One Thing Leads to Another

[Red Ranger 1]

Thanks for the reviews!Another short one for you.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Xavier was hovering in the doorway to the flat a bit too long for someone who was due at the harbour in less than half an hour.“Are you sure you’re all right to go to work?”he asked.

April rolled her eyes.“Xavier, I’m pregnant.I’m not dying.”

“Yeah, I know, but you’ve only got a couple of months to go.”

“Oh, right, well, I’ll phone in and take a sickie then.It’s not like we need the money.Oh, hang on, we do.”

Xavier sighed, realising he was beaten.“Okay, okay.But you know I worry about you.Both of you.”

April smiled.“Well, I worry about us as well, so don’t worry, I’ll make sure nothing happens to either of us.”

“You’d better.”Xavier placed a lingering kiss on her lips.She gave him a shy smile in return.“Are you happy?”he asked.

April paused.“Yeah, I am,”she decided at last,“So long as I don’t look at the bathroom scales too often.”

“Good.”Xavier looked as if he was going to say something else, then he checked his watch.“I’d really better get going,”he said regretfully.He kissed her again and grinned.“See you tonight.”

The morning went by in a blur for April and she soon found herself sitting in the kitchen, having her lunch break.Molly seemed to be watching her very closely, so much so that she eventually gave up ignoring her and looked back at her.“What?”

“You’re looking sickeningly happy,”Molly noted,“Is this just because you’re getting some?”

April was aware that she’d been smiling a lot recently.She had that curious floating on air feeling about her as her due date approached.“I’m allowed to be happy, aren’t I?”

“Xavier must have hidden talents.”

April looked at her, annoyed.“Yes, he does,”she snapped,“He’s kind and caring and he thinks the world of us.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.You’re pretending to go out with him.”

“I am going out with him,”April amended.

“How does that work?”

“Well…what exactly would I be doing different if I was really going out with him as opposed to what I’m doing now?”

Molly thought about this.“Nothing, I guess.”

“Right.So we’ve got a lot to be happy about.”

Ted leaned on the box they were supposed to be shifting and sighed.“Oi, Xavier.Stop staring into space for a few minutes and come and give me a hand.”

Xavier came out of his reverie and went to help his friend.“Sorry, Ted.”

“That’s okay.Just bring that lifting gear over here.”

Xavier wheeled the winch over.“I’m just…”

“Yeah, I know, you’re in cloud cuckoo land because your not-girlfriend is now your girlfriend and you’re gonna have a kid and live happily ever after.Give it a few weeks and you’ll be remembering being a bachelor as the happiest days of your life.”

“Uh-uh,”Xavier insisted,“Not gonna happen.”

They were interrupted by a clanging at the door.Xavier expected to see some of the other dock workers coming to help them or maybe bringing in another load.Instead, he saw two men wearing balaclavas and carrying shotguns.

One of the men pointed his gun at the pair while the other went to one of the crates and banged on it.“What’s in here?”he asked them.

“We don’t know,”Xavier protested.

“Yes, you do!There’s plasma screens in one of these, where are they?”

“Really, we don’t know!”

“We just get the shipping numbers,”Ted interjected,“No-one tells us about the contents.”

The man with the gun looked at his colleague in distress.“Great!What do we do now?”

“Be quiet,”snapped the other,“Go and look after the door.”

The second man went and closed the sliding door, leaving them in darkness except for the weak lightbulbs above them.The first man aimed his gun at the pair.“Hands on your heads,”he snapped and Xavier and Ted complied.He gestured for them to move to the corner and kneel down.“Don’t try anything.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Sorry I'm taking so long to update, I keep meaning to get on top of it but I never do.Hope you like this one!

CHAPTER 12

April didn’t really think anything of it when the two policemen entered the café.After all, even policemen needed to eat and they weren’t exactly unheard of in there.So she just carried on wiping tables, leaving Molly to ask them “What can I get you, officers?”

“We’re looking for a Miss April Scott,”the lead policeman replied.

April froze and turned round.“I’m April Scott,”she explained as she joined them.

“You’re listed as the next of kin of Mr.Xavier Austin.”

“He’s my boyfriend, we’re having a baby together.”

“He works at the harbour?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know if he was at work today?”

April was beginning to feel nervous.“I saw him off this morning.Is everything all right?”

The policeman sighed.“Witnesses saw two armed men going into a warehouse at the harbour earlier today.We checked it out, found the place locked.The men inside confirmed they were armed and claimed they had hostages.”

