Chapter 9
It's Funny How Life Can Change
Woody took a deep breath then leaning toward Jordan he said, "I love you Jordan."
Jordan started to open her mouth but closed it again. Woody slowly leaned closer to Jordan as his lips were about to touch hers they heard a sound.
"Mama?" Carter said standing in his doorway.
Woody leaned back and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Jordan jumped to her feet and walked over to Carter. "Yeah baby, is everything okay?" Carter just looked up at her. "Carter baby, you need to stay in bed and sleep," Jordan said taking him by the hand and leading him back into his room.
Woody sighed and cursed his son's timing. He laid his head back against the couch and prepared to wait for Jordan.
Jordan sat down on the floor next to Carter's bed and rubbed his back. Her mind was going a million miles a minute. Woody had said he loved her. She had wanted to say it back, so much. But she was scared. She closed her eyes and let her mind travel back through time. She couldn't even remember what it was like not to be in love with Woody. The last few weeks, having him back in her life, having him in Carter's life. It had been just what she had wanted but been afraid to hope for. Now here it was offered up before her, if she would just reach out and take it maybe it could be like that forever. She sighed opening her eyes and checking that Carter was asleep. Taking her hand off his back she stood up quietly.
Woody's stomach jumped when Jordan reentered the room. She just looked at him for a minute before walking over and sitting down next to him on the couch. He started to speak but stopped when he realized he didn't know what to say.
Jordan helped him out by saying somewhat flatly, "Say it again."
Woody sighed and turned to Jordan so he was looking deeply into her eyes. "I love you," he whispered. Afraid if he said it too loudly he might scare her away.
Jordan figured if she heard it again she might be able to trust her reaction the second time. She did and said, "I love you too Woody."
Woody wasn't going to miss his chance again. He leaned forward only to find Jordan meeting him halfway. Gently he reached up and touched her face turning his head to kiss her. As he inched his head closer he half expected for Carter to wake up again or for one of their phones to ring. But nothing happened. He just kissed her and she kissed him back. It was perfect.
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Jordan woke up not quite sure what had woken her up. It wasn't until she rubbed her eyes and saw Carter standing in front of her. He peered into her open eyes and said decidedly, "Time for school."
Jordan sat up dazed and looked more closely at Carter who was standing next to her bed fully dressed in little khaki pants and an orange t-shirt with a triceratops on it with his tiny backpack on his back. His hair had grown and he now had chestnut curls flopping over the sides of his head. Jordan rubbed her face again and looked at the clock; its red numbers reading 5:03. "Oh God," Jordan said exasperated.
"What's going on?" Woody said awaking with a start from his deep sleep on the other side of Jordan.
"Your son's ready for pre-school," Jordan said falling back down onto the bed. Woody leaned over her body and looked at Carter disbelievingly.
"Good morning daddy," Carter said grinning at his father and showing off his dimples.
"Carter we talked about this," Woody said sighing. "School doesn't start until nine." He reached out and grabbed Carter around the waist. Carter giggled hysterically as Woody pulled him up onto the bed between Jordan and him. Carter wiggled around a bit before discarding his backpack and crawling under the covers.
It seemed like two minutes had gone by to Jordan when he alarm clock beeped at 6:30. Carter was sleeping on top of Woody's chest with one arm flung across his father's face. Woody opened one eye and looked at Jordan before sliding out from under Carter, being careful not to wake him up. Woody followed Jordan downstairs and into the kitchen.
"He is asleep now but at 5:00 in the morning he's wide awake," Woody said sitting down on a bar stool at the kitchen counter and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
"I know," Jordan said pouring two cups of coffee from the pot and passing one of them to Woody. "He has never used to get up this early. But the last few weeks…maybe we need to make his bedtime a little later."
"Yeah, we could push it back to like 8:30, at least then maybe he would sleep until 5:30."
"I don't get it. They say at three years old he should be getting ten or more hours of sleep a night. How are we supposed to make that happen if he won't sleep longer?" Jordan sat down frustrated on the stool next to Woody. "So you are sure that you are okay taking him to pre-school today?"
