Chapter Text
Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my
Ma' and Pa'
Not the way that I do love you
Well, holy moly, me oh my,
you're the apple of my eye
Girl, I've never loved one like you
Man, oh, man, you're my best friend,
I scream it to the nothingness
There ain't nothing that I need
--- Edith Whiskers, "Home"
Alicia Munro's hands sorted one over the other through the colorful rows of shirts and tank-tops. In her left hand she held three hangers, two shirts and a pair of shorts that she had thrifted. Her purse hung lazily off of her shoulder, her keychain jiggling with her movement. Her older sister, Cora Poe, was standing behind her going through racks of dress pants. Cora held her freshly-brewed coffee in one hand and a nice Polo shirt she had found for her husband, Nathaniel.
After a thorough examination of the racks, the girls went to check out the dresses and the nearby fifty-percent off bikinis. The early afternoon sunlight peered into the second-hand boutique, bouncing off the shiny hooks from hangers. The loudspeaker had Enya's lovely voice playing "Anywhere Is" around the shop.
At twenty-nine years old, Alice was a museum curator who specialized in Early North American History. She had also been on several in-state archaeology digs. Since girlhood Alice had been captivated with wonder at colonial history and the interest had never died.
"Whoa," Cora exclaimed, pulling an olive green mini dress off of the rack. "Look how cute!"
"It's your favorite color!" Alice piped in, "I like those ruffles!"
Cora found a mirror and held it over top of her formal dress clothes that she hadn't changed out of after getting off work.
Alice found a pretty pink mini dress that looked similar to the one Cora had found. Cora's had long sleeves but Alice's was a short sleeve dress.
Showing it off to her sister, they both drooled over them. But once they flipped the dresses over and read the price tag, the dresses suddenly went back on the rack.
Alice snapped a picture of the pink dress and then the green one. "Maybe I could find them online for cheaper?"
Cora looked longingly at the green dress. "Hm, maybe."
After purchasing the shirts that they had found, they walked out into the street, the memory of the pretty dresses still fresh. Oh well, maybe Alice could find them online.
"Why don't we grab your latté out of your car and we can drink them in the park?" Cora suggested, raising her own drink. "Catch up some?"
Alice nodded and dug into her purse before pulling out her keys. Unlocking her Subaru, she snatched her coffee and walked with her sister to the park.
Once they found a nice place to sit, Cora began to tell Alice about an interesting case that she had picked up with earlier that morning. Cora was an attorney at law who specialized in Environmental and Tribal Law justice.
"How about you?" Cora asked, sipping her coffee. "How's the exhibit coming?"
Alice smiled. "Busy. Since the dig wrapped up, I've been cataloging everything from the satchel. I think I've read the journal three times."
In April, Alice and her team had gone to the historic area of Fort Edward. Of course, the fort was no longer there but other artifacts may be. Alice was very happy to have a job that was quiet and only traveled within her state, so she could always drive home. During the excavation, she and her crew discovered something amazing. They had found an old satchel holding letters, sketches, maps, and journals. Her team had absolutely lost their minds over this discovery and now Alice was doing her best to broadcast this discovery to the world, by helping to catalog what she read. The letters didn't talk about the war that was going on at the time, but instead spoke about regular life, which was absolute gold.
Now, mid-June, Alice was still super busy documenting, journaling, and cataloging the discovery. During each waking hour, Alice was either pouring over the precious text or sitting at her desk typing away about the text.
"That's so cool! How long is the journal?" Cora inquired
Alice laughed. "It's long enough that I've been reading it for two months."
"Still?" Cora asked incredulously
"Mm-hmm." Alice replied, "it's got a lot of text in it."
Cora looked questionably at her younger sister. Alice was normally much more passionate about her research and her job. Matter of fact, Alice had been rather moody and unlike herself since they first met up today. Cora could also tell that Alice was attempting to mask her feelings.
"Hey, Al." said Cora while she took Alice's hand into her's. "Is something...bothering you? You haven't been acting like yourself today."
Alice should've known that Cora would've noticed something sooner than later. She hung her head down and released a pent in sigh.
