16. Jett
16
JETT
J ett fixed Riley’s collar in the parking lot of the conference center while Riley laughed.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Riley said. “I thought a tie would look nice and fancy, but it definitely did not.”
“It definitely looked like you were trying too hard,” Jett agreed before tossing the tie into the backseat of her car, “but you still look gorgeous without it.”
Jett couldn’t get over how Riley blushed lightly when she complimented her, and a part of her hoped that she never stopped reacting that way.
“You ready to go in?” Jett asked after closing the door.
“Sure am,” Riley said and smiled at Jett, blushing slightly. Jett knew what she wanted, so she held out her hand. Riley took it, and the two of them started to walk toward the front doors together. Jett was excited and nervous.
This event that the hospital and fire department were putting on was the first time that Jett and Riley would be together somewhere publicly as a couple. Jett knew that the gossip at work and at the hospital was going to skyrocket, but she didn’t care.
She was happy to be happy with and through someone that she cared about, and she knew that Riley felt the same. She knew that she could handle the personal and professional challenges that were thrown at her, and she had been through too much not to allow herself a shot at happiness.
Besides, most of the gossip surrounding Jett now was about the fire. So many people called her a hero and checked in on her and how she was doing. She didn’t feel like a hero, and she was happy to have returned back to work last week, but she also didn’t feel like she had something to prove anymore. She felt more confident in herself and like she really was helping people.
She had known that before, of course, but knowing something and truly feeling it were not the same thing. And now Jett felt it. And with Riley by her side, she felt more complete than ever before. Jett smiled wide as they walked into the conference center and saw their friends, family, and coworkers.
The conference center was decorated very fancily in red and white, the colors for firefighters and the medical staff, and the blue logo of the Phoenix Ridge Hospital was next to the red symbol for the Phoenix Ridge firefighters on the door. The event was held as an appreciation for the fire department and hospital.
Many prominent members of the community were also at the event, and Jett could see her Aunt Becky talking to the mayor from afar. Jett made a note to avoid her aunt until after she was done talking to the mayor. Jett had met the mayor before a couple of times and she was a lovely lady, but she also knew that Riley sometimes got nervous around authority figures, and she didn’t want to make her even more nervous than she probably already was.
Riley squeezed Jett’s hand and pointed to the bar.
Jett laughed. “Trying to recreate memories, are we?”
Riley laughed and squeezed Jett’s hand again before she whispered in her ear, “Well, I wouldn’t be opposed.”
Jett shook her head and whispered back, “Too bad this place doesn’t have a rooftop we can get to.”
“You can always steal a ladder off the firetruck,” Riley said.
“That’s a lot of work to have some incredible sex when we can just go back to my place after this and have all the sex,” Jett said.
She was feeling completely back to herself now and their sex life had continued exactly where it had left off, and if possible elevated to all new levels.
Riley laughed and shrugged. “I’m impatient,” she said and Jett shook her head.
“You sure are,” she said, “but I’m definitely going to have to call a rain check on that.”
“Damn,” Riley said her green eyes sparkling, but of course, she wasn’t actually upset.
Jett just laughed at their antics, but she did walk with Riley toward the bar. Drunk Riley was fun, after all. And Jett also wanted a drink. Of course, it was champagne, which definitely influenced her decision.
The two got a glass, and Jett made sure to ask if there was a limit. The bartender told her no, but that if she started swaying or slurring her words she would be cut off.
“Fair enough,” Jett said to the bartender and raised her glass to the woman before walking off with Riley.
Riley greeted a few of their coworkers as she walked with Jett, but after a minute, someone stopped Riley with a smile. Jett couldn’t remember her name, but she did look familiar. She thought that she was maybe a nurse.
“Hey, Leah,” Riley said with a smile.
“Hi,” Leah said and stared at Jett and Riley’s intertwined hands with a pointed look. “Please tell me that you two are officially together. I’ve been holding out of the work gossip about you two out of respect, but I’m so tired of having to keep my mouth shut.”
Riley laughed, and Jett barely understood what was going on between the two of them. “Yes,” Riley said. “We are absolutely together, we have moved in together and I don’t really care about you gossiping anymore.” Riley looked at Jett, who saw it as her cue to speak.
Jett shrugged. “Gossip away.”
