Chapter 9

Alex asked Bobby not to be a part of her talk with her family. She knew her sister and even Johnny would have a hard time being honest with her if Bobby was sitting in the room. As anxious as she was about telling them, she did want to know what they truly thought.

So Bobby had decided to go to Major Case and do more research on the case they were working. Alex stayed home and made appetizers.

The doorbell rang and she checked the peephole. It was Johnny. Alex relaxed and let him in.

"Hey, sis!" he said, giving her a warm hug. "How's things?"

"Good, Johnny, good."

He followed her into the kitchen and started sampling her food. "I saw the mustang out there. You and Bobby back together?" he asked in between bites.

She didn't realize he didn't take his car. "Uh, yeah. That's part of what I wanted to tell you today."

"Part?"

She was saved by the sound of the doorbell. "Oh, that'll be Liz," she said, wiping her hands on a towel and jogging to the front door. Her sister stood on the porch with a tentative smile.

"Hi, Alex."

"Hi, Liz. Come on in." Once the door was closed, Alex gave her an uneasy hug.

Johnny hugged his oldest sister with as much enthusiasm as he'd shown Alex. They shared greetings, and everyone sat down at the kitchen table, with a plate and a drink in their reach.

"Alex was just telling me that she and Bobby are back together," Johnny said. He wanted her to tell him the rest. The suspense was killing him.

"Yeah, I noticed his car out there," Liz commented quietly. "How long?" She asked Alex, trying not to sound concerned.

"A week, maybe more," Alex said. She cleared her throat and shook her glass until the ice settled down into the water.

"You said that was only part of it," Johnny prodded. "What's the rest?"

"Well," Alex smiled, and a blush spread over her cheeks. "We're back together, partly because…" She cleared her throat again. "I'm uh… I'm," another cough as she cleared her throat once more, "I'm pregnant."

Johnny was exuberant. "That's great! Congratulations, Alex!" He jumped out of his seat and gave her a hug and a kiss. "That's fantastic!" he was still saying.

Liz, however, only smiled quietly. "Congratulations, Alex," was all she said.

Johnny was full of questions. He asked her everything from when she was due, to how she'd been feeling, to when she thought she'd work on the baby's room.

Liz was very quiet. She asked a few polite questions about the pregnancy, about the baby's health. Alex told her about the blood test, about her concerns that she couldn't raise a child with special needs.

"You can't abort. It's a mortal sin, Alex. Murder. You'll go straight to hell."

Alex held her breath a moment. They were all raised Catholic, but none of them ever really talked about it. "I'm not…" she began, and then decided to rephrase. "I didn't…" Finally, she changed tacks entirely. "Bobby wants to keep the baby."

Her sister sat back in shock. After a few minutes, she stammered, "I'm sorry, Alex, I just assumed that-"

"There's a reason I love him, Liz. He's not an ape."

"I never said he was!"

"You may as well have. Ever since I told you about the break up you've made it clear that you don't approve of him."

"Alex-!" Liz cried.

"Hey, you know what?" Johnny said. "Let's move past this, huh? We've got good news here. Alex is having a baby. That's cause for celebration!"

The girls dropped it, but an iciness hung in the air between them the rest of the afternoon.

Bobby saw the cars parked outside and folded his arms, watching his breath stream out into the frigid air. Maybe the fact that they were still there was a good thing. Maybe they'd worked things out.

He shifted from foot to foot, apprehensive about interrupting them. The addition of snowfall finally drove him toward the door. He entered as unobtrusively as possible, and smiled in greeting. Alex reached him just as he was hanging up his coat, and gave him a robust kiss, enough to distract him for a moment from the others in the room.

"Hi," she said quietly, smiling up at him.

"Hi," he repeated after her, with a twinkle. He finished with his coat, and Alex led him by the hand to the kitchen. Bobby shook Johnny's hand, and then Liz's. He could see right away things weren't as good as he'd hoped.

"Congratulations, Bobby. You and Alex will make terrific parents," Johnny said, always the cheerful one in the group.

"Well, uh, that's yet to be seen," Bobby replied modestly.

Alex asked him about work, and soon the others made excuses and put on their coats to head home. Once they were gone, Alex flopped wearily onto the couch.

Bobby stuck one hand in his pocket. "Not so well, hey?"

"Liz really has it out for you," Alex said.

Bobby shrugged, shifted his focus around the room. "It's okay. I understand. I'm not easy to like."

"You're not good enough for me."

Bobby gave her a genuine smile. "I've always known that."

She patted the cushion beside her. As he sat down, he drew her into a hug. His hands began massaging her shoulders. "You're tight," he said, and guided her to turn so he could massage her more easily.

Alex smiled and accommodated him, relaxing under the skill of his hands. "I could use one of these every night," she said.