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Bill burst through the door of their house, too angry, too scared to even kiss his wife hello. His thoughts had been circling, anxiety spiralling ever since he'd heard- overheard, more like - the news.
“What the hell, Jo?!”
Jo looked up from her laptop, the light hitting her just right at the dining room table. Normally it was a sight Bill lived for, her blonde hair lit up by the evening sun, so beautiful he could hardly bear it. Him so in love with her his heart felt it ought to just give up from it.
“Well, hello to you too,” Jo replied, her lips curled in a curious smile. Not put off the least by his mood. “What's wrong?”
What's wrong? What's wrong?!
Well that was the goddamn question wasn't it? One Bill would very much like the answer to. They'd been planning this for weeks, talking about it with their friends, family, for longer. And now, nothing.
“We're not chasing this season?!”
“Ah.” Jo looked down, just for a second. Apology crossing her face. “Who told you?”
“A stranger!” Bill snapped, hurt aching at the unprotected places in his chest.
He'd thought they'd moved past that this marriage, moved past the secrets and the hiding and the selective truth telling.
If it was Dusty or Rabbit or any of the others, he could probably have handled it better. But, he'd had to hear it from two grad students at the college, gossiping in the corridor.
Bill carved a hand through his hair, trying not to let the hurt seep out. “A stranger told me, Jo. I had to hear it from a stranger.”
Jo closed her laptop, marked her place in the stack of data she was going through, their research still ongoing. Would probably be their lives work. Bill had been looking forward to it. Now he didn't know what to make of anything.
His wife, the smartest, most driven woman he had ever known, was giving up the thing she loved most and he didn't know why. But fears whispered in the back of his mind, gaining traction the whole drive home.
“I didn't want you to find out like that,” Jo admitted, coming to stand before him.
“How did you want me to find out?” Bill asked, his usual composure torn away, like on that road with Dorothy scattered around them. “An empty house and a note on the counter?”
“What? Bill…” Jo's hand came to rest on his cheek, so warm. So- Bill could hardly handle the love in her eyes.
“I thought you were leaving me this time.”
Jo kissed him, soft and sure. Like a hundred times before. A reassurance they'd both needed at the start. I'm not going anywhere.
“I love you,” Jo said, simple and matter of fact. “I am not leaving you, Bill.”
Bill believed her. Jo Harding was many things, but she never abandoned the things she loved. “Then why aren't we chasing?”
Jo smiled, the calm to his storm for once. “I wanted to tell you tonight,” she began, her hand still warm on his cheek. “Go to Aunt Meg's new place for dinner, stand under her wind chimes and tell you.”
Bill blinked. Aunt Meg's new place. Where he'd proposed for the second time, where they'd had a quiet second ceremony just the storm chasers and Meg and Mose.
“I don't-”
Jo laughed, warm and joyful. Just as she did when Dorothy had worked and they'd stared down the future of science and research they'd begun living now. She kissed him again, quick and loving.
“I didn't think it would be the safest choice to chase this season,” Jo said, her eyes sparkling at him. “We've got plenty of research and you know the team can survive without us for one season. And,” Jo's nose crinkled happily, “I would rather not chase tornadoes pregnant.”
Bill stared at her, stunned speechless. Them. A baby. He'd never thought. Imagined science, their research would be their legacy, their baby. But now? To call this feeling glowing inside of him joy would be an understatement.
He pulled her close, kissed her with everything he had. All the joy, the love, the wonder.
“A baby,” he repeated, breathless. “Are we doing this?”
Jo nodded, stepping back with a smile. “We chase tornadoes,” she said, offering a teasing smile. An implicit promise that this season was just a pause, not a stop. “I'm sure we can handle a Harding baby.”
Bill wanted to hold her again. To kiss her. To laugh. To dance and shout and pour his joy right into the whole damn state. All he did was watch Jo.
Jo packed away her laptop, the data, flashed him a smile. “Aunt Meg's is still expecting us,” she announced, giving him a gentle shove. “Go get changed, you look like you've come straight out of the lab.”
Bill wanted to remind Jo that Meg had seen them just out of chasing tornadoes, covered in mud water and dirt, but he didn't say a word. He'd never been able to deny her anything, now wasn't going to be the time to start.
“I love you,” he said as he trudged towards the stairs. “I'm sorry I burst in like an idiot.”
Jo's eyes twinkled. “You threw a bottle of Jack Daniel's into a twister. I knew what I was getting when I married you.”