It's a miracle—bet you all thought I forgot about this, huh? Well, I didn't, and here it is. By the way, if anyone has any ideas for baby names, I'm having a bit of trouble picking one out. I have yet to decide whether it'll be a boy or girl, as well. Give me suggestions, I'm open!
Disclaimer:
Caveman Bob: She no own show. She make no money. That all.
Dedication: Dedicated to everybody who wanted me to continue—thanks for the encouragement!
Now, onto the chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
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"My God, I can't believe how much weight she's gaining. She used to be so slim. I wonder what's been happening?" A giggle punctuated these words. The voice was loud, harsh, and unwelcome. I sigh and lean forward, trying to focus on the file in my hand. That's the problem with trying to get anything done in the cafeteria—everybody is so loud. These two chattering women in the booth behind me are prattling and giggling like a couple of high-school teenagers, and I'm about to head back up to my desk without my lunch—I'm not that hungry anyway—when I hear the rest of their conversation.
"She's such a pretty girl, too. What's her name…Tammy, Tracy, Tabitha…" One of them wonders.
"Terry. I think it's Terry. She works with Don Eppes."
"Yes, that's right. Such a shame…if I worked for that man, I'd be spending all my waking hours at the gym, making sure I looked no less than perfect at all times. She's wasting a perfectly good chance. He's beyond sexy."
Shock and anger glue me to my seat. I can't believe what I'm hearing. But they're not finished yet—
"Do you think she might be—" Here the girl lowers her voice, but not enough. "pregnant? She's really starting to look it."
"Pregnant?" The other girl snorts. "Her? Please. I really doubt it. I mean, she's pretty enough, but she doesn't really look like the type to…get much action, do you think?"
My stomach tightens.
"Hmm, you never know." There's a short pause, then she sighs. "I should be getting back upstairs, Marie. Call me tonight and we'll go out this weekend, okay?"
"Sure." Marie replies cheerfully. "'Bye, Jamie."
I wait until I hear Marie's heels click away as well before I rise shakily and hurry back up to the sanctity of the office, tossing the rest of my chicken-salad sandwich into the trash on the way. Suddenly, I've lost my appetite.
As I enter the office, Terry takes one look at me and hurries over to question, "What's wrong, Don?"
"Nothing." I smile reassuringly, trying to advert my eyes from her slightly swollen belly. Usually, the sight fills me with joy, but the thought of what she's going to have to endure over the next five months makes my stomach turn. I want to wrap my arms around her and promise to take all the pain and heartache coming away for her. "Just tired."
"Okay, if you're sure." She tells me, studying me with some degree of concern.
"I am. Thanks, though." With a final quick smile, I duck back to my desk and bury my nose in the file.
By the time I re-emerge, the floor is nearly empty. Apparently, even Terry has left. I'm a little hurt that she went without a good-bye, but maybe she did stop by. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in things I forget to notice what's going on around me.
I glance at my watch (nearly seven-thirty) and rise, stretching. That's when I notice that I'm not alone after all—Terry is still here, fast asleep atop her arms, which are folded on her desktop. I smile fondly and check to make sure the room really is empty before hurrying over to brush a kiss on her temple. "Hey, baby, wake up. Come on, let's get you home."
She blinks wearily. "What time is it?"
"Almost seven-thirty. How are you holding up?"
"I'm tired. And I'm starving. But other than the usual, just great." She leans back in her chair and gives me a smile. "Hard to believe, this, isn't it?" She asks as she folds her hands over her stomach.
"It still is, yeah." I agree, moving around behind her to rub at her shoulders and the back of her neck. Lately, though she hasn't said anything, I can see that the weight is really getting to her. She moves more stiffly and slowly, she's always trying to stretch her back out, and she's sitting a lot more often. "Are you too tired for dinner, or do you want to go get something?"
"Dinner would be wonderful." She confesses, melting beneath my touch. "I swear, Don, you should have become a masseuse."
"Doesn't pay as good. Plus, they don't give you a gun." I tell her, and I'm rewarded with a chuckle.
