Keats lounged at the edge of Sloane's bed watching her play with her hair. Everyone had gone back to their respective hotel rooms after lunch with the promise of getting together at the pool after their food had digested.
"So what's the deal with this sudden get-together? Am I missing something here?" Keats asked, knowing that the Hastings wouldn't travel from Sarasota to Miami for the sole purpose of visiting her.
"I'm getting married here in two weeks. He's so wonderful, Kit, I can't wait for everyone to meet him. How about you, sis? Patty said something about you dating someone…" Sloane swirled around in her chair and faced Keats with utmost curiosity.
"Well…yes. He's my mentor until I graduate." Keats tried hard not to notice the shocked expression on Sloane's face.
"Have you slept with him, yet?" She asked worriedly. Keats swallowed hard.
"You did. Oh, Kit…you're a real woman now! I'm so happy for you!" Sloane flew into her arms and they tumbled to the floor with a thump.
Keats' secret stayed at the tip of her tongue all afternoon, wanting to be freed. She sprawled out in Sloane's bed, leaning on Sloane as they brought each other to date on their news. But one piece of news had yet to join the conversation.
"I didn't use anything. I feel like such an idiot, you know. But I can't find out for another two or three days. All I can do is wait…and worry." Keats sighed and murmured softly as Sloane stroked her hair.
"That explains why you looked so pale at lunch. Like you'd seen a ghost…Listen, Kit, you should talk to your boyfriend about this. That way, you can make plans in case it turns out you are."
"And if he doesn't know?" Keats asked guiltily.
Maxine Valera covered the entire expanse of the Crime Lab in search of Keats. She had a few more questions she forgot to ask her and she wanted to know them before she left work for the day.
"Ryan, have you seen K.J. recently?" Valera asked. Ryan was examining the prints from a bottle of tampered water.
"She went to be with her family, I think." He said, sampling a few granules of salt from the bottle.
"She was at the beach. Our prime suspect just cemented her guilt." Ryan said with a smirk. Valera nodded, knowing very little of the case he was working on.
"I heard she came to you about something…" Ryan called to her as she began to leave. Valera's eyes grew very large and she froze in her tracks.
"Um…sure. You know, girl stuff. That kind of thing." Valera replied cheerfully, her voice trembling. Ryan's eyes narrowed. Valera wondered idly if Ryan was the prospective father.
"She didn't tell you?" Valera added, beginning to crack under the pressure.
"It's not a big deal, Ryan. Forget I ever mentioned it. See you around." Valera blurted as she took off running before Ryan could cross-examine her.
Keats wound a strip of Sloane's dyed honey blond hair around the curling iron. Sloane was twiddling her thumbs nervously. No wonder. Her fiancée has to pass the acid test with our family.
Keats heard her cell phone ring and she leaned over to answer it, pulling Sloane's head with her.
"Ouch, heifer! My hair!" Sloane cried. Keats returned to her standing position and gave an apologetic grimace. She then opened her phone and leaned it between her cheek and shoulder so that her hands were free to style Sloane's hair.
"Keats, I need to see you." Ryan said. His voice sounded hard yet concerned.
"What's wrong? Was the bottle a dead end?" She asked, referring to the case as though nothing were out of the ordinary.
"About last night. I feel like you've been avoiding me ever since." He admitted.
"Of course not, Ryan. I just…we need to talk about a few things, I guess." She said, barely noticing the fact that Sloane's hair was beginning to smoke.
Sloane let out a horrid scream that pierced Keats' eardrum and she dropped the curling iron, still attached to a portion of Sloane's hair.
"Can I call you right back?"
Keats unlocked the door to Ryan's apartment and waited on the sofa for his return, as promised. She didn't have to wait long, as Ryan bounded through the door twenty minutes later. He joined her on the couch and clasped onto one of her hands.
"Do you think we made a mistake? Because I don't think we did, Keats." He moved in closer, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, we did, but not the kind of mistake you're thinking about…I'm not using anything and I'm pretty sure we didn't use anything last night, so…"
Keats waited anxiously as he realized the gravity of what she'd told him. He rubbed the back of his neck, his face blank. She bit her lower lip worriedly, barely noticing the pain. Ryan stood up and went to the kitchen, tearing a paper towel and wetting it under the faucet. He returned to his seat and placed the damp paper towel against her lip.
"Your lip's bleeding, Keats. You shouldn't bite down so hard." He said absently. Keats let him hold the paper in place and tried to think of something to say that would break the uncomfortable silence.
"I really don't know what to say, Keats. I've never really been in this situation before." He said. Keats glanced at her watch and remembered the dinner at the hotel.
"You don't have to say anything, Ryan. I've got to go, anyway. My sister needs me." With that she stood and nearly ran out of his apartment, her breath caught in her throat. Ryan watched her leave, not knowing whether to stop her or give her space. But before he could make up his mind, she was gone.
Natalia smiled to herself as she thought about her date with Eric. He was taking her to a seafood restaurant later that night and she couldn't be happier. The pretenses were a little different ("We're just going as friends, okay?") but as long as there was definite hope for the future, that was all she needed.
Natalia peeked over Valera's shoulder and discovered she was looking at the procedure forms for pregnancy tests.
"Maxine, we don't really do that kind of DNA study here." She said sharply.
"Oh, it's just for a friend. K.J. asked me to-" Maxine Valera gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth, brutally chastising herself.
"K.J. needs a preggers test? Ah, those crazy college kids and their crazy unprotected sex, huh? Next thing you know she'll be on Jerry Springer trying to find the father." Natalia said as she went back to her own pile of work.
Cecily and Lavinia, ages seven and five respectively, were hanging on Keats like little monkeys and cuddling up to her whenever she sat down. Keats didn't really like kids, but she adored Cecily and Lavinia. They were more fun than most people she had met at college.
"Hey, Kit, Mom bought us a Mr. Science Rocket Set yesterday. Can we set it off during the dinner?" Cecily asked mischievously. Lavinia giggled and pulled the box from behind her back.
Keats shrugged and told them it was a possibility. And when she first set eyes on Sloane's sleazy-looking fiancée, she knew it was more of a guarantee.
That guy looks so familiar…I know him, I think. Oh, damn, I've seen that guy's picture in the criminal database. But for what?