Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Thanks to Janis for all your help and to everyone who reviewed.
Chapter 5: Monday
Ranger Headquarters
Trivette was already at work on his computer, when Sydney and Gage walked into the office 5 minutes early. "Hi guys," Jimmy said, barely glancing up from the screen. Realizing immediately that he had seen Gage walk in, Jimmy did a double-take; looking at Sydney who was booting up her computer, Gage who went to get coffee for himself and Syd, the clock on the wall, and then his watch. "What's wrong with you? You're actually early for a change," he asked Gage with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"Knock it off, Jimmy. Syd gave me a ride today, okay? She's not always early you know." Gage answered putting Syd's coffee on her desk while hoping to divert the mocking remarks that he could see Trivette was working up to.
"No, but whenever Sydney's late, she's usually sick or had some kind of trouble." Jimmy quickly returned.
Before anything else could be said, Walker, Alex and Angela entered. Looking at Gage, Walker remarked, "Glad you're on time, today."
Gage was about to reply, when Jimmy piped up jokingly, "Sydney gave him a ride to work this morning." At his comment, Syd quickly looked up from her paperwork at Alex, who was listening to everything calmly and with a straight face.
Walker put a stop to the horseplay by saying, "Trivette, leave Gage and Sydney alone. There is a man named Thomas O'Malley coming by in a few minutes. He and I have to meet with Captain Briscoe about a possible case, then I'll be back to brief you on what our roles will be." The minute Walker finished speaking, the door opened and an older gentleman wearing a tailored gray suit entered the Company B office. Walker stepped over to greet him and escorted him out of the office.
Gage went to his desk to get started on his paperwork, as Jimmy returned to his computer. Sydney smiled at Alex as she asked, "Why did you come in today, you're not supposed to be back to work for a few weeks?"
Alex returned Syd's smile answering, "I thought I would show Angela off in the office a little, then Erika is supposed to pick me up around 10:00 to go shopping and to lunch. She volunteered to take me home after we finish, so I caught a ride with Walker."
"I hope you have fun. Sounds like Walker may have plenty to keep us busy, at least for today."
"We will," Alex glanced at her watch. "Oh gracious, I'd better go. At this rate, Erika will be here before I even make it to my office." With that Alex called goodbye to Jimmy and Gage, then left with her precious bundle.
About 30 minutes later, Walker reentered the office, asking Jimmy, Sydney and Gage to come to his desk. As they gathered around, Walker began briefing them on the new case.
"The man who was here earlier is Thomas O'Malley, President of RED Manufacturing. For the past few months, he noticed there have been an unusually large number of shipments to one particular company. Upon further investigation, they seemed like legitimate deals, on the surface. When they checked with the company, all the auto parts had been received and used or sold within a few weeks. Mr. O'Malley can't shake the feeling that something's not right, though, and would like for us to investigate. Captain Briscoe approved the request and working with Mr. O'Malley the covers have already been set up.
Gage, you will go to work in the factory as Shawn Caldwell, keep an eye open for anything suspicious with the other workers or the products being shipped. Sydney, you will be working as a personal assistant, Carina Walters, for Brandon Cox, the Advertising Manager." Walker showed them a photo of Brandon Cox as he talked. Then went on with other photos. "The line foreman is William 'Willie' Brown, he has been in prison before, so watch your back around him, Gage. Two people you will be meeting, Sydney, are Vice President, Carlton Powers, and Assistant V.P., Justin Winters.
I want both of you to be careful and keep in touch. Trivette and I will be here until around 6:00 p.m. while we're on this case, so you are to come by on your way home and report on everything." This was said with a stern look at the younger Rangers, especially, centered on Gage. "Any questions?"
"What kind of auto parts do they make?" Sydney requested.
"Radiators, Exhaust Pipes, and Distributors." Walker replied. "Now you two get going, and keep us updated."
As Gage and Sydney left the office to change and get to their undercover jobs by noon, Jimmy asked Walker, "Have you noticed anything different about how Sydney and Gage are acting with each other?"
