Cold All the Way Through, But Warming

Four Days Late

I wound up spending Valentine's Day alone, as Will had been delayed by engine troubles on his way back. I wound up buying a fresh bouquet of roses each day, and had four of them saved up by the time he'd docked. He was full of apologies as he came into the office at the dock, his hat in his hands and his eyes on the floor. I couldn't help the smile on my face as I picked the flowers up, bringing them to him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Will."

"Ana," He shook his head, taking the flowers. "I would have been here if I could."

"I know, Will."

"The damn greasers got their shifts mixed up, I didn't think it would take so long to sort out."

"It's alright."

"Our first Valentine's and I missed it." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. It had gotten longer, and it stood up a little when he pulled his hand away. "And poor James, he barely waited until we were tied up before racing off to go get flowers for Liz."

"Well, you've already got flowers." I chuckled, reaching up to tame his hair back down. "And I have three more at home, so I think I'm good on roses." He caught my hand as I drew it back, kissing the knuckles. I let my fingers graze his cheeks, "You've got some stubble."

"Haven't had a chance to shave, everything was chaos onboard." He brought my hand down to tuck around his arm, passing the flowers back to me. "And coming in late means I'll be leaving early. Only three days this time."

I squeezed his arm, "That's alright, I'd rather have you back on time for the next round rather than make everything late for the rest of the time."

"You know my birthday is during the next trip."

"I know, I'm planning a nice dinner for when you get back." I patted my hand against my skirt, calling Rigel to follow us out. "Onion soup, steak and potatoes and a nice cake."

I could see the grin spread over his face as we started down the stairs. "That's present enough."

"Oh be quiet Will, you're already getting something." I shook my head, reaching up to brush against the short hair at the back of my neck. Louise had been aghast to see it and had insisted on me wearing hats every day until it had grown out enough to not be obvious without them. A stand of hatpins practically lived on my vanity now. The weaver Mrs. Vanderbilt had sent the hair to had already returned the lock of hair, and it was currently coiled up in a drawer in my desk. He had done wonderfully, and the shining chain was really quite beautiful. He'd even found a gold facing to secure it that suited the color of my hair.

"Ana, I swear, whatever you're getting me, you don't need to spend much." He handed me up into the carriage, standing back to allow Rigel to jump up. He had grown out of his lanky puppy phase and was getting thick with muscle. He easily took up half the bed if I allowed him up. But he still knew to stay on the floor of the carriage, and curled himself around Will's feet as he sat down. "I'd love a matchbook if it came from you."

"I still have that matchbook." I muttered, "But no, Will, I didn't spend a dime."

"Sewing something still counts."

"I didn't sew it either." I enjoyed the way he rolled his eyes and snorted a bit, settling back into the bench. I could see some shadows under his eyes, and Rigel whined as I reached over to trace them. "Will, please tell me you've been sleeping."

"I have, I have." He grunted, his eyes sliding shut. "Just not much in the past few days, not with having to fix everything. One of the greasers caught a bug in Southampton and passed it to the others, but failed to let us know. We must have been down to only three on a shift by the end, had to pull some firemen to help and it took days to get it sorted." He rubbed at his neck, "Didn't get a whole lot of sleep during it."