For the last week or so Jim had been going stir crazy so he'd decided to go in to the office but keep himself on desk duty as he still couldn't walk without crutches. Since he wasn't going to any scenes, Sara was using his car to get him to work and herself to the lab. She made a point to visit him at least once a night to see if there was anything he needed or wanted. At the end of shift she'd pick him back up and they'd either go to the market or straight back to his place.
Sara had more or less moved in with him and they were contemplating whether or not she should let her lease expire. She had a couple of months left and since she and Jim had grown so close, spent so much time together and been seeing each other for so long, Jim was of the mind that she should completely move in. Sara, on the other hand, was hesitant. She liked having her own place to go to when she needed some time alone. As much as they loved each other, there were still the times when either he or she needed some alone time and her apartment was good for that. In recent weeks, when she'd needed time alone she'd hole up in Jim's basement with a good book or sitting back on the comfy couch watching some show about whatever she felt like watching. She'd grown fond of the Law and Order trifecta as well as Crossing Jordan, American Justice, City confidential and the FBI Files on A&E and the Discovery Channel, respectively. Sometimes Jim would join her, but more often than not he'd head off to bed after work while she went down and unwound herself to the tune of the voice of Paul Winfield or Miguel Ferrer and Steve Valentine. She didn't sleep much, so when she usually got tired it was only a few hours or so before they'd have to be up and ready for shift. Normally she'd get in around four hours of sleep, spooned up behind Jim, her arm draped around his waist.
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This evening Jim sits in his office with his bad leg propped up on his desk, reading through a case file. it's a fairly comfortable position, as he's found out recently, and he stays the weight off his leg as often as time permits. Leaning back in his chair, he flips through the pages of the thick folder, doing his best to recall the particular situation that the contents of the folder pertain to. A knock comes to his door and he snaps his head up to see who it is, half knowing that it would most likely be Sara, and seeing her, he smiles.
"What's up?" he asks, gesturing for her to enter
She takes a seat opposite his desk and slouches down a bit. She looks tired and stressed and Jim notices this. Setting the folder down, he turns to face her and smiles again.
"You look like hammered shit." he says jokingly
"Ugh, such language. You kiss your girlfriend with that mouth?" she replies
"Sorry. You look like regular shit." he amends
"That's better, but not much."
"So, what brings you here today?" he asks
Taking a deep breath and letting it slowly out, Sara lets out a low groan.
"Nothing. I just thought I'd visit my favourite detective...that, and its time for lunch. You hungry?"
Not very hungry but knowing that he should eat something, Jim opens his desk drawer and pulls out several take out menus. He spread them out across his desk and looked up at her.
"Let's see. We have Chinese, Cantonese, Italian, Salvadoran, Indian, Mexican and good old American."
Picking up the Salvadoran menu, Sara perused it until she found what she wanted and then handed the menu over to Jim who looked at it for a minute before picking up the desk phone and dialing. After a moment Jim began to speak.
"Yes, this is for delivery. Yeah, I'll have the Frijoles Negros with rice and Carne Asada and an order of..."
Jim looks to Sara and she responds that she'd like the Chicken Yucatan.
"Chicken Yucatan. Yes, and can you deliver that to the LVPD, attention Jim Brass? Good. What's the damage? Good, then. Thirty minutes. Thanks."
Hanging up the phone and turning back to Sara, Jim raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"I thought you were a vegetarian."
"I am, but I've been having this craving for meat all of a sudden. I don't know why."
Familiar with "cravings" Jim couldn't help but wonder about the obvious. After all, they WERE like rabbits, in the sack. It wouldn't be such a surprise if she were pregnant. But if she were, why wouldn't the doctor at the hospital have said anything? Maybe she wasn't pregnant at the time. Maybe this is a recent occurrence. Maybe she doesn't even know. All these thoughts ran through his mind as he sat there, behind his desk, and looked Sara over. She DID seem to have a different sort of glow to her lately and then there was the matter of the barbeque chicken that had gone missing from the ice box a few days ago. If she WAS pregnant, it wasn't showing physically. She was still slim and trim, but then she wouldn't begin to show for some time...that is if she truly were pregnant.
Jim also thought about what sort of father he'd be to this new child. He'd done his best with Ellie, but failed. He figured that to be, in part, Ellie's genetics and the other part his absence from her during her formative years. Hopefully this child would be more even tempered and less obstinate than Ellie. She was rebellious from the beginning and defiant at every turn. But maybe he was getting ahead of himself, he thought. All Sara had done was order chicken, and that, out of context, was just chicken. There had been no mood swings or anything of the sort as of yet, nor were there any other signs, like morning sickness, water weight gain and headaches. But as it was, if she REALLY were pregnant she couldn't be more than a week or so; far too early to tell. He decided he'd wait and if it WERE true, he'd let her come to him in her own time.
They sat and talked as they waited for their food and when it came Jim was surprised at the speed of which she devoured her meal. Then, when she was done she eyed his food, a look of hunger in her eyes. Pulling out his lower left desk drawer, Jim produced a king-sized Snickers bar and slid it across the desk. Sara caught it on the slide, slowly opened the wrapper and took great pleasure in every bite. The look on her face was priceless; like she were eating an orgasm. With every mouthful she'd let out a small moan and her eyes would roll a bit, the way she did when she...well, you know. This bought Jim some time to finish his meal without threat of Sara eyeing him any further.
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09:00hrs and shift was over. As Sara climbed behind the wheel of Jim's car she called him and let him know she was on her way. He quickly finished up his work and by the time he'd made it to the front doors of the precinct she was just pulling up. She leaned over and opened the car door for him and as he hobbled toward her he joked.
"Door to door service. I could get used to this."
Tossing his crutches in the back seat, he settled in the passenger seat and slammed the door closed. Turning to Sara, he smiled.
"Home, Jeeves"
"As you wish. One is always glad to be of service." she replied
During the drive home, sitting at a red light, Sara turned to Jim.
"I think I'm going to let my lease run out. That is if you still want me to move in with you."
Without hesitation, Jim replied.
"Of course. How big a moving truck will you need"
"Probably a small one. I'm going to give a lot of my stuff away. Greg's got dibs on my computer desk and Nick wants my bed frame. He said he likes the cherry wood and construction of it."
A thoughtful finger on his lips, Jim wondered aloud.
"When did Nick see your bed"
"Last year. I had this really bad flu and he came by a couple of times to check up on me. Well, he and Greg" she explained
Satisfied with her answer, Jim gave it no more thought. He just sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. When they arrived at what was now THEIR home, Jim hobbled out and went straight to bed. Oddly enough, so did Sara. She didn't know exactly why, but she was unusually tired that morning. So, as they stripped down to their underclothes, Jim lay on his back with his good arm out to his side and Sara snuggled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder and her arm across his stomach.
As they both drifted to sleep Jim's head was filled with thoughts from earlier that day. Was he finally ready to be a parent? Only time would tell.