"Nothing much, why? Have you seen something?" Walker questioned. Knowing his partner, Walker knew if he admitted what he had picked up from Gage's conversations, and seeing the two together, that Jimmy wouldn't rest until he had picked the whole story to the bone. Deciding Jimmy would be easier to live with if he didn't know anything Syd and Gage weren't ready to share; Walker told him to knock it off and not bother Sydney and Gage with all the details of what had gone on the past 4 days.
Sydney & Gage
Leaving the office, the two partners decided to stop at Gage's apartment first, then go to Sydney's to change for their undercover assignment. At Gage's, Syd waited in the car while he went up to grab a change of clothes in a duffel bag. Entering Syd's apartment, they headed down the hall together with Gage stopping at the guest room.
Gage changed into a T-shirt and jeans. Pulling on a light cotton button-down shirt, he left it open rolling up the sleeves to his elbows. A Texas Rangers baseball team cap finished his disguise.
Once in her room, Syd perused the skirts and blazers in her closet that she mainly wore for testifying in court. Trying to decide what to wear, one particular dress caught her eye; it was the one she wore to Gage's high school reunion. The halter neckline wasn't what she would normally wear for business, but she had a black blazer that would match it while dressing it up nicely.
Pulling the dress out, Sydney hesitated, wondering if the dress would cause Gage to remember unpleasant memories of that night; but, at the same time, an inner voice reminded her that he commented that she looked absolutely beautiful that night. Hoping Gage thought of the latter rather than losing his hearing and Marilyn and Ted's deaths; Syd started changing her clothes.
Taking the dress from its hanger to lower over her head, she paused hearing a knock on the door. Next came Gage's voice asking, "Syd, are you about ready?"
"Just about, I'll be there in a minute, Gage." Syd quickly finished dressing, adding the blazer and dressier shoes. After touching up her makeup and pinning up her hair, Syd opened the door to rush out, almost colliding with her partner's chest.
Looking into Gage's wide-eyed gaze, she asked, albeit nervously, "Do I look okay?"
"You look beautiful, Syd," her partner's reply was accompanied by an appreciative grin. "Let's go."
Syd gave him an answering smile, remarking, "I like the cap. Is that a hidden warning to anyone paying attention?"
"Not really, I just thought the double meaning was fun. But I might be making a warning if this Brandon Cox that you're working with doesn't treat you professionally." Gage replied with a slight frown creasing his brow.
"Gage! I thought you trusted me more than that." Sydney exclaimed.
"I do trust you. I just don't want any man thinking they can make a pass at you without any enticement."
By this time they were stopped beside their car. "Well, you know there's no reason to be jealous. If I'd wanted to be with someone else, it would already have happened and we wouldn't be having this discussion now." Syd assured her partner, with a reassuring embrace.
Gage held her close, tipping her chin for a quick kiss, replying, "I know, you're right. I'm sorry Syd, I just worry about you when we're undercover, especially, like this when we're in different places."
"I know and it's okay, I worry about you being undercover where I can't see your back, too. Now, we better go if we're stopping for a quick lunch or we'll miss our check-in time, then Walker will be on our case." Sydney retorted with a laugh, climbing in the car and starting it while waiting for Gage to get in the passenger seat. When he was seated, she backed out heading for their new assignment.
Alex's office
Everyone in the DA's office enjoyed Alex bringing Baby Angela for a visit; some were seeing her for the first time, as Alex's secretary was the only one at the ranch for the homecoming. After Angela had been admired, Alex asked her secretary to watch the baby while she met with the DA to check on any problems with the cases she left unfinished when Angela was born.
After assuring her conscience that everything was going smoothly, Alex noticed it was almost 10 o'clock, which meant Erika should be there any time. Checking to see that Angela was sleeping peacefully, Alex made a quick call to her husband.
"Walker," her normally somber husband answered his phone with a chuckle.
"What's going on down there? You're usually more businesslike answering the phone," Alex quizzed teasingly.
