Page 117 of Halo

“And he left a very generous tip,” the waitress adds with a bubbly chuckle.

I bite back a smile as I unwrap the brownie. “Y'know? Maybe you're right, Rach. Maybe I will be pregnant in six months.”

Chapter 28

Nick

Ithrow my truck into park and stare through the windshield at the hospital. It's barely six o’clock, but the sky is black. Ice glistens across the roads and walkways as the temperature continues to plummet.

Keeping my engine on, I place a video call to Tiffany as I continue getting ready for the partial shift I'm covering. It rings once before the biggest smile flashes across the screen—a smile with a brand-new gap in the middle of it.

“Nick!”

“Hey, partner! What happened to your tooth?”

Grady giggles, suddenly bashful as he pushes up his glasses. Tiffany whispers from somewhere offscreen for him to show me. Hooking his fingers into the corners of his mouth, he pulls his lips apart and leans closer. The camera loses focus, turning the gap into a blurry little smudge on my screen.

“Tell him what happened, baby,” Tiffany instructs, a cloud of smoke wafting across the screen.

Grady lets go of his mouth. “I was eating corn, and it just came out, but I didn't swallow it because I felt something hard. Mommy said to spit it out.”

“Good thing you did.” I grin, swiping on another layer of deodorant. Even after a long, hot shower, I swear I can still smell the deer blind on me.

“Uh-huh. And guess what. Mommy said we're gonna put my tooth under my pillow tonight before I go to sleep.”

“What? Under your pillow?” I tease. “Why?”

He scoffs, throwing his hands up. “For the Tooth Fairy, silly!”

“Ohhh, the Tooth Fairy.” I nod like it finally makes sense. “Man, you've got some connections. Santa last week, now the Tooth Fairy.”

“And you wanna know what else?”

“What's that?”

“Dinosaurs lost their teeth, too.” He disappears off camera and returns with a book Santa got him for Christmas. “Some thero—um—theropods could grow new ones over and over like sharks.” He holds up a picture, but between the crooked camera angle and the glare, I can't make out a damn thing. “See? But humans only do it twice.”

“Ah, luckily the Tooth Fairy only collects human teeth. Dinosaurs would've put her out of business long before you were born.”

Grady dissolves into giggles, and I can't help smiling with him.

Damn, I miss him. We've only been apart for three days, but even a few hours apart feel too long.

“Am I coming to your house tonight?” he asks, hope in his big brown eyes.

“Tomorrow night, partner. And then you remember what Friday is—”

“New Year's Eve!” he shouts.

I chuckle. “That's right, and we'll stay up late and eat pizza. How does that sound?”

His fingers rake back and forth across the short hair regrowth on top of his head. A smile slowly spreads across his face as he rocks in his seat. “Just me and you?”

“Just me and you, partner.” I glance at the clock on the dash. “Alright, Grady, I gotta get inside for work. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay. Bye, Nick.” He ends the call before I can say anything to him or his mother.

I laugh under my breath and turn off the ignition. The warmth lingers while I zip my coat and snug the scarf around my neck. Flexing my fingers inside my gloves, I grab my work bag from the passenger seat and climb out.