It was three weeks before Jordan heard from Woody again. It had been late one night when her cell phone rang.
"Hey sweetheart," she heard his voice say.
"Woody," Jordan breathed, not hardly daring to believe it was him. "How are you? How's it going?"
"I'm fine. Tired, but fine. It's emotionally wearing, being someone you're not. And things are going well. Not as quickly as I would like, but things are moving along. They've got me disguised pretty good. You wouldn't know me if you saw me. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Same ol' same ol' here. Nothing's changed."
"Miss me?"
"Don't even get me started. I miss you so much it hurts."
"I know how that feels, believe me. I'll try to get by at some point soon to see you, but don't look for me until you see me, okay?"
"Okay, but how will I know it's you?"
"I'll make sure you know it's me. Look, I gotta go, honey. Can't talk too long."
"Take care of yourself, Woody. Be careful."
"Will do. Love you."
Jordan hadn't told Woody she loved him yet. She wanted to do it face to face, but circumstances being what they were....she paused for a beat. "I love you, too, Woody."
"Now was that so hard?" She heard Woody chuckle at her hesitancy.
"No, I just wanted to be looking at you when I told you."
Woody sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can, sweetie."
"I know."
The days went by, slowly at first, but soon Jordan realized that if she stayed busy, time went by faster. So she worked as much as she could and tried to keep her time outside the morgue occupied by helping her father or being with friends. She didn't spend too much time alone. If she did, she just thought about Woody more than ever. The next phone call came two weeks after the first. Things were going well and Woody was excited and enthusiastic about the assignment. Jordan could hear it in his voice and was happy for him. Then she heard nothing for a while. Jordan was thinking seriously about calling Woody's supervisor and checking up on him. She discussed it with her dad.
"I wouldn't Jordan," Max warned. "If anything at all would have happened to him, you would know. He has your name down on his contact list, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well then. That's that. If he was hurt, if he had been killed, or if they couldn't reach him, you would know."
"You're sure about that?"
"Absolutely."
Jordan absorbed this information and slipped down from the bar stool she had been sitting on. "Thanks Dad," she said and made for the door.
"You not eating lunch?"
"No, I'm not feeling well. Must be that stomach virus going around."
"Get some rest. You'll feel better in about 24 hours."
Jordan nodded and left.
She didn't feel better after 24 hours. She didn't feel better after 48 hours. Still puzzling over her condition, a stray thought wafted through her mind, startling her back to reality. She couldn't be. No, she couldn't, could she? She chewed the inside of her lip. Looking at the calendar on her office wall, she quickly counted up the days. Oh yes, she could. She could very well be carrying Woody's baby. Gingerly, she touched her tummy. Woody's baby...their baby. She didn't know for sure and there was only one way to find out. A trip to the drug store was on her agenda this afternoon. But she didn't want to do this by herself. She could deal with it better with someone else. Looking out her office door, she saw her co-conspirator. "Nigel, could I speak with you a minute?"
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"I'm afraid so. I don't know for sure. I just want someone there with me when I run the test."
"I'll be there for you love," Nigel said absent-mindedly. "Say Jordan," he began, rather awkwardly.
"Yeah, Nigel?"
"Are you ever late?"
"Maybe a day or two here and there. But never two weeks late."
Nigel blew out a sigh. "All right. Get the test. I'll meet you at your apartment after work."
Jordan left early that afternoon and procured not only one, but two tests. Shortly after five o'clock her doorbell rang and she answered it. There was Nigel and Garrett as well, bearing two additional pregnancy tests.
The expression on Jordan's face was priceless. She looked at Nigel and raised her eyebrows.
"I thought I'd better bring re-enforcements. You know, strength in numbers and that sort of thing."
"Come in. Good afternoon Garrett. Nice seeing you again," Jordan smirked.
"Yeah, and under such joyful conditions," Garrett replied, looking her over carefully. "You feeling okay?"
"Just queasy. I'm ready to know if there's a specific reason why I'm late, why I'm sick to my stomach, and why my breasts hurt."
Garrett looked uncomfortable. "Okay, let's do this."
"Just a minute, gentlemen, let me pee in the cup and we'll get this show on the road."
Jordan went into the bathroom and produced a specimen. Bringing it into the kitchen they began to run all four pregnancy tests. The waiting was the longest 10 minutes of Jordan's life.
