Work Text:
He’d taken a personal day to ensure a 3 day weekend, so he could visit his father in Maryland. After Europe media availability and outreach he’d had a couple days at home with the girls before he’d packed up again and headed to Baltimore. A weekend away, Raegan was still in Italy, and he’d planned this short trip to see a show and have some quality father son time with his Dad.
“Where’s the space princess?” He’d asked over lunch. Reid smiled, he meant Christina. His father adored Christina.
“In Texas, with her husband, probably camping, climbing, or surfing in the gulf this weekend,” he emphasized.
Bill swatted away the idea,
“I might not be around to see it, but mark my words she’s your happily ever after,”
“Dad, Christina and I are colleagues…” he started seriously before quickly giving up. It was futile, he was as stubborn about this as Katey was on this front. Positive, despite all protests, that there was something more there.
It was a great Saturday they’d spent time catching up, revisiting the whole journey around the moon and back to earth again, he’d fixed the faucet in the bathroom and they’d gone to a great local pub for dinner. Later in the evening Reid met up with some childhood friends to go see Freddy Jones Band in Annapolis. He’d gotten back to his father’s place just after midnight. Quietly setting up his laptop to stream the NASA feed in the downstairs living room. It was the end of Expedition 74, Sergey, Sergei and Chris were coming home. His attention was pulled away as his phone on the coffee table pinged. Who would text at this hour? Maybe Raegan from a transatlantic timezone. He looked at it and grinned a mile wide.
Christina: You up?
Reid: You know I am. If you were a gambling woman, you’d have wagered money on it.
Christina: Chris is coming down, I knew you couldn’t resist.
Reid: I was at a concert until late anyway, what’s a few more hours?
Christina: It won’t be a few hours though; you won’t sleep until he lands in Kazakhstan, which will be after sunrise.
Reid: Keep me company?
Christina: Reid.
Christina: How’s Baltimore?
Reid: Warmer than when I was last here.
Christina: Don’t be trite.
Reid: You know how it is, it’s like you and North Carolina, all the feelings, aging parents, familiarity, nostalgia. I’m glad I came.
Christina: Good.
Reid: My father referred to you as the Space Princess today.
Christina: Jeremy is the Space Princess.
Reid: You watch the change of command ceremony this morning?
Christina: I did. I’m so proud of her.
Reid: Commander Meir sounds right.
Christina: It’s well deserved.
Reid: Where’s Bob?
Christina: Asleep.
Reid: Where are you?
Christina: At home, in the kitchen.
Reid: This is a Nora Ephron movie.
Christina: We’d get a happy ending if this were a Nora Ephron movie.
Reid: You are happy.
Christina: We both are.
Reid: That’s what we tell ourselves.
Christina: That’s what we tell ourselves.
Reid: Does that make me Tom Hanks?
Christina: Does that make me Meg Ryan?
Reid: Bob does have Bill Pullman energy…
Christina: Stop. Before I start comparing your girlfriend to Parker Posey.
Reid: Maybe he’s more Greg Kinnear…
Christina: Reid.
Reid: You would have liked the concert I went to
Christina: I like live music
Reid: I know
Christina: You have the feed up?
Reid: “Station are you ready for the event?” Yes, I do
Christina: I remember what it felt like to go home.
Reid: Me too.
Christina: It was bittersweet.
Reid: I missed Katey and Ellie, I missed Carroll, I was ready.
Christina: I could have done another six months.
Reid: There’s still time…
Christina: I won’t fly before they decommission it.
Reid: I’d miss you if you went back up anyway. I’d miss this.
Christina: Texting at two in the morning?
Reid: I’d find a way to take graveyard capcom shifts just to hear your voice without as many people around in Mission Control. Wouldn’t want to share you.
Christina: You are used to having to share me.
Reid: He gets the fun stuff. Physical You. Extracurricular You. Naked You.
Christina: And what do you get?
Reid: Work You. Brilliant Engineer You. Deep Space You.
Christina: Sounds like you both get things the other doesn’t. Fair division.
Reid: I’d be willing to swap a few categories…
Christina: Stop it.
Reid: You ready for Colorado next week? I can’t believe we sold out an amphitheatre in thirty minutes, like we’re fucking Bruno Mars or something.
Christina: The tickets were free…
Reid: Details, details.
Christina: It’s been quite the ride.
Reid: It’s changed our lives.
Christina: I wouldn’t be in my kitchen texting you at two in the morning if we hadn’t been a team.
Reid: You can go to sleep.
Christina: Trying to get rid of me Wiseman?
Reid: Never.
Christina: Where’s Raegan?
Reid: Italy.
Christina: Nice.
Reid: Feeds up.
Christina: I see.
Reid: There’s Jess. Chris always looks happy.
Christina: I bet he looked terrified in the airlock after the EVA last month. He sounded a bit frenetic during depressurization. Jess said it "got sporty" up there for awhile.
Reid: She kept her cool, talked him down, they got through it. You’d do the same for me.
Christina: I would.
Reid: I miss Integrity.
Christina: Me too.
Reid: I miss you.
Christina: Reid.