| Momentary Madness Episode 25 |
| ** "Do you have a kid?" Joe couldn't take it any longer, he had to come right out and ask. Now was the perfect time, she was standing by the coffee pot. "What the hell kind of question is that?" Rachel didn't know where he had gotten that idea, but she didn't like it. Nash was a dead man, he was the only one who would've told Joe. "Rachel, do you have a daughter?" Joe found it suspicious, she was being evasive. The other Rachel's still hadn't gotten back to him, but he had to know. "My personal life is none of your damn business." She didn't mean to get so defensive, but it wasn't and he had no right to ask. "What's it to you anyways?" "I just need to know, okay?" Joe could see she was upset by his question, it was just a matter of why. "Leave it alone, Dominguez." Rachel was furious, she trusted Nash not to tell anyone. Why would he betray her trust and tell Joe? "Rachel, look, I'm not trying to invade your privacy but I need to know." Joe could see she was hesitent to answer something. There was a lot more to Rachel than he'd ever know. "Joe, please don't bring this up again." Rachel worked to fight back the tears. She couldn't understand why he'd want to know something so personal. She walked away from Joe and down the stairs, leaving him to wonder. ** "Hey, Rache, you okay?" Harvey sensed something was wrong as he slowly approached her desk later that morning. Rachel hung up the phone as it was ringing, her call to Bill would have to wait. "Yeah, I'm fine." Rachel didn't want to burden Harvey with her problems, he had enough to worry about with Jerry leaving. "You don't look so good." Harvey wasn't trying to be mean, but he was worried about her. "Thanks, what every woman wants to hear from her significant other." Rachel forced herself to smile, Joe's interrogation made her miserable. "I didn't mean it like that.'' Harvey wanted to know what was going on, something wasn't right. "You know I didn't mean it like that." "I know, let's just say Dominguez doesn't know when to drop an issue and leave it at that?" Rachel didn't want to tell Harvey about their conversation, out of fear maybe it was him who accidentally told Joe. "What type of issue?" Harvey was wondering what Joe could've asked Rachel about that would get her so upset. "He asked, about..." Rachel didn't want to come out and say it, knowing everyone around would suddenly be listening to them, "Cecilia." "Oh." Harvey wondered how Joe would've gotten on that topic, hoping he hadn't accidentally said something about her. Harvey could tell this discussion would have to be finished later. ** "Nash, you know Rachel pretty well, right?" Nash was Joe's last resort, if she wouldn't talk, hopefully Nash would. Their drive in the Cuda would provide the perfect opportunity for them to chat. "I think I do." Nash didn't want to get into specifics, but he thought their friendship and previous relationship gave him a pretty good idea of who she was. "Why?" "There's something about her, I need to know. She won't tell me." Joe didn't want to come right out and say it, afraid that Nash would take off. "You're not doing those relationship studies again with the University are you?" Nash laughed, thinking about the last time Joe went around surveying everyone's personal relationships. Joe shook his head. ''You didn't ask her about our discussion, about our relationship, did you?" "No, I'm not that crazy." Joe didn't know how to bring up the topic, there wasn't a subtle manner in which to do so. He was convinced Nash would know, but unsure if he would tell. "So what is it, maybe I can help?" Nash wondered if he had missed something with Rachel lately, a problem of some sort. "Nash, did Rachel have a daughter?" Joe had to ask. "WHAT?" Nash slammed on the breaks. That wasn't the question Nash had been expecting. He knew what he heard, he also knew that Rachel would kill him if he told. "Does Rachel have a daughter?" Joe thought maybe if he rephrased the question, Nash would answer him. "Why the hell would you ask me that? I don't know." Nash knew she did. He hated lying to Joe, but he wanted to protect her right to privacy. "I need to know, Nash." Joe didn't know who else he could ask if Nash turned him down. "Well, Bubba, you're asking the wrong guy." Nash couldn't understand why Joe would need to know if Rachel had a daughter or not. It wasn't his place to answer. ** "Do you want me to come over tonight, after you get home from the airport?" Rachel wasn't sure if Harvey would want to see her or not that evening. Harvey had already warned her about his typical mood after Jerry left. Rachel waited for Harvey to catch up as they walked outside after lunch. "I was kind of thinking you'd come with to the airport?" Harvey was hoping that she'd come with to say good-bye to Jerry, make it a little