Two Years Later

I tip the watering can forward and watch the brown soil turn black. I smile to myself and glance up as Max laughs and throws a tennis ball for our black lab Larry.

“Careful,” I say to him.

“It’s okay,” Max says. Larry grabs the ball, brings it back to Max, and he throws it again.

I smile to myself and go back to watering the flowers. We have a nice little bed in the back, mostly thanks to Luke. I don’t have all that much time these days for planting and gardening, though I suspect I’m going to be back home a lot more often sooner rather than later. I put my hand on the swell of my stomach and my smile gets bigger.

“Watch, mom!” Max gets the ball from Larry and throws it as far as he can. I laugh as Larry goes chasing it.

“Good throw, bud,” I say.

He grins at me and I put my watering can down. My phone starts ringing and I grab it from my pocket.

“Hello?”

“Look at you, answering right away on your day off.”

“Hi, Slick,” I say, grinning to myself.

“You busy?”

“Not really.”

“Good.” He laughs and I can see him sitting in his office, smoking a cigarette, looking at case files. It’s Saturday, but he never takes a day off. Jason Slick has no other life, but I don’t think he’d want it any other way.

“You talk to Mrs. Moraine yet?” I ask him.

“Not yet. Actually I was hoping you’d do it.”

“You can’t pass off the crap work on me.”

“Guess not anymore.” He sighs. “I liked it better when you weren’t a partner.”

“I bet you did.”

He grunts and I can hear papers shuffling. “All right. I’ll take the old lady if you hunt down her grandson. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Fine. And don’t let the slippery bastard get away. He’s a snake.”

“I know,” I say. “And listen, we should talk.”

“What?” he asks, distracted.

“You know I’m pregnant.”

He pauses. “You’re what?”

I grin. “Cut it out. Look, I can’t be doing this too much longer, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. When you’re ready to take a break, just say the word. We can find stuff for you to do that’s not out in the field.”

Okay, perfect. And when the baby comes…”

“And when the baby comes,” he says overtop me. “You’ll take as much time as you need before you come back.”

“You’re too good to me, Slick.”

“I know. Tell that idiot husband of yours hello.”

“Will do. See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

We hang up and I slip my phone back into my pocket. Max is still rolling around on the floor while Larry tries to lick his face. I grin to myself and head inside.

We live in a little house at the end of a dead- end street, which works perfectly for us. Our yard is surprisingly big and bordered by woods, which is a great place for Max to get in trouble with his friends, at least when he’s a little bit older. We got Larry last year, a month after Luke and I got married and moved into this place. Before that, we toughed it out in Luke’s old apartment for a while, making it work.

I got a job with Slick, and quickly I took to the whole thing. Within a couple of months, I was going out on jobs with him, staking out cheating husbands and all that. About three months ago, he finally made me a partner in his little PI business after I got my PI license. He’s still adjusting to that, but I think it’s working for both of us. I’m bringing in more jobs and the money’s been great

Still though, I’m five months pregnant. I’ve got maybe a month or two more in me before I have to cut it out and work a desk for a while. That’s fine, I can handle it, but I already know I’m going to miss the field. I love tracking people down, questioning them, following their cases through to the end. We mostly get cheaters, liars, and thieves, easy and simple stuff. But every once in a while, we get a real interesting case.

Now I understand why Slick stuck with us through that whole ordeal. He’s used to doing odd jobs, boring stuff mostly, and Luke’s case was far from boring. Plus, he has a strong sense of justice. He’s actually a good guy. I learned that he left the police force, not because he did something wrong, but because he lost his partner and couldn’t face being involved anymore. He left that job and never looked back.

As I go to wash up some dirty dishes, I look out the window at Max. He gets up and brushes himself off, running around as Larry chases him. I can’t help but smile. He’s grown so much over these last two years, and he’s taken all of the changes in stride.

He hasn’t seen my parents since that day my father stopped by. I didn’t bring him to court. I didn’t want him to see his grandpop like that, although I have no sympathy for my father. Two years' probation and a fine is getting off easy, as far as I’m concerned.

Although Eli Walker didn’t get off easy. He’s in prison for homicide and a bunch of other stuff, along with his father. His brothers got away, but Eli won’t be seeing the light of day anytime soon. And I think his father got ten years as well, which he deserves.

