Houston, We Have a Problem

"Hey," Jennifer smiled brightly as Dave sat his gym bag by the door and placed his hands on his hips. "This is so NOT what it looks like," she assured him, stepping away from John as quickly as she could.

"What did it look like?" Dave asked, his gaze steady as he glanced from his fiancee to his friend and then back again.

"Man, I just came over to see," John started.

But Jennifer moved quickly toward Dave and wrapped her arms around his waist. "John just came over to see where we wanted to go on our honeymoon," she spouted the first thing that popped into her head.

"Why would he want to know that?" Dave asked suspiciously, his hand resting on Jennifer's hip.

"Because he and Trish are going to pay to send us wherever we want to go," she explained, smiling sweetly at John, who covered his shock so quickly she barely noticed it.

"Is that right?" Dave asked, his lip twitching in the corners with amusement.

John swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, man," he went along with the story after making a mental note to pay Jennifer back for his generosity later. "Anywhere you guys wanna go, we wanna send you." Thinking as quickly as Jennifer had, he added, "And we're going to keep Keegan for you while you're gone."

Before Jennifer could protest that little stipulation, Dave shook his head and walked toward John, his hand outstretched. "Thanks for the offer, man," he smiled genuinely. "But I've already got the honeymoon covered. And we're taking Keegan with us."

"On our honeymoon?" Jennifer asked. It was the first she had heard of it, and while she appreciated the gesture, it was the only time in her life she didn't want her daughter within five hundred miles of herself and Dave.

Dave shrugged and turned, leaning next to John against the back of the couch. "It'll be more like a family vacation," he said. "Where is my Peanut?" he asked, looking around the living room and then down the hall.

"Packing to stay at your house tonight," Jennifer said as John pulled his car keys from his pocket. "I didn't think you were getting in until later."

With a smile, Dave started off toward Keegan's room as John headed for the front door. "You think you're funny, huh?" he asked with a good-natured smile Jennifer saw him out.

She nodded and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm quick on my feet."

"Yeah," John laughed. "For that, I think I'll get you a doily for a wedding gift."

"You don't even know what a doily is, Dumb Ass," she teased before saying good bye and closing the door behind him. She walked down the hall toward Keegan's room, only to find her daughter laying on the bed with her head in Dave's lap. "What's going on here?"

Dave's face was slightly concerned as he ran a gentle hand over Keegan's forehead. "She said she doesn't feel very well," he said, his brow furrowed in concern as he picked her up and cradled her close to his chest. "She look pale to you?"

Jennifer considered her daughter's complexion for a moment. "Maybe a little. She was playing with Jill's boys when I got home. She's probably just worn out," she shrugged. "You ready for a nap, Peanut?"

Keegan nodded slightly as Dave laid her back on the bed. "I'm sleepy, Mommy."

"You just lay there and take a little rest, okay? We'll go to Dave's when you wake up." She bent low and kissed her daughter's forehead, noting that she was slightly damp with a thin layer of sweat.

After dropping a kiss on Keegan's forehead, Dave led Jennifer out of the room. He wasn't entirely sure he bought the whole "honeymoon" story she and John had given him, but he was too worried about Keegan to think twice about it now.

"Is this the first time you've noticed her looking like that?" he asked as they started back down the hall.

Jennifer thought about the question. "She's my daughter, David. I would notice if something was wrong with her. Stop being paranoid," she smacked his shoulder and smiled up at him. "Welcome home, by the way," she whispered, linking her hands together behind his back.

Dave bent his head and captured her lips in a soft kiss. "I missed you," he told her before kissing her again.

Trying to calm her fears, Jennifer surrendered to the embrace. She and John weren't doing anything wrong - she had no reason to feel guilty about Dave walking in on their hug. And Keegan would be fine. She was just tired - worn out from spending the day with her cousins and her father.

---

"Okay, so she's been kind of tired lately, so she might want to head to bed a little bit early. We should be back by ten, but if she's tired before that, let her sleep," Jennifer was rattling last-minute instructions while Dave sat next to Keegan on the couch.

"You feelin' alright, Peanut?" he asked in a whisper as Keegan sat coloring beside him. Her usual spunk and spirit were nowhere to be found as she sat still, barely running her crayon over the page.

"I'm good," she smiled at Dave and then went back to the Barbie book in her lap.

"Are you sure? Cause your mommy and I don't have to go out tonight," he began.

But Keegan shook her head and climbed into his lap, her hands on his cheeks. "Listen to me, okay?" She mimicked her mother as she spoke in a firm tone. "You have not had a night alone in almost three," she held three fingers up in front of his eyes, "Three weeks. You are taking my mommy somewhere nice, and you're going to have fun."

Dave smiled and nodded, hugging her one last time as Jennifer finished instructing Trish on the procedures for the evening. "If you need anything, call my cell. I'll keep it on," she said, holding the phone up as an object lesson.

"Alright, Jen," Trish laughed, pushing her friend toward the door. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Go. Have fun. Don't come back until the coach turns back into a pumpkin, okay?"

Dave and Jennifer had been gone for a couple of hours when Trish started to worry. Keegan hadn't left the couch all night, and seemed to be in no hurry to any time soon. "Do you wanna play Supermodel, Keegan?" she asked, referring to Keegan's favorite game, which consisted of dressing up in Trish's clothes and parading around the living room.

Keegan shrugged and looked over to where John was watching ESPN from his recliner. "Can we just watch TV with John for a little bit?"

Trish sat next to Keegan on the couch and nodded, watching the young girl's hand drift over the paper as though she wasn't really paying attention. Trish wasn't a mother, had no real maternal instincts to speak of, but she knew when something wasn't right. And the way Keegan was acting wasn't right.

"Come here, Munchkin. Let's watch TV over here with John."

Trish climbed into John's lap, sitting on his right leg and placing Keegan on his left. "John," she whispered as Keegan's eyes began to drift shut?"

"What?" he asked, following his girlfriend's eyes to the young girl sitting on him.

"She has barely moved since she got here," Trish said, praying that Keegan couldn't hear her and wouldn't worry. "But her heart is racing like she just ran a marathon."

Forcing himself to merely stand instead of jumping out of the seat, John held Keegan to his chest and motioned for Trish to get her purse. "We're going to the hospital," he said, his tone leaving little room for argument.

"Maybe we should let Jennifer and Dave make that call? You know? Her parents?" Trish said, even as she was fishing her cell phone out of her purse.

I am her parent, John wanted to scream. Instead, he just walked toward the garage door. "Call them on the way."