Chapter 28

Friday

Bridget got up well before Brian she was sick to her stomach she had crackers and the papaya tablets next to her bed She grabbed them and went to the kitchen 'she tried to be quiet so not to wake up Matt and Sarah it was only 5 am.

She put coffee on and boiled water for more soup. Making coffee was such a habit but once it started to brew she knew it was a mistake to make it, the smell turned her stomach, and she quickly ran to the bathroom and got sick.

Unfortunately she was loud enough to wake Brian. He sat up in bed he heard Bridget getting sick, it was about 5:15 He opened the bathroom door.

"Oh Bridget, I am so sorry you are sick again"

"I just have to get used to it I guess but it will pass Bridget replied

"Hey I put water on for more soup are you awake enough to go take care of that for me Bri.? I left the crackers and papaya tablets in the kitchen too if you could get those as well."

He went into the kitchen, put the water in the cup of soup put it on the bed tray along with a glass of ginger ale crackers and the tablets , He figured he would wait on coffee he wasn't sure if that what was making her sick. She was sitting on the edge of bed when he came in.

He put the tray on the dresser; he stacked pillows at the head of the bed." Hey sweetheart, sit back against the pillows" he said

So she did and he put the tray in front of her. "See how this does on your stomach." He sat next to her as she ate. She ate about half of it and chewed a couple of tablets and then paused for a little bit and just put her head on his right shoulder.

"Are you ok?" he asked

"I am really dizzy and light headed" let me just keep my head on your shoulder for a bit ok" she said.

"That's ok sure just rest on me for a while, it is still very early yet. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

"No, if I lay down I get nauseated" she said

"Ok" he said "if you want I will stay sitting here and you can doze of like this."

"Ok I will"

"Do you want me to move the tray?"

"Yeah ok" She replied.

He moved it quickly to the floor and sat back next to her again, she snuggled against his shoulder and she fell asleep

Matt woke to the smell of coffee, it was 5:30 he didn't see or hear anyone, "I wonder who put the coffee on this early" he thought to himself

He tried to go back to sleep but the smell of the coffee was too good to pass up, but how to get up. Sarah lay on him with her body draped over him; He gently moved her trying not to wake her, as soon as his warm body moved away from her though she woke up.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her, and kissed him, "Where are you going?" She asked

"someone made coffee want some?"

"Not yet she replied in a very naughty voice "and neither do you, at least not yet you don't. We were too tired last night and fell asleep, but I am not too tired now" she said He played dumb "Oh not too tired for what?"

"Guess" as she undressed him

"Oh that" he chuckled and they were quietly intimate, then they put clothes back on and got up for coffee, it was 6 am by then,

"Brian should be getting up soon," Matt said "Oh I wanted to tell you. When I was at the Women's clinic, Uncle Hank gave me a brief tour, what a set up and we have offices in the new section. It is really impressive you will like the space although we are in the same hallway, so you have to put up with seeing me every day at work. You're going to get sick of me"

"I could never get sick of you" she kissed him

Brian was still sitting up wide awake with Bridget asleep. She had been snuggling against him for the last hour, the alarm was about to go off any minute, He hated to wake her. The alarm on the clock and his phone simultaneously went off it woke her immediately. He slowly got up and shut them both off.

"Hey I am going to hop in the shower. Do you want to take one with me honey?" he asked

"Yeah I need one and maybe it will make me feel better." She said

"I still need help with the shirt honey" he said

she helped with what he needed help with and they both got undressed, he took his hat off and they got in the shower, your hair almost covers your wound she said you almost can't see it, she said,

"You almost don't need that hat actually, I know you are self-conscious when you are out and you cover it, but when you are home you don't need to use it ok,"

"Well ok maybe not at home, but for the next week or so the I will wear a bandana," he said.

She felt a lot better after the shower, and that and the soup got rid of the queasiness, She felt she had better keep crackers with her at all times and when she went to work she would have to bring that soup otherwise she wouldn't make it through the day.

