Dun dun dun. R U READY?
Truths
"Jesus, how did this even like," Chris was still speechless. "Happen? This is too crazy."
"I know!" Megan laughed. Gail walked up next to Chris and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Gail." She smiled brightly. Megan let the news from earlier sink in; her childhood friend was going to be a father.
"It's so nice to meet you. What a coincidence, hey?" She held her hand out for Gail to shake, but instead Gail pulled her in for a hug. "Congratulations, you guys!" Megan smiled.
"Yeah, really!" Dov walked up to Megan and again, took her in his arms. "A baby girl. This is insanity. It feels like just yesterday when I caught you two making out in the squad car." He spoke with mock sentimentalism.
"Yeah, ha-ha. That was a just hilarious." Chris' voice was heavy with sarcasm. "So, you two, hey?"
"It looks that way." Dov smiled and kissed her ear.
"Columba." She smiled.
"For real! Oh man, I remember that." Chris laughed.
"Come on, let's sit." Dov guided the conversation over to the living room, where everyone made themselves comfortable. Dov, Megan, Chris and Gail on the couch, Andy on the floor with Aila and Traci still hadn't arrived.
"So, what's new with the coppers of fifteen?" Dov asked.
"Nothing really. It's been quiet since that last bust." Chris said. Gail slapped his arm, which was draped around his shoulders.
"Chris! You're going to jinx it." She said.
"Sorry, sorry. I mean, it's tough. Life at the station is tough." He corrected himself.
Small talk ensued for about an hour, before someone suggested a movie.
"Nothing scary!" Megan squealed.
"I'll protect you." Dov wrapped his arms around her and gave a corny smile. Chris wasn't even a little used to seeing his childhood friend and Dov together, it made his stomach churn a little. He remembered her as the little girl she was before she moved away, and now here she was; a young and admittedly beautiful woman, who was now kissing his friend Dov on the couch.
"Okay, maybe something a little scary. Only cause you're here though, right Dov?" She giggled.
"SPLICE!" Andy shrieked, pointing at the screen. "That looks so creepy."
"If I go into labour because this is too scary, I'm going to kill you all." Gail pointed around the room.
"Relax, Gail. You're not even five months in." Dov laughed.
"It can happen! You watch yourself before I come over there and my baby girl kicks you in the head." She lost her composure half way through and started to laugh.
"Like mother like daughter, huh?" He laughed.
Andy queued up the movie and soon the house was enveloped in silence. About half way through, Chris poked Dov on the shoulder. The two women in their arms were terrified, with their wide eyes glued to the screen.
"Can I talk to you a minute?" He whispered. Dov nodded back and kissed the soft skin behind Megan's ear.
"I'll be right back, okay babe?" He whispered to her. She nodded absently, and he got up and followed Chris out the front door. Once alone and shivering in the night air, Chris turned to him with genuine concern in his eyes.
"How'd you meet her?" He asked.
"We go to the same meetings. Why?" Dov didn't understand the urgency in his friend's voice.
"I need you to be careful with her. Please." He looked him dead in the eyes. Dov didn't know what, but Chris was obviously worried.
"What is going on, Chris?" His voice took on a demanding tone.
"She is just, she's really, are you sure you are ready for a relationship?" He ran his fingers through his hair.
"I don't even know if she wants a relationship. If she does, I'm right there. I'm totally ready for this." He nodded furiously.
"Dov, there is so much going on with that girl. She seems so small and innocent, but you can pack a lot of hurt and fear into a tiny little package." Chris couldn't stand still.
"Tell me what is going on." He touched his pointed index finger to Chris' shoulder.
"When we were little, we were the best of friends. Denise hated her growing up because she always thought I liked Megan more than her. Dov, we were inseparable." He began. "She was about thirteen, and I noticed a change in her. I didn't know why, I was just a little kid too, but it worried me, and I told my mom. Then, after that, she moved in with us for a little while. I didn't get it then, but now looking back, it all makes sense." He leaned in and lowered his voice. "Dov, her Dad beat her Mom senseless. I don't know if he ever hit her, and I pray that he didn't, but it was bad. He went to jail, supposed to be for three years. But someone killed him while he was in there."
"Oh my God." Dov shook his head.
"Yeah. So then, she moved back in with her Mom when she could take care of her again, and then it was them and her older brother. Older brother was just like Dad. Living at home when he was twenty six, he hit the bottle really hard, hit them harder." He clenched his jaw as he spoke. "So her and her Mom left. Just packed up and they were gone one day. Every now and then, we'd get a letter from them. And she'd always draw a little dove next to her name at the end to let me know she was okay."
