Dexter's Metamorphosis

Chapter Two

"Houses, Guns, Dad, and the Big Surprise"

Dexter and Rita still kept their separate residences although since Dexter's transformation, Rita found herself nudging him to get a new place together, a place where they might be able to start a life together. She found, however, that over the past few weeks she had become much more aggressive in her approach with Dexter, deep down knowing that for the first time, their relationship was finally stable enough for that kind of commitment. She wanted to get rid of Paul's house, too many bad memories; she chalked up her getting nauseous lately, several times a day, to the house and its bad vibes. Her house was paid for and Dexter had received a nice sum for his Dad's house. They could pay cash for something nice and to Rita it just made sense. Their relationship was heading in this direction all on its own. Why wait?

Of course, Dexter was holding back because of his many nightly excursions. It would be almost impossible to satisfy the Dark Passenger if he moved in with Rita and the kids. He was torn between his own dark needs and his effort to make things work with Rita; build a stable relationship in which they both could get what they wanted from each other, as well as helping care for the children that he had grown fond of. This was a drive that he had never known before, and although he tried to take it and tame it, this new drive just wouldn't seem to let go of him. Things were changing, he could feel it deep down, but he could not seem to get a handle on it.

Dexter found himself lost in his thoughts, a particular thought, to be precise. The event had occurred only a few weeks ago as he had been helping Rita with the dishes after they had finished up dinner.

Rita was feeling a bit under the weather again, which prompted Dexter to suggest to Rita that maybe she should see a doctor about her nausea spells; maybe she was getting ulcers or something. Rita said she would and started to explain that her nausea might not be from an ulcer when the phone rang.

Rita reached for the phone and answered it, her voice off slightly as she was out of breath from the scramble to the phone, "Hello. " She paused for a moment as she waited for the voice from the other end, and he stood there watching her as her face lit up as she said after her pause, "Hi dad!"

The name seemed to catch him off guard and he dropped the plate that he had in his hands back into the dishwater in the sink. Thankfully, the water seemed to break the fall slightly as upon inspection, he found that the dish was still in perfect condition. His eyes briefly met Rita's as she smiled at his clumsiness and pointed at the sink, her way of telling him not to stop what he was already doing.

After hanging up the phone she turned to him, a large smile plastered on her beautiful face as he turned to face her, one hand still in the sink holding another plate. She spoke a second later, her voice ringing through the silence that had fallen across the room when she had answered the phone, "Guess what? My dad is going to be here in about ten minutes!" Her excitement reminded him of a child who had received a present that they loved, and in a way he assumed that it was because seeing her father was a bit of a present, it had been a while since he had been around. She ran over and threw her arms around him, enveloping him into a hug, not seeming to care that as she did, the water from the sink splashed on her back as he wrapped his arms around her.

Dexter smiled back and said "That's great! I finally get to meet dear old dad." Rita smiled at Dexter, "She is very excited, almost glowing," thought Dexter. "This is obviously a big deal to her. Dear old dad!"

There was a smile on her face when she heard the knock on the door and she ran to open it as quickly as she could. In that moment he thought that she looked like a little girl, almost skipping to the door, all smiles, so happy, like an angel, full of innocence that he had never known. The thought puzzled him and as much as he wanted to think about it, contemplate its significance, he didn't have the time to ponder it.

Rita and her dad hugged each other for some time, then he kissed her on the forehead and she kissed him on the cheek, just as Cody and Astor nearly tackled them both in their attempt to give Grandpa some hugs and kisses.

Grandpa laughed, looked down and said with a look of surprise, "Rita, who are these two, all grown up and so tall? I want to see my two little grandkids that are only so big," as he leaned over and motioned about half of Cody's height.

Cody yelled "It's me!"

Astor, much older and wiser said, "Oh grandpa," as she giggled. Dexter knew that this family was a loving bunch and very happy to see each other. He wondered what that would feel like.

Rita's dad was about 6' 1", heavy set, with a full head of short gray hair, a friendly face, and was quick to smile. He left the impression that he may have been a weight lifter at one point, not a body builder though, just heavy weights, large around the middle but strong with big hands; he looked like he hadn't been lifting for a good while though.

Dexter had gathered some history from Rita over time about CJ, as he liked to be called, short for Courtney James. CJ had sold his business, a gun shop that had a pistol range and a separate area for skeet and trap. CJ's dad had owned the business and after CJ got out of the service back in '68 after his time in Vietnam, he had gone into the family business. After Rita's grandpa had passed on in '96, CJ inherited the business and as Dexter had just recently learned, kept it until just a few months before so he could retire and move down to Miami to be with Rita and the kids. CJ and Gail had divorced in '90 after Rita graduated from high school and moved out with some friends. Gail took the house and CJ paid it off for her over the next few years. It was a well known fact in the family that CJ was very happy about two things. First that Paul was dead and second that he was divorced from Gail. Dexter could not argue against either opinion.

