by ANDREA SMITH
“No, not at all. If I was quiet, it’s only because I have a lot on my mind for the operation in Baltimore that’s coming up.”
“Baltimore? What’s going on in Baltimore?”
“Nothing I can share with you, but I want you to listen up, okay?”
I nodded as he sat on the sofa and pulled me onto his lap.
“Slate and I leave for Baltimore on Tuesday. We’ve been working on this investigation for months and, hopefully, everything will be resolved during this trip.”
“How long will you be there?”
“Possibly a week, maybe longer if complications arise.”
I didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
“I’ll call you when I can, but you can’t call or text me, understood?”
“I don’t do that now. I’m cuddly, not clingy, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“I do see that and I appreciate it,” he replied, smiling at me as he brushed my hair from my forehead. “I’ll miss you, though,” he said softly, almost as if he was saying it more to himself than to me.
My heart did a double back-flip for the first time ever. “I’m sure I’ll miss you, too. I might even worry, if that’s allowed.”
“I don’t want you to worry,” he said. “Because if I know you’re worrying, then I’ll be distracted, you see?”
I let out a soft laugh, resting my forehead gently against his. “I think I understand. So, then I won’t be worried if that’s not allowed.”
“It’s not,” he stated firmly, kissing the tip of my nose.
That was all it took. Within moments we were tangled up all over each other, making out like a couple of teenagers on the sofa.
His hands had my sweater up over my head, his lips and tongue were teasing my breasts through my bra, and his fingers plying at my nipples, squeezing them just enough to bring pleasurable pain, if that’s possible.
My hands were fumbling with the zipper on his jeans, frantically trying to spring his cock free so that I could feel that very soft skin with my fingers. He was groaning softly, his lips now pressed against mine, his tongue furiously searching for mine. The sound of the front door being unlocked and Slate’s loud voice bellowing my name caused us to freeze in mid-motion.
I frantically tried to sit up to get my sweater pulled down, accidently kneeing Taz in the crotch when I did. I heard him stifle his curse as my hand flew up to my mouth in horror.
“Sorry, sorry,” I whispered hoarsely, managing to get my sweater pulled down.
I ran my fingers through my hair as Taz took a seat beside me, crossing his legs to hide his erection. I tossed a magazine over to him from the coffee table to further help camouflage his current condition.
I rose from the sofa, going to the refrigerator as if I was getting a soda when Slate made it to the kitchen, carrying Bryce.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” I lied.
Slate scrunched his forehead in disbelief. “I hollered for you,” he said.
“Oh, I just came up from the basement. I was checking to see if you had any beer in the fridge down there for Taz.”
Okay, so I absolutely sucked at lying. Especially spur-of-the-moment lying.
“There’s beer on the bottom shelf in this fridge, see?” Slate replied, pointing to the bottom shelf.
“Oh, so there is. My bad. Would you grab one for Taz?” I asked, taking Bryce from him. “Where’s Mom?”
“The medical transport van is a few minutes behind us. She’ll be here in a few,” Slate replied, tossing a beer to Taz, who was now standing at the kitchen breakfast bar. He opened one for himself. Slate looked worn out.
“You mean she had to be transported by an ambulance?”
“It’s a long drive. She needs to lie on her back for the next two months. She can only get up to use the bathroom and shower once a day. That’s it until she sees her doctor here.”
“When will that be?”
“We have an initial appointment Monday with her OB/GYN, but that’ll involve more testing. We’ll know more once he gets the results back and confirms what the hospital in Indianapolis diagnosed.”
“Do you want me to take her to her appointment? I asked. “I can probably handle both her and Bryce.”
“I want to clarify some things before she gets here, okay?”
I nodded.
“I truly appreciate the sacrifice you’ve made in doing this. I don’t want you to totally give up your life. I’m going to be leaving for Baltimore on Tuesday. I won’t be able to help at all for the next week, maybe longer.”
“Baltimore?” I asked, as if this was news to me.
“Yeah. I’m on assignment. I’ll be calling in when I can though. I’ve arranged for a home healthcare nurse to come in once a day for a few hours so that she can help your mother shower and change, and prepare dinner for them so you can get out for a few hours. She’ll also check your mother’s vitals and report her condition to the doctor. I know it’s not much, but you’re going to need a breather from being cooped up here 24/7. So I encourage you to take advantage of it for your own wellbeing, got it?”
“Yes. Thanks.”
“Also, I have a cleaning service that’ll come in once a week to do the major cleaning. All you need to do is keep the house picked up from this little whirlwind here, handle him, and do laundry. Will that work?”
I nodded. “It’s no problem at all.”
“Okay, good.” His shoulders relaxed a bit.
Bryce was squirming in my arms now, starting to fuss.
“He’s probably ready to go down for the night.”
“I’ll handle it,” I said, heading towards the nursery with him.
I gave Bryce a quick sponge bath and put a clean diaper and jammies on him. He had his thumb in his mouth. That was a sure sign he was tired.
I put him in his crib and wound up his musical mobile. He rolled onto his side, thumb in mouth, and within five minutes, his eyelids closed. I pulled his little blanket up to his waist. The poor little guy was probably confused with all the commotion in his life recently.
