"Hey, did I wake you?" Mary's voice sounded like heaven as Danny held the cell phone close to his ear.
"No, we just got in. I think Delinda packed every piece of clothing she owned." Danny had driven them to her apartment earlier in the week to collect some things, but she had insisted on going back for more tonight. By the time they'd returned to their suite—a two bedroom despite Delinda's insistence they only needed one—it was almost 5AM.
He held the phone between his ear and shoulder while he removed his clothes. "Is everything okay? You're not just getting in too, are you? Mike told me he saw you head upstairs early last night."
"I'm actually just waking up. I've been so tired lately—my sleep schedule has been crazy. I actually had to come upstairs and take a nap yesterday afternoon—I was falling asleep at my desk."
"I hope you're not getting sick. Maybe you should call the doctor."
"I'm fine, Danny. I promise."
"Okay," he said reluctantly, but Mary had already changed the subject.
"Did you talk to Mike about tonight?"
"Yeah, he said he'd cover for me so I could get away for a couple of hours. Delinda's going to be busy with Beyoncé so it should be fine." Mary was leaving tomorrow for a week-long resort managers' conference in Miami and they were desperate to spend a little bit of time together before her trip.
"Good. I'm going to leave early so I can go to the grocery store. We're still going to meet at your place, right?"
"Definitely. I need to get the hell out of this place—even if it is for just a little while." Danny sighed heavily and Mary's heart went out to him.
"You must be exhausted, sweetie."
"I don't think I've slept more than a couple hours at a time all week. And we're still no closer to finding these guys."
"I'm so sorry. Is Delinda being really bad?"
"Not too bad," Danny replied as he checked the lock on the bedroom door, but Mary could hear the hesitation in his voice.
"Are you lying?"
"Yes."
"My poor baby," she cooed, but Danny could tell she was smiling.
"You're really enjoying the fact that she's making me so uncomfortable, aren't you?"
"Danny, I would never…," Mary said with mock-indignation, but she couldn't stop herself from laughing, "…well okay maybe a little. Look, sweetie, I know it's stressing you out so if you want to tell her about us it's okay. I mean, maybe it's time."
"I just don't know how you've stayed so calm about the whole thing. I mean, I trust you, but it would drive me crazy if some guy was all over you all the time. You saw how I was the other day and that poor kid was just talking to you." In truth, Delinda had been pretty good at taking no for an answer, but that didn't stop her from trying to change his mind—repeatedly.
"I guess it helps that she never does it in front of me. At least she has some sense of tact. But, Danny, it's Delinda. I love her to death, but you and I both know she marches to a whole different drummer," Mary stopped to consider things before continuing. "But now that you mention it, I'm really starting to get a little annoyed with her. Seriously, I had you first and it was okay when you dated her before, because she and I weren't friends, but for her to put the moves on you now is unacceptable. It just makes me want to… "
Danny stopped her tirade before she said something she'd feel bad about later. "Baby, as sexy as this whole possessive, girl fight thing is—you're starting to scare me a little bit."
Mary took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself before she apologized. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me lately. I just feel so out of sorts."
"Well, if you're sure you're not getting sick then it's probably just stress. You've had a lot going on—new job, big move…and this past week I've unfortunately been unable to help you alleviate any of it."
"Yeah, I guess," Mary chuckled before something suddenly occurred to her. Not wanting to voice her concerns to Danny just yet she quickly ended the call. "Listen, sweetie, I know you need to get some rest, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you and to please be careful."
"You know I will, Mare. I love you and I'll talk to you later."
Mary disconnected the call and quickly headed for the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet she quickly spotted the small plastic disc and checked its contents. When she'd missed the first time she hadn't thought anything of it. Her cycle was a mess, even when she was on the pill so it wasn't unusual, but if her calculations were correct she had missed two. Add that to the fact that she was moody, tired all the time and her boobs hurt… Mary sunk to the floor of the bathroom still clutching the pills in her hand. How could this have happened? And how could she not have realized it sooner? She'd gotten drunk, eaten sushi and still been taking her birth control pills. On top of being completely freaked out that she was probably pregnant she was terrified that she might have done something to hurt her baby. As she thought about all the horrific possibilities she was suddenly struck with another scary thought. How was she going to tell Danny? He'd been amazing and completely committed to their relationship, but throwing a baby into the mix this early might just be too much for him to handle.
