Chapter 11

Oowatanite

Stacey picked up Little Jimmy and sat down with him on the couch. He was able to sit up by him self somewhat at this point. She passed him a bottle and turned on the TV. Seeing as how, Cosmo left it on the local channel last night it was still on there. But it wasn't a regular soap opera playing it was breaking news. About a running gun battle with the LVPD and four gangbangers, Stacey sucked in a harsh breath; they weren't shown on the TV.

Stacey covered Little Jimmy's eyes and turned the channel to Tree House. She sat him down on the floor and put up the baby gate since Little Jimmy was slowly learning how to crawl. Stacey started to pace around the house, she tried all four of their cell phones but they were off. Just what happened, were they all okay? So many thoughts were going through her head. She didn't know what to do; she just prayed that they were all okay.

/Oowatanite/

Khandi looked out the window as they came up to the house; with out anyone saying anything they entered the house. Khandi was still depressed and still convinced that she was the one who killed Officer Bell.

"Jesus Christ you guys! You gave me a heart attack!" Stacey yelled from up stairs.

Cosmo looked up the stairs, "Well it wasn't planned!" he said then turned around.

Stacey who was now pissed picked up one of Little Jimmy's bottles and threw it down the stairs. It bounced right off the top of Cosmo's head. Khandi started to laugh, the first time since the gun battle that she had, so did Jim. Sam shook his head, "Well you can't duck if you don't see it coming."

"What was that for?" Cosmo yelled, rubbing his head.

"What is this, pre-school?" Jim asked, picking up the bottle.

Khandi smiled, "And what you're the principle, Mr. Brass?"

"Hey, who's cooking Dinner?" Cosmo asked, changing the topic, "I'm still starving here."

Khandi made her way up the stairs, "I will."

"No!" They all replied in unison.

"What'd I do?" Khandi asked, "Die and suddenly this became a Democracy?"

"We uh," Jim started.

"Just want some real food!" Cosmo put a word in edge wise.

"You want real food, cook it yourself." Sam said pushing his way up stairs.

"Geeze, why don't you guys teach her to cook?" Stacey commented, as she watched Sam pick up Little Jimmy. And then the phone rang, "I got it." Stacey yelled.

"She does have a point ya know," Cosmo said still standing at the bottom of the stairs with Jim.

Khandi who was near the bottom looked at them, "How so?"

"He's right, we could teach you, honey." Jim added.

"I can cook." Khandi smiled.

Cosmo raised an eyebrow, "Um, not editable food."

"Hey Sam!" Stacey's voice rang through the house, "Phone's for you, I think she said it was Cooper."

"Cooper?" Cosmo frowned and made his way up the stairs.

"Who?" Jim asked Khandi as he made his way up the stairs with her, his hand at the small of her back.

/Oowatanite/

"No, I said not to put it on high!" Stacey said turning the stove down.

Cosmo was sitting on the couch with Little Jimmy, he turned around to look at Stacey, and Jim trying to teach Khandi how to cook, and Sam was out on the porch with a beer talking to Cooper. "See that little guy, learn from the rest of us and not your mum, and you will know how too cook."

/Oowatanite/

"So did you finally do it?" Biggs asked taking the phone from Cooper.

"Do what?" Sam asked, looking out at the skyline.

Biggs laughed, "Tie the knot. Cooper says a woman answered the phone."

"No, that's Khandi's sister."

"Right, you moved in with a family. So is everyone okay from the gun fight?"

"Yeah, just peachy. One… of ours got killed."

"Shit, Sam."

"Ya think?"

/Oowatanite/

"You're not supposed to boil the oil, Khandi!" Stacey screamed as the curtains caught on fire.

"Shit," Jim said running to grab a fire extinguisher.

Cosmo looked at Jim as he took off running, and looked at Little Jimmy, "Man, you're gonna be corrupted."

"Put water on them!" Khandi yelled, "Told ya this was a bad idea!"

"Cosmo, if I can't get this out, save Little Jimmy," Jim said running by with the fire extinguisher.

Once the fire was out Sam walked in, "Curtains are done. Everyone dinner's ready."

"Smells yummy, Khan." Cosmo commented, picking Little Jimmy up, and walked into the kitchen, "Is it safe in here?"

"Fuck you Cosmo." Khandi sighed.

Stacey threw her hands up, "Okay, Kids enough. Why don't we just pick something up and go to the lake."

