Chapter Twenty-Four: A Thief's Child

October 21st, 2013

It is almost five in the morning at Paris. Stars are starting to disappear from the dim sky as the cool breeze grows slightly warmer. Birds chirp to the sun's imminent arrival but flee from Carmelita's house. A hardy roar comes from her bathroom and aggressive energy leaves from it. The growl would stop, choke, gag and continue. Cursing would occur between every other bellow and the sound of what seems like a hose jetting water in a filled pool would accompany the roar. After another wail, silence fills the room. Heavy breathing and a soft moan ends the scene. A toilet flushes away the suffering and the bathroom door slams open. A fox enters her bedroom and lays her sore body from all the tension on her bed.

Carmelita's bloodshot eyes make its way to her digital clock. It's now 5:09 in the morning, and she has eleven minutes to arrive at work. Her eyes close as she feels her weak stomach on its last legs. Her entire body is heated up, a heart pumps violently, and her fur is lighter than normal. She opens her eyes again to the clock and groans. "I can't go to work today." Carmelita covers her face with her hands as a headache starts. "This same sickness happened last night after the trip to Britain. What is going on with me?"

The fox struggles to grab her cellphone from the end table next to her and her weak fingers dial a number. The ringing from the phone increases Carmelita's headache and squeezes her eyes. She shakes it off when she hears a male voice. "Chief Barkley from Interpol, how may I assist you?" A coffee slurp is heard.

"Hey, it's Carmelita Fox. I nee-"

"Carmelita!" He smiles. "My favorite voice to hear at work!"

"Yes. Well, I'm taking a sick day today." She can hear his smile fade away.

"What is this? A first sick day from Inspector Fox! This breaks your record. Is this a real sick day or a call off day?" he jokingly finishes.

"Hmm, what does puking all last night to this morning tell you?"

His voice descends. "Oh Miss Fox, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get better soon. I don't want to deal with these idiots by myself for too long. Crimes and jailbreaks are shooting back up like never before now! Interpol needs their best Inspector back."

"Okay, I'll try my best. I'll let you know how I feel tomorrow." She hangs up and stares at the ceiling. From all the excitement earlier this morning, she can't seem to go back to sleep. "Something isn't right. I've puked, received headaches, fatigue, and more for the past couple weeks. Even Sly and his gang have noticed I was acting different. After retrieving Paxton's stupid rock, I overheard Murray saying that I seemed more angered than normal..." The fox's back fires off her bed and her eyes widen. "And, how Sly noticed mood swings. Wait a minute. It can't be..." She sums up every symptom and comes out with one answer. "No way."

~Rachel~

I hear another notification from my cell phone. No surprise, it's Paxton. This is the twenty-second text this morning. Man, he can be so annoying! How many times have I told him not to text me, unless it is an emergency, during work?! Does he ever stop to listen to me or does he seriously think not finding one clue about this one artifact is an emergency? I swear this relationship won't last long if that is all he cares about. I found more benefits in every member in the Cooper gang than him.

Speaking from the Cooper gang, I'm still surprised about everything yesterday! This is so bad, keeping this secret about Carmelita and Sly from Interpol. I have to admit, rebellion like this does feel good. The things love does to people... Where is she anyway? It's noon and she always comes over to my office in the morning. I hope she is okay, considering the shape she was in yesterday. It sickens me that we couldn't take that British fleabag with us. Maybe that is why Carm didn't feel good.

I need to stop thinking about yesterday, especially the Cooper gang. It feels like I need to keep my own thoughts down about this secret, especially in Interpol. However, sometimes I can't help it. They aren't so bad; I mean they mainly don't steal from the common people. Just other thieves. Sly isn't a cold-hearted thief. He has a heart, especially for Carmelita. He has worked with us too, just to be with her. That's a lot for a thief to do. I don't know much about his sister. There's Bentley, the smartest turtle I know. He deals with so much science and technology; it makes me feel like I came from the early 1800's. It's amazing how he knows so much and what he can do under pressure. Same with Penelope! Then there's Murray...

