Checking In (Open)

[Chief J. Hubbard]

Jesse walked into his hotel room and sighed when he glanced across at the big bed. For the third night in a row he would be sleeping alone. A couple of days ago Jesse had to travel out to New York to handle a few things.
Because he and Angie were in the middle of getting Cass squared away to move he hadn’t wanted to come and leave them to do everything alone. Well that wasn’t the only reason but that was what he told the people and then told them he would have to check to see if his wife could spare. When he brought it up to his wife she told him to go on and do what he had to do. She and the kids would be fine without him for a little while. Jesse waited until the next day to call back and tell them to go ahead and get everything in order for him because he was secretly hoping Angie would turn to him and tell him she wanted him to stay.

Grumbling to himself about wanting to go home he started to undo the first couple of buttons of his shirt and sat on the edge of the bed. Sooner rather than later he laid back and closed his eyes. What he would give to be at home right about now. He loved his job and knew it well but he would be lying if he said he didn’t think about just putting down his badge every once in awhile. Especially when he had to leave his family home or go into situations in which he didn’t know if he would make it out to see them again.

A wave of exhaustion washed over Jesse and he was soon kicking his shoes off and getting more comfortable in the bed. But just as his head hit the pillow and his mind just drifted his cell phone started ringing. It couldn’t have been Angie because when he called her about an hour ago her assistant told him she was in surgery. 
He was about to let it go to voicemail when he then remembered he told Cass and Frankie to call if anything happened.
“Hello.” He answered. He said it again and again when nobody said anything. He waited a few more minutes before he ended the call and checked the ID. The call log showed it was an unknown number.
“Wrong number I guess.” He said to himself putting the phone back down and laying down.

[Mrs. Angela Hubbard]

As Angie came out of her surgical wear and headed up to her office she couldn’t shake this funny feeling that was coursing through her. She wasn’t in any pain nor was feeling bad, she just felt funny and out of place. As a matter of fact she’d been feeling that way since last night. Initially she thought she was coming down with something, but then into the night and well into this morning she knew that wasn’t the case. Which meant this could have been one of two things that was making her feel this way and the first one certainly didn’t count. “Oh goodness,” she mumbled, clearing her throat and stepping off the elevator. Great! Just what I need, she thought sarcastically coming to stop at her assistant Kayla Washington desk. “Do I have any messages?” She asked, massaging the back of her neck. Kayla looked up from the memo Angie wanted her to type up and handed her a small stack of blue, while you were away post it notes.

A couple of weeks ago Angie had to fire her other assistant because she just wasn’t working out. She constantly got messages mixed up and didn’t finish the tasks Angie had given to her that morning, until the very next day. Certain things had to be out before then. Angie have given her the benefit of the doubt, but then it just got to the point where she couldn’t take it anymore and had no choice but to let her go. Almost as if this Kayla knew Portia was getting fired she came in and Angie all but begged the young lady to start that day. There was a lot of things that needed to be done and Angie was already swamped and… Well Kayla put her purse down, asked Angie for a list of things she needed done and by the end of the day it’ll all be done. By the end of the day it was like they hadn’t been in hell that morning!

“Oh! And this came for you,” she said handing her a medium sized envelope.
Angie turned back and took it; she looked it over and realized there was no return address. “Who brought this?” She asked, figuring she saw the person that dropped it off.
Kayla only shrugged her shoulders. “I stepped away for a minute and when I came back it was sitting on my desk.”
“Humph! Thank you… And could you be a dear and hold my calls. Unless it’s an emergency. I need to return some of these and take a break.”
“Yes ma’am.”

Angie gave her smile and soon disappeared into her office. The minute the door clicked she stepped out of her shoes and walked over to the sofa in the corner. She just needed a minute to collect her breath and shake this feeling that was continuing to roll through her. Moments later when it seemed like she was starting to feel like herself or partly she looked through the message stack Kayla handed her.

“Jesse,” she said happily seeing that he called her a few hours ago. She missed her husband. He’d been away only three days and to her it felt like a week or more. They hadn’t spent any nights apart since the wreck. Even when they fought they both found their way home to each other that same day. Anyway, right about now Angie was wishing she told him to stay home with her instead of going to New York for a case. Sighing she slowly came to her feet and went behind her desk. She returned the other calls before settling in and calling him.

