A few weeks later…
Eric's eyes pinged open at the sound of loud footsteps in the hallway, like someone was rushing around. He flung the covers off him to go investigate, stepping out into the darkened hall, the harsh bathroom light pulling him to walk towards it; along with the gut-wrenching sound of someone violently throwing up. As he approached the open door, he saw Tanya huddled close to the toilet, shakily reaching up for some paper or a towel. This was the first time tonight, but it wasn't the first occurrence of the week. This had been going on for a few days now, every night it was the same.
"Hey, hey… You alright?" Eric bent down and immediately pulled his sister to his chest, his muscular arms swallowing her up. She was freezing, and shivering with the cool air around them. "Let's get you back into bed." He scooped his arms under her knees to lift her up. Tanya could barely speak; she was exhausted from the lack of sleep, which made it even tougher for Eric to hide his worry over her. He couldn't afford medicine right now, let alone hospital costs if she needed them. Rationing was already limiting the food they could get, how the hell was he going to get his hands on meds?
"I'm sorry I woke you up." Her voice finally escaped past her lips as a mere whisper, accompanied by a small whine over how sick she was feeling. She curled up against the warmth of Eric's bare chest, her head leaning on his skin; strands of her blonde locks tickling there. "Don't be silly. That's what brother's are for, right?" It was true, their parents had bought Eric up to protect and care for Tanya no matter what happened. And when they both tragically passed away, Eric being a teenager at the time; became Tanya's guardian. The little girl was too naïve and innocent to understand where her parents had gone. From then on, they were all each other had.
Placing Tanya back down in her bed, Eric pulled her covers up over her chest, the petite body trembling under the cold sheets. "I'm making you a doctor's appointment tomorrow." Tanya parted her lips to interrupt, but Eric wasn't having any of it. "And you're going, okay? I'll come with you if you want." Tanya nodded, her weary body sinking down into the mattress once again. "I'll go on my own. I know you're busy with work." She was right, they were spent. Crime was at an all time high and he was finding difficult to look after her and their community simultaneously. Sleep wasn't an option for him right now; laying in bed worrying about his sister replaced it.
The next day…
It had been a few months since Eric had found out about his sister and his boss' little love affair, and finally he'd come to terms with the situation. Well, accepted it anyway. He could see Tanya was happy, and that's all needed to settle his mind, he wasn't sure he approved of her choice of male, but she could've chosen a lot worse. Jerry was one man Eric trusted more than anyone else in his life, and he knew he'd take care of the only family he had.
The boys were crowded around the old wooden table in Eric's basement; he'd converted the space into the crew's headquarters when the police station had become no longer safe for them to use. Blue prints crowded the surface and Mitch sat back away from the crowd, Eric thought he wasn't quite ready to muck in with the plans, so he took notes at his chief's request. Max glanced at papers before them, then up at his boss' deep in thought. "We got to find a woman to come distract them, then we can grab it and get outta' there." Conwell snorted with derision and shook his head, "and are you going to magically find this woman that'll risk her life for our plan to work?" Max directed a glare at his colleague. "Well, anyone got any better ideas?" Mitch suddenly piped up behind the guys, "Um, I know someone we could use." The boys all turned round to face the newbie, Jerry smiled; he knew the boy would get in their mindset eventually. "Who've you got in mind?" Eric went to sit down next to their young rookie, who was reluctant to share his idea; it was one of those "good-at-the-time-but-actually-terrible" light-bulb ideas that Jerry would probably slap him for. "Your sister? I know this is a shady job, but she already knows how we work, and she hasn't told anyone anything about our set-up. She'd only need to be in there a few minutes and..."
