Undercover Chapter 14

"Joe! Wake up!" I wasn't thinking very clearly. You should never wake a cop up like that, because he immediately goes for his gun.

"What? What's wrong?" He had retrieved the gun from the drawer next to the bed and was trying to orient his eyes to the darkness.

"No. Put the gun down! Feel this!" It was 4:45 a.m. Apparently the baby had a gymnastics class scheduled. I took both of Joe's palms and pressed them into my belly.

Even in the darkness of the room, I could see him smiling. He reoriented his body to place his head on my tummy and keep his right hand on the spot where he could feel the baby move. My arm was draped across his shoulder and he was holding my hand with his free one. I fell back asleep. I was tired and finally getting used to the feeling of the baby moving inside me. I suspect he stayed awake to savor these precious moments that would be too few with this child.

Joe was glistening with sweat and exertion when he climbed out of bed later that morning. Again, I fell back into a satisfied sleep. He woke me an hour later. This time he was glistening with sweat and exertion. Had I missed something? "Uh, Joe? Where have you been?"

"I jogged down to the bakery to get you some breakfast. It was so great to get some exercise outside. I can't do that when I'm undercover. He had on sweats and he had stripped off his shirt after he warmed up, I assume, because it was tucked into the waistband of his pants. I could look at his finely developed upper body all day, as long as I got to see his finely developed lower body sometimes, too.

He put a cup of coffee and a full thermos on my bedside table and tossed me the bakery bag. Then he put a newspaper down on the bed next to me, gave me a terrific kiss and trooped off to the shower. He came back a few minutes later, all clean and wonderful looking. He snuggled up beside me and kissed my temple. The hair on his chest had little tiny water droplets in it, fresh from the shower and he smelled wonderful. Joe doesn't need cologne. He smells great naturally – to me at least. He rummaged around and found the sports section.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked.

"We already did part of it," I leaned over and captured his mouth with mine. Yum.

"Will you go on a date with me tonight?" he asked, those chocolate eyes caressing my soul. "When we're at home, we're both always working and we don't usually go out anywhere nice."

"How could I resist you? I brought a dress, and yes, high spiky heels, because I knew you would like that."

He didn't look up from the paper but his mouth twisted into a wicked smile. "Lucky me," he said. "I'm going to call my mom later. I'm sure she'd be pretty ticked if I didn't call her when I'm away from prying eyes. When we talked last night, you never told me how my sisters took the news. How are they with it?"

"Well, I think they know something's up. Same thing for most of the cops in town. They all seem to be following the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. Mary Lou definitely knows. She assumed I was coming to see you this weekend, but I didn't tell her anything. Grandma Mazur is just curious about what kind of drugs you are into. Lula is going to kill you. Connie – omigod – do you know about Connie and Dunphy?"

He grimaced. "She's not really into him, is she? She's just there for the sex, right? I mean Connie is really not at all his type."

"Why? I think they're cute together," I whined. "She knows that he's a cop and he knows who her family is, so that's a little awkward but they seemed really into each other the last time I saw them. And I think I interrupted them having sex the other night."

Joe was still absorbed in the newspaper. "Yeah, well, Sex is one thing. A relationship is another. I'm telling you, he likes a little more, uh, 'junk in the trunk' than Connie has. He could never have a relationship with someone who didn't outweigh him. Lula is more Dunphy's type than Connie."

I just sat there with my mouth open. I didn't even know what to say. "Why does he always point out those girls in the gym that are all cute and perky if he likes the bigger ones?"

Joe laughed, "Well, you've got to start somewhere. It's like picking a puppy. You can guess how big it will be when it's grown by how big its feet are. He's trying to figure out if she has potential – you know, when she's 'full grown' so to speak. Like, if she was to gain 75 or 100 pounds, would some of it go to her chest or would it all just go straight to her ass? It's something we've done for years, with remarkable accuracy, I might add…"

Absolutely speechless, I just went to get in the shower. This was way more information than I wanted to know about Dunphy.

When I was done, I was drying my hair and Joe came to play with his new toys. My hands were on my hair, and he was standing behind me, sort of lifting my breasts up in his palms and trying to see how much heavier they were now and watching the whole production in the bathroom mirror. He was kissing my neck and I wasn't at all minding the attention, when, I'll be damned, he did it again. One good nipple pinch and I was gone. He was looking at his hands like he had just discovered he had magic powers or something. I knew he did, but I didn't really want him to know. I was holding on to the counter and sort of panting. I was weak kneed and definitely not thinking about drying my hair.