She helped Brian get ready she wanted him to look perfect for his big day today he had a suit and tie on and everything. She finished him off with putting the white bandana on his head. She stepped back to look at him. "Wow you look spectacular." She said.

He sat on the edge of the bed while he watched her get dressed, he noticed certain clothes were already a little tight on her she put a skirt on with an elastic waist band and a loose blouse on.

He said "you look beautiful" "Thanks" as she patted her tummy, "I guess no more form fitting clothes for me for a while though." She giggled, "but at least I have a reason to be getting a tummy and I won't feel guilty about it"

Brian got up and knelt down in from of her and kissed her tummy. He then stood up and kissed her. "I love you so much" he said.

Then he grabbed the tray from the floor and brought it to the kitchen Bridget went ahead of him; she was in there first and saw Matt and Sarah already up and drinking coffee, as she walked in she said "Wait until you see how good Brian looks"

He came in behind her and out the tray down. "Wow a suit and everything" Matt said

"Well I have to make a good impression on my first day especially with the corporate guys coming in from Japan for this presentation."

Brian went back into the bedroom to get all his work stuff and took his phone off the charger and put it in his pocket along with his wallet and keys.

He came back out "Matt you should go shower and get dressed so we can be out of here on time."

"Ok then but Uhm I don't have anything quite as dressy as that here. Do you have a dress shirt I can borrow?" "Sure just look in the first closet anything you want go ahead"

"Thanks" Matt went in and got ready

"So Sarah" Brian asked, "What are you going to do on your last weekday of freedom, I know you start to work next week right,"

"Well I am going to my parents, to make sure they have everything for the boys. My mom will be watching them until we can get adequate daycare, although she has been trying to convince me that she just wants to keep them. She and doesn't want us to put them in daycare. Matt and I are still undecided about that. At some point today I want to take a dry run from each of the houses we looked at to see how long our commute to work would be so we can make a decision on a house.

I am also going to the car dealer ship to look at a second car, we will need two cars here, and in New York we only needed the van but here there is no subway and there really isn't a lot of other public transportation. Matt really needs to get rid of the rental soon so we want to do this ASAP."

Bridget was only half listening she had a concerned look on her face,

Sarah noticed. "Hey Bridget what's the matter" "Oh it hadn't occurred to me until you mentioned it, I know it is a ways off but Brian what about daycare for our child?"

"Hmm" He thought a minute. "Well I do know that KC gaming has an onsite daycare on the ground floor so I guess that's an option, I know they take children as young as 6 weeks,

Dave and Deena use it, but we still have a while to figure the daycare out," Brian said "Hey I am going to see if I can get a hold of Dave, God I hope Carrie is better."

He called Dave's cell, Dave answered, he sounded like he had been up all night, "Hi Brian" Dave said

"How's Carrie?" Brian asked "Not great but her fever is down its still 103 but that is better than almost 105, she is actually sleeping she passed out about 15 minutes ago" Dave said

"I am glad that she is at least a little better, I just wanted to call you before I left for work, I am just waiting for Matt to finish in the shower"

Matt came out about 5 minutes later, then Sarah ran to take a quick shower. She wanted to take one before heading back to the Camden's. Sarah got out of the shower and borrowed some more of Bridget's clothes" it's nice that we are the same size she said"

Bridget then laughed and told her. "We won't be the same size for much longer" she patted her tummy again.

"I guess not" Sarah said "How are you feeling today, you seem better"

"Well I woke up awful but I think if I can remember to keep a little food in my stomach at all times I will be ok I guess I will be living on crackers and soup for the next few weeks." Bridget grabbed all her work stuff and her bag she filled with the necessary supplies to avoid the nausea and Brian grabbed a change of clothes in case he needed it he took his medicine and the sling, his bag with the Laptop, sketches and paper he wrote on what he what he was going to say and how he would present. All four of them headed out about 7:30.

Brian figured they could stop for food before the got to his job he didn't want to eat in front of Bridget he didn't want to make her sick. Matt kissed Sarah good bye as she got in the van.