"Hey sweetheart, it's Jimmy and Erika, she came in a few minutes ago to make sure he reminded me about being late tomorrow. Jimmy started pouting while telling her that he always remembered to tell me things, so Erika started babying him. Not two seconds later, Trivette stuck his foot in his mouth by teasing Erika that he might go help Gage and Sydney on this case after getting the brace off his leg tomorrow. Erika almost hit the roof and started scolding him about taking it easy on his leg for a few days. The look on his face was priceless." By the time Walker finished explaining the reason for his mirth to his wife, Alex was laughing so hard that she was crying.
"Is Erika still there?" Alex asked, finally getting her laughter under control.
"Yes, she's acting very upset while keeping Jimmy from knowing that she's laughing. He's trying to explain that he was only teasing." Walker replied with another chuckle. "Do you want me to keep her here?"
"Would you please? I'll be down in a few minutes as soon as I get Angela and say goodbye." Alex answered with relief.
"See you in a few minutes, honey." Walker replaced the receiver, watching his partner trying to comfort his fiancée.
When Alex entered the office a few minutes later, she headed straight for Jimmy. "What have you done to Erika now?" She exclaimed while glaring at a startled Trivette.
"Me? I was just teasing her then she started crying!" Jimmy began defending his actions.
Erika couldn't keep up the ruse any longer and started laughing, as did Walker and Alex, startling Jimmy even more. "Jimmy, you are too easy to tease. That's why Gage is on your case all the time," Erika managed to gasp out amid her laughter.
"You aren't angry with me then?" The confused ranger queried.
"No, I knew Walker wouldn't send you undercover and risk you causing any more damage to that knee. Besides if you could have seen the look on your face during my little tantrum, you would have been laughing too." Erika answered still giggling. "Forgive me?"
"Yeah, guess I need to keep a closer watch on your face next time I think I'm in trouble." Trivette replied, chuckling himself as he hugged her close.
"If you can, you couldn't even see my face awhile ago. Alex, are you ready to leave now?" At Alex's "Yes," they gave their rangers a kiss and left, amid much chatter and laughter.
"Trivette, you better get back with the check on RED Manufacturing and see if we missed anything that Syd and Gage need to know." Walker ordered, trying to get back to the business at hand but still grinning at his partner's earlier predicament.
RED Manufacturing
Sydney and Gage walked into the reception area at exactly noon, Walker had informed them that their covers were set up with the intention that they were friends outside of work before they left Headquarters. Upon entering the building, the receptionist greeted them, "Hello, how may I help you today?"
Gage answered, "We're Shawn Caldwell and Carina Walters, reporting for work."
"Yes, Mr. Caldwell, Mr. Cox is supposed to be meeting you. If you will take a seat, I will let him know you've arrived."
"Thank you," Gage replied. The partners moved to the waiting area, both taking in details of the outer office at the same time.
After waiting a few moments, a clean-cut man, around their age, in a charcoal suit entered the reception area. Seeing him come their way, the partners rose to meet him.
"Hello, I'm Brandon Cox." The man introduced himself, extending his hand to first Gage, then Sydney. "You must be Mr. Caldwell & Ms. Walters."
"Please, call me Shawn. I'm just a factory worker, not a VIP's assistant or something." Gage replied.
Syd smiled at Gage's remark before requesting, "It would be easier if you just call me Carina, since I'm going to be working for you, Mr. Cox."
"Okay, if both of you call me Brandon. Mr. Cox always makes me feel like people are talking to my father instead of me." Brandon laughed at his little joke, as did the partners, then he went on, "I'll take you on a tour before you start work."
The group entered the elevator as Cox started, "We'll start on the 4th floor. We won't worry about the 5th floor; all that's there is President O'Malley's office and conference/meeting rooms."
Exiting at the 4th floor, Brandon turned left continuing his speech. "These offices are Vice-President Carlton Powers and his Assistant Vice-President Justin Winters."
