Title: The Swear Jar 6/X
Author: Romantique
Email: dolph1n
Classification: Raylan/Winona Family/General
Rating: T for language (but no worse than the show)
Summary: Raylan is a new dad. This one is a stand-alone, not a sequel to 'A Change of Scenery.'
Disclaimer: It's 'Justified' hiatus time, and I'm bored. This fic is based on nothing but my imagination and takes place sometime after the end of Season 3.
Legal: These characters do not belong to me. I'm just a fan and have not made a dime. Please email me to obtain permission to post.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
At about 4:30 a.m., a little whimper came from the crib. Raylan was up in a flash to see about his baby girl. He decided he would do the heavy lifting in the middle of the night, over the next few days, as Winona had to get up early and attend her seminars.
"Shhhhhh," he said softly in Caitlyn's ear.
He brought her up to his shoulder and held her close, supporting her head.
"Raylan?" Winona called from the bed, also awakened. "Would you bring her to me?" she asked.
She watched how he was with Cait, so calm, strong, and reassuring.
"Sorry," he said, rubbing little circles around the baby's back. "I was tryin' not to wake you."
"Oh, you didn't," she explained. "Every time she cries like she's hungry? My breasts ... well ... what I'm tryin' to say is that I need to nurse her."
"Sure," he said and passed Cait over to Winona.
"Or pump. It's a whole lot easier in the middle of the night to nurse," she said, offering her breast to the babe. "But you could get a new diaper and the wipes out of the bag. She'll need to be changed before she can go back in the crib."
Raylan nodded and let out a big yawn, as he pawed through the diaper bag.
"Tired?" she asked him, knowing he had been taking care of Cait for the last 36 hours.
"Oh, I'm fine," he said and sat down on the bed. "Besides, I'm on vacation this week," he reminded her.
"Some vacation, huh?" she asked.
He leaned over and kissed her.
"I don't mind," he said.
Winona nursed Cait about 10 minutes on each side, and then changed the babe. Next, she showed Raylan how to burp a sleeping baby, over his lap and asked him to put her back to bed when he was done, while she headed for the bathroom. The middle of the night feeding was not always enough to bring her relief. Thus was the case on this night, and she needed to pump. After she was finished, she tossed the diaper in the trash, washed her hands, and cleaned herself up a bit. When she returned to the room, Caitlin was sleeping peacefully in her crib, and Raylan was waiting for her in bed, his arm stretched out to cuddle her as they went back to sleep.
She first stopped by the mini fridge and made another deposit of milk before climbing back in bed. She laid her head on his shoulder, snuggled in close, and began to slowly run her fingertips lightly up and down his bare chest. He gently kissed the top of her head, the way he used to do.
As long as she'd known Raylan, as many days as they'd been together, she couldn't help but notice how much she missed the feel of him, the smell of him. No one felt or smelled as he did. He was forever seared into her memory. She couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same way about her.
His chest slowly rose and fell with each breath, as her fingers played him and set off a stirring within her.
"Would you think I was terrible if I was able to seduce you, now?" she asked.
With his eyes closed, he said in a low, gravelly voice, "I knew pregnant women got a little randy, but I didn't know this also happened after the baby was born." Then, he quickly added before getting himself in trouble, "Not that I know much of anything before or after babies."
Winona's hands lightly glided over his body and then, under the covers. He let out a stifled, little gasp, as he tried not to wake the baby. She then, sat up on her haunches and began to lightly kiss him, down his neck, his chest, and down. In only a matter of minutes, his pent up desire, from all the time without her, matched hers. He reached up and wrapped his long arms around her, suddenly flipping her small frame underneath him, until she was no longer the one in control. He then leaned down and covered her mouth with his, muffling their mutual moans, as he devoured her with a driven intent.
There was nothing tender about their lovemaking this time. It was urgent, intense, and physical all the way through to its earth-shattering conclusion.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Raylan awoke to his cell phone vibrating on the nightstand near his head. He grabbed it and looked at the display. It was Art, and there were 2 missed calls. Also, it was 10:30 a.m.
"Art?" he asked, pressing the receive button and scrubbing his face and head with his hand, as if to wipe away the cobwebs of a deep sleep.
"How come you're not answerin' or returnin' my calls?" Art asked, sounding quite irritated.
Quickly scanning the darkened room, a disoriented Raylan noticed Winona and the baby weren't there.
"I'm callin' to let you know we haven't been able to find Crowder," Art said, not waiting for a response to his question. "No sign of him at Johnny Crowder's bar. Tim went out there late yesterday. And we've got the house on Indian Line on watch. Still no sign of him there, either. Do you have any other ideas?"
"No, I don't," Raylan answered, now on up his feet, checking out the bathroom, confused about where they could have gone.
