Page 43 of Be With Me
Mooney started to walk away but the voice of the barista stopped him. “Sergeant don’t forget your coffee.” He turned around and grabbed the cup. Oh yeah, he really needed the extra zig in his system now.
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Two more months. Debbie wasn’t sure she was going to make it. These two were constantly on the move. Seemed one would stop then the other would start up. She could already tell they were going to be a handful. They really liked to dance around from two to three in the morning. Lord, let them learn to sleep through the night early. Sleep would be a good thing.
Debbie shifted on the couch and looked at the clock. Luny was scheduled to be home in about thirty minutes. He was bringing dinner tonight so she didn’t have to cook. She was exhausted. Today had been one of her three days on shift. She’d moved to part-time about three weeks ago after she’d fallen asleep in her car after shift. She’d climbed in and turned the car on, put her head back against the rest and conked out. Mark had scared the crap out of her when he knocked on her window. Luny had gotten worried when she wasn’t home and didn’t answer her cell. Mark had volunteered to look in the parking lot when Luny called the nurses station. She’d turned off her car, left it in the lot and Luny came and picked her up.
She heard the door open and shifted off the couch. Maybe she could convince Luny that an early night was a great idea.
“Hey Debbie,” Mackey yelled as he pushed through the door with his hands full of bags. The aroma had her mouth water. Smelled like barbeque was on the menu for the evening.
“Um, not that it’s not nice to see you, but why are you here Mackey?” Debbie didn’t remember any plans with the guys for tonight.
“Danny called Mooney earlier and said you were having take-out, so we volunteered to pick it up for him,” Mackey answered as he walked over to the kitchen table.
Debbie’s shoulders slumped. Guess her wish for an early night wasn’t happening. She moved toward the cabinet to take down plates. At least she’d get a good dinner out of it.
“Debs! Where are you?” Luny yelled as he walked through the door.
“I’m right here, Luny. Hush. You’ve got to learn about waking babies with noise,” she instructed as she leaned up for a kiss around her baby boulder; the twins were too big for her to call it a bump any longer.
Luny gave her a quick kiss then grabbed her hand. “Come see the surprise I have for you.” He pulled her out the door and before she could do anything, he covered her eyes with his hands. “I’ve got you,” he said as he guided her down the brick-paved walkway.
“I know you do. You’d never let anything happen to me.” If there was something that Debbie never doubted was that Luny would protect her and their children with his life if necessary. She could tell they were at the edge of the driveway when she felt cement under her feet.
“Okay, open your eyes,” Luny announced as he removed his hands. When Debbie’s eyes focused, there was a blue Dodge caravan sitting in the driveway. As she moved closer to look at it, the back doors both slid open and there were car seats installed in the split row in the middle. She looked to Luny who shook his head and motioned her toward the back. The tailgate raised and there was a double stroller where the third row could go.
She turned around and saw all the guys standing there with smiles on their faces. “You didn’t?”
They all shrugged and Kevin spoke up. “We were trying to figure out something for us each to get you and Mooney for the babies. Ummm, please don’t ever let us go to Babies r Us again.” There was a collective shake that traveled through the six of them at the request.
Danny shook his head, almost violently. “It’s dangerous for single guys. So we pooled our money, threw ourselves on the mercy of the salesperson and got car seats, the double stroller and two highchairs that are in Brian’s truck.”
“We got some nice neutral colors since you haven’t shared whether the babies are boys or girls,” Spook said.
“You don’t have a registry apparently,” Mike pointed out. “Made the salesperson frown. Guess you should have one by now?”
Debbie couldn’t hold it in any longer and started laughing at the thought of these men going to a baby store for her and Luny. Moving as fast as she could, she hugged all of them. When she got to her husband, she gave him a kiss, angling her head toward the van. “You bought a minivan?”
He had the grace to at least blush. “Yeah, kinda.”
“No kinda about it, Luny,” she disagreed.
“There was no way that we were going to fit two car seats and all the extra gear that goes along with two babies in either of our cars,” he pointed out.
“And what are we going to do with three cars?” she asked, putting her hand on her lower back for support.
“I might know a private that needs a car,” Kevin suggested.
“I’m sure one of us knows one that could use a reliable car on the cheaper end of things,” Danny agreed.
The babies took that opportunity to start kicking up a storm. Guess they agreed with their uncles. “The babies seem to agree with that idea as they’re playing soccer against my ribs right now.”
Seven pairs of eyes looked at Debbie, wide as they could be.
“They’re listening to us?” Brian whispered, making them all laugh.
“Let’s go sit and eat guys. I love that you thought to buy something for the babies.” Debbie moved back up the walkway. “And as for a registry? We were waiting to find out the sex of the babies. Whether it was one boy, one girl or two girls/boys.” She looked at Luny and raised an eyebrow. “Should we tell them?”
Luny moved to Debbie’s side and put his hand on her stomach which then bounced. “Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Calvin and Camden Luna.”