I left his nightlight on, leaving the door to his nursery slightly ajar.
When I got out to the main hall, Mom was coming in the door. Slate had his arm around her. I was surprised at how pale she looked.
“Lindsey,” she said, her face brightening. “I’m so sorry that you had to come home like this, honey.”
“Mom, stop. I mean it. The most important thing is getting you into bed so you can rest.”
“Rest is all I seem to be able to do lately. The pain medication that doctor put me on sees to that.”
“I’ll help her get ready for bed, Slate.”
“Thanks, Linds.”
I helped Mom change into a comfortable nightgown after she used the bathroom. She climbed into her bed and snuggled down under the covers. I sat on the bed next to her, my worry lines apparently showing.
“Everything’s going to be fine. I see my own doctor on Monday. Slate is taking me, so don’t worry about that. The pain I’m having is not related to everything else. Apparently, I have a fibroid tumor in my uterus that was causing the excruciating pain. The good news is, as my uterus grows in the next couple of weeks, the pain will subside. The main concern is the TTTS. I could lose one or both of the babies.”
I saw her tear up and immediately, I took her hand in mine.
“I’m sure there is something they can do, right?”
She nodded, wiping a tear from her cheeks.
“There are a couple of options, I guess. Periodic amniocentesis to drain off the excess fluid which would continue throughout term, or laser surgery to seal off the connection. We just don’t know anything definitive yet. That’s the hard part.”
“You didn’t even know you were pregnant? I mean, hadn’t you skipped a couple of periods?”
“Well, the strange thing is that, before Bryce was born, my cycles were like clockwork. Aft
er that, my periods were helter-skelter. That’s why we were having trouble conceiving this time. As it turns out, the fibroid tumor was responsible for that as well. So, it just didn’t strike me odd until that day when I was with your grandmother at the lawyer’s office, and I felt so much pain.”
“Well, the important thing is that you’re home now. Slate and I’ll take care of you. I’m here just as long as you need me, okay?”
“I don’t know what I would do without you. I love you so very much.”
“I love you too.”
She was asleep within moments. I turned off the light and left the door open to her room in case she needed anything.
Slate and Taz were still in the family room. I could tell they were discussing bureau business. They looked up as I came into the room.
“Mom’s sleeping, and I made sure she was comfortable,” I told Slate. “I think I’ll just sleep down here tonight.”
“That may not be a bad idea. I’m gonna go check on her. I didn’t give her a goodnight kiss.”
I thought it was so sweet the way that Slate fussed over her. It was usually the other way around. It did my heart good to see how he reciprocated. I looked over at Taz after Slate left the room.
“I’m beat, Taz. I think I’m going to say goodnight. I guess you’ll be pretty busy over the weekend with your school work and getting ready for whatever it is you’ll be doing in Baltimore, right?”
He came over to where I was standing, pulling me into his strong chest.
“Hey, how about we spend some time together tomorrow? It’s Saturday and Slate will be home to handle things. It’ll probably be the last chance to hang out before I leave.”
I gave him a slow smile. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
“Good. I’m running that key to the lab in Quantico tomorrow morning. I’ll give you a shout sometime tomorrow afternoon, okay?”
“Sounds good,” I said, yawning.
“Get to bed,” he ordered softly, giving me a quick kiss. “When Slate gets back out here, I have to fill him in on that key.”
“G’nite, Taz.”
“G’nite, Linds.”
chapter 30
I got up early and tended to Bryce while Slate helped Mom get her shower and dress in clean sweats.
I brought breakfast to their room later. Slate was lounging beside her on the bed, channel surfing the flat screen television mounted on the opposite wall. At least she’d be able to watch movies and stuff while confined to her bed. Her iPad was on the bedside table for reading and internet surfing. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too bad.
“I’m going to start some laundry and then take Bryce and run to the store, if that’s okay,” I said to them. “I need to get some stuff for me this week.”
“Sure,” Mom said. “You don’t have to take Bryce, though. He’ll be fine here with us.”
“I kind of wanted to,” I replied. “He’s good company.”
“Okay then, honey. Be careful.”
“Always, Mom.”
I fed Bryce his lunch and then got him bundled up. We headed out. I stopped at the grocery, then the pharmacy and then treated him to a stop at ‘Toys ‘R’ Us.’ He was reaching for practically everything he set his eyes upon as we walked through each and every aisle.
I finally bought him a stuffed turtle whose head would retract into his shell when you pressed a button underneath, and reluctantly gave in to his whining and pointing when he saw a toy gun. It was a plastic gun that made a ‘popping’ sound when the trigger was pulled.
That apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree I thought, as he giggled with delight clutching the gun to his chest instead of the stuffed turtle.
I was fastening Bryce into his car seat when my cell phone rang. My heart did a little flutter, thinking it was Taz. I felt disappointed when I saw it was Darcy.
“Hey Darce,” I greeted.
“Hey yourself,” she said. “I’m ho-o-omme!”
“So you are,” I said. “I suppose you’re booked all weekend with your G-Man though.”
“Yeah right,” she scoffed. “He’s tied up all day today doing some sort of ‘counter-terrorist’ simulation that was announced last minute. We won’t be able to get together until tomorrow.”