In the next few weeks CJ found an apartment and set up his new digs. He was able to unpack some of his stuff for the apartment but the rest had to wait in storage until he could find a house to buy. Dexter helped, along with Rita and the kids to get CJ unpacked. There were two boxes though that CJ had put aside and let everyone know he would take care of them himself and that Cody and Astor were not allowed near those two boxes.

CJ let Dexter and Rita know that he had a medium sized safe already in the bedroom closet and he needed to get the items in those boxes in the safe as soon as possible, without the kids seeing anything. Since they had all been there since the movers had dropped everything off, he had not had the chance yet. CJ asked Rita if she could take the kids and pick up some lunch. He gave her the money, she took everyone's order and off they went.

CJ led Dexter into the bedroom and opened up the two boxes while laying their contents out on the bed. CJ proceeded to go unlock the safe and returned to the bed. Dexter watched, and looked to the bedspread, scattered on it appeared to be about a dozen journals, four handguns and what appeared to be ammo for each weapon.

CJ took each gun out and let Dexter know what each one was. He had a Smith and Wesson model 686-Plus, 357 magnum with a 4" barrel, seven shot revolver with a trigger job and enough ammo to take out the local bad guys with ammo left over. There was a small 38 caliber revolver, Smith and Wesson model 642, 5 shot with a 1.87" barrel with a concealed hammer, and another very similar one with an exposed hammer, both very concealable. More ammo for these two also. The fourth gun was a small semi-automatic Walther P99, 9 mm, with a 4" barrel along with several magazines and of course more ammo.

He told Dexter, "The 357 has real stopping power and the 9 mm makes a hell of a lot of noise. Good combination," as he laughed.

"These are for home protection. My real collection is in a large safe in storage. We can take a trip over there anytime you would like to see what I have." he told Dexter.

Dexter replied smiling, "Thanks, but we can wait until you get your new place." All the while, Dexter was thinking that knives were more his style but knew CJ knew how to use these babies if called upon. CJ put all of the guns and ammo away first, then the journals. There was no comment about the journals, and Dexter wasn't one to ask.

CJ handed Dexter a piece of paper with the combination to the safe and two sets of keys for him and Rita to the apartment. CJ looked at Dexter with a very serious expression and said, "In case the need ever comes up you have the combination but don't use it unless there really is a need. To touch on another point, I don't want Rita to worry about what's in the safe because the kids will be here visiting a lot and Rita does not like guns, at all. I will never have the guns out when the kids are here, period. Let Rita know we talked about this if she says anything. I would really appreciate the support. I know Rita will ask me about what's in there anyway and I will promise her that the kids will be safe here. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Dexter replied with, "Okay," several times as CJ confided in him and asked for his help. Dear old dad had just put his trust in Dexter and this made him feel, sort of, well, he didn't know exactly, but it wasn't bad. CJ put his hand on Dexter's shoulder and gave him a squeeze and said, "Thanks," as they walked back into the living room.

Rita returned with the kids and a lot of burgers and fries for lunch. They all ate and then Rita took dad into the bedroom to have a little talk. Dexter hooked up the TV and went channel surfing with the kids for something to watch. They found a cable channel with furry animals that the kids wanted to watch. Dexter thought this looks innocent enough, what could be the harm. It went well for a bit, a lot of cute animals all furry and cute, little ones running around, until, a doe started to give birth to her fawn. Dexter couldn't find the remote, Cody was hiding it, so Dexter hopped over to the TV and turned it off. He looked back at the kids and said, "I think this is something your mom needs to talk to you about first," a sheepish grin on his face the entire time, not sure if it was his place to tell the kids about what they had just seen.

As he tried to change the subject Rita and dad came out of the bedroom. CJ winked at

Dexter and smiled that knowing smile to indicate that all is well. Rita had heard what

Dexter had just said to the kids and now it was his turn to go into the bedroom to have a

little talk. Rita was on a roll!

Rita laughed after Dexter had told her about the television program, however, a few moments later her expression changed. As she looked at him, he couldn't help but think that she looked feminine, soft. Her body language changed, he took it as saying that whatever she had to say was something important, something that she thought he would be happy to hear. She looked up at him, their eyes locking and he noticed the softness in her eyes as she tilted her head to the side slightly, her arms moving up her body as she appeared to be almost hugging herself as she snuggled up close to him in his arms.

Smiling, she said, "I went to the doctor, Dexter, about my tummy, and guess what?" She paused just a moment then squealed "I'm pregnant!" As soon as she said it she jumped up onto Dexter with her arms wrapped around his neck and gave him the sweetest loving kiss she could muster. The two words reverberated in his head, causing him to freeze, his mind drew a blank, he was not sure exactly how to react, how to respond, this was uncharted territory. "I'm Pregnant," she had told him, with a capital "P".

Continue on to Chapter Three….