Leah smiled and sighed dramatically. “Finally.”
“And thank you for keeping it a secret when I asked,” Riley said. “I know you really didn’t have to, but I appreciate it.”
Leah waved her hand at Riley’s thanks. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’d hate it if someone started gossiping about me when I was just starting to get with someone. Now that it’s official, however…”
Riley laughed and Jett smiled. She didn’t know what had gone on between the two of them, but she was glad that Leah kept the secret for Riley. That said, Jett didn’t realize Riley had been just as worried about workplace gossip as she was. Jett frowned, upset that she was so focused on herself that she hadn’t really thought about what Riley thought or was going through.
Jett didn’t think about how the workplace gossip would have affected Riley, especially since most of it came from the hospital where Riley worked all the time. But Jett decided it was okay and she needed to forgive herself for that. She was going to be more considerate of Riley in the future, even if she did have a lot going on in her own brain.
“Oh, and we are picking up a new furry member of our family tomorrow,” Riley smiled proudly, while squeezing Jett’s hand. Jett felt full of love as she joined in.
“Yes! His name is Romeo! He is a beautiful fluffy ginger stray, we are collecting him from the Forever Paws rescue tomorrow.” Jett smiled.
She loved animals, going to the rescue with Riley, they had found it tough- so many of those poor cats needed a loving home, but it was Romeo who had stolen their heart. He was recovering from a collision with a car, he was missing fur still from his surgeries and Jett felt an affinity with him.
She and Romeo would recover together, and maybe in the future, they would be able to take on some more animals in need of a home together.
“Oh, I love cats,” Leah said, smiling. I would love to come and visit Romeo once he gets settled in.
“You would be super welcome,” Jett said, smiling.
* * *
Suddenly, Jett felt a small body collide with her leg and small, six-year-old arms wrap around her.
Jett looked down and saw Natalie sitting on her foot. Her arms were wrapped around Jett’s leg and she looked up at Jett with the biggest puppy-dog-eyed expression that she could manage. Of course, since Natalie was six and already adorable, Jett was inclined to do whatever the little girl wanted.
Jett smiled down at her and she heard Riley laugh as she saw what had just happened. “Hey kiddo,” Jett said. “How’s the weather down there?”
“Snowing,” Natalie said with complete seriousness and Jett had to laugh.
“Really?” Jett asked. “Cause it’s sunny up here?”
Natalie nodded her head and gave Jett the puppy dog eyes again.
Jett sighed and looked at her cousin’s daughter. “What do you want?”
Natalie pointed to the distance, where Jett could see Josephine and Ember talking with another guest that Jett didn’t fully recognize.
“Can you carry me to my moms?” Natalie asked and Jett sighed dramatically.
“Can I carry you to your moms?” she asked and then smiled. “Depends. Do you wanna stay attached to my leg or have me give you a piggyback ride?”
Natalie put on her thinking face and pondered the question very seriously. It was a big question for a six-year-old. “Piggyback ride,” Natalie finally answered, unraveling herself from Jett’s leg and jumping up with raised arms.
“You got it, kiddo,” Jett said and lowered herself to the ground so that Natalie could get onto her back and wrap her arms around Jett’s neck.
Jett positioned Natalie’s legs around her waist and grabbed on before she stood up and then they were off.
“I better get going,” Jett heard Riley say to Leah as Jett journeyed toward Natalie’s moms. When Jett got to Ember and Josephine, after taking a few wrong turns and going in circles a couple of times in order to hear Natalie’s laughter, Riley was there waiting for her with a smile.
Once Jett put Natalie down in front of Ember, Natalie ran up to Ember and wrapped herself around her mom’s leg that time, causing Jett to laugh. She looked at Riley who was smiling at Natalie before she turned to Jett.
“I wish I was as good with kids as you are,” Riley said, and there was a little bit of hope, but also sadness to her expression as she said it.
“You will be,” Jett said. “You just don’t have any experience yet.”
“I think you’re great with me,” Natalie said from atop Ember’s foot, clearly having overheard Riley, “I mean you have my picture on your fridge so that means something.”
Riley smiled at Natalie and for a moment she looked like she might cry, but then that moment was gone. “Thank you,” she told Natalie, “but we absolutely do have to color again, because I think it’s unfair that I only have one picture on my fridge.”