"Hey, it's okay." Cora crooned, "You wanna talk about it?"
Alice knew that she had better swallow the bitter pill. She felt odd telling Cora before her boyfriend, but she would tell him eventually too.
"At work today," Alice began, her eyes brooding, "I got an email."
Cora nodded, giving Alice her full attention.
"The email was from the British Museum. They are super interested in my team's find and have really enjoyed reading my articles on the satchel... They are creating an exhibit on eighteenth-century North American, particularly the French and Indian War. They want me... to give a lecture on the exhibit and they want me to talk about the satchel. They have asked me to stay for the five-day exhibit display..."
Cora's eyes were wide by the time Alice finished talking. "Allie... That's incredible! What an honor! What? You are going to say "yes" aren't you?!"
"I dunno, Cora." Alice replied averting her eyes, "It's five days. I don't like leaving the house for one night... let alone that long! And who would take care of my pets? Uncas will still have to work!"
"Don't worry about the pets. Nathaniel loves animals he can totally take care of a dog and a cat. But...Al...this isn't about the pets, is it?" Cora asked
"No..." Alice replied, her eyes flooding with tears. "I just...don't like leaving. I don't know if I can handle it. And I don't want to be away from Uncas for so long."
"What happens if Uncas could get off work for a week and go with you? Would that make it better?" Cora asked, concern in her eyes.
"Yes, that would be a lot better but Uncas only gets two weeks off a year. He has a week off in November so he could relax and go hunting with Nathan when hunting season starts... and then he took off the week before Christmas so we could have a mock Christmas, since he will be on call on the actual date. He's used up all of his vacations!" A tear fell off of Alice's cheek and glistened in the warm afternoon sunlight.
"So, what I'm hearing is that even though you don't want to leave the house or the pets... What you are really trying to say is you don't want to leave Uncas. Right?"
"Well...yeah...kinda." Alice sniffled, "I'm just sca-... I've never traveled alone before! What if something happens?!"
"Have you talked to Uncas yet?" Cora asked compassionately.
"No. He just got off work like twenty-minutes ago. He probably just got home a few minutes ago." Alice replied, swallowing the rest of her coffee in a singular gulp.
"Well, try talking to Uncas first before you make a hasty decision." Cora advised as she rubbed her sister's back in slow, relaxing patterns.
"I will." Alice promised, watching the passing by cars on the nearby road.
"If it's of any comfort," Cora began, "I think you should go, Al. You've been working towards something like this since you could read!"
"Thanks, Cora." Alice said as she managed to give her sister a soft smile.
"You'll have to let me decide what you want to do! We might have to go shopping and buy you some pretty travel clothes!" Cora smiled reassuringly
Alice smiled once again in return. "That would be fun!"
---
Alice drove up to the apartment that she and Uncas had shared after moving in together about a year ago. It was a simple complex with three separate apartments. The apartment was roomy enough to share with a partner and was cozy. The exterior of the apartment was white paneling and simple black shingles on the roof. Each apartment had a window by the door, one on the second floor, and one in the back facing the distant city.
Alice's landlord had agreed to let her hang an old fashioned Ring Knocker on her front door. She had bought her other two neighbors ring knockers so the apartments would still look symmetrical. By the three steps that led up to the door was a small plot of land on each side. Both of the neighbors claimed that they had brown thumbs and refused to plant flowers. So, Uncas planted and kept the flowerbeds beautiful. Alice would help occasionally, but it seemed something that Uncas liked to decompress so Alice often let him do it alone.
Inserting her key into the lock, Alice quietly opened the heavy white door. Uncas' golden retriever wagged its big floofy tail. Alice hung up her purse and her keys then bent over to greet the dog.
"Hi there, Sadie." Alice said as she cupped her hands around the happy dog.
Hearing Alice's voice, her midnight-black cat, Ivy, poked her face in the room from the kitchen. Ivy's back arched and rubbed along the side of the arched doorway in greeting.
"Aw, hello there, girl!" Alice smiled "Where's Uncas?"
