Caroline turned her head and looked at the clock, ten minutes. Mike had been reluctant to take the muscle relaxers that Dr. Brackett had ordered, but Caroline had finally talked him into it. Johnny had told them that Ainsley and the baby would be coming home the day before their next shift and everyone was going to be at the house for a surprise welcome home party. Caroline had convinced him that taking the muscle relaxers would help him heal so he was up for the party. Mike had been gently snoring for the last ten minutes.
Caroline slipped out of bed and out of the bedroom. She gently closed the door. She turned around and headed into the bathroom. She felt the adrenaline start coursing through her veins. Mike was just too good, she thought. No one was as selfless as he was, volunteering his free time to help his friends, staying friendly with ex-girlfriends, helping out old ladies he didn't even know. Caroline shook her head. Experience had taught her with men the more they tried to appear good on the outside, the darker their secrets were. Caroline opened the medicine cabinet and scanned the contents. Aspirin, Band-Aids, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, shaving cream; no prescription medications, nothing indicating what Mike could possibly be hiding.
Caroline slipped out of the bathroom and headed toward the living room. She opened up the closet near the front door. A few coats hung next to skis, a tennis racket, bowling ball, basketball, several baseball bats, balls, Frisbees. Mike obviously loved all sports. Caroline closed the closet and moved to the next spot. After almost an hour, she plopped down on the couch. "Nothing," she said out loud. How was that even possible. His bills were organized, he filed his receipts. He hadn't purchased anything even remotely scandalous. He didn't use credit cards, he stayed within his budget, and he had money in savings. According to his phone bill he called a number registered to Charles Stoker every week, she was guessing those were his parents.
She turned to the sound of someone knocking at the door. Probably the police officer again, she thought. They had been escorted home by a patrol officer and one had already knocked on the door checking to make sure everything was okay once. It hadn't been hard to figure out that the police must suspect her as doing these things to Mike. Otherwise there would not have been any reason to knock on the door, they'd have just kept a car in the parking lot.
Caroline got up from the couch and walked to the door. "He's still sleeping, Officer," Caroline said, as she opened the door. "Oh, sorry, Kate, isn't it?"
"Yes, Detective Kate Stryker."
"Mike's still sleeping. The doctor gave him muscle relaxers to help with the pain and stiffness.
"Actually, Caroline, I came to talk to you. "
"Come in," Caroline said, opening the door wider.
Kate stepped in and glanced around.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Caroline asked.
"No, no thanks. I just need to ask you a few questions," Kate said.
"Like where was I yesterday, or last night?"
Kate just looked at Caroline.
"I'm not an idiot. I know the reason the police officer is coming to the door is because you have a reason to think I'd do something like this to Mike. I thought that guy, what was his name, that Mike helped put in jail was behind these attacks on Mike?"
"He was our prime suspect, but we now have reason to suspect he could not have been behind this most recent attack."
Caroline looked at Kate. "So, I'm the next most reasonable suspect?"
"We're looking at everyone?"
"I was at work yesterday until 5:00 PM, then I stopped at the grocery store and got gas. I went home, ate dinner, watched a little TV and went to bed early."
"Can anyone verify that?"
"A lot of people saw me at work. I don't know if anyone would remember me at the grocery store or gas station.
"You didn't go out after you went home?"
Caroline shook her head. "Just the hospital this morning, when I saw the news about the fire."
"Do you always watch the news in the morning?"
"Sometimes. I woke up a little early, so had a little extra time. When that happens I usually will watch a little TV. I'm usually barely getting out of the door on time," Caroline chuckled.
"Can you think of anyone that would want to hurt Mike?"
"Who'd want to hurt, Mike? He's a handsome Ward Clever."
"Ward Clever?"
"You know, from the TV show, Leave It to Beaver. He's always polite, sweet, helpful."
"Those are good qualities," Kate said, thinking that Caroline's tone sounded a little snide.
"I know. I'm just saying, people don't want to hurt people with those qualities. Thinking that someone would is ridiculous."
"An explosion that was strong enough to embed wood into metal is pretty serious," Kate said.
"I'm not trying to say this isn't serious. I'm sorry if it comes off that way," Caroline apologized. "I just have trouble believing anyone would want to hurt Mike. I mean, I could get it if it was the man Mike had put in jail, but why would anyone else want to hurt him."
