6
C.J. sat in her office and had just gotten off the phone with her contact in Las Vegas to check on the annulment when Matt walked in. She had also gotten info on Sandra Mays as Harvey had sent her over duplicates of everything he gave the police. C.J. just took a deep breath thinking about how young the victim was...she had told the receptionist she was pampering herself because she just graduated from nursing school.
Matt heard her cough a couple of times from the penthouse and since it was already 7pm he decided she had worked hard enough today and it was time to go eat and go home.
She looked up at him and said, "Ok, well that's all settled. Laci will be free to marry whomever she chooses in two days."
Matt walked over and took her hand and helped her stand up saying, "Come here," before putting his arms around her waist and kissing her. He brushed the hair away from her cheeks and let his thumb linger over both before kissing her again. Once he broke for air he told her, "We need to go get something to eat and go home. We've put in a full day and its time to take off. "
She sighed and then put her head on his chest and said, "Yes, let's go home." He held her tight for a minute and then put his arm around her waist and the two started to leave. Once they got to the elevator again, she coughed.
He looked her over for a second and asked her, "You feeling ok?"
She nodded and answered, "Yes, it was just driving in my bikini earlier I think. I had the air conditioner running some and then walking through the parking garage was cold. I just need to get home and take a nice hot bath in the whirlpool tub I think. I never got my hot tub experience today."
They didn't talk much on the way to the restaurant, but he did ask, "So I saw those flowers you let Chris have. Who were they from?"
She still didn't want him to go off and get himself in trouble with Roy Turner, but she wasn't lying to him either so she told him, "A former client sent me those. He just got paroled."
Matt turned into the parking lot of the Thai place they had decided on by the beach house and asked, "What client? Would I remember them?"
She took a deep breath and told him, "Yeah, you would most likely remember him...Roy Turner."
Matt's brows shot up immediately at the mention of his name and he turned to look at C.J. "Roy Turner...he sent you flowers? Why? You almost single handedly kept him in prison. Is he threatening you?"
C.J. could see the concern and wanted to ally his fears so she told him, "He hasn't said anything to me since he's been released. Those flowers were the first contact I've had with him." She thought for a second as Matt appeared to relax, but knew she needed to tell him about his comment in the paper so she did, "Apparently he got paroled a couple of days ago and gave a statement to the press saying he's changed and...that he wanted to thank me personally for keeping him in jail so he could get the help he needs."
Matt ran his hand through his hair, "He wanted to thank you...great...look, I'll call Greg and get a couple of guys to..."
She stopped him right there, "Matt, I don't need Greg to watch my back. I have you to watch my back, and if you remember correctly, Turner didn't do anything more than lie and steal."
He remembered that but he added, "C.J. he said he's changed, that might just mean he feels capable of harming someone now and I don't want that someone to be you. He's made it clear that you are the one that has made the biggest impression on him."
"I know that Matt, but I'm really not worried..." she put her hands on his face, "He's nothing more than a coward. He didn't kill anyone, he just preyed on the hurt feelings of the grieving families to try to make himself famous. I really don't think there's anything to worry about." She leaned over and he met her halfway in his car as she kissed him.
He leaned back and told her, "I just don't want to take any chances..." he ran his hand through her hair and continued, "You certainly do have a lovely back and I don't mind watching it at all. Until I'm as sure as you are, will it bother you that much if I keep you close to me, hum?"
She smiled and told him, "I love being close to you so no, I don't mind at all. I love you Matt."
He leaned over and kissed her then told her, "I love you, C.J. Let's go get dinner." They got out and went inside to eat with her arm linked around his.
After they ate they went back to the beach house, Matt suggested they take a walk along the beach. They walked along, under the moonlight, barefoot and holding hands. "This reminds me of the Caymans a little bit," he said.
She smiled and said, "I agree. I had the time of my life there, falling deeper in love with the man of my dreams."
He smiled then and added, "I'll never forget our first night together. I've never felt so much at one time. It was too much and not enough all at once." Then he turned to face her and took her face in his hands as he kissed her, a long, slow, intense kiss. "I love you C.J." he told her as he broke their embrace and ran his hands through her hair. "Let's head back to the house..." he kissed her again, "I want to relive the Caymans..." he kissed her again, "all over again." He kissed her again.
