Pregnant By The Panther

“Yes,” Diesel said straight faced. “I thought she was a supermodel asking for directions.”

“Really?” Sonya asked dismayed. Diesel knew she hadn’t been feeling confident since the pregnancy had made her gain weight.

“Yup,” Diesel said. “She’ll be doing a number on the guys in town soon.”

Sonya didn’t respond to that, and Diesel saw that she was picking on her food. He placed his plate on the coffee table and pulled her close.

“But she’s got nothing on you,” he whispered in to her ear then kissed her lobe. She smiled uncertainly and he wanted to kick himself for playing with her feelings when she was so vulnerable. He knew that if she hadn’t been pregnant, with her hormones running wild, she’d have punched him in the face for looking at another woman funny. “I mean it!”

Sonya kissed him hard, her passion translating in to physical endearments because she seldom had words at her disposal. That’s another thing he loved about her. She never said what she could express through touch. For a man whose mother had stopped hugging him when he was three and ‘too old’ for hugs it was a welcome change that he hadn’t known he craved.

“I love you too,” Diesel said when they parted lips, their hot breath mingling in the cold.

Chapter Three

Dangerous Times

Sonya kissed Diesel goodbye. She had never liked the fact that Diesel had to work weekends but that was the nature of law enforcement and she made do with visiting him for lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

She pottered around the house for a bit, getting the laundry out of the way, during the house and fixing the bed. She pointedly ignored the phone in the living room. She whipped up some bread and baked a batch of cookies. When the dishes were cleaned and the cookies stored away she finally had nothing to do and sat down on the sofa staring at the number on her planner.

“Good help me,” she mumbled before closing her eyes and dialing the number. She bit on her nails as the phone rang once, twice, thrice. She decided to hang up after the fourth ring but a click told her it had been picked up.

“Hello,” the voice was deep, like Diesel’s. Sonya froze. Her panic was creeping up her throat choking her. “Hello?”

“He… hello,” Sonya said. “I’m looking for Andrew Wake. Is this his store?”

“Yes this is Wake and Son’s,” the man said. “Dad’s out for lunch. Can I take a message?”

Dad… Sonya shook her head. Of course he must have a family; what was Sonya expecting?

“No that won’t be necessary,” Sonya said. “I’ll call back this afternoon.”

She hung up before the man could say anything more. Her heart was beating wildly and she felt hot flashes suffuse her body. She picked up the cookies from the counter and got in her car. Sonya was in two minds about the whole thing. She felt guilty because every time they had talked about their parents Diesel had never expressed a desire to find his father, but Sonya was sure that she’d felt a need in him since she’d gotten pregnant.

And why not?

Sonya missed her father, and even considered calling her own mother just to have someone to share the news with, someone who could share their experience. But her mother was never the loving kind; she had left Sonya and her father when Sonya had been very young, saying Sonya was a mistake.

Sonya parked outside the Sheriff’s office. She didn’t bother locking her car. The office was warm and cluttered. Sonya cleaned it up every two months but it went back to being messy almost immediately.

“Hey Bill,” Sonya said and Bill grinned up at her.

“Cookies!” he said with glee. “You sure know how to spoil us.”

“Don’t eat them all,” Sonya warned. “Where’s Diesel?”

“Oh, he’s in the armory with Mel,” Bill said chomping in to the biggest cookie in the tin. “Giving her one of the Tasers.”

“Is she really as hot as all that?” Sonya asked.

“Why don’t you go find out?” Bill said scarfing down his second cookie.

Sonya flicked him on the forehead playfully and walked to the back of the office where the Sheriff’s office kept its armory. She heard laughter and playful tones from the room, when she walked in she saw a tall woman with the body of a runway model and the face of a goddess clutch her belly and lean on Diesel, she was laughing so hard.