"You'd better cut that out, or we'll never get out of here."
I move around her to pull her to her feet and wrap a companionable arm around her shoulders. "So, where are we going, Agent Lake?"
"I don't know…anything sound good to you?" She asks, sliding an arm around my back for balance.
"Nah, you're the one with the weird food cravings lately."
"Hey, banana ice cream is not weird. And neither are pickles." She protests good-naturedly, giving me a hard poke in the ribs. I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Not at the same time, I hope."
She rolls her eyes and gives me a half-hearted swat. "Fine, just for that, we're going to Fazoli's."
"Again?" I groan, but it's in jest, and she knows it. "We ate there five times last week!"
"What's your point, Donny?"
I glare at her. "How come you're the only one who can make that nickname sound unpleasant?"
"It's a gift." She steps onto the elevator and leans back against the wall.
"I hear you." I pretend to mutter. She smirks at me.
The rest of the elevator ride and the car ride are in companionable silence. Once we're seated side-by-side in a red plastic booth, she leans over to me—her elbows on the table, her chin on her fists—"Something bothering you?"
I realize that I've been staring at the tabletop for a good long while and glance up to meet her eyes. "Nope, just lost in thought." I don't have the heart to tell her about what happened in the cafeteria today.
She leans back and studies me. "Okay…" then she sighs. "We need to talk."
"About what?" My stomach tightens again. She looks so serious.
"People are noticing, Don. I won't be able to hide it much longer. In another month, this," She gestures to her belly, "will be so noticeable that people are going to start asking who the father is."
Aha. I have a short lightbulb-over-the head moment, then lean over to brush a kiss against her cheek. "And you're asking what we should do about it?"
She nods. "I'm going to quit."
If I'd been sitting in a chair, I would have knocked it over backwards in my shock. Instead, my body settles for knocking over my soda. When that's cleaned up, I meet her eyes again. "You can't do that."
"And why not?" There's a fire, one I recognize as challenge, in her eyes.
"Terry, you love your job! Of everyone who's ever deserved to be an FBI agent, you make the top ten list. That's not fair to you."
"But if I keep my job, we'll have to keep living like this. Pretending I don't care about you. Keeping the best thing that's ever happened to me—carrying your child—a secret. Do you know what happened to me today?"
Surprised by the abrupt change in conversation, I stammer, "What?"
"One of the girls on the fourth floor asked me when I was due." She says it so matter-of-factly and steadily, but I can see the hurt and the concern in her eyes.
"What did you tell her?"
"I asked 'due for what'? I probably horrified the poor girl to no end." She smiles at the memory. "Don, if they find out, we're likely to both be fired."
Again, I start to protest, but she reaches down and catches my hand, then presses it to her cheek. I love the feel of her skin beneath my knuckles. "Let's not worry about it now, okay? Promise me you'll think about it, that's all I need."
I nod. "One question." I press. "If you quit, what are you going to do?"
"For work, you mean?" She leans back again, closing her eyes, her hand still in mine. "I have a sizable savings account right now. I'd like to be a homemaker for a while. For twelve years as a child, that's all I wanted to be. My friends all wanted to be doctors, lawyers, bankers, chefs, whatever. They laughed at me, but I wanted to be a mom."
My heart melts, and I remember all over again why I love her so much. "Why didn't you?"
She opens her eyes, smiling shyly at me. "The right guy never came along."
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There's chapter two. Shorter, but there's some GREAT fluffily stuff on the way. I promise.
Review Replies!
Citygirl928: Awe, thanks. /Blushes furiously/ When MissCongeniality gave me the plot bunny, it took up immediate residence in the "to write" list. And now he won't leave! But I'm kind of glad, it's really nice to break from the angst once in a while and do some fun and fluffy stuff…this chapter wasn't quite as fluffy, unfortunately, because there are some work-related issues that must be dealt with before the full onslaught of fluff. But it's coming with the speed of a freight train, I promise. :D
SD: Thanks so much! I should never have read these awesome reviews tonight, I'm going to go to work blushing so much I'll look like a tomato. I'm so glad you liked it so well…Thanks again, and I really appreciate all of your awesome reviews.