She took a deep breath before getting to her feet and going back into the bedroom. As she searched her closet for something to wear she decided not to say anything to Danny until she knew for sure. He had enough to deal with right now without worrying about something that might not even happen. She'd buy a test tonight and if it was positive then she'd decide what to do next.
---
Danny felt the bed shift slightly and he moaned as he felt a soft hand dip below the waist band of his boxers. "Mmm, baby," he sighed, somewhere between waking and dreaming as he felt feather light kisses trail down the middle of his stomach. His hands moved of their own accord to bury themselves in the thick red hair he knew was splayed across his middle, but the minute he touched it he knew something was wrong. It was too thin and too straight and as he opened his eyes to look he realized that it was too blonde.
In an instant Danny was up and pushing the person away from him, sending Delinda unceremoniously to the floor as he rolled to the opposite side of the bed and to his feet.
"How the hell did you get in here?" he asked, trying to cover himself with the comforter from the bed.
"My dad was in the CIA, Danny. I know how to pick a lock." Delinda finally got to her feet and Danny noticed for the first time that she was completely nude.
"Delinda, you need to get out—NOW!"
"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Why are you being so grumpy? You were definitely enjoying things a minute ago," her gaze traveled to his lap and she licked her lips as Danny grabbed a pillow from the bed for extra coverage.
"I thought you were someone else."
"Oooh, role playing. I can do that. Who did you think I was?"
"Delinda, you've got to stop doing this."
"Seriously, Danny. Was it someone good?"
"Delinda, I'm seeing someone," Danny finally stopped her ramblings.
"What do you mean you're seeing someone? Who?"
"Mary."
"No, seriously. Who?"
Danny didn't reply. He just looked at her with a sincere expression until it finally dawned that he was telling the truth. Delinda felt her heart rate increase as she grabbed one of the other pillows off the bed to hold in front of her--suddenly very ashamed of her nudity.
"Since when?"
"A little over a month."
"But…but…in the closet… you said…," Delinda was still trying to grasp what Danny had just revealed.
"I didn't say anything, you just assumed."
"I don't understand," Delinda sank into the chair in the corner of the room, clutching the pillow to her chest. "Why didn't either of you tell anyone?"
Danny took a deep breath before trying to explain, "At first, because Mary wanted to keep it between the two of us without you and Sam meddling…"
"We do not meddle," she interrupted
"You followed her all the way to Green Valley Ranch, Delinda."
She realized Danny was right so her only response to that was an apologetic shrug. "What was the second reason?"
"Huh?"
"You said, 'at first'. What was the second reason?"
"Oh," Danny couldn't help the sly grin that spread across his face. "Because it was kinda fun sneaking around."
When he saw the crestfallen look on Delinda's face he moved around the room and sat down on the edge of the bed closest to her.
"Delinda, I know you wanted things to be different between us, but I just don't feel that way about you anymore. I care about you as a friend, but I love Mary—more than anything in this world."
"Duh," Delinda rolled her eyes and looked at Danny's confused face. "Danny, I told you before I wasn't interested in a relationship with you. It really was just about sex, but if I'd had any idea that you and Mary…," she trailed off for a moment, wringing her hands nervously before asking, "Does Mary hate me?" He'd never heard Delinda sound so small and despite his slightly bruised ego, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.
"Of course she doesn't hate you," Danny reassured her. With the exception of her father, he didn't think it was possible for Mary to hate anyone. There might be some awkwardness for awhile, but he was certain that Mary would not hold any of Delinda's actions against her.
"Are you going to tell her what happened tonight?"
"I have to."
Delinda visibly cringed at his words.
"I don't want to have any secrets from her, Delinda. She trusts me to tell her the truth and I'm not going to stop doing that just because the truth looks bad. And I really think that you should talk to her too."
Delinda nodded her head and swiped at the stray tear that had made its way down her cheek before standing and moving towards the door, pillow strategically in place. Before she left the room she gave Danny one last look.
"She's too good for you, you know? She's too good for all of us."
Danny smiled before responding, "Yeah… I know."