Sashimi – Chapter Twenty

He was sitting in the car, rehearsing how he was going to tell Dani that he'd accidentally told her father about the baby, when he saw her walk arm in arm from the coffee shop with her mother. They were both smiling and happy. Charlie wanted to hit his head against the steering wheel, but instead he climbed from the car and pasted a plastic smile on his face. Dani would presume it was for the benefit of her mother and it might buy him sometime.

Roya Reese hugged her daughter and kissed her as one would a small child. He realized that children are always children to their mother's and he flashed to a moment he'd tried to forget. His mother fixing his tie and smoothing his hair before the last day in court, the day they read the impossible verdict and his life, the one he knew, vanished forever. His last memory was being lead away in stunned disbelief, handcuffed and his mother's blue eyes filled with tears for him falling away from him, becoming distant in the gallery.

"Hi," he said a bit too cheerfully. Dani eyed him suspiciously so he turned his enthusiasm down a notch. "Could we give you a lift home?" Charlie offered to Dani's mom.

"No, thank you…Charlie," she smiled broadly at him. "I have some shopping to do at the market around the corner and I will phone my husband when I'm nearly done."

"Well, okay then," he seemed as nervous as he was. He jingled the keys in his hands.

"Congratulations, baba," Dani's mother invoked a Farsi term for dad.

Charlie's expression was surprise, happiness and embarrassment all rolled together. He seemed to understand the word though he couldn't possibly know it. His gaze flickered to Dani and the amused smile she wore made him blush furiously.

He turned to Roya and said in a voice only she could hear, "I told you I was gonna marry her," gesturing with his thumb and the mute, yet smiling Dani.

Charlie raised voice as he spoke to his mate, "Let's go, honey."

She growled audibly at him in response.

He grinned and kissed her lightly trailing his hand down his face. "Um," he offered quietly against her temple, "we gotta talk."

She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the car, "first tell me what you got from Seever."

"Well, I didn't really have time to look at it yet," he at least acted chagrinned.

"What could have been more important than…," she began and then the plastic bags in the backseat attracted her attention. "Fruit? Seriously? You decided that fruit shopping was more important than….oh, forget it," she brushed the ire off and got in the car.

"I like to think of it as – I waited for my partner," he replied.

"Oh, you do huh?" she replied a hint of her prior sarcasm present in her tone, but her talk with her mother had gone well. He could tell as soon as he saw her face and that look, that contentment he wanted to let last. He could tell her about the encounter with her father later, he reasoned.

"I'm taking Max," she announced. She was dressed before him, as usual. Her jogging ensemble was a little tighter than usual in interesting places. Charlie's gaze lingered, but then it usually did when they went running.

"Did you hear me?" she asked pulling the ear buds from her ears and leveling a blistering gaze at him. "Charlie?"

"Uh, yeah," he snapped out of his reverie. In reality only part of his mind was occupied with ogling her cleavage and derriere, the rest of his mind was figuring out precisely when and how he was going to tell Dani about his conversation with her father.

"I'm doing a long one today," she announced. "Could you get…"

"Coffee, yeah sure," he finished knowing her thoughts and wishes. He cocked his head considering the intelligence of the question he was pondering. "Is it safe for you to you know?" he made jogging motions by swinging his arms like a runner did, "you know with the…" he tried to gingerly approach the subject.

"You mean is it safe to run with the baby?" she was annoyed at his obliqueness. "Yes," she replied succinctly, "perfectly safe and with the way I've been eating I have to do something." She examined her profile in the mirror and was not happy with what she saw.

"I think you look great," he rumbled in her ear as he wound his arms around her and rested his hands over a tiny bulge in her belly. "You always look great to me," his tone was low and seductive.

"Don't do that," she pushed him roughly away. For a moment he thought she was angry, but she turned and explained. "You do that and we'll never leave the house. When you do that, talk in my ear in that low bedroom tone," she wagged her finger at him. "Just save that for later," she smiled and replaced the ear buds. She clipped a leash on the excited dog and tiptoed to kiss him on his cheek before she left.

