The Long Term Plan (With Short Term Fixes)

XXVI

"The way I see it, I'm the closest friend you've got." Jacob said, grinning down at Evangeline, whom he was carrying, bridal style, onto the SCC's primary plane.

As soon as he'd set her down on the day bed, he got comfortable in a recliner across the aisle. The captain, who had worked with Evan back in high school, greeted both of them warmly, with no underlying desire to know any details of, or explanations to their unexpected journey straight into Marseille.

"Speak your mind," she begged him.

"Tell me why it is so imperative you see Cole."

"I fear for his life," she admitted.

Jacob did not confirm nor deny her suspicions that Cole would die, he simply nodded in understanding her fear.

"It is unclear whether or not he's aware one of these babies is his, but I have to tell him."

"Is there anything else you need to tell him?"

Evangeline's expression darkened. "I'm not sure what I'll say when I see him for the last time. I've tried to plan my life out since before I could talk, and I've ended up no where near my mark."

Jacob crossed back over to her, nudging her aside so he could sit down. She repositioned herself to rest her head on his lap.

"Braid my hair, would you?"

"What could you have possibly thought up that wasn't as perfect as this?" He asked her as he combed through with his fingers.

"I guess you're right, in some sense. I have a husband who loves me. I'll have children in a year but somehow, something is still missing from it all."

"It all happened very fast," Jacob added after awhile. He was almost done with her hair: most of it tucked up into a perfect plait, tightly flushed against her scalp.

"Funny how we all ended up together like this, and here I am running away from it all, from everything he promised me: this perfect life."

"Hey, honey," he scolded with a particularly rough tug of a strand and she winced. "Our lives are exactly as those of the middle class; we just cry champagne and shit diamonds. We're not gods."

"Does Noah think he is? That I am?"

Jacob laughed a little, and once he'd finished her hair he guided her to sit up beside him. "Of course not."

"He's always been..."

"He is strong and cold to protect us, to protect you. You know that. You aren't exactly cutting him slack. Tell him the truth sometime. I'm sure all that will break down easily.

"Peg didn't fall into my lap like you did into Noah's. She found me, after years of desperation, under piles of debt from schools she hardly attended. I had to help her.

"I wasn't in a position of power at the company back then. Noah had just started it up. The only way to get her the money without the banks and the feds asking too many questions was... well..."

"Marriage," Evangeline finished.

"She's always used me. We'd always tolerated each other. We were never particularly affectionate on the outside, but we cared enough. Until we found out she couldn't have children, and this is what we've come to: 'In name and name alone.'

"This life is not perfect, Evangeline, but you know, I know you know, that deep down, it is what you wanted. This is your plan. You're having children with Noah. You're supportive, and kind, and everything else a wife should be. That would be enough for me, love or no love."

Evangeline brought her face to Jacob's and smiled, resting her forehead against his before dropping her head to his shoulder. "Thank you, Jacob."

"C'mon now, hon." Jacob stood up and gave Evan his hand. "We're landing."