Brian open Bridget's car door for her and kissed her good bye "Take it easy Bridget don't overdo it ok,"

"You either it's your first day working since your injury. I know you will knock'em dead. I will call you at lunch to see how everything went"

The women left first. Stephanie came out of the apartment down stairs in her Molly Marmalade cowgirl looking get up "I am all ready, how do I look?" she asked

"Just perfect" Brian said "I guess we better get you to work are you nervous?" Matt asked,

"No actually I am not, I am really pumped to do this stuff. It killed me when Zap Monkey went under and then I had to work for my Dad the only upside for working that job is that I met Bridget other than that, not a job I would ever do again I was good at it but it wasn't my thing. I am actually hungry we should stop on the way to grab something bedsides just coffee, I was afraid to eat around Bridget, I didn't want to make her sick"

They got food and proceeded to KC gaming in downtown LA. They were early Brian, Stephanie and Matt finished the food but brought the coffee with them Brian grabbed his bag and walked to the front door. It was a huge building

"You know, I didn't know the place was this big. I guess I will have to ask at the front desk where I am supposed to go" Brian said

Then from behind him he hears a voice, it was Natasha Drew, "Good morning how are you. Well I will have to just show you three where to go. She looked at Stephanie, "I guess you are Stephanie here to play the Molly Marmalade character," she grabbed a liaison from the front desk and had her direct her to where she needed to go to get ready with the other actors, "Brian will see you 20 minutes before the presentation to go over any final details" then she turned to Matt and Brian, "I actually have your desk all set up. Brian the only thing you have to do is go to personnel l to get your ID badge and you are so early they may not be in yet very early on your first day I am again impressed, you look even better than you did earlier in the week too, and nice touch with the suit" "Thanks I am excited to do this today." "Well let's get you in and get your ID and let's get to work."

He went to personnel and got his photo ID he asked her "hey once my hair comes back in and I look like me again can I get a new one" he laughed

"Oh I was wondering what the deal was with the bandana was" Natasha said

"Yeah before the accident I had hair just like his" he pointed to Matt "but lighter color about the same length too,"

He pulled out a picture of him and Bridget from the weekend at Big bear lake, "this is my fiancée and I, two weeks ago. As they were riding in the elevator, Brian told her "I may be able to kind of come here almost full time starting next week but I will need time off for my Physical therapy twice a week and some follow up doctor appointments and stuff."

"Oh that can be definitely worked out" Natasha told him "Just give me your schedule and it will be fine"

They got to the floor that he would be working on and his desk was very near her office. "Put your things here Brian and then you and Matt come into my office,"

They went in and shut the door "about the bandana, you had to cut you hair really short because of the accident?"

"Uhm no Because of my injury I had pretty bad swelling in my head, and had surgery so they shaved my you explain it,"

"Well he had a pretty severe injury to the head. I still can't believe how fast he has healed. I am amazed at his progress. Yeah, he still has some neurological deficits and is still on restrictions from driving but given how bad things were at the hospital, he shouldn't be doing this well this soon. It really is a miracle, He actually had brain surgery a week ago Wednesday night,"

"Your kidding right" she said "No the swelling was so bad he had to put a drain into the ventricles in his brain and the had to have a bone flap to relieve the pressure then he got an infection and had 105 temp that was a week ago"

"I had no Idea it was that bad, are you sure you are up to this?"

"I told you he is really doing beyond well" Matt reassured her.

"Believe me, Matt is my watch dog" Brian laughed "he wouldn't let me be here if I couldn't do it. Except for a restriction from driving and for my shoulder no lifting or raising my left arm because of the shoulder I am ok."

"I don't know if this would bother you," she got up and closed her office blinds for privacy. "Do you mind if I see it"

" Uhm Ok" Brian said.

Matt gently took the bandana off Brian's head. His hair hadn't come in enough to completely cover either surgical area and the area where the drainage tube had been and the horseshoe shaped scar form the craniotomy and bone flap surgery was done was they were still a little visible through the bit of hair growth he had,

"Wow you really did have major surgery," she said.