Then, he saw a note on the table and read it, as Art rambled on.
Good morning,
I took Cait with me to the morning session. If they don't like it, too bad.
Rest up, Cowboy.
Love,
Me
"Raylan, did you hear me?" Art asked.
"Uh, sorry. Bad reception," he thought fast on his feet. "I'm in Bowlin' Green with Winona."
"Well, good," Art reasoned. "You can drop the baby off and come on back to the office ... and go find Boyd."
"Uh, no," Raylan corrected his boss. "I'm here for the rest of the week with the baby, while Winona gets her certification under control," he explained. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea where to look for Boyd. If I did, I'd tell you."
Art was wondering what had gotten into Raylan, not wanting to pursue his nemesis. Then, it dawned on him that maybe it was Winona who had gotten into Raylan and that, maybe, it wasn't a bad thing for his marshal. At least, as long as they weren't fighting.
"Did you check the surveillance cameras at the prison?" Raylan threw his boss a bone.
"Yeah," Art replied. "The one in the infirmary showed Arlo walkin' out, alone."
Raking his fingers through his hair, Raylan added, "Maybe Arlo did walk out alone, like he said he did. And maybe one of the inmates owed him a favor in the form of a ride from one of their friends or family members?"
"Meanin' Boyd was not involved," Art followed.
"As much as we'd like, we've found no evidence that he was," Raylan closed up his rationale. "We only assumed."
"Well, I guess we'll continue to keep an eye on Ava to see if he turns up there," Art said with a sigh of frustration. "If we find anything, do you even want to know?"
"Not really," he said. "Nothin' I can do about it until next week, you know?"
"Alright," Art gave in. "I'll see you on Monday."
"Yep. Bright and early," Raylan quipped and disconnected the call.
Then, the moment came when Raylan truly felt like every other new parent when all he wanted to do was to take a leisurely shower before resuming his fatherly duties. And that was exactly what he did.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
At the lunch break, Winona ran up to the room and brought Caitlyn back to Raylan. The baby had spit up on herself and smelled a little sour.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll take care of it."
"She was fed about 15 minutes ago. Sorry, I gotta go," Winona said and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, as she took off out the door.
Raylan had the baby in his arms.
"How about a bath, baby girl?" he asked.
He proceeded to prop her up on the bathroom counter while he prepared a warm bath, but not too warm, for her in the sink. He then carried her to the bed and removed her clothes and diaper and grabbed the baby shampoo and lotion out of the diaper bag. Next, he rolled up his shirt sleeves and carried Cait back into the bathroom.
"There you go," he said, lowering her into the water, floating her while supported in his hand.
The baby relaxed in his hand and gave her Daddy one of her famous toothless smiles. He laughed and worked quickly, gently washing her hair with a washcloth and rinsing her using a glass filled with tepid water. When he was all done, he scooped her up and wrapped her in a big thirsty towel. About that time, there was a knock at the door.
"Room service," a male voice called from the other side of the door.
Raylan had ordered a burger and some coffee for lunch. He opened the door to the room. The front of Raylan's shirt was wet from bath water, and he still had the baby in his arms.
The waiter looked around the room. It hadn't been cleaned yet and was sort of in disarray. Raylan quickly cleared off a place on the table so that the waiter could put down the tray.
"I wanted to leave you a tip, but my hands are kinda full right now," he explained, as the waiter set up his meal.
Very nonchalantly, the waiter said, "Oh, you can charge it to your room, including any gratuity."
"Thanks," he said, thinking this place was much nicer than the kind of places where he usually stayed.
After the waiter left, Raylan diapered and dressed Cait and placed her back in her infant seat. He then cleared off the other end of the table and placed her near him so that he could eat.
"How about you and me goin' explorin' for a while, this afternoon," he asked the babe, in between bites of his burger. "We need to let the maid have a chance to clean up this mess."
He proceeded to finish his lunch, grab the diaper bag, and call the front desk for maid service. Then, he grabbed his hat, as he and Caitlyn left to explore some of Bowling Green.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Raylan returned to the room at about 5:30 p.m. with his hands full. He had Caitlyn's carrier in one hand, and a large pizza in the other. He knocked on the door with his knee and Winona answered.
"You brought pizza?" she smiled.
"Yes, with sausage, peppers, and no onions," he recited.
"You remembered," her smile became broader.
She took the pizza from him and placed it on the table.
"Where did you two go this afternoon," she asked, releasing Cait from her car seat.
He answerd, "Cait and I went the National Corvette Museum. They had over 80 Corvettes there on display. We had a fun day."
And he reached into the pocket of the diaper bag, pulled out the pamplet, and handed it to her.