I just caught myself smiling. We have so much in common! I never met a man before who- JEEZ, a call this time! Paxton, I will wring your neck when I get home! My neighboring policemen are starting to wonder why I keep pounding my fists against my desk. When I look at my phone screen, it shows a picture of Carmelita. She's calling me from her cell phone? So that means she isn't at work. Well that could explain why she didn't stop by! Now this notification I will answer. "Carm?"

"Hey Rachel." She says with a plain tone.

"Where are you?" I ask her.

"I'm at home. I took the day off. A sick day." A sick day? Normally she suffers through it with her type of determination towards work. This one is probably too bad for her to come. Something is wrong. She continues. "I need you to come over as soon as you can."

What the heck is going on with her? Okay, I can't leave during my lunch break and come back in time. I need to work on investigations with these jailbreaks. "I will when I am done with work. With all this new work, it'll probably take me until... quarter to five. I should be at your house at five. Is everything alright?"

"I just need to tell you something. It's big news and I need advice." Big news? Advice? This doesn't sound good. "I'm fine Rachel, just get your work done. I'll see you at five."

"Okay then. See you."

The knocking from Carmelita's door wakes Carmelita's slumber. Her eyes open and she sees herself lying on the living room couch. She looks at her watch; it is 5:19 in the evening. "Rachel..."

The fox springs up from the couch and rushes to the door. The knocking irritates Carmelita and once she opens the door, a worried tiger looks at her. "Carm, you look terrible!" She says as she looks at her knotted hair, sunken and baggy eyes, and shaggy fur. "What happened to you? Why weren't you at work?"

"Nice to see you too Rachel," the fox said half awake. "Come in, I'll tell you."

Rachel stomps in and Carmelita closes the door. "Normally you never call off. You never do! So this has to be something huge. Do you have the flu or something?"

Carmelita finally turns around and shakes her head. "No, but close. I puked last night when you left and this morning. I found out that I'm... pregnant." Rachel's eyebrow rises. "Are you sure?"

"All the pregnancy tests I took this morning were positive. Plus all the things going on with me make sen-" Carmelita was interrupted by a loud outburst and jumping. "OH MY GOSH GIRL! NO WAY! CONGRATULATIONS! Are you keeping the baby? How will it work out for you? Will the baby come before or after the wedding? Was this planned? I better be Aunt Rachel! Maybe Auntie instead, or Auntie Ray!"

"Woah woah wait!"

Rachel giggles. "Sorry! I'm just a little excited for you. This is crazy! You are carrying a thief's child!" She sees that Carmelita isn't excited; perhaps she is tired from her sleep. Rachel stops jumping and frowns a little. "You are carrying a thief's child... right? Is it his?"

"OF COURSE!" Carmelita screams. "Listen, I just found out today. I don't need all these questions at once. Yes I am keeping the baby. I don't know how it will work out, I don't even know the date of the marriage to know if the baby will become before or after, and no. This baby was not planned until later... or at all. Sly doesn't even know yet! I'm already busy enough with finding a new house."

Carmelita sits on her couch and buries her face in her hands. "I don't know how he will react to this. I need him to come over as soon as he can. He should be in China by now. I need to call him now."

As Carmelita gets up from the couch, Rachel follows her in the kitchen. "Why now?"

"I want to now before he goes on another heist after China. He needs to know this, I need him here now. If I tell him to leave now after doing the business in China, he should be here tomorrow." She turns to Rachel. "I want to tell him this news in person. After I talk with Sly, I want to discuss some things with you. Is that okay?"

Rachel nods but frowns. "Yes. Just one thing Carm..."

"Yes?"

"You don't seem super excited about this pregnancy to me. Be happy about it, and don't be too stressed about it. You deserve better... Tell me everything when you are finished with him."

The tiger leaves the kitchen and Carmelita hesitates to call Sly. "How can I be... when the baby is..." She shakes the thought off and dials Sly's binocucom number.

*I had a very busy summer vacation! But now I'm back in business! I did a lot of planning and I found out there will be forty chapters in this book. A LOT MORE than I expected. Seems like this book won't be finished before summer ends. For the future chapters, many will be shorter than normal. All is worth it though! Enjoy!*