Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Meanwhile, somewhat earlier in the day, and onto the evening... -- The Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman Fan Exchange

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Date Posted: 22:40:45 12/19/02 Thu
Author: CCCook
Subject: Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Meanwhile, somewhat earlier in the day, and onto the evening...
In reply to: SoldierBlue 's message, "Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - The Little Alamo 1" on 02:42:16 12/17/02 Tue

Saturday afternoon at Studs International Airport was as usual very busy. It was amazing how many flights to points unknown connected here. Amazing, as well, were the several flights whose final destination was to this as yet little known Southwestern paradise.
People coming to Studs, Texas from as far away as Melbourne, Australia was not completely unheard of, but as of late, Studs seemed to be having a mini British invasion. In fact, there was a particular flight arriving from London just today. They were a bit behind schedule, but they were finally here, and the passengers began to file out, on their way to baggage claim and customs. Among the last to disembark were three travelling companions, Tony Baker, his wife Lucy, and her brother, Christopher Davenport.
It was hard to see a family resemblance between Lucy and Christopher. He was tall and angular, with straight dark blond hair that was beginning to gray, she was petite and curvy, with long curly brown hair, with golden highlights, that she kept tied in a simple ponytail. His eyes were dark hazel, hers were clear blue-green, yet they did have the same smile, even if it tended to show up on her face much more often than it did on his. Tony was a contrast to both of them. He also was tall, but somewhat more solid looking, with dark wavy hair and dark eyes. They were all dressed casually in jeans and light sweaters, which were proving to be a little too warm for the Studlian climate. Although all three looked somewhat tired and rumpled due to the long flight, Davenport also looked sickly pale, and a little bit green. They walked slowly, matching his pace. He seemed frustrated by that, but remained silent.
Tony's mother and his brother Terry had recently moved to Studs, and were still living with his brother-in-law's family, although they'd just found a home of their own. Tony and Lucy were thrilled that they'd be there to help with the move! And Lucy couldn't bear not to have her brother around if this trip turned out to be long term, so she asked, really more like begged him to come. Lucy was very close to her brother. He really was all the family she had in the world, besides her husband and his family, of course.
After their parents died, Christopher, about 20 years her senior, became Lucy's guardian, and he'd practically raised her, since she was very young at the time. Soon after he took Lucy in, Chris divorced his wife Alexis, a rather unlikely choice of mate to begin with, considering her rather...hillbilly...background, though she made herself look as falsely sophisticated as she could, and was extremely charming, she just couldn't deal with somebody else's child, especially if she wasn't even Christopher's. Not when she'd already abandoned her own - A little boy who was just a little older than Lucy. He lived in some hillbilly town in America with his father. It was too much for Alexis to handle. There were other problems in the marriage, not least of which was an affair, and although she didn't hear it from Chris, Lucy suspected even worse than that. As many children do, Lucy blamed herself at least partially for the divorce for the longest time, but when she finally admitted it to Chris, he reassured her that she was never to blame. Nonetheless, the experience rather soured him on marriage in general, and it was a long time before he could accept Lucy's marriage to Tony...or anybody wholeheartedly. Still, he came through for Lucy, giving her away at her wedding, even-voiced, in spite of the tears rolling down his face. Lucy would never forget that as long as she lived.
At first, Chris had been reluctant to join them, since he got along with Tony about as well as Tony got along with his own brother, Terry. They clearly got on each others' nerves, but he really couldn't refuse Lucy anything. He did some research on their destination. Studs, Texas was a quickly growing community, with plenty of opportunity. The story of Phil and Lily Craven and their Texaroo Ranch was quite impressive, and wasn't it convenient that Lucy's inlaws knew them personally? That rationale was sufficient to convince Chris that he had a good reason to join his sister, but the truth was that he'd miss her too much as well, though he might not say so.
As for Tony, although he would have preferred going with Lucy alone, he had to admit that Chris had a calming effect on her, and if it made Lucy happy, Tony could certainly deal with it. However, considering what had happened on the plane, Tony was definitely having second thoughts. At least they'd arrived safely. They continued over to pick up their luggage so they could get to the hotel.
*************
At long last, the trio was out of the airport and into their hotel. The taxi driver unloaded their bags from the car, so they could pick them up and bring them in. Tony and Lucy quickly picked up their suitcases and carry on bags, but Chris paused for a moment before picking his up. He still looked unwell. Concerned, Lucy rushed to his side.
"Are you sure you can manage that, Chris? If you can't, Tony and I will each take one!"
"Lucy, I'm quite loaded down as it is!" Tony protested.
"I can carry my own bags Lucy, I'm not a bloody invalid!" Chris snapped. Both men continued to fume.
Lucy rolled her eyes and shrugged, and they continued to their destination.
When they talked to the hotel receptionist, they found that only one room had been reserved for them, in spite of the fact that they had booked two rooms. Seems another cowboy convention or some such was in town, and the person they'd booked with - apparently no longer employed by the hotel - had got something confused, and every other room was full. Tony and Chris were angry to the point of incoherence, but Lucy was determined not to let that get her down, in spite of everything else that had already gone wrong. It was bad enough that Chris was ill, Tony was impatient, and they were now both growling at each other while she was stuck in the middle. It was as if they'd never gotten off the plane.

