Chapter Six

The fifth month quickly slid into the sixth month…and Jordan grew bigger. Emmie ordered maternity scrubs for her. Nigel and Bug were careful with her…she didn't lift anything heavier than her scalpel and was not allowed in the room with an x-ray machine. Woody was in and out of the morgue frequently. His eyes would flit to her stomach and then to her face, but he never stayed long. He'd ask how she was doing and if she needed anything…and her answers were always the same… "Fine and no."

If Jordan thought his behavior completely out of character, Garret, Nigel, and Bug were even more confused. They had known Woody for as long as Jordan had…and the way he was acting was bazaar, to say the least. Garret, especially, had reasoned that when Woody did find out Jordan was pregnant with his child, he would at least have been more supportive. He really thought the detective would insist that Jordan marry him and they raise the child together. He assumed Woody would be the rational one.

So much for assumptions. Woody was running scared and Jordan was having to be the adult all by herself.

The truth was, Woody really was running scared. Every morning when he looked in the mirror, he despised himself – for not being there for her, for not being excited about becoming a father, for not being sure about the baby. His fear…just kept getting bigger as the pregnancy progressed. He didn't know how to tell Jordan that the best thing she could really do was raise the baby without him.

He had thought about leaving Boston…thought long and hard. But in the end decided against it. He wanted to be around to at least see his offspring…if the baby was really his. And be there incase an emergency happened and she absolutely needed him. And he wanted to make sure she was all right after the baby was born. He still didn't see how Jordan could deliver this baby. She was so tiny…But she had signed up for LaMaze classes and had said that the doctor told her she could deliver it naturally. If it was up to him, Woody would give her every drug the state of Massachusetts would legally allow her to have and then some….the thought of her being in pain because of him rode his mind and conscious hard.

He was contemplating all this one Saturday morning over his coffee cup when the doorbell rang. He wasn't expecting company, so he checked through his peephole…No. It couldn't be. Not him. Not now. But his banging on the door was relentless…. "Open up, bro. I know you're in there…whatsa matter? Not up yet? In bed with that Jordan chick?

Woody opened the door so he would shut up.

"Shh….you'll wake the neighbors…and what the hell are you doing here? And why didn't you call first?"

"What? And give you the chance to tell me no before I left Milwaukee? Not a chance. I'm here because you didn't come to Aunt Jean's for Christmas and I was worried about you. So I had a few days off….hopped a flight….and here I am. How about a hug, big bro?" Cal said, laughing at Woody's look of sheer displeasure.

Woody shut the door. "How long are you staying?"

"A couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks?! Don't you want to go to Disney World or something on vacation?"

"Told you…you weren't home for Christmas and everyone was worried…I was worried. You've never missed Christmas at Aunt Jean's since you moved to Boston. What's up Woody? You don't look right…." Cal said, as he plopped himself down on Woody's couch and looked up at his big brother. Woody sighed. There was only ten months between their ages…Woody had always played the big brother role to the hilt…he had to. But Cal could read Woody like a book. Cal knew when something wasn't quite right….and he had hit the nail on the head. And Woody knew Cal wouldn't let up until he knew everything.

"So how's Jordan?" Cal asked, stretching his legs out on the coffee table in front of him.

"Get your feet off the furniture. Were you raised in a barn? Wait…don't answer that question." Aunt Jean and Uncle Tommy were dairy farmers.

"So how's Jordan?" Cal repeated, swinging his feet off the table and laying down on the couch with his feet dangling off the side.

"Jordan's….Jordan's….fine."

"A little hesitation there, bro. I don't think so. I figured she was the reason you skipped on all the yuletide joy at home." Cal rolled his eyes at his comment. "But I guess I was wrong. Whatsup? Another filly in your stable now?"

Woody shook his head. "It's complicated, Cal."

"And what in your life or my life hasn't been? Wanna talk about it?"

Woody nodded. "I know it's early, but could you handle a beer?"

"You got some here, or do we need to make a beer run?"

Woody pulled two twenties from his pocket. "There's a store on the corner. I'm going to get a shower while your're gone. Here's the apartment key to let yourself back in. Get two six-packs and anything else that strikes your fancy."

Cal looked at his brother's face for a moment. "You're in serious shit, aren't you?"

Woody nodded and headed for the shower.

"Okay, so let me get this straight, Woody," Cal said, an hour and two beers later. "You get tired of Jordan keeping you dangling, so you hook up with this Devan chick. And things are going well…she's cute…blonde…sweet. It's a good friendship and you're hoping, that just because you're thirty now and haven't had a serious relationship since you've moved to Boston, that things would click between you and her?"

Woody nodded and pulled on his beer.

"But before you could find out, she's killed in an airplane crash."

Woody nodded again. "Yeah…we couldn't even find her remain, Cal."

Cal let out a low whistle. "I'm so sorry, bro. Really. Let me ask you a question. Did you love her?"

"I don't know… I don't think so. But she died before we could even explore that option. I would like to think that eventually, we would have cared for each other deeper than a friendship."

"Let me ask you something else. Who did you think of when you kissed her?"

Woody lowered his eyes and didn't answer.

"And you were disappointed when you opened your eyes, it wasn't her."

"Yeah." Woody finished off that beer and uncapped another.

"Did you two ever have sex?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just asking….trying to get a read on this whole situation…."

"No. The answer is no. We hadn't gotten to that part…we were friends for Christ's sake. Friends without benefits. I think she was trying to work out something with her ex-finance."

"Well…that tells you a lot."

"I know."

"So…..where's Jordan in this picture? She doesn't strike me as a girl that would let her man go without a fight…" Cal had met Jordan on a couple of occasions when he had come to Boston to visit Woody. Cal like Jordan. She was everything his brother needed….excitement, passion, just a little irresponsibility in Woody's too-responsible world. And he would bet…just bet his next paycheck, she was just as crazy about his brother as Woody was crazy about her. She was just too scared to admit it. He had hoped Woody would make her feel secure enough that she wouldn't be frightened to tell him.

"Jordan didn't say a word."

Cal raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Really. Not until after Devan died. We were having drinks at the Pogue and it all came out. Mom. Dad. Devan…how all the losses made me feel. I went back to her place for coffee…and…"

"And what?"

"And…." Woody made an uncomfortable motion.

"You slept with her."

"Did more than sleep, Cal. A girl doesn't get pregnant if you just sleep with her."

Cal's mouth hung open for a full minute. "You've knocked Jordan Cavanaugh up?"

Woody nodded, a blush coming to his cheeks.

Cal whistled again. "No wonder you didn't come to Aunt Jean's for Christmas. You were kind of busy. So when's the wedding?"

"There isn't going to be one."

"What? You going to wait until after the baby is born, or you two going to live together for a while?"

"Neither."

"Okay….is this your decision or hers?"

Woody thought for a minute. "I guess it's mine because I haven't asked her to marry me."

Cal looked at his brother in complete disbelief. "No. Not you. Not Mr. Reliable. Surely you jest."

"No. And you know why. You of all people should know why, Cal."

"And how does she feel about this?"

"I don't know. We haven't discussed it."

"What have you discussed?"

"If it's mine and how she feels physically. That's about all."

"Do you think there's any possibility that it isn't yours?"

Woody shook his head. He knew that baby was his…the due date corresponded with their one night together. Besides, he really didn't feel that there had been anyone else in Jordan's life. "No. I know the baby's mine."

Cal shook his head. Good thing he was here and had two weeks. It would take him good week just to fill Jordan in on why his brother was acting so wonky.