CI: Telling the Fam' Chapter Two

“I’m pregnant.”

Alex stood in the doorway of her childhood home. She hadn’t even taken off her coat yet. She didn’t know what she thought would’ve happened had she at least took the time to sit down, but no, she acted like Nicole Wallace herself was hot on her heels and any minute was going to burst in the door behind her, screaming the news.

So okay, in her mind she had it playing out better than this. But then she had walked in and her dad wasn’t in the chair she had pictured him being in and there was her mother coming out of the kitchen, offering her coffee or tea and she just . . . she just . . . blurted it out.

Clang!

That would be her mother’s good china hitting the floor.

To see the blank stares of her parents made her secretly wish she had taken up Bobby on his offer to come, he would have (at the very least) got a couple eyes off her and onto him.

“What?” her mother gasped, but Alex’s eyes were on her father, who had silently accepted the news and sat there, considering his coffee. “Oh Alex,” her mother (always eager for a new grandchild) sighed happily, hands clasped at her heart. She rushed over to her youngest daughter, yanking her into a tight embrace. And for a moment, for a split second, Alex closed her eyes and thought everything would be okay. But just then she felt her mother tense and pull back hesitantly, “but . . .” she searched her daughter’s eyes, “we didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” she commented cautiously, throwing a nervous glance at Alex’s dad. The tone in her mother’s voice faltered considerably. Her hands dropped.

Oh -- so everything’s not so hunky-dory. “Well, I was . . . I mean, I am,” Alex quickly amended.

“Well . . . who is he?” her mother asked expectantly.

She knew this moment would be coming, obviously. But she found the name stuck in her throat just the same. What her family would think . . . if only she could explain first, work backwards somehow.

“It’s that partner of yours, isn’t it?” Alex’s head snapped up startled. It was her big brother, who stood leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, beer in his hand; he wore a dark blue t-shirt with his firehouse’s logo emblazoned on the left pocket. He must have stopped by to visit when he got off work.

Of all her siblings, this one she had the most problems with. Whereas her youngest brother was the jokester and her older sister her closest friend, Nick was the big protector of the four kids. Growing up this hadn’t been a problem for her sister, the princess, but Alex the tomboy had fought him tooth and nail since birth. He was a great father, and Alex got along with his wife Megan, but almost twenty years after high school, he still thought he knew what was best for Alex, just because he was first out of the womb. Alex had no idea he was going to be there, lurking. Had she known, she would have had considerably less of a problem keeping her mouth shut.

And his reaction and his accusation, however right it may be, did not bode well for Alex. If Nick was good for one thing, it was being used as a barometer to see where her father would fall on the issue.

By this time, Alex had gained back the use of her voice, “What? How did you . . .?”

“When you were pregnant for Lisa and Steve, do you know how many people thought you were having his kid? I lost count on the number of people I had to threaten to get the story straight.”

Alex had never heard that particular rumor. If there was ever a time Alex rued her family’s connections to the NYPD, now was it.

“What are his intentions?” her dad had finally spoken.

“Intentions, dad, really?” her old man was as old-fashioned as they came in all areas of life, including her own. While Lisa may have been the princess, Alex and her dad had always been sort of buddies – working on cars, the police department. As many differences as they may have had, Alex wanted him to be okay with this, maybe more than okay. Alex and Bobby had already made their decision, but it would be nice for some support.

“Well, are you getting married?” her mother piped up optimistically.

“We haven’t talked about it,” the questions were coming from all sides now.

“Haven’t talked . . .” her brother scoffed, “that’s the first thing I would’ve . . .”

“I thought you’d sworn off cops, what happened?” this from her sister, who had come out of the back bedroom.

“Lisa! God, is the whole family here!?”

“Almost,” Lisa commented offhandedly. Alex peered over Lisa’s shoulder, waiting for the in-laws or maybe her kid brother to come out of the woodwork. Why hadn’t she noticed the cars?

Her sister had been right, after her late husband, she had sworn off cops. But not out of fear of losing them in the line of duty. Joe had been a nice guy, and treated her right, but she had begun to doubt the lastingness of their marriage even before his life had been cut so tragically short. It didn’t make losing him any easier, but she had learned that she wanted to be more than just her job.

And then there was Robert O. Goren who, quite literally, was the job. But it was different. At work, she was NYPD and his partner “Eames” who he never mollycoddled because he was either too busy working out a case in his head and he didn’t have room in there, or confident she could take care of herself. Alex voted for the latter, but she was pretty sure it was a 50/50 mix.

But off the clock she was “Alex” his significant other who was carrying their child. Yes he would sometimes wake her up at odd times of the night to tell her about connections he had made about the case they were working on, but he was easily set back on course. Besides, they never got each other personal gifts, instead going on weekend trips to a place where no one knew them.

“Goren . . .” Lisa recited, “Isn’t he the crazy guy that throws himself off of buildings and slices his hand open in interrogation rooms? My friend Connie had to stitch him up once.”

“Yeah,” Nick agreed darkly, “and he’s also the one who got you kidnapped and tortured by that crazy mentor’s kid. Alex, this is hardly the type of man you want to have a kid with.”

Alex shook her head; of course he was going to bring up that incident even though it happened years ago.

Her mother gasped audibly, “Alex how could you?” She was almost certain she heard the words “mentally unstable” being mumbled by her father.

“It’s done,” Alex’s voice rose, putting the others to rest, “it’s already happened. We’re going to have this baby.” She looked at her family and was sick of the runaround. Better to get their bottom lines and work from there. Suddenly tired, she sighed, “So? What do you think?”

More silence. But everyone seemed to be looking at her brother, so Alex did the same.

“I want to meet him.”

TBC