She leaned back in her desk chair and closed her eyes, resting her hands on her swollen stomach. She was utterly exhausted. Work had been extremely busy, as it usually was during the holidays. Cops just couldn't stay out of trouble with the holiday parties. She'd learned that anytime one mixed a group of cops and alcohol in a party setting, well, someone from her division was usually called. Sharon briefly closed her eyes to rest them. She had a headache and was really just aching all over. She was startled when her phone rang. She jumped slightly before answering it.
"Sharon Raydor," she answered.
"Sharon, I won!" Jack exclaimed into the phone, and Sharon sat back, a smile taking over her face. She rubbed the bridge of her nose where that headache was developing.
"Jack, that's wonderful!" Sharon exclaimed. Jack was in the trial phase of his second case, and this was his first win. His first case had gotten all the way to the jury before the prosecution had wanted to settle. His client had taken a plea deal. All parties had been worried about a hung jury, and none of the parties involved had wanted that. So, this was a big win; Jack had been working a long time and extremely hard on this case. Sharon knew he must be delighted.
"That's fantastic, Jack," she sighed. On top of the win, it would also mean a little more money than they had anticipated. With the new baby coming any day, that money would come in very handy.
"Celebrate with me," he told her. "Let's go to dinner. We can afford whatever we want tonight."
"Oh, Jack," she sighed. She rubbed her side where she had been kicked constantly for the last hour. The baby was certainly active and didn't seem to like the Chinese food her division had ordered for lunch. "Jack, I'm just exhausted. I would love to celebrate. Can we do something at home? Besides that, you I know I'm hesitant to go anywhere. I don't want to go into labor just well," she sighed, "out to dinner or something."
"Come on, Shar," he said, sighing. "My office has already started celebrating."
"Oh, so you were thinking an office dinner?" Sharon frowned, thinking the idea was even worse.
"Of course! Everyone wants to celebrate. We already broke open the champagne here, you know, first win and all. We were all talking about heading out, big night, and we can go wherever we want."
"Jack," she sighed. "I'm just not in the mood for a big night out. I am thrilled with your win, but you have to remember that I'm now just hitting 40 weeks pregnant, Jack. My due date is tomorrow. Go figure that my doctor was worried about an early delivery, putting me on bed rest, and now, I'm at 40 weeks. I didn't even get that far with Emily. Not to mention, it's December 18, a week before Christmas. All of these places are going to be packed, Jack."
"Then, we'll hit a bar and just get drinks," Jack told her. "Come on, Shar. You can drive me home."
"Tell you what, Jack," she sighed again because that sounded even worse. "You go and celebrate with your office. I will be home when you get home, and we can celebrate there too, okay? The baby could come at any moment. I don't think either of us thought I'd still be pregnant here at week out at Christmas."
"I was worried it would interrupt my trial," Jack grunted. "It's not like I can time these things easily, Shar. The judge wanted this case in before the end of the year."
"I understand, and the same goes for me, Jack. I can't time when the baby will come, far from it. My work didn't expect me here this late into the year either, and neither did I. Remember weeks ago when we thought we'd have a Thanksgiving baby? Joke is on us. I'm exhausted, ready to pop, and I just want to go home. Emily has been at daycare a lot lately, and I'd like a quiet evening with her, so go enjoy yourself. Just, just," she bit her lip. She wanted to tell him to watch his liquor because he'd been hitting it hard lately preparing for this trial. She held her tongue, though, because she knew this was a reason to celebrate. She was sure that after tonight, he'd get back to his old self and cut back on the alcohol now that the trial was over.
"Fine, fine," he told her. "Don't say I didn't invite you, huh? I know you are uncomfortable. Just thought a night out would be fun."
"Normally, it would be, Jack," she told him. "It's just not, not in a bar watching all of you drink when I'm so miserable and pregnant. You love ribs; I'll make your favorite dinner tomorrow. Tonight, I'll stop at the store, and tomorrow, I'll make that. How does that sound?"
"That's fine, Shar," he said. "Hey, gotta go. They are wanting to figure out our evening plans. I'll see you when I get home. Don't wait up."
Sharon hung up with Jack and sat back in her chair. Her back was killing her, and this baby needed to be born-now. Never in her wildest dreams would she had predicted that after a month of bed rest, her contractions would have completely stopped to the point now that she was at her due date. Only two percent of babies were born on their actual due date, her doctor had said. Would this one? It seemed surreal to leave work each night, not knowing if she would be back the next day. She had been trying to stock up on things at home, especially diapers, both for the baby and ones for Emily. She still wasn't potty trained, but at 26 months old, that wasn't a shock. She had plans to work on that with her time at home after the baby had arrived. She was probably kidding herself, knowing that two kids were going to soon rock her world, but she would try.
