Chapter 37

Again, I don't own these characters except the ones I create.

The next morning, Cody and Bailey did their usual morning routine. Cody awoke first, showered and dressed for the day. Once he was done, he woke Bailey up. And while she was in the shower herself, Cody fixed them a quick yet nutritious breakfast. And by the time he was finished, Bailey was dressed in some of her new maternity clothes. Immediately as she walked out of their bedroom, Bailey heard a whistle. She looked over and saw Cody smiling at her. Bailey just shook her head and walked into the kitchen for her morning kiss.

"You know you're crazy, right?"

Cody grinned. "You just now figuring that out?"

"Oh, I've known all long...Just making sure you knew..."

"I well aware of it...Of course, part of that also means I'm crazy about you."

Bailey smiled. "I know. And I'm just as crazy about you."

"Have a busy day today?"

Bailey shrugged. "The usual. You?"

"Well, I might get to scrub in on another open heart surgery today. And after that, I'm supposed to meet Zack and Woody again for our weekly house construction update meeting..."

Bailey teased him. "Also known as the weekly eat whatever we want time..."

Cody paused. "Yeah, about that. Are you going to tell Cassie and Addison about what we're doing?"

"I probably should, but I can understand your reasoning behind it. So, I will be nice and not say anything..." She grinned at him.

"Alright, Bails...What's your condition?"

"You know me so well. Just call me on your way home and I'll tell you what sounds good for you to pick up on your way home..."

Cody nodded. "I can do that..." He paused. "How many times are you going to call and change your mind on me?"

Bailey grinned. "Just a few..."

Cody grinned back. "Fair enough...Well, I need to be heading on to work. If I haven't heard back from you before I leave the sites, I'll give you a call..."

"Sounds good..." Bailey walked over to Cody and kissed him. "Have a good day, Codykins...I love you."

"Love you too." He leaned down to Bailey's stomach. "And I love you guys too. You be good for your Mom today..."

Both headed off to work and began their days. Bailey's day was the usual. Wednesdays were the day when animals who had been there over a month without getting adopted were either spayed or neutered. As often as she had to do it, she never got used to the male animals looking up at her as they tried to figure out what was missing. And when they did, the looks they gave her broke her heart.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm doing the best thing for you..."

Beyond that was the part of the job Bailey didn't really care for – the paper work. While she knew it was necessary, she thought she could have been spending her time being more productive. Well, that was until one of the techs on staff ran into her office.

"Dr. Martin!"

Bailey looked up. "Is everything okay?"

"No, two of the animals were in a fight, and one is hurt badly. A pit bull tried to attack another dog, and this little dog stepped in and took on the pit bull all by himself. He might need you to operate on him as soon as possible..."

Bailey nodded. "Bring him to the OR while I get prepped."

And that's just what she did. She sanitized her hands and put on her gloves and mask. Before she went in, she silently begged her children to let her focus on the task at hand. And it seemed like they were listening to her. The young dog was brought in and Bailey quickly added anesthesia and put a oxygen mask over his nose.

The dog had some serious internal bleeding, but Bailey did the best she could in patching him up. Forty five minutes after she had begun, she finished stitching him back up. From there, it was out of her hands. She cleaned up as she watched a tech wheel the young dog off to recovery. But, she did admire the dog. It had gone head to head with a pit bull and had actually held its own. And for some reason, the little dog reminded her of someone but she couldn't place who it was.

Meanwhile, across town at Mass General, Cody was indeed scrubbed in on another surgery. Seems one of his superiors felt Cody may have a future as a heart surgeon and wanted to see how he handled himself. And to Cody's credit, he did everything he was asked to do include manually massage the patient's heart. Unlike Bailey's patient, Cody was in surgery for several hours. And when they finished, they stapled up the patient.

"Good work, Martin...You catch on quick."

Cody smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Buckley. I'm honored you would ask me to scrub in..."

"Well, if I'm honest, out of all the residents, you seem to have what it takes to be a good surgeon as well..."

"I appreciate your praise..."

"Just consider it. If you are competent in both cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, your salary can go from mid six figures to high six figure, maybe even seven figures. I like to personally train you and make you the best in Boston."

"Well, I am honored. I'd like to discuss it with my wife first though. I trust her opinion on every matter."

"You do that. I'd be honored to take you under my wing here. I have about ten more years before I'm looking to retire. I'd feel a lot better if I knew I was leaving the department in capable hands..."

Cody was surprised. "You mean?"

Dr. Buckley grinned. "Yeah...You could be head of the department by the time your forty..."

Cody laughed. "That would be something..."

"I know...Considering you are a Yalee after all..."

"Hey, Harvard had their chance, but the dean held grudges. And I would have considered them for med school, but they didn't have a vet school for my wife..."

Dr. Buckley laughed. "Their loss then..."

The rest of their days went by as usual. At 3:30, Cody began his last rounds of the day so he could be out of there by 4:30. At 4:30, he was leaving to make his way over to the lots as Bailey was also beginning to wrap up things for the day. The last thing she did before she left was to check on the the young dog she had performed surgery on earlier. And to her surprise, he was sleeping soundly.

Bailey could only smile. ""I have to say...You're a lot tougher than you look. Well, I'll check on you first thing in the morning."

Across town, Cody stopped through a drive through to get him something to eat as he made his way over to the building sights. He was the first one to arrive this time and was surprised by how much has been accomplished in just a week. To his untrained eye, it looked like all of the framing on the first floor had been completed on each house as well as some of the studs for the floors between the first and second stories.

"Wow...They keep this up and the exterior will be done by Thanksgiving..."

Soon enough, Zack and Woody arrived, and they were equally as surprised as Cody was with the progress that had been made on the houses. As they sat on the back of Woody's truck and ate, Cody finally spoke up.

"Guys...I have something to tell you two..."

Zack turned to him. "What?"

Cody sighed. "Bailey knows we're doing more than just check out the houses while we're out here..."

Both Zack and Woody groaned. "Thanks a lot..."

"Look, she said she wouldn't tell Cassie and Addison, but I had to tell her what was going on."

"And why did you have to tell her?"

"Because when I stopped to get my sandwich last week, I ran into the new nurse from the hospital. Someone took a picture of the two of us talking and sent it to Bailey trying to give her the wrong impression..."

Zack frowned. "Who would do something like that?"

Cody shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out. I had to tell her the truth of what we were doing. But don't worry, she understood why we're doing it..."

"What are you doing to find out?"

Cody grinned. "I'm using some high level connections we have..."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Which means the Skulls..."

Cody just kept grinning.

Zack sighed. "What I wouldn't give to have those connections..."

"Zack, you know I can't say..." But Cody was interrupted by his phone ringing. Expecting it to be Bailey, he pulled it out of his pocket. But it wasn't Bailey.

"This is Cody Martin..." "Yes, thank you for getting back to me..." "Uh huh..." "Uh huh..." Cody paused and slumped. "Not the news I was hoping for, but I thank you for your help..."

Zack turned to his brother. "Everything okay?"

"I don't know, but I need to call Bailey ASAP..."

Meanwhile, back at their apartment, Bailey was sitting back on the couch reading another one of her pregnancy books.

She sighed and rubbed her belly. "You two really do need to start going easier on Mommy's bladder..."

And with that, Bailey pulled herself up off the couch and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

Outside on the street, an individual just looked up at the building. "Good thing I've been watching their routine for several weeks now. Cody won't be back for several more hours. Time to pay the piper, Bailey..."

To be Continued...