EclecticTrekker: Wow, I don't know if I deserve all that. You're way too nice and way too good to me. Your review made me squeal out loud and I had to call my best friend (who was at my house at the time) over to read it, "Look! Look at that, Lish, somebody wrote that about my story! MY story!" She was impressed, but I don't think it reached to her at the same level it did to me. You have no idea how happy you made me. Thanks so much.
JadedMoment: Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you liked it, your opinion is invaluable to me. Well, it was a one-shot, but some people asked for more, so I appeased them. :D Kylie is fitting in nicely around here, isn't she? I think we did a pretty good job, Tabby. People seem to like her. That makes me really happy…she's a fun character to write, though a little bit harder because I'm so used to the sarcasm and sharp retorts of Terry and Sara (from CSI) and the like. But the challenge is FUN! Thanks for your input, hon. I miss you, try to catch me on Yahoo sometime!
MissCongeniality: Hey, I don't deserve all the credit, it was your way-awesome idea! So thank you, thank you, thank you! It was so much fun to write. You know, I hadn't thought of it that way, but maybe you're right about the sequel idea. Although, depending on if I keep some of the ideas I have for the epilogue, it might not work smoothly. Maybe I'll work it out. Thanks again for the totally cool idea. Kylie will be making appearances in future chapters, as well…the girls have to hang together, don't they? Hmm… "I love you"'s Probably. Probably lots of them. I can't help myself. As my brother would say, "Dude, do they even have a name for what' wrong with you?" Anyway, back on topic—thanks again, and I hope you liked this chapter too, despite the slightly disappointing lack of fluff. It's coming.
kippling croft: Thanks. I know, I wish so too. Unfortunately, it's hard to have Don/Terry moments when there's no Terry. /Sigh/ They need to fix that. Thanks for the review!
Steph36: Thank you very much! It's nice to know my work is appreciated and that I have people out there cheering for me to continue. Thanks a lot for your encouragement.
pkw: Thank you so much. You know, I am a ROYAL sucker for shipfic myself, which is why everything I write turns into shipfic. ;) Thanks for the encouragement, and I hope this chapter is as good as the last.
Piccolo Chic: Awe, thanks. And yes, I am definitely continuing…at least one or two more chapters after this one. I'm so glad you're enjoying Not So Far, I'm actually sad that it's nearly over. But there will be lots more drama-type Don/Terry fics from me in the future, worry not. :) Thanks for the review and the sweet encouragement.
Cora Clavia: Ha, I loved that quote! I want to get a keychain or a notebook or something that says that! "Sleep is for the weak. The intelligent, perhaps, but the weak." /Laughs some more/ Trust me, I know exactly what you mean. I tend to write a lot more "sleepy scenes" in when that's how I'm feeling. /Shrugs/ My brain controls my pen. What my brain thinks, my pen writes. It's simple, really. :D Thanks for the awesome, hilarious review. And PLEASE update your own stories soon, too, because I'm dying to find out what happens!
MissCongeniality: Awe, you're so sweet. Yes, I am definitely writing more of this, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I know what you mean, though, about the account thing. Finding a penname is insanely impossible around here. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement, and good luck in your search.
P.S. I was wondering that myself. COME BACK, M. MARCHAND! WE MISS YOU!
mizukimarr910: I know what you mean about fluffy cravings. They're worse than potato chip cravings! Two a.m. is my best writing time, too. :D Anyway, help yourself to my plot bunnies. I've got a few thousand too many.
Nix707: Awe, thanks. You're sweet…I'm so glad you liked it. They are DEFINITELY meant to be together…if SL hadn't left the show, ten bucks says they would have hooked up by the third season. /Sigh/ What a pain. Thanks again, you're so sweet.
coloradoavsgirl: Gee, thanks…I'm so glad you liked it. And I am definitely adding more, so don't worry about that. Thanks so much for your sweet words.
Well, thanks so much for everything. I'm out now, but more will be coming soon. I finally have a phone line again/Dances/ See you all soon.