While she waited for her husband to answer she reached over and booted up her computer. Then… Then the same sexy, low voice that greeted her every morning threw her off. Way off! She resisted giggling like child, but that blush and shudder she had not control over. Oh god, she thought. A forty something year old woman shuddering like a teenager.

“Hey baby,” she greeted softly, turning to look out the window. “Did I wake you?”

[Chief J. Hubbard]

Jesse didn’t know much of anything until he heard his phone ringing again. Swiping his hand down his face he pulled himself and reached over to the bedside table to answer. He didn’t have to look at the screen to know it was her. Not only did she have her on special ringtone, which was all her doing, he also knew she would call as soon as she could. 
“Hey yourself.” He said hearing her shift around. “No.. Um.. I was just getting up.” He lied. Yea he’d been completely knocked out. Dreaming of his wife and his children, but as the old saying goes he could sleep when he was dead. His wife’s call was more important.

“How is my angel today? They’re not working you to hard over there are they?” He asked. He knew what she did but that still didn’t make him worry less about the amount of work that was piled into her lap sometimes. Keeping her working into the night, making her come home wanting nothing more than just go to bed. She loved her job and though it wasn’t easy she was happy to have it but Jesse wasn’t happy about certain things. Just like she wasn’t happy about him carrying a gun. 

“How are the kids? Have you spoken with Frankie yet?”
His wife and his son still hadn’t spoken a word since that night. Jesse said he was backing off and letting her do this but he just worried about them. 

[Mrs. Angela Hubbard]

“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Angie sung when she heard that sorry lie. She and Jesse been together too long for her not to know when he was just waking up or when he woke up only because something pushed it along. Jesse wanted her to believe it was the former but she knew it was latter.

Curling her left leg under her and leaning further back into her chair she smiled at her given nickname. “Ah, well your angel has been feeling a little out of place since last night, but she’s making it. And no they’re not working me hard at all. I had to go into the OR to check a few things out and some kind of way I found myself stepping onto the stool and finishing it up,” she explained though she knew full well how it happened. More than likely Jesse knew it too.

“The kids are fine. Adrian’s excited about school starting next week and Jocelyn is just as excited about the new day care we’re putting her in. You remember at first when we went to check out the place she shied away from all the kids. Well, last night during one of her many nightly visits I talked to her about it and explained to her that where she was going was closer to mommy and daddy. Needless to say that was the selling point and now she can’t wait. And Cass… We’re uh… just about finished with everything. All’s left is to pack up the rest of her art supplies, make sure her car will arrive when she does and then she’ll be ready to go,” she said the last part sadly because she still wasn’t ready for this. She had months to prepare for the day her sweet girl left home, but every mother knew you just couldn’t prepare yourself for the leaving of your child. It just wasn’t possible.

Angie was about to ask Jesse if she was doing the right thing by letting Cass go, when he asked about Frankie. “No,” she replied softly. “On my way back up to my office we saw each other, but just as quickly as our eyes connected he looked away and went back to work,” she explained. “Can’t say that I blame him though. I would want to stay as far away from me as possible… But I have been thinking… He’s off tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend, I want thinking that maybe then I go visit him and Madison and apologize for the way I acted and have been acting since that night,” she told him honestly.

After she and Jesse made up and he showed her he understood her pull away from them, but he also felt it was wrong of her to not be there for their son. Like Madison or not their son was important and shouldn’t be ignored. Plus there was the comment about Les that he had yet to take back. Then there was the talk she had with her best friend Erica who showed her that she wasn’t as bad of a mother as she initially thought she was because she was actually pondering David’s idea of getting rid of Madison. And then there was David… That day he called she, Erica and Dixie to meet him and she just... She knew she had to fix her relationship with her son before she ended up just as sick, twisted and lonely as David was now and Les had been before his untimely death.

“What’s happening up there? How’s the case coming along?” She asked. “How are you? Are you being a good boy or do I need to come and get you,” she teased. “Talk to me… I miss you.”

