The room was crowded with happy and giddy family and friends. Flowers, balloons, teddy bears and gift baskets littered the counters. Leigh was in and out of sleep, obviously exhausted from giving birth. DJ was proudly perched next to his mother, tenderly raking her hair. My mom and dad were ecstatic with the new addition, they couldn’t get enough of her. Watching the tiny bundle being passed from one pair of arms, to another.
I stood in the corner staring out the window. There wasn’t much to look at except for the big red emergency helicopter parked on the roof of the building next door. It was barely two in the afternoon, but it was cloudy and dark outside.
A warm hand on my back startled me and my eyes met with a familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes and a wide grin. “Hey Howie! Congratulations!” I said and hugged him. There was a knot in my throat and I wasn’t sure why.
“Oh jeez! You’re emotional…”
“No, I’m not!” I wiped away a tear and giggled nervously. Howie knows me too well. But I didn’t know why I was emotional. Then again, it’s not everyday I see a new life come into this world. He squeezed my shoulders and whispered that he loved me, kissed my forehead and walked away to join the rambling crowd.
“Your turn Sophia.” Leighanne approached me. She had her blonde hair up in a bun, with a light touch of make-up, and her scrubs. I always wondered how she could look so radiant and beautiful at all times, especially being a mother of two and working such a strenuous job. Hell, it made me so conscious of myself I had to run my fingers through my hair. Before I could except or decline, the baby was already in my arms. Every time I take a newborn in my arms my stomach fills with butterflies. I’m afraid to drop something that isn’t mine.
I looked down at the tiny baby who was wide awake. Same brown eyes as her father and DJ, but the nose and lips were definitely all Leigh. Heidi was amazingly perfect. Her tiny mouth twisted in a smile, then opened wide to yawn. Looking at her got me wondering what physical features would one from Alex have.
“Hey…a baby suits you.” Alex whispered into my ear, sending a small chill down my spine.
I smiled. “I think she’s hungry.” We both looked at Heidi who was snuffling, her little open mouth feeling on my close to nothing breasts.
“She’s getting to feel on you more than I ever do.”
“Give me my baby girl before you corrupt her. Jesus!” Howie took Heidi from me and gave us a playful glare. “It wasn’t enough corrupting Sophia.”
There was commotion at the entrance of the room and everyone greeted the person at the door. Alex and I craned our necks to see who it was. Nick and Lauren had just walked into the room. “Time for me to go.” I mumbled walking over to say good bye to all four of the Doroughs. I moved on to my mom and dad, gave Nick a what’s up head gesture and hugged Lauren.
“I should get going too. I’m still on duty. Good luck with the baby, guys. See ya DJ.” I watched Alex pass my dad without a word and kiss mom on the cheek. He moved on to greet Nick and Lauren and met me in the hallway. We hopped into the elevator, I could tell he was tired and a bit agitated. I knew it wasn’t the time to push his buttons, but the weird conversation we had in the middle of Heidi’s arrival had me thinking.
“So what would you do if I was pregnant?”
“Are you testing me?” He cocked his head to the side and placed a hand on his hip. The usual cop stance. His badge and gun were both clipped to his belt. Ding. The doors slid open and we stepped out and walked towards the exit. “You didn’t answer me Sophia?”
There was a part of me that was slightly hurt that he was getting so worked up. Would it be so bad? “Don’t worry I’m not pregnant. It’s not like we get a chance to do it…anyway.” We were walking quickly and had already reached my car.
“No shit.” Sex was Alex’s favorite hobby. So it seemed. His expression changed completely, he was grinning now. “We could go back to my place.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat. Stupid knot. Maybe, I was just an extracurricular activity to Alex. “Sounds tempting, but I’ll pass.” My response was quick and sarcastic. Taking my keys out of my pocket, I turned around and unlocked my door.
“Oh shit…I pushed a button.”
“No…” I bit down on my lip and looked up at him. “Would it be that bad…to have a baby with me?”
He rolled his eyes and took two steps towards me. “No. Not at all…but, it would be really bad for YOU to have a baby with ME. I’m not a good role model and I don’t deserve it.”
Ugh. I should have known this had nothing to do with me. Guilt washed over me. “That is not true.” Forgetting about where we were and the possibility of someone seeing us. I grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him in to kiss me. We parted and his eyes were still closed. I couldn’t help to smile.
“What was that for?”
My smile widened, as his hazel eyes met with mine. “Because I love you!”
Before he could answer me, Frank’s voice floated through his phone. “Yo, asshole…I’m out here stuck in a gay bar, watching to fruitcakes claw each other. Come help me!”
He took his phone from it’s clip, “You’re fucking kidding, right? You can’t put some gay guys on check.”
“Just shut the fuck up and get over here. Some dude that’s dressed like rainbow bright just hit me with his purse. Ouch…hurry up!”
