FBI Damsel: Foreign Affairs

Seventeen: Be careful what you sign up for

Andrea stepped out in her beautiful new garments.  As much of a t-shirt and jeans girls as she was, she was beginning to like wearing these elegant gowns and expensive jewelry.  Lisa told her not to ask where they got it from.  She was curious, of course, since London’s police budget wasn’t exactly big enough to afford these types of things.

“This piece is a Tiffany’s, vintage, from the early 1930’s.  Don’t ask where it came from for real.  Tell her you got it in an auction in Savannah from the estate of an old civil war general’s daughter,” Lisa instructed as she placed the necklace around Andrea’s neck.

“Okay, I will.  Tiffany’s, ‘30’s, auction, Savannah- oh!”

“You doin’ okay over there?” Heath called to his wife.  He wasn’t at all used to the trimming and combing and tailored suits.  He hated it, to be honest, and couldn’t wait to get out of this mess.

“Yeah, I’m f… I’m fine,” she lied. 

One hand clenched her stomach, the other gripping the fireplace.  These pains had been hitting her on and off for the last couple of days.  It felt almost like contractions.  But that was impossible.  She wasn’t due for another little while.  They were probably phantom contractions; those are supposed to happen before the actual labor contractions come along.  Right?  That’s what one of her books said.

“You don’t look okay,” Lisa said.  She held a pair of high heels in each hand, eyes focused on the agent.

“Really, I’m fine.  Just a cramp.”

“You’ve been having an awful lot of those lately,” Heath noted.  He pushed through a couple of workers to get to Andrea.  She put a reassuring smile on her face and shrugged.

“Yeah, well, that’s a part of being in the third trimester!  We’re getting closer to the due date!”

“Are you in labor?” Lisa worried.

Andrea forced a laugh.  “I’m not that close to giving birth just yet!  We still have two months!”

“You wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors by pretending nothing is wrong.  If you go into labor while at the show, my people are going to have to give away everything right then and there, with the potential of them getting away and all this progress having been made for nothing!” Lisa warned.

“I’m fine.”  Andrea made sure to meet both the detective and her husband’s eyes.  “I’m practically perfect.  We’re not backing out now, because I had a few cramps.”

Heath opened his mouth to object, but it was met by his wife’s hand.  She shook her head and moved towards the closest chair.  Rather than choosing to wear stilettos Lisa gave Andrea a pair of comfortable flats.  That was the best thing, considering how swollen her ankles had become in the last few weeks.

“Have you picked out a name?” Lisa asked during their few minutes of downtime.

“No,” Heath answered.  “We argued for months over whether or not we wanted to know the gender.  We decided we did just before we met you, but since we’ve been so busy with all of this we haven’t had the time.”

“I was thinking Berkley,” Andrea said.

“Berkley?”

She nodded.  “Yeah.  I love it.  Sounds smart, huh?”

“For your boy?”

“Or girl.  It could be unisex.”

“Yeah, just like Stacey and Kyle,” Heath snorted.

“I could choose Eddie,” Andrea challenged.  His eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, Berkley is beautiful.”