Chapter 55: Little bean
Tan and Bonnie went to HQ a few days later to introduce baby Joyce to the whole SWAT family. Tan was like a proud peacock showing his little treasure to the world. It was nice to see him like this, Chris thought. So different from the Tan on the field she knew.
"Ohhhh look who's here!" Street passed next to Chris quickly to meet his friend. And more especially his little daughter.
Luca and Deac soon followed. Chris looked at the scene from a distance and smiled. It was so fun to watch at these muscled, fearless men on the field making faces and mumbling weird sounds to a baby.
Street noticed after a while Chris had not joined them, preferring remaining some steps away from the scene.
"Don't be jealous, Chris. You'll always be the number one girl in my heart but look at this cutie, I can't resist!" He told her, a large grin of his face.
"You want to hold her?" Bonnie offered.
"Oh really?" Street was surprised. "Yeah, yeah, of course!" He hurried to prepared his arms so Bonnie could drop Joyce in his arm.
"Don't be jealous, guys. Street is the first and then he'll give Joyce to you so you can nurture her. She won't complaint about all the attention! Chris, if you want to hold her after these gentlemen, you can… If they let you!"
"With pleasure, but I think I'll have to wait for my turn after those gaga boys!" Bonnie winked at her.
"Hey, hey, hey, where's my new baby girl?" Hondo irrupted from behind the ring.
Hondo hurried to join the boys to see Baby Joyce. Soon she was surrounded by so many men she was completely hidden and probably impressed because she started to cry. Tan took her in his arm and calmed her down.
"My lady doesn't love too much attention!"
"Ours, please. I think I've done most of the work here!" Bonnie added falsely offended. "Hey Chris, you want to hold her before we leave?"
Chris hurried and took the little girl in her arms. She was tiny, she was afraid to break her.
"Hey little bean, don't listen to these men, only to Auntie Chris!" She enjoyed the moment before Joyce started to cry again.
"Not against you, Chris, but this time, she's probably hungry!" Bonnie took Joyce from Chris's arms and asked to Hicks if she could use his office to feed her daughter.
"My pleasure!" He showed her the way and closed the door behind him.
Bonnie came back 30 minutes later. Joyce was sleeping in her arms. "Victor, need to go right now. According to my calculations, we have three free hours before she wakes up to eat again."
Bonnie and Tan waved at everyone before leaving the building. Tan had still some more days off.
"Let's back to work!" Hicks announced.
20-David had soon to roll to catch four men suspected to prepare a raid inside some official buildings. A case they were on it for the last four days. Almost no sleep. The work hours were intense but the catch was so important, they will sleep later.
"Ready for your last catch with the best team, kid?" Hondo told Street as they were walking till Black Betty.
"Twice rather than once!" He was excited to finalize this case who had kept their minds busy for the last days and nights.
They got on Black Betty and Luca drove them till the building where the men were living. A small one in Little Italy, hidden in a small street, at the end of a dead end.
Chris climbed on the roof with Deac. Hondo and Street came in the building while Luca remained outside to watch every move at the entrance door. The idea was to sandwich the men so they were trapped. Street knocked at the door, pretending to be a neighbor looking for sugar. The men shouted him to leave. Hondo nodded to him. It was go time.
"20-David to everyone, time to go!"
Hondo and Street entered the apartment in a hurry, looking after themselves. "LAPD SWAT, you're surrounded!"
The men started to run all over the apartment, Street knocked one of them with the butt of his rifle while Hondo fought with another one.
"Two men coming your way!" Street yelled in the talkie, warning the others that some criminals were still on the run.
Deac and Chris nodded to each other. Noise was coming from the other side of the door leading to the roof. Chris hid on the side of the door while Deac remained besides. As soon as the door opened, she jumped on the man and pushed him against the floor.
"We've got one too!" Deac announced in the talkie. Before he could say more, Luca was joyfully announcing in the talkie the last man was down.
"20-David to Command. Code 4. Suspects in custody!" Today was a good day, Hondo thought as he looked at the two men handcuffed in front of him.
[…]
When they came home that night after the debriefing, they were exhausted. The last four nights, they only slept 4 hours, which was really not enough for them anymore. As they opened the door, Diablo greeted them excitedly. Jumping over them, licking them.
Chris knelt to pet him for a while. Jim ran to the kitchen to see the dog had no more water. He took the cup and filled it with water.
"Hey Diablo, look what Daddy has done, fresh water just for you. And maybe some cades too." The dog ran to him. Jim knelt to pet at his turn. "Good boy!"
"You know you shouldn't give him candies all the time."
Jim looked all of a sudden shamefaced. "I know… But he's so cute…"
Chris rolled her eyes, giggling at the same time before vanishing in the bathroom. She needed a good shower and a good night sleep. Jim imitated her. He was exhausted too. He still prepared some sandwiches for them not to sleep on an empty stomach.
They quickly ate and went to bed. Diablo followed them and lied at the bottom of the bed. This day had been so tiring. Chris felt she was exhausted but still she couldn't sleep. Something was ticking over her mind, making her crazy.
