(A/N: Seriously, thank you all so much. I greatly appreciate the comments and I'm glad that folks are enjoying this. I'm having a blast playing this couple. (And another couple that will come to light within the next three chapters. I'm not saying anything more yet.
). I've also just discovered a wonderful little tool called pose player. I promise not to overdo it though.
)
Chapter 12 – Promotions, Commotions, and Joyful EmotionsI love my wife.
Waking up in the morning to her smiling face...I would have it no other way.
We didn't have much of a honeymoon (funds were a little tight after the move and the party) but we made the best of it. Mostly we just lounged around at home, but a couple of nights we went out to the local dance club to have a good time. That first night we overdid it just a little bit on the mixed drinks and got a little wild.
But we were in good company. One of our local politicians (Chris I think was his name?) was having quite a good time dancing on the counters as well. We got to chatting for a while and he's a pretty nice guy.
The last few months have been quite busy. Holly finally completed her training and became a traffic officer, which she enjoys to a certain degree. Still, it's not quite what she had in mind when she chose to join law enforcement. Not too long ago she put in her application to join the patrol team, which would allow her to participate in criminal investigations. Lieutenant Goddard told her that she needed a bit more experience first. Fair enough, I suppose.
Shortly after I returned to work I was accepted into the paramedic program, which brought on a whole new set of challenges. It is one thing to see the patients after they're brought into the hospital. It is something completely different when you are the one that has to get them there alive, and in a small town such as Sunset Valley chances are you know the person whose life is now in your hands. This was made all too apparent when I was called to an emergency at the park a week or so ago...and it happened to be my father-in-law.
It was a bad case of wrong place, wrong time. A couple of kids were playing baseball nearby and Nick was struck in the head by a line drive.
“Mr. Alto, can you hear me?”
“Mmmph...whaa?” His eyes fluttered open. He stared at me for a few seconds, clearly confused. “What...what happened?”
“You were hit in the head with a baseball,” I explained as I set about checking his vital signs. “Any pain or ringing in the ears?”
“I was just hit in the head. Of COURSE I'm in pain,” Nick snapped. “And they made you a paramedic?”
I shrugged off the insult. “It's standard procedure. We have to ask.”
“Hmph, it's a stupid procedure.”
“So no ringing in the ears? Any nausea?”
“No on both. Look, can we just get this over with? I have business to attend to.”
“Sir, you were just knocked unconscious. I really need to transport you to the hospital so your injury can be evaluated. A concussion is nothing to be taken lightly.”
Nick glared at me. “You absolutely will not take me to the hospital. Don't you have an injection or something that will take care of the pain?”
“So you are refusing hospital treatment?”
“YES, I'm refusing hospital treatment. Just give me the blasted injection and I will be on my way.”
I took a syringe out of my supply case and did as he requested. “Better?”
“Much.” His expression softened slightly. “So...are you treating my daughter well?”
“To the absolute best of my ability, sir,” I replied, somewhat taken aback that he had even asked. Nick gave me a sort of half-smile.
“You'd better be.”
With those words he walked away, leaving me stunned. At first I thought that it was just the concussion talking, but then I remembered the letter he had sent to Holly before we moved. Maybe, just maybe, Nick really did care about his daughter.
I didn't get the chance to contemplate on it too much. Another alarm came over my radio and I was quickly off to deal with another emergency, this one involving a sick teacher at the school.
That next morning I began to discover an unspoken hazard of working in the medical field. When you're around sick patients, you yourself are susceptible to catching whatever it is that they have. That teacher I had treated that previous afternoon? It turns out she had a bad case of the Simflu.
And I had caught it.
Needless to say I wasn't going to work that day. (Geoffrey actually told me he'd fire me if I tried.) I was absolutely miserable. Holly did everything that she could to try and give me some measure of comfort, but with something this nasty there wasn't much that she could do. I just had to wait it out, and it was seriously not fun.
Two mornings later, just as I was starting to feel like myself again, I heard an all-too-familiar noise coming from the bathroom. The Simflu had claimed its next victim...or so I thought.
This was different. Holly felt perfectly fine by early afternoon, but the next morning she was ill again. At the same time she started becoming very sensitive to certain smells, scents that normally would not have bothered her. (Coffee, of all things. She practically lives on the stuff when she's at the station!)
I quickly put two and two together. Could it possibly be...?
“Holly, I think you might be pregnant.”
Yesterday morning she went for an appointment with Doctor Jolina and our suspicions were confirmed. Six months from now we will be welcoming a new baby into the family. I don't think I've stopped smiling since.
I'm going to be a father!
Holly has never looked so beautiful.
