3. Caleb
CHAPTER 3
Caleb
A fter the day I had, I planned on going home, making myself some food, taking my black lab Finn for a quick walk, showering, and heading straight to bed. Not only did I work the evening shift, but I had an overdose call today and the girl didn’t make it.
Even after serving overseas, losing someone never gets easier. I’ve learned my ways to process it, and that usually means spending time by myself, but there was no way I could live with the disappointment on Charlotte’s face when Bailey said I couldn’t go to Sammy’s with them. So a change of plans it is. I’ll go to lunch with them and then head home.
When I join them again, Charlotte runs up to me and grabs my hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Bailey watches us with a beautiful smile. I open the door for them, and we walk through the parking lot. When we don’t stop, Bailey asks, “It’s okay if I leave my car in the parking lot, right?”
“Yeah, you’re all good.”
Charlotte spends the entire walk telling me about her week at school and the new friends she made at the park today. She is so full of life and energy, something I’m not used to. When we get to the diner, we make our way to a booth. Bailey slides in on one side all the way to the window, and I sit across from her.
“I want to sit with Caleb,” Charlie says as she slides in beside me. Her little legs can’t reach the ground as she sits. She rubs her hands together excitedly as the waitress comes over to get our order.
“You have to get a chocolate milkshake, Caleb. It’s the best!” Charlie says.
I order one, and a giant smile spreads across her face. Charlie continues the conversation, requiring no prompting from her mother or me. When the waitress comes back with our drinks, Charlie insists I order the chicken strips just like her, so I do.
Just as our food is delivered, another person slides into the booth beside Bailey and steals a fry off my plate before plopping it into their mouth. Bailey stiffens. Not like she’s scared, but like she’s unsure of this new person.
“Hey, Caleb,” Olivia says once she’s finished the fry.
She has a big, shit-eating grin on her face as she takes in me sitting with Bailey and Charlotte. Olivia is one of my best friends’ sister and another’s wife. I’ve gotten to know her well over the years. This past summer, we all spent more time together because Liv started coming to our hockey games, and we even did a big group camping trip.
“Hey, Liv. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing much. Who are your friends?”
“Olivia, this is Bailey and this is Charlotte. Bailey and Charlotte, this is Olivia.”
A soft hello comes from Bailey, and Charlotte waives at Olivia.
Olivia smiles at Charlie. “Charlotte is such a beautiful name, and it fits such a pretty girl. ”
Charlotte blushes as she says thank you, and Josh walks up. “Is my wife bothering you, man?” he asks jovially, reaching out and giving my hand a quick shake.
Bailey’s body relaxes at Josh’s words. Was she worried that Liv was my girlfriend or here to make a move? A sense of happiness rises in me at her potential jealousy, yet I have no right. I push that feeling down and away. The last thing I need is to be lusting after a victim I helped. Not that I would ever use that word to describe Bailey. She’s a survivor. Anyone who goes through what she has and comes out the other end of it is a survivor.
“No, just stealing my fries,” I say as Olivia reaches over and steals another.
“The baby wanted another fry,” she says with a smile as she rubs her belly.
Josh smiles at her with a look so full of love and devotion. He’s looked at her like that for years and never made a move. I was happy when he told us a few months ago they were together and he was going to propose. Although he didn’t really tell us so much as he was checked on the ice during one of our games and Liv’s protective side came out.
She rushed onto the ice to check on him, calling him “babe,” before punching the guy who checked him in the face. Josh had to pull her away from him. It kind of outed their relationship. The following weekend, we found out they were expecting. They got married last Saturday in a small backyard wedding and they’ve never looked happier.
Charlie’s interest is peeked by Liv’s comment. “You’re having a baby?”
“Yup, our little baby will be here in April.” She continues rubbing her belly.
“That’s so cool,” Charlie says wistfully.
A noise chimes as Josh pulls his phone out. He pockets it and informs us they need to go .
“Still good for Saturday?” he asks.
“Yup, I should be home by five.”