“That blows,” I said, getting into the driver’s side and fastening my seat belt.
“So? Wanna go out clubbing later?”
“Taz is supposed to call me when he gets back from Quantico this afternoon. He wanted to spend some time together. He’s leaving on some mission Tuesday, so it will be our last chance to hang out.”
“It’s like after two now. You haven’t heard from him yet?”
“Nope,” I replied, feeling a hint of irritation myself.
“So how long do you intend to wait for his booty call before you decide to salvage the rest of the day?”
“It’s not a booty call,” I halfway snapped.
“Really?” she said, drawing the word out as if she found it hard to believe.
“I’m on my period,” I retorted, getting a tad short with her.
“Oh, then perhaps booty call was the wrong terminology. Maybe I should have referred to it as his ‘blow job’ call, under the circumstances.”
If I hadn’t already felt a bit irritated about it anyway, I would’ve laughed at Darcy’s banter. The fact was, it shouldn’t have taken all of this time for Taz to drop some freaking key off at the lab and get back to Falls Church. This would be my last opportunity to get out for an evening in a while anyway.
“Tell you what, If I don’t hear from him in the next couple of hours, let’s make plans.”
“Sounds good,” she said. “Call me one way or the other?”
“Sure will,” I said, starting the car and heading home.
When I got back to the house, I changed Bryce’s diaper. He’d managed a shit explosion of major proportions. I ran out of baby wipes after using the last in the container. This was going to require a wet wash cloth.
I was changing him in his crib so I raised the rail up, putting a blanket over his wee-wee so he wouldn’t pee all over himself while I went to the bathroom to get one. I’d learned that lesson the hard way.
“Don’t move,” I said to him, tickling his chubby little chin. God he’s cute!
The bathroom was off of his nursery. It was the same bathroom shared by the master suite. I opened the door from the nursery, breezing in to fetch a wash cloth, not realizing that Slate was occupying it. He was standing at the toilet, dick in hand taking a leak.
Oh my God!
I stopped in my tracks, my face turning crimson, my hand flying up to cover my mouth. He looked over at me mid-stream unable to do anything but finish peeing.
I backed out, eyes widened, stuttering an apology as I felt for the doorway, whirling around and beating a fast exist.
I slammed the door behind me leaning against it. I was horrified at what I’d done. It hadn’t occurred to me that someone using the bathroom wouldn’t have locked the access door from the nursery. I suppose he hadn’t figured Bryce would be barging in any time soon.
I went over to the crib. Bryce’s eyelids were heavy. I checked his bottom. It definitely needed more cleaning. I went out the other door from the nursery, heading to the kitchen. I wet a paper towel, scurrying back to the nursery to avoid any risk of running into Slate.
I wiped his bottom clean and fastened a fresh diaper on him. I pulled his blanket to his waist and watched as he drifted off to sleep, clutching his new toy gun instead of his turtle, which made me smile. I left the nursery and quietly slipped upstairs to my room. How in the hell would I ever face Slate again? I didn’t want to think about it.
I slipped into the shower, taking my time washing my hair, shaving my legs and waiting for my cell phone to ring. After I emerged from the bathroom thoroughly clean, conditioned and blown-dry I checked my phone. Nothing. My clock said it was 4:16 p.m. Screw this. I ph
oned Darcy.
“What up?” she asked, putting on her ‘gangsta’ tone. God, she must be bored.
“I haven’t heard a thing. What do you want to do?”
“Listen to this, Linds. I ran into Jess and Sonya, remember them from Dazzle?”
“Not the lesbians?” I asked.
“No, they’re the bartenders that hooked up and got married.
“Oh yeah, so what about them?”
“Well, they told me that Dazzle has booked a previously famous alternative metal group for tonight in a surprise concert to launch their major comeback tour.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Hot Addiction,” she all but screamed. “You have to remember them.”
“Vaguely,” I replied, not nearly as stoked as she was.
“So, here’s the deal,” she continued. “Their surprise appearance will be to open for the regularly scheduled pop rock band they have starting to play at nine. We need to get there no later than 7:30 p.m. to get an up close table so we can see them.”
“So, what time are you picking me up?”
“Here’s the thing. I have no problem picking you up, but I plan to party. Can you just plan on sleeping over here and I’ll bring you back in the morning?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You understand the situation with my Mom. The whole reason I’m here is to help out with Bryce.”
“Well, isn’t Slate there still?”
“Well, yeah.”
“So, just see if he has an issue with it? I can have you back by like nine tomorrow morning. I promise I’ll be sober by then.”
I couldn’t deal with having to approach Slate on anything right now. If it was possible to avoid him until he took off for Baltimore on Tuesday, that would have been my preference. I knew that was unrealistic.
Okay,” I sighed. “I’ll be ready at seven.”
“Wear something that totally rocks. We’re going to party,” she replied, bubbling over with enthusiasm.
Mom was napping, as I discovered when I peeked in on her to search out Slate.
I was still in my long, terrycloth robe. I traipsed into the kitchen looking for Slate. He was kicked back in the family room, his cell phone up to his ear.