They turned around and started walking back, his hand slipping around her waist and hers around his. She spoke up, "Matt, I appreciate everything you've been trying to do. I just wanted you to know that."
He looked a little puzzled, "What do you mean?"
She told him, "The spa days, Matt. I know you were just trying to get me to slow down and relax more." They looked at each other as they walked. He thought about denying it, but knew there was no use.
So he told her, "I just don't want you to work so hard. On the Aleman case you nearly drove yourself into the ground. You have to take care of yourself and if I have to push things a little bit and make you, then I will."
That made her stop dead in her tracks, "What do you mean, 'if I have to push things and make you then I will'?"
He stopped and looked at her, confused as to why she seemed to have a problem with him looking out for her. He replied with, "All I'm saying is sometimes you push yourself too hard. When you get pregnant, you're going to have to slow down and stay home for a while." Even though Matt didn't realize it, his argument wasn't helping his case.
She took a deep breath, "Exactly how long do you think I'll be staying home?"
He answered innocently enough as if his answer were the only possible one, "The entire pregnancy and quite a while thereafter. C.J. what's the problem here?"
"Are you kidding me?" she asked exasperated and loud enough for two other couples walking by to walk just a little faster past them.
Matt looked totally confused, "What? C.J. pregnant women need to stay off their feet. I've been reading up on this. You need to rest a lot more than normal, you need lots of food but balanced. I've already talked to a leading nutritionist who's agreed to work with us out of the beach house, and..."
C.J. put her hands up and started to walk off. "I am not believing this..." she stopped and turned to him as she caught up to her, "You really think you're going to just tuck me away in the beach house while you and Uncle Roy handle every single case. You're going assign someone to make sure I eat enough and the right things because you don't think I can figure out by myself what to eat. Without even consulting me or asking me first! Unbelievable!"
He grabbed her arm to stop her seeing the anger in her eyes, but he knew what he was doing was all just for the best. Why does she have to be so stubborn and take everything the wrong way? He was only trying to look out for her but she was acting the same way she did when he told her about Robert. In fact that was one of the last times he had seen her that angry at him.
Matt held her arm as he said, "I never said I didn't think you could figure out what to eat or take care of yourself when you get pregnant. All I'm trying to do is make sure the pregnancy goes well and I'm sorry C.J. but that means slowing down, taking it easy and eating well. You're just going to have to accept that."
She pulled her arm away and started walking, "I don't have to accept anything. I have a law degree from Harvard. I know women have to take care of themselves a little bit differently when they are pregnant, but pregnancy is not an illness and lots of women do just fine working and being pregnant at the same time."
He ran ahead of her and blocked her path just in front of their beach house. He told her, "You are not lots of women, you're my woman and you know your job isn't exactly a typical job." What he was trying to say was she was the only woman he cared about, but that wasn't at all how it came out and the look she gave him...
"What do you mean I'm your woman?" as that was all she heard. Her hands were on her hips now and she was tapping her foot.
He took a deep breath, "That's not exactly what I meant, but come on C.J. Our job involves risk. Do you really want to risk your health and the health of our child just to do your job? I'll still remember last year when you got so ill I had to take you to the hospital because you had pneumonia! Sometimes you don't know how to take care of yourself." He thought to himself, 'ok, maybe I shouldn't have said that last sentence.'
She took a keep breath and even though they had only the moon and one boardwalk light for him to see her eyes, he could see he hurt her. She told him calmly, "If you really think I would jeopardize the health and well being of our child for the sake of a job...you really don't know me as well as either one of us thought you did. I'm also really sorry I was such a burden last year. I can assure you it won't happen again!" She walked past him, took out her keys and went in the beach house. He followed her as she told him, "I'll be sleeping in my old room tonight...alone, relive the Caymans by yourself." She never looked back at him and slammed the door behind her.
Matt almost shouted but then stopped himself and only said, "Fine" as he put his keys away and then locked all the doors. He stopped briefly by her door and thought he might have heard her crying softly. He wanted to go in and comfort her, but she was really not happy with him right now. Besides, he didn't feel he really did anything wrong, unless loving her too much was wrong and wanting to take care of her every need was wrong. However, he never wanted her to think his caring for her was ever a burden to him. So he took a deep breath and slowly made his way to the bed they had been sharing alone and it took him forever to get to sleep.