"Cool!" he said as he pulled me by the hand back toward the bed. We were both still naked from our showers, so no wasted time there. I was convinced, once and for all, that nothing must have been going on with Terri because he was even more insatiable than usual. Joe likes sex. A lot of sex. And frequently. So do I, but I was starting to fear permanent damage if he didn't give me a break soon. I think he was, too, because he commented that he needed to have some recuperation time before I 'dragged him back to bed again.'

I went to get dressed for the day. It was 2:15 already, for goodness sakes. Of course, it takes Joe 10 minutes to get dressed and to look perfect. It takes me a bit longer, especially since I was still learning how to wear and adjust maternity clothes. When I was finally presentable, I found him at the computer. "Have you seen my stick drive? It's about this long," He had his thumb and forefinger separated about 3 inches, "and sort of a shiny tan color…."

"Honey, you are far too modest, the last time I remember seeing your stick drive, it was a great deal longer than that, and relatively substantial, too, and it was between your legs." I winked at him. "Are you talking about this, though?" I'd been using this little doohickey that looked like a piece of computer equipment as a bookmark in a book on natural childbirth. I have no idea why I needed a bookmark, as there was no way in the world I was going through what they described in that book.

He liked the compliment. Joe's pretty damn vain about his body and he loves that I love it, too. I've seen more than one woman walk into a door frame or trip over things because she was looking at him instead of watching where she was going. One day he was getting gasoline and two girls who were riding bikes closeby veered into each other and they both went down. He went over to make sure they were okay, but they were both so embarrassed they couldn't even talk to him. I have to admit, it's an ego trip to be married to him.

I needed to clear the air on one thing. "Joe, about Tony, I don't want to start a family feud. Let's just see how it goes. I'll handle it if he does anything stupid."

Joe was grinning. "Cupcake, if there was anyone in the world that Tony wouldn't want to answer to about that little episode more than you or I, who would it be?" he asked.

"I don't know. Who?"

"Our Mom. So, I did exactly what all pesky little brothers are supposed to do. I called her and I tattled on him. That was about 15 minutes ago, so he should be coughing his testicles up out of his throat soon." He seemed very pleased with this line of attack.

"Joe! Why would you do that?" I felt terrible.

"Honey, in our family, Mom is usually the only one who can really settle the really ugly stuff and keep it from escalating to bloodshed. I considered just killing him outright, but that would involve jail time and I figured then you would kill me, and then who would take care of Muffin? So, I decided to take the approach that has worked in my favor all my life. Let Mommy handle it. Tony will shit himself when she brings it up. I can't wait." He was rubbing his hands together. I was thinking, oh, this sibling thing is really tricky. I really hope Muffin and the future Muffins all get along. The worst thing Valerie and I have ever really done to each other is when we cut each other's hair when she was 6 and I was 4.

Since it was already so late, and Joe said he was taking me out to a nice dinner, we opted to stay in and just talk and catch up a little. Joe had stocked the kitchen with essentials. Coffee, bread, peanut butter, olives, milk, beer and chocolate ice cream. What more do you need for a little love shack?

He made sandwiches and we curled up on the couch to eat. He asked about baby names. I said I really wanted to name our first son after him, whether this was it or we'd have to try again for a boy. Joseph Anthony Morelli, Jr. He seemed proud that I suggested that. I had been thinking about girl names but nothing was standing out. We talked about family names and discovered that we'd each had a grandmother named Sophia, his mom's mom and my dad's mom. That sealed the deal. We also agreed that we'd use my maiden name for her middle name. Sophia Plum Morelli. That sounds like a nice name to me.

I remembered the sonogram photos and the video so we looked at those. I hated having to cram so much stuff into the short time we had together. We were both on sensory and emotional overload. He was really speechless after seeing the video and just sat with his arms around me on the sofa for a long time. He was studying my face and struggling to keep his emotion down. I knew that the conflict in his soul was stirring at a faster speed than it had been before I came. I felt bad for him. I wanted to lighten the mood.

I asked him, "Honey, how do you get the notes to me and how does Dunphy get in touch with you?" I asked.

He started, "Well, the notes are pretty easy. I am a drug addict, pretending anyway, and I am an ice cream lover, you know that part's real. We just got a retired cop to drive an ice cream truck through the neighborhood until it got too cool. I would wander out there and buy ice cream and hand him the notes with the money. I usually send little short updates to my boss that way, too. It worked great but then it got cold, so we had to change tactics. We were going to have someone pose as a dealer and I could go make a transaction with him on a regular basis, but we realized that the real dealers would put a hitman on him, so we decided to just invent a beggar. The same retired officer from the ice cream truck just wanders by me periodically and I hand him money with the notes."

He continued, "If Dunphy needs me, he calls Terri's cell and tries to order a pizza or something. She lets me know to call him. I have to go to a convenience store and use a land line – they're not as easily traced or intercepted as cell signals are."

