Winning Hand - Side Bets

by Astra

Beverly turned sideways and studied her reflection in the mirror, one hand laying lightly on her abdomen. Not bad, she decided, all things considered.

"Aren't you ready yet?" a voice demanded from the outer room. Beverly smirked. He didn't dare ask her that to her face. Snatching up the brush, she smoothed her hair one last time, then sauntered off in the direction of her companion. His back was towards her, but she knew from the tension in his shoulders that he was aware of her presence. Good.

Still playing her favorite game, she leaned against the doorframe, her jacket draped casually over one shoulder. "Jean-Luc." she whispered, and instantly he turned around, an expectant look on his face. It was his favorite game too. Well one of them anyway. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

He greeted her with a small kiss, lingering just long enough to feel her start to respond, then pulling away and smiling. It was dangerous, tempting the fate named Beverly like that, but the rewards were beyond most mere mortals' imagining. And now that she was...well, like this, she was more rewarding than ever.

Beverly allowed herself a satisfied smile. She'd caught Jean-Luc daydreaming, and from the looks of things, he was daydreaming about her. Just the way he should be. She was about to bestow a daydream-shattering kiss when the door chime sounded, followed immediately by the door sliding open.

"Hi Mom, hope you don't mind that I let myself in..."

Wesley was fully in the room before he realized that he'd interrupted something. He stopped abruptly. Wesley looked at the way Picard was regarding his mother, and the way his mother was looking at her son, and he started feeling emotions that he couldn't identify. But he knew what he was going to do about it. He was going to get the hell out of there before they started pawing each other.

"Just-wanted-to-see-if-you-were-ready-I'll-see-you-at-the-ceremony-Bye ." And with that, Wes beat a hasty retreat. He didn't start breathing again until he was in the turbolift.

There was 20 seconds of stunned silence following Wes's hasty appearance and even faster disappearance. Beverly stared open-mouthed at the space where her son had been. She didn't feel the quaking beside her until Jean-Luc exploded into laughter.

"Just what do you think is.. so..." but the rest of her sentence was lost as she succumbed to the laughter too. Finally catching enough of her breath to speak again, she wrapped her arms around Jean-Luc and pulled him back and down onto the sofa. They landed awkwardly, but Jean-Luc was perfectly happy, his head pillowed on a particularly lovely and soft portion of Beverly's anatomy.

"Yummm." He offered helpfully. She swatted him.

"Get off me. We're going to be late."

"So?" he snuggled closer.

"So Wes might show up again. He came all the way back from the Traveler Zone, or where ever he lives these days. The least I can do is spend some time with him." She pinched her captain, partly to emphasize her point and partly because she felt like it. "Now get up!"

"Who promoted you to admiral?" he groused, sliding himself sensuously across and off her prone body. He loved the feel of her skin-tight leather clothing.

"Mmmmm." She purred. "I did. More efficient that way. Now help me up and let's get going."

He made a show of helping her up, pulling her into one last kiss before they turned and left the cabin.

Beverly was panting hard, very aware of the heat of Jean-Luc's hands where they gripped her hips. It was getting harder to focus, and she was beginning to think that the peak, still maddeningly far away, would never be reached.

Behind her, Jean-Luc's breathing was just as labored, coming in short gasps that left little capacity for speech. Completely focused, they moved in sync, struggling upward until, at last, they arrived.

When they were finally able to speak again, Beverly gasped, "Damn this planet and their ridiculous customs. My thigh muscles are telling me it's been a long time since my college riding days."

"You're just out of practice. We should ride together more often."

She canted her head and gave him her patented you're-not-fooling-me look. "You expect me to believe you would willingly ride a bicycle? I thought horses were more your style."

"Usually they are." He studied their mode of transportation more critically. "But you have to admit, Beverly, this particular design is rather nice." He ran a hand over her hip. "And this particular handhold is far superior to the standard handlebar arrangement."

She smiled. "True. And it means that we're not steering in two different directions for a change."

"Of course, cherie. After all, I know how you like to be in control."

She ran a single finger over his chest, using her perfectly manicured nail to make him shiver with pleasure. "So true, my dear captain. And now I will take control and order us both to continue on to the ceremony before there are any more distractions. After all, there's always tonight."

"A promise I shall make sure you keep, my dear doctor."

Offering her his arm, the captain, picked up the bike and rested it against a tree. As far as he was concerned, it could rot there. Despite his words, he'd be damned if he'd ride that thing again. If Beverly was going to have sore thighs, he wanted there to be a good reason.

They arrived exactly on time, and the wedding guests all breathed a sigh of relief. After all this time, and countless rumors, very few people on the Enterprise believed that this couple was really going to be married. Twenty minutes later they were proved wrong. And in spite of Jean-Luc nervously flubbing one of his lines, and Beverly fidgeting the entire time, the ceremony went smoothly.

Standing in the back and watching it all were Data and Wes. While the happy couple and the guests moved into the banquet hall for the reception, they lingered in the temple.

"I don't understand it, Data. I had this feeling that something was the matter with my mom. Some kind of psychic alarm. And yet I come back to this." He waved his arms, gesturing towards the altar where the ceremony had taken place. "She's so .. different. And the captain."

"Yes, Wesley, I have noted a behavioral change in most of the senior officers since before this wedding was announced. But I believe the most obvious differences are in your mother. I have calculated that the first notable changes occurred immediately after she dyed her hair blonde."

"But that doesn't explain the captain. Or, for that matter, this wedding. And what's gotten into Commander Riker? I thought he was up for promotion in a few weeks."

"The captain's behavior changes parallel those of your mother's, but are less notable. I have, however, noted that Commander Riker has become increasingly distracted and irritable as your mother and the captain have become more obvious in their affection for each other."

"Then news of Deanna being engaged to an ensign from Requisitions and Supplies must have really hit him hard."

Data nodded. "There was some speculation as to whether the Commander would attend today's ceremony."

"I wondered why he wasn't the Best Man."

"The Captain, Geordi and your mother did very well. Although the captain did misread several words during the vows."

"Yeah, and I thought mom was going to bolt when she started walking down the aisle." Wes smiled at the memory of the expression of unguarded panic he'd seen flicker across Beverly Crusher's face as she proceeded Deanna to the front of the temple. Then he thought about Deanna in her white bridal outfit. The memory nearly made him drool.

"Data, there's one thing I don't understand at all. I know about the Betazoid marriage custom of wearing no clothing for the wedding. So why did Deanna choose clothes, particularly those clothes for everyone in the wedding party?"

Data looked at Wes curiously. "You did not know? The leather jumpsuits were your mother's idea."

Deciding he did not want to think about that, Wes herded Data off to the reception.

Unnoticed in a dark corner sat Will Riker, head in hands, and very much alone.