She eventually sat in the bed and turned to Jim. Both embarrassed and shy. "Jim… Can we talk?"
She seemed worried. Or more of preoccupied. The kind of look she had when she was on a mission and she was thinking about what could go wrong. Jim watched her for a while. She was lost in her mind, not even a sharp comeback to tell him to stop staring at her this way or to ask him if he was seeing green. No, her gaze was lost in the vague. As if she was looking for something.
"Um… Yeah… yeah… What's up?"
He was confused. Speaking? About what? They were fine. Work too. They had learned to work in different teams even if at the beginning, it was weird not to team up again. They had their bad moment, as any couple and to be honest, it was a good thing because they were both bad tempered characters and needed to heat up sometimes in order to slow down next. And to be honest, the real and durable couples were the ones who were having fights because it was better to tell things aloud than to keep everything inside. He still laughed about their last argument about him not listening to her order for Italian food and bringing the wrong pizza.
He focused again on the present moment. "Everything's alright, Chris? You seem distant…"
She shook her head from left to right. Her look still in the vague. "Jim, I've something to tell you. Don't know where to start…"
He sat in the bed near her. He was worried. She didn't seem well. She was playing with her fingers. One of the things she did when she was extremely stressed.
"Don't ask me why I did this when I was at the hospital to see Joyce. Like a sixth sense…" She breathed hard. She handed him a little white stick with two bars on it and a number written on a little screen. "I'm pregnant. Something like three months according to the test."
He remained silent. Both surprised and astonished. Chris was pregnant? How was this possible. She was under pills and they were careful about the dates to avoid this opportunity. Especially since they never talked about the possibility of having children. Like never, ever.
"I've been feeling different from some weeks, but I thought I was only tired. And then, I saw this test in the hospital pharmacy and I don't know why I had to buy it. Went to the toilets in a hurry and did it and this happened."
She stopped talking for a while. Lost in thoughts. He grabbed her hand. Pressed it. He swallowed hard.
"I'm not gonna lie. I'd love to have a kid with you, Chris. Never thought about this possibility before… But now we're here… I like this idea… But if there's one thing I'm even more sure of, it's that I'm taking your opinion even more into account. Because it is your body, it is your life, your career. I can't decide what's best for you. I just can tell you how I feel. And I'll be happy to have a family with you."
She raised her head. Tears in her eyes she tried to contain. "Your body, your choice." He repeated as a way to show her, she could do whatever she wanted. "You may need some times to think about it and I do support you. Just tell me if you need anything from me…"
As only answer, she smiled at him. She didn't know what she had done to deserve a man like James Street. He knew her career was an important part of her life and that a baby could slow it down, even end it. And he was ready to renounce to one of his biggest dreams to support her life project. He dropped a kiss on her cheek and laid in the bed. She remained seated a long time in the bed. He let her think, analyze. She needed this time on her own. He grabbed the newspaper on his nightstand and started to read.
"In fact… I may have already taken my decision…" He jumped from his reading as soon as he heard her little voice. "As crazy as it may sound, I'd like to have a baby with you, James Street. I've never thought about starting a family to be fair… Was never an option for me… And then I saw the result of this test and it was obvious I couldn't have an abortion… This little thing we created fought pills, cycles, field work, gunshots and chasing suspects… It tells a lot about him or her…"
"You?!" Street couldn't believe what he was listening to right now. Chris seating in the same bed as him, holding her knees, looking in the vague was telling him she wanted to have a baby with him.
She turned to him, a large grin on her face. "Guess, we're gonna be a daddy and a mommy?"
He delicately grabbed her face in his hand and kissed her. Softly, then more savagely. She answered to his pressure. She loved feeling his tongue wandering in her mouth.
"Can we?" He asked gently.
"Think so… Not an expert in this field…"
He lay over her. Paying attention to any of his moves, afraid of hurting her or their baby. It was still weird to think they had created a whole new human being inside her belly.
"You know I'm not made into card, right? Still the same Chris, with a little surprise inside her…"
He looked at her, brushed her hair behind her ears, her face, her so perfect face. He kissed her from her mouth till her most intimate parts, taking time to kiss a long time her still flat belly. She moaned as he reached her most sensible part. He slowly went up till reached her mouth again. She felt him entering her private world and clutched her arms against his body. He came in slowly, warmly, making her feel blissful. She enjoyed his moves and strokes as long as he was willing to give her. She had never had enough of him. She was greedy when he was around.
When they finished, he quietly lay next to her. She grabbed his hand he had let hung out between the two of them.
"It was nice." She told him, softly.
"It was perfect." She rolled over his side and cuddled against his chest. "Even more now." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. He stroked her dark shiny hair for a while. Making looping with it. His other hand ran till her belly. "Can't believe we're three now…"
"I know… Kind of crazy, right?"
"Completely! But everything is going crazy since I'm with you."
She raised her head to kiss him. "I like this craziness… "
"Me too." He embraced her tighter. This woman had brought so much in his life and today she had brought even more. He had never thought about becoming a dad. And yet he was about to be one, in something like five months. His life was insane. The most insane he could have ever dreamed of.