Natalie’s expression brightened and she smiled wide. “Yes!” she said and looked at Jett. “Maybe I could stay over at your house and Riley could do coloring with me?”
“If it’s okay with your moms,” Jett said and Ember looked shocked and put on the spot.
“Oh, of course,” Ember said and Josephine nodded in agreement.
“Yeah,” Josephine said, “and honestly, the more medical professionals the better when it comes to watching our daughter. You know how clumsy she can be.”
“Hey!” Natalie exclaimed and everyone laughed as she stuck her tongue out at Josephine and Josephine reached forward like she was going to grab it. Natalie pulled back and started to run away.
Josephine ran forward after Natalie while Natalie was laughing. “Hey!” she said. “You come back here, you little rascal.” This caused a lot of the people onlooking to laugh as they let Natalie weave through the crowd while her mom chased her.
Nobody ever minded Natalie, and of course, Jett would have a word if there was anyone who did. That little girl was her family. Jett saw Aunt Becky and Lucinda coming over to join their little group at the same time as Josephine caught Natalie and started carrying her, giggling, back to the group.
“It’s good to see you two,” Aunt Becky said to Riley and Jett. Jett and Riley weren’t at the last Sunday gathering because Jett wanted to rest before she was scheduled to go back to work and Riley had taken Lucinda’s shift. “But I trust I’ll see you two tomorrow at your mom’s house,” Aunt Becky said.
“Of course,” Jett said. “Last weekend was just an anomaly.”
“Good,” Aunt Becky said. “We were all worried about you.”
Jett laughed in disbelief. “You’ve all visited me multiple times a week while I was recovering.”
“Yes,” Aunt Becky said. “And we were still worried.”
Jett shook her head but smiled. She knew that she was lucky to have such a loving family, even if sometimes they were too loving. She wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“Well, we’ll definitely be there tomorrow,” Jett said.
“Though I’ll have to leave early,” Riley said. “Lucinda and I made an agreement for me to be there the first half of the day, go to the hospital, and let her go for the next half of the day.”
Becky nodded. “I know,” she said and gave Riley a teasing smile. “Or did you forget that Lucinda and I are married?” she asked before gesturing to her wife right next to her.
Riley blushed and uttered a quiet, “I’m sorry.”
Lucinda rolled her eyes and shook her head at Aunt Becky. “Be nice,” she said.
“I was only teasing,” she explained to Riley.
“Yes,” Lucinda said, “but not everyone is used to your teasing.”
“It’s okay,” Riley said. “I might as well get used to it if we are going to be spending more time together.”
Aunt Becky smiled and patted Riley on her shoulder. “There you go,” she said.
“Anyway,” Becky said, “how are you two doing? Still friends or what? Because I’m pretty sure I saw some hand-holding in between you two earlier.”
Riley blushed again, and Jett did a little bit, but she was also expecting this type of questioning and was happy to answer, even to Becky. “You’ll be pleased to know, we are officially together and Riley is moving in properly and in true lesbian form, we are getting a cat together tomorrow!”
Lucinda squealed with excitement and Becky laughed.
“A cat?” Lucinda cried out. “Photos, please, I need photos.”
Riley happily brought up her phone and Jett watched happily as she pulled up photos of Romeo to show Becky and Lucinda who were the definition of mad cat ladies.
“So, as you can see, poor Romeo has been through a few surgeries to save his back legs and tail, but he is doing well now and should recover well.” Riley looked like the handsome doctor Jett had fallen in love with as she explained all about Romeo’s medical needs.
“Oh, Romeo! What a handsome sweetheart! Little love! I can’t wait to meet him!” Lucinda gushed.
“I also can’t wait to meet the handsome little guy,” Aunt Becky said. “And also I’m super happy to see you two U-Hauling and getting a cat. You are perfect for each other. Welcome to the Thompson family, Riley!”
Jett definitely blushed a lot more at that, and Riley was beginning to resemble a tomato while Lucinda clicked her tongue and gently pushed Aunt Becky’s shoulder.
“Be nice,” Lucinda said. “Some people just need to take their time in figuring things out.”
“Well they were taking too much of theirs,” Becky said.
Jett didn’t know how to react or respond so she let out a short laugh. Besides, Aunt Becky was kind of right. They had definitely taken too long to admit that they wanted to be together.
