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As he sat down, he rested his elbows on his desk and set his face in his hands, a distracted look on his face as he smiled. {I've never seen a look like that on Pop's face before. I won't have to worry about Kacie taking care of herself, because I think Pop is going to watch her almost as closely as me.}
Precinct business flowed on around him as he sat lost in his thoughts. {Mom and Paul were almost as excited as Pop. Man, I never really realized what having a baby would be like.} He let his hands slide away from his face and fall limply to his desktop blotter. {A father. I'm going to be somebody's father.} He sat thunderstruck, as the idea slammed home.
Captain Simms's icy tones shook him from his reverie. "Detective Caine. How nice of you to grace us with your presence today. And only two hours late. Would you care to explain to me the reason for your...questionable attendance...the past few days?"
Peter's eyes were wide and glassy. "A father," he blurted.
"Detective Caine, did you hear my question?" Simms looked at him sharply, if not suspiciously.
The rest of the squad room paused in its activity, holding its collective breath in anticipation of a major display of fireworks.
"A father," he whispered to himself.
"Are you all right, Detective? Delirious? Running a fever? Insane?" Simms hissed.
"No, I'm-I'm fine." He blinked and shook his head, at last focusing his eyes on the captain. "A father!" He jumped to his feet and picked up his captain in a bear hug, spinning her around in the air. "I'm going to be a father!"
For one shocked moment, there was absolute silence, before Kermit's pleased shout of "Oh yeah-h-h!" started a spontaneous outburst of cheers, whistles, and applause.
Simms struggled in Peter's arms until he put her down. She straightened her suit and glared about the squad room. Shaking her head, she walked back toward her office. Pausing at the doorway, she turned. "Detective Caine?"
He stood beaming at her. "Yes, Captain?"
"Congratulations."
"Thank you, Captain." Peter laughed in delight and then asked, "Um, what was that you were saying before?"
Simms shook her head again and sighed deeply as she turned and walked into her office. "Never mind, Detective. Never mind."
Peter's friends descended upon him en masse. Skalany reached him first and stood before him, hands balled on her hips. "So is this what yesterday was all about?"
Peter grinned sheepishly. "I was going to explain what happened."
Jody snickered and wisecracked, "If Kacie's pregnant, Peter, I think we all have a pretty good idea of what happened."
His face crimsoned at the sudden outburst of laughter, and his head dropped momentarily.
"Why'd you run outta here like a bat outta hell yesterday afternoon?" Even though Kermit smiled at Peter, there was a worried wrinkle in his forehead.
"Kacie went in for a physical yesterday. She called me from the hospital, crying, and told me I had to meet her in radiology right away." His voice cracked and broke. "I thought she'd just found out she had cancer or something." He paused, closing his eyes and swallowing hard. "When I got there, she told me she was pregnant and was getting an ultrasound to make sure she and the baby were OK."
The gang were holding their collective breath, waiting for him to finish, when Blake suddenly blurted out anxiously, "Well, what did you find out?"
Peter laughed along with the others at Blake's impatience, and the crooked grin was back. "Kacie's great. The baby's great. Everything is..." He shrugged and gestured helplessly, searching for words.
"Great," came the chorused reply.
Skalany smiled a knowing smile. "What did your father have to say when you told him?"
The expectant father grinned even more broadly. "My father? Mr. Always-in-Control-of-His-Emotions, Shambhala Master? Last Kace and I saw of him, he was dancing down the streets of Chinatown with the Ancient, telling everybody he saw that he was going to be a grandfather."
"In other words, he was pleased with the news?" Kermit somehow managed to ask with a straight face.
Peter laughed happily. "Oh-h, yeah-h-h."
Simms appeared in her doorway and snapped, "Unless your cases have all suddenly and miraculously been solved, I suggest you people get back to work."
The crowd jumped guiltily and started back to their workstations.
"Just a minute." All parties involved halted and stared at their captain, whose mouth twitched suspiciously. "Delancey's. Tonight. Seven p.m. First round is on me." Pivoting on her toe, she spun around and disappeared into her office again, closing the door firmly behind her to the sound of muffled cheers.
Peter sat back down in his chair. He spun around in it twice, stopped to pound a staccato beat on his desktop, and punched the power button on his computer with a flourish. Sitting back in his chair, he whispered happily, "Somebody's father."