She sat up and looked at the clock, definitely time to go home. She didn't feel like cooking, but she didn't feel like going out either, as Jack would want to be out all evening. Sitting in a bar heavily pregnant seemed so wrong too, and that image had her chuckling. She would get Emily, and the two would stop at the grocery store again to get a few things, ribs in particular, for dinner tomorrow. Hopefully, she could find something simple at the store to buy for dinner; anything else just sounded like too much work. Sharon stood and started to collect her things. This baby was heavy. Again, she had to shake her head and sigh, thinking about the doctors saying the baby was small. This baby didn't feel small, not one bit. Time would tell-just when, though, was the question.
Hours later, Sharon was trying to stay awake, waiting on Jack to come home. She had caught herself nodding off on the couch several times. Emily was fast asleep, thank goodness. Sharon appreciated that her daughter could sleep through just about anything. That she got from Jack. The phone rang, making Sharon jump, and she realized she'd drifted off to sleep again.
"Hello," she said. "Raydor," she added out of habit.
"Sharon! Hey, hey, you, you," he started to laugh, and Sharon sighed, closing her eyes. Jack. Jack sounded drunk. "You need to come get me. They won't let me drive. Guys here are real jerks, taking my keys."
"Jack," Sharon sighed, sitting up and making a face as she did. The baby was causing her a lot of pain, not contractions, sadly, but she was so ready to have this baby. "Emily is asleep. I'm not calling for help or a sitter either. That is reserved for a real emergency, like the baby coming."
"I can't get home," he complained. "Don't make me take a taxi, Shar. That will take forever, and you know it will cost a fortune. No, no, come get me," he said. He sounded totally drunk. She looked to the clock. It was only 11:00; honestly, she'd expected it to be much later, as the bars were open much later than this. She pushed herself off the couch and did some calculating in her head.
"Fine, Jack," I will be there as soon as I can. I need you to be ready. I will have to bring Emily. You know she's asleep," Sharon told him.
"You're the best! See you soon, Shar, and I'll be good to go when I get home for whatever you want to do,"Jack exclaimed in his slurred voice. "I'm at Billy's, the cop bar."
"Bed, Jack. I want to go to bed when we get home, and you will be going to bed. I'll see you soon," she told him and hung up.
45 minutes later, after wrangling Emily out of bed, getting her into the car, and driving halfway across town, Sharon pulled into the dingy bar area and rested her head on the steering wheel before going inside. Thankfully, Emily had slept, but now, she hated having to wake her. She pulled herself out of the car, and she balanced a very heavy Emily on her side, almost unable to carry her toddler with her pregnancy belly. Sadly, she had frequented Billys and not for the drinks. Many cop fights had started here over the last months she'd been in FID.
Sharon huffed as she opened the door and scanned the dingy bar. It still wasn't time for the last call, and the place was extremely busy. She heard Jack before she saw him and walked toward the roaring laugh and that loud voice of his.
"There she is!" Jack exclaimed, grinning like a Cheshire cat at Sharon. "Shar, you made it! Meet the guys! Wait, let me order another round! Guys," he turned, forgetting what. He'd just said, "this is the old ball and chain, but ahh, yeah, she's mine."
"Jack," Sharon said, seething through her teeth, "I think it's time to go."
"Ahh, we're having a great time, Shar! These guys are great. I see why you like the LAPD.. Here, meet this one," he said, walking across the room, and Sharon followed his gaze, still balancing Emily on her hip. "This guy, Flynn and his buddy, Provenza," Jack nodded. "Flynn, he's hilarious, one story after another." Sharon's eyes traveled to the men sitting in a booth together, food between them. The food looks hours old by now, and the two had several beers on the table. She tried to hold her shock.
"Detectives," Sharon said, trying to keep her cool. She was face to face with him again. Sharon wanted to bolt out of the bar, but she obviously couldn't. Her husband had befriended, if that was the right word for finding a kindred spirit in a bar, the man she'd slept with twice and had the proof of thatvery visible, causing her a lot of discomfort.
"Err, ahh, evening," Andy looked up and met her gaze. "You're with him?
"Detective," she said, choosing to ignore his comment, "this doesn't look like following the guidelines FID lined out for you."
"Off the clock and off tomorrow," he gestured with a smirk. "Provenza and I both are off tomorrow, so I'm good. My guidelines are for work days. Anything else? Hey, kid due soon oh, and one on your hip," he said with a nod and slight smirk. She closed her eyes and looked away, turning back to Jack, who was standing behind her still drinking a beer.
"Jack, we are leaving. It's almost midnight, you had me haul our daughter out, and I need to go to bed. You're drunk. Your ride is leaving now if you are coming with me," she said crisply and turned to leave.
"Ahh, come on , Shar. We were just having a good time. Hold on," he said and turned to the room. "Until next time, everyone!"