[Chief J. Hubbard]

“Not feeling well?” Jesse asked pulling himself up against the headboard. “What’s wrong? Do I need to catch the next flight out? Baby let me know and I’m there.” Angie feeling unlike herself could resort to her not getting enough rest and Jesse probably didn’t need to freak out. But then again her feeling that way could mean something else and if that was the case then Jesse had every right to freak and make plans to come home to her early. Whether it was approved or not if he needed to leave he would.

Jesse chuckled as she spoke about the kids. He figured Ari would act that way. She had fallen in love with everybody at the other daycare and now she had to fall for other people. If it hadn’t been for that incident where another kid bit her and the people decided to not call he and or Angie, they wouldn’t have to put their baby girl through all of this. Jesse was still thinking about the change for his baby girl and the excitement their son was feeling about starting school when he heard Angie sigh about Cass leaving.
“Cass is going to be fine. Trust me.” Jesse told her. “I love Cass like she’s my very own and if I felt her leaving was a bad idea better believe I would talked her out of it. At least tried to. You know she’s just as thickheaded as you are.” He jabbed hoping that would put a smile on his wife’s face. “Baby.. Before you know it we’ll be getting that late night call from Cass asking if she can come back home because she misses her mother.”
“That sounds like a good idea.. Hey maybe if I can finish up here by tomorrow or whenever you decided to go over we could go together. Maybe this time we can do a actual dinner. You know the kind where we all talk and laugh. Have a good time.” He suggested. There was no way of redoing that night, but there was a way of making it right. Making up for it.

Jesse laughed.
“Me? Good? Oh no I’ve been bad. Really really bad.” He joked with her. “No I’ve been alright. A little frustrated with the way this case is headed. But hopefully when I check in with them later on they’ll have some kind of information to help us out.” 
“You know I miss you and you know what else.. I wish you were here with me.”

[Mrs. Angela Hubbard]

Angie chuckled. “You know I could have sworn I was the doctor here," she teased. Calm down Chief Hubbard! You know I’ve been working non-stop for a while so it’s more than likely me not getting enough rest. Trust me baby if it was anything serious Adrian would have long ago called you about it… You know since you left and made him the man of the house he has been watching us all like a hawk.Oh dear, he's been doing a very good job at it. Think you might have a little competition on your hands when you return.” There hadn’t be a moment when Adrian didn’t walk into the room with a questioning expression sketched on his face. And his voice was nowhere deep like Jesse’s but bless his little soul, he tried. He tried to sound just like him, it was just too cute. There was never a dull moment with that boy. Angie never would have guessed in a million years they would have this mini man in the house pretending to own it.

“Hey!” Angie yelped, hearing his jab. “I am not like that," she denied but then thought better of it because she knew full well she was. So thickheaded at times she had to take a step back and question herself. But only sometimes! “Alright, I’ll admit I am like that. But Jesse hardly ever. You know,” she corrected herself and listened to him tell her things she knew. “I know that but that still doesn’t make my decision to agreeing with this any easier. It doesn’t make the fact that I have to watch her board that plane any fun…But since she has her mind made up and there is no changing it, I have to deal with it. I have to swallow that pill. Also keep in mind that I want her to live and expand her horizons. Explore and try new things. It would just kill me if I held her back from doing that.”

Nodding in agreement when Jesse suggested that he joined her to visit Frankie and Madison, Angie told him it was alright. She would wait until he returned.

“Bad, huh?” She asked making a tsking sound and shaking her head. “Sound like I need to come down there and take care of that,” she teased back before hearing him talk about the case. She could hear it in his voice this wasn’t anything easy and he was more than tired. “I hope so too baby. You sound so worn out,” she soothed, turning back to look at her computer screen only to blush when she heard the dip of his voice and his wish for her to be with him. “Mhmm, I wish I was there or better yet, I wish you were here with me,” she flirted. “I could sure use one of your amazing foot massages. And I can definitely use those sexy, perfectly heart shaped lips of yours… And those hands… That body.”