"No." Jerry turned back to the table and the other guys stood to attention again, and Eric cleared his throat, also standing away from Mitch, who had zipped his lips again. "The chief's right, it's too dangerous. She's not part of any of this and I don't want her ever being involved with our work, got it?" Mitch nodded quickly and his shoulders dropped again, he wrote a note reminding him not to talk about Tanya again. Eric said everything Jerry was thinking, they might have had their differences in the past about Tanya, but this they agreed on. Right now she was safe, becoming part of a job would put her jeopardy, Jerry gulped and his fingertips rubbed his forehead. They'd come to a halt. "It's not a bad idea though." Conwell muttered; he had some courage opening up like that. "Don't you start?" Eric's words escaped before a bold sigh, hadn't he told his men never to bring up his sister at work? They all sat around the table again, quiet and wondering how they'd move forward.
Suddenly the basement door creaked open, and the sound of kitten heels echoed down the concrete steps. Talk of the angel, and she appeared. Tanya's presence immediately lifted the dreary room; she was dressed in her usual work attire, a tight skirt stopping below her knees and a chiffon blouse that was powdery purple in colour. All five men stood from their seats when she entered the basement, Jerry's heart sped up behind his ribcage; they hadn't seen each other in a few days due her sickness. He'd been worried about her every minute of every day, relying on updates on her from Eric. Illness during this kind of war and rationing made everyone uneasy. "Do you boys need anything? Can't all be down here in this dark basement working without coffee or something?" Jerry smiled, her concern for them was nothing out of the ordinary, and her caring side was something he always loved to see. Tanya leaned her hands down on the table top, looking around at the men huddled around there. "We're alright, sis. Thank you for offering." Eric piped up, his voice filled with defeat after their plan had fizzled out. All Jerry wanted to scoop her up in his arms and kiss her for the rest of the day, but the couple didn't show affection around the boys. Tanya was classier than that, and Jerry was too professional. Eric rubbed his palm over his sister's back; she still looked like she'd seen a ghost and he knew she wasn't quite back to her usual self.
The three understudies slowly moved towards the stairs to venture back up to the house. "We're going to go outside for a couple of Luckies, Chief." As much as Eric and Jerry would've loved to go for a cigarette to attempt to smoke away their work problems, Tanya was more important; and both the men in her life needed to know how she was doing. Jerry nodded to his boys and watched them disappear up the stairs, closing the basement door behind them. "I thought you weren't going back to work today? You need to rest." Eric crossed his arms stubbornly in concern for his sister's welfare, Jerry moved round the table towards his love. "I'm fine, I wanted to go back. My doctor said it was okay." Tanya's eyes diverted, looking down at the blueprints and papers flung over the table. "What else did he say?" Eric wasn't about to let her continue working if something underlying was wrong with her, Tanya's eyes glazed over and she looked even more tired than usual. Jerry moved his hand over the top of hers, still resting on the edge of the table, Tanya moved her fingers to hold onto his bear-like paws; giving the love of her life a smile as their eyes momentarily met. She instantly got lost in them; Jerry's eyes seemed to suck her in every time. Tanya had to pause before she responded, gulping at Eric's questions. "Um, it's just a stomach bug. He gave me some anti-sickness meds. I feel better now though." Jerry raises his palm to rest upon Tanya's porcelain cheek; he'd missed the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingers, she was all warm and he dragged his thumb over her cheekbone. The two lock eyes again and share a passionate "hello" kiss, Tanya's slender fingers roaming over his muscular chest; meanwhile Eric's eyes rolled in the opposite direction at their loving embrace. One thing about their relationship he wasn't quite used to yet.
"I need to talk to you..." Tanya whispered, hoping Eric wouldn't hear her and Jerry's conversation, her heart was beating ten times faster than usual; she easily had the potential to pass out at the huge overcrowding of her thoughts. "Okay, let's go outside." Jerry took hold of his love's hand, knowing something wasn't quite right. She never requested to talk to him like this, and her voice practically broke under the weight of the single sentence. Like the true gentleman he was, Jerry guided her to the staircase back up to the house, letting go of her hand so she could go up before him. He turned back to Eric, still staring blankly at their plans, "I'll be back, I'm just talking going to talk to Tan." Nodding at his boss, Eric sat back down, now alone in the basement with time to think their work over again.