Matt put the bandana back on Brian's head "Now you see why for the time being I am wearing a head covering." He said, "Ok enough if this he said I don't need a pity party, I am good let's get down to business"

He pulled out his lap top and went over everything again. Natasha told him that Gotham Gaming had a new very profitable deal on the table that they will invest in the game and the company if all goes well today.

At about 930 he met with the actors who were dressed up as he characters of Berry town he was most concerned about Stephanie, she was the most important of all , He had her brought to the back of the conference room behind a partition that only he , Stephanie and two assistants were allowed to go back too there was a giant fake birthday cake that she needed to get into and when the time was right the assistants would bring roll out the cake and she would pop out of it and say her lines and introduce the Molly Marmalade character .

"Ok I will have you come out when I say"… and he went over the lines so they knew when to push the cake out. He went back into the foyer in front of the conference room in the corner were the other characters coming up the hall way were the Japanese representatives from the parent company Gotham Games Natasha was greeting them.

Matt was standing next to Brian. He was almost giddy like a little kid Matt asked "him are you ready for this buddy?"

"I sure am" Brian said excitedly

Natasha led the men in to the conference room and Matt went in and sat near the door then the characters came in and they did their little shtick that Brian had created for them to do when they were finished the Japanese representatives were impressed and clapped,

Natasha brought Brian in and had him at the back at the head of the table near the partition, she introduced him. He started the meeting the representatives were all men So Brian started by saying

"Good morning gentlemen I would like to introduce a new Idea for Berry town." He went over the new plans and some storyboards and the direction he wanted to take the game then he said "Right now with the way the game is, our average game player is a 6 year old girl, but the 9-14 year old groups of boys and girls are the fastest growing segment of the gaming market. If Berry town wants a slice of that demographic it needs to grow up and fast. SO TODAY, WE ARE THROWING A BIRTHDAY PARTY Allow me to introduce our newest Berry town friend" and the cake gets rolled in, Brian gets a rather fresh and slightly naughty tone to his voice, "She's a little bit sweet, a little bit sticky, and she is always getting in a JAM" (this next line was Stephanie's cue she was waiting for) "MISS MOLLY MARMALADE!"

She pops out of the cake and cracks a whip and say's "Hi Ya'll, it's time to get Berrylicious" there was a slight pause in their reaction then all the representatives from Gotham Games started to clap then gave Brian a standing ovation

"He nailed it" Natasha thought to herself "Well that settles it he is our new VP of marketing and development as far as I am concerned"

Matt couldn't have been prouder, he was so blown away by Brian. They all shook Brian's hand and slapped him on the back for a job well done unfortunately one of the men got a little too close to the left shoulder which caused him a bit of pain. After that Brian, Matt and the actors including Stephanie stepped out of the conference room to let Natasha seal the deal and get more information from the guys, as Brian stepped out he thanked the actors and they were taken by a liaison to payroll,

then he turned to Stephanie "You were amazing I owe you one stick around let's see what they want us to do next" The three of them walked over and sat in Brian's cubicle at his desk.

Then Matt told him "Brian I don't even know what to say Bro you are the most amazing talented creative…."

"Hey don't stop" Brian laughed "keep it coming" I guess I can't say modest" Matt laughed,

"Hey not to change the subject are you doing ok I saw you favoring the left shoulder again,"

"Oh that's because one of the guys slapped me on the back not knowing about the shoulder it's just a little sore now but it is ok," Matt felt Brian's shoulder it seemed ok not dislocated again, Matt went into Brian's bag and got out his pain medicine and his sling

"Hey Stephanie want to go over to the water cooler and get a glass of water for Brian?" He asked

she brought back the water and Brian took his pain medicine and Matt put the sling on him "Keep this on for a while just to be safe,"

"Yeah I think it is a good idea too." Brian said after about a half hour Natasha came out with the group of gentlemen with a big smile on her face. Brian saw her motion to them to wait right where they were and she walked to Brian's desk

"You nailed it Brian," she said. "So now we all including our Japanese friends over there go and celebrate, where is a good close fun bar to go to this time of day?" Matt said isn't Ivy's close by Bri, "Ah yeah it is, good memory Matt,"

" I don't know how long I will stay though he pointed to the sling," He really didn't want to go hang out for too long at a bar, that didn't seem to be his scene anymore for some reason and he was a little sore now.