"That's what I'm gonna find out," Kate said, moving toward the door. "If you think of anything, call the station and they'll get in touch with me."
"I will," Caroline said, moving toward the door. She closed the door as Kate left.
Caroline wandered back down the hall and laid back down next to Mike. That was where he found her when he woke up a few hours later.
E
"I can't wait to get home," Ainsley said, as Johnny pushed the wheelchair carrying her and Grace to the Rover. Dixie walked along beside of them.
"Make sure you get lots of rest," Dixie cautioned. "You still have a lot of healing to do."
"I'll take care of her," Johnny assured her.
"I know you will," Dixie patted Johnny's arm. Johnny took Grace while Ainsley got into the Rover, then he secured Grace in her car seat. He closed both doors and moved behind the Rover with Dixie.
"You guys stopping by later?"
"Kel, Joe and I all get off in a couple of hours, we're coming straight over."
"See ya then," Johnny said, moving to get into the driver's seat.
"Ready?" Johnny glanced back at Grace and over at Ainsley, to ensure her seat belt was on.
"Ready," Ainsley smiled.
E
Mike pulled up to the curb in front of the Gage home. "Hey, Roy," he called out his window. "Are we hiding our vehicles?"
"Just park down at my house. Johnny's gonna come through the other end of the subdivision."
Mike nodded and turned his car around in the next driveway to go park by Roy's house.
"Do you think this is such a good idea?" Caroline asked.
"Johnny'll keep Ainsley distracted so she doesn't notice the cars."
"I meant being here when she first gets home. She just went through a pretty traumatic event, had a baby and spent several days in the hospital. She's not gonna want to entertain guests."
Mike laughed. "If Ainsley doesn't want to entertain us, she'll just tell us. Or she'll go lay down."
Caroline wasn't so sure, but she followed Mike down to the Gage home after he parked the truck.
Mike saw Meg walk out of the Gage home and into the backyard as he and Caroline walked up the driveway.
"What's she doing here?" Caroline whispered.
Mike shrugged. "She and Ainsley are friends."
"Did you know she was gonna be here?"
Mike looked at her. "No. I never even thought about it being more than just the guys from the station."
Caroline looked skeptical.
"Caroline," Mike went to say more, but Roy walked out of the house and called out to them.
"Mike, Caroline, good to see you."
Meg turned and looked at them.
She avoided coming near them and instead headed back into the house.
"Aina, is there anything else I can help with?" Meg said, going into the kitchen.
Aina looked over all the food on the counter. "I don't think we need any more food."
Meg smiled. "I don't know, Johnny's gonna be here too."
Aina laughed. "I have no idea how he stays so thin given how much he eats. I'd be as big as a house."
"Johnny's got a natural energy that probably burns a 1,000 calories an hour while sleeps. I don't know how Ainsley lives with him."
"They were made for each other."
Megan looked out the window into the back yard and watched as Caroline leaned against Mike as he spoke to some of the guys. "Yeah, they were."
Aina watched her gaze, but said nothing.
"I ran the vacuum over the living room one more time, just to be safe," Jackson said, coming into the kitchen.
"I think we need to work hard on getting Ainsley to sit in the living room with all of us at least at some point tonight."
"Agreed," Jackson leaned around his wife to steal a tomato off the vegetable tray. Aina slapped at his hand, but he popped the tomato into his mouth anyway. "Um, good."
"Take these out to the picnic table would ya," Aina said, handing him the whole tray. Jackson accepted it and stole another tomato on his way out the back door. "Jackson!"
Meg laughed. She could remember her parents together, they had been like Aina and Jackson and Ainsley and Johnny; that love you could see in their interactions with each other. She wanted that for herself one day. She might have found it with Mike had things not turned out the way they had. Meg reminder herself that she did not intend to give us so easy.
She picked up the tray of pigs in a blanket that Aina had just transferred from the cooking sheet to a platter. "I can take these out to everyone," Meg offered.
Aina watched her head out and go straight toward where Mike was standing.
Aina shook her head. It looked like they were in for a real life soap opera, right in the backyard today.