easier on all of them. Harvey hadn't formally asked her, he just assumed she'd come. "I wouldn't want to intrude on Jerry's time." Rachel felt out of place, this was Jerry's time with Harvey. "Are we back on that again?" Harvey smiled, making light of Rachel's insecurities. "If I thought you'd be intruding, I wouldn't ask you to come. Besides, Jerry would love it if you were there." "Really?" Rachel was wondering if Jerry had said that himself or if it was more Harvey's idea. Not having Jerry around would definitely change their relationship, that was certain. "But, I can't say that I wouldn't mind having you around afterwords myself." Harvey grinned and surveyed the area, no one else was around. He pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss. "Is that a hint?" Rachel knew he was anxious to move to the next level, they both were. Maybe his mood had changed. "Could be." Harvey kissed her again, "maybe we should get back inside before the rumor mill starts about the two of us." Harvey smiled, knowing that they had done a good job thus far of keeping their relationship a secret. He had the whole night planned out perfectly; they'd go for dinner with Jerry, they'd take him to the airport and go back to his place... ** "Antwon, is something going on with Rachel and Harvey?" Joe was curious, he had seen them together a lot lately. "With those two, you never know." Antwon knew there was, but it wasn't his place to talk about their romance. "I just don't get it, Rachel's so secretive about everything." Joe never could understood why Rachel liked to keep such tight seal on her personal life. "Some people are just more private." Antwon knew that Rachel liked to keep a fine line between her personal life and her professional life, but the office romances mafe it hard. "How much do you know about her?" Joe was hoping maybe Antwon could tell him whether or not she had a daughter. "Not enough to share.'' Antwon didn't feel he should tell Joe anything he knew without asking Rachel first. ** "What, you're ignoring me now?" Nash didn't know what had come over Rachel as she walked past him in the parking lot without saying a word. Nash flashed a smile, trying to break the ice. "What did you tell Joe?" Rachel was furious, Nash had no right to tell Joe anything about her personal life that couldn't be found in her file. From the look on her face, Nash could tell she was serious. "I didn't tell him anything." Nash now knew where this was going, it was about Joe and her daughter. "How else would he know? Harvey would never say anything." Rachel knew Harvey wouldn't bring it up out of the blue, but with Nash it was more questionnable. "I don't know how he found out, I don't. I haven't said a word to him about your daughter. Joe asked me this afternoon and I told him I didn't know." Nash wished there was a way he could convince Rachel he hadn't said anything to Joe. "Why is he doing this? What does it matter to him?" Rachel couldn't figure out why Joe would've asked her, there had to be a reason. "I don't know." Nash didn't know what more he could say, he had no idea why Joe was asking her. "Do you want me to talk to him, see what I can find out?" "Would you?" Rachel felt bad about accusing Nash, but he was a likely suspect. "If it would get my head out of the guillotine, I'll call him tonight." Nash gave Rachel a light hug to reassure her he'd call. ** Harvey opened his desk drawer and found the letter. He had completely forgotten to give it to Rachel earlier. Harvey got an idea as Antwon walked by. "Antwon, want to do me a favor?" "Depends on the favor." Antwon was already suspicious, he didn't like the smile on Harvey's face. He definitely had something on his mind. "Can you drop something off for me?" Harvey waved the envelope in his hand, "actually, pick something up and drop something off? It's on your way home, here's the address." Antwon looked at the envelope and saw Rachel's name on it, "oh no... not this again. What do I look like, the romance courier or what?" "Thank you." Harvey knew he would do it. Rachel had to get the letter before dinner. "For what? I haven't said I was going?" Antwon grabbed the envelope and address of the florist from Harvey's hand. Antwon looked around and checked for other employees, "for all my efforts with this romance, let me tell you, your first son best be named after me." ** The doorbell rang and Rachel checked her watch, it was too early to be Harvey. She pulled on her robe and went to answer the door, surprised to see Antwon on the other side. "Antwon?" "Nah, for now I've been reduced to a delivery boy." Antwon handed her the letter and the flowers. "What's this?" Rachel wasn't sure what he was giving her, it hadn't crossed her mind that Harvey was using Antwon as his messenger. "It's not as if he won't see you later, but they're