by Molly O'Hare
“Since the break-in I’ve spent night and day reading up on crime dramas. I’m pretty sure I could walk into that station and teach them all a thing or two. Hell, I bet if I started right now I could figure out exactly what happened and in less time.” Mildred pulled out the pad and pen she kept in her skirt apron.
“What are you doing?”
“Writing down my evidence. Duh. What do you take me for, some rookie cop?”
“You’re not a cop.”
“The people I’m interrogating don’t need to know that.” She started scribbling stuff down.
“Mildred, please don’t go around interrogating people. That’s only going to add to my stress level and right now I don’t think I can take that.”
Mildred eyed her. “You do look a little flushed.”
“Yeah, well that’s probably ‘cause you give me anxiety and this morning I woke up feeling like shit.”
Mildred stared at her before nodding once.
“Really, that’s all you’ve got for me? A nod. Normally, you’d be demanding I tell you all my symptoms. And then you’d be off in the medical section looking up my disease.”
Mildred placed her pen at her mouth thinking. “Cop or Doctor? Decisions, decisions.”
Holly shook her head. “How about librarian?”
“Nah, that’s boring.”
“Yet it’s what you’ve done your whole career.”
“Exactly, so I need some more excitement in my life.”
“No, no one needs you to have more excitement in your life. You’re good.”
Mildred sent her a look which Holly decided it was best to ignore her.
After a few uncomfortable minutes of Mildred staring her down, she sighed. “I’ll stick with cop for the day.”
“Glad you’ve made your decision.”
“Besides, I don’t need to play doctor I already know what’s wrong with you.”
Holly sat straighter in her chair lifting her right brow at the crazy old lady. “Oh, don’t keep me in suspense. Please inform me what the oh so mighty Doctor Mildred has surmised by only creepily staring at me.”
“Missy, I wouldn’t be so quick to discount me.” She reached for the donut Holly had been munching on, before she placed it on the stack of papers in front of her. The moment Holly saw what she was doing she lunged for it. “Mine.”
Unfortunately for her, Mildred was pretty quick for an old lady.
“And right there proved it.” Mildred shoved the last piece into her mouth causing Holly’s heartburn to come back in full force as she pictured all the ways she could murder her coworker.
“How is my trying to stop your grabby old hands from stealing my food proof of whatever the hell it is you think I have.”
Mildred shrugged again, which was sure as hell getting annoying.
Mildred pointed at her. “You’re moody. Has anyone ever told you you’re rude when you’re moody? Little old ladies like me need all the food we can get. Especially, if I’m gonna be the detective that breaks the case. It’s a stereotype of eating all the donuts. And, I must uphold it.”
Give me strength, please universe I know you’re sitting there laughing your ass off but please give me strength not to murder her. “So, I guess we’re back to you being a cop?”
“I never stopped.” She pulled out her pad and pen in her lap. “Now, let me ask you a question.”
“I can’t stop you.” Holly sat back staring at her.
“That’s right. You can’t. You say you’re stressed, right? You have bad heartburn all the time. Don’t give me that look, there, young lady. I see you sucking down those antacids like they are going out of style. And you can’t stop with these majestic goodies.” She pointed to the donut box. “Although I cannot blame you on the last one.”
“If I play along with your craziness, will you leave me alone to work on this paperwork?”
“I’d be lying if I said I would, but I’ll make a deal with you.”
“I’m all ears.”
“I’m going to put away my Detective Mildred hat and put on my Doctor Mildred hat and ask you one question. If you can answer me with honesty, I will walk away for the rest of the shift and leave you to pout on your own.”
Holly narrowed her eyes at her, while her lips thinned. “And who’s to say I wouldn't answer you with honesty?”
“I’ll know.”
“Fine.” Holly crossed her arms over her chest. “Lay it on me, Doctor Mildred. What’s my diagnosis?”
“If you are going to huff at me, I’ll take my expert knowledge and leave.”
“Is that all I’ve ever had to do to get you to leave me alone?” Her brows shot to the ceiling.
“I take it back. I’ll sit here all day and ask you about how Ben uses his ding-dong.”
“Can we not,” Holly groaned.
“Sure. The choice is yours. Now, answer me this, are you sure you don’t already have a bun baking?”
“I don’t cook. You know that.”
Mildred rolled her eyes before she sighed. “You’re a lost cause. I’m going to the true crime section. Holler if you need anything.” With that Mildred hopped off the desk with her pen and pad in hand and started making her way to the crime section.
Crazy old woman. Why does she always have to talk in riddles and nonsense? Why can’t she just come out and say whatever the hell she is trying to say?
Holly grabbed one of the books on her desk Mildred left and pulled out the inventory paper she’d been working on. “Stupid hag. Everyone knows I can’t cook. And baking.” She huffed. “The one and only time I tried it, I nearly set the kitchen on fire. With baking you have to be all precise and stuff, that’s annoying. No one has time to read every step,” she mumbled. “And to make bread… that sounds like hell. Plus, I wouldn’t know the first thing about baking buns I would—”
She froze.
Are you sure you don’t already have a bun baking?