"Jordan, I've told you like ten times that it is fine." Woody grinned at Jordan and said, "You have a big day today."
Just then, Carter thundered down the stairs. His backpack was on again and he had a pair of shoes in one hand. Looking expectantly at his parents he asked "School time?"
"Not until later, baby," Jordan said. "Do you want breakfast?"
"Yes, cereal please," Carter chirped happily.
"Alright, you and daddy set the table. What do you want to drink?"
Woody was handing Carter napkins to put on the table while he was getting out three bowls for them to use. Carter looked up at his father before turning to his mother and saying, "Coffee."
Woody busted up laughing while Jordan frowned. "Carter, coffee is for grownups do you want juice, water, or milk?"
Jordan tried not to smile when Carter put his hands on his hips and frowned back at her. Eventually he said, "Juice," and ran into the dining room with napkins in hand. Jordan and Woody looked at each other and shook their heads before following Carter into the dining room.
After breakfast Jordan hurried upstairs to take a shower and get ready for work. As she was rushing out the door she stopped to kiss Woody and Carter goodbye where they were reading a book on the couch. "Bye, love you guys," she said as she hurried toward the door.
"Bye, we will see you at 5:00 at the morgue," Woody said smiling.
"Bye Mommy," Carter shouted.
Usually Fridays were Jordan's day to start work late but with everything that was happening she needed to be at work that morning. Woody had dramatically cut back his hours at the precinct. One of them needed to do it and it just made more sense for it to be him. Not that he was complaining at all. He loved the extra time he got to spend with Carter. So now, Woody was taking Carter to pre-school at 9:00 every morning. After a couple hours there Carter spent some time at his babysitters. It wasn't Julia anymore; she had stopped watching Carter when they moved. Woody pulled his car into the driveway of their house, jumped out, and hurried across the street. The woman, Karen, who lived across the street and one house down had a two year old and a four year old. Woody thought she might be a saint. She had agreed to watch three other kids in the neighbor, including Carter, for a fee of course. Whenever Woody went to pick up Carter, he wondered what it would be like to spend everyday with five kids under six.
Woody glanced at his watch as he knocked on Karen's front door. It was 4:15, later than usual. "Oh Karen," Woody said as she answered the door. "I am so sorry I am late."
"Don't worry about it Woody," Karen smiled sweetly. "The kids were just playing Play-doh."
Carter came hurrying into the entryway when he heard his dad's voice. "I painted a frog in school today," he said grinning.
"Good for you buddy," Woody said bending down to look his son in the eyes. 'Why don't you go get your stuff together and you can show me when we get home."
As Woody and Carter made their way back across the street Carter rattled on and on about his day. Woody remembered hearing fellow officers talk about how their kids had cried and cried on the first day of pre-school. Carter had just given Jordan and Woody the "I'm okay sign", a thumbs up, and wandered off into the classroom.
"Okay buddy, we need to put your stuff away and then we will go meet Mommy at work," Woody said helping Carter off with his backpack. "Do you have the picture you made Grandpa Garret?"
"Yeah," Carter said hurrying up to his room.
At five o'clock on the dot Woody and Carter were getting in the elevator to go up to the morgue. As the door started to close Woody hear, "Hold the door." He quickly put his hand out to stop the door.
"Hey Lily," Woody said as he saw who he had held the door for. "Let me help you." Woody bent down and grabbed the front of the stroller Lily was pushing lifting it over the bump into the elevator. "Hi Maya," he said tickling the cheek of the little girl in the stroller.
"Hi Woody, Hi Carter," Lily said smiling down at Carter.
Carter reached up and grabbed Woody's arm and started to hang before saying, "Hi Aunt Lily."
"What about Maya, Carter?" Woody asked.
Carter turned and looked at the stroller. "Hi baby," he said. Maya giggled at him in response.
When Woody noticed Lily was juggling a few bags he offered his help out by carrying something. As they got everything together the elevator reached the morgue floor and the doors opened. Woody and Lily maneuvered the bags of stuff and the kids into the staffroom.
