Chapter 3

"Hey man, you missed a good game of hoops. Navy kicked Air Force butt today." Wolf said to Cruz as he came in smelling ripe as he was drenched in sweat from their basketball game. Cruz would have gone but he had Clara and a crib he couldn't seem to assemble for the life of him. He didn't feel bad or resent the fact that he'd missed out as the more time he spent with Clara the more he became attached to her. He put it down to Stockholm Syndrome as he'd been in her presence nearly non stop for 24 hours now and all he could think was how adorable and small she was. He wasn't much of a baby person and now he loved seeing her tiny smile even though it was gas and all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and protect her from harm and make her happy.

"Go us." Cruz said distractedly as he was completely defeated by the construction of the crib. He wanted to make the crib so it was ready for Clara when she outgrew the bassinet. But it didn't look good given Cruz was stuck.

"What are you trying to do?" Wolf asked as he pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. He downed half the bottle as he walked over to look at the mess that Cruz had on the floor between the front door and the lounge area.

"Trying to build a crib for Clara. This thing is crazy. The instructions might as well be in Chinese for all they are worth." Cruz said to him with a frown as he looked at the piece of paper trying to decipher it.

"Hey, you didn't mention you were buying baby stuff today." Wolf said as he gently pulled the instructions out of Cruz's hand to look at them.

"It was a last minute thing and a bad idea." Cruz told him before he dropped his head in his hands. He was so tired but at least Clara was docile and happy in her bouncer seat. Though he didn't understand the name as it didn't really bounce like a ball which was comforting but it also didn't do anything. In fact it just looked like a plush lawn chair with a seat belt but at least Clara was happy to be in it. For now.

"Why?" Wolf asked him as he continued to look at the instructions.

"Babies are expensive and they had this huge warehouse dedicated to them. The women in there are animals." Cruz told him, he felt like it had been petting hour at the zoo except he was the animal all the women wanted to pet. He really needed to buy a fake wedding ring to save himself next time he went in there or rope a female crew member to go with him. He wondered if Danny would mind if he borrowed Kara as he highly doubted Alisha would pretend to be his other half. In fact he could see her throwing him to the mommy wolves and laughing.

"Well, Clara is a cutie." Wolf told him as he handed the instructions back to Cruz.

"They were all over me, Man." Cruz told him in a serious tone, not that he wasn't interested in dating but with Clara he needed time to grieve Elsa's death and get to know his daughter first before he thought about women. Even if he'd been thinking about the brunette who'd rescued him in the hallway.

"Well, babies are like puppies mate, women get a little hot under the collar when they see a man with one. It just jives the system, I guess." Wolf explained even though it wasn't necessary.

"Think you can help me with the crib?" Cruz asked him ignoring the comment about babies and puppies as he wanted the crib built.

"Sure, just let me wash up and I'll lend you a hand." Wolf said.

Half an hour later, Ava turned the book around and showed him a design.

"How does that look?" she asked him. His eyes lit up at the design. Majority of Ava's work was heavily influenced by Nathan Ferlazzo of taking one large image and incorporating many other elements into it. So what she proposed for Rick Miller was a tattoo that represented his naval career, his home town in Iowa and his other interests rolled into one piece of art. It wouldn't cover his whole back but it was a design that would make any man with ink envious and want others want to come to her for a tattoo.

"Yeah, I love it." he told her with a grin.

"Now, it's only a rough draft. The final tattoo will be even more detailed." She told him, she moved to the scanner and scanned the page into the computer they had at the front desk and printed a copy for him. "Now I know you wanted a big tattoo but I think it's best to keep it this size. If you want to cover your whole back we can incorporate future designs to flow from this one. I'd say on your flank or right shoulder blade but location is up to you. So take the print out and think it over for 24 hours." She said, she wrote the quote on the bottom right hand corner and handed it to him.

"I want it. Now." Rick said not even blinking at the quote but ready to go.

"I prefer you think it over for 24 hrs and come back to book for the tattoo session with me. Ok?" Ava told him with a smile as she always loved the enthusiasm of it when the client was happy.

"Alright, thanks for this." he told her with a wide smile.

"You're welcome and I'll see you in 24 hours." Ava told him, she knew by the look in his eyes he'd be back. Years as an artist selling her work had given her a good feel on who the real buyers were and those who just browsed.

"You definitely will." He told her before he walked out the door.

