Trooper Station | Tuesday

[knife_bender]

Diego had a new work day, wanting to dedicate weekends to family time once the babies were born. He wasn't shocked to learn that Tuesdays were just as a slow as Saturdays, but there had been a trooper or two he had never seen before in his life. Or maybe they had been around and Diego hadn't been paying attention. It was kind of hard to tell sometimes.

[Open]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie, and her slightly more pronounced baby bump -- it was getting a lot harder to pass this thing off as some bloating, and she was already predicting that within a week or two, she was going to need to size up on her baggy hoodies to keep hiding it (or, you know, she could stop with that whole charade) -- were totally here to support Diego's new weekday shift. She and her tiny baby bump had, after all, precipitated this change.

"It looks so different on a Tuesday," she commented when she turned up with coffee (a tradition, even if hers was actually a frothy pink thing without caffeine.) "So much more...crimey?"

She could try.

[baby stuff NFB still pls.]

[knife_bender]

"You think so?" Diego asked, giving Annie a soft smile. He thought both the tiny bump and her attempts at hiding it were adorable. Of course he was going to find all of this adorable, even by the time Annie had swollen feet and was generally sick of it.

He'd just be a little more discreet about how cute it was then.

"Looks like there's as little to do as usual to me."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Maybe even less to do," Annie offered, grinning at him as she crossed over to take a seat (which, even with her bump as small as it still remained, was one of those things that was already a little different, movement-wise.) "I mean, but maybe you'll also discover a like, ring of criminals that always takes the weekend off."

Though that would kind of reflect poorly on the rest of the department, so she amended, "Or they only commit crimes on Tuesdays."

Better.

[knife_bender]

"Tuesday bandits, I like it." Though without his powers he felt less capable of actually stopping criminals, but that wasn't something he liked to focus on for too long. "What flavor is that pink thing supposed to be?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Coconut and raspberry," Annie told him, leaning to offer the drink out to him to try. "I'm learning so much about the world of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic drinks."

Mostly that there was way more variety out there than she'd figured. (And also that being pregnant with twins was the worst time ever to have to give up substances that staved off sleepiness and headaches, Jesus.)

[knife_bender]

Diego dutifully took a sip, because he wanted to support his wife in his poor caffeine-free journey.

"It's not bad," he said, in a tone that indicated he clearly preferred the coffee.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It's something to drink," Annie replied, in acknowledgement of that tone. (She was at least getting over the whole pouting thing, and had accepted her coffee-related fate.) "And the kids are neutral on it, which helps."

So far, the twins -- because Annie was crediting the children themselves, rather than her body's changes. Mostly because it was cuter this way -- seemed to love salty, briney things, and did not like peanut butter or, it turned out, the smell of orange juice. 'Neutral' was a positive, under these conditions.

[knife_bender]

"They're giving you so much trouble already," Diego joked. "Doesn't bode well for the future."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Eventually they'll give you trouble, too," Annie replied fondly, actually going so far as to rest her hand on her emerging bump. It felt like such a natural movement already. "I'm just hoping they don't decide they hate almonds. Or coconut."

She only had a couple things that were, like, precious to her as far as food. Peeps already seemed like they weren't going to be appealing again in time for Easter.

(So many Peeps vitamins and nutrients the kids wouldn't receive, sad.)

[knife_bender]

"If they do decide to hate almonds or coconut, let me know," Diego said with a serious nod. "I'll give them a talking to."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, wow." Annie raised her brows in due appreciation. "Gonna, like, put them in time-out before they're even born?"

Impressive. And also, because Annie's hormones were weird (at least in part), kind of hot.

[knife_bender]

"I'll try my best," he said. "No guarantees they'll listen to me though."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Give it a few more weeks and they'd at least be able to hear him loud and clear.

"That seems like it's just gonna be an ongoing thing, the listening -to-us part," Annie replied, smiling softly. "But maybe it'll take well if we start really early." In utero-early.

[knife_bender]

"Here's hoping." Yeah, no, they were totally screwed. "Having anything interesting planned for today while I'm stuck at work?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Packing," Annie replied, knowing it was the responsible answer. "I have big dreams of getting most of my closet packed up by the end of the day."

The hardest part of moving was deciding the stuff you wouldn't need immediately, but Annie felt pretty confident that her useable clothing pool was only going to get smaller.

[knife_bender]

"Wow, big plans," he said with a laugh. "I have to search around here to see if there's a box big enough for all my knives."

If only Wanda had waited a few months before losing it because moving would be so easy if they had her on their side.

[defenderofdesmoines]

For real. Rude, Wanda. Now they'd have to, like, actually hire movers.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb," Annie offered, speculatively, "and say maybe we'll need multiple knife boxes. Just, like, for safe storage?"

Even she would hesitate about digging into big moving box of potentially loose knives.

[knife_bender]

"I was just gonna shove them in a box and make sure it was labeled 'knives' in really big letters." That way if someone got hurt it was their own fault.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"In a cardboard box?" Annie asked, in a tone that communicated that she did not think that was a great idea.

It just seemed like an invitation to have knives stabbing through the sides.

[knife_bender]

"Well they shouldn't be shaking it around too much anyway." They'd just fill the spaces with bubble wrap, it'd be fine.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I bet there's a waiver we can sign that keeps them from suing us if someone gets stabbed anyway because they were shaking the knife box," Annie mused, proving that her time under Ashley Barrett was not entirely wasted.

[knife_bender]

"Honestly they should be more worried about moving your plants," Diego joked. "Don't want to incur the pregnant lady's wrath if her plants are hurt."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I was kind of planning on moving those all by myself." Because of exactly that, yes. Exactly. What if they spilled someone's dirt all over???? "You know, I'm gonna have a whole yard."

More things they'd need: a hose! Potting soil! A wheelbarrow! A lawnmower! Many sizes of shovels!

[knife_bender]

"Oh god are we gonna be garden people?" Diego wasn't sure if he was ready for that level of parent yet, Annie.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Flower garden people?" Annie wheedled, and she herself was unprepared for the realities of, like, outdoor planting. Teal deer all over your tulips, Annie, get ready. "Or at least people with like, cute planters on the patio."

And maybe like a bird feeder. Ooh, and one of those ones that attracts hummingbirds!

[knife_bender]

Diego let out a long sigh. "You're lucky I love you."