from that man you've got wrapped around your finger." Antwon smiled, he loved to tease Rachel about Harvey and their secret romance. "Oh." Rachel looked at the envelope again, guessing it was a reply to her own letter. "I'll leave you to your reading." Antwon laughed, "any more letters between you two and I'm talking to a publisher. Nothing like an grocery store check-out counter romance." Rachel walked back into her living room and shut the door, curious as to what was in the envelope. She carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. Rachel sat down before she began to read. Rachel, I find myself lacking the right thing to say, you pretty much said it all. Unfortunately for us, the road to romance thus far hasn't been easy. The circumstances have certainly proven to be difficult and untimely. Ignoring how I feel is impossible, especially now. The writing has been on the wall for quite a while now, so to speak. I know what it's like to be entranced with someone, to want to spend every free second you have with them --- welcome to my world since you've become a part of it. This feeling is new for me as well, I guess you can say I'm enamored. There is no way for me to be sure when or how my feelings began, they just did. From then on, whenever you walked it, I was gone. There definitely has always been an attraction, but not the right moment for us to take advantage of. There definately has been unrequited love, and I've worried that I'd have to give up sooner or later. As you've noticed, I'm not the type of guy women go nuts over... but I've enjoyed seeing my effect on you. Time has been one of the many interruptions that have kept us apart, now we can definitely do something about that and see where things go. I never doubted you during our undercover gig, it was Vincent that I didn't trust. True romance? You saved that for me? I hope you find our relationship has been worth the wait. Your reasons for holding back with Vincent are the same as mine for letting go of Anna, you mean too much to me to do anything else. Watching you with my son these past weeks has been wonderful, I've never thought I'd find a woman as crazy about him as I was. I guess I just got lucky. These are just a few things I wanted you to know. 'til tonight... Harvey ** "Hey, Bill, it's Joe." Joe didn't want to call him, it had been nearly a week and they weren't much further than where they were before. "Joe, any news?" Bill had been waiting for his call, hopeful they'd be making some progress. "Like you said, there are three Rachel McCabe's in the city and I'm waiting to hear back from two of them. " The one was an older woman, much too old to have a child Cecilia's age. The other one, he had gotten her answering service... and then there was Rachel. "So, no progress?" Bill could feel time slowly slipping away from them. This wasn't good news. "Not really.'' Joe felt bad about having to tell Bill this, but there wasn't much more he could do until Rachel said something or the other Rachel called him back. "Thanks for your help, Joe.'' Bill hadn't had much success lately, with finding Lili's mom Rachel or getting his Rachel to go out. "I'm sorry, Bill." Joe would try and call the other Rachel again later, he didn't want to let Bill or Lili down. ** "When can I come back?" Jerry wanted to know when he'd be able to spend time with his father again before he left. "I'll talk to your mom and see what we can do." Harvey was hoping that Anna would be a little more generous with the time she allowed Jerry to spend with Harvey. "Will you and Rachel come see me?" Jerry was hoping if he couldn't be there, maybe Rachel and his dad could come to him. "We could try." Harvey wasn't sure what Rachel would think, he assumed she'd agree. "This is final boarding call for flight 412 to Seattle." The stewardess approached Jerry, "you ready to go little guy?" "I guess." Jerry wasn't happy about leaving his dad's, he said so himself. "Bye, Dad!" Harvey bent down to give Jerry another hug. After giving Rachel another hug, "bring Doc when you come." "Don't worry, he'll be fine." The stewardess led Jerry towards the doors to board the plane. Harvey stood there a minute next to Rachel, in silence. "What do you think, are you up for a roadtrip to Seattle?" Harvey had to set his mind on the next time he'd see Jerry, and not think about him leaving. "With you, I'm up for just about anything." Rachel was looking forward to whatever her future with Harvey might have instore. "Is that so? I had a few other things in mind, too." Rachel's eyes lit up as Harvey whispered in her ear. He pulled her towards him for a kiss, "no more kid alerts for now." "Speaking of, there he goes." Rachel pointed to the window as Jerry's plane started down the runway. They waited there while Jerry's plane took off into the sky, beyond where