Life After College

Sorry about not updating in so long. Had to change internet companies. So, I decided to give you two ol\' chaps to make up for it.

You guys know the deal. No taking. Story is mine.

Scribbles05

Ps. If any of you have been trying to e-mail me at my address, I\'m sorry, it\'s not working. I\'ll get you another to use.

Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning to find a blanket had been tossed over me. Dicky must be up. I thought as I snuck out the bedroom and walked downstairs into the kitchen. He was at the kitchen island seated on a stool. A food tray was in front of him filled with an empty bowl, a box of cereal, and milk. His short hair was shooting all over the place and he put on a t-shirt and a pair of green stripped boxers. “Well, atleast you managed to slip some clothes on.” I said as I placed a kiss on his forehead before going to the freshly brewed coffee. “Normally, you’d stay naked for atleast an hour around the house, if we’d been a bit frisky the night before.” I poured myself and Dicky a cup.

“When I woke up this morning, I wondered where you were, and when I found you in the guestroom with her, I decided to throw some clothes on.”

I handed him his coffee and sat on the opposite side of the island. “Is she who the cereal is for?”

“Yeah.” Suddenly we heard a soft patter of feet coming down the stairs. “Well, good morning, sunshine.” Dicky said smiling. Sofia just yawned and rubbed her eyes. He picked her up and sat her down on the next stool. “Want some cereal?” He asked.

“Yes.” She answered meekly. He opened the box of cereal and poured her a bowl with milk and slid it to her. Sofia grabbed the spoon and quietly began eating. ~She is rather quiet~. I thought.

“What time is it?” Dicky asked me. I turned around and looked at the clock on the stove.

“Seven.”

“I gotta get ready for work.” He stood from the stool.

“What? Oh yeah,” I replied mirthlessly. “I almost forgot you work six days now.”

“Babe, is this what I have to look forward to every time Saturday comes around?”

“Maybe.” I answered halfheartedly.

“Drew, you know I don’t have a choice. If I want to keep my job, I have to work six days.” I brushed off his comment and moved on.

“Whatever. I’m not going to talk about this in front of her.” Sofia was still concentrating on her breakfast. She probably thought this little spat was cake compared to what she has to listen to at home.

“Fine. I’m going upstairs to shower and get dressed.” A few minutes after he left, I took Sofia’s empty bowl and let her watch some Saturday morning cartoons on the big screen in the den. I put her bowl in the sink, and when I turned around, Dicky was looking at me with apologetic eyes. He had on his regular dark blue uniform, gun, and badge, but his dark blue tie was undone. “Could you tie it for me?” I kind of smirked at his neediness. I walked over to him and started to make his tie.

“I’ve never seen a grown man who can’t tie his own tie.”

“I can tie my own tie.” He said defensively. “But my knot looks small and tight by the time I’m finished. Yours look like how they are supposed to look.”

“Are you trying to calm me down with complements?” I asked as I finished the knot and began to straighten it on his neck.

“...........No.” He answered hesitantly.

I smiled. “I bet you didn’t.” I said sarcastically as I slid his tie in the tie clip.

He grabbed hold of my forearms just as I was about to back away. “I’m sorry, Drew. I know you’re upset about this whole new arrangement, but I don’t have a say in this matter. I have to do what I have to do.”

“I know. It’s just that I’m so mad about it all, that I don’t know who to be mad with. Saturdays were me and you time.”

“And it will continue to be. I don’t think it will be like this forever. They’ll think of something better to do. But until then, you’ve got to support me on this.” I turned my head away to think about it. I smirked when I saw Dicky’s head bent down, looking at me with puppy dog eyes and I pouting lip.

“Alright! Alright, geez.”

He laughed, then looked at his watch. “Time to go.” He gave me short kiss and hugged me. “I love you.” He murmured into my neck.

“I love you too. Be careful out there, all right?”

“I will.” He let go and left the house.

I walked to the doorway of the den and checked on Sofia, when I saw that she was ok, I grabbed the cordless and dialed Jessica’s number. I didn’t get an answer. When I hung up the phone, I got a knock on the door. “Hey, Andrew.”

“Jessica? Girl, where the hell have you been?” I asked her, trying not to sound too pissed. “You were gone all night.” She shushed me then pulled me outside to the front porch. “What?” I asked.

“I hired a private investigator a few days ago.”

“You did what? Against Daniel?”

“I got a call last night saying he wanted to talk to me. So I dropped Sofia off here with you and Richard and drove to the park. He showed me pictures, Andrew.” She opened up a big brown envelop and showed me a small stack of pictures. “He followed Daniel to a restaurant. There, he met up with some red head chick and ate dinner with her.” I flipped through the photos and saw him hugging some voluptuous vixen, then escorting her inside the fancy restaurant. I remember that place. Me and Dicky ate there a few times. Usually some time after payday, because that place was expensive. She took those pictures away and showed me another set. “And these were taken after they ate and were walking into the Holiday Inn together.”

My eyes were bulging as I slowly flipped through them. “Oh Jessica. What are you going to do?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. But it sure explains a lot of his tantrums.”

“Where is Daniel now?”

“He’s already gone in to work. Luckily, I got back home last night before he snuck back under the sheets.”

“Were did you say Sofia was?”

“I told him the truth. She was here with you and Richard. He may be a bastard, but he will not tell me who I can be friends with. I feel like I can trust you two.” Jessica started to tear up.

“You can.”

