Captain Reeves frowned. “Okay,” he drawled.
“Jayme and I...we’re...engaged to be married.”
Captain Reeves’ eyebrows shot up, and he sat back in his chair as he looked between the two of them. “You guys are a couple?”
“Yes, Sir,” Jayme answered.
“How long?”
“About ten months,” he said.
“Has it ever hindered you as partners?”
“No, Sir. Never,” Tripp replied immediately.
The captain nodded and rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb. “I should really split you two up. But in the ten months you have been together as a couple and as partners, I’ve never had a problem with either of you. I think as long as you guys work well together and can keep it professional while working; then I don’t see a good reason to split up such a productive team.”
“Thank you, Sir,” he said with a huge smile.
“Yes, thank you. We really appreciate it,” Jayme added.
Captain Reeves stood and held out his hand. Tripp was first to stand and shake it. Jayme followed. “Good luck to both of you. I wish you nothing but the best.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Tripp and Jayme said in unison.
“Get to work.”
“Yes, Sir,” they said, and left the Captains’ office with bright smiles on their faces.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Tripp said.
“I know. I’m glad he was understanding.”
“Yeah, me too.”
They left the station and climbed into their work truck. Jayme drove, of course. He always drove. They were about halfway through their shift, when Tripp got a call from his sister.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Tripp.”
“Hi El, what’s up?”
“Are you and Jayme busy tonight? Brett and I wanted to talk to you about something, and wanted to know if we could come over?”
“Is everything okay?” he asked, concerned.
“Oh yeah, everything is fine.”
“Yeah, you can come over; we get home around six. Do you want to come over around six-thirty?”
“Yeah, that would be great.”
“Okay, see you later then.”
“Sounds good, bye.”
“Bye.”
He hung up and looked over at Jayme.
“What was that about?” Jayme asked.
“I don’t know, they said they needed to talk to us about something.”
“Okay.” Jayme frowned.
“I know. I can’t imagine what it could be about.”
“I guess we’ll find out later.”
“Yep.”
They rushed home that night. They both got changed out of their uniforms and ate a quick dinner; while they waited for Elianna and Brett to get there. When the doorbell rang, Tripp ran to answer it. Jayme met them in the living room and greeted them with hugs. Tripp led them into the kitchen, where they all sat around the table.
“What did you want to talk to us about?” Tripp asked.
“Getting right down to it, huh?”
“Yes, it’s been eating at me since I talked to you,” he replied.
“Okay, Brett and I have been talking this over for a couple of months now. And we wanted to let you know that whenever you’re ready, I’d like to be your surrogate.”
Tripp and Jayme stared at her in shock.
“El, you would do that for us?” he croaked.
“In a heartbeat. I’d rather it be me, then you two finding some stranger to do it.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Jayme said. “Thank you doesn’t seem sufficient.”
“Thank you works just fine.” Brett smiled.
Tripp got up, went to his sister; and pulled her into a big hug. Then he went to Brett and did the same. “You guys are amazing. I’m in shock.”
Jayme hugged them also.
“What if you guys want to have more of your own kids? I don’t want you waiting on us,” Jayme said. “It might be a year from now that we decide the time is right.”
“We’ve already decided that we’re going to wait a while before having another one of our own. Noah’s enough of a handful as it is, I want him to be a bit older before I go and add a baby to the mix.”
“We’ll never be able to thank you enough,” Tripp said.
“We don’t need it, Tripp. You getting a baby is going to be thanks enough.”
“You’re the best sister ever. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She smiled.
Tripp sat there for a moment thinking about everything. “Would we get a donor egg? And whose sperm would we use?”
“I was actually thinking that maybe you could use one of my eggs, and Jayme’s sperm; that way the baby would actually be both of your blood lines.”
“We definitely can’t use my sperm if we do that.” Tripp laughed.
“No, definitely not,” Jayme agreed.
“Don’t think you’re sleeping with my wife though, Jayme,” Brett teased.
Jayme barked out a laugh. “I’m good, man, I’ll stick to sleeping with your brother-in-law.”
Brett barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Thanks.”
“I like El’s idea,” Tripp said. “That way the baby would get a little of both of us.”
Everyone agreed. Elianna and Brett stayed for a little longer, before heading home. Tripp and Jayme walked them to the door. Once they were gone, he turned to Jayme and crashed into him; holding him tight. Tripp sniffed as his emotions got the best of him. Jayme rubbed soothing circles around his back.