E
Johnny asked Ainsley to check the diaper bag and make sure they had packed the extra diapers the hospital provided just before they got ready to turn onto their street.
"Didn't you buy diapers for the house already?" Ainsley asked, looking over at him.
"Yeah, but we're gonna go through a lot of diapers and I don't want us to forget the free ones."
Ainsley's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
"Nothin'."
"John Roderick Gage, what am I about to walk into?" Ainsley turned to scan the street. She recognized all the cars parked down by Roy's house. "A surprise party? Really?"
"Not really a surprise party as much as a welcome home party. A lot of people stayed away from the hospital so you could recuperate. Everyone wants to see Grace and see for themselves that you're okay," Johnny defended himself.
Ainsley shook her head. She would have preferred they do this in a day or two, but she realized she probably wouldn't be feeling significantly better having a toddler and newborn to contend with. "As long as I don't have to fake surprise."
"You don't, see everyone is just in the backyard." Johnny pulled the car into the driveway and everyone turned to see them.
The guys were quickly moving toward the car. Captain Stanley rounded the passenger side and opened Ainsley's door. He offered her his arm to help her out of the car; he knew she'd still be pretty sore from having a C-section. Roy waited until Captain Stanley had moved her away from the car and then he ducked his head in the car to get Grace out of the car seat.
Johnny reached into the back and pulled out Ainsley's bag and the diaper bag. There were a few plants that had been delivered to the hospital and a few gifts. "Mike, Marco, can you guys grab that stuff for me," Johnny said, since Chet was busy running around the backyard chasing Hunter and being chased by Chief.
Caroline sighed as Mike moved away from her and Meg to help Johnny get the stuff out of the car.
Meg turned to look at her. "Would you like a pig in the blanket?"
Caroline looked at her, looked down at the platter and walked away. She moved over to the backdoor. "I'll hold the door for you," she said cheerily to Mike and Marco.
"I'll take one of those."
Meg jumped at the sound of a male voice behind her. She turned to find Chet standing behind her. Meg smiled and held the tray out.
"Eat," Hunter said, reaching out for the tray.
"Oh, not these, Hunter. Are you hungry?"
"Hungy," the little boy said, continuing to reach for the tray and grabbing on to Meg's leg.
"Would you mind taking these?" Meg asked Chet, handing him the tray.
"Sure."
Meg reached down and picked up Hunter. "Let's go find you some food."
Meg made it about three steps before Hunter saw Ainsley. "Mama, mama, mama!" Hunter lunged trying to get out of Meg's arms.
"Hold on, Hunter. I'll take you to see Mama. We're gonna let her go sit down on the couch and then you can sit with her," Meg said, moving closer to Ainsley, but not close enough that Hunter could reach her, or that Ainsley would be tempted to reach for him.
"Ainsley, go sit in the living room and I'll bring you Hunter. While you snuggle, I'll get him some stuff you can feed him," Meg said, so Aina could hear her as they walked into the house.
Aina quickly moved a few items to the dining room chairs so Ainsley couldn't easily sit down in the kitchen. Captain Stanley quickly figured out the plan and gently guided Ainsley toward the living room. She was so focused on Hunter calling for her, and wanting to hug her son, that she didn't even hesitate as she walked into the living room and moved for the couch. As soon as she sat down, Meg was bending over and gently placing Hunter next to her.
Any hope that Hunter would sit nicely next to his mother was quickly dashed as Hunter scrambled to climb up on her lap and lean against her. Ainsley sucked in a sharp breath, but wrapped her arms around her son. She adjusted his legs to get him situated in a way that was a bit more comfortable for her and dipped her head to kiss him. "I missed you my big boy."
"I wuv you," Hunter said, kissing his mom.
Hunter stopped and looked down at her belly. "No baby?" Hunter patted her flat stomach.
"There's the baby," Ainsley said, helping to turn Hunter to look at Johnny, who had taken Grace from Roy.
"Hunter, do you want to meet your baby sister?" Johnny asked, stepping into the living room and moving to sit down close to Ainsley.
Hunter looked at the baby, and then up at his daddy holding this thing he didn't quite understand.
"Maybe Hunter would like the gift that Grace brought him," Ainsley said, looking at her dad.