Holly sat there in shock as Mildred’s words finally took hold. Oh my god! She tried to think about the last time she had her period.
“Oh shit.”
Holly jumped from her seat and started making her way toward the front door. When she walked passed the crime section she hollered. “I’ve got to go, cover for me.”
All Holly heard as she walked through the door was a giddy Mildred screaming, “Congratulations!”
Chapter Nine
Ben plopped onto the couch with a heavy sigh. No matter how much he tried to work things out with the insurance company, nothing he did seemed to work. Today he’d decided to take a half-day and come home early.
He wanted to look over his plans of possibly adding a room onto their house anyway. Sure, Holly didn’t seem to be one hundred percent thrilled about the idea, but at this point what other choice did they have?
Other than Holly, Henry, and their own pets, his patients were his priority. And if that meant housing them at night then so be it. Plus, there was that sinking feeling he had about the break-in. Something wasn’t right.
If it were just a prank, he’d know. This. This was different.
Ben didn’t know why he felt that way, but he did.
And it was getting to him. Over the last few weeks, Ben found himself driving over to the clinic after he’d closed up for the night to make sure everything was fine.
It always was, but there was still an unsettled feeling inside of him.
What if it really was some of the fired employees of Richman Industries had it out for him? Sure, some of them were sent to jail but the ones they couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt, were just fired. What if they now blamed him for their downfall. And taking it out on the clinic would be where it would hurt him most. Well, not the most. If anyone ever laid a finger on Holly, they’d be dead before they knew what was coming to them. Hell, he bet before he could do anything Mildred would have called in her goons to take care of them.
He sighed closing his eyes.
Maybe it was pa
yback. Or, maybe it was just a prank.
He needed a vacation.
A real vacation. He brought his hand to his forehead and started rubbing away his headache.
After he and Holly were married, they only went on a four-day honeymoon to a little cabin in the woods.
Shit, those were the best four days of his life. If it were up to him they would have never left. He didn’t think they wore clothes the entire time they were there, which was fine by him. And if you ignored the time Holly fell out of the bed, hitting the nightstand with her knee and sending it crashing to smithereens onto the floor, there were no mishaps.
It was just him, his fucking gorgeous wife, and no clothes.
Perfection.
Unfortunately, reality had set in far too soon. Although he would have loved to stay there forever, he needed to get back to his patients and then there was Henry. They had made sure he’d have enough food and everything was in order, Holly nor Ben liked leaving him alone for too long.
Especially when he was watching the dogs. Originally John had agreed to watch them, even if that meant having to deal with Waffles and his judgmental side-eye. Henry was having none of that. And the second Henry took a page straight out of Waffles book and gave Holly the sad puppy eyes, she couldn’t say no.
At least he got John to take care of Twitch. Then again, keeping Twitch away from Ripley caused some issues for John. He still motions to the spot on his arm where Twitch scratched him.
Ehh, it was John. He needed a little defiance in his life.
Ben let his head fall back onto the couch.
Damn, he needed a vacation.
Something nudged at his leg. When he opened his eyes he saw Waffles. “What can I do for you, your holiness?”
Waffles barked before looking towards the kitchen. “It’s not dinner time.”
Waffles barked again causing Ben to arch his brow. “Does your mother feed you extra meals when’s she’s home?”
Waffles and Ripley barked in unison this time.
“She does now? Well, I’m gonna have to have a little talk with her.” Ben slowly moved off the couch before trekking into the kitchen. “One treat. That’s it. I’d say don’t tell your mother I’m spoiling you two, but seeing as she feeds you extra meals, I’m pretty sure I still have the upper hand.”
Ripley and Waffles both sat perfectly as they waited for their snacks. Ben tossed them each one before leaning against the counter.
Speaking of Holly…
Ben placed his chin in the palm of his hand. Something was off with her. He could sense it. He’d been meaning to talk to her about it, but with everything going on it never seemed like the right time. Plus, whenever they finally got a few minutes that weren’t dedicated to something else… He jumped her. Ehh, what could he say? His wife was sexy. There was no shame in that.
Regardless though, something was off.
His brows drew together as he scratched the scruff on his chin. She’d been a little snippy the past few weeks. Then this morning, before she left for work she’d mentioned how she wasn’t feeling well. Her face did look flushed, and she now had antacids on every table in their house.
Maybe he should make her an appointment at the doctor? Yeah, that’s exactly what he was going to do. Ben reached into his back pocket retrieving his phone. As he was about to make the call, though, he heard someone speed into their driveway.
He glanced at the time on his phone. There was no way Holly would be home already.
He made his way toward the front door to investigate with a barking Waffles and Ripley at his feet. The moment the door came into view he saw Holly throw open the door. She tripped over the frame landing on her hands and knees flinging the bag she was carrying in her hands across the room.
Instantly he ran to her side picking her up. “Grace, are you okay?”
Holly must not have registered that it was him since she jumped out of his arms and screamed before holding up her fists ready to fight.
It took everything in him not to burst into laughter.
Once she realized it was him, she held her hand to her chest as she tried to regain her breath. “Where in the hell did you come from?”
“The kitchen,” he answered. “Are you okay, did you hurt yourself?”