[Chief J. Hubbard]

“Oh really?” Jesse asked.
“If I didn’t know any better I would think my angel is turning in that devil right about now.” He teased. “I’ve corrupted you.”

Jesse opened his mouth to say something else when his phone beeped letting him know he had another call. Grumbling at the interruption Jesse looked at the screen. “Baby hold on a second. This might be them calling about this case.” He sighed and then quickly swapped over. Turns out it wasn’t them nor was it anybody else he knew. It was another one of those phone calls where the person just hung on the other line. Not giving the person another second he switched back over to his wife.
Instead of telling her about that call and others he had received and getting her all worried over possibly nothing at all Jesse said. “Nobody important.. So where were we?”

[Mrs. Angela Hubbard]

Angie blushed. “You know I was warned about boys like you,” she said teasingly. “Ones that corrupt innocent girls like myself.”

Thinking her husband was at a loss for words Angie went to ask if cat got his tongue when he spoke up and told her to hold on. When she heard him say it could have been the people calling to update him about the case she started to tell him he could call her back later on. If it was the case she didn’t want to keep him from doing what he had to do. But before she had a chance to say all of this he clicked over. While she waited for him to return she turned back to her computer and started going through her emails, no sooner than opening the first one and going to read the first line Jesse returned. “Everything okay?” She asked, now holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she started reading. Angie had always been a great multi-tasker.

“Nobody important? Are you sure?” She asked forgetting about his question. “Jesse, baby you’re down there for a case and I don’t want to distract you. So if that call had anything to do with that case you need hang up and get back to it,” she said sternly and then suddenly softened up and added. “And um… this conversation can continue you later on tonight.”

[Chief J. Hubbard]

“Angela it wasn’t about the case.” He told her again laughing at her as she talked to him like she was one of the kids.
Shrugging he said the first thing that came to mind. Lying had been something he and Angie swore to never do to each other again, no matter what but Jesse felt that rule could be broken this one time. His angel had enough to deal with. “Somebody called looking for a Tommy or somebody. Wrong number. Nobody important.” Ok a half lie and half truth should suffice for now. 

“Now where were we?” He asked her again only to hear her suggest they finish later. “But I want to finish the conversation now.” He said with a sigh as she pulled himself up. “Since you’re in hurry to get off the phone with me I guess we can wait until later. Besides I think I need to check in and see what’s going. See if there’s been any change that I need to be aware of.” He sighed and put his shoes back on and then moved around the room pocketing his key card, badge and wallet.
Still on the phone with her, Jesse walked out the room and headed down the hall.
“I’m about to ask you something and since I’m not there to force you, I can only hope you’ll cooperate.” He teased. “Take the rest of the day off, go home and get some rest. Let somebody else take over for today and maybe even for tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll understand you’re not feeling good and you just need to take it easy for awhile. Besides I think they would rather you at home and relaxing in your own bed than laying up in the hospital and fussing because you ready to be released.”

[Mrs. Angela Hubbard]

Angie nodded after hearing her husband say he would go and check in and he agreed to call her back later. “And I’ll be waiting,” she sighed happily.

“What are you going to ask Chief?” She asked grabbing a stack of papers and shuffling through them and then came to a halt when he suggested she go home. “Jesse, I’m--” She went to tell him she was fine and that she could handle it, but he wouldn’t let her get a words in for nothing. Rolling her eyes towards the heavens because she absolutely hated being told what to do but also because Jesse was right and she hated that just as much she sighed. To be honest Angie was still feeling bad and would have liked nothing more than to just call it a day, but she couldn’t. There was still a lot that had to be done and there was nobody else she could give this all to. Well somebody was there but she didn’t want to pile all of this stuff of them.

Resting back, Angie massaged the bridge of her nose. “Right now I have so much paper work that I need to finish,” she explained and heard him groan. It was his way of letting her know that wasn’t good enough. Letting out a sigh of her own, a defeated sigh, she closed her eyes. “Give me today. Let me finish up what I can today and tomorrow and possibly the day after I’ll stay home. Maybe even treat myself to the spa. How does that sound?”

“And you don’t have to get your guys to watch me just to be sure,” Angie hinted.