Luke didn’t say much about it. I thought that was odd at the time. I asked him last year, after it was all over, if he felt like justice was served.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said to me. “I have my family. That’s all I need. What happens to the Walkers is beyond me now.”

He looked so at peace that I haven’t asked him about it since.

As I finish up, I hear the garage door open and shut. “Hello?” I call out. “Luke?”

“Hey,” he says, poking his head into the kitchen. “Lemme get my boots off.”

I grin and dry my hands off. A minute later he comes into the room, walks right up to me, and kisses me deeply. That’s how he greets me every time he sees me, and it never gets old.

“How’s it going?” he asks, hand on my small but growing bump.

“Good,” I say. “Max is out back with Larry.”

He looks over my shoulder, out the window. “I’m glad those two have each other. I don’t think anyone else has the energy to keep up with them.”

“You’re not kidding.” I smile at him and he kisses me again. “I thought you were working all day?”

“I was,” he says. “But I have a surprise for you.”

I raise an eyebrow. Luke coming home in the middle of the afternoon is surprise enough, even on a Saturday. Sunday is normally his day off.

After everything finished, Luke started actively bringing in more work to his uncle’s garage. Because of his experience restoring classic cars, he’s been building a name for himself in the restoration world, and about a year ago things really took off. In the last few months, his uncle made him a co-owner in the garage, and they’re actively hiring new guys to help out with all the extra work they’re getting. Things are looking incredibly good for them, and I can tell Luke’s really happy.

“What is it?” I ask him.

“Come with me.” He takes my hand and leads me back through the garage. We stand in front of the closed door and he puts his hand on the button. “Ready?”

“Ready,” I say.

He hits the button and the garage slowly opens. I gasp and laugh when I see what’s sitting in the driveway.

It’s his old truck, the one that we thought was destroyed. I knew he’s been working on it from time to time, but I had no clue that it was finished.

“Ta-da,” he says. “She’s back.”

“Oh wow.” I walk up and go over it. “It looks amazing.”

“I did some upgrades to the interior. Tried to modernize it a bit. What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful, Luke,” I say. “Really.”

“Good. It’s yours.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“It’s yours. I don’t want it anymore.”

“Come on, no way. This is your truck. You’ve worked hard on it.”

“Listen,” he says, pulling me toward him. “I know you’re going to step back from the investigation stuff soon, with the baby, but after that you’re going back to work. I know you will. And you’ll need a car if you’re going to do it.”

I bite my lip. “Red isn’t exactly the best color for going on a stakeout.”

He laughs. “I’ll paint it black. So you’ll take it?”

“I can’t,” I say.

“You can. It’s yours. You need it more than I do.”

I bite my lip. I’ve been driving a crappy second-hand Honda Civic from like ten years ago. It’s falling apart and awful, but this is Luke’s truck. It’s a classic, it’s beautiful.

“It’s yours,” he says again. “Go ahead. Get inside.”

I slowly climb in behind the wheel. The interior is all brand new, with a new stereo and navigation system built in.

Luke leans up against the door. “Can’t exactly drive the baby around in that, but for your job… what do you think?”

“It’s perfect,” I say. “Seriously, Luke. I love you.”

He grins. “I love you too. I’ll get it painted black as another post-baby gift. How’s that sound?”

“You’re too good to me.”

He opens the door and pulls me down into his arms. I laugh and kiss him full on the lips, letting my body press against his tough chest.

“Gross!”

We break the kiss off to see Max standing near the basketball net, making a face. Larry starts barking and runs over to greet Luke, jumping up at his legs.

“Okay, hey boy,” he says, letting me go to pet Larry.

I smile to myself, watching him. Max grabs a basketball and starts shooting, and I couldn’t feel happier. This is my family, my real family. It’s finally put back together after years of being broken. We have a home, we have jobs that fulfill us, we have a perfect son, and soon we’ll have another baby.

This is what I always dreamed about, and for a long time I didn’t think it would happen. I was convinced I would always be alone, miserable and broken, with Luke just out of my reach. But this, this is perfect.

This is what being home feels like. I can’t give it up, not for anything.