"Oh, yes, I've got it in the garage."
"Hunter, your baby sister brought you a very special present to thank you for being her big brother," Johnny said. "Do you want to go with Papa and I to see it?"
"Yes!" the little boy clapped his hands and bounced up and down.
"Ugh," Ainsley grimaced at the pain.
Jackson moved over and scooped Hunter off her lap. "C'mon, buddy, let's go see what your little sister bought you," Jackson put him on the ground and took his hand.
"Daddy, come," Hunter said, looking back at Johnny.
"Of course," Johnny said, handing Ainsley the baby.
Hunter looked back over at Ainsley and looked like he was going to protest his mom holding the baby; but Jackson saw the brewing problem. "C'mon, it looked like a really big present!"
Hunter's eyes got wide, "Big?"
"Huge!"
Hunter started pulling toward the kitchen to get to the living room.
Roy followed them outside so he could open the garage door. He, Jackson and Johnny had worked most of the day yesterday putting the swing set together in the garage. The would need all of them to carry it into the backyard, but Johnny wanted to make sure they dug holes to put the legs into and filled them with concrete to ensure the swing set would be stable as the kids got bigger and played harder. They figured Hunter could play some in the garage today and they could carry it out tonight when he went to bed. The cement should be dry by morning.
Johnny held Hunter back while Roy opened the garage door.
"Swing! Swing!" Hunter yelled as the garage door opened.
"Yes, just for you," Johnny said. "From your little sister, Grace," Johnny said, slowly enunciating the name Grace.
"Baby?"
"Yes, this is for you from the baby."
Hunter moved trying to get into the swing. Johnny moved over and picked him up strapping him into the bucket seat. He gave Hunter a small push. The guys took turns playing with Hunter on the swing set and eating food.
Ainsley sat on the couch as all the women filtered in carrying plates of food. Aina brought Ainsley a plate.
"Oh, I can hold Grace while you eat," Joanne offered.
Ainsley smiled, as she moved to come take her.
Ainsley looked around the room, Aina was talking quietly with Beth Stanley, Joanne was holding Grace and Meg was leaning in to get a better look at the baby. Caroline sat on the far end of the room, looking out the picture window.
"Caroline, it's nice you got a chance to come today," Ainsley said, trying to draw the young woman into the group.
"I'm learning that if I want to see Mike I have to be willing to share him with the all of you," Caroline tried to laugh and smile, but Ainsley heard a bit of an edge to her statement.
"It's not always like this," Ainsley assured her. "The guys work together in 24-hour shifts two or three times a week, most times they do their own thing on days off, but when things are tough, they close ranks and spend a lot more time together."
"You mean because of all the trouble Mike is having?" Caroline asked.
"Not just Mike," Beth said. "Ainsley and Johnny certainly had their fair share of troubles in all this."
"The guys will stay close looking out for each other until this guy is behind bars," Joanne said, none of the woman knowing that Kevin had been under observation and unable to set the last attack on Mike.
"You'd think this would make them want to keep their distance," Caroline said.
"Our men are the ones running into a building when everyone else is running out," Joanne said.
"They don't run from danger, they run toward it." Beth added.
"We don't do so bad either," Ainsley said. "I can't believe you got me back in this room without my even noticing."
"Doing okay?" Her mom asked.
Ainsley looked around at the women sitting in the room with her. "How could I not be. I've got a great group of friends."
"And a wonderful husband," Johnny said, entering the room.
"And a wonderful husband."
"Hunter wanted to say something to the baby," Johnny said, setting Hunter down.
The little boy walked over the Joanne, and she held the baby down so he could see her.
"Fank you, baby Gwace," Hunter said, leaning over to kiss the baby. "I wuv my pwesent."
Ainsley smiled over at Johnny. They had heard that sometimes the older sibling was jealous of the new baby. They had thought the best way to combat that would be to make the swing set from the baby so Hunter had a reason to like the baby right from the beginning.
"Gwace come swing?" Hunter asked.
"No, not just yet, buddy," Johnny said. It will be a little while before she can play with you on the swing set, but as she grows you can help teach her how to play on it," Johnny explained.
"Are you guys ready to introduce Chief to the baby?" Roy asked. "We've been keeping him outside, but now with all of you in the house, he really wants to come in."