"Are they in every day?" Sydney asked curiously.
"Yes and you'll probably meet them sooner than you would like, Carina, I have a meeting with both this afternoon. Here's your office," opening the next door and ushering them inside, "This is where you'll be other than breaks, in case you're looking for her, Shawn." As they exited the office and went back to the elevator, Brandon said, "The rest of the floor contains the cafeteria and a snack room. There's a snack room on the first floor, also, where the factory is located."
"Isn't it unusual to have a factory located in the same building as the offices for a company?" Gage questioned.
"Yes and the actual assembly line where the parts are made, is in the building behind this one. This building houses the packing assembly line; you might get to meet Mr. Powers or Mr. Winters, also. They seem to be very interested in how the parts are being packed in the boxes because they visit with William Brown, the foreman, quite often."
"There wasn't much noise in the reception area to indicate an assembly line on the same floor." Sydney noted as they entered the elevator.
"You actually entered the building on the 2nd floor. The landscaping was built up in the front to hide the fact, while at the same time, the factory has outside windows and access, which makes it easier for shipping the parts out." Brandon explained while pushing the button for the 1st floor.
Watching his actions, Gage asked, "Any reason why we're skipping the other two floors?"
"There's not much to see…the 2nd and 3rd floors contain various other offices: accounting, bookkeeping, inventory control and payroll. Mr. O'Malley turned your paperwork in to the payroll department earlier, when he asked me to show you around, he said you were recommended by a friend of his."
"I guess you could say that," Gage remarked ruefully, earning a poke in the ribs from Sydney.
"Shawn, behave!"
Brandon chuckled, "That's okay, Carina. He's not bothering me; you need a good sense of humor to work here at times. Now you can see where Shawn will be and then we'll have to get busy working, as enjoyable as this last half hour was."
As they entered the factory area, a large man approached. He seemed curious about Gage and Sydney wondering why Brandon Cox was bringing them to his area.
"Hello, Mr. Cox. We don't get to see you very often down here, can I help you with anything?" The man asked politely in a gruff voice.
"This is your newest worker, Shawn Caldwell, William," the man shook hands with Gage, "and this lady is my new assistant, Carina Walters." Syd was greeted with a nod from William Brown, "I just finished showing them around. We finished up here to let Shawn get to work, and Carina and I will head back upstairs now. I've got several sales and advertising reports that need to be finished during the next few days."
"I'll see you later, Shawn," Syd told her partner, before turning to the foreman and saying, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Brown."
"It was nice to meet you, Ms. Walters," the large man returned politely.
Gage grinned at her while replying, "I'll pick you up after work, Carina," watching as she and Brandon left the factory.
"Shawn, I need you to start on the distributor line. You'll be putting the protective covers over the places for the sparkplugs." Willie stated, pulling Gage's thoughts away from his partner and back to the business at hand.
Brandon's Office
As Syd and Brandon made their way from the elevator back to the office, Justin Winters joined them. "Good afternoon, Brandon, and who might this lovely young lady be?"
Syd gave the blond man a sidelong look, noting he looked every bit the upcoming executive, while keeping quiet.
"This is my new assistant, Carina Walters. Carina this is Justin Winters, Assistant Vice-President."
"Pleased to meet you Mr. Winters," Sydney extended her hand, only to have him raise it, kissing the back. "The pleasure's all mine, Ms. Walters." Justin replied with a leering smile. Syd retrieved her hand, giving the man a bland smile in return.
Justin glanced at Brandon, as if forgetting he was around. "I'll be back with Mr. Powers in about an hour, Brandon. We're looking forward to seeing the mock-ups for the new ads."
After the man left, Brandon raised an eyebrow and grinned at Sydney, asking what she thought of the Assistant V.P. With a rueful smile, Syd shook her head answering. "He thinks he's quite the lady's man, doesn't he? I see what you meant earlier about meeting him sooner than I'd like, but you included Mr. Powers in the statement, too. Is he like Winters?"