She didn't sleep well either even after her nice hot bath. She tossed and turned thinking about everything Matt had said. Did he really think that about her? Did he really think her job meant so much to her that she would risk harming her unborn child for the sake of an adrenaline rush? Seriously? Did he think that little of her or trust her that little? It hurt her if that were all true. They had known each other for so long, how could he say those things and did he really think he was putting her under house arrest when she got pregnant? She started getting angry again. It took until about 2am but she finally fell asleep.
The next morning he woke up before she did and took a shower. He was at a loss as to how to proceed now. This was their first really big fight and he didn't know what to expect. He relived their argument over and over again in his head and realized that perhaps a couple of things that he said, could have been said better. Ok, maybe a lot of things. Maybe there was one person he could call that could help him figure all this out, Vince Novelli. After his shower he picked up the phone.
"Hey Vince! How's Hawaii treating you?" Matt asked.
Vince, who hadn't heard from his friend in so long and happy to hear from him answered, "Much better than L.A. was, how's it goin pal?" He and Matt talked for several minutes before Matt broached the subject of C.J.
Vince started laughing to Matt's surprise, "Houston, buddy, listen, I understand, really I do. Its always like this when you're expecting your first one. I know, I've been there. But C.J. isn't even pregnant yet, is she?"
Matt shook his head and answered, "No, not yet, but I don't see what's so wrong about doing a little planning. I'm only trying to help her. I would think that most women would want their husbands taking care of them well when they're expecting."
Vince sighed and said, "You have a lot to learn about wives, especially pregnant wives. Listen, I'm sure C.J. appreciates everything you are trying to do, at least your intensions anyway. Look, I can only speak for my wife, but when she got pregnant the first time, I went a little overboard."
Matt repeated what he said in confusion, "overboard?"
Vince chuckled and said, "Let's just say Mama thought I was being perfectly reasonable. Anyway, as a cop I was afraid that, you know, someone I put away might come back and harm her. So I assigned a couple of plain clothes to follow her around for a while."
Matt asked, "How long is a while?"
Vince answered, "Her entire pregnancy. Oh she's no dummy either, she caught on after about 1 week. I had to keep rotating guys around and I'm sure she still had me pegged. Anyway that wasn't the worst of it, I was calling her making sure she was resting, keeping her feet up and I told her she had to take time off work earlier than her doctor recommended."
Matt felt confused, "What's so wrong with that?"
Vince took a deep breath and answered, "There's nothing wrong with wanting to take care of your wife in every way possible when she's pregnant and be a bit overprotective. But Houston, women have been having children forever and they know what they're doing. They don't need us riding in to save the day and telling them what to do. As far as C.J. is concerned, well, she's one smart lady and independent. She can take care of herself and always made a big point with me about that."
Matt rubbed the back of his neck which was still sore from the lack of sleep the night before and told Vince, "I know she can...hell I was the one who taught her most of her self defense moves and encouraged her to feel that way since I've known her...I just want to take care of her and I don't want her working too hard. I guess I need to dial it down a bit, huh." He told Vince as he looked out the master bedroom door down the hall to her door.
Vince said in an understanding voice, "Well I think you could start by telling her that her pregnancy won't lead to house arrest and maybe take some recommendations from the nutritionist, but don't have the guy force C.J. to eat what he decides is good for her. Can you imagine someone telling you what to eat everyday for 9 months? The thing is, she doesn't stop being an independent woman when she starts becoming a mother."
Matt relented and then told him, "Well, I didn't think the nutritionist was going to do exactly that, but ok I think I can handle that. We just need to talk I guess."
Vince told him, "Man, C.J. loves you, just sit down and share how you feel about everything. Just make sure she understands you aren't telling her what to do. She needs to know you trust her too, make that clear. Look take care and don't be a stranger alright?"
Matt said, "Goodbye Vince and thanks so much. I knew I could count on you."
After hanging up he headed downstairs to make a peace offering in the form of breakfast for C.J.