"I didn't even realize they had a car museum here," she said, glancing at the small brochure. "That's sweet you took Cait out on her first excursion."
Then, she changed the subject. "You want a soda to go with the pizza? There's a machine at the end of the hall."
"I'll take a Pepper," he said, unloading his shoulder of the diaper bag. "Here, I'll go get them," he offered. "You want a Diet Coke?"
"No, a regular one," she said. "I'm nursing. No artificial sweeteners for our girl."
When he returned to the room, Winona was gushing all over the baby.
"Did you give her a bath?" Winona asked, frankly surprised. "She smells so good." Turning her attention to Cait, she said, "So good I just want to eat you up."
And she laughed. It was a beautiful site, mother and baby ... both so happy.
Raylan smiled. "Yeah, she needed a bath. It was fun, I must say."
At that moment, Raylan's phone began to vibrate in his pocket, and he pulled it out as a number came up on the display. It was a Harlan number.
"Hey," the female voice said on the other end when he answered.
"Hey," Raylan repeated, not sure who he was talking to.
"When you were at the house the other day, you said it wasn't a good time for us to talk," the woman continued. "When would be a good time?"
Ava Crowder.
"Uh, maybe about the time we figure out how you and Boyd figure into Arlo's prison break?" he said, for lack of knowing what to say.
Meanwhile, Winona took Caitlyn into the bathroom to give Raylan a little privacy, even though her interest was piqued by what she'd heard.
"Like I told you, I had nothin' to do with it," Ava repeated herself from the day before.
Raylan cleared his throat, "The problem is, until we find Boyd and he can corroborate your story, you remain a suspect."
"I see," she said, suddenly sounding cool.
Then, Raylan decided to shut this down.
"Look Ava," he began. "I'm not on the Boyd end of the case. There's a conflict because it involves Arlo. So, if you have any information about Boyd, you should call our office and ask for Deputy Marshal Tim Gutterson. You remember Tim? Tall, good lookin' young man?"
"I do," she said. "And I will. Call him ... if I find out anything about Boyd."
"Well, I gotta go," he said in closing.
"Can you still not talk?" she surmised.
Ava was very good about sizing up a situation.
"No, I can't," he said. "And I really do have to go. Bye."
And he disconnected the call.
"Who was that?" Winona walked out of the bathroom at the end of the conversation.
Raylan was hesitant. "It's about Boyd Crowder and his possible involvement in somethin' goin' on over in Harlan."
Suspicious, Winona asked, "Why are they calling you when you're here?"
"Exactly!" Raylan exclaimed. "That's exactly what I asked."
Letting out a pent up sigh of frustration, Winona stood with her hands on her hips. "Raylan, were you talking to Ava?"
He looked at her and decided he'd better come clean. "Yeah. She called me to talk about Boyd. I didn't recognize her number, or I would have let it go to voicemail. Anyway, I told her I'm not on the case, which is true, and that she needs to contact Tim. You heard me say that, right?"
"I did," she answered, glad that he told the truth. "But now what's all this about Arlo?"
Thinking fast on his feet, Raylan began, "I told you Art was tryin' to get me to come into the office on my vacation? Well, Arlo walked out of prison. Don't worry, they got him back in. But the authorities thought that Boyd and Ava may have had somethin' to do with it. Art figured because this case involved Arlo, I'd want to come in on it. But Art never has understood my relationship with my father."
"So, that's why you wanted to get out of town?" she deduced.
She put Caitlyn's seat on the table and grabbed a slice of the still warm pizza.
"Well, that and ... Winona, I really wanted to see you," he admitted. "I've had these longin's to be with you, and they've gotten worse since I've seen you with Caitlyn."
Winona smiled. "Really? Because I get the same kind of feelings when I see you with Caitlyn, too." In between bites, she added, "I love watching you with her ... the way you are with her."
"Yeah?" he asked, popping the top of his soda and pouring it into a glass.
He then did the same for hers and handed it to her.
"Yeah," she said. "And as long as I'm being honest? I didn't like that you were talking to Ava Crowder. I mean, you had a thing with her, and just the mention of her name ... it pisses me off."
"You owe a buck to the Jar," he said with a smile. Then, his tone became serious. "Winona, you don't have anything to worry about from Ava, or any other woman. I've got it bad for you and for you alone. Always have ... always will."
"Ava's a beautiful woman," Winona admitted, sipping her cola.
Raylan shook his head and removed his hat.
"You are still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he said, gazing into her blue eyes. "You want me to show you what you do to me?
He then stood up and looked down on her. "I'd like to take you right here and now."
Winona placed her piece of pizza on a nearby napkin and dusted off her hands.
She looked up at him and said, "Well, what's stopping you, Cowboy?"
(To be continued ...)