Precious Moments - (2 Parts)

[swann_ee_song]

Fandom: Time Traveller's Wife

Disclaimer: Not my characters, but they're fun to play with!

Summary: A few moments from Claire and Henry's lives when they comforted each other. Sometimes these moments don't always happen in the right order, when you're a time traveller though.

Claire

I had come home earlier than expected from the gallery to check up on Henry. For the last few days he had been suffering through a miserable cold. Both of us had been kept up at night by his sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and inevitably snoring.

"Henry?" I peered around the door quietly whispering his name, in case he was sleeping. He had probably been in and out of a doze all day. But looking around the bedroom we shared, I saw only his flannel pajamas and an indentation in the covers. He was gone.

* * *

HA-SHOO!!

There was a rustling sound that accompanied the outburst. Claire looked hopefully at the bushes on the outskirts of the meadow. She was not let down a minute or so and a few more sneezes later when Henry appeared confidently striding towards her. Claire got up from her blanket to accept their usual friendly hug, but Henry held up his hands when she was about three feet away.

"Not today, Claire."

"Okay." There was hurt in the little girl's voice. She was upset. Henry could tell by the way her lips pouted as she sat down again on the blanket.

Feeling his nose start to run in the chilly autumn air, Henry sniffed and rubbed a finger across it. An itch blossomed inside his left nostril. At first he ignored it.

"I'm sorry." It was getting difficult to ignore the itch that was now a tickle. Henry paused before continuing with his explanation, drawing in a slow breath so as not to startle the tickle.

"I just...don't...uh... want huh...ih... to give you HaIISHOO!! mby cold." He finished lamely, sniffling back the congestion that was brought out by the sneeze.

Little Claire's eyes were wide as she watched Henry. As he watched her back, Henry saw a little spark alight in them.

"I'll be right back!" She shouted over her shoulder as she rushed away from him. Henry was left all alone to shiver in the button-down shirt Claire had left out for him.

"No bless you?" Henry called back at her retreating figure. He hunched down and coughed into his fist. Rubbing away the pain and tightness in his chest, he wished that Claire would return soon. Alone and sick in a time that was not your own was unpleasant. At least when Claire was around he wasn't alone even if he was still sick.

Suddenly she was back, carrying a bundle that was almost too big for her. Claire stooped down to wrap an extra blanket around Henry's shoulders. For a moment Henry was overwhelmed by her sensitivity, even as a child.

Clearing his throat, he asked "So kiddo, how old are you? You're looking bigger than the last time I saw you. You must be at least 8 now?"

"I'm 10! I'm almost grown up. Mom says I can wear lipstick when I'm 12."

"Lipstick? Well I think you look beautiful just the way you are."

Little Claire giggled as she handed over two of her dad's handkerchiefs.

"These are for you."

"Thadnk you, just what I deeded." Henry gratefully emptied his nose into the first cloth. Claire was silent through the squelching blows. But when Henry looked up after carefully folding the cloth and tucking it away into the pocket of her dad's corduroy pants, she was pouring out steaming liquid from a thermos.

"I got some hot chocolate. Thought you might want some."

Henry chuckled at Claire's thoughtfulness and accepted the small cup and breathed in its rich scent.

ATSHOO!!

"Bless you!"

Henry watched Claire playing with the lid of the thermos over the rim of his cup.

"Sorry you're sick."

Henry's face crinkled into a smile, the kind that revealed his hidden wrinkles just at the corner of his eyes. Claire thought they actually made him look prettier, somehow.

"That's okay. I'm here with you. Thank you for the blanket and the hot chocolate. I'm even starting to feel warm and relaxed." He leaned back on one elbow and closed his eyes.

With his brief moment of euphoria, Henry knew that his grip on this time and this present was slipping away. Claire was left alone with the clothes, the blankets, and the still-steaming cup of hot chocolate.

__________________________________

TBC

Sorry if it's not extremely accurate or not extremely good. I'm a bit rusty... but this bunny along with others has been bouncing around in my head and I noticed that there are not a lot of Time Traveller's fics out. Maybe I'll start a trend?

[obsessed]

Oh I like how you write this!

