Two red lines glared at Andy from the test in her hand. "I'm pregnant, Trace, and Sam's not around. What do I do?"
"You do what you have to. Jerry and I will be around doing whatever we can, and Oliver, Chris, and Nick will help out, too. I bet even Gail would help if she had to. I think the first thing you should do is talk to Frank, he'd want to know. Maybe he can talk to Boyd and whoever else is involved with Sam's op."
"I'll talk to him first thing tomorrow, but first I need to go home and tell the girls."
"Do you need anything tonight, even if it's just a friend around to help?"
"No. I think I can handle this. I'll call you if anything happens."
Andy and the girls walked through the front door. Dani and Lily wandered into the living room and sat on the couch, turning on the television. Andy knelt in front of them. "Girls, mommy had some very important news to tell you tonight."
They both looked at her excitedly, "Is it about daddy? Is he gonna come back soon?" Lily asked.
"No, sweetie, I'm sorry. I don't know when daddy is going to come home. This is something else."
"What, momma?" Lily asked.
"Do you two remember when Dani's friend's mom got a big tummy and had a baby?" Andy asked the girls.
"You mean Alice's mom? Alice has a little sister now. Are we gonna get a little sister?" Dani asked.
"Maybe, or you could have a little brother."
Lily's eyes widened, "You mean there's a baby in your tummy?"
"Yes, Lil. There's a baby growing in my tummy and in a few months we're going to go to the doctor, and I'll have a baby."
"Is daddy gonna be there when the baby comes?" Dani asked. She didn't remember Lily's birth but had seen pictures with both her parents smiling and holding baby Lily.
"I'm not sure sweetie, but I really hope that he is."
"Are you gonna tell daddy?"
"I'm going to try sweetie, but it's difficult to try to reach him while he's away."
"I hope he comes back before the baby comes. Then we can all be a family again."
Andy's eyes pricked as she tried not to cry in front of her children.
"Sammy," Adrian called one night, slinging an arm around Sam's shoulder, "I like you a lot. So I have a proposition for you. How would you feel about making a little extra money on the side, you know… under the table."
"That sounds great, Adrian, I could use some extra cash."
"Great, meet me in the back, around closing tonight.
"I'll be there, sir," Sam answered. He couldn't believe he had finally done it, but his work wasn't over yet. He still had to figure out where the girls were coming from.
"Sir, do you have a minute?" Andy asked quietly after knocking on Frank's door frame.
"Sure, McNally, what can I do for you?"
"It's just… I mean…" she stuttered, before blurting, "last night I found out I'm pregnant."
"Okay." Frank replied nodding, "first thing we're going to do is contact Boyd. Sam has the right to know; maybe I can make Boyd see it that way. If not, we'll have Peck talk to Superintendent Peck and see if she can pull some strings. After that, the two of us will sit down and plan out the next couple months. I'm assuming you still want to be on the streets for as long as possible," he paused, and Andy nodded. "I'm willing to work with that, up until five months, after that you're here with the detectives, in booking, or on desk. Got it? How far along are you?"
"Three months." She answered quickly.
"Go on. Be careful. I'll make some phone calls and see what I can do."
Andy thanked Frank and exited the office to go find Oliver, her partner for the day.
Boyd's phone rang, flashing Sam's burner number. "Sammy. My man, how's it going?" he answered.
"I'm in," Sam replied.
"Good, that's great. Listen when you get the hang of things let me know, I'll get some guys in there undercover as buyers to start pulling out girls. They'll have a lot more insight into the transport process than anyone else will be able to get."
"Okay, I just got in. It could be a while before I get a whole lot of information. Adrian trusts me; it doesn't mean that anyone else in on the operation does."
"That's fine, Sammy. We got time."
"Not really, Boyd. I have a wife and kids I want to get back to."
"Listen Sammy, they're all fine. They're healthy and happy. They can last a few more months without you."
"That's the thing, Boyd. McNally's strong. I know she can do it, but it doesn't mean she has to. And Dani's birthday is in a few weeks, I wanted to be home for that."
"Some things are more important than birthdays, Sammy," Boyd snapped, then he collected himself, "Look, I'm doing the best I can to get a case together, but I need more. You need to get me more, and then you can go home."
"Sammy?" Boyd spoke into the phone, but Sam was gone. He had disconnected the call after Boyd's outburst.
Sam stood in the back room, waiting on Adrian to meet him. He was still seething over his conversation with Boyd earlier in the day. He couldn't believe the man had the nerve to tell him that this case was more important than his family. He schooled his expression as he heard Adrian and Sully approach doorway. As usual Adrian did most of the talking while his brother stood in the background, observing.
"Sammy, I'm going to show you something tonight that's going to change your life. It's a world you've never seen before, and due to some special circumstances, I'm a man short, and I think you can help me."
"With what, sir?"
"Sammy, Sammy, I think it's time we drop the 'sir', we're friends. Call me Adrian," Adrian said, as Sully led the three men down a flight of stairs to a closed door with a lock and deadbolt on it." He turned and looked at Sam, "I need your word that you're my man here, that I can trust you."
When Sam nodded, Adrian motioned for Sully to get the door.
Sully pulled out his key and unlocked both the handle and the deadbolt; he turned around to face Sam and asked, "You ready for this?"
Sam nodded and Sully turned the handle and pushed open the door.
AN: I'm actually pretty of getting a chapter up two days in a row. *mini self celebration* but seriously, 63 followers, I know that's not a lot, but it seems like a lot. It means a lot that people are reading this story, I feel really insecure about each chapter I post, but then I have people reviewing saying they like it and it feels great. Thank you all. Please review and tell me what you think.