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“Don’t worry about it!” I shout back. I take another bite of my Rice Krispies treat. I’m one lucky fucker to have a man who makes me snacks. Especially one who’s willing to come hang out with a bunch of Neanderthals just to give them to me.
“You asshole! You hid some of those marshmallow things for yourself,” Rodney says, right over my shoulder. I jump in surprise and shove the last one into my mouth just in case he has any plans to steal it from me.
“Of course, I did!” The words come out more like Ah Kor I Id with how big of a bite I took, which I’m currently trying to turn smaller.
“You think he’d make more next week?” Rick asks.
“Oh, could he make pie next time? No… A chocolate cake,” Brody suggests.
“He doesn’t take requests. He’ll make whatever he feels like,” I argue when I finally swallow my bite.
“Fine,” Brody pouts. His ideas spark a debate between him, Rodney, and Rick about which type of dessert is best. I roll my eyes at their ridiculous behavior. I shoot a text to Carter, telling him the guys are fighting over what dessert he should bring next time. I haven’t heard from him since he left this afternoon.
I’m worried he started working again since he’s been so caught up in this database issue. He tends to get hyperfocused when he works outside of regular hours. Sometimes, he’ll work for a few hours without realizing that much time has passed.
Tucker catches my eye walking down the hallway. I jump up from my chair to flag him down.
“Cap, you got a minute?”
Tucker stops outside his office. “Always.”
I follow him inside and sit in his extra chair in the corner. “Is there any chance you’ve heard from the nurses about that baby girl we rescued?”
“Shit, yeah. We had that semi-truck crash the other day, and I forgot to tell you. The nurses said her recovery hasn’t been easy, but they’re optimistic she’ll be okay.”
“Did they find any family to take her in?”
“They’re still waiting on dental records to come back on the parents.”
I cringe. That’s awful. “What caused the fire?”
“Investigators think it was a candle and faulty smoke detectors. Their guess is the parents fell asleep while the baby was napping, and the candle caught the drapes on fire.”
“Jesus. How shitty is that?”
“Tell me about it. Natalie hates that I don’t let us have candles in the house, but after she heard this story, she was more than happy to find an alternative. Although, I’m not sure it’s any better. Have you heard of those woo-woo oils? Natalie has dived headfirst into them, and now, everything in our house smells like old people. Noah and I are about to revolt.”
My drops back in a laugh. “Yes, I’m very aware of essential oils. My mom has tried to get me started on them.” I pull my phone out of my back pocket to look something up. “Have her check out these candles. They smell great, but if they fall over or whatever, they go out immediately.”
Tucker scrolls through the site. “You are a lifesaver. Send that link to me. I’ll buy it for her as if I’m giving her a gift. She’ll start using it purely because I bought it for her.”
“You’ve got your wife figured out,” I tease.
“It’s the only way we’ve survived this long.”
“You ready for the baby?” If I remember right, she’s due to have the baby in a few weeks.
“Not even close. I’m scared shitless, but I keep reminding myself that I’m a first responder, so if anything happens, I can fall back on my training.”
I grin at him. “You’re gonna be great. You’ve kept Noah alive this long. He seems like a well-adjusted kid.”
“Yeah, but he’s six. And weirdly independent. All I have to do is make sure he doesn’t run with scissors.”
I snort. “Who knew our big bad captain would be laid low by a baby?”
“Shut up.”
I stand from my chair, but before I leave, I make sure he knows he’ll be fine. “Cap, you’re one of the best men I’ve ever met. Even if you gave your baby boy the bare minimum of effort, it would still be more than most kids get from their dads.”
