Chapter Four: I Won't Say I'm In Love (Pt. 2)
"The next nine months that man is gonna be a pain in my ass," Ana muttered to herself.
"Or he can be there to support you, Ana." Danni said, coming out of the precinct and standing beside Ana, watching her brother. "If you let him."
"I don't know, Danni. Part of me is relieved that my mom seems okay with it. But actually letting him into my life? That's something totally different. We barely know each other and I can barely stand the man!"
"Okay, let me put it to you this way," Dani began, trying not to sound like she was interrogating a convict. "on a scale of 1 to 10, how good a lay was he? If you had to do it with him again, would you?"
"He was…he was actually pretty damn good. I'd give him an eight. But come on, Dani! This is… this is Sawyer for god's sake! Sawyer!"
"Coulda been worse. You could have been raped."
"Well i wasn't. what could be worse is him trying to have everything his way."
"I spent nine years in foster care, Ana. There's a reason they don't give single women or men foster children. It's too damn hard to balance your life and a kid at the same time!"
"Look I'm not gonna completely shut him out. He'll see my baby and get to go to birthdays and have her on holidays and stuff. I want us to have civil relationship, but that's it, nothing beyond saying hello and goodbye, or the discussing who gets her on such days. I don't want him in mine, we'll just drive each other up the wall."
"And what're you gonna do if that kid comes out lookin' more like James than they do you?"
"How's that a problem?"
"If that kid looks more like James than you, odds are everytime you look your child in the face, you're gonna see James. you're tellin me that won't bother you even a little bit...or how about when & if he gets himself a new girlfriend? you're tellin me you won't be even remotely jealous?"
"How can I be mad over something I 'lost', if I never even had it? I want things to be okay between us. What's so wrong about wanting to be left alone?"
"This kid's yours and Sawyers...they're gonna be a bigger handful than you've ever seen...playing you and James against each other; like if you say no, she can't pierce her ears, she'll turn around and ask James, who'll most likely say yes. It'll bother the hell out of you, but thats the point—opposites attract, Ana-lulu!"
"Danni shut up, don't you have a meeting or some shit you gotta get to?"
"Uh, not anymore...while you were fighting with your lover and hiding in the girls' room with your mom, I sent the other ADA to cover my case...perks of having 3 assistant district attorneys."
"Well then take your pregnant friend to lunch and stop being a bitch to her." Ana said, almost laughing. "Come on, I want Italian."
"Ana, I'm not bein' a bitch, I'm tryin' to make you see sense!"
"You want me with Sawyer?"
"I can see that you're fighting an attraction to him, and I know my brother well enough to know when he's head over heels about a girl, even if he don't know it. so, yeah, I'd like to see you with Sawyer. After all," Dani said, touching Ana's stomach, "that is my niece in there. Did I mention that James can cook? His specialty happens to be Italian foods!"
"We can talk about it over lunch. Come on Tia Danni, lets criticize James some more."
"There may be hope for you yet, Lucy." Dani said, using one of her brother's nicknames for Ana, who smiled at her.
"You never know. These damn hormones."
"What bothers you most about my brother?" Ana answered almost immediately.
"His arrogance, the cocky motherfucker. The nicknames don't grate my nerves as much any more."
"See? He's already growing on you. now I dare you to say 5 nice things about my brother."
"Can you name 5 nice things about your brother?" Ana retorted.
"I'm not the one pregnant with his baby, now am I, Miss Cortez?"
"You didn't answer my question. Well I like the accent, at times."
"I've heard it can drive women crazy. So, tell me, does it make YOU wanna jump his bones?"
"Lets just say that with my mood swings...don't leave me alone with him. i might rape him or kill him."
"Sawyer'd be in heaven if all he had to do was talk like a redneck to get laid by a girl."
"Naw, not a redneck, more like a southern gentlemen," Ana said before busting out laughing. "Yeah right Sawyer a gentlemen."
"Okay, you got 4 more NICE things to say about my brother—or i'm stickin' YOU with the bill."
"Hey I'm pregnant, you can't be mean to pregnant people. i'm gonna be fat soon!"
"Don't change the subject. 4 more nice things."
"I like his hair, you know pull it in the heat of passion or when im mad at him…"
"I'll spring for whatever desert ya want, Ana."
"Why you don't wanna hear more?"
"I'll spring for the desert if you name those 4things."
"I already gave you 2!"
"Sounds like your'e already fallin' for him." Dani said, trying to hide a smile.
"I wouldn't say that, necessarily," Ana replied, "he's handy to have around I guess, good survival skills. Although he had no clue I jacked his gun!" Danni laughed.
"My brother's distractible, that's for sure."
"Yeah when I take my shirt off!"
"I dont wanna know the dirty details of your sex life with my brother, Ana..." Danni said, cringing.
"Well the subject came up."
"Ohhhh, he has a nice bod." Dani rolled her eyes at ana's sudden randomness.
"Hey, you wanted five things, you got 5 things!" Ana said, laughing.
"All valid points, I'll admit."