Holly bent dusting off her pants. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Why are you home?” she asked in a panic.
When Ben really looked at her, he saw an urgency in her eyes he hadn’t seen before, causing his brows to knit together. “I took a half day, Grace.”
“Oh, okay good, good.” Holly pushed her hair out of her face in panicked movements. “Wonderful. I mean yeah that’s great that you are taking a half day. Half days are good. You know we all need them sometimes.”
“Holly?” Okay, now he was really concerned.
“I love when I work half days. It’s like a nice reprieve from Mildred. So it’s almost like a vacation.” She started to bounce on her feet.
“Holly, you’re rambling.”
“I am?” Her eyes widened. “I didn’t realize. Are you sure? Maybe it’s you that’s rambling. I’m fine. I’m calm as a cucumber that’s not about to be cut up and thrown into a salad for someone to eat.”
That’s it, he was calling the doctor. He gave her the once over, assessing she was physically okay. Mentally on the other hand…
He shook his head as he walked over to the bag that was flung across the room.
“Stop!”
At Holly’s scream, Ben froze. He slowly turned back to face her. That’s when he saw the terror in her eyes. “Holly?”
“Don’t look in there!”
“In where…” Ben reached for the bag. “Here?” Ignoring her protest, he looked at whatever was making his somewhat sane wife hysterical.
That’s when his heart stopped.
Oh god, oh god, oh god. What do I do?
Ben wasn’t supposed to be home yet. The dogs were barking like they were being murdered. Her heartburn was back in full force, she was positive she was about to vomit. Her knees hurt. And now Ben looked like he’d short-circuited.
Seriously, right now Ben looked like he’d left his body and was replaced with a robot.
Holly’s whole body started to go into hyperdrive. Universe, can you not give me a freakin’ break? Ever?
Ben pulled the box from the bag. “Holly, what is this?”
“It’s not what it looks like!” she screamed.
He arched his brow at her. “Really, because this looks exactly like a pregnancy test to me? Or is this how they’re packaging candy nowadays?”
Holly looked at him in absolute horror, then she did what she did best. Holly word vomited. And she word vomited hard. “Okay yeah, so here’s the thing, over the past two months I’ve been feeling weird, and kinda off and stuff and I couldn’t write and whatever, no matter how hard I tried. I just couldn’t do it. One day I was talking to Mildred and she was all,” Holly mimicked Mildred. “You’re unsettled and shit like that and I was all, no you’re a crazy old woman.” Holly started to pace. “Then Mildred left this book on my desk that had a baby on it and I was like holy shit I want a baby. I mean doesn’t it sound perfect? Can you imagine a little blue-eyed baby running around here that looked exactly like you? I can.” She stopped moving.
“Oh, but man, I really hope they don’t get my klutz gene.” Deciding not to look at him she continued with her pacing. “I was going to bring it up after we left my dad’s that night, but then the break-in happened and I just never got to it. Fast forward to today and Mildred is all blah blah blah, you are already baking a bun, and at first, I didn’t realize what that meant but then I got it and thought back to when I had my last period and I freaked. I left work and ran to the store and fell through the front door just now.” She was entirely out of breath by the time she finished.
She stopped pacing long enough to brave a chance and look at Ben.
Yep. She broke him.
“Ben?” He
stared back at her with an unreadable expression. “Uhh, Ben, you’re starting to freak me out here.”
“You’re pregnant?” he finally mustered up some words.
As they stared at each other something shifted in the room. Quietly she answered him. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Before Holly could register it, Ben was throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman’s pose. “Hey, what the hell?”
“Bathroom,” he stated.
Ben then ran them both to the bathroom before depositing Holly onto the toilet. He then ripped open the box and shoved the stick at her. “Pee.”
“Do not demand for me to pee.” She glared at him. “I’m not a dog. I don’t go on demand. Neither does Waffles, but you get what I’m saying.”
“Holly, this is the moment we might find out if we are having a baby. Now pee.”
“Not while you’re in here!”
“I’ve seen all you got. Now, pee. Don’t make me tell you again.”
“Benjamin Richman, you leave this bathroom right now! If I’m gonna pee on a stick and it’s gonna tell me if our lives are gonna be changed forever, then I am not doing that with you in here.”
Ben glared at her. “The door stays open.” He sidestepped out of the bathroom.
“The door stays open,” she mocked glaring at the spot Ben vacated.
She took a deep breath. Oh my god. Was she really about to do this?
Was Ben’s reaction a good or bad thing? Did he want to know if she was pregnant so he could figure out what he needed to do with his life? What if he didn’t want children right now?
What if she was pregnant?
Oh god, I might be pregnant.
I might be having a baby.
A real-life baby.
“I don’t hear you peeing,” Ben yelled from the other side of the wall.
“I can’t pee under pressure!”
“Fine, I’m going to the kitchen.”
Holly heard him stomp his feet. “I wasn’t born yesterday. All you did was march in place.”
“Holly just pee on the damn stick already so we can celebrate.”
Celebrate?
At that exact moment, all of Holly’s worries disappeared. Ben wanted to celebrate. He wanted a baby.