Chapter 28

It was an intense reunion. Their first embrace had led to gentle caresses, which led to making love. In the comforting calm afterward, they lay with their heads together, staring at the ceiling and baring their hearts.

"You're still seeing Tenorio?" Alex asked in surprise, simultaneously giving his hand a squeeze.

Bobby nodded, and heard her hair scratching against his. "I've been a couple or three times since… since the break up."

She squeezed his hand again, processing the importance of it.

"She says I self-sabotage my relationships. It's… something I… I'm working on." He felt her hand tighten on his again, and he was pleased. "I… I love you, Alex. And… and I don't want to screw this up… I mean that."

"It's been so hard for me, Bobby."

"I know that and I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about me. I… I convinced myself that I shouldn't love you… but Bobby, I do. All those times… in the squad room, or the elevator… I know we're not perfect, Bobby, you or me… but I can't pretend that I don't care."

"So… where do we stand now?" he asked.

Her heart started pounding. "I don't know," she said.

"I love you, Alex, but if you don't want to… I'll understand."

"Bobby, I love you, too. It's just that… we're so… bad at this." She could feel his muscles tense as he waited for her to answer his question. "I love you, Bobby… and I want to… but I'm not sure we can… at least maybe not yet."

"So, what, maybe we… just… date? Not live together?"

"Yeah, maybe that. Maybe that would… give us time…"

"Time to… to change."

"Maybe we'll learn." She turned to her side and looked into his eyes. "Is that okay? Can we take a step back, before we jump in again?"

He turned to his side, too, and held his hand to her cheek. "I think… we can do… whatever we want… and if it means we'll be together, we should do it." He kissed her gently. "I love you, Alex. I… I don't want to live without you."

"I love you, too, Bobby." She kissed him. "I don't want to do this alone." They kissed over and over, whispering promises in the spaces between.

Everyone noticed the ease with which they walked into the squad room. They didn't touch, they didn't kiss, they barely spoke, but the look they shared was as clear a message as any other.

Bobby turned from her and walked to his desk, setting the binder down and getting it ready for the day. Logan walked back from the printer, curiosity burning in him.

He sat down and tapped a pencil against his desk, waiting for some kind of confession from his partner.

Bobby looked up. "What?"

"Looks like you've got good news."

"No. No news."

"But you and Eames-"

"Mike, you really don't want to go there, do you?" Goren warned.

Logan held his hands up in resignation. "Fine, all right. For what it's worth, I'm glad. That's all I'm going to say about it."

Bobby didn't reply, only started working the case.

"We're back together," Bobby announced cheerfully as he served Lewis a big bowl of chili.

"That's great, Bobby!" Lewis tasted the chili and grinned. He and Bobby had been trying to out-spice each other for years. From one taste, the tip of his tongue was numb. He grabbed a beer and sat down with his bowl at the table. "Forgive me for asking," Lewis said, "But why are you still here?"

"We're… we're not jumping back in… we're dating."

"Oh, the old, rewind, slow mo thing. Of course, I'll bet last night wasn't slow mo."

Bobby found himself speechless. He slowly stirred his bowl of chili as he thought about the night before. "No, I guess it wasn't… but last night was… it was…"

"Forget it Bobby, you don't have to tell me anything. Keep it between you and Alex."

Bobby nodded, but he was smiling, still lost in the memory of the night before.

"I'm Detective Eames, this is Detective Manschweitz."

The woman shook both of their hands. "You're pregnant," she observed.

"Yes," Alex said.

"How far?"

"Almost six months."

"A summer baby."

"Yes, sometime in June, we think."

They settled in to interview her. "Mrs. Arnold, we wanted to ask you some questions about your nephew." Palmer was taking the lead on this one.

"I… I don't want to talk about him."

"I know it's difficult, but we need to clarify a few things."

Alex tried to throw him a look, but he was completely focused on the woman in front of him.

"That boy took everything he could get his hands on. He was no good to me, or to my dear husband. He's dead to me."

"Frankly, Mrs. Arnold, without your input, we may not be able to hold him."

Again, Alex tried in vain to get her junior partner's attention. She got up and wandered the room, and pulled a picture of the Arnolds off a bookshelf. "Is this your husband?" She asked suddenly, interrupting Palmer.

"Yes," Mrs. Arnold said.

"He was very handsome," Alex said. "You made a beautiful couple."

"Thank you," the woman said.

"I'll bet it's very hard without him." As she said it, she rubbed her swollen belly.

"Are you alone?" Mrs. Arnold asked.

Alex smiled. "There have been times," she admitted. "Things with us are very… rocky."

"Marriage is a difficult thing," the older woman said. "My husband and I, we agreed early on that we would never go to bed angry."

Alex smiled.

"Sometimes one of us stayed up all night, but we stuck to it!" She laughed, and Alex laughed with her.

"I'll keep that in mind," Alex said.

"You love him?" she asked, and Alex nodded. "And he loves you, and you only?" Again, she nodded. "You will be fine."

"Thank you, Mrs. Arnold." Alex made as if she was very tired.

"You need to put your feet up." She helped Alex back to the couch and scooted the coffee table close so she could elevate her feet. "We have three children. Oh! I loved the babies, but I hated to be pregnant!"

"You raised three? Here?"

Mrs. Arnold nodded.

"And your nephew, too?" Alex asked.

The woman smiled sadly. "He was ten years old when he moved in with us. God help me, but I tried everything to save that child. He was already a devil."

They completed the interview and with Alex's rapport, were able to get everything they needed. Palmer took special care to escort Alex out of the house. She shook him off as soon as they were out of Mrs. Arnold's view.

"How did you know?"

Alex shrugged. "Experience. Look, Palmer, I don't expect you to do that at every interview, but I do expect you to check in with me while we're with someone. I was sending signals out to dead air."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Alex said. "It'll get better with time."