With a grimace, Brandon answered, "No, he just makes you feel like you're a lower life form to do his bidding. Only with women, though, not other men."
"You sound experienced for him only treating women that way?" Syd questioned.
Chuckling, Brandon replied, "I have it on good authority from my regular assistant." At Syd's puzzled look, he explained, "I hear about any problems from her all the time, because she's my wife. That's why I needed a temp since she's on maternity leave at the moment."
"Congratulations, when's the baby due?"
"In two weeks, you can tell Shawn later that he can stop worrying." At Syd's amazed look, Brandon grinned mischievously, "He seemed a little uptight earlier until we talked awhile. It didn't take much to recognize he was a tad jealous. I'd be the same way with Cassie. You're very beautiful but my heart is already captured and held; much like Shawn's I'd wager."
"I'm not taking that bet, Shawn was a bit worried earlier, but you put his mind at ease during the tour."
All that had happened a couple of hours earlier, but Sydney was now mentally reviewing that afternoon's events trying to pin down anything suspicious. Thinking back to an hour ago, Syd recalled her first meeting with Carlton Powers.
Carlton Powers was a few years older than Gage, with dark hair shot with gray. He entered the office with Justin Winters who immediately made introductions, "Carlton, this is Brandon's lovely new assistant, Carina Walters. Carina, Vice President Carlton Powers."
"Ms. Walters, nice to meet you. Mr. Cox should be ready for us, I've got quite a few things to finish this afternoon." Powers said in a vaguely bored tone.
Syd smiled pleasantly replying, "Mr. Cox is waiting for you gentlemen. Would you like something to drink?"
"No thank you, Ms. Walters. Justin, let's get on with this, we haven't got all day." The man's commanding voice stopped Winters from engaging Sydney in conversation, as he hurried into Brandon's office.
Sydney watched them disappear with relief. She had only dealt with Justin Winters, twice and was already becoming tired of fending off his advances.
The sound of Brandon's office door brought Syd's thoughts back to the present. Quickly appearing busy at her computer so as to not draw undue attention, Syd listened to the men's final comments. Her activity, coupled with Carlton Powers' presence, kept Justin from lingering at Syd's desk. After the two men left, Brandon said, "You can go ahead and leave if you want Carina. It's only 4:30, but something may come up tomorrow that you'd need to stay late."
"All right, Mr. … Brandon. I'll see you in the morning." Grabbing her purse, Syd left heading for the elevators and the first floor.
When the doors opened, Syd almost collided with her partner; Gage grasped her arms asking, "You done for the day, Honey?"
Smiling brightly, she answered, "Yes, just coming to see if you were ready to leave."
"Right behind you, Shorty." He replied, returning her smile.
Ranger Headquarters
When the door to Company B opened, both senior Rangers glanced toward it, expecting to see the junior partners. Instead, the sight of their girls entering the office greeted them.
Walker immediately went to take Angela from Alex, while Erika moved to her fiancé's side. Both couples embraced, while Walker asked, "Is anything wrong?"
Alex was quick to reply, "Everything's fine. After shopping today, we got back to the ranch around 4 o'clock. Since it was so late we decided to see if we could talk you two into buying us dinner. Besides," she added, pouting slightly, "We're tired from shopping all day."
"And I can save you a trip to drop Jimmy off at home," Erika piped up.
"We're just waiting on Syd and Gage to get here then…" Jimmy broke off as the office door opened again, this time revealing the junior partners with Syd laughing at one of Gage's comments.
Syd paused noticing four sets of eyes on them, "Did we interrupt anything?"
Walker was all business, even though, he still held the sleeping baby. "Did either of you learn anything today?"
"Something fishy's going on in the packing area, some of the boxes are diverted to a smaller room for packing," Gage reported. "I noticed a load of boxes being brought out of the room later, headed for the loading dock and they were all marked differently. There wasn't much looking around I could do, because Willie kept checking my work and asking questions."
"Did he seem suspicious of you?" Trivette asked.