Olivia immediately reaches out and grips Bailey’s arm. “Oh, you should join me and my friends for our girls’ night on Saturday. We are doing movies in pyjamas at our place with all of our favourite junk food. You and Charlotte should both come.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” Bailey starts.
“Can we, Mommy, please? Pretty please, Mommy. It will be so much fun!” Charlie pleads.
Bailey seems to resign herself and nods her acceptance as Olivia slides out of the bench.
“Yay, I can’t wait.” She pulls out her phone and hands it to Bailey, who adds her number before Liv and Josh leave.
“What in the world just happened?” Bailey asks under her breath.
“You have a girls’ night planned with Olivia and her friends, I guess,” I say.
Her head shoots up, and she looks me straight in the eye. “But why? She doesn’t even know me. Why is she just inviting me and my daughter over to her place for a girls’ night?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I do know Olivia is good people and her friends are too. They will do anything for each other. You guys will be safe if you want to go.”
Her gaze flicks over to Charlie. “Yeah, I told Charlie we would. I’m still not sure why she invited us.”
I know Olivia is someone who likes to be there for and support other people, but I’m not entirely sure as to what caused her to invite Bailey and Charlotte.
Charlotte continues to carry the conversation as we finish eating. Once we finish, I ask for the bill and Bailey tries to fight me on paying for their meals, but I wave her off. Charlie slides out of the booth, and I follow. When I’m out, she reaches for my hand and looks behind her to make sure Bailey is following us.
Having this little girl feel so comfortable with me that she wants to hold my hand as we walk back to the station has my chest tightening, and I use my free hand to rub it.
The air is crisp as we walk, and Charlie’s little hand feels cold in mine. I look to Bailey and ask, “Does she have any gloves?”
Bailey reaches inside her purse and hands me a pair. I manoeuvre us off to the side of the sidewalk and crouch down in front of Charlie.
“Your hands are getting really cold. Why don’t we put these on?” I ask, opening the first glove so she can slide her hand inside. She nods and puts the first one on and I help her with the second. I pull her zipper up higher and make sure she is fully bundled.
Looking up, my eyes catch on Bailey’s. A soft smile pulls at her lips as she watches us, and I smile back. Standing, I take hold of Charlie’s hand again, and we finish our walk back to the station. When Bailey moves to help Charlie into the car, Charlie backs away and asks me to do it.
Before Bailey can say anything, I step up and say, “Sure, Little Bear.”
I help her into the car and buckle her seatbelt before opening the door for Bailey.
“Thanks for indulging her today,” she says.
“Of course. I had fun. Thanks for the cookies.”
“Anytime. Well, I guess we should be going. It was nice to see you again, Officer Sutton.”
“Caleb, please. It was nice to see you, too, Bailey.”
A blush tinges her cheeks, and I stifle a groan as I wonder if the beautiful pink blush spreads down her chest. I step back, and she climbs into her car as she says goodbye. I watch as the two of them drive away. I quickly run into the station, grabbing my cookies from my locker before heading home for a much-needed shower and sleep.
I wake from my sleep drenched in sweat, my chest heaving. I look at the clock beside my bed and see it’s 3:23 a.m. Knowing I won’t be able to fall asleep again anytime soon, I hop in the shower before moving to the living room, where I settle in with a book. I wake up later in the morning on my couch with my book lying on the floor.
I spend the week doing things around my place, hanging with Finn, and working. On Saturday morning, I head to my mom’s place. Mom insists on a family meal at least once a month; this month it’s Saturday brunch.
Arriving at her place, I notice my brother, Max, is already there with his wife, Sarah. I walk into the kitchen, giving Mom a kiss on her cheek before joining Max and Sarah at the kitchen table.
My dad died during his tour of duty when I was young. He’s the reason I joined the service. My joining scared the shit out of Mom, but she understood I needed to do it, that it gave me a connection to Dad I desperately needed at the time. Max decided to attend a local school to become an architect. He and his wife live a comfortable life and are now expecting their first child; Mom couldn’t be happier, but now she’s pressuring me to find a woman and settle down.