"Columba. She said her Dad taught her that." He nodded.
"My Dad taught us that." Chris laughed. "We got lost one night, in this field. And when Dad finally found us, we had totally given up finding our way home and we were just stargazing. And he showed it to us. He said it would always point us in the right direction."
"I had no idea." He said in disbelief. "She seems fine, except her Mom is sick."
"Oh Jesus. Yeah, her Mom was diagnosed with cancer a few years back."
"So basically, it's just been one big hell hole for her here?" Dov exhaled sharply. "Damnit."
"What?" Chris looked in through the window next to the door to make sure that the girls were okay.
"How the hell am I supposed to take care of her? God knows I want to, but, I'm never going to be able to support her like she needs." He ran his hands through his hair.
"No, no Dov I didn't say that. All I'm saying is that, if things get rough, she tends to turn back to the booze. You've just gotta keep an eye on her." Chris assured him.
"I'm not even supposed to know this stuff; I've only known her for three days." He shook his head, still in shock.
"You've only known her for three days? Yet, you two have a puppy together and I saw my old house key on her key ring?" Chris raised an eyebrow.
"It's her friend's puppy; we're just watching him here. I'm fine with it, she's fine with it, and the dog likes it." He shrugged his shoulders.
"So you gave her a house key?" Chris' hands moved to his hips.
"Should I not have given it to her?" Dov responded, the question more rhetorical than anything.
"Just, don't you think you're moving a little fast?" He pointed out.
"I don't know. Technically, yeah. Technically, definitely yeah. But what am I supposed to do? It's pretty obvious as to how we feel about each other. I can't just let all this go. Especially not now." It was clear that Dov had a lot on his mind.
"This is crazy." Chris shook his head. "I just feel sick about this."
"What?" Dov looked at his friend.
"This gives me a bad feeling. Like, I'm unsettled about the whole thing." He shook his head.
"We're men, Chris. We don't get butterflies when something's going on." Dov spoke condescendingly.
"Come on, man." The heavy mood lifted. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, whatever, Christina." Dov laughed. Inside, all three girls screamed. "Alright, I think that's our queue to enter."
"Onward." Chris opened the door for Dov. When they re-entered the living room, they laughed at the sight of the three women curled up next to each other on the couch. Andy was covering Gail's eyes, who was holding onto Megan's arm while Megan hugged a pillow and Aila sat on the floor in front of them.
"What would you do without us?" Chris laughed as he sat down in between Gail and Andy, sliding his arms around both of them.
"Shut up, Chris!" Andy whispered, her eyes never leaving the screen. Dov, who said nothing, slid in next to Megan and enveloped her in his newly strengthened arms.
Just met or not, he was hell bent on protecting her, just as he'd promised. No matter what lengths he had to go to, or what measures he had to take.
The movie came to a close, but everyone was already asleep, including Aila. All uncomfortably sprawled across the couch, limbs bent unnaturally in positions that were sure to cause pain the next day. But all through the night, all five were content and safe in another's arms and the sun rose quickly.
"Shit, what time is it?" Chris' voice broke the silence. Gail stirred in his arms, eventually opening one eye.
"Breakfast time." The hunger that came with pregnancy had set in full force. Without opening her eyes, Andy reached up and dragged her hand across Chris' face, making him scrunch up his nose in response.
"No. Sleep." She said, her speech distorted by the fact that her head was resting on Chris' knee. At that moment, Aila woke and stretched into Andy's side, which in return caused Andy's leg to extend, effectively winding Dov.
"Andy, Jesus." He pushed her foot away. "Good morning to you too." He grumbled.
Megan laughed as she opened her eyes.
"Never a dull moment." She smiled. "Morning." She said to Dov. He answered her with a tender kiss and hugged her close. "Sleep well?" He stretched out his neck and winced at the tightness in his muscles.
"I guess." He laughed.
"I'll be right back." She smiled, picking up Aila and letting him into the backyard. Dov watched her leave, and rolled off of the couch to follow her, but was caught by a pointed look from Chris.
"Careful." He whispered. Dov nodded before proceeding out the back door.
"How was your sleep?" He rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Pretty okay, I suppose." She giggled. "I have no idea how Andy ended up the way she did though, because I swear I woke up last night, and she was practically on top of me." She laughed.