“Well regardless, I’m happy for you two,” Aunt Becky said, and she gave Jett a quick hug.
“I have a favor to ask you,” Josephine said. “I’m sorry that it’s last minute, but would you two mind taking Natalie tonight after this and bring her to your mom’s house tomorrow?”
Jett was surprised at the sudden request, but she wasn’t upset by it. In fact, she was happy. It had been a while since she had gotten to take on her role as the cool aunt and she loved hanging out with Natalie. But she did have to ask Riley.
Jett looked at Riley with the unspoken question and when Riley nodded with a smile, Jett smiled back. “We’d love to,” Jett said.
Josephine sighed in relief and Jett saw Ember’s shoulders drop slightly. “Thank you so much,” Josephine said. “It’s just that this has been the first proper night in so long that I’ve been off work and we were thinking about going out together, but I completely forgot to ask earlier, I’ve been so busy.”
“Of course,” Jett said. “It’s not a problem, and I love watching Natalie. Any time you want, even if it’s just to catch up on some rest, let me know and I’ll be there. You two know that.” Jett laughed slightly. “Though I would usually prefer a little notice. But it’s not a problem.”
Josephine grimaced. “Yeah,” she said. “We actually thought about it a few days ago and I told Ember that I’d ask you but then I forgot and didn’t realize until we were literally on the way here.”
Jett waved her hand in dismissal. “It’s no problem at all, we will have a great time, even if I do have to stop the champagne early to take my childcare responsibilities seriously,” she said and Josephine smiled.
Aunt Becky laughed and nudged Riley. “I hope you know that if you two ever get married, you’ll have to have gallons of champagne at the wedding or Jett will riot.”
“Aunt Becky,” Jett said, “it’s definitely way too early to think about marriage.”
“I know, I know,” she said and turned back to Riley. “Just remember that when it’s not too early.”
“I will,” Riley promised and Jett shook her head. She was right, it definitely was way too early to start thinking about marriage, but she did realize, as she looked at Riley, that she could see herself marrying Riley.
* * *
“And now, we are moving onto the award part of our ceremony,” the host said. “If Mayor Greene would come up,” they said and the mayor made her way to the stage. “When I call your name, if you would come up to the stage, please,” the host said.
Jett was actually a little surprised. She didn’t know this event was going to have an award ceremony. She didn’t know if that was a new thing or if she didn’t read the invitation well enough. Probably the latter, she figured. Jett mostly found out about this thing through her family, anyway. They all knew that she was terrible about checking her mail.
The host started calling out award titles and names, and Jett finished her food after the first couple of names were called. She decided to check her phone to see how long this thing had been going on for when she got distracted by an email. It wasn’t anything too important, just a reminder to pay her phone bill, but for some reason the bill was more money than what she was used to.
Jett was trying to figure out what was going on and why her phone company was trying to charge her so much money when suddenly, the table that she was sitting at erupted in applause. Jett was startled and looked up from her phone to see Riley and her family all clapping and looking at her.
Jett was confused and was about to ask what was going on when Riley tugged on her shirt and pointed at the stage. Jett was confused and certainly looked it.
Riley leaned into Jett’s ear and whispered. “They called your name. Go to the stage!”
What? Jett thought, there’s no way. She couldn’t have won an award. What would it have even been for, anyway?
But after another tug on her shirt and some silent prodding from her family, Jett got up from the table and walked, very confused, to the stage.
Jett felt in a blur as the Mayor shook her hand.
“I commend you for risking your own life to save others, you are truly a hero, Jett Thompson and Phoenix Ridge is lucky to have you.” The mayor smiled at Jett kindly and placed a medal round her neck.
The whole room burst into further applause.
Jett felt the medal around her neck and picked it up. She read the inscription. “For Exceptional Bravery, Jett Thompson.” Jett’s face burned further.
Jett made it back to the table in a daze amongst everyone trying to congratulate her.
Riley’s proud smile was the one she headed straight for.
“I’m so proud of you. I love you,” Riley said as she squeezed Jett’s thigh under the table.
Jett thought of her father for just a second and tears began to form in her eyes. She leant into Riley and Riley put her arm around her, kissing the top of her head.
“I’ve got you, beautiful, I’ve got you.”
And Jett knew that she had.