"Another customer?" Preacher asked.

"Yep." Ava said with a smile as she showed him the draft. Preacher took the page and looked over the design.

"Good work." he said, Ava warmed to the compliment because since surviving the attack, she'd had to adapt to being half blind. So it boosted her ego when a fellow artist told her she was doing well and Preacher was not one to mince his words or be nice.

"Well, someone's smiling." Wolf said in regards to Miller who just walked through the door. He and Cruz managed to finally get the crib together and were basking in their small victory of the day. Well, Wolf was celebrating with a beer while Cruz was crashed out on one of the lounges with Clara napping on his chest.

"Yeah, my Mom's alive." Miller said to him.

"What?!" Wolf asked in surprise and obvious joy. Miller smiled and nodded as it was a good day all round for him as his mother was a live and he was going to get a real kick ass tattoo that was original and his. Not that he'd mention the tattoo to Wolf as he wanted it to be for himself. At least until it was finished, he had looked at the rough sketch for over an hour knowing he was set on it. He was going to get it.

"Yeah, I spoke with her an hour ago on the phone. She's flying down in a few weeks. Do you think she could stay here?" Miller asked.

"That's awesome dude! and yeah, of course she can. We haven't moved Clara in yet." Wolf said waving a dismissive hand as having the baby in the apartment was still new. In fact it was just weird to see Cruz take on his duties as a parent. But being the child of a single parent, Miller admired Cruz for not abandoning his daughter unlike how his father had. Sure having a kid came with adjustments but Miller was happy to help him out and support Cruz even if he knew nothing about babies.

It was just lucky Wolf was the oldest of 6 kids so he did have experience to help Cruz while for Miller and Cruz it was a learning curve. Miller it felt like a trial by fire so he wasn't sure how Cruz felt about it all. But Miller wanted to be as supportive as he could.

"Cause I could find a hotel-"

"Dude, we're all family here. We got the space so there's no need to worry about your Mum visiting. We'll set her up in Clara's room and keep the ankle biter in with her daddy a little longer." Wolf assured him.

"Ok." Miller said glad as he couldn't really afford a hotel room for his mom to stay at even if he wanted to.

Cruz woke up slowly feeling better for his nap but realised that something was missing. The tiny weight of Clara. He opened his eyes and found her missing and jack-knifed up off the couch looking around.

It only took a second to see Clara was in her bounce chair on the dining table they had with Wolf in the kitchen cooking something that smelled amazing.

"Sleep well?" Wolf asked, Cruz rubbed the back of his neck and yawned.

"Yeah, how long was I out?" He asked, as he did feel good for his nap. He could have sworn all Wolf needed was a frilly apron and a sex change then he'd be the perfect housewife. Though he wouldn't be Cruz's wife as Wolf was way too sturdy and stout for his tastes. The random thought made him smile as he was definitely losing his mind from lack of sleep.

"Couple hours. You needed it." Wolf told him.

"Clara any trouble?" Cruz asked as he moved to Clara and smiled at her and brushed a finger on her cheek loving how her lips curled into a smile at the gesture. He knew her smiles were more about gas or a unconscious reflex but damn if it wasn't adorable.

"You would have woken up if there was. She's an angel." Wolf told him.

"Until night time or if she doesn't get her nap." Cruz pointed out as their first night with Clara had been rough.

"It's a new place for her, there's going to be an adjustment period. Speaking of..." Wolf drawled, Cruz turned to him to see Wolf was going to bring up a sensitive topic.

"Yeah?" Cruz asked.

"Miller's mum is going to come down for a visit in a couple of weeks." Wolf told him.

"For how long?" Cruz asked out of curiosity.

"Not sure." Wolf told him.

"She can take the spare room. It's not Clara's using it yet." Cruz offered, he had to admit it was easier having Clara in his room at night, but he knew one day she would need her own space but right now he felt they needed the time to bond and the lower the amount of obstacles in keeping her happy while he was sleep deprived.

"You sure?" Wolf asked looking relieved at Cruz offering the room.

"Yeah, you think she'd give me some tips and pointers on kids?" Cruz asked him as he could use a woman's perspective and if he were honest, Miller was the politest and well mannered guy he knew. Something he wouldn't mind Clara being; plus Miller's mum had raised him alone so he could use the advice on being a single parent. Wolf gave a shrug as he stirred the pot of food he was cooking.