[*lovely_lily*]

Hope theres more

[glowstick03]

Ooh, I LOVE this book!!! I'm so happy someone is doing a sneezefic about it...good job :]

[Rika]

God this book is wonderful! I absolutely love the relationship between claire and henry. AND in the book it mentions him catching a cold from her 16 year-old self, so I'd definitely thought about it before this.

But it was such a pleasant surprise to find that it had occurred to someone else as well! Thanks for writing this! I hope you continue!

[Kiwifruit]

Ooooh I LOVE this book SO MUCH! Great idea! Such a well written fic too. This is wonderful, thanks so much for posting

[ilovesneezing]

I was so entirely confused until I read the part about it being from Time Traveller's Wife. Now it ALL makes sense. I love it!

[swann_ee_song]

Today has been a great relaxing day of tying up loose ends in the SFfic world. So, while I was at it, thought I'd toddle on over to this fic and see if I couldn't add at least 1 more chapter for today. It'll probably be 2/3. Oh, and I'll try not to let so much time go by between postings... really...

Thanks to everyone for commenting! And especially to Rika for keeping me on track. That was exactly what I had in mind for this fic from the beginning!

Henry

"Claire! I'll be right back! Gonna pick up some milk from the store!"

"Okay!"

My wife's voice was muffled by her proximity to the bedroom and my proximity to the front door. Grabbing up my coat and boots I was just beginning to wind my scarf around my throat when I heard it. The high-pitched buzzing, followed by the feeling that I was trapped in a wind tunnel while the room spun sickeningly.

*...*...*

"Henry! Oh, Henry! There you are!"

Still feeling disoriented and painfully aware that he was naked in the chilly autumn afternoon, Henry rummaged through the stack of Claire's dad's clothes that she had left out for him.

"Come on, what's taking you so long? Honestly?"

"Be out in a minute Claire."

She must be a teenager, Henry thought rolling his eyes, zipping up the fly and stepping into the shoes.

The first thing he saw was her silhouette. Beautiful and lithe as he always remembered it being, but not yet full as the woman that he would marry. No matter where or when he was, whenever Henry saw Claire, he was home.

Claire came rushing up towards him, nearly knocking him down with the force of her embrace.

"I missed you." She was a little breathless.

Henry ruffled her auburn hair and held her chastely to him.

"I missed you too."

Claire started to sniffle into his chest and Henry pulled her away from him to have a look at her.

"Claire honey, are you crying?" He asked softly.

She looked down at the ground, a little shyly. "N-no. Sniff!"

"Are you sure? What's wrong?"

Claire shook her head forcefully.

"Nothig's wrong."

Henry heard her draw in a breath, concerned that it was about to become a sob.

Claire spun around quickly.

"Hh..iih...Hitchew! Hitchiiiew!"

Now he was starting to suspect that she wasn't just upset. Hell, it was more than a suspicion. Henry watched her sink down onto the blanket, wrapping her light blue cardigan closer around thin shoulders. He joined her, following suit, shifting his knees into a cross-legged position. Henry took note of the fact that she had chosen to sit a few feet further away from him than she usually did.

He longed to take her in his arms, cradling her until she felt even a little bit better, but wasn't sure how to treat this more skittish version of his wife. Teenage girls were volatile all on their own, and Claire? With the artistic temperament and passion he knew so well, at this time of her life which he guessed to be roughly about sixteen, would definitely be a handful. Henry realized he was taking too long considering his options when she started sniffling again, small wrist under the tip of her nose.

"Hii...hhuuhItchew!"

"Bless you."

"Thadks..."

Henry smiled his crinkly smile and watched Claire's shoulders sink back down, her own face springing into a young and lighthearted version of his own grin. Claire fidgeted, playing with a long and wavy strand of hair.

"Sorry. I'm just..."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize." Henry felt as if there was an echo picking up his last words. "Just take care and feel better."

He saw Claire winding up for another sneeze and thought that he might have felt a light spray on his arm before he fell back into the warm psychadelic waves of time travel.

[obsessed]

Ooooh, that ending is GOOD. Well, hopefully not ending ending.

Aha, you're such a good author. <3