"Hey, are you sure you don't need to use your first morning urine with these? Doesn't that have the most concentrated HCG?" Garrett asked.
"Not anymore," Jordan replied. "These critters are ultra-sensitive now."
The timer dinged. "Okay, who wants to go first?" Jordan asked. Nigel and Garrett looked at her.
"I'll assume that means me," Jordan said, walking over to her tests. "I got two positives."
"I have a positive here," Garrett said.
"Ditto," said Nigel, turning to look at her with concern in his eyes.
Jordan closed her eyes. "Okay, the next step is a doctor's appointment...." She began. Garrett cut her off.
"You're not thinking about..."
"Good God, no!" Jordan exclaimed. "I know Woody will want the baby, but he just doesn't need to know right now.
"But love, he needs to. I know he'll want to be with you," Nigel began.
"No. And I mean no. Neither of you, or anybody else, talks to anyone at the Boston PD. Not a word. Woody is deep in this assignment and I will not jeopardize his job. I'll tell him as soon as I know he's coming back. Until then, you plead ignorance. If anyone asks you who the baby's father is, you don't know. You have no clue. Do you hear me?"
"What about Max?" asked Garrett.
"I'll tell him soon," Jordan replied. She chewed the inside of her lip. Nigel caught her nervous movement.
"Don't worry, love. We'll be there for you. We'll get through this together. You'll be okay and so will we," Nigel said, thinking that the next nine months were going to be long ones.
Garrett put his arms around Jordan. "Look, I'm not very good with stuff like this, but if you need me, I'm there for you. Whatever it is, time off, dill pickles and ice cream, whatever. Remember, I'm your bestest girlfriend."
Jordan smiled at both of them. One part of her was thrilled to pieces. She was carrying Woody's baby. She knew he'd be over the moon. But another part of her felt more alone than ever. She wasn't even really sure he'd be back when the baby was born. He had said six months was the minimum time he thought the assignment would last. She ushered her friends out the door. "I'm fine. I just need some time to get my thoughts together," she said, telling them good-bye and promising to see them tomorrow.
"Crackers by the bed. Keep crackers by the bed and eat one first thing in the morning," Garrett had told her on the way out. "It helps you get over the nausea."
Jordan nodded and shut the door. Leaning back against it, she picked up her phone and hit one on speed dial. "Hello, Dad...."
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A week and one trip to the doctor later confirmed that Jordan was indeed pregnant. If it wasn't such a serious situation, Jordan would have laughed. Her father went with her to the doctor's appointment and waited while she endured the exam. When she came out, Nigel, Garrett, and Bug were also in the waiting room. "Which one of these gentlemen is the father?" the nurse had asked. She had an armful of information for the future father.
"Well, actually none of them are," Jordan replied. "They're just here for moral support. The father is away on assignment right now."
"Oh," the nurse said, looking slightly puzzled. "Who do I give this to?"
"Give some to each of them. They'll need it," Jordan replied, smothering a laugh as the men received information on natural child birth, breast feeding, mood swings, and prenatal vitamins.
"Jordan, did you really think that was necessary?" asked Bug as they were leaving.
"Yes I do. You are now my support team. My groupies, so to speak. I can't do this by myself and I admit it. Woody needs to be here, but he can't. So you need to know what to expect from me during the time I go from this," she said motioning to her slim figure, "to beached whale mode."
"When are you due?" asked Max.
"According to the cervix reading and the ultrasound, roughly in about seven and a half months, give or take a day or two," Jordan replied, looking at the ground. That did not give Woody a lot of wiggle room in getting back. She was trying to get adjusted to the fact that he may not be back in time for their baby's birth. Hell, he may not even know about it until well after the fact.
"Look, Jordan, I think this constitutes an emergency and you need to call his supervisor," Max began.
"No! Absolutely not! Not a word to Woody, from any of you. Any word, comment, even hint to him and not a one of you becomes a godparent, understand? I will not in anyway jeopardize his job or possibly him or his fellow officers."
"But Jordan," began Garrett.
"Promise me," Jordan said, her voice lowering with warning. Narrowing her eyes she stared down the quartet.
"Okay," Max finally agreed. "But the first time something happens, I'm on the phone to his supervisor. Do you understand?"
"Agreed."