"Ok, I gave you 4 already...i like his smile. Although when I see it sometimes I wanna smack the taste outta his mouth."
"His smile make you weak in the knees?" dani asked, still fishing for answers.
"You could say that, I guess." Ana said, blushing.
"HA! I knew it! You do like him like that, even if it is only a little bit!" Dani said excitedly. "Okay, now...10 reasons why you WOULDNT wanna wind up with Sawyer for the rest of your life—aside from the baby being a one night stand for a gun."
"Damn your questions! Do you mind feeding me first?!" Ana sighed.
A short while later, they were in a ritzy Italian restaurant. Ana'd ordered penne in red sauce, while dani'd ordered fettuccini alfredo.
"Okay," Dani said, watching in amusement as Ana munched hungrily on her food. "Same question."
"He's a conman!"
"That doesn't count!" Dani shot back. "Because I already figured that one."
"Why the hell not?!"
"Its a bullshit reason!"
"Well it's my reason."
"Well you still owe 10."
"You asked, I answered."
"Fine, nine more, then."
"I'm afraid of all the fighting; I mean, if we were together and all we did was fight, it'd be worse for the baby than if we were separated." Ana said, sighing. "The reason being, we just don't get along!"
"Hon, I can look at my brother and tell that he'd bend over backwards to make it work out—for the baby." Ana looked her in the eyes before speaking.
"Can you guarantee that? 'Cause things aren't that simple; it's not just me, it's my baby, too."
"The only thing I can guarantee is that when my brother wants something, he's gonna get it. His persistence is as big a pain as it is honorable."
"Well, see, I usually get my way, too. See? We're too…stubborn."
"8 more."
"What if we change? I mean, what if he gets tired and goes back to how he was when I met him? I don't want to run that risk."
"I'll hunt 'im down and give you first dibs on murderin' him." Dani said, completely serious. "Seriously i know people in high places."
"That means a lot." Ana said, touched.
"Hey, he's got a kid comin'…it's my job as his sister to keep him from fuckin' it up! Bein the ADA just adds to my options."
"Looks like I got 7 more."
"Reasons not to be with Sawyer."
"Yup."
"His attitude." Ana said.
"Elaborate?"
"He's always sarcastic, it grates on my nerves!"
"6."
"I'm at a loss for words here—or reasons, for that matter."
"Okay, if someone says the name Sawyer, what words come to mind?"
"Motherfucker."
"Any others?"
"See, the thing is that if we were together, and I wasn't happy, I'd resent him, you know? For getting me pregnant? I'd hate him for it."
"What would it take to make you fall in love with him?"
"I'm being judgmental here, like I told him he doesn't know me and well I don't know him all that well either. I'd have to interact with him, feel him out, probably shouldn't of bedded him like I did
"Okay, I can't believe I'm askin' this, but what about him turns you on?"
"Danni, come on, we're eatin' here!"
"Look, I'm not gonna let my niece grow up in a broken family where all her mami can say about her papa is that he was a conman!"
"It's just…physical. I'm attracted to him. It was a heat of the moment thing." Ana said, staring at her plate.
"Okay, not to bring up a sore subject, by how'd you fall for Danny?" dani asked, noting Ana's sad smile. "If it wasn't just physical, I mean."
"Danny was just that…Danny. We were friends, we got along. It was comfortable…I loved him for a long time, he wanted forever, I got caught up in work...then his family got involved, it got messy. I got mad and took it out on him; made him leave. We understood each other, we were attracted to each other...too much history. Let's get on track and back to Sawyer.
"Hate to break it to ya, hon, but family's already involved, here, too."
"What made me love Danny is different. I loved him. Period. I can't make myself love Sawyer."
"Why not?!"
"Seriously, you want myself to force it? are you mad?"
"It would be 1 thing to fall for him another to make myself…"
"No, I'm not crazy, i'm just trying to preserve my brother's dignity here, Ana!"
"Then what would it take for him to get you to fall for him?!"
"Look i'm trying!! you asked"
"I don't know him, how can I love him?"
"People fall in love based on a lot less than that...I tell you what, when's your next appointment for my neice or nephew?"
"In a week, why?"
"You two are gonna start acting like parents to my niece or nephew."
"If he comes you better keep him on a short leash or i'm gonna lock you in an interrogation room until you get to know each other."
"That's just evil." Ana said.
"Desperate times call for extreme measures."
"I'm gonna get my mom to bust his balls."
"Favorite flowers?"
"For his funeral?" Dani gave her a serious look,
"Just joking. Damn."
"Same question. Serious answer this time."
"Red roses. Just so you know he runs the risk of getting beat up with them."
"Candy?"
"Godiva Mousse."
"I'll be calling for the specifics about this appointment, Ana..."
"Yeah sure whatever, oh tell him to cook me something."
"Will you let him keep his balls if he does? And at least give him a chance?"
"I'll think about it. He better not poison me."
"And by chance i dont mean just a snowball's chance in hell. I mean an honest to god chance."
"Yeah Danni, I'll seriously think about it."