"Please...Tony, stop shouting!" Lucy finally intervened. "Christopher! Shut up! Now go sit down before you fall down! Both of you sit over there and wait!"
Lucy indicated the cushioned benches located just off the front desk. Tony and Chris started to respond, but Lucy shushed them.
"I will not have the two of you creating a scene! I will handle this! GO!!!"
Chris paled visibly and swayed slightly, as Tony grabbed him roughly by the arm and steered him onto the bench. They both sat, arms folded, glaring at each other as Lucy went up to the desk and dealt with the hotel manager.
About 30 minutes later, Lucy returned with a triumphant grin on her face. Tony saw her coming and nudged Chris, who'd been dozing. "Are we there yet?" Chris muttered groggily, before his eyes returned to focus.
Lucy walked over and kissed her husband on the lips, then went to kiss her brother's cheek.
"Still feverish, poor thing!"
"Well?" Tony began.
"Well!" Lucy replied. "We should go up to the room now!"
"You did say 'room'....in the singular? Not...rooms?" Chris asked pitifully.
"No, darling, not rooms. At least not until tomorrow, but tonight we stay...at no charge! It was an oversight on their part, not ours! You have to know how to deal with these people, Tony. You can't just shout them down, but with a bit of charming firmness, you might get some results. You'd do well to remember that as well, Chris. Here are our arrangements - Tony and I will be staying with you in your room tonight. Now don't look at me like that, boys, we'll have two beds, of course. Besides, I wouldn't think of leaving you alone tonight, Christopher, as sick as you are! Then tomorrow night, Tony, they'll have a lovely honeymoon suite for the two of us, for the price of a regular one! Oh, Tony, your mum was right when she called this place the cheesy convention capital of the world! I suppose cowboy conventioneers carry lots more weight in Studs than British tourists do. If you recall, she couldn't even find one room when she arrived! Oh, that reminds me! We should call Paul's house and surprise them!"
Tony and Chris looked at Lucy incredulously...like she'd grown another evil head or something. She picked up her bags and said, "Well, come on, the lift's that way!"
*************
As it happened, the hotel room was quite satisfactory. When Lucy opened the drapes, bright sunlight flooded in, causing Chris to squint painfully, but he didn't want to ruin the experience for her, and so said nothing. Besides, it was fairly late in the afternoon, and the sun would be setting before long. It was probably so bright because of the direction the room was facing. Lucy was very excited. She'd only been in America once before when she was a very small child and her parents were still alive, but she hardly remembered any of it. She thought perhaps that Chris and Alexis had come along, but she couldn't be sure. She might have asked him right then, but he was already resting in the bed farthest from the window, sitting propped against the pillows with the blankets pulled up to his waist. His eyes were closed, and Lucy realized that perhaps the sun was a bit too bright.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, as she shut the drapes.
"Thank you." Chris murmured sleepily, after a minute.
"There now, just rest!" Lucy whispered as she gently led him to lie down completely, placing a pillow under his head, and covering him the rest of the way. As he drifted off, Chris felt Lucy place a cool cloth on his hot forehead, as well as a gentle, almost motherly kiss.