Upon reaching the kitchen, Tanya opened the porch door onto the garden decking, stepping out into the Californian sunshine. Jerry immediately noticed her paleness, normally she'd be glowing, her skin tanned at the touch of a sunray; but today she looked white. Turning round to face Jerry, Tanya's hands trembled with her nerves, whilst her mind replayed how he might react to her admittance. "I'm not sick, Jez." He immediately looked confused, if she wasn't sick then why did she look so under the weather? And why did the doctor give her medication? "You're not? But you said the doctor told you…" Tanya shook her head, avoiding any sort of eye contact with the man towering over her. He frowned in response, she was never like this around him and he already hated it. "Hey, you know you can talk to me..." Jerry's index finger smoothed over the soft skin under Tanya's chin, raising her head up to hopefully persuade her eyes to fix on his own. She attempted to swallow back her fears, stepping a little closer to the man who gave her a purpose in this small little life of hers. "I lied because I didn't want to tell Eric, not yet." She thought her heart might burst out her ribcage at any moment, it pounded in her chest and she felt herself growing dizzy. "Tell him what?" Jerry's hand crept down to her waist and his palm rested on her hip, his voice was soft due to his worry over her.
There was a loud crash from inside the house, and they could hear the guy's yelling for their boss. Conwell burst into the kitchen and came bounding towards the patio doors. "There's a shoot out down the avenue, near Roswell. It might be our guys!" Roswell? That was just around the corner. Jerry's palm gripped around Tanya's waist and pulled her close to his chest. Then they heard the gunshots, the screams… They were so close. Jerry's voice was stern, as he pulled Tanya back into the house "Get inside." He yanked the door closed and locked it firmly behind them. "Eric!" Jerry's voice bellowed through the thin walls, and quick footsteps were heard from the basement. "I heard the shots. Where's it coming from?" Conwell threw Eric's pistol in his direction, and he automatically snapped it back to reload. The echo of the guy's doing the same in the living room, and suddenly the house was a weapon factory. Tanya was used to the situation, but it didn't stop her gravitating into the kitchen corner, her hands resting on her elbows as she watches the men suit up. Jerry moved towards her, trying to take her hand. "You're safe here, okay? I'll stay with you." Conwell's brow furrowed in the middle, glancing up at his chief after resting his gun on the kitchen table. "But you said you wanted to take him down yourself, boss." Jerry side-glanced his understudy and nodded in Eric's direction, "Eric can take him down easily. You guys are just along for the ride. Now go and see what's going on out there." Jerry's crew nodded simultaneously, locking and loading one after the other until they had what they needed. The boys made sure the house was on lockdown before their departure; the windows were locked and every door was bolted and triple locked. Only Eric had the keys to get back in. They reached the front door; Eric gave his chief a tap on the shoulder before leaving with the rest of them. Tanya watched as her brother left, it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, however her heart dropped each time she had to say goodbye to him or Jerry. It was a dangerous game out there and she knew it.
Jerry made sure to check the door was locked after his men had left, turning his body back to face Tanya who was stood frozen in the hallway, her arms still around her. "You okay, babe? Come on, let's go sit down." Jerry's palms rubbed up and down over Tanya's arms, guiding her back into the kitchen to sit at the table with him. She made them both a coffee and they eventually got back to talking. Although, Tanya found it even harder to focus with the gunshots echoing through the neighbourhood from outside. "What didn't you want to tell Eric?" Jerry gulped his coffee before settling the mug down again, Tanya's hand clenched around hers, it was still hot but she wasn't worrying about that. "Is it something at work? What is it? You can tell me…" Jerry voice grew more pained, he hated seeing her worked up, and her silence just made it worse.
"I'm pregnant."
