Page 29 of To Have and To Hold
He knew there was noifabout it. JJ would be asleep before the water started boiling, but he merely agreed before heading to the kitchen.
Baz took his time getting things set up. It wasn’t quite dinner time since they’d left HQ earlier than usual, giving the team time to rearrange the furniture—again—how they wanted it. Leaving was the only option for those who didn’t want to help. Since this was like the seventh or eighth time they’d done this, he was long past feeling helpful where re-design was concerned.
After Brantley and Reese left that morning, Baz started making notes on how he wanted to run things going forward. In all fairness, he’d considered asking Brantley and Reese if he could take a lead role such as the one they appointed him to. One that would keep him close to home for a little while. At least until the babies were born. Dr. Tinder already told JJ she shouldn’t travel, and Baz wasn’t comfortable leaving her, so he’d intended to inform his bosses he would either have to take leave, or he would need to be put on desk duty for a while. Ultimately, this solved his problems. It helped that Darius could back him up when he was out when the babies were born.
Still, their announcement that morning had surprised him. More so the team’s reaction to it. It seemed he’d already established himself as somewhat of a leader, so they had no problems reporting directly to him.
Of course, with the title came all of the responsibility, and a lot needed to be done for them to be effective. They had far too many cold cases that hadn’t been completed—some they hadn’t dedicated nearly enough time to—and to prove their worth, they needed to improve their closure rate. And that meant hiring more people capable of devoting long hours to finding the truth.
It wouldn’t be easy, but Baz was excited about the challenge. He’d even had a discussion with Z right before he left for the day. Reese had called his brother and informed him of the change that was taking place. Z had outlined a few of his expectations, and Baz had agreed to all of them while at the same time insisting he not be kept on a short leash. Z had promised to try.
Baz filled the pot with water and put it on the burner to boil. He grabbed the box of garlic bread and the bag of frozen meatballs out of the freezer. He probably should’ve taken the time to make them fresh, but he wasn’t in the mood to spend too much time in the kitchen tonight. With a to-do list a mile long, it was easier this way, so he pulled out two pieces of bread—already buttered and garlicked—placed them on the pan, and put them into the toaster oven, making a mental note to start it in a bit. The meatballs went on a plate and into the microwave so he could defrost them before adding them to the sauce.
As he worked, a dozen thoughts flitted through his brain, all of them pertaining to work. He grabbed a notepad and jotted them down so he wouldn’t forget them. He knew JJ would give him shit if she knew because he was always getting onto her for working too much. They both did, and that was going to have to change in the very near future. If Dr. Tinder’s prediction was correct, JJ would go into labor sooner rather than later. He wanted her to stay off her feet as much as possible. According to him, if she could make it to thirty-six weeks, they had a much better chance of the babies being strong enough to avoid a lengthy stay in the hospital.
Of course, convincing JJ of that with Brantley’s wedding right around the corner was the equivalent of talking to a wall. He had agreed to give her some space for the next few days, but after that, he would insist she do exactly what the doctor told her to do.
Which reminded him he wanted to talk to Ava before the bachelor party weekend got underway. He was so glad she’d decided to stay here because Baz wouldn’t have been able to leave JJ otherwise. It had been a point of contention when JJ sprung the surprise bachelor party on him in the first place. But according to her, hehadto go because he was standing in for her as Brantley’s best man/woman/person for the weekend.
While the spaghetti boiled, Baz peeked in on her. JJ was asleep on the couch, her hands securely covering her belly. He smiled, content to simply admire her. He could still feel the echo of his terror from a few weeks ago when she’d gone missing. He would never forget that feeling. Scared to death that he would never see her again, never get to hold her, talk to her. The woman had changed his entire world the moment she stepped into it, and Baz wasn’t sure he could even survive without her. He knew without a doubt he didn’t want to try.
His phone rang, and he hurried to get it, fishing it out of his pocket so it didn’t wake her. He went back into the kitchen, glancing at the screen before answering.
“Hey, Dad.”
The deep timber of his father’s voice sounded through the phone. “How’s it goin’?”
“Good.”
“How’s JJ?”
Baz smiled. “She’s good.”
“And my grandbabies? They still cookin’?”
He stirred the pot of noodles and laughed. “They are.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Since JJ’s kidnapping, Wes Buchanan had been checking on them more often. If he wasn’t calling, he was stopping by with goodies, usually with Baz’s mother and stepmother in tow. The three of them had visited enough that JJ had stopped asking whether it was weird to see his mother and stepmother in the same room together. Sure, it was weird. Baz wouldn’t pretend to understand that relationship, but he’d long ago gotten used to it.
He’d also gotten used to the fact that his father’s relationship with his mother was usually the cause of Wes’s divorces. At some point, he figured Aretha was going to leave him because it was painfully obvious to everyone with eyes that Wes would forever be in love with Jules. It didn’t help that his mother was currently separated from her husband, and from the sound of it, they were moving toward divorce.
“Anything we can do to help?” Wes offered.
“Not at the moment.” He paused. “Actually, that’s a lie.”
Wes laughed. “Parents don’t like when their kids lie to them, boy.”
Baz chuckled. “Technically, it was more of a brain blip than a lie. I need you to check in on JJ this weekend. I’ll be in Austin with Brantley and Reese.”
“The bachelor party?”
“Yep. She sprung it on them last night.”
Back when JJ first told Baz her plan to surprise them with a weekend bachelor party, he thought for sure Brantley and Reese would balk at the idea. Then JJ informed him of the plan, and even he had gotten excited. She’d put a lot of thought into it, ensuring she catered it around what Brantley and Reese enjoyed doing. He couldn’t deny she had a knack for planning that sort of shit.
“Would she rather stay here while you’re gone?”