Natasha looked at him "What happened" Oh one of the gentlemen was a bit over zealous and well didn't know about my shoulder and I got patted on the back near that shoulder a bit harder than I would have liked, hence the sling is on, its ok, but I don't want to overdo it." Brian said "We can go for just a little bit, its ok right Matt? You are the driver."

"Yeah sure" he said. So Brian gave the address of Ivy's bar to Natasha and they all went to Ivy's. Brian put his bag in Matt's back seat next to Stephanie. They got to Ivy's within 10 minutes.

They all piled into the bar. Ivy saw Brian come in, "what are you doing here at this time of day" Ivy said.

Then Natasha chimed in "we are celebrating; Brian just nailed a 5 million dollar deal with Gotham Gaming this morning." Brian had no idea it was for a deal that big if he had known, he WOULD HAVE been nervous.

Matt and Brian sat at a table "I had no idea the deal was that big," Brian said then Natasha came and sat down with Matt and Brian.

Natasha noticed Stephanie went up to the stage to do karaoke with some of the Japanese guys then she thought to herself "they were men after all and Stephanie was a hot little blonde Bombshell with a short skirt, Brian sure picked her well" She noticed Matt and Brian weren't drinking, "Have a drink, it is on me." Natasha said

Matt replied "oh I can't I am driving"

Brian said "Yeah and I can't because alcohol can't be mixed with the medicine I took for the shoulder pain back in the office. I will end up back in the hospital if I did that,"

"So you mind if we talk business Brian," Natasha said "You don't mind Matt would you excuse us for a few minutes,"

"Sure no problem" he said Matt walked up towards the stage to watch the Japanese guys and any other guys at the bar make fools of themselves over Stephanie.

"I can't over emphasize enough how impressed I am with you Brian and the story boards and the preliminary stuff you have come up with. I went over them in more detail with them after you left the conference room. I really think you have what it takes to bring this company to the top of the market; after we took over KC Gaming we were a little concerned with things. We were not sure of the future that is why there was a lot of firing people and then hiring of new people and things are being revamped. I know your history with Zap Monkey and I did a little more research this past week. You were really the creative genius behind it. I want to make you an offer she took a piece of paper and wrote a six figure number down and said how is that for a yearly salary I am offering you. Gotham Gaming wants you for this too. We are promoting you to VP of marketing and development the empty office on the floor is your if you want it,"

"I don't know what to say Uhm suppose I should ask what the benefit package is?" He laughed" Health insurance would be good; he pointed to his head "I can only keep Cobra for so long."

"You can have anything you want vacations sick leave whatever,"

"How about paternity leave in December, and a few days off after my wedding."

"Boy you are pushing it" she laughed but then again Gotham Gaming gentlemen especially Mr. Yamaguishi the older gentleman he is the president of the whole thing said to give you WHATEVER you want to, spell it out and it's yours but starting Monday you have your own VP parking space"

"Well the space is nice, but I can't use that for a while until I am off Driving restrictions,"

"Well until then you will have a car get you every morning and take you home every night and if you need them to they can shuttle you to and from your appointments, Hey it just hit me, did you say paternity leave?"

"Oh don't worry about it, having a child won't interfere with my job performance. I have plenty of family around plus down stairs has a daycare so if you are worried…"

"Oh no, I am not worried" she said" I was just going to say congratulations, for you and your fiancée I didn't catch her name. "Oh Bridget Keller soon to be Bridget Davis"

"So if I will have a lawyer draw up a contract and you can have your lawyer look it over,"

"I have a lawyer who is a good friend of mine he will look it over. You hold on to that figure I wrote and I will initial it so you know it is real. Now I am going to do some more celebrating and if you need to go fine, or stay if you want but I will expect to see you, Monday a car will be at your house at 8 am I will text you the details." She went to the stage and got up to do some of her own karaoke.