/Oowatanite/

"Cosmo you are one sick perv!" Stacey sighed. They were all in the car. Little Jimmy's car seat was set up in the front between Khandi and Jim. Stacey was in the back between Sam and Cosmo.

"What did he do this time?" Khandi asked.

"He came in the bathroom while I was putting my bikini on!" Stacey answered.

"I did not!" Cosmo countered.

"Cosmo, don't even bother. You won't win." Khandi sighed.

"What's with you Philly women?" Sam asked.

Jim shook his head, "Don't even try to figure it out Sammy."

"She's got that look," Cosmo commented about Stacey.

"What look?" Stacey asked.

"That Clint Eastwood in "Fistful of Dollars" look." Cosmo answered.

"That's because you were playing stupid today Cos." Jim laughed.

"Why does everything have to be my fault around here?" Cosmo asked.

"Isn't that our question?" Sam asked.

/Oowatanite/

Once they were at the lake, Stacey started unpacking the basket, which had food in it. Sam picked up the orange juice, "It's the first time I've seen orange juice labeled "freshly killed"."

"Ask Khandi," Stacey pointed to the pier, where Khandi was sitting, her hair was pulled back and her feet were in the water. Close by the shore, Jim and Cosmo were pushing Little Jimmy, who was in one of those water rings, back and forth.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked sitting down next to her.

Khandi tried to push the tears away, "Oh, I am fine. Well, not really, I am closer to lousy than fine."

Sam sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it. We're all still here."

"It's just… I can still see Bell, ya know?" Khandi sighed the tears were getting harder.

Sam nodded; even to this day he could still picture how terrified Noah Newman, one of his partners, was when he was shot, "Yeah I know."

"Food's ready!" Stacey called out.

Khandi looked at Sam, "Thanks, Sammy."

"Any time."

/Oowatanite/

Jim, who was already in the water holding Little Jimmy's water ring, looked up at Stacey, Sam, Cosmo and Khandi who were standing on the pier. Cosmo jumped in first then pulled Stacey in afterwards. Sam jumped in after and they all looked at Khandi, "Oh no, your not getting me in there."

"C'mon honey!" Jim called out, "It's not that cold."

"Ah… on second thought… No!" Khandi smiled.

"Jump!" Everyone called out to her, continually.

Khandi pulled the shirt she had on off and jumped in, but didn't land to great. Coming up for air she gasped, "That hurt."

"What? You figure you were gonna bounce?" Cosmo asked.

"Not really." Khand said rubbing her elbow.

Stacey laughed, "What? Ya get a booboo?"

Little Jimmy who was playing with a rubber ducky giggled and pushed it to Khandi, "Play with ya rubber ducky," Jim smiled.

"It always amazes me how a baby can take a normal adult and turn him into a babbling idiot." Sam commented.

/Oowatanite/

When they returned home, everyone was exhausted. Cosmo, Sam and Stacey went into the living room and plopped down on the couch. Jim, carrying a sleeping Little Jimmy, walked into the room, followed by Khandi. Cosmo picked up the remote and turned the TV on. No matter what channel he turned to they were showing coverage of the gun battle from that afternoon.

Khandi just stared at the TV, with tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly she turned and ran from the room.

"Is she okay?" Cosmo asked.

"She's still upset about what happened today," Jim replied.

"Well, can you blame her? It was scary out there," Sam said.

"Yeah, but she blames herself for what happened to Bell."

"Why? It couldn't be stopped. He was a casualty," Cosmo replied.

"I know. But she thinks she's the one that shot him," Jim said.

"You gotta be kidding me. Why would she think that?" Cosmo asked.

"Because she said he was in her line of fire," Jim replied. "I'm gonna lay Little Jimmy down and go talk to her."

"She'll get through this, Jimmy. It's just gonna take some time," Sam said, remembering Newman.

/Oowatanite/

After laying Little Jimmy down in his crib, Jim walked by the bathroom and thought he heard someone throwing up. Since Cosmo, Sam and Stacey were all down stairs, it could only be Khandi. Jim opened the bathroom door and saw Khandi kneeling down in front of the toilet.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jim asked, kneeling down beside her.

"I don't feel so good," she replied, lifting her head and looking up at Jim.

Jim didn't like the look of her. She was very pale. Like the life had been drained out of her. 'This shooting must be bothering her more than I thought.' Jim thought to himself.

