I turned back and looked at Shawn. "That's the thing, Shawn. If they knew, they'd try to get further leverage. I'm just leveling the field. You can upset them, or upset me. Either way, you are in a minefield of your own creation. If it were me, and I was going to be blown away regardless of which direction I stepped, I'd make sure that last step was done because it was the direction I wanted to go, the statement I wanted to make. Do the right thing, and who knows? There's a chance you might not get blown up immediately."
I left Shawn in his office and left City Hall, my hands shaking in my pockets as I made my way to my car. My keys chittered against the side of the door when I tried to unlock it. It was that little bit of noise that distracted me enough to not hear anything until it was too late, and all I could feel was a prick in my neck.
Chapter 12
Sophie
I was just scrubbing the last of the dinner plates with Tabby. "Are you worried about Patrick going to talk to Shawn?"
Tabby shook her head and wiped down another plate. To be honest, she was doing most of the washing, I was so damn swollen. I couldn't wait for the next few weeks to pass so I could get my daughter out of me. "I know he's ready. Besides, he's just going to talk, not to do anything else. How about you? You didn't exactly eat a lot at dinner."
I rubbed my tummy and shook my head. "I'm fine. I'm just running out of room down here, and need to shift to a lot of smaller meals. Guess I just need to start grazing. I'm the size of a small cow anyway." I smirked and looked over at Tabby. "You know, I'm actually a bit disappointed."
"Oh? Why?" she asked me, taking the scrub brush to the spatula we'd used, which was crusted with cheese. "Wanted to have the baby before Christmas?"
I shook my head and looked at her. "After you told me that you and Patrick were engaged, part of me was kind of hoping we'd have some overlap to pregnancies."
Tabby snickered and looked over at me. "Really?"
I shrugged. "It was just a little fantasy of mine. I wanted to hand down some of these pregnancy clothes to you, that's all."
"Maybe you still can," Tabby said. "I kind of got Patrick a Christmas gift, one that he gets to open early if he wants."
"Oh?" I said, smiling. "Anything you can tell me about?"
Tabby blushed and leaned over, whispering in my ear. "Red satin teddy, trimmed in white lace, thong, and a Santa hat."
I growled and then chuckled. "Really?"
Tabby nodded. "It's time we got a little more physical again. A girl can only hold off so long."
I couldn't help it, I felt like when Tabby and I were back in college, giggling and dreaming occasionally about our dream guys. My grin threatened to split my face in half, and I could only want it to grow. "Really?"
"You're saying that a lot in the past minute," Tabby replied, her grin also growing on her face. "But yes, really. Sophie, the past few months have been a revelation for me. I’m not just falling too fast this time. Patrick is the one."
I thought about it, then nodded in understanding. “All right. As long as you’re sure. So you're planning on rocking his world and your own as often as you like after Christmas?"
Tabby laughed, her green eyes sparkling in the light of the kitchen. "Oh yeah babe. That poor man's going to be walking funny from Christmas straight through to Valentine's perhaps. Just tell me when you're doing a leg workout with him, so I know when to back off a little bit."
"That sounds more like my Tabby," I said. "Uhm, I know this might be jumping the gun with Mark and all, but him and I, we were kind of talking. I don’t mean to rush it or anything, but once our families start growing, this house is going to start getting small real fast.”
"I know," Tabby replied. "I didn't want to think that far ahead, because I didn't want to even consider that you and I would be living apart again. I didn’t think I’d like it so much, but I’ve gotten so accustomed to it. I don't want it to end, but it's not fair having Patrick keep living in a converted broom closet."
"I know," I said. "So what Mark and I were thinking is a couple of options. The first one was to expand this building, kind of turn it into a two wing complex with a shared common area in between."
"Or?"
I grinned. "This property is big enough that you could certainly have a full sized servant's quarters on the grounds. Knowing how generous and eccentric Marcus Smiley is, it'd certainly be bigger than a two bedroom cottage, you know."
Tabby grinned and wrapped wet hands around my shoulders, hugging me as tightly as my belly would allow. "I love you so much, Sophie. Thank you."
I returned the hug, kissing her forehead. "I love you too Tabs. Now, tell me more about this red satin teddy. Think I might fit into it after I lose the baby weight?"
"Hell no, it'd be too short, and you'd be spilling out of it with those big boobs of yours. Although in fact...." Tabby said, before the phone rang. She held up her wet hands and smiled. "Think my servants can get the phone?"
"Yes milady," I teased back, before grabbing the handset. "Hello, Williams residence."
"You must be the maid," a raspy voice said in my ear. "Where's Tabitha?"