"Who knows, I imagine Miller's mum to be a real helicopter parent. You sure you want to be like that with Clara?" Wolf asked him in an amused tone.

"I don't know." Cruz said as he had no clue what a 'helicopter parent' was.

"Closing up, come on." Preacher said trying to get Ava out the door. He swore if it was up to her they'd be open 24/7 completely immersed in their work. But he had a life he liked living, people he liked seeing outside of the business but then unlike Ava, he carried majority of his scars on the inside than how hers were carved on her face.

"Nearly finished." Ava said as she was finishing up the tattoo for Miller. She finished the last couple of pencil strokes and gave a satisfied sigh. "There." she said, she turned the art book around to show Preacher. He took the book from her hands and looked down at her work. There was no doubt that the woman had talent in spades when it came to Art.

"You're really wasting yourself here. This stuff should be on canvas and hanging in a gallery." Preacher told her, he always tried to push her back into her old world. Ava had been an Artist who used to paint large canvas paintings and clay sculptures. He remembered her being in San Francisco's 30 under 30 artists to watch two years in a row which was an amazing accolade to her talent.

"Thanks but we both know I just imitate other peoples' work." Ava said self deprecatingly.

"It's called being 'influenced' by others and it wouldn't hurt to do something you love. Have you thought about getting back into your original mediums?" Preacher asked testing the waters. He knew since she'd been blind in one eye that it had affected her depth perception which meant weeks of relearning how to do pretty much everything as her vision was now only 2D.

"I love tattooing." Ava told him.

"You also like hiding too." Preacher said pushing her buttons as he didn't see why she felt the need to hide from people just cause she was half blind and scarred. She was still as normal as the rest of them, with her own regrets and pains.

"I'm not hiding." Ava said taking the art book and closing it. She placed it under the counter and grabbed her jacket. Preacher could tell she was pissed at him and he deserved it but he preferred to be upfront. They were both old enough to not bother with pretences and niceties.

"Uhuh, so when was the last time you went out on a date or with friends?" Preacher asked.

"I don't date and my work keeps me busy. Anyway like you're one to talk." Ava argued.

"I socialise." Preacher assured her.

"When?" Ava asked folding her arms not believing him.

"When you're buried in your apartment. One day, you've got to forgive yourself for what happened and move forward. Live life." Preacher told her in a serious manner as he didn't like how she sheltered herself from life. He just didn't know how to drag her out of her hiding place.

"I'm happy with what I got. So why go trying for more?" Ava asked him.

"A lot of reasons, but I'm not going to list 'em out as I want to go out and have a beer. Some come on." he told her gesturing for to leave.

"See, first ten nappies are the worst. After that you're immune until they get to solids." Wolf told Cruz as he was watching him change Clara's nappy while drinking a beer like it was a spectator sport.

"I don't want to know man, just let me have some surprises." Cruz said as he didn't want to know. Wolf chuckled.

"Trust me, you'll be surprised no matter what but you'll want to be prepared cause that's when you ask your friends to take over." Wolf told him as Cruz picked his daughter up into his arms.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Cruz asked him, he wasn't being malicious in asking just curious. He knew if their roles were reversed he'd be enjoying his friend struggling with a baby.

"Yeah, though I have to say I'm proud of you. Not many people I know in our position would take on a baby." Wolf said, reminding Cruz that he really needed to talk to his CO and get everything in order for his career and paperwork.

"I want to keep her, do you think it's a bad idea? That I'm being selfish?" Cruz asked him voicing his own inner thoughts and fears as it was one thing to look after Clara until he could hand her over to child services which he figured everyone assumed him to do. He held her in his arms which even after less than 48 hours felt right, it was foreign concept to him given he was never much of a baby person.

"Mate, nothing selfish about wanting to be with your kin. As for a bad idea well that is a rather subjective question. I personally think it's great but then I'm biased, I'd do anything to have a piece of my family alive. So nah, I think it's great you want to keep her, and I know it won't be easy for you but me and the others will support you, no matter what." Wolf assured him.

"I really appreciate that." Cruz said trying to be cool and not blubber like a little boy at how moved he felt by what Wolf had just said.

"You'd do the same for us." Wolf said dismissively like it was really nothing when it wasn't. "Beer?" Wolf offered.

"No, I'm good." Cruz told him.