Lost Invitation - PR1

Naomi stopped at her friends to pick up her mail and saw numerous pieces of mail from Blair. She was also surprised to see some from Jim. She found that very odd.

She sat and talked about her travels with her friend and had some tea. Finally, Naomi knew she had to get home and unpack and plan her next trip.

"Thanks, Kathy. It was so nice of you to check my mail in the last three months."

"You're welcome, Naomi. I'm glad you had a good time." Kathy shut the door behind Naomi and wondered what her life would be like. Sighing, she walked in and started to make dinner for her husband and two children.

Naomi curled up on the sofa and started going through her mail. She found the first one from Blair.

Dear Mom,

I hope you won't be too upset, but Jim and I are dating. I'll talk to you about it when you get back. I miss you. I miss hearing your voice. I love you.

Blair

What in the hell is going on? Blair doesn't date men. Not that it's a bad thing, but he's never dated men before. She'd have to call him tonight or tomorrow. She picked up the next one from a month later.

Mom,

I guess you're not coming home as planned. We wanted to talk to you about something. It's really important. Would you call as soon as you can? I love you.

Blair

Naomi grabbed all of the letters and found that they were from the last month. She opened up one that looked like an invitation and found out that it was. A Commitment Ceremony Celebration. It was a beautifully worded invitation. And she had missed it. She wiped the tears from her face as she opened one from Jim.

Naomi,

If you're home, please answer this. Blair thinks you're angry at him and he's upset. I don't want his day ruined because of how you feel about me. Please call him at least. He misses you. He needs to hear your voice. I do, too.

Love, Jim

She continued opening each and every letter and they all said the same thing. Please come. Naomi didn't think she could get more depressed. She was wrong. She opened up a package from Jim and it was a video tape of their ceremony. She knew that Jim was thoughtful, but this was past thoughtful.

She popped the video into the VCR and hit play. Curled up on the sofa with an afghan around her, she watched her beautiful son and son-in-law hold hands and say their vows to each other. Every one of their friends was there and even Jim's dad showed up. He didn't look real happy, but he did show up.

Once everyone left Jim began to kiss Blair, almost as if he forgot the video. Then he looked at the camera and said to Blair, "Babe, talk to your Mom for a while. I'll be upstairs waiting. Night, Naomi. I love you."

Naomi wiped more tears off of her face and watched her gorgeous son smile into the camera.

"I can't believe this is all happening, Naomi. I love him so much. He's good to me. You never have to worry about that. He's making me happy and content. I hope you won't be angry when you get home. I missed you so much today. I would have given anything to have you here. You would think I would be used to it, but I never really got over it. I love you, Naomi. Be well."

Naomi sobbed as she watched her strong young man fall apart in front of the camera and Jim had to come down and comfort him. Jim reached over and shut the camera off. She continued to watch the video, over and over again, for the next two hours. Each time she cried harder.

She then went through all of the mail and found she had mail from Blair's friends, too. Megan Conner had written twice asking if she was all right.

Simon Banks wasn't as nice. He said that he couldn't believe Naomi didn't leave a number where she could be reached. Naomi started crying again.

How often does your child get married? Once probably and what had she done but miss out on the entire thing. What kind of a mother does that make her?

Naomi knew what she had to do. She packed her bag for Cascade and then went to the airport. She had to wait for five hours before she got a flight. But that was all right. Blair was worth every minute. She needed to find them a nice gift too.

While she waited she went into the gift shop closest to where her gate was and found something that screamed Jim and Blair. It was a lovely statue of a black panther, with a wolf in the background. The store wrapped it and everything.

She then picked them up some tee-shirts. Jim's said, "This is my new son-in-law." Then below that it said, "Yes, I know he's a guy." She smiled at the thought.

She found one for Blair that said, "My Mother loves me more than anything in the world." And below that it said, "And I still only got a fucking tee-shirt."

She bought them some books they would like and before long, it was time for the plane ride.

When she arrived in Cascade she went to the loft. No one answered. So she then went to the station to see if anyone knew where they were. "Hi, Simon."

"Naomi. What a surprise. Sandburg will be so sad that he missed you. They're on their honeymoon," Simon explained.

"When are they coming back?" Naomi asked.

"Two weeks. They just left today," Simon added.

"I have to go on a trip before they get back. If I leave a letter and their gifts will you give it to them?" Naomi pleaded.

"Sure."

Naomi sat at her son's desk and wrote a note.

Dear Blair,

Sweetie, I'm so sorry that I missed your ceremony. I was gone longer than I had planned. I flew back to Cascade to see the two of you, but now you're not here. And I have to fly out next week to go on my next trip. I wanted to tell you what a nice looking couple you make and that I love you both. I've left some things for the two of you with Simon Banks. I hope you won't be angry that I can't see you for awhile. As always, I love you.

Naomi

She folded it up and put it in an envelope and then put it with the gifts. She took everything into Simon's office and handed it to him. "Thank you for everything, Simon."

Simon watched her retreating back and felt so sorry for Sandburg. He was going to be hurt again. Goddammit.

Naomi sat on the plane and felt like she had done the right thing. She made the effort to come. She brought the gift and she left a nice note for Blair. Yes, she had done things right this time. She could relax and enjoy this next trip. She took deep breaths and centered herself in her plane seat.

Jim and Blair walked into the bullpen and Simon yelled, "What the fuck are you doing here? I just got done telling Naomi that you were gone for two weeks."

"Flight got cancelled and we'll leave tonight instead." Jim answered.

"Naomi was here?" Blair's face lit up.

"Yeah, then she left you a note and some gifts." Simon handed them all over to the two men.

Blair read the note and then walked off to the break room. Jim followed and asked, "Bad news, Chief?"

"She's never been there, Jim. Never. She says she loves me, but she couldn't."

"Yeah, she loves you. But with her love is different." Jim hugged his partner.

"I love you, Jim."

"Do you want to stop there on the way to Hawaii?" Jim asked hopefully.

"No. She's not going to be there anyhow. She's off on another trip. But thanks for the offer."

"Chief, thank you for marrying me." Jim kissed him softly.

"Thank you for taking me in to your heart. I love you." Blair reached up for one of those kisses on his own.

They were going to have a wonderful trip. Jim and Blair were a happy couple and even if they both needed Naomi, they could move on. And that's what they did.

The End.