Ainsley and Johnny looked at each other. "Chief did great with Hunter; I'm not expecting any problems," Johnny said.
"Go ahead and let him in, Roy."
"I'll step into the kitchen and condense some of the food," Meg said. "Make a little more room."
Meg moved into the kitchen as Chief raced past her to get into the living room. She reached over and moved the tray of pigs in the blanket to the counter. She moved to go get a smaller tray since there were not many left, but accidently bumped the larger tray. She quickly tried to grab it, but 3 h'orderves fell and landed in Chief's food bowl. Meg sighed, grabbed the smaller tray and moved the remaining items to the smaller tray. She leaned over and picked up the pigs in the blanket out of Chief's bowl and set them back on the large tray. She quickly condensed two other trays and turned back to throw the pigs in the blanket on the large tray in the garbage.
Caroline stood behind her, about to pop one in her mouth.
"Oh," Meg started to stop her.
"What, am I stealing these from you too?" Caroline gave her a smirk.
Meg felt her hand clench, but she said nothing. Instead, she forced herself to smile. "Help yourself."
Caroline popped the food in her mouth, grabbed the other two and headed back into the living room.
Meg followed behind, carrying a couple of trays of food into the living room, so people could continue to eat and talk.
She entered to see Chief near Ainsley, his head on her lap as she let him sniff the baby. Chief very gently licked the baby's fingers.
"I'd say he likes her," Johnny said, smiling at how well Chief was doing with Grace.
"Looks like we've got more guests," Roy said, getting up from the couch and moving toward the front door as Kel, Joe and Dixie started walking up the walk.
"Hey guys, c'mon in. There's still plenty of food, drinks are in the kitchen," Johnny welcomed the group.
"The only thing I want is that baby," Dixie said, moving over toward Grace.
Ainsley smiled and handed her the baby.
"Well, I want to see this big guy over here," Joe said, moving toward Hunter. "I've got you a gift."
"Anothew pwesent!" Hunter clapped his hands.
Joe handed him the wrapped box and Hunter immediately started to tear it open. Hunter looked at the plastic doctor bag, he opened it up and pulled out the toy stethoscope. "Like daddy," he said, struggling to put the toys in his ears.
"Like me," said Joe.
"Or me," said Kel.
"Like daddy," said Hunter.
"Give it up, boys, you're never gonna trump daddy," Dixie said, holding Grace.
"Who could trump this," Johnny said, stretching out his arms.
The gang laughed.
Everyone stayed for a couple more hours, until Kel pointed out that Ainsley really should get some rest. The women moved to finish cleaning up, while the guys moved outside to move the swing set into the backyard. Kel and Joe used a post-hole digger to quickly dig six holes in the ground for a swing set. The Station 51 guys each grabbed a post and carried the whole unit out of the garage and over to the back yard. They lined it up with the holes and set the unit in place. It didn't take long to mix the cement and pour it into the holes.
"It should be dry by the time Hunter gets up in the morning. Thanks, guys."
Caroline stood leaning against the back fence waiting for Mike to finish up. Mike wandered over to her. "Can we go now?" Caroline asked, leaning into Mike.
"Sure."
Caroline slipped her arm through Mike's and headed toward his truck. "The ladies said that one of the reasons the guys are spending so much time together right now is because of all the trouble you are having."
"Probably," Mike said.
"But, isn't that why Ainsley got hurt?" Caroline asked. "Because she was spending time with you?"
"I thought so," Mike said.
"But, now the police don't think this guy you put in jail did it," Caroline said.
"How did you know that?" Mike asked, looking at her.
"Detective Stryker stopped by your apartment while you were sleeping. She told me that he was under surveillance when the last bomb went off. So, you knew that too?"
"She told me in the hospital," Mike said, continuing to walk toward his truck.
"When were you going to tell me she suspected me?" Caroline asked.
"She suspects Meg too, it isn't personal."
"Why does she suspect Meg?"
"Because I broke up with her."
"And she's bitter," Carolind said. "Obviously she wants you back."
"She's never said that," Mike argued.
"Let's just leave it as a woman knows."
Mike looked over at Caroline and wondered if that was true.