Mitch returned but left the baby with Alex.
“When does she walk and talk and stuff?” Alex asked.
“There’s no set time, but around a year is when they walk,” Mitch said. “My girl will probably do it at nine months though.”
“Mine will do it at eight then,” Sam said. Mitch rolled his eyes, and they all laughed.
“So, you guys makin’ any progress on settling down?” Mitch said. The question was aimed at Alex and Johnny since they were the only two sans wives.
“Hey,” Alex said. “I get enough of that from Mom. I don’t need you piling on.”
“Are you still dating Amber?” Jake asked.
“Dude, we broke up months ago. That’s the chick I caught banging my coworker.”
Sam and Jake lived in Washington State and weren’t as up-to-date on his life as Johnny, Mitch, and his mom.
“Some friend,” Sam muttered.
“Tell me about it. And I found out he’s transferring back to my firehouse. Can you believe the balls on that guy?”
“What an asshole,” Sam said. “What are you going to do?”
“My plan was to promote out, but that hope got dashed for another six months.”
“Why?”
Alex told them the story of getting suspended and why. They were sufficiently indignant on his behalf. While he’d been pretty pissed at first, he’d come to terms with it. There was nothing he could do about it, so there was no use griping. He’d just be all the more ready in six months.
“So, is there anyone new?” Sam asked.
“Um, not really,” Alex stammered. Jake latched onto his weak answer immediately.
“That means yes,” Jake said. “Who is it?”
“Just because you’re a detective now doesn’t mean you know everything,” Alex said.
Jake was a state trooper in Washington and had recently become a detective sergeant. He shot Alex his perfected “trooper stare,” and Alex cracked within seconds.
“Fine. I’ve sort of been seeing my neighbor.” Lucy began fussing, so Alex handed her back to Mitch. His mom’s cat immediately jumped into his lap.
“Why do I get the impression that by ‘seeing’ you mean ‘fucking’?” Johnny asked.
“Dude!” Mitch said, covering Lucy’s ears. “Don’t cuss in front of my baby.”
“Sorry, Lucille,” Johnny said sincerely before turning back to Alex. “Am I right?”
“It’s complicated,” Alex said. “She has a kid.”
“What?” Johnny exclaimed. “I thought you swore off single moms after Amber.”
“I did,” Alex said. “That’s why Julia and I aren’t dating.”
“Alex,” Mitch said. “You can’t be messing around with a single mom. If you’re not serious, you gotta back off. That’s not cool.”
“I know. That’s why it’s complicated,” Alex said. “By the way,shepretty much jumpedme. Her son was at her mom’s, and I’m pretty sure it was a onetime thing.”
They all proceeded to lecture him on the pitfalls, dangers, and moral implications of getting involved with a single mother. He knew all of this, of course. He’d given himself the same lecture after sleeping with her that night.
