Chapter 13: 2 surprises = lots of joy
Kate walked off the ship towards the two people who were still waiting for her. A lot of the junior sailors had already left with their families so there weren't many people waiting anymore. As soon as she walked off the gangway Malcolm Roth walked up to her and wanted to take over her duffle bag.
Kate stopped, not knowing what to do and how to behave around Jim's parents. She had only met Terry Roth once and although she had informed, and had kept them up to date of her pregnancy, she wasn't really familiar with them.
"You must be happy to walk on firm ground for a change," Malcolm joked while Kate embraced Terry.
Kate shrugged and looked at the woman, still a bit uneasily. "I have been off the ship once in a while," she answered. "There are a lot of uninhabited islands we visited," she added.
"You probably want to go home," Terry said. She sounded unsure and when Kate looked at Malcolm she knew why. He gave her a disapproving look and sighed.
"Terry," he muttered.
"Well look at her," Terry defended herself. "She looks exhausted. We can ask Graham another time," she discussed.
Kate didn't know what they were talking about but, like Terry said, she was exhausted. She was in no fit state to meet anyone at this time, so whoever Graham was he had to wait.
"A friend of ours works as a radiographer at a private clinic. He can squeeze you in for an ultrasound," Malcolm explained, ignoring his wife who was shaking her head and sighing as a protest.
"If you're too tired and would rather go home then that's fine too," Terry quickly added.
Kate liked the idea of 'seeing' her baby but she really was tired after working all night. She tried to weigh the options in her head; going home or going with the Roths and having a peek at her baby. She had made an appointment later this week and an ultrasound was one of the things which was planned. Thinking about it made her excited about saying yes.
"In a regular hospital they don't take as much time. We wanted to surprise you with an extra ultrasound," Malcolm tried to convince her to take the offer.
Kate smiled at him and started walking towards the car park. "Let's go," she stated.
At the clinic she didn't have to wait long before it was her turn. For good measure the doctor checked her blood pressure and some minor things before she could lay down on the examining table. During the first bit she had been alone with the doctor but now Kate was surprised Malcolm and Terry didn't come inside to join her.
"They're waiting a few more minutes so you can see the baby first. When you want to they can come in," the doctor explained when he saw her looking at the door.
Kate nodded and just enjoyed seeing the baby moving for the first time. It was perfectly healthy.
"Do you want to know the sex of your baby?" the doctor asked with a smile on his face.
It was clear that he could see what it was going to be. Kate looked at the screen and tried to figure it out for herself but couldn't tell without help. Up until now she hadn't even thought about the sex. The only thing she wanted was a healthy child.
"I don't know," she answered a bit dazzled.
"I understand you're lucky and will have another opportunity in the near future. If you want to know you can always ask your own doctor," the man said with a smile before he wrote something down on a piece of paper. "Shall I let Malcolm and Terry in or do you want to keep this moment to yourself?" he asked without looking at her.
Kate almost felt obliged to let them in but Terry kept saying that she wouldn't mind if she chose otherwise. In the end Kate let them in and the doctor reapplied some gel.
"Oh I'm sorry," he said when he saw he had accidently applied a generous smear of gel on her t-shirt.
"That's OK," Kate said. "I've got others in my bag. I'll change. No harm done."
She couldn't care less. Fifteen minutes had passed and she was still looking at her gorgeous baby.
After another long look Kate came down off the table while Terry handed her her bag. Kate looked in it to get a clean shirt but to her surprise a diary was stuck between her clothes.
"That isn't mine," Kate said out loud, only then realising nobody would know what she was talking about. She pulled it out and opened it only to find out it belonged to Regina. What is this thing doing here, Kate thought. She put the diary back and got dressed. There was nothing she could do about it at the moment.
On her way home Kate kept thinking about it though. Why had Regina put her diary in her bag? Could she have put it in the wrong one? The navy had given her a bag for the time being since Reg had nothing of her own, but when had she had time to put something in the wrong bag?
By the time Kate got home she couldn't think about anything else so she decided to call Maxine White to ask if she knew where Regina was.
"Regina?" Maxine asked bewildered. "You're seriously thinking about her when you could be doing all kinds of things like shopping for your baby or…" Maxine continued happily.
"Jim's parents had a little surprise for me. They took me for a surprise ultrasound. I've just come home. Regina put something in my bag by mistake and I want to return it to her," Kate explained.
"Ah I see," Maxine started. "How was your ultrasound?" she continued, still not answering the actual question.
Kate sighed. Little babies, unborn and new born, had this strange effect on people. Suddenly the most sensible person could turn into mush and it was happening to Commander White right now.
"Good," Kate answered as vague as she could, hoping it would be enough of a hint for Maxine to stop asking questions.
"Well," Maxine said, sounding professional again. "Regina, or Alicia, whatever her name is, has been cleared by customs. Apparently she is no longer a suspect in that massacre case. It turned out a man has been arrested for killing those five men. Regina did walk away five years ago so the Feds still want to talk to her about what she has been doing in the meantime but for now she's been lodged in a motel. Wait… I'll look up the details for you," she added.
