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Gareth
“Is your girl going to be alright, man? Seeing as how she’s pregnant and all?”
I look over at Jacob and then at Waylen who is giving Jacob the finger-across-the-throat move telling him to shut his damned mouth.
“Sorry to ask. I was just worried. Captain told us he talked to Gregg and Gregg mentioned that you asked about the baby doctor and…well, we all put one and one together to make…a baby.”
I roll my tongue around my teeth in my closed mouth, I still have the flavor of Birdie on my tongue. I had forgotten how gossipy cops and firefighters are. They’re worse than old church ladies with their tongues wagging.
“She’s not pregnant…yet.” Not that I’m not going to be thinking about changing that status as soon as we have things taken care of with the two morons who just shot my house to shit. “We’re just trying right now. I wanted to make sure everything was still a go with the doc before we started up again.”
They don't need to know about the phone call from the mystery woman who I mistook for Birdie's friend.
“Trying?” This comes from Waylen. “So, no wrapping it up anymore? You want her to be the mother of your children?”
I nod without any hesitation whatsoever. “We both agreed to wait until this is all over but I’m more determined now than ever. As soon as I'm sure Birdie is safe, I’m sticking my baby in her.”
“You going to marry her too?”
“Hell yes, I am.”
Waylen slaps me on the back and offers me congratulations. “I don’t understand what the hell is happening to this unit but I for one am going to ask for a transfer. I’m ready for neither baby nor wife.” He jokes.
At least, I realize it’s a joke. A couple of months back I would say Waylen is more ready than I was. But that all changed when Birdie came into my life. Now I can’t imagine life without her in it.
“Who’s that talking to your girl, Gar?”
I look over and see Birdie cradling a puppy close to her breasts. A slightly taller auburn-haired woman with color at the end of her hair is talking to her. This must be Brook, her friend. The one I thought had called to tell me about the baby. I don't think that was Brook though. I think it was a good attempt at making me leave Birdie so she would be alone and vulnerable.
Before I can tell Waylen who it is, he’s headed over that way. I follow, with my detective senses tingling.
“Hi. How you doing?”
Did I mention, Waylen has no game whatsoever?
“Um, I guess I’m alright.” She looks back at Birdie with questioning eyes. “Um.”
She looks back over at Waylen like she might be trying to figure him out. She finally turns her attention back to Birdie.
“I’m sorry, Birdie. Mom won’t let him stay another night.” She looks like just saying it hurts her. I open my mouth to tell her it’s fine when Waylen beats me or Birdie to saying anything.
“He can stay with me.”
Both women look over at him like he’s crazy.
“I mean…I won’t really be there so you and the puppy can come stay at my house.”
“Excuse me?” Brook looks almost as shocked as me and Birdie when she speaks.
Birdie is now looking between the two of them and picking up on the tension. She moves closer to me and raises eyes that are full of questions. A need to reassure her that Waylen is an alright guy rises inside of me.
“I mean, if you need somewhere you can babysit the little one, you can do it with me…I mean, at my house. Because I definitely won’t be there.”
Birdie takes pity on him, “Could you do that, Brook? Could you watch him for me if you had a place?”
Brook looks from Birdie to me and back to Birdie like we might be talking about selling her to Waylen.
“I don’t…,” She leans in closer to Birdie, “I don’t know him.”