Jordan came in just behind them and scooped Carter up from behind tickling his sides. "Hey baby," she said kissing his cheek. Then putting Carter back down and turning to Woody she added, "Hey to you too."
Woody kissed Jordan quickly and turned back to the bag he had been carrying in. Jordan walked over to Lily and the baby. "Hi, Jordan," Lily said hugging her.
"Hey, Lil. God she is getting so big. Can I get her out of the stroller?"
"Sure," Lily replied as Jordan undid Maya's stroller straps. "Just be ready, if you put her down. She is starting to walk pretty well."
Maya was adorable. She had jet black hair and sparkling eyes that mirrored her mother's. As Jordan lifted her out of the stroller she thought about when Maya had been born. She and Woody had sat around the hospital for hours before a giddy Bug came out to announce that he had a daughter. Jordan has gone into the hospital room and visited with Lily, watching the new mother cradle her precious baby girl. Maya was over a year old now, Jordan couldn't believe how fast time had passed.
"Okay Jordan, get out of here," Lily said interrupting Jordan's thoughts. "You can come back when we are set up. Woody and I have everything under control. Why don't you take Maya and go find her father."
"Okay," Jordan said sauntering out of the room with the little girl on her hip. She had to admit she missed having a baby.
A few minutes later Woody came and found everyone and ushered them into the staffroom. On one side of the room hung a banner that read, "Thank you Garret. We will miss you!" and opposite of that hung one reading, "Congratulations Jordan!" Lily and Woody had set up the staffroom with snacks, drinks, and a cake in the middle.
The morgue staff was all there and some of the more welcome detectives had come. Everyone settled down into having a good time. Conversations bounced around though they usually focused on topics such as how no one could believe Garret was retiring and why the hell he was trusting Jordan to take over his job.
Woody stood up to make a toast though tapping his plastic fork on the plastic cup he was holding didn't do much. Once he finally had everyone's attention he began, "I remember the first time I met Garret, it also happened to be the first time I met Jordan." Some whistles and catcalls came out from the group. Woody was pretty sure Nigel could be thanked for that. "Anyway, I remember how impressed I was by Garret and how he did his work." Turning to Garret his continued, "The thing I will always be grateful for though is how welcoming you were to me. You were always honest and made sure I didn't do anything too stupid, even when I was being an ass." Everyone clapped as cheered as Woody held his glass up to salute Garret.
Woody felt a tug at his pants and looked down to see Carter standing next to him. He bent down and Carter whispered in his ear. Woody nodded at his son who walked up to Garret. Carter held out a red piece of construction paper with some marker coloring on it. As Garret took the paper from him Carter said, "It's for you Grandpa Garret. I love you."
Garret hugged Carter to him and said, "Thank you very much Carter."
Jordan stood up next and made a speech. She began, "Garret, I can't even begin to tell you how much I love you. You are 'my bestest girlfriend' and I can't imagine working here without you." Jordan felt tears come to her eyes but she continued, "You are my rock. You have always been there for me and I will do my best to do as good of a job here as you have."
Hours later after many more speeches and a lot of joking around everyone started to file out. Jordan was half asleep in a chair with Carter sprawled lazily in her lap, his head resting on her chest. Her left hand was resting on his chest and he was absent mindedly twisting her ring back and forth. Jordan's eyes began to fall shut as Woody scooted a chair up next to her. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked quietly.
She leaned against him and whispered, "Definitely."
Woody stood up and reached down saying, "Let me take him." He lifted Carter out of Jordan lap and their son wrapped his arms around his father's neck. Woody boosted Carter up in one arm and wrapped his other arm around Jordan's shoulders as they walked down the hallway. "I love you and I am so proud of you," he whispered in her ear as the got to the elevators.
"I love you too," she said resting her head on his shoulder. As they got in the elevator Jordan glanced around the morgue before the doors closed. She had the weekend off then come Monday she was in charge. But for now she was going to go hometo rest with her family.
Okay folks, so that was it. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I will try and write another story if you think I should. I'll probably stay away from the future stuff on the next one. Well, thanks for reading.