He sat there in utter amazement, Matt came back over "we can leave whenever you want Stephanie said to tell you she was getting a ride home with I think she said his name was Hashi or something one of the Japanese guys, Brian are you listening"

"Yeah I am, it's just I am in a state of shock," He showed him the paper with the number Natasha wrote down,

"What's this?" Matt asked,

"It my new yearly Salary I can name my own terms vacation insurance and any other benefit, Hell, I bet if I asked them to buy me a house they would. Of course I wouldn't do that," he then paused and said, "I was just made VP of marketing and development."

"Oh my God Brian that is the fantastic oh my God oh my God. We have to go and tell everyone,"

"Oh boy," Brian said "I don't know how to break this to Dave I think he wanted this job"

"Hey you earned it Brian."

Matt said "Let's go" they got in the car he forgot his cell was on Vibrate he looked at it and said,

"Oh I missed a call from Bridget" He called her back, She answered right away.

"Hi Bri how did it go and before you ask I feel ok. The little tricks to keep away the morning sickness are really helping so tell me"

"It went Fantastic there are no words to tell you" Brian was absolutely giddy he handed the phone to Matt "tell her from your point of view how the presentation went, I am so happy I can't stand it."

Matt took the phone and told her how he perceived the presentation, and that it was a 5 Million dollar deal. Then he handed the phone to Brian,

"Oh the other stuff is your news to tell." Brian told her what was offered about his salary and that he could basically write his own terms to be added to the contract.

Bridget was speechless "Oh honey I am so proud of you," she told him

"Hey Uhm I think I need your services, or I guess we do, with your income and now my income once I have the contract signed, and proof of Salary we need a house." He said, "we have a baby coming you know,"

"Oh Brian I love you" she said. "I hate to cut you off sweetheart I am on my way to meet with some clients but I will see you tonight talk to you soon,"

"God I love that woman" Brian said.

"So what do you feel like doing now" Matt asked

"I don't know? I have to call Adam about the legal contract thing, but Dave needs to know about this too. But again I feel a little guilty should I talk to Adam first, before Dave knows? I think I will give it a day and think about it,"

"Hey I have an idea, Matt said, let's go to mom and dad's you know they will be thrilled at how well this went, and I have a confession to make I used my cell it had a video recorder I got your whole presentation on my phone so they will get to see the amazing genius at work that I saw."

They drove to their parents and went in Brian brought his change of clothes in case he wanted to change and his laptop, The van wasn't there so Sarah was still out with the boys, they went in the house, Matt yelled "anyone home?"

"In the kitchen" Annie yelled and she came out to see them

"Wow don't you two look handsome, Brian I like the suit" she said "Oh that's right your big presentation was today how did it go, oh come in the kitchen Mary is in there tell her too."

Brian told her how well it went. Matt had grabbed Brian's lap top. He proceeded to use his blue tooth to transfer the video from his phone to the laptop; after it was done they got to watch the whole presentation.

"Wow they really loved you, and my, weren't you sassy with that sweet and sticky comment, I thought it was perfect and the she was always getting in a Jam that was genius" Annie said. "Ok now tell her about your salary and title, He had the paper in his wallet that Natasha wrote on and showed it to them, my tentative salary it was negotiable both their jaws hit the ground so to speak "and I have a different position than what I originally was hired for. My job title now is VP of marketing and development."

"Oh no way" Mary said "that crazy that's awesome."

"Oh I can't wait for you to tell everyone when they get here later for dinner." Annie said then told him, "Call Bridget, have her come over when she is out of work."

"Ok I will later she is with some clients now, actually let me text her to let her know that we are here and to have her call me when she was done, He sent her the text, She texted him back I will call you in a half hour love you bye. He took his phone off of vibrate so he would hear it when it rang.

"Hey mom" Brian said, "can you have Lucy and Kevin come over too, Sure I will call them." She said Then Brian saw that Chrissy Jenny and Charlie were out back playing with Carlos so he and Matt went outside to hang out until everyone else got there and to wait for Bridget's call.