Page 51 of Strip Search
Me:Happy 4th!
I attach a picture of the town’s fireworks display and hit send, knowing it’s still daylight on the west coast. Which means that more than likely I won’t get a response from Molly until later. I’m getting used to it though. It’s not the first holiday we’ve celebrated on opposite coasts.
Things have changed a lot since she took the job with the DEA. For starters, I convinced her to marry me. Knowing all too well the occupation hazards of a job like that, I wanted to be damn sure that if anything ever happened, I would be able to do whatever I needed to do without anyone standing in my way. There was no big fancy wedding. At her request, we flew back to her hometown on the way back from the surprise vacation we took before she started her new job. With her parents, her brother and Cody (who surprised me by flying in, swearing there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d miss my wedding day) by our sides, we went down to the courthouse and tied the knot. Smitty and Cody hosted a surprise reception for us when we got back to town. It was simple and exactly what Molly asked for.
The first year was good. She worked a lot of long hours but was home at night and most weekends. Year two and three, meant more traveling. Lots of days where I buried myself in work to pass the time, and lonely nights where I found myself waiting by the phone like a lovesick puppy for her call. One thing is for certain though, it has made our time together much more valuable.
Her latest assignment took her away three weeks ago and it will be her longest one yet, depending on what happens – details she can’t discuss with me.
That’s how I ended up here, at Logan’s brother, Ryker’s lake house. With Rhys, Smitty and their families, not to mention my little brother and Logan’s family, too. I’ll admit, Logan’s grown on me since Rhys’ wedding three years ago. Hell, the guy even helps out part-time when I need another man at work. It was pretty cool of him to invite us all here. Being surrounded by our friends, and their kids are a welcome distraction from the loneliness that creeps.
“You heard from Molly yet?” Cody asks, chucking another piece of wood in the fire pit.
Smitty ran off before the real fireworks display, and Rhys disappeared with his wife and kids shortly after, leaving Ryker, Logan, Cody, and I out here. Logan’s girlfriend should be showing up any minute now, which means we’ll inevitably lose him too. Not that I blame the guy, I’d be sticking close to Molly too, if she was here. Especially since he’ll be deploying again soon.
“Not yet. I imagine she’s still on the clock for the day.”
As if speaking her name has summoned her up, my cell phone rings in my pocket, Molly’s ringtone blaring.
“Hey, babe.” I smile and stand up from my seat to find some privacy for this call. “Spoke to soon,” I tell Cody over my shoulder.
“Hey, you. How was your day?” She sounds tired on the other end of the line.
“Wasn’t too bad. Set some stuff on fire, watched Logan and Ryker freak out about it. Fun times.” I laugh. “How’s it there?”
“Lonely. I miss you.”
“I miss you too baby. You’ll be home before you know it though,” I assure her though my heart aches.
She’s silent for a second and then I feel a tap on my shoulder. Spinning around, I’m greeted with her gorgeous face.
“Holy shit.” I drop my phone and wrap her in my arms. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m not damn happy to see you.”
She smiles. “I resigned.”
I blink. “You resigned?” I had no clue that she was even thinking about quitting. To my knowledge, she loved every minute of her job. “I thought this was what you wanted.”
“It was time for me to come home,” Molly shrugs. “Figured it was time to settle down and raise a family.”
“Raise a...” I pause. Surely, I heard her wrong.
“Looks like we’re going to have a baby after all.” Her smile widens.
“You’re pregnant?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Holy fuck. Our Hail Mary worked. We decided, together, two years ago that we wanted to start a family. We met with specialists and weighed all our options, finally deciding that we’d take the doctor’s advice and try on our own for a little bit first. After all the tests, the doctor felt confident that with Molly being young and healthy not to mention the fact that her ‘bum’ ovary wasn’t as broken as she thought, we might have a chance. When that didn’t work, we opted to try two rounds of intrauterine insemination before moving on to IVF. The last IUI was a week before she left.
I put my hands on her cheeks and kiss her. Then it hits me. “Molllllly.” I eye her suspiciously as I pull back. “How long have you known this? Did you walk out in the middle of a case?”
She giggles and looks down at the ground. “Dr. Rodrik called two weeks after I got to LA. I turned in my resignation the next day.”
This woman.
“So, you’ve known for two weeks?”
“Two long weeks,” she confesses. “I wanted to tell you in person. We knew going into this it may not work, I wasn’t expecting it, but I knew I wanted to tell you face to face.” For a second she has the decency to look remorseful. “Are you mad?”