Alice walked into the kitchen putting her computer and shirts she had purchased on the table. She walked through the kitchen to the living room where she heard the TV playing quietly.
Alice peered into the room and found Uncas snoozing on the couch after his shift. He was wearing only black sexy shorts. His mouth was slightly agape and his black hair was cascading off of the armrest nearly touching the floor. Uncas' hair was beautiful and took a lot of care to preserve. Alice could see a small streak of jojoba oil that hadn't been completely rubbed into his raven-black hair.
After a shift, Uncas would use natural oils to condition his silky hair; or else it would become brittle. He had learned this from his father, who had also been a fireman prior to Uncas' career. Alice was relieved that his crew and captain were accepting of his hair length, so long as it didn't pose any harm to him. Uncas always braided his hair before a shift so it would comfortably fit in the Nomex fire hood. He had to be careful to wear non-metallic hair ties because the metal ones would get super hot after a fire.
Alice located a soft blanket and quietly draped it over Uncas' sleeping form. Sadie stretched and lay down by the foot of the couch, sleeping next to her master. Alice then left to begin to cook dinner.
---
Uncas rolled over, his right hand brushing something soft.
Alice will be home soon, Uncas thought
Willing his tired eyes to open, Uncas glanced around the room. The TV was still playing but he hadn't remembered putting on this blanket before dozing. Actually, he had refrained from putting on a blanket in hopes he would stay awake. Then his dark brown eyes traveled to the window in the kitchen, the sun had set.
The sun set?!
Uncas pushed off the blanket and nearly tripped over Sadie. He was supposed to make dinner for himself and Alice!
"D'ya wake up?" Alice asked smiling, her small body appearing in the doorway. The last reminder of the fading sunlight highlighted Alice.
"Alice!" Uncas exclaimed, looking surprised for a moment, apologetic next, and seeing that she was not mad, happy at last.
Alice smiled radiantly and ran into his waiting arms. Catching her, Uncas bear-hugged her, his biceps showing attractively without the limitations of his regular clothing.
"Miss me?" Alice giggled while being held off the ground in his strong arms.
Uncas answered with a passionate kiss, the sunlight from the kitchen drifting into the living room, surrounding the tableau with the last dusky golden hues.
"You hungry, sweetie?" Alice asked, her hands touching Uncas' cheeks
"Very." Uncas replied, placing Alice back on her feet. "I'm sorry I fell asleep."
Alice grinned at his sheepish face. "It's okay, you can make dinner tomorrow on your day off!"
"And breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Uncas replied, snatching Alice's waist playfully and carrying her to the kitchen.
---
"How was work?" Alice asked as she took a bite of the spinach and cheese omelet.
Uncas shrugged, scraping a bite onto his waiting fork. "Okay."
"That's good." Alice smiled, "Me and Cora went to Hanna's Boutique today. I got these shirts."
Alice motioned to the counter where she had moved the pale pink and pastel blue shirts.
"While we were there we saw these." Alice said, showing Uncas a photo of the dresses, "They were kinda pricey though but they were pretty!"
Uncas smiled at the imaginary image of Alice wearing the cute mini dress. "It would look good on you."
"I wanted to try it on," Alice continued, "but if I liked it too much I might've bought it."
"Can you find one that looks like that?" Uncas wondered aloud.
"I told Cora I'd try." Alice replied, "I haven't looked yet, but if there is one that's cheaper than those two were, that would be great!"
"Send me a picture of the dress, let me see if I can find one too." Uncas requested
Alice smiled at Uncas' willingness to be involved and helpful. Obligingly, she sent the photo of the pink and green dress to Uncas' number.
"How was work today?" asked Uncas
Alice stiffened even though she had known the question would eventually be asked. Even though she knew that she needed to talk to him about it anyway.
Uncas noticed the moment that Alice's demeanor changed and he was unsettled by the change he saw.
"Babe?" Uncas asked gently, "Is something wrong?"
Alice fought the swallow that managed to lump in her throat.
He needs to know. She thought to herself
"We need to talk." Alice replied finally facing Uncas.