"No, just questioned mainly about other jobs, if I'd ever worked with anything that I had to keep quiet about…his line of questioning, on top of noticing the boxes, made me wonder how he fits in with Mr. O'Malley's feelings."
"What about you, Sydney?" Walker queried.
With a rueful smile, she answered, "I got the pleasure of meeting Carlton Powers and Justin Winters. Brandon warned me what to expect of Mr. Powers beforehand, but he didn't have a chance to warn me about some of Winters' more endearing qualities. Powers acts the classic rich snob, very aloof, with anyone he considers less than his equal, which includes all women. Winters, on the other hand, thinks he's God's gift to women and if you're not interested, you're an instant challenge receiving more attention than you possibly want." Catching Gage's quick glance her way, Syd knew she would be in trouble when they were alone for her partner not having heard any of this already. "The only way of avoiding him is if Mr. Powers is around. Powers must have some kind of hold over him, because Winters didn't fool around when Mr. Powers told him to do something."
"Sounds like you both have a fair handle on who you want to check out more thoroughly." Walker inserted. "Go ahead and take off and we'll see you in the morning."
Gage pulled his attention back to his boss, "Okay, see you then."
"Have a good evening. You keep these folks in line all right, Angela?" Sydney told the sleeping infant causing laughter from the other adults. "See you in the morning."
The group left together, splitting up as they arrived in the parking garage to go to their separate vehicles.
Sydney's car
Gage had lapsed into silence after leaving headquarters; but Syd didn't realize how withdrawn her partner was until he ignored her question about what he wanted for dinner. "Gage," Syd repeated a bit louder.
His partner's insistent call roused Gage from his thoughts, "Yeah, Syd?"
"Glad to have you back," she replied. "Did you want to go somewhere for dinner or stop for takeout...or we could go back to my place and throw something together."
"Why don't we just go to my apartment and order a pizza?" Gage suggested absently. "Then you won't worry about how I'm getting home later."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Syd replied. Glancing at her partner with a smile, she noticed his mind had drifted away again. "I wish he'd go ahead and yell at me if he's going to about Justin Winters, then we could enjoy our evening together," she thought in exasperation.
Upon reaching Gage's, Syd waited until he'd ordered the pizza before saying, "Okay Gage, let's have it."
"What are you talking about, Syd?" He asked startled.
Throwing him an impatient look, Syd replied, "The fact that I didn't tell you how Justin Winters acted towards me."
"Syd," Gage sighed and held out his arms, "Come here." When she did, he wrapped his arms around her resting his chin on top of her head. "I'm not angry. I understand why you didn't tell me about Winters."
"Are you sure, because the way you were acting in the car…" Syd began.
"I was working everything out in my head. I realized you didn't want to upset me after this morning. You just let me know if he goes overboard and I'll make sure he leaves you alone, Assistant Vice-President or not, okay?" Gage leaned back slightly to look Syd in the eyes.
"Don't worry, I can handle Justin Winters, but tell you what," Sydney poked him playfully in the ribs. "If he gets more than I can handle, I'll let you have a talk with him, deal?"
"Deal," Gage grinned, tickling her lightly. Sydney squirmed in his grasp, finally, twisting to get away. As she turned away from him, Gage caught her shoulders, whirling her back into his arms and into a passionate kiss, which she returned without hesitation. At the strident ringing of the doorbell, the partners broke away reluctantly. Knowing it would be their dinner, Gage headed for the door, as Syd went to the kitchen for napkins and a beer for each of them. She and Gage sat on the couch, depositing the food onto the coffee table; then settled back to eat and watch a replay of the last Texas Rangers baseball game on TV.
Jimmy & Erika's
After a delicious dinner and good company, Erika drove Jimmy home. As they entered the apartment, she asked, "Did you remind Walker about being late tomorrow?"
"Yes honey, I mentioned it again tonight, and almost got my head snapped off," Jimmy grabbed Erika pulling her close. "Will you stop worrying? Tomorrow morning I'll see the doctor, listen to his orders as to what my limits are; then you can drop me off at headquarters and go on to work. Walker will drop me off on his way home, no big deal; everything back to normal, okay?"