"That would be great," Kate said while she got a piece of paper and a pen to write the address down.
Maxine hung up the phone and looked at the man sitting on the other side of her desk. "I'm sorry about that," she apologised. "Where were we?" she asked out loud. It was more a question to herself than to the Petty Officer present in her office.
Dylan Mulholland grinned at his superior. He had just arrived home when she called him with a request to come to Navcom. He was really curious about to what she wanted.
He had returned to Navcom only to find out that Commander White got disturbed every five minutes or so. She had finally closed the door to her office when the phone rang and of course she had answered it. From what he could make out it was Kate on the line and she wasn't too keen on going into a deep discussion about babies. For that he was grateful.
"I asked you to come in because I've received two pleasing recommendations from your senior officers," Maxine explained.
Dutchy frowned. Of course he was pleased to hear his senior officers were pleased with his work but did the navy really need to tell him that on his first day off?
"They told me you are a great leader and showed good initiative. The navy likes that in her sailors and that's why they put your name down for a promotion," Maxine continued.
Dutchy was amazed to hear this and felt really honoured. "Chief Petty Officer?" he wondered out loud, trying to imagine the sound of that.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't clear on that," Maxine shook her head. "They believe you would be perfect for as a navy Lieutenant. It would mean you've got to go back to the academy," she explained.
A Lieutenant! Dutchy had never thought about that if he was honest. Did he have to decide right now?
"If you don't want it it's fine. We won't held it against you. I can also understand you want to think about it but…" Maxine continued to explain. "Well… the next course starts next week. We can get you in if you react quickly."
It was a lot to process at the moment but Dutchy felt honoured and proud. "When do you need to know?" he asked.
"Ideally we would like to get an answer today or tomorrow but I'll give you until the end of the week," Maxine answered.
Dutchy nodded and smiled. This was fantastic news. He wanted to go home and think about it but at that moment two federal cops knocked on Commander White's door and walked in without waiting for an answer.
"Gentlemen," Maxine said irritated.
"We need the address of one of your sailors," one of them said without even apologising for barging in.
"I can't just give out that kind of information," Maxine said defensively.
The other cop sighed and shook his head. "It's important," he urged.
Maxine sighed as well. She was not going to give out information just because two men thought it was important. She needed more information.
"The woman who was brought in on the Hammersley. Customs cleared her and let her go. We need to talk to her about several issues and she's not at the address which was given by customs. We understand she formed a close relationship with one of the sailors and think she might be visiting her," the cop explained, hoping he would get the necessary information.
"Bird," Dutchy muttered.
"That's the name!" the cop said eagerly.
"I can give her a call if that makes you happy," Maxine suggested. She didn't wait and picked up the phone, quickly looking for the right number in her phone directory.
Everyone in the room waited anxiously as she dialled but after half a minute Maxine put down the phone, shaking her head. "She doesn't pick up her phone. I'll try again later. I don't think it's necessary for me to give out her address at this stage. I'll let her know to contact me or you if that makes you happy," she added sarcastically.
The two cops started to leave the office, not too happy about the result they got, when Dutchy remembered something.
"Ma'am," he said alarmed. "Didn't you give out the address to Lieutenant McGregor?"
Maxine nodded. "Yes, I did," she answered. "Gentlemen," she called after the cops. "Is this woman dangerous? Should I warn my officer not to visit?" she asked.
One of the cops returned and pointed at the phone. "Call her. It's unlikely for your officer to be met by this woman. We went by the motel earlier and she wasn't there, but we want to talk to her about some serious issues," he said.
Maxine dialled Kate's number while she looked at the cop in disbelief. "You didn't answer my question," she whispered as she waited for Kate to pick up the phone.
"Tell her to stay away from this woman," the cop answered.
"OK, I tell h… Oh hi Kate, it's Maxine," Maxine said switching to a friendly tone. "Where are you?" she asked.
In the background Maxine could hear sounds indicating Kate was outside, near a road.
"I'm at the motel," Kate answered.
"Regina isn't there. The Feds came by earlier and didn't see her then," Maxine said.
"I'm in front of her room now. It looks she has returned in the meantime ma'am," Kate said enthusiastically.
"Kate, please leave," Maxine said hurriedly when she heard Kate knock on a door.
"I'm only returning something. I promise I won't stay long," Kate said before Maxine heard the door open.
"Oh hi Kate," Maxine heard Regina say. "What brings you here?"
"I came to return this," Kate answered.
"Who is that?" a strange voice asked in the background. "Is that what I think it is?"
Maxine listened to the man who sounded very aggressive and quickly put the call on speaker so the others in the room could listen as well.
"You're very kind to return this," the man's voice continued.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Kate asked. "Hey! Stop! Leave me alone," Kate suddenly screamed. "NO!" was the last thing they heard before the connection was cut off.