Every New Beginning... (Chris Evans AU)

.159.

*Last update for a few days, so I made it a long one.

Opal POV

  "Someone remind me why we didn't fly?" Lily asks, climbing out of Jameson's truck at a rest stop.

  "Because we couldn't get a flight with all of us," Anthony pipes up. "And you both could've rode with us, but then you'd have had to listen to the baby." He opens the back door of his own SUV to lift the car seat out. "And we all know where you stand on that."

  I slide out from the back seat, arching my back to stretch it further than the car allows. The simple act of stretching causes a very loud and long yawn to escape my lips. "Rough night?" Lily asks me with a Cheshire cat grin. I look back at her, completely emotionless. She comes closer, swinging an arm around my shoulders. "Couldn't have been as rough as mine." I look back at her to see the wiggle of her brows and proceed with pushing her off of me.

  "Good gosh, woman! I told you to keep that to yourself," I chuckle before walking into the restroom. I take care of my business and spend a few extra seconds at the sink, splashing my face with cold water.

  Lily saddles up to the sink next to me. "But really, did you have a bad night? We assumed you crashed once the babysitting job was over."

  Patting my face dry with a paper towel, I cover another yawn. "The 'job' as you call it, never ended."

  "What do you mean?" she asks before sticking her hands under the hand dryer. I roll my eyes as I wait for her to finish because I am refusing to yell over the noise of the dryer.  She gazes at me impatiently, causing me to point to the dryer which earns me an eye roll before she pulls them away from the loud machine. Grabbing a paper towel to finish drying off she pushes me to answer her.

  "Chris thought it would be nice for us to watch Giovanni the whole night so Anthony and Rae could have a quiet night themselves."  I push the door open, leading the way back out towards the parking lot. Lily pulls my hand towards a coffee vending machine.

  "Oh, so you got G down and then you and Chris had lots of time to catch up for, right?" Her eyes are wide with excitement.

You'd think she'd take a look at my own and realize that I don't look like a woman who just had the night of her life. "You really are clueless when it comes to babies aren't you?" She shoves the cup of hot liquid into my hand and pushes me towards the counter to fix it the way I like.

  Lily pushes the button to release her own cup. "I never wanted to have kids, you know that. No reason for me to learn about them." She takes a sip of the straight black liquid.

  "You drinking it like that makes me understand your soul," I quip but laugh a little as she gives a shrug in agreeance.

  We take the walk back to the cars in a slow stroll, letting the warm morning sun kiss our skin. "So, what happened then?"

  I sigh before bringing the cup back up to my  lips. I look ahead of me as I swallow. "Just a rough night." Lily puts her hand on my arm, stopping my walk. I shake my head, knowing what her unasked question is, "not like yours."

Flashback

  This night at Chris' apartment is much like most of the others I've spent, with one exception. This time I am neither snuggled up against Chris on the couch, or in his bed, rather I'm laying on the edge of one side of the bed with a bassinet next to me.

  As soon as Giovanni took his last bottle around 9 PM, we called it a night. Chris and I had been flipping through the channels on the television in his bedroom while feeding G. Once I burped him the last time Chris turned the volume down low, passed me the pacifier and then climbed off the bed. He kissed G on the head before doing the same to me.