A Little More Than Convenient

|Carmen Remington|
I was overreacting. That was the only logical explanation to my crazy reactions. I was lucky that I hadn’t been arrested on the spot for badmouthing the police like that. And they weren’t just city or county cops; they were state troopers. However, according to Jessica, my paralegal best friend, the police couldn’t actually force me to make a statement against Trent because he was my husband. That was good news.
Yelling at the police officers was kind of a bad idea, but telling myself that I was in love with Trent? Now that was pure insanity on my part. I wasn’t in love with him, it was just my pregnancy hormones going crazy. If anything, it was strictly a crush, and it probably wasn’t even that.
But if that were true, why did my knees go weak whenever he smiled at me?
Why did I blush when he complimented me?
Why did I think that all of his jokes were funny?
Why did I recollect all of those times that we’d kissed?
Why did my heart pound when he walked into the room.
Why was I happy just being around him?
Why was I dwelling on it so damn much?
Shaking my thoughts away, I grabbed Trent’s credit card and started off toward the police station. Since he was picked up by state troopers, they would have obviously taken to the trooper station, which was only a couple of miles from the Links, our apartment building.
While I drove, I thought about what I had spoken to Jessica about. She said that even if Christian pressed charges, Trent would probably only get probation or six to eight months in prison. But what Jess didn’t know was that Christian’s best friend was a state trooper and that the guy that I sassed was him. And, that Christian could probably get him to do anything he asked him to.
Trent loved his job; he told me so all the time. It was more or less his whole life. I couldn’t take that away from him. I couldn’t take his life away. It was bad enough that I was married to him and was having his baby. But now he might have to sacrifice everything. And honestly, I thought that I might have died if I left him. I’m fairly sure it would have killed me.
But do you know what the worst part was? That our baby may not have had the choice of knowing who their father was. That they may be growing up thinking that Christian was their father. I shuddered at the thought, so I tried not to think about it.
I pulled into the parking lot of the trooper department and went in. It was around six o’clock, so the only person in there was the jailer, an older man with muddy brown hair that was greying at the edges and the part in the middle, and a mustache. He didn’t look friendly There were two sets of bars facing the jailer’s desk. Trent was the only one in a cell. He looked extremely pissed.
“Carmen,” he said quietly.
“Trent!” I exclaimed, “God, I was-”
“No talking!” the jailer shrieked at me.
I tried not to mouth him. “I’m Carmen Remington and I’m here to pay his bail.” I took out the credit card.
He nodded gruffly.
“How much is it?”
He scrunched his face. “Bail’s three thousand. But you just gotta pay ten percent.”
Man, this guy was Southern. And I know that I’m really Southern too, but this guy was ridiculous. His sentence sounded more like, “Bay-ull’s three thowsaind. But yoou gottuh pay-uh tin purr-sint."
I nodded. “Three-hundred, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I pulled out the credit card and swiped it. It took it, and the jailer nodded. “You his wife?”
I nodded.
“He done messed with the wrong guy, honey. I ain’t s’posed to say, but that Nance guy, he’s got connections that ain’t within my restrictions.”
I bit my lip. “Well, thank you anyway. Can you just unlock him, please. We’re ready to go home.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He jumped up and went over to the cell. Soon, Trent was out.
“Thank you,” I said to the jailer.
The jailer handed Trent his wallet and keys, and then he nodded.
We stepped out into the parking lot. It was turning dark.
I sighed.
Trent said nothing. He still had a scowl on his face.
I decided not to pry and continued walking to the car. He stopped, however, in front of the car.
“Carmen, I am so fucking sorry,” he said suddenly.
I was surprised that he was apologizing. I certainly didn’t see a reason why he should have. “For what?”
“For putting you through this. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, but damn. Christian is such a little punk! He needed some kind of sense knocked into him.”
“There’s no reason to apologize, Trent. I’m not angry with you.”
“But I’m so damn angry with myself. I’m going to have to go through court and shit. And the baby will be here in June.”
That really made my heart twist. “Maybe you won’t get something bad. Probation, even.”
He shook his head. “Even so, my career will be ruined.”
I placed a hand on his arm. “Mr. Bening would never fire you. He would be nowhere without you!”
Trent smiled slightly. “I guess you’re right about that.”
I grinned back at him and nodded. Then remembered something. “I forgot to tell you earlier, but we can get another ultrasound soon. And we’ll be able to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl.”
He frowned. “Do you want to know?”
I shook my head. “Not really, but I figured that you would.”
“No, let’s wait until they’re born. Do you think that it’s a boy or a girl?”
“A boy,” I admitted.
“How come?”
“I don’t know, I’ve just got this feeling. What do you think?”
He smiled wryly. “I think it’s a girl. Who knows why.”
I chuckled. “You wanna make a bet?”
An amused expression played on his face. “Really? How much?”
I shrugged. “How about twenty bucks?”
“Make it twenty-five, and you got yourself a deal.”
I laughed. “Twenty-five dollars it is.” Then we shook hands.
We both laughed for a minute or so, and then we just kind of stopped and stared at each other. We were still smiling, but something in our expression’s changed. And before I knew it, he’d bent down and pressed his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he enclosed his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. That kiss, soon turned to a French kiss that went on and on. I swear, I could feel everything inside of me melting. I don’t know how long we stood there, outside of the trooper’s department, kissing and just enjoying each other.
We were finally interrupted by the baby. He/she kicked, and Trent and I were close enough together, so that he could feel it. He pulled away and looked at my stomach. Then, he looked at me and laughed. I laughed, too.
And then, he pressed his lips to mine again.