Ok, maybe getting this little scene out of my head will help clear it enough to work on The Big Chill…..this has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING else I have written…..All characters etc, blah blah, not mine they are Janets….

Why so twitchy babe?

The Navigator was a big vehicle. Massive; Merry Man sized. One little white girl should able to comfortably settle quietly down into its leather seats for a few hours of a stake out, right?

Except I didn't do settle, and I didn't do still and I didn't do quiet. And all three tonight, with him sitting next to me, seemed damned near impossible.

It was dark. And a bit on the brisk side outside, but the A/C was on in the SUV. And I needed to pee. And the reason that was a really big issue? Ugh. I sighed and moved again, trying to settle my thoughts as much as my body.

"Why so twitchy, babe?"

He speaks! Three hours and not a single word. And he has to call me on my fidgeting, doesn't he?

I can pretend to have settled; I will stop moving, and be quiet, and show him!

I lasted thirty seconds. He was staring at me; I was staring out the window at the skips house. But I could feel his intense gaze on my head, compelling me.

I twisted around in the seat and saw a brief smile cross his face. He knew he won. Ass.

"I have something I need to tell you."

Silence. Blank face. Waiting.

"It may change your mind about having me do tomorrow's distraction job."

"Talk babe."

"I'm –uhm, I think that I may be a little bit pregnant."

Still blank faced, he replied, "Babe, that's a yes or no kind of thing."

"Yeah. I know."

He didn't say anything else, so I guess I needed to continue. "But I'm afraid to find out."

"You and Joe fighting again, babe? It's not right to withhold that from him. The baby's father has a right to know; despite your feelings toward him right now…it's only fair."

"I know. That's why I'm telling you."

I think I just caught Ranger speechless. His eyes tried to drill into my soul.

"Joe and I always use protection…."

"Shit, babe. And…fuck, Steph. What are you saying?"

"I think it's your baby."

The chilly air in the Navigator was nothing compared to the look he was giving me. Shit. I am going to be giving birth in a hut with mud floors someplace they haven't learned the benefits of hand washing yet.

He pressed his phone on, and spoke. "We need relief."

He disconnected and continued staring at me.

I am so dead. I couldn't read a thing in his stony glance. Maybe that wasn't absolute fury. Maybe it was simply shock. Maybe it really was Joe's baby. That might be a better thing in the long run. Joe wants kids. Fuck. No way is he going to want to raise a child of Rangers'. I could just see it now, a little mini-Ranger, trying to be turned away from the dark side by Joe. I thunked the back of my head against the window glass and sighed.

I gave in first, and turned away from his unblinking countenance. I saw the headlights in the side view mirror just before Ranger turned on the Navigator and pulled away from the curb, no acknowledgement to the guys relieving us.

We drove away from the skips location and I figured he would be taking me home to my apartment to grill me in the comfort and privacy of home. He didn't turn there, so maybe Haywood? Nope, he missed that turn too. I wasn't going to ask. I could wait. After all, we are going north, and there are no third world countries to the north. I don't think Canada counts. They wash their hands at least.

I kept twitching, wiggling. I never had told him I needed to pee, I realized with a start. He could drive for hours before being overtaken by such trivia as bodily functions. Maybe the Navigator would need gas. It was a gas-guzzling SUV; it didn't have his staying power. It would need to be fed.

We pulled off finally. I wonder if he had ESP'd me, because I jumped out of the truck before it even stopped in front of the pump.

I looked at myself in the mirror as I washed my hands a few minutes later. I didn't look as scared as I felt. No one would guess I was maybe being kidnapped or something if I went to the cashier and tried to signal them with anything other than the flat out truth.

Maybe I could tell them. Ranger was outside feeding that behemoth. I rolled my eyes. And what was I going to say? That the possible father of my possible baby was possibly kidnapping me because we were three exits north of home?

It didn't matter that I couldn't formulate the proper sentence. I opened the door of the restroom and Ranger was leaning against the wall, waiting, arms crossed. All black, painted on SWAT uniform. Eyes encased in dark glasses. Don't these stupid teenaged employees notice anything? It's freaking 11:30 at night and he's walking around in dark glasses! They should be calling the cops on general principal. I looked outside; hope fading when I didn't see any flashing lights.

"Babe."

He pushed off the wall, turned and walked to the door, and obviously expected me to follow. And I did.

He closed the door behind me, and walked around to his side. He got in and slammed the door closed. Damn, I don't think I have ever seen Ranger angry. Well, at least at me. I have seen him before scaring the shit out of lowlifes, and always prayed that I would never be subject to an angry Ranger. Looks like I can cross that off my list of things to do. He handed me a small bag, and I peeked into it.

A pregnancy test? He bought me a fucking pregnancy test at the gas station. If my mother could see this. Oh good god. My mother. Damn damn damn!

"Problem, babe?"

"I'm going to have to tell my mother. You know that, right? She is going to find out I am a nymphomaniac."

"Maybe we should see if you are pregnant first."

And he turned his attention to the road. Great. Angry, pissed off and quiet. Yippee.

This wasn't going as well as it could now was it? And hey, if I think this is enjoyable, just wait. I get to do it all over again, and next time I get to tell Joe I'm pregnant with someone else's baby.

I closed my eyes and settled into the seat. It wasn't even worth asking where we were going. He wouldn't tell me.