Alex was smiling from ear to ear. Hell, so was I. Something about Frank being stuck in the middle of a bunch of men fighting like women was amusing.
“You should leave him there…” I giggled.
He poked my ribs, and placed his phone back on it’s clip. “You’re an evil woman. Well, I gotta go. Hey…um…why don’t you wait for me at my house. You know where the spare is and I’ll bring you lunch.”
“Ok…I’m just going to stop by the station. Emma is back from vacation and I’ve missed her!”
He smiled, kissed my cheek and disappeared into the litter of parked cars.
Within minutes I was parked at the station and making way in. I greeted those who greeted me, and made way towards the main desk. There she was Emma Jones, my best friend since 3rd grade. A woman blessed with good genes and a very fertile body. Emma had four kids and if she isn’t careful, the family can continue to grow. Usually she’s a dispatcher, but sometimes she covers the front desk.
“Holy hell…you look like shit!!” Emma leaned over the counter to take a better look at me.
I followed her eyes and gazed over myself. My pants weren’t wrinkled, my laces were tied and there were no food stains on my shirt. What the hell was she talking about? “I love you too bitch!” I muttered, leaning over the counter to give her a hug.
“Girl I came right on time. Detective Bastos is back…and every time that name is mentioned things get pretty freaky around here. Everyone starts sweating and their eyes go all wide.”
I looked around and the whole place was buzzing about this Detective Bastos. How strict he was. How hot. How well he and Alex worked. I didn’t even care, there were enough officers and detectives at our station that thought they were God’s gift. One more wouldn’t make a difference.
Fed up with all the talk of the popular person, I looked at my watch and decided it was time to head out to Alex’s house. “Well I better get going. It was nice seeing you again. I’m glad you are back.”
“Sure you are.” She looked around the room, and leaned into me. “Are you still sleeping with that fox of a man? You better be or things are definitely going to get interesting around here with Bastos back.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked puzzled at her comment.
Just then she was called back to her station and I didn’t get my answer. It would eat at me the rest of the day. What the hell did Alex have to do with this so-called-detective. Maybe they didn’t get along with each other. Maybe they made a good team. Hell, I had no idea.
I stopped by my apartment, feeling lucky that the angry love-birds weren’t anywhere in the apartment. Quickly I grabbed a couple of things to freshen up at Alex’s place and headed back out the door.
By the time I got to the house it was drizzling and there was a strong wind. Alex is a clever guy, he doesn’t leave his spare anywhere that anyone is used to, because he doesn’t really have a spare. It’s more of a code you punch into the system and TA…DA…you get in.
The place was impeccably clean and the only sound heard was the clacking of my flats against the wooden floor. I crept through the kitchen and into the living room, took my things into his bedroom and took a seat on the bed. It was rare when I spent the night or a day here. We never wanted to give the wrong impression. Alex’s room is very bland, nice king size bed with a cherry wood headboard. Matching nightstand and dresser, and a black lamp. That’s about it. It was very masculine, and at that very moment. There was a part of me that would have loved to fall asleep and wake up in this room. To give it the woman’s touch that it needed.
Who was I kidding. It would never happen.
My heart skidded in my chest when I heard noise in the next room. I hadn’t heard Alex come in and if he had, he would have made his presence known. Lucky for me I hadn’t turned in my gun on my last shift. I took it out of my bag and crept out to the hall. The floor didn’t help me much to be discrete, since it creaked with each step I took. In the next room there were footsteps, drawers being open and humming.
Alex would have warned me if he had visitors. “Hello?” My words sounded more like a squeak than anything else and whoever was in there, certainly hadn’t heard me. My left palm covered the doorknob and my right hand held the gun aimed at the door. I took in a deep breath and swung it wide open. I jumped and screamed, then the person screamed. We were looking at each other wide eyed, huffing and puffing with nervousness.
“Holy shit you scared me!” The woman shrieked.
I scared her, was this woman out of her mind. She was standing there hand over her chest with a big grin. Did I mention only in a towel. Scared was out the window, replaced by anger…frustration and confusion. Who the hell was she? What was she doing in a towel? Most importantly…why was she in my boyfriends house?
She was grinning wide now, “You must be Sophia? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Well I hadn’t heard a word about her. I was trying hard to sound calm and collected, not raging with jealousy. It wasn’t working. “That’s odd…I’ve never heard about you. Uh…I’m sorry you are…?” I could feel my eyebrows raised high on my forehead.
“Oh how rude of me…” she giggled and stuck out her hand, “I’m Gabby…detective Gabby Bastos.”
Holy shit the famous Bastos…was a woman. Oh, Alex had a lot of explaining to do…a whole fucking lot.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hehehe...Alex is in trouble!