I asked him, "How about the case? Have you had any big breaks? Oh, and I found out what the Duncan Donuts lot used to have on it!"

He sighed. "You are such a smart girl. I'm so lucky. I already have that information, however." He leaned in for a kiss, "As for the case, I wouldn't say we've had big breaks. These guys are such morons. I had to rewire all of their bugs in our apartment because they did a crappy job and couldn't hear us. We had to yell everything at each other for the first two days and Terri lost her voice. I must say, it was pretty peaceful…." I smiled at him and held his hand. "Sara's family is still involved in the imports business, but they are here in Detroit now. I have a few ideas about the tie in."

Our dinner reservations were for 7:30. Joe had spent a little time on the computer, and that was fine with me. I was reading another book on childbirth and choosing appropriate lines to read aloud to him. He was attentive and sweet to me. When I announced that I wanted something salty he went to the store and got me some chips and some microwave popcorn. We were two relaxed homebodies who were just happy to be together.

Around 6, I decided I wanted to do something special with my hair, so I wandered down the hall and started fooling with it and trying to reason with it. My hair doesn't reason well, but I finally got it going in a way I liked. I'd found a very cute dress to wear. It was deep blue, had a v-neck, a fitted bust, and of course, a flowing skirt which ended an inch or two above my knee. I made myself wear some evil pantyhose and I had found some 3 inch heels that matched perfectly. I had piled my curls on top of my head, allowing just a couple to escape the confines of the knot on top. Thinking back, Joe and I hadn't gone on many dates. We'd gone places together but they were usually very casual, happening on the spur of the moment or just out of convenience. Other than our wedding and a couple of other wedding's we had attended, I haven't had much reason to really get dressed up in the last few years. I was feeling very pleased about how my outfit had come together. I had just finished putting on my diamond earrings, which had been a wedding present from Joe, when he appeared in the doorway. He gave a low wolf whistle. I turned to look at him.

He took my breath away. He's such a handsome guy. He was wearing a French blue long sleeved shirt, with charcoal grey silk slacks. He had on black Italian loafers, and a woven belt. I wanted to jump his bones right then and there. We would have been late for dinner, however, and I was awfully hungry.

Joe held my hand and chatted with me on the way to Treos. It was a lovely restaurant, with beautiful live violin and piano music serving as a romantic backdrop. Almost every table was set for two people. We were seated in an intimate little curved booth near a window. This was a perfect place to spend a perfect evening with my husband. The candlelight was making his dark eyes appear even darker. He kissed my fingertips and told me I was beautiful. "How about a glass of wine, Cupcake? I checked with Dr. Hands and he said it would be fine." I nodded in acceptance, not trusting my voice. Joe's not typically the romantic type or at least not like this. He gets romantic in the kitchen before we go to bed, you know, but that has a utilitarian purpose, if you know what I mean.

Joe ordered our wine and surveyed the menu. I knew he would want steak and that's what I wanted, too. He ordered for both of us, remembering that I wanted my steak medium-well. When the wine came, he said, "To us, Cupcake." How sweet. If he's hoping to get laid tonight, I think he has a damn good chance.

Since we'd spent 24 hours together with only sleep and brief separations today interrupting our interactions, it would seem we would have run out of things to say, but we were still chattering away when our food arrived. The steaks were wonderful and I had to try to keep from moaning with every bite. I think Joe loves the fact that I get such satisfaction from food. It's just another sensual experience, almost an extension of sex for me.

Of course, the highlight of any dinner for me is the dessert cart. We couldn't choose so we ordered three different desserts to share.

He was holding my hand and kissing my palm when he said, "Cupcake, what's this on your wedding ring? It's all smudged. Let me clean it for you." I wanted to object when he removed my ring. I hadn't taken it off since he placed it on my finger during the ceremony on June 3. I relinquished it, however, since he was being so sweet. He rubbed it a bit with his napkin and when he put it back on my finger, it was definitely shinier. And very sparkly. He had slipped a jacket around it that was comprised of two thin diamond encrusted gold bands held together by a little bridge of sorts that supported the most beautiful marquis diamond solitaire I've ever seen. I drew in a quick breath. "Joe…"

He shushed me. "I screwed this up once because I wasn't paying attention. I'm going to get it right tonight. I can't ask you to marry me – you already have, so I'll just say, Stephanie, will you be my wife?"

He seemed pleased with my reaction which included tears welling up in my eyes. I'd misplaced my voice momentarily and I just reached to him and hugged him to me. I kissed him on the lips and reminded myself what a lucky girl I am.

"I called Feiro's where we bought our bands and had it custom made for you. I think it suits your personality perfectly. It's simple and breathtaking at the same time. I love you, Cupcake."