Mr. Dark 5 (Tamed #5)(26)

Around the turn of the century, there was an attempt at renovating the station, so some of the biggest eyesores were fixed, but some of the magic had been lost, forever. It was this station that Mark and I stepped into, our bags slung over our shoulders and my still unfamiliar feeling wedding band pressing into my left ring finger from where he and I were holding hands. "You know, that's the first time I've ever ridden the train cross-country," I said as we walked through the main hall. "It was a lot of fun."

Mark grinned. "Considering that we used the ka-tan-ka-tun of the wheels to such good effect, I agree."

I blushed lightly and slapped his chest, earning a wistful look from a housewife who could obviously see how much we were in love. Mark was right, however. We had used the rhythm of the wheels and the bed in the sleeper car to very good effect.

"Actually, I was thinking of your little karaoke session in the dining car last night."

It was Mark's turn to blush. The night before, after dinner had been cleared away, an informal karaoke session had broken out on the train. I could understand. For a lot of the passengers, it was still early in the evening, and Amtrak doesn't put televisions or Internet on those sleeper cars. For the passengers who hadn't paid for a sleeper car, it was even worse, as they could only look forward to an evening in a seat not much more comfortable than the type you get on an airliner. The dining car, at least, offered some space to try and stretch your arms and legs, and talk to other people.

I don't know who had started the session, but it built up quite a little crowd, maybe about a dozen or more. The dining car actually did have a sound system with instrumental music, so the bartender helped out by letting us select tracks from the three CDs.

The highlight for me, however, was when during a lull, Mark got up from our little chairs and sat down on the bar stool. The group quieted down, curious as Mark waved the bartender off.

"It's been a while since I did a lot of singing, but I'll try my best," he said, before clearing his throat. With his new identity, he was letting more of his soft natural Southern into his speech patterns again, and smiled. "A long, long time ago, I can still remember, how that music used to make me smile...."

I don't really know if Mark made any mistakes in the lyrics of the old Don McLean song, but I do know that his resonant voice filled the car with music, as another patron, a older black man who looked like he had grown up in the Motown do-wop era, backed him up with a pretty good imitation of the music using just his voice and tapping his table. By the final round of the chorus, most of us were singing along, and the whole group applauded at the end.

"I just felt like singing," Mark deflected, his blush deepening as I grinned at him. Mark was very, very cute when he was embarassed. "Come on, we need to catch a bus."

To give at least a veneer of appearance to our re-entering the city, Mark and I were officially staying at one of the buildings that Mark owned in the city. The small efficiency apartment was smaller than even the one I'd had when I was a medical student, but it worked for the few days we needed. "So do you think Tabby will be surprised with our present?"

"Of course. I'm still giddy about it myself. By the way, once we get this all settled, we're finding you a doctor for your first check-up. You may be trained, and I know you're healthy, but I'm not taking any chances."

Smiling, I came over to the bed where Mark was sitting and took his face in my hands, kissing him on the nose, then on the lips, then on the nose again. "You, my dear husband, are going to be the best father in the whole damn world."

We held each other for a few minutes, just enjoying the closeness, not needing anything else. Finally, I let go. "Come on, let's call Tabby, and set up our job interview."

The next day, both of us felt weird dressed in off the rack "business clothes" that we had just bought that morning, walking up towards Mount Zion from the closest bus stop. We were glad to see that the press media were no longer camped out front. While my appearance was different enough that most people wouldn't mistake me for Sophie Warbird, Mark's build and face couldn't be disguised, even with two days' growth of stubble on it. We'd considered some more drastic options for changing his appearance, but first we had some things to do.

Knocking on the front door, I could see in Mark's eyes the trepidation, which helped me. Regardless of whether it was a real job interview or not, there was something about the whole thing that felt real. Maybe you never get past that feeling, I don't know for sure.

When Tabby opened the door, it was hard for the three of us to carry on with the charade just in case someone was watching. "Please, come in," she said, holding the door open for us as we walked in. As soon as the door was closed however, all pretenses were dropped and she grabbed both of us in a hug. "God I missed you both! How was your trip?"

I showed Tabby my wedding band, upon which she grabbed both my hands and started hopping up and down like an overly excited preschooler. "Oh, I'm so happy!" she almost yelled, pulling me in for another hug. "I only wish I could have been there. I mean, I assumed when you said the two of you were going to be stopping by Las Vegas before coming back, but still, this is awesome. Really awesome."

"I know, but we have pictures and video of the whole thing if you want to watch," I said, prying her arms from around my neck. "I promise. Also, we brought you a gift."