A Little Later On
by
Captain Anonymous

It was well after dark, as Lady walked up the stone walk way, towards the house.
It was about 19:30 by her watch.
It was late, she just got off work.
The wind was cold, she held her light Preventer jacket closed in a futile attempt to ward off the cold air.
Lady walked up the stairs, her steps echoing in the cold night.
She had been by this house so many times before, looking at it, watching the lights in the windows.
This had been the closest she had ever been to it.
She felt nervous, like she shouldn’t be doing this.
But it had to happen sooner or later.
She knocked on the wooden door, and waited for a moment.
There was no answer for a moment.
She waited, feeling another gust of wind hit her body, sending a chill through her skin.
Softly, she could a hear a voice calling to her, from inside.

“Please come in.”

Lady touched the brass door handle with her long fingers, turning the knob. The door was unlocked.
She opened the door, the light from inside fell onto her.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the warm glow.
She closed the door behind her, without looking.

The room was bright.
Friendly. Inviting.

She scanned the room, fixing onto her cousin, sitting on the couch.
Lady stared at her for a moment. The blonde woman sat holding her daughter in her arms, gently rocking her.
Lady couldn’t help but smile.
It made her think for a moment about her own adopted daughter.
How it made her feel.
She watched the small angel as she laid in her mother’s arms.

The way Midii looked, the way she acted. It reminded her so much of Midii’s mother.
She remembered her so well in her mind. Looking at her like this, seeing her face, not over a monitor, she could see just how much Midii looked like her mother.

She heard another person enter the room.
She turned for a moment, she recognized him instantly. Trowa.

Trowa walked towards his young wife, holding a bottle of warm milk in his hands.
Midii stood up and handed Trowa the small Angel.
Midii kissed the angel on the forehead, “Good night, honey.”
She brushed her lips against Trowa’s cheek.
Trowa said softly, “I’ll take her upstairs, and then check on them.”
Midii smiled, “Thank you.”

Lady could hear Trowa leave the room, and go up the stairs.

Midii looked at her cousin. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Lady said softly, “That’s all right. I understand.”
Midii motioned for Lady to sit down. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Midii sat down across from her, sitting back in the soft chair.
“So that was your daughter.”
Midii said, “Yes.”
“She looks like a lot like you did at her age.”
Midii smiled, “Well, she does have her father’s eyes.”

“I’m glad that you were able to come tonight.” Midii leaned forward in the chair. “I suppose that it had been a long time coming. But I think that we had to talk about a few things.”

Lady nodded, “Yes.” She felt a nervous still, the tension had quickly returned to her.
“So, is he here tonight?”

Midii said softly, “You mean Johnnie.”
Lady responded softly, “Yes.”
Midii replied, “He’s gone out for the night, he won’t be back until morning.”
“I see. I suppose that it is for the best. I can understand how hard this must be for him.”

Midii closed her eyes, “He’s been distant from all of us, sometimes I really worry about him. He’s changed a lot. I felt that I had to tell him about you again, I thought that if I talked to him, that he would be able to understand with time. That it would be for the best. If he had found out on his own, and it was all hidden, it would make things worse. But I think that deep down, he still has his own demons to face, and that this made things worse for him. I didn’t want either of you to get hurt.”
There were tears in her eyes.

Lady looked away from Midii for a moment. “There is no way that I can blame him. I didn’t want to hurt you, or him. I never wanted it happen to like this. I didn’t want this to happen again.”

Midii said softly, “I know.”
She looked back at Lady, “I know. I know now.”

Lady looked back at Midii, looking into her blue eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Its all right.” Midii spoke softly.

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It was well after 11:30 when Catherine got back to her trailer.
The cold night air sent a chill through her body, as the breeze danced on her sweat glazed skin.
She opened the door to the trailer, and turned on the light.
The last performance of the night was done.
She started slipping off her brightly colored costume.
Catherine could still feel the high the performance, she probably wouldn’t be able to get to sleep until well after midnight. Then get up early and start the whole routine all over again.
She sat down at her dressing room table and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Only one more week on the road, before the end of this tour.

She thought about calling home now, but quickly decided against it.
It was too late at night, she didn’t want to wake anyone up.
She’d call sometime tomorrow.

Catherine took her fingers and took off her star earring, carefully placing on the table.

As she moved her hand back, she looked up from where she placed the earrings, to the photos that in the mirror frame.
She stared at one of them, an older one.
She pulled the picture out of the frame, and held in the bright light.
Catherine stared at it for a moment.

Major Ordway.

The picture was still clear, not yet faded by time.
Most of the photos Catherine had of him were taken before the war.
In most of those he wore his OZ uniform.
This one was one of the few that was taken after the war.
She could see the Preventer jacket that he wore.
It seemed like most of the time she saw him, he always wore his Preventer jacket.
When he used to see her after work.

She missed him.
Oh lord did she miss him.

She remembered back to when they were talking.
When she finally told him what she did for a living.
The fact that she worked in a circus didn’t put him off at all.
When she told him what she did in the circus, she could remember the look on his face.
The way his eyes grew wide.
The look for a moment that priceless.
But that didn’t scare him away one bit.
Usually when they had performances in town, and when he wasn’t working, Ordway would always come.
Then he would come to see her at her backstage.
When he was working, he always made it a point to call her after the performance.
Usually he’d talk for a few minutes, complain about having to work, the fact that there was always too much paperwork.
And that he would much rather be with her.

She missed him, even after all this time.
She never would forget what happened.

She put the picture back in into the mirror frame, taking a moment to make sure it was straight and neat.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
The room was silent, she could hear the familiar sounds outside.
The manager talking to some one, the roar of the lion.

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To be continued