Charlie decided to forgo running in favor of meditation, but he was still seated in a lotus position when Dani returned and there was no coffee waiting. She watched him from the kitchen window. Something had been troubling him all day yesterday and it had not loosened it's grip on him with a good night's sleep. She knew it had something to do with his meeting with Seever and it was high time he told her what it was.

She filled a bowl with fresh water for Max and told the little dog to stay. Then she opened the French doors and walked to the patio where she stood in front of Crews blocking the yellow sun from his pale face. His eyes blinked open and he smiled slightly. "I didn't get the coffee yet," he admitted.

"Yes, I can see that," she replied. "Tell me what you're not telling me," she demanded. Charlie puzzled over the way Dani could say Zen things without meaning to for a split second before her hand was extended to help him rise and the thought fled.

He climbed to his feet and noticed she'd not showered. She was so onto him. They took seats under a large umbrella Ted bought for shade on the porch, which received strong morning sun. "I saw your dad yesterday. I didn't mean to, I didn't want to, but it happened – and he knows," he confessed. He felt better the instant he told her, but it didn't mean he didn't fear her anger.

"You told him?" she questioned warily.

"Not intentionally, but I got angry and let something slip. He was a cop for thirty years, Dani. I guess he read it," he seemed ashamed. "I was being cocky, protective and I told him to stay away from my family."

"Hmmm," she mused. Her mother was right. Secrets have a way of finding the light.

"So…" he interrupted her thoughts, "how mad are you? Sleep on the couch mad? Or call off the wedding mad? Scale of 1 to 10 – 10 being the worst…" he chattered nervously.

"Will you take a shower with me?" she asked changing the subject.

"Uh, yeah…" he stammered surprised by her lack of reaction. "Wait," he arrested her movement by grabbing her elbow, "you aren't mad at me?"

"Do you want me to be?" she teased.

"Uh-uh," he shook his head vigorously. "It's just I did exactly what you didn't want me to."

"Just like you always do, Crews," she pulled him with her. "I've accepted that about you. Whether you meant to or not, it's done. It can't be undone, but I don't see the sense in fighting about it."

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" he goaded. "Cause I was expecting an ass kicking or at the least a very serious tongue lashing?"

"Who says you won't be getting a tongue lashing?" she pulled him into the nearest wall and kissed him hard. "Hmm?"

He growled his want and enthusiastically pursued his goal. This was punishment he'd enjoy. He didn't speak anymore after that, his mouth was busy with other things. He licked sweat from her neck tasting the salt of her sweat. She tasted sweet to him like an exotic fruit. His thoughts wandered to the valley between her breasts, but a jog bra stood in his way. It was no match for his determined advance. He divested her of the offending garment and made her squirm against the wall while he kissed her belly gently and then worked his way up her front to visit at both sites of pleasure.

Max raised his head off the cool tile and examined his humans doing those noisy things they seemed to enjoy. He put his head back down and fell into a deep exhausted sleep. He was worn out and no one paid attention to him during these prolonged sessions between his mistress and master anyway.

Determined to make up for his error with a long luxurious morning of foreplay, he lifted her and carried her up the stairs to the waiting bed. She used to protest when he carried her, but today her mouth was more concentrated on the delicate strap muscles of his neck. He felt her hot breath in his ear and not a moment too soon arrived at the foot of their bed. They silently undressed watching each other and climbed into bed. The only other words he spoke were the echoes of "I love you, I love you, I love you," that escaped him as he climaxed.

She held her sweaty lover against her chest as he tried to regain his breath. She dragged her nails along his scalp and then rubbed his exposed shoulder kneading the tight muscle there. He felt the tension in his body leave. She told him it was okay and everything would work out and for the first time when she said those words, she believed them.

Author's Note: I'm going to end Sashimi here and pick up with a new story, using this same setting after the birth of their son. Initial chapters will go up before Christmas. I'd like to thank everyone who's been supportive and encouraging in this character driven story arc. It might not seem that much has happened to move the conspiracy bit forward, but the wheels are in motion for the next adventure.

I got some comments that the plot was lacking, but this was primarily a character driven piece. I intended to dig at what made Charlie and Dani the people they are and why they compliment each other once they allow themselves to be real to one another. Many of us are battling, battle our entire lives, things that begin in childhood; they affect every facet of our lives. This is my attempt to understand that – for these characters and for myself.