Erika smiled, "Okay Jimmy, you've made your point. It looks like everything's all set for tomorrow." Reaching up she kissed his cheek, "Right now, I'll promise you one thing."
Jimmy's grasp on his fiancée loosened slightly as he asked, "What exactly would that be?"
"I promise…" Erika paused, pulling back slightly, then continuing in a rush, "Not to make you call Walker tonight about being late in the morning." As soon as she finished speaking, Erika whirled around, running into the bedroom laughing.
"What? Erika, get back here!" Jimmy exclaimed, laughing himself and hurrying after her. Entering the bedroom, he heard the sound of the shower coming from behind the closed bathroom door. Undressing he got into bed to wait while Erika completed her bedtime preparations. A few minutes after the shower shut off, the door opened slowly as Erika peeked around it asking, "Is it safe for me to come out?"
"Yes honey, get over here." Jimmy ordered, holding the covers up for her to slip under.
Erika climbed into bed and snuggled up against Jimmy. As his arms closed around her, Erika said, "I'm sorry about being so uptight today. It's just while you were in the hospital, at first, I thought I was going to lose you. Then having those nightmares this weekend, I guess, just made me overanxious about you going back to work until you had the leg brace off."
"Honey, Walker wouldn't let me do anything that would cause more harm to my leg. In fact, he'll probably drag me down to the gym the next few days and make me exercise to make sure it's strong enough to support me on the job." Erika's laughter at his disgusted tone allowed Jimmy to relax, knowing she was calming down. Pulling her closer to his side, Jimmy asked, "Ready to go to sleep, now?"
Erika reached up to kiss her fiancé goodnight, then smiled, "Yes, especially with you holding me close."
"I can handle that," Jimmy stated, tightening his arms around Erika as they drifted into a restful sleep.
The Walker Ranch
"How much longer do you think she'll sleep?" Walker asked quietly as the entered the nursery to put the sleeping infant into her bed.
"She should sleep for a couple of hours before needing to be fed. Did you have anything special in mind?" Alex queried, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck.
"Well, I thought you could take a hot bath then we could get to bed and, maybe, get a little extra sleep tonight." was her husband's reply.
Alex laughed, "So you're thinking if we get to bed earlier, we'll automatically get more sleep?"
"Yep, and while you're in the bath, I'll go take care of the horses," Walker remarked with a mischievous grin.
"Walker!" Alex smacked him on the arm. "In other words, if the baby does wake up while I'm bathing, I have to take care of her anyway. That's not fair," she concluded with a pout.
Her husband laughed, "I'm just kidding you, honey. I called Jake down the road earlier and asked him to take care of the horses for me the next few afternoons. He must've come before you got back because I called around 3:00 p.m. and he was going to come straight over."
"We arrived a little after four o'clock, Jake must've just left." Alex agreed.
"Probably, now I thought you were taking a bath." Walker gave his wife a 'what are you waiting for' look, "or do I have to put you in myself?"
"As tempting as that sounds, honey; I better take care of myself. Something might get started that we can't finish right now."
"You may be right," Walker agreed with a sigh. "Now you'd better get in that bath. It's been a hectic week and a bit of extra sleep sounds mighty good about now."
Alex just laughed as she entered the bathroom. Walker headed for the bedroom readying for bed. He'd just gotten between the sheets when his beautiful wife joined him.
"You know, it's nice to be able to relax without worrying what's going to happen for a while." Alex remarked.
"I know. I, also, know the last week was hard on you, worrying about our friends, on top of it being so close to Angela's due date. I'm just glad to still have you with me and a darling daughter to boot."
Sharing a loving look and a few sweet kisses, Alex snuggled tightly against her husband's side. Laying her head on Walker's chest with his arms snug around her, they drifted off into a dreamless sleep, uninterrupted except by their much-adored little one.
TBC