"Okay?" Uncas pushed away his plate and stood up. "Do you wanna sit on the couch?"
Alice nodded and following the example of Uncas, stood with him.
Once they were seated, Uncas put his arm around Alice's back. "Okay, what's up?"
"I got an email today." Alice began as she fought to keep her voice from quivering. She already felt so vulnerable. "It was from the British M-museum."
She paused for a moment to catch Uncas' reaction.
"THE British Museum?"
Alice nodded solemnly. "Yeah..."
"And?"
"They want me to come and help with an exhibit on the French and Indian War. They also want me to give a thirty-minute lecture on my team's discovery." murmured Alice
Uncas took a big breath and looked at the wall in front of him. "That's huge, babe."
"Yeah. I guess so." Alice mumbled quietly
"What about this bothers you?" Uncas asked, rubbing his fingers in a circle on Alice's thigh
"The exhibit is five days long." Alice blurted out.
"Hey, that's not too bad." nudged Uncas
"Yes, it is!" Alice exclaimed, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. "It's in a whole other country! It's not just a couple of hours away!"
"Shhh...hey...sweetheart," Uncas said in his soft, deep voice. "You don't have to go, do you?"
"No." Alice sniffled, tears gliding down her face. "That makes it worse. If I had to go, I wouldn't have a choice. But I do have a choice, and I don't know what I want to do!"
Alice cried harder, leaning into Uncas' warm, soothing side. Sadie walked in the living room from where she had been in the bedroom after Uncas had rudely disturbed her nap. Whimpering, she put her big golden head onto Alice's lap and looked into Uncas' eyes.
"It's alright, girls." Uncas said gently, stroking Alice's head with his right hand and patting Sadie on the head with his other.
"It's not alright." Alice sniffled, reaching for the Kleenex on the coffee table. "I'm scared, Uncas."
In Uncas' experience "I'm scared" meant just about the same as "Please help me" or vice versa.
"We can work this out together, okay? When do they need to know by?" Uncas asked
"They said by Thursday." Alice sighed, her tears finally subsided. She felt better, if anything. "They would like to know as soon as possible, though."
Uncas grinned. "Everyone says that."
Three days, he thought to himself, she has plenty of time.
"I guess they do." Alice muttered. "Oh, Uncas. What am I going to do?!"
"Shh. Why don't we figure out what you are scared of first?" Uncas suggested
"Okay." sighed Alice.
"Do you know why you are scared?" Uncas asked softly
"Well...yes." Alice said cautiously
Uncas waited for her to continue. His patience was rewarded.
"I'm scared of leaving the house...Sadie, Ivy, and Millie... I'm scared of going to a foreign country...alone. And I really - REALLY don't want to be away from you for very long." Alice said slowly
"I see." Uncas nodded. He remembered what her father, Edward Munro, had told him about Alice in one of their chats.
---
"She was always a backwards girl, that Licia." He chuckled, taking a sip of the red wine that he was holding in his hand at Nathaniel and Cora's wedding.
Uncas had just met Edward and Kamryn Munro for the first time after he and Alice met at Cora's "Jack and Jill" style bachelorette party. Neither set of parents went to Cora's party, but both the groom and the groomsmen as well as the bridesmaids attended. That's where Uncas had first met Alice, and it had practically been love at first sight.
His first impression of Edward was unique. He didn't know if he liked hearing all the "weird" things that his "backwards" daughter had a habit of doing, but Uncas chose to think that he was just giving him a friendly heads up about who Uncas was getting into. Still didn't make him feel super comfortable.
"She didn't like going to her friend's house overnight." Ed continued, "She cried herself to sleep the whole week we made her try camp. She just liked being at home."
Uncas didn't reply to the newfound information, mostly because it didn't bother him very much. So she was a homebody. That's okay.
"She's a sweetheart though." Edward said, his eyes fixed upon his two daughters, who were laughing audibly together, next to a prim-and-properly dressed Nathaniel. "She's kinda like you. Quiet. She always let Cora do all the talking."
---
Uncas shook himself back to the present.
