carol parked in front of a fake 50s diner, with pink neon letters spelling 'Josie's' over the door. Monica jumped off the bike as soon as Carol placed her feet on the ground and took off the helmet. She quickly glanced at her reflection in the window and brushed a few locks of curly hair back into place. Carol chuckled beside her.
"You wouldn't have so much hair problem if you cut them shorter," she suggested.
Monica shook her head.
"No way, I'm never cutting them any shorter than this."
Carol took off her sunglasses and looked at herself in the window shop as well. Her hair was a bit longer than when she'd left. Maybe she should go to the hairdresser. She wondered if Maria would like her with very short hair, maybe some sort of Mohawk. She already knew what she would look like with a Mohawk thanks to her helmet. She shrugged the thought away and walked inside the diner, Monica right behind her.
They sat at a small table and both ordered a sundae. After the waitress had left them, Carol leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
"So, did I miss a lot of things?"
Monica opened her backpack and searched through her books until she found a single piece of paper, folded and unfolded and full of writings in a lot of different colors, some even scratched out.
"I made a list."
Carol smiled. She really had the best daughter, didn't she?
"Good thinking."
Monica unfolded the paper and read through it quickly.
"Mom thought so too. She said she would make a list of her own, but I think she lost it somewhere."
"It's okay, I'm sure you can fill me in for two."
Monica started running down her list.
"We bought Chinese for New Year. I kept you a fortune cookie for when you'd come home, it's on the kitchen counter if Goose hasn't eaten it yet."
"Thank you, it's very thoughtful of you."
The waitress came back to bring them a glass of water and Monica looked through her list again. Carol could see that there were more things written on the other side of the paper, but she didn't want to spoil herself the surprise and occupied herself with her glass instead of trying to decipher the other side.
"We won the match against the team from Baton Rouge, and against the team from Carville. You came home right before the State semi-final."
Carol held out her hand and Monica gave her a high five.
"Oh, awesome! When is it? Saturday?"
"Friday in two weeks. Coach says if we keep it up we might move into the national league soon."
"Damn, impressive."
Monica went through her list again.
"I passed a lot of tests but I didn't mark them all down."
Carol shrugged.
"It's okay. Anything else not school related?"
"Not really. Mom tried to make a homemade meat pie."
A single look at Monica as she remembered the particular event was all Carol needed to know.
"She's not there yet, is she?"
Monica shook her head.
"We had to order pizza."
"That bad? Okay, I'll know not to mention the incident, then."
The waitress came back with two big sundaes on a tray. She placed them in front of them. Monica folded her list and placed it on the table beside her ice cream. Carol dug in quickly. She hadn't eaten anything as sweet in almost four months. She hummed in appreciation. Monica was a bit slower to eat hers, and it took a moment for Carol to pull herself out of her sugar frenzy to notice.
"Everything okay, kiddo?" she asked.
Monica nodded.
"Yeah, it's nothing."
"You know you can tell me absolutely anything, right?"
"It's really nothing. Can you tell me about your trip?"
Carol glanced around. They were relatively isolated from the other patrons. She finished her mouthful and started:
"Talos had received an emergency message from a planet called Zen-Whoberi. Apparently, there were a whole bunch of Skrulls refugees hidden there. He wanted to check it out but the Krees have a colony on the neighboring planet. Had a colony. I sent them home, then I went to check out Zen-Whoberi."
"And?"
Carol thought for a second. The situation there had been desperate like she'd never seen before.
"Half of the population had been killed by an invader from another planet. They didn't know who he was, though, so I couldn't track him down. Some of the Skrulls were still alive, others had been killed and some had fled by disguising as the enemy soldiers. I went to find them and brought them back to the ship."
"Wow."
Carol nodded.
"Yeah, you could say that."
They continued eating, mostly in silence. Carol had devoured her ice cream while Monica was taking her time. She'd once again slowed down as if she were thinking.
"You sure you still don't want to tell me what's up?"
Monica shrugged.
"Well, it's nothing really, it's not even important. You remember Ellen, the TV series?"
"Yeah, of course. Wait, did they cancel Ellen?!" Carol asked in a panic.
Ellen had been one of her favorite shows since she'd returned, not just because she thought it was funny but also because she was at least fifty percent sure they had been dropping hints that the main character was gay.
"No, no, they didn't cancel it."
Carol let out a sigh of relief.
"But the actress who plays Ellen has made her coming out."
"Her what now?"
"She said she's gay, and so is her character," Monica explained.
Carol's brain must have rebooting because she didn't react at first. Her first instinct was to shout 'I knew it!', but even this didn't cut it. A celebrity, who has appeared on national television for the past three years told everyone that she was gay, and she wasn't instantly fired?
"You okay Aunty Carol?"
"Yeah I just, I didn't see it coming."
She faked a chuckle. She was more curious as to why Monica was bringing it up. She must have talked about it with Maria. She wished Maria was there right now, just to tell her what she should reply to that. She emptied her glass of water and asked:
"What did you think about it?"
"What? That she's gay? I think it's very brave of her to say it. Maybe it will show others that they can be open about it too."
Carol frowned. Was Monica insinuating something? She tested the water.
"And what did your mom think of it?"
Monica shrugged as she dug in her last ice cream ball.
"She said you'd probably like it because you thought she was gay."
"True, it's nice to be right once in a while. Anything else?"
"Not really. Why? Should she have said something?"