I help Mom set the table, and then we all settle in to eat. Mom’s chocolate chip pancakes are my favourite. They’ve barely hit my plate before I begin scarfing them down. Max just chuckles, and I toss a balled-up napkin at him.
He retaliates by asking, “So, Caleb, you dating anyone? ”
I scowl at him as Mom takes the bait. “Oh, Caleb, it’s time you settle down with someone, build a life, start a family.”
I groan. “Mom, we’ve talked about this. I don’t plan on settling down. I’ve got too much baggage.”
She reaches out and pats my hand. “Honey, no one ever has too much baggage to settle down. You find someone to help you carry the load.”
“I don’t want someone to have to help carry the load.”
Mom gives me a sad look before she continues eating and asking Sarah about the baby.
After brunch, I head home and get set up for poker night with guys. At 5:30 p.m., Grayson shows up with a couple of six-packs of beers, and fifteen minutes later, Josh and Matt come strolling in. We all gather around my dining table with a beer and snacks and settle in.
As I shuffle the deck for our second hand, Josh asks, “So what’s going on with Bailey and Charlotte?”
“Nothing,” I say and deal.
“Who are Bailey and Charlotte? You having two girls at once?” Grayson asks.
Josh coughs on his beer. “Man, Charlotte is a kid.”
The look on Grayson’s face as he puts his hands up in a defensive gesture has me wishing I’d taken a photo.
“How was I supposed to know? What are you doing with a woman and her kid?”
“I responded to a call at their place. Charlotte was talking about Thanksgiving at school and wanted to do something for someone to say thank you. She asked her mom if they could make me cookies, and they delivered them to the station. Charlotte asked if I could go to lunch with them. When Bailey said I was probably busy, I couldn’t take the look of disappointment on Charlie’s face, so I joined them.” I don’t think I’ve ever eaten as many cookies as I have over the last five days; there’s not a single one left .
“Who knew you were such a softie?” Matt chuckles.
“Oh, you’re telling me that when your niece or nephew is born, you won’t be soft for them? There is something about disappointing a kid that’s just too hard to do,” I say.
“I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you interact with a kid before.”
I shrug because Matt’s right. I don’t interact with kids much. None of my friends or family have kids yet, so I’m not often in the position to do so. Before my last tour, I would have told you I wanted to be a father, that I wanted a wife and a house full of kids running around. I still love kids and I can’t wait to be an uncle. I just don’t see kids of my own in my future.
“Well, Olivia is super excited to get to know Bailey and Charlotte. She hasn’t been able to stop talking about them. She texted Bailey as soon as we got home Monday,” Josh says, pulling me from my thoughts. “All she’s been able to talk about this week is them and the doctor’s appointment we had.”
“How did it go? Did you guys find out the sex?” Matt asks.
He’s extremely excited to be an uncle. When it came out that Olivia and Josh were seeing each other, Matt was completely supportive. We found out at their wedding he kind of orchestrated the whole thing.
When Liv caught her ex cheating on her right after they had signed a new lease and she had given up her apartment, she needed a place to stay. Matt was the one to put the bug in Josh’s ear that she needed help. The forced proximity had him confessing his feelings for her while he helped her complete some summer checklist he assures us all no one will ever see. So now Matt’s best friend is legally his brother and giving him a niece or nephew.
“No, we decided to keep the sex a surprise. We won’t know until they’re born. Olivia has begun decorating the nursery with gender-neutral colours. We’ve started getting the furniture and setting it up. She’s started nesting earlier than I thought she would, but it makes her happy.”
The look of utter love on Josh’s face as he talks about his wife and unborn child causes a pang of longing stab to through me. I take a sip of my beer, trying to wash the feeling down.
We spend the rest of the night playing poker and talking about our game tomorrow and the current hockey season. When we decide to call it a night, the guys help clean up and then head home. I head to bed and once again I wake up in the middle of the night out of breath and drenched in sweat.