"Maybe I should just sleep on it?" Alice had said
"I don't think you'll sleep." Uncas replied, "You are worried."
"I guess." Alice nodded slowly.
"I think you should go, babe." Uncas said, "You've worked hard for this. Your team worked hard for this recognition."
Alice's jaw set. "I figured you'd say that... I know what I should do - what I need to do...but that doesn't mean I want to do it."
Uncas grinned. "Been there, done that."
Alice looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I think a lot of people feel that way." Uncas replied, "Sometimes we just wanna quit or back out."
Alice looked away. "Why do you think people would do it then?"
Uncas smiled softly and fondly brushed his fingers through Alice's hair. "Because sometimes things that are worth doing, scare you at first."
Alice rolled Uncas' words around in her head. This trip was worth doing. Maybe it was time that Alice came out of her comfort zone.
"You don't have to decide tonight, cookie." Uncas said, using Alice's nickname that he had given her, "We can sleep tonight and figure it out together in the morning. Is that good?"
Alice nodded. "I guess so. I have to make up my mind eventually, don't I?"
Uncas patted her shoulder and stood up, offering her a hand up too.
"I'll take Sadie out, feed Millie, turn off the lights, and lock the door." Uncas said, reaching for the pink leash as he spoke.
"Thanks, Uncas." Alice yawned, suddenly feeling super tired.
"No prob, babe."
As Alice walked up the staircase to their shared room, Uncas clipped on Sadie's collar.
"Ready to go outside, honey?"
Sadie's tail started wagging with excitement and she hurried to the door expectantly.
Once Sadie had taken care of business, the door locked, and the main lights off, Uncas strode over to where Millie's cage was. In Alice's office, which was a room that connected to the living room but separated by a door, was Millie's home.
Mille was a four-year-old black-beauty colored sugar glider. She barked happily when she saw Uncas.
"Aw, hi there, sweetie." Uncas said, as he reached into the cage and picked up Millie. "Did you have a good day?"
Millie snuggled into Uncas' cupped hands and licked his fingers.
"Aww," Uncas crooned, stroking the black fur, "I bet you're hungry, huh, girl?"
Uncas gently set the small creature back into her home and went about feeding her. Once Millie was properly fed, and chirping happily, Uncas closed Alice's office door.
"Night, Millie." He mused as he walked upstairs
---
After Uncas had showered and changed into his Navy blue pair of shorts, he climbed into bed next to Alice.
Alice was already dressed and reclining on her side. She was unusually quiet, and Uncas noticed immediately. Suppressing a yawn, Uncas kisses Alice's forehead, switches off the lamp, and wraps an arm around her.
"It'll be okay, cookie."
Alice wanted to believe him, she really did. Honestly, five days weren't long. They would just feel like an eternity. Loads of people travel all the time and they weren't scared.
Is there something wrong with me?
Cora was always so brave and fearless...unless maybe it was just a show and she was a good actor.
Alice rolled on her side, wishing she could just sleep but her mind would not allow such. Alice had never traveled alone before. What if something bad happens? What if I embarrass myself or do something dumb? What if I get homesick? What if I miss him? Well...of course I'll miss him. What if something happens to Uncas?
Alice squinted her eyes shut, her mind whirling. Why was this so hard? It didn't have to be. Maybe for other people it wouldn't be. She could choose what she wanted to do. Cora and Uncas both believed that she could do it. They must think it would be safe and okay.
For a while longer, Alice pondered all of the pros and cons until the ceiling fan had nearly hypnotized her into peace. Uncas was breathing deeply beside her, clearly fast asleep. Lucky. Alice thought sleepily, if only I could sleep like him.
Her tired gaze retracted back to the ceiling fan. I'm still scared. Her tired mind whispered.
But I think I'm going. Because fear doesn't get the final vote.
Her violent thoughts subsided, Alice snuggled closer into Uncas. Tomorrow would bring decisions, phone calls, and planning. Tonight, peace was enough for Alice. Her last conscious thought before she fell asleep was Uncas' words.
"It'll be okay, cookie."