they could see. "Are we going back to your place or mine?" Harvey had no guarantees about what the evening would hold, but they were off to a pretty good start. ** "Nashman, what can I do for you?" Nash didn't frequently visit Joe's house, but when he did, it usually meant they had to talk. "You can tell me why you've been asking everyone at the SIU about Rachel." Nash had to know his reasoning before he'd consider telling him anything. "Nash, I just need to know." Joe didn't want to tell him the truth, afraid he'd mention it to Rachel and she'd bolt before Bill had a chance to talk to her. "Joe, I'm not going to say anything until you tell me why you need to know." Nash wasn't going to say a word without a good reason. "Why are you so protective over her?" Joe couldn't understand why Nash wouldn't tell him, he was his best friend. "Because... because..." Nash didn't want to tell Joe the truth, that he still had feelings for Rachel and he wanted to keep on protecting her --- even though it was obvious she had moved on. "I care about her Joe, that's all." "Nash, you're not helping her by not telling me.'' Joe could tell that Nash either didn't know or was adament on not telling. "If you won't tell me, somebody else will." ** "I'll be right back, I need to get a glass of water." Rachel gently kissed Harvey before getting up and walking towards the kitchen. Harvey sat there alone for a moment, wondering if water was what she was really after or if this was a delay. He wondered if she was going to inspect his supply of Ben and Jerry's, something she knew he always had on hand. The past few days had been different for them, each kiss seemed a bit more passionate and each embrace seemed to last a few moments longer. Harvey watched as she took the lid off the ice cream and stuck her spoon in while he stood silently in the doorway. Harvey quietly came up behind Rachel as she stood infront of the open freezer. He let her get a mouthful before he said anything. "Caught you!" He grabbed the container from her hand, chuckling at the distraught look upon Rachel's face. "So much for a glass of water." "I was getting ice and..." There was no use in explaining, Rachel needed a fix and she knew exactly where to find one. Harvey was her ideal supplier, rustically handsome and always there when she called. "Nice try, McCabe." Harvey smiled as held the Ben and Jerry's over their heads with his right hand, while warding Rachel off with the spoon in his left. "What do you think you're doing?" Rachel couldn't understand Harvey's love for teasing her, especially with the ice cream. "Taunting you." Harvey continued to dangle the ice cream over her head, his height advantage was most useful. "What did I do to deserve this?" Rachel looked at him, with her hand on her hip like she was ready to go off. "Come and get it." Harvey took off for the living room, dodging Rachel's view from behind a chair. He taunted her by taking another large spoonful, "it's really good." "Hand it over, Leek." Harvey ran towards the couch, throwing a pillow at Rachel along the way. Rachel dodged the pillow, and made her way through Harvey's down-filled barrage to the couch. Harvey wrestled Rachel onto the couch, landing on top of her as she pried the Ben and Jerry's out of his hand. "Nice try.'' The situation was all to tempting. Rachel passionately kissed him, a worthy distraction from her ice cream. "Are you trying to seduce me?" Harvey grinned shamelessly at her, eyeing the ice cream container in her hand. The condensation was dripping onto the her arm. "Who said I had to try?" Rachel considered the situation for a moment, as Harvey grabbed the container again from her hands. Removing another spoonful, Harvey playfully fed her the beloved contents. Rachel took the container and the spoon and moved to set it down on the coffee table as Harvey kissed her neck and slowly began unbuttoning her blouse, making her attempt all the more difficult. Harvey looked at her with a mischevious smile, ''what about your ice cream?" ''This is much better.'' The ice cream was normally worth the battle, but so was Harvey. She struggled with the buttons on his shirt, knowing there was nothing to stop them this time. They had no where to be and nobody else could interfere. ''I agree.'' He kissed her again, not wanting the moment between them to pass. He wasn't sure what to do next. They had gone this far before, but they always stopped with making out. Something or someone always came up. He wondered if she was ready. ''Harvey, what's wrong?" Rachel looked at Harvey as he sat up quietly next to her on the couch. She wasn't sure if he regretted what was happening or if she had read him wrong about what he wanted. His silence bothered her, ''Harvey?" ''Come to think of it, nothing could be more perfect.'' He could see from her reaction