"Khandi, maybe we should take you to see a doctor," Jim said, helping her up from the floor.

They walked downstairs and Jim stopped in the living room. "Hey, guys? Khandi's not doing so good. I'm gonna take her to the hospital."

"Hospital? I'm coming with you guys," Cosmo said, jumping up off the couch.

"So am I," Sam added.

They all looked at Stacey. "You guys go. I'll stay here with Little Jimmy. Just call me if it's anything serious."

They helped Khandi out to the car and put her in the backseat. Jim climbed in the back with, while Cosmo took the front seat and Sam drove.

/Oowatanite/

It's been over an hour since Khandi went in to see the doctor. Cosmo and Sam were seated in the waiting but Jim was too nervous to sit, so he paced back and forth.

"Jimmy, sit down will ya? You're starting to carve a groove in the floor," Sam said.

"Not only that, you're driving me insane," Cosmo added.

"Damn it! I can't help it. What's taking so long?" Jim asked.

"Take it easy, Jimmy. She'll be okay. She's tough," Cosmo replied.

"Cosmo's right. I've never met a stronger woman than Khandi," Sam stated.

Just then the doctor came out and approached Jim. "Mr. Brass? You can go in and see your wife now."

As Jim made his way to Khandi's room, Cosmo and Sam got up to follow him, when the doctor stopped them. "Excuse me, gentlemen? You can't go in there. Family only."

"These guys are family," Jim told the doctor.

Jim, Cosmo and Sam entered Khandi's room and found her sitting on the bed. Jim walked over to her and hugged her. "So? How you doing? What is it, the flu?"

"Not exactly," Khandi replied.

"Let me guess, it's food poisoning, right?" Cosmo said.

"Cosmo, you can be such an ass sometimes, you know that?" Khandi replied.

"Yeah, but you still love me," Cosmo stated, grinning at her.

"It's damn good thing I do. Otherwise, you would have been dead long ago." Khandi said, returning the grin.

"Okay, enough of this. What's wrong?" Jim asked.

"I'm pregnant!" Khandi stated.

"Pregnant?" Jim, Sam and Cosmo said in unison.

"Yeah. Totally 100 pregnant"

"Well, there you have it. Something big happened and for once it's not my fault," Cosmo stated.

"It better not be," Jim replied, pretending to be angry. "You ready to go home?"

"Yeah. I don't want to stay here any longer."

Sam and Cosmo went out into the hall and left Jim and Khandi alone. Cosmo pulled out his cell phone and called Stacey.

"Hey, is Khandi okay?" Stacey asked when she answered the phone.

"She's gonna be fine. Well, in nine months she'll be fine. She's pregnant," Cosmo told Stacey.

"You're shitting me?"

"Nope. She just got the test results back."

"Wow!" Was all Stacey could say.

"Okay, listen, Jimmy and Khandi just came out of the room. We'll see ya in a bit."

"All right. See ya later."

Cosmo hung up his phone and placed it back in his pocket.

/Lucky 7 Motel/

Warrick, Vartan and Cavalier hurried up the stairs, with a SWAT team following behind them. Just then a Hispanic woman walked by and Vartan grabbed her.

"Hey, what the fuck?" she said.

"You know this guy?" Vartan asked her, holding up a picture.

"Yeah. I just came from the guy's room. I wanted to get out of there. He was acting real nervous," she said, looking down the stairs at the SWAT guys. "Now I know why."

"Get out of here," Vartan said, pushing her toward the stairs.

They walked down to the guys' room and Vartan kicked in the door. "Freeze, asshole! LVPD! You're under arrest!"

Fausto jumped up from the bed and Vartan grabbed him, cuffing him in the process.

"Something tells me you didn't pay for that bike?" Warrick said.

"You shot a kid in the back for his bike? Get up you piece of shit," Vartan added.

They escorted the guy outside and down the stairs. When they reached the parking lot, a shot rang out and Fausto fell to the ground. Vartan, Cavalier and Warrick drew their guns, looking around for the shooter.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Warrick yelled.

/Building Across From Lucky 7 Motel/

On the 7th floor of the building that was directly across from the Lucky 7 Motel, Warrick found the sniper cartridge. Looking at the cartridge it came from a 223 Remington. Knowing something about guns Warrick figured that it was most likely a semi-automatic. But after the case with the officer involved shooting he could get the chance to run it through IBIS and see if the cartridge had any fingerprints.

TBC…