She laughed a little. “That brings up another reason why I’m here. I wanted to ask if you and Richard would be Sofia’s guardians. I have no other family to give this responsibility to. And ever since I moved here, you both have become like big brothers to me or something.” A tear dropped from her eye. I myself was beginning to mist up. I’m a sucker for sob stories. “I know I could intrust my life with you and not worry. I feel the same way about Sofia. She talks about you two all the time. I’m–I’m lacking joy right now, so I really need to know that if something happens to me or to Daniel, someone with take care of my baby, so I can breathe a little easier.”

I grabbed Jessica and hugged her tightly. “Of course we will. You know that.” I let go of her and wiped the tear from her face with my thumb. “Go on inside. She just finished eating a bowl of cereal and now she’s in the den watching cartoons.” Jessica walked inside and picked Sofia up. When they walked back out the door, I saw Sofia wave at me. I smiled and waved back. ~Sofia doesn’t seem to have any joy either. Her cute little brown eyes lack the sparkle so many other little children seem to have. It’s like she’s aged or something~. I walked inside the house and took a long bath.

When I finished my bath, I dressed in some fitted jeans, blue plaid button down shirt, and a dark blue blazer. By that time, I received a phone call. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this the Taylor residence?”

“Yes, it is. May I ask who’s calling?”

“This is Officer Dalton Jones. I’m Richard’s partner.”

I started getting a bit nervous. “............Yes? What can I do for you, Officer Jones?”

“Well, you might want to get to the hospital.”

“Why?”

“Richard was shot. He..........” I didn’t hear anything else after that. I grabbed my keys and drove like a mad man to the hospital. ~It’s not serious, Andrew. It’s not serious. Stop crying like a sissy~. With my emergency blinkers on, I passed through a dozen red lights and stop signs.

I found a parking space and ran into the building to the front desk. “May I help you sir?” A young blonde girl of maybe 21 asked me.

“Yes. I need Richard Taylor’s room number.” She started typing something on the computer.

“And your relation, sir?”

“We’re partners.”

She looked up at me. “I’m sorry sir. I can not give out information unless you are a..............”

I slammed my hand down on the counter in anger. “We’re married damn it!! And I want the fucking room number!!” The looked startled at me. Apparently, I must’ve scared her. I was pissed and I didn’t give a damn how she felt. I was going to get my point across and she WAS going to acknowledge it. Quickly, she wrote down the number and handed it to me. I took it and ran down the hall.

I stopped when I found room 110 and I opened the door. Dicky was laying with his eyes closed in the hospital bed and an oxygen tube in his nose. ~No other tubes. So it can’t be that serious~. I walked to the bed and ran my hand down the side of his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked up at me with a weak smile across his face. “I thought I told you to be careful when you left the house this morning.”

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed. “What happened?”

“Me and Dalton got word of an old rundown apartment building that was being used as a crack house. When we got there, we took one floor and other officers took the other floors. We walked into a room, separated, and searched the place. No one was there..........so we thought. I was checking the bathroom, when the owner of the apartment walked in and shot me in the shoulder. I was only half conscious when he stepped over me and grabbed his stash before running out.” He saw my jaws rise as I gritted my teeth. He knew what that meant.

“You know, none of this would’ve happened if that lieutenant of yours would stress to his superiors that you all need more officers.”

“Andrew.” He grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

“I’m sorry, I won’t mention it again. How are you feeling now?”

“Alright. A bit sore, but it’s ok. The bullet went straight through. It’s a good thing I was wearing a safety vest.”

Just then, a nurse walked in. “Hello. You must be Andrew.”

“I am.”

“Good, because he’s been asking for you since we got him here.”

I looked over at Dicky. “Oh he did?”

“Nah.” He said. “Not really.”

“You always were a terrible liar, Richard Douglas Taylor.” I laughed. The nurse smiled.
“I bet you two brothers were always close.” We both laughed.

“We’re not brothers.” Dicky told her.

The young nurse looked stumped. “Then...........” I lightly scratched the side of my face with my left hand, exposing my wedding ring. “Oh.”

When the nurse left, Dicky started to give me this funny look. He just kept staring at me. I remembered that look. It meant he was in the mood. “Come’ere.”

“What?”

“Lean over here.” I leaned towards him and he pulled me into a deep kiss. He caught me off-guard for a moment, but then I moaned and fell into it; opening my mouth to invite his tongue to enter. When he reached down to caress my stirring erection, I pulled back.

“Easy cowboy.” I whispered.

“What?”

“We can’t..........you know.......in here.”

“Why not? We can just lock the door and...........”

“Dicky, you were shot today. Did you forget? You might hurt yourself. You know how you get carried away sometimes.”

“I promise I won’t.”

“No, Dicky.” I said sternly. I stood up and started for the door. “I’m going to Wendy’s across the street for a burger. I’m starving. You want anything?”

“Yeah. You.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anything else?” I asked.

“Junior bacon cheese burger.” I left and came back with the food. Together, we ate and talked until it got dark.

Dicky soon fell asleep and I closed my eyes in the arm chair. All night, Dicky kept hearing me twisting and turning in the uncomfortable chair while I was asleep. “Drew?” He whispered to me in the middle of the night. “Drew?” I stirred but didn’t wake. “Andrew?!” He whispered loudly. I snapped awake and looked at him worriedly.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Dicky opened the sheets. “Get in.”

“Why?”

“You were twisting and turning all night in your sleep. Now come lie down with me.”

I gave in and kicked off my shoes before sliding under the sheets next to him. I could feel him moving over closer to me. “Dicky, remember what I said.”

“I know. I know. I promise not to touch you............inappropriately that is.” I rested my head on his good shoulder and wrapped my arm around his neck as he closed his arms snugly around me. He kissed the top of my curly brown head. “It feels good having another warm body lying next to me.”

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