Chapter Three

There was a knock on the door. Terry hurried to stash a few odds and ends behind the couch. Annie waddled over toward the door. She was getting big for such a little lady. Terry almost felt bad for her, having to carry the kid full-term.

"Jimmy!" she said happily. "Hon, look who's here."

Terry looked up as Jimmy sidled into the room, his hand out-stretched. "Annie, you look like you're going to pop."

"Jimmy," Terry admonished.

Jimmy laughed. "Well, she does, doesn't she? Can you even get your full reflection in a mirror anymore?"

Annie laughed. "I'm going to go lie down, you boys stay quiet."

"Annie," Jimmy admonished, "we carry guns. We drive cars."

"Like I said, boys. Grown men outgrow things like guns."

"Never," Terry said. "Hey, Jimmy, have a seat."

Jimmy looked around the room as Annie shuffled off to the bedroom. The apartment was small, much smaller than Jimmy's. Terry had only invited Jimmy over a couple times and every time he was acutely aware of the difference in their places. But Jimmy always plopped comfortably on the sofa like it was no different than his own home.

"You want a beer?" Terry asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great." He shrugged out of his trench coat and flung it over the recliner, then settled back on the couch.

Terry hurried to the kitchen, nervous suddenly.

"What channel's the game on?" Jimmy called from the living room, fiddling with the old TV.

"The paper's on the floor, I think. By the couch?" Terry grabbed the bottle opener in one hand, two beers in the other. "Do you see it?"

Jimmy had it in hand by the time Terry got back. He was sitting on the floor, on the worn old carpet.

"We have chairs," Terry joked.

Jimmy kept flipping through the TV section, not looking up. "You don't have a remote," he joked back.

"I'll work on that, but with the kid coming…"

"Don't worry about it—it would just be one more thing for the kid to chew on, anyway."

"You and Christie ever think of having kids?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Not really. I mean, once she brought up the fact that she was glad she didn't have any. She didn't go into details."

"She like kids?"

"I dunno. She's not a kid-person, you know. She doesn't go all gaga over babies or anything. She just stares at them… I don't think she'd be a pleasant pregnant woman, either. She really likes having all the guys stare at her for being beautiful."

"But that's okay, right? Or did you want kids?"

"I never really thought about it." Jim reached up and flipped through the channels, turning the dial until it clicked.

"D'you ask him yet?" Annie yelled down the hall.

"Getting' there!" Terry yelled back.

Jimmy laughed. "I thought she wanted us to keep it quiet?"

Terry laughed. "She doesn't sleep much anymore. The baby keeps kicking. I guess it doesn't need to sleep or something."

"Ask me what?"

"Well… You and I, we've been working together a year, right?"

"Right."

"And we're friends, right?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Yeah."

"Would you, you know, be our baby's godfather?"

"Me?" Jim sat up straighter, dropping the paper on the floor. He grabbed at it as it fell, spilling pages everywhere in his haste. "Me?" he asked again.

"Yeah, you, Jimmy."

"Me?"

Terry laughed.

Jimmy joined him. "I, uh, don't know what to say. I'm flattered, really." He stared up at Terry.

Terry sat quickly on the couch, not liking to tower over Jimmy like that. "Well?"

"Sure, why not." Jimmy stood up and flopped onto the couch next to Terry, grabbing one of the beers from his hand. "Just don't go getting shot on me, okay?"

"Right."

Jimmy stared at him a moment. "I can't believe you're having a kid," he said quietly. "It seems so grown-up."

"We're old married guys, Jimmy. You're not careful, you'll end up with a kid, too, you know."

"I'll watch your back, Terry, believe me. I don't think I'm ready to end up with a kid, yours or mine."

"Get a dog," Terry said. "You can practice."

Jimmy laughed. "Christie hates dogs."

"You ask him yet?" Annie yelled.

"Yeah!" Terry yelled back.

"What'd he say?"

"Yes, Annie, I said yes!" Jimmy yelled. He turned to Terry. "You guys need an intercom."

"What for? Sound carries really well in here."