that she was as ready as he was. Harvey pulled her in closer for another passionate kiss. He reached for her hand as he got up off the couch, feeling now was their time. This was the moment they had been waiting for. "Are you sure?" He didn't want to rush things with Rachel, he wanted to go slowly and get it right. Rachel's kiss was the only answer he needed. He kissed her again as he pulled her off the couch and they headed down the hall. ** "Maggie, any messages?" Bill walked through the reception area, waiting for Maggie to check. He came in early again since he wasn't there the day before. "Nothing new, there was a 714-8536, but it was a hang up." Maggie didn't recognize the number, but she figured Bill would. "Really? Huh... that's the SIU." Rachel had called him and he missed it. He had taken the day off yesterday for personal reasons, but he wished he had given Rachel his home number. "It was her." Maggie was happy she finally called and let out a small sigh of relief, "flowers?" "Definitely. If she calls back, get me right away.'' Bill wasn't happy he missed the call, but was hopeful she'd call back. ** "Good morning." Harvey looked drowsily over the bed at Rachel and smiled, not sure what her rush was as she stood before him getting dressed. He glanced at the clock and saw it was well before six. "Hey. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Rachel had tried to be as quiet as possible, wanting to leave before he woke up. "That's okay, I don't mind." Harvey paused for a moment as he sat up, "what's the rush?" Neither one of them had to be at the SIU before eight that morning. "I figured I'd run home and shower, pick up some clothes." Her reasoning was plausible but the truth was she didn't know how it was going to be dealing with the morning after for them. "Oh." Harvey thought for a moment, feeling nearly as uncomfortable as she appeared to be. "Why don't you stay for breakfast? I'll cook..." "I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome." The evening before left Rachel feeling more uncertain than ever about their future, she didn't know what to expect the next day. She didn't know what he had expected from her. With Nash, things were more clear cut. It was about companionship, but this was different and she didn't know how to react. Rachel searched the floor near his side of the bed for her badge, anything to take her mind off the present. "Are you kidding me? Get over here..." When Rachel didn't respond, Harvey was worried. He sat on the edge of the bed, "Rachel, is everything okay?" Rachel ignored him momentarily as she continued to search the floor for her badge. So many thoughts and emotions were running through her mind, she didn't know what she should do next. This wasn't a relationship she wanted to ruin. Harvey couldn't take the silence anymore. "Rachel, what's wrong?" Rachel looked up and directly into his eyes. "I don't want to ruin things for us, Harvey. I don't know how to keep relationships going." That was the truth, she didn't know how. Her relationships weren't of the lasting variety, they all ended the same way --- with her having a broken heart. "Harvey, you don't understand the relationships I've been in. Sex was the epitomy and it was all down hill from there.'' "So that's what this is about..." Rachel stood up before him, as if she were about to leave in shame after admitting she was incapable of having a lasting relationship or any relationship that was more than sex. He didn't want her to go, but he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable if she stayed. "If it makes you feel any better, I worry too... but this relationship happens to be different for both of us." Harvey kissed her and pulled her down next to him on the bed, knowing they had plenty of time before work to talk things through. ** "Joe, it's me, Bill. Listen, I thought of something else that might help us out." Bill hadn't thought to look in the book that Mary had made for Cecilia. "Really?" Joe wondered what Bill could've found, he didn't have much hair left that he could pull out. "Mary made Cecilia a book, that tells about her adoption. There might be something in there." Bill hadn't looked at it in quite a while, but he knew there'd be some information as long as he could find it. ''Do you have it ready?" Joe was hoping he could pick up the book and get started. "I can drop it by later on, after work." He wanted to go home and check first. "Okay." Joe was eager to wrap this case up, still doubting it was the Rachel he knew. "I know there's pictures of her, Joe." Bill wanted to give Joe some hope, he was trying to help him. "I guess you can say she looks a little like Officer McCabe, I remember that much. Odd they have the same name, but --- there are three of them." ** |
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