Pauline ignored the fact that Jack Pumphrey managed to both praise the Lord and then take his name in vain, all in the same breath. The God she loved was a lot bigger than a little bit of overexcitement after all. 

And though she laughed and nodded along with Jack's enthusiasm for his upcoming meet with some young lady or other, Pauline really couldn't say she knew for her 'own self,' what it was like to be kept waiting for a date. She hadn't actually ever been [i]on[/i] a date. Well, except for the night of her senior prom, but that didn't [i]really[/i] count. Kevin was actually just a good friend whose girlfriend since the 9th grade broke up with him at the last minute, and he'd already paid for the tux and the limo. It probably would have been a good time, but for the fact that he downed way too much of the spiked punch, and wound up drunk-crying on her taffeta-covered shoulder most of the night when his ex showed up with one of their linebackers. 

At least when Kevin finally puked, it had been on the sidewalk outside her house, and not on her shoes.

Dating... Well, it wasn't as if there hadn't been any interest from the opposite sex. Pauline wasn't really vain at all, but she also did not believe herself unattractive either. She simply hadn't met a peer who... Well... Who she thought of [i]that[/i] way too... 

"I like you being a 'bit of a mawk' Mr. Pumphrey," she piped up with a smile, shrugging her shoulders and all the memories away for the moment. "I think the world could use a few more 'mawks,' and a lot more God and Jesus, and Newfoundland too. New Canaan will be better for it all. But no, it probably isn't polite to keep you date waiting." Pauline fought the urge to kiss Jack's cheek before he left, a brotherly gesture that, she imagined, could be taken exactly the wrong way by some people. Best to just stick with the handshake.

"I'm glad we met," she said sincerely, turning to walk back toward the office. Pauline sighed softly when she realized the door was still closed, and that Owen and Abby must still be talking. One corner of her mouth turned downward, the thought of the beautiful blonde woman still chatting up her new boss Owen somehow... [i]Disquieting.[/i] 

Sunk in this strangely conflicted fugue, Jack's words returned to her, all the happiness he treasured, the legacy of his family... Heck with it. She had no way to know how long Abby and Owen would talk, and she wouldn't be caught [i]dead[/i] knocking on the door to see when they'd be done. Pauline turned once more, away from Hangar Six and back out into those narrow hallways. 

The path she took was almost as familiar as the one to the gardens, or to the nursery and her dear friend Naomi. And with every step she took, Pauline shed just a little more of her strange, uncharacteristic irritation until, by the time she made it to the cryo bays, she was actually grinning with anticipation. Even if she couldn't [i]really[/i] talk with them, family visits were still one of the high points of her day too. 

Pauline meandered through these now-familiar aisles for a few moments, until she approached just the lady she'd been looking for. She was a handsome woman, her long strawberry blonde hair falling about her shoulders, framing a lovely ivory-skinned face, lightly dusted with freckles. If she were not sunk deep into cryo-sleep, most anyone would note that, if the two women side-by-side, her daughter had inherited her pale blue eyes as well.

"Hi Mom," Pauline whispered softly, one hand lying lightly over the older woman's sleeping body. "Guess what! I got some good news. I actually got a [i]job[/i]...