“You’re a natural,” I tell her with pride etching my voice.
“Really?” she asks, setting the gun down before turning to me.
“Really. Look at what you did. All three of your rounds are near the center of the bull’s-eye.”
“This is kinda fun.” She laughs, and suddenly her eyes go wide and she grabs my hand, pulling it to her stomach.
“What?” I ask in a panic, and then I feel the slight movement under my palm. I immediately fall to my knees in front of her, both hands holding her stomach. “Holy shit,” I choke out, looking up into Sophie’s beautiful, glowing face then back down to where my tattooed hands are in stark contrast to her white maternity dress.
“I know,” she whispers, dragging my hands around her stomach so I can feel the baby moving. “The shooting must’ve woken her up.”
I nod then shake my head. I never thought this would be something I would experience. I look up at her again, seeing her beaming down at me. Her hair is braided back away from her makeup-free face, but little pieces have come loose and are flying around her in the wind.
“Can I shoot again?” she asks, making me laugh.
“I was having a moment…and you want to shoot?”
“Well, it was fun.”
I shake my head and kiss her belly once before standing. “All right. This time, I want you to aim at the head.”
“I can do that,” she says with confidence, giving me an instant hard-on.
She refused to get a gun at first…until she saw a white Ruger LCP .380 with pink flowers all over it. I almost refused to let her get it—no gun should have flowers on it—but I figured that, if she was carrying it and it could kill someone if she was in danger, I didn’t care what it looked like.
I press the button on the machine, sending the target back out. I put my arms around her again, this time resting on her belly. With every shot, she makes the baby move inside her, making her laugh and miss the target the first three times. I reload her gun, giving her advice on how to focus before sending a new target out with instructions that I want two in the head and three in the heart. This time, she focuses and hits her target with ease.
“You’re a pro.”
“Really?”
“Really, baby.” I kiss her temple. Knowing that she can shoot has some of my stress easing.
“Maybe when the baby gets here, I can work for you.”
“That’s never gonna happen.” I have a friend who works with his woman, but I can’t imagine having Sophie with me on a job. I wouldn’t be able to focus.
“I could be your backup.”
“Not happening,” I state.
“Aww, come on. You said I was a great shot. I could dress like a ninja. I would be like your secret weapon. People would be like, ‘Oh, we got Nico,’ and then I would show up and take them out,” she says, doing a strange-looking karate chop.
“As entertaining as that would be, it’s still not happening.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll give up my dream.” She sighs, making me laugh.
I take her hand and make our way out to my car. After I get her in the passenger’s seat, I jog around and hop behind the wheel.
“How you feeling?” I drive out of the parking lot before taking her hand in mine and pulling it to my mouth.
“Okay. Just tired.”
“I want you to ask the doctor if he has any suggestions for that.”
“Sleep.” She laughs.
“Very funny, smartass, I’m serious though.”
“I know you are.” I hear the humor in her voice, and it makes me smile.
“It’s the doctor’s job to answer questions,” I remind her.
“Yes, but when you call him at midnight to ask him if it’s normal for me to have heartburn, I think that may be overkill.”
“He told me to call if I had any questions. Besides, you ate a whole container of Tums in one night”—I look over at her—“like they were candy.”
“Don’t remind me. That was not one of my crowning moments.” She laughs. Then her voice goes quiet. “I can’t believe you won’t be here for my appointment.”
“Sorry, babe.” I hear the regret in my own voice. I hate not being able to go with her, but after this job, I’ll be taking some time off until the baby gets here.
In reality, the more I think about leaving Sophie and the baby after he or she gets here, the more I start hating my job. Leo told me the other day that they have a couple of spots opening up in his department. He could get me in if I wanted. My first thought was no, but then he explained that their captain lets them do their own thing as long as they’re closing cases. Knowing that, if I took the job, I would no longer be going out of town and leaving her alone made me think harder about it. I want and need that. I hate the idea of her being home alone with a new baby. Yes, my family will be around, but it’s not the same. I never want to miss out on important occasions with my family.
“Mom’s gonna go with you so you won’t be alone.”
“I know, but it’s not the same,” she says, repeating my thought. It’s crazy to think how much my life has changed since I first laid eyes on her.
“I know it’s not.”
We drive the rest of the way home in silence. When we reach the house, I pull into the garage and help Sophie out of the car before heading to the mailbox.