PART 4
Tom looked over at Cassy while driving toward their destination.
She looked a little pale.
"You all right?"
"I'll be fine as soon as you pull over."
"Pull over? Why?"
Cassy began to reach for the door handle. "Tom."
Tom pulled the car over the same time Cassy opened the door. He came
around and held back her hair while she did her thing. Tom looked away
and tried to think about something else; anything else. If she didn't hurry up
he was going to be joining her.
Cassy climbed back in the car. Tom was more than a little nervous.
He knew that pregnant women had morning sickness but it was way
past morning. This was his first pregnancy too.
"You okay? Do you need to go to the doctor?"
"No, I'm fine. There's a drug store three blocks up. Stop there and let me
clean up and get a few things."
"What things? You said you were fine."
Cassy looked over at Tom. Is this what all first time dads experience?
"I'm fine. I just want some crackers and some water to settle my stomach."
Tom relaxed. "Okay."
A few minutes later, Tom and Cassy arrived at the location complete with
Cassy's crackers, almonds, juice and Tom's antacids. If Cassy's morning
sickness was going to continue, he'd need a few more cases of them.
Assistant ME Mike Bills had already finished his preliminary report before
they arrived. Cassy looked down at the young woman.
"What do we have here?"
Mike looked at Cassy. "Cassy, are you all right? You look almost green."
"I'm fine Mike. The body?"
Mike turned his attention back to the woman. "I'd say she's been dead
twelve to fifteen hours. Prelim cause of death is drowning. There are no
indications on the body that would suggest anything different but I won't know
for sure until later."
Mike looked at Cassy again. She was definitely not all right. Cassy turned
and ran towards the nearest garbage can.
Concerned, Mike looked to Tom but Tom showed the same shade of green.
"What is going on with the two of you? Dedication is great and all, but if
you're sick you should be home in bed."
"We're fine, Mike." Cassy had pulled herself together.
"Good. Take care of that, what ever it is, because if people see you
vomiting all the time, they're going think you're pregnant."
He's right, you know. People will begin to suspect if you keep running for
the bathroom every five minutes." Tom pulled into traffic.
"Well, Tom, there isn't a whole lot I can do to curb the morning sickness.
Why do they call it morning sickness anyway? I feel awful all day long."
"Because every morning, you are reminded you're pregnant."
"It's not like I can forget." She swallowed a handful of almonds and a
long drink of juice. "Is this what the next seven months are going to be like?"
"Don't worry so much about it. You have me to help."
"Great. Then you do all the puking and gain all the weight and I'll hold your
hair back and spout out words of encouragement."
Tom patted her on the leg. She moved her leg.
"We need to tell Harry, Cass."
"Not yet."
"He needs to know."
"And he will, but I'm not ready to share this yet. Just wait a few weeks. By then
I'll be comfortable with it and not in complete shock. Please Tom, give me this."
Tom never could refuse Cassy when she was vulnerable, which wasn't very
often. "Fine. For now, it will be between us. But very soon it won't matter who
tells him because it will be blantantly obvious."
Cassy opened another bag of almonds. "It's not like I'm saying let's keep
this a secret forever. I plan on telling Harry before he notices. How do you
think he'll feel?"
"You mean after he's conscious again? I don't know. I do know that Frannie
will be thrilled."
"Yeah." Cassy thought about Frannie's reaction and smiled.
"What about your job?"
Her smile disappeared. "What about it?"
"Cass, you know the department has rules about their field officers becoming
pregnant. They'll put you behind a desk."
"Not if they don't know."
Tom was shocked. "Cassy! That is my baby too and I don't want anything to
happen to it or you."
"We'll be fine."
"I don't want you out there. I'll tell Harry today if you don't promise me you'll
stay in safe situations."
Cassy was mad. How dare he blackmail her like that. "Safe situations?
Like what, a crossing guard? A library security guard?"
"I just don't want anything to happen to you, that's all."
Cassy could see how serious he was and felt guilty. She patted his arm.
"Tom, I'm very good at my job. The fact that I'm still doing it is truth to that.
I'm not going to let anything happen to me. I have a lot invested in keeping
safe."
She could see he still looked worried. "I'll tell you what, if it appears like things
are going to get bad, I'll back off."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Great now that we've settled that, how about lunch?"
Tom knew Cassy well enough to know that this was far from settled. "How
does Mexican sound?"
Cassy shook her head.
"Italian?"
Cassy shook her head.
"Chinese?"
Cassy shook her head.
"Then what? I'm out of ideas."
"I want to go to Joe's"
Tom looked at Cassy like she was crazy. "Joe's? You hate Joe's. You call
it that greasy spoon shack."
"I know what I said. Their chili is too spicy, their pizza has too much grease
and their onion rings are hard as a rock."
"And you still want to go?"
"As fast as you can drive"
Tom ate very little and popped three antacids watching Cassy put away
three chili dogs. How could a woman who tossed her cookies not an hour
ago eat this stuff like there was no tomorrow? The thought of it was making
him sick. The wonders of a pregnant woman.
Cassy smiled. "I'm full."
Tom gave her a look of uncertainty.
"I feel fine. Better than fine. Shall we go?"
"Okay." Tom remembered Cassy's lunch and popped in another antacid.
-----------
End of Part 4
To Part 5