Hope you enjoy. I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, but it should be soon (you'll see what I mean) as long as the Bronchitis doesn't keep me down. Let me know what you think in your reviews!
Not mine.
The week seemed to fly by. It seemed that if I wasn't spending dinner at my parent's house, I was at Carlos's. My mother took the news of being pregnant better than I expected.
"What?" She screeched. I was afraid that she was going to faint.
"I'm pregnant?"
"How exciting! When are you due?"
"Um, March?"
"You don't know for sure?"
"I didn't ask last time. I had too much on my mind." Like the little heartbeat. That seemed way more important than when I was going to push the little person out of me.
"You should find out so we can plan a party."
"Mom, I don't want a party?"
"Why not?"
"Because anything that I want, Carlos gets for me. Anything I get from a shower would be overkill."
"No man can support his wife that well. Only in the movies." She added a chuckle on the end.
I looked away and went back to eating my dinner.
My mother dropped her fork and my father's mouth opened wide. Thankfully Grandma was out at a viewing. I couldn't imagine her reaction to this.
"How big are we talking?"
"He could buy a small country and save it?"
They continued to gape at me.
"Well," my mother looked smug. "My new son in law is rich. I can't wait to tell all the ladies."
"Please don't."
"Why not?"
"Because he doesn't want to go around flaunting it."
"But…"
"No. Don't say a word. Not even to Grandma." He may have the cars and the clothes, but that doesn't mean he wanted everyone to know that he was filthy stinking rich. That could be harmful information in the wrong hands.
She sighed. "Fine."
"You too, Daddy."
He looked up, shocked. "Who am I going to tell?"
I just looked at him.
"Okay. I won't."
We went back to eating dinner in silence. My mother kept giving me looks like she wanted me to blab all my secrets. Luckily, I didn't have any more secrets.
"So, your mother was excited?" Carlos asked Thursday night after I got home. He called if he had some free time. Which seemed to be every day. I think he's worried that I'll miss him too much. It's sweet, in an overbearing way.
"Excited is putting it mild. She started knitting booties after dinner."
"You're not serious."
"She's making three pairs: one pink, one blue and one yellow."
He didn't know what to say to that. I didn't blame him. He was probably feeling like I did when his uncle sent the blanket. In shock.
"When does Julie's plane come in?" He asked after a minute.
"Seven tomorrow." I was excited for Julie's visit. It would distract me from missing Carlos.
He sighed. "God, I miss you so much."
My heart skipped a beat. "I miss you too." I said.
I heard some muffling in the background. "I've got to go, Babe. We're doing a surprise drill on them."
I was guessing that was Carlos's idea. "Have fun."
He chuckled. "Rub the baby for me."
I smiled. It made my heart melt when he talked like that. "I will."
"Love you."
"Love you."
And then he was gone. A few minutes later, I was out.
"Stephanie!" Julie screamed as she got off the plane.
"Hey sweetie." She came up and hugged me. I hugged her tightly back. "You look more like your father every day. He's sorry he couldn't make it."
She smiled his smile. "It's okay. Is that a good thing? That I look like him?"
I nodded. Boy was it good. She was going to beating the boys back with a stick. "Is this all you have?" I pointed to the small bag she had on her shoulder.
"Uh huh. What's so important?"
Yep, there's Carlos. Wants to know everything at the exact moment he can get it squeezed out of someone. "Let's get something to eat."
"Will you tell me then?"
"Yeah, honey." I guided her to the car and we motored off to Pino's.
"How's school?" I asked after we ordered.
"Great! I love it!" She talked about how she was adjusting to high school. I couldn't believe how old she was already. It seemed like only yesterday Carlos was saving us from Scrog.
"Okay, so how much longer are you going to keep me in suspense?" She asked after the pizza arrived.
"Grab a slice and I'll talk." She did as she was told and I started to talk. "Your dad and I have some exciting news for you."
"Okay…"
"We're going to have a baby."
She dropped the pizza slice that was in her hand. Uh oh.
And then she started to squeal.
"Really? You and Ranger are having a baby?"
Oops. I'm guessing that taking her to Pino's was a bad idea. Everyone stopped and turned to stare. I sighed. "Yes, it's true."
There was a round of applause and congratulations.
"Sorry." Julie said, blushing. "I guess that was kind of loud."
"It's cool. It was going to come out eventually. I'm going to get fat."
"Not fat, pregnant."
"But you're okay with this?"
"Sure I am! I think it's great." She rolled her eyes. "Duh."
I chuckled. Duh. I blame the pregnancy.
"Do you know what you're having?"
"Not yet. It's still too early."
We got back to Rangeman and the elevator stopped at five, not seven.
"Stephanie," Tank said. "Come with me."
"Okay…" We went into Carlos's office where two officers were standing.
"Mrs. Manoso?"
"That's me." I said, my voice shaking. Oh God, what's wrong? I clutched my stomach.
"We need you to come with us."
"Is my husband okay?"
They looked at each other. "We don't know. We're just the messengers."
Oh God.