"Why is it you never do that for me, Lucy?" Tony asked, a bit petulantly.
"Next time you spend half the flight in the loo with an airsick bag, I'll be sure to tuck you in as well! My God Tony, you saw how sick he was on the plane! You know it would have been much easier if you'd switched with him and let him sit on the aisle..." Lucy spoke softly to avoid disturbing her brother. She removed the already warm towel from his forehead, and went to the sink to cool it again.
"You know I can't stand the window seat! Why did he even get onboard in the first place if he wasn't feeling well?" Tony persisted, speaking almost in a normal volume.
"Well, I think it came on all of a sudden. He was just fine before we took off. It's not like Christopher planned getting sick just to annoy you!"
Lucy replaced the cloth on Christopher's forehead, gently brushing a strand of hair away from his eyes as she did so.
"Why not? He seems to quite enjoy annoying me!"
As if on cue, Christopher began to snore.
"See what I mean? He even annoys me in his sleep!" Tony spat indignantly.
"Shh!" Lucy hissed, then whispered, "Tony! I can't believe you're jealous of my brother! Do you realise how sick and twisted that is?!"
Lucy shook her head in disgust. It was probably the jet lag talking, and none of them had gotten much sleep on the plane. She sat on the bed she'd be sharing with Tony. It was fairly comfortable, but even so, it was really too early by Studs time to go to bed, though in London it was getting late. If Chris had been feeling better, they'd have been out exploring already.
She sighed.
Tony smiled. He remembered one of the reasons he loved Lucy so much was her big-hearted sense of compassion, not to mention her fairly reckless sense of adventure. Pity he hadn't been lucky enough to be the one who'd fallen ill. "What am I thinking? I must be more jet-lagged than I thought!" he said to himself. Then, suddenly, he laughed.
Lucy looked up from her reverie. "Tony?"
"I'm nothing if not sick and twisted, my darling Lucy, and don't you forget it!" Tony whispered as he came around and kissed her on the neck.
Lucy smiled and returned the affection, speaking a little louder than before. "If you can wait till we get into our honeymoon suite tomorrow, I'll show you sick and twisted, my darling Tony, and I'll never let you forget it!"
*****************
Later that evening, Tony and Lucy were stretched out on their bed, perusing maps, travel brochures, restaurant guides, and every bit of touristy information about Studs, Texas they could find. They'd ordered room service and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotel cuisine. At Tony's request, Lucy had turned on the television, but she still kept the volume down since Chris was still sleeping. Silently now that he'd turned onto his side, and burrowed under the covers so that all one could see of him was a bit of unruly dark blond hair.
"If all that noise they made with the room service didn't wake him, I don't see why we have to keep the volume down, do you?" Tony tried again. He really did prefer audio along with his visual, and the damn thing apparently didn't have a captions setting. Tony aimed the remote at the screen, but Lucy gently grabbed his wrist.
"Tony, I'm not telling you again!" Lucy warned. "Wasn't your mum thrilled when we called her? Pity Paul and Chantal weren't home, though. Wonder why your mum and Paul's mum were the only ones about?"
"I'm sure I don't know, but they're sure to tell us all about it tomorrow!" Tony mused.
"I can hardly wait to tell them our news! Then they'll be doubly thrilled!" Lucy smiled a bit maniacally. "I only hope Studs is ready for the likes of us!"

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