Well, here I am. Chapter six! I think this is a longer chapter than usual...
Chapter Six- What is this, a hotel?
When daylight broke through the windows the next morning, Jimmy immediately stirred. He squinted at the sunlight which was burning his eyes painfully. He saw Rachel still sleeping peacefully at the other side of the bed and smiled warmly.
He watched her snoring softly at first, but his eyes uncontrollably wandered to her oversized and bulging mid-section. Two emotions tried to take over at once- fear and happiness. His hand moved slowly toward it, but just as he managed the lightest tap, there was a loud banging on the front door.
He snapped his hand away and stood up, immediately slipping a pair of jeans over his boxers and wandered to the front door. As soon as he opened it, Richard, Eva, and Dr. Agasa stepped in.
Eva shook her head disapprovingly at what Jimmy was wearing. "Jimmy, you ought to try putting on a shirt." She said coolly.
Richard walked right up to im and looked him directly in the eye. "Where's Rachel, Kudo?"
Jimmy peered at the clock. 5:50 am. "Sleeping... Like normal people..." He said warily.
Dr. Agasa smiled. "Well, Jimmy," He said in his awkward accent. "How is the baby?"
"Oh, they're fine."
"They're?" Eva pointed out.
"Twins..." Jimmy said. "Can I go back to bed now?"
"Jimmy, we all decided that we're going to stay over to help out with Rachel." Dr. Agasa sai.
"That's thoughtful of you, but no thanks."
"Listen, punk." Richard grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. "We're staying over, and that's it. We know you have guest rooms... and liquor!"
"Fine..." Just as Jimmy was leading them toward the hallway, there was another knock on the door. It was Vivian and Booker this time.
"Hello, Jimmy, How's the babies?" Booker asked, the second he stepped in.
"And what are you wearing?" Vivian added.
"And let me guess..." He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. "You two want to stay and help me and Rachel out?"
"Exactly!" Booker exclaimed.
"Fine. Just.. pick a room while I help these three..."
At that particular moment, Rachel came bouncing down the stairs in Jimmy's overlarge T-shirt and a pair of extremely short shorts. "Hey, Jimmy, I--" She eyed the five visitors, closed her eyes and turned around, saying, "Nevermind."
Jimmy gave the visitors guest rooms and then dragged himself back to his room. Rachel was sitting on the bed looking at her stomach, which was now exactly six inches from flat.
He walked over, smiling happily. "Hey, Rach."
She quickly looked up as he sat next to her. "What are they all doing here?"
"They want to help."
"So they know about the twins?"
"Uh-huh..."
"Hmm... Hey... go get me some tea... and a pickle would be nice..."
"You have the weirdest cravings..."
After he delivered the craving, he was on his way to the kitchen for himself when he ran into Booker.
"Dad?"
"Hello! Just exploring the hallways of the old place." He grinned sheepishly at the skepticism etched on Jimmy's face. "Oh, all right. I was looking for you too."
"For what?"
"Oh, to talk."
"About?"
"Let's go outside and talk. You seem to be running a hotel here."
"No kidding."
Five minutes later, they sat on the front porch. The air was dry and cold, and snow littered the ground like trash. The December sky seemed to hold some king of odd glory.
"So... what is it you wanted to talk about?"
"Jimmy... Are you prepared for this?"
"What? Running a hotel service?"
"No... having twins? Or let alone being a father at all?"
"What precisely do you mean by 'prepared'?"
"Will you be able to handle it."
"I'll try... Can't be harder than being a detective."
"Actually... it's the hardest thing I ever did."
"Yes... but you're not a detective."
"Point is..." He stared at Jimmy, who looked away. "I was even older than you are and even though I thought at first that it wouldn't be too hard, I realized that after you were born, I wasn't near mature enough yet."
"Well... there isn't much I can do now, is there?"
"Oh, no. You'll be able to do it. All I'm saying is... be careful."
Jimmy was about to say something else, but her remembered that Rachel was almost constantly in need of help. He sighed, stood up, nodded, and entered the house again.
Rachel was on the couch chatting with Vivian and Eva. Richard was yelling at Dr. Agasa for something across the room, and Dr. Agasa obviously didn't take him seriously, as he was laughing.
Jimmy grinned and started to walk away, but was stopped. "Jimmy?"
"Uh-huh?"
He walked over to her. She hugged him. "Thanks for taking such good care of me lately." She kissed his cheek, making him turn redder than a tomato. "Now... go get me sandwich."
"Pickle and mustard?"
"You know it!"
And once again, he fed the pregnant lady.