Carol shook her head quickly, trying to find the right words as a burst of panic passed through her brain.
"No, of course not! I mean, I don't know, maybe you had questions and all that."
"No, no questions."
"Oh, good."
The conversation died down after that, though both Monica and Carol sent furtive glances at the other from time to time. Carol's mind was running so quickly she could barely connect her thoughts. Should she say something? Maybe it was the right time to tell her? After all, they'd always said they would wait until she was older, but maybe it was the right moment? But she had to talk about it with Maria first. She definitely needed to do that as soon as Maria came home. Maybe after kissing her for a bit? Or at least a hug. A hug from her girlfriend would be nice. Focus Carol, she chastised herself.
"Ready to go home?" she asked once Monica had finished her sundae.
"Yep, let's go home."
When Maria came home, she was surprised to find her house smelling of fries and the table set or three.
"Monica?" she called.
"She's in her bedroom listening to the Spice Girls on her Walkman," Carol declared as she emerged from the kitchen, a massive grin on her face. "Surprise."
Maria returned her smile. They quickly reduced the distance between them and fell into each other's arms, hugging fiercely.
"I'm home," Carol whispered in her ear.
"You took your time," Maria replied with a smile.
"Yeah, but I didn't bring an alien cat with me this time."
They separated, and Maria glanced quickly at the stairs, to check whether Monica was there, before she captured Carol's lips in a searing kiss. Carol placed her hands on Maria's hips, keeping her close. They only separated when they were out of breath. Maria said as she exhaled:
"I missed you."
"I missed you too," Carol confessed.
They moved apart but Carol didn't let go of Maria's hand. Rather, she pulled her with her in the kitchen, out of sight.
"When did you return?" Maria asked.
"This afternoon. I went to pick up Monica after school. We went to Josie's and she filled me in on what I missed."
"She told you about her basketball matches?"
Carol nodded. She took two beers out of the fridge and opened them with her bare hand. Being super strong had its perks.
"She also told me about your disastrous attempt at making a meat pie."
"It wasn't that bad!" Maria replied quickly as she took the beer out of Carol's hand. "I was trying my mom's recipe."
"From what Monica told me, you failed miserably," Carol replied with a giggle.
"I dare you to do any better, miss I can't cook anything except pasta."
"And fries," Carol completed proudly as she held up her bottle.
Maria clicked their bottles with a smile. They both drank, and Carol fell silent for a moment, as she thoughtfully tried to start the conversation they really should be having.
"I think Monica knows about us," she stated because she couldn't think of a better way to approach it.
Maria almost choked on her beer.
"What?! What did you do?"
"Nothing, I swear! She was filling me in on what happened and she told me about Ellen doing her coming out and how brave it was of her, and she said something like 'maybe it will show others that they can be open about it'. I swear I didn't say anything!"
Maria thought about it for a moment.
"It's true she had a lot of questions after we saw it on the news. I thought she was just being her curious self but..."
She leaned thoughtfully against the counter.
"You think she knows?"
"I don't know. I didn't know what to say, I wanted to talk about it with you first."
Carol placed her beer on the counter and moved closer to Maria.
"I think we should tell her. I know we always said we'd wait until she was older, but she's thirteen. I think she's old enough to understand. Plus, it visibly doesn't bother her."
Maria shook her head.
"There's a big difference between knowing a big celebrity is gay and accepting that your mother and aunt have been in a long-term relationship."
Maria sighed longly.
"I don't want to lose her over this. You know I love you, but she will always come first. And this is too heavy for a kid to bear."
Carol nodded and took Maria in her arms once again.
"I understand completely. We'll wait."
"Thank you."
They stayed there for some time, locked in each other's arms, silently holding the other, until the timer rang, indicating that the fries were ready. Finally, Carol moved away from Maria. She placed a kiss on her cheek and declared with a smile.
"And I love you too."
She went to check their dinner in the oven while Maria picked up her beer bottle once again with a small smile on her lips. However, that smile fell when Carol opened the oven, and a cloud of white smoke filled the room. They coughed, and Carol pulled out the metal hotplate quickly, without bothering to put an oven mitt on. The fries had turned into charcoal sticks. Carol sighed.
"I guess we can take fries off the list of things I can cook."
Maria laughed behind her and came to place a kiss on her cheek before picking the menu from the nearby delivery pizza place.
"I'll order pizza. I'm sure Goose won't mind eating potato charcoals."
Carol sighed and picked up her beer before following Maria into the living room.
"Monica!" Maria called.
No answer. Maria shook her head.
"Those damn headphones."
"I'll go get her," Carol said as she placed her beer on the table.
She placed another kiss on Maria's cheek before climbing up the stairs quickly. She knocked on Monica's bedroom, but since there was no answer, she opened the door. Sure enough, Monica was laying on her bed, her headphones over her ears and Walkman beside her. Monica paused the device and pulled her headphones around her neck.
"What?" she asked.
"We're ordering pizza, want something in particular?" Carol asked.
"Wait, I thought we were eating fries tonight?"
Carol pursed her lips.
"Now we're eating pizza."
Monica shrugged.
"Whatever is fine with me."
Carol nodded.
"A whatever pizza for you then."
She was about to close the door once again when Monica called her back.
"Aunty Carol?"
Carol stopped, her hand still on the handle.
"Yeah?"
"I missed you."
Carol smiled at her brightly.
"I missed you too, Lieutenant Trouble."