Before The Beginning

Chapter 31: Homecoming

Begin!

~Beatrice's POV

When the Queequeg arrived at Briny Beach, Bertie and I made sure to thank our friends for helping us out. Sammie insisted that the first chance I get I arrange for a check-up to make sure my baby is healthy. Something I wasn't planning to argue with; she knew better than I would. John said he sent a message to Jacques to meet us on the shore for a ride. I said goodbye to Fernald and Fiona, and Sammie agreed to help me out of the ship.

"Next time you visit, make sure it's after you have the baby. It'll make it easier to climb the ladder."

"I can see that, Sammie," I replied dryly.

Once we were out of the submarine at last Sammie followed us onto shore. I saw Bertie gazing thoughtfully at the water for a minute.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"I was just wondering where our boat might have ended up," He said sheepishly.

"Oh don't worry about that," Sammie answered, "The tides will carry it to shore somewhere. Though you'll probably never see it again." I suppose she was right.

"Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome, Bea. And make sure to let me know in advance when your due date is, because I don't want to miss meeting your kid."

I sighed, "Sammie before we go, please tell us what we're having? I know that you know!"

Sammie smiled. "I don't want to ruin it for you."

Bertie groaned. "Sammie!"

"I'm serious, don't you want it to be a surprise?"

"Well for a while we did, but now that we have the ability to know I'd appreciate it if you told us..." I replied.

Sammie continued smiling and shook her head. She wasn't going to tell us. Well... it was worth one last try.

"Ah, your ride's here," She noted looking past us at the taxi that just pulled up.

Bertie and I gave Sammie goodbye hugs and walked off to meet Jacques while she climbed back into her submarine.

"Bea, Bertrand, I'm so happy to see you're back!" Jacques greeted us with a smile. He blinked in surprise at my maternal state. "And you have some interesting news for everyone when you get home, I see."

We got into the taxi with him and started the long ride back to headquarters.

"How are Kit and Lemony," Bertie asked.

"Kit is still going strong with Dewey; I'm glad to see he makes her happy. And Lemony recently got married. He married his old flame Moxie in Stain'd By The Sea. I was his best man; I'm sorry you couldn't have been there. He had planned to have you meet some of his old friends from his apprenticeship days."

"I'm sure it was a lovely ceremony, and I can always meet them another time" I replied, "I'm glad that Moxie makes him happy. Speaking of which, you should think about settling down sometime. I can think of more than a few female volunteers who'd like to have a chance with V.F.D.'s current most eligible bachelor."

Jacques chuckled. "You sound like my sister."

That wasn't an entirely inaccurate description. Jacques has always been like an older brother to me, even before I dated Lemony.

"So you two got married then?"

One reason why I couldn't wait for the baby to get here was so we could get married. That question was embarrassing. We lived in a different time, that's all I'll say. If my mother were alive, she'd have similar notions about our situation. It was uncommon to say the least. I could only hope that Ike and Hector wouldn't have similar opinions.