Within Seconds: Flashpoint Edition

Wondering

Behind his favorite coffee shop in Central City, Barry skidded to a stop. He looked both ways, assuring no one took notice of his abrupt entrance, then he entered into Jitters. 

Parker sat in a similar position as he left her: hands tangled in her hair, eyes wide, staring in utter horror at the papers she was grading with a red pen. The sticker pile, made for students who scored a ninety percent or higher had been untouched. 

Barry's presence went unnoticed by her. He crept behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tensed, at first, then she allowed herself to melt into his body. 

"Do you ever think, maybe, your teaching is just bad?" he wondered. 

Parker threw her head back with laughter. She wiggled from his grasp, shaking her head. Flipping through the quizzes, she softly hummed in agreement. 

"Yeah?" he asked, taking a seat. 

"It's possible," she agreed. "I have been a little... distracted, lately."

"Because of me?" asked Barry; a hopeful hint in his voice. 

"No, because I'm leaving."

Barry raised his brow. "Leaving what?"

"Uh, teaching, most likely," admitted Parker. 

"What?"

"I want to teach. I love it, and I'm good at it, it's just... A.S.L. is not the teaching path I wanted to go for. It was the simplest," she explained. "but, now that I have you and your parents to help me out with watching my babies, maybe I can go back to school, yeah?"

"Uh," stuttered Barry. "Uh, well, yeah. I don't see why not."

Parker frowned. "You don't sound very supportive of it."

"No, it's not that. I want you to be happy with your work, and I'll support anything you do. You could become a garbage man and I would still say, 'That's my baby, go girl,'" assured Barry quickly. 

"Then what is it?" asked Parker, faintly smiling. 

"All-time father?" winced Barry. "I'm barely getting the hang of this part-time father thing."

Parker waved her hand, insisting, "Non-sense, Bar. Our kids love you. You do a great job with them. Believe me, if I saw issues, I would have written a three paged paper about it."

"You really think so?" wondered Barry. 

"I do," she smiled. 

Barry shrugged, softly accepting her faith in him. He didn't share it, not by any means, but if she trusted him with their children, he wasn't going to take that privilege away by changing his attitude when in their presence. He was doing things right. 

"So," said Parker, clapping her hands. "How was it? Are you a better Flash than whoever's under that mask?"

"I don't know, but I do know it's amazing to have a break. To not run off at the first sign of danger..." breathed Barry, at ease. 

"Don't let the hero inside of you die, Bar," warned Parker. 

"Of course not," he assured. "I'm always going to feel the need to fight crime. I'm just saying it's nice to let someone else handle it for a change."

"Are you thinking about helping out?" she wondered. 

"If it gets to a point where I need to step in, yeah," said Barry. "Weren't we talking about something before I left?"

"Yes, my possible death and your possible marriage to Iris West."

"Shhh!" gasped Barry, ducking his head low. 

Parker rolled her eyes. 

Barry looked over his shoulder, ensuring Iris hadn't heard her name in the conversation. Shaking his head, he said, "No, Parker, the whole Iris, you, and I thing shouldn't occur in this timeline. I'm all yours."

Parker winked. "Ditto."

"I have to go hit CCPD, then I'll be home for dinner," said Barry, after he puckered his lips teasingly at her.

"Who's cooking?"

"You?" 

"You."

"Will do, Queen Parker," obeyed Barry. 

"I like the sound of that," admitted Parker. 

Barry chuckled as he rounded the table to kiss her cheek. She leaned into it, without looking, as she fully expected he was going to. It was customary of Barry to do so when parting. Their lips, however, hadn't touched in the three months he had been in her timeline. Neither half was going to admit it, but a distinctive and unknown feeling encircled the thought of sharing a kiss together. In that time, cheek kisses meant something in between; something that was perfect for them.

"See you at home," said Barry. 

"See you at home," agreed Parker.