"Yeah, she has a tendency to search for a warm body at night." He laughed. "So, how are you doing?" He crossed his arms over her chest possessively.
"Me? I'm fine." She brushed off the concern in his voice. "How are you doing?" She turned around to face him, threading her fingers through his hair.
"Better when you're around." He smiled, kissing her forehead. He laughed a little and pulled her in for a hug.
"What are you laughing about now?" She asked, laying her head on his shoulder.
"It just amazes me how well you fit into my arms. It makes me happy." He near whispered, making her stomach do flips.
"Fate." She whispered. She only pulled away when she felt little paws scratching at the back of her legs. "Ay-wa. What are you doing, little guy?" She lifted the puppy into her arms, and cradled him in her arms like she would a baby. "You are too cute."
"He is, isn't he?" Dov smiled and scratched the puppy's belly.
"I was talking," She looped one index finger through his belt loop and pulled his hips into hers. "About you." The words floated into his ears, shooting chills up his spine.
"Now whose being mean?" He called after her.
"Are you coming?" She laughed. He turned his head and smiled at her.
"In a second." His voice was a little huskier than expected. She shattered into a fit of laughter, and continued inside. Less that five seconds later, she stuck her head back out.
"Dov, do they have to work today?" He turned around to face her.
"Yeah, we should get them up." He sighed, jogging over to her and very thankful that she'd only grabbed his belt loop and nothing else.
"How do you wanna do this?" She asked once they were standing in the living room. "And how did her lipstick not smudge at all?" She pointed to Gail.
"No idea." He said, walking over to the rookies. Andy was sitting, slouched at the end of the couch. Chris had his head on her stomach, and Gail was on top of him.
"You guys really are like family, huh?" She laughed.
"You have no idea." He smiled. "Guys, it's ten." He said. When no one answered, he poked Chris in the side of the head and said it again. "Ten o'clock, kids. Work starts in like, forty five minutes. Get up!" He tried again with no avail. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a class of water. From the doorway, he tossed the water and managed to hit all three rookies.
"What the hell!" Chris yelled, with Andy following suit.
"We're going to be late!" Gail shrieked. With that, the three jumped off the couch and began racing around Dov's house trying to get ready with what they had on them, knowing there wasn't enough time to go home.
"I'll start breakfast." Megan laughed, returning to the kitchen. After draining Dov's hot water tank and eating his food, the three departed.
"Bye Dov! I'll miss you!" Gail yelled from the car as it pulled away. "Nice meeting you, Megan!" She added on.
Once the two were back inside and finished cleaning up, Megan's phone rang. After a few minutes, she hung up and turned to Dov.
"I've gotta go. Someone, broke into my house." She shook her head and tried to stay calm.
"I'll come with you." He took a step towards her.
"No, no. It's okay, you stay here." She touched his arm. "Someone has to watch Ay. I'll be fast, or I'll try to, okay?" She kissed him on the cheek and hurried out the door.
"Okay." He said quietly from the door. After pacing for a few minutes, then grabbing some food, he flipped open his phone.
"Chris, what happened at Megan's today?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" His friend responded.
"She just got a call saying someone had broken in." He more asked than anything else.
"Hold on." Chris tapped away on a keyboard before snapping the phone back up and stuttering. "Dov, we don't have anything in the system about a break in at her place, or any place for that matter." His voice was filled with concern.
"Shit. Meet me there?" He flew out of his chair and towards his car, barely stopping to grab shoes.
"I'll get the address off the computer. See you in a bit." He hung up.
The two men pulled up in front of Megan's apartment building at exactly the same time. After a race up the stairs, fumbling with the door and continuing to 4A, they came to a worrisome conclusion.
"She's not here?" Chris breathed, out of breath.
"What the hell?" Dov asked, pushing the door open. Everything looked fine. Nothing was missing as far as he could tell, the dishes were done, and it looked like it had when he was there.
"Here." Chris grabbed a note off of the table. "Dov and Chris." He began. "How did she know it would be us? What the hell?" He asked, as Dov snatched the note from him.
"Back in a few hours. Megan." He read. "What? That doesn't make any sense." He furrowed his brow. "I don't get it."
"Damnit." Chris breathed.
"What?" Dov looked at him, his eyes wide.
"Look." Chris pointed to her signature, well, more the blank spot beside her signature. "Where's Columba?"
"What?" Dov asked.
"Dov, there's no Columba."