April felt her breath catch in her throat.“Xavier?”

“He’s unaccounted for.”

Xavier and Ted remained in their corner, the nervy second man continuing to cover them with his shotgun while the first man checked the crates.“What’s taking you so long?”he shouted over his shoulder.

“I’ll find them in a minute!”the other shouted back.

“What are you going to do if you find it?The police are outside!”

“I’ll think of something!We’ve still got those two.”

Xavier spoke quietly to Ted.“What do you think they’re going to do?”

Ted barely moved as he replied.“Just keep your head down.”

April was standing just the other side of the police barrier, feeling like her heart was in her mouth. She kept shooting anxious looks at Sergeant Daniels, the officer in charge of the stand-off.“Aren’t you going to go in there and help them?”

“Us charging in could make things worse,”Daniels replied, sounding maddeningly calm,“We’ve got no window access so we don’t know the positions of the gunmen or the hostages.It’s best to just wait it out and negotiate.”

Molly, who had insisted on accompanying April, drew her away gently.“Look, just let them do their jobs.Xavier will be back looking after you and the baby before you know it.”

“I don’t care about me and the baby!”April shouted.She saw Molly’s bemused look.“Well, obviously I do but…I just want Xavier to be all right, for him.He can take a boat to New Zealand and leave me to look after the baby on my own if he wants, just so long as he’s all right.I…I just can’t bear to think he might be hurt.”

Molly looked at her in surprise.“Wow.That’s kind of intense.”

“Well, I’m feeling pretty intense right now.”April paused before admitting,“Intense about him.”

“This is stupid,”Xavier grumbled quietly.

“Just don’t do anything to antagonise them,”Ted reiterated.

Xavier wasn’t in the mood for listening.“This is stupid!”he shouted at the two gunmen.

The first man, the one who was checking the crates, glared at him and gestured to his colleague. “Keep him quiet!”

“Well, it is!”Xavier repeated,“The police are outside and there’s only one door.What are you going to do, tunnel out through the floor?Or do you think they’re going to get you a helicopter and a flight to Barbados?”

“I said keep him quiet!”the first man shouted.

The second man aimed his shotgun and fired.

April’s head jerked round at the sound of the shot.Daniels was shouting into his radio.“Move in now! Move in now!”

April tried to duck under the barrier but Molly held her back.“Don’t!You don’t know what’s going on in there!”

April listened and heard another shot.And then another.And then silence.Her heart was beating so fast she felt she was going to start hyperventilating.She heard the voice of one of the officers over the radio.“Situation secure, one casualty.Request paramedics.”

Cold hard fear gripped her as she waited for more news but there was none.Until she saw a group of officers coming back from the direction of the warehouse, escorting two men.She vaguely recognised the older one, she had a feeling he worked there.And the younger one…

“Xavier!”she shouted, pulling out of Molly’s grip and dashing under the barrier as fast as a seven month pregnant woman could.She ran towards him and threw her arms around him, before kissing him with all the intensity that the last few hours of worry had produced.Then she hugged him again. “Thank goodness you’re all right!”

“Wow, I really had you worried, did I?”

“Of course I was worried.When we heard those shots…I thought someone was firing at you!”

Xavier winced.“Well…I think he kind of was.I opened my big mouth again and the guy who was watching us fired at me.I think he meant to miss because it just went shooting past my head.Next thing you knew the police came in.He fired at them and one of them shot him in the shoulder.The other guy surrendered straightaway.”

April kissed him on the lips again.“I love you,”she told him.

“I love you too,”he replied, slightly bemused.

“No, I really, really love you,”she repeated earnestly.

He looked her in the eye and the love reflected back made him suddenly feel ecstatically happy.He hugged her and lifted her off her feet.“I should probably get taken hostage more often.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Thanks for the comments, another short one for you.

CHAPTER 13

Xavier woke with a slight start and wondered if he’d been having a nightmare.Even after two months, he still thought occasionally about that day at the warehouse.He knew he had nothing to worry about: the two gunmen, disgruntled ex-employees of a hardware store looking to rip off their old employers, had pleaded guilty and been given three years each.But for a few hours, it had seemed everything they’d been planning for might disappear.

Then he realised the real reason he’d woken up as April jabbed him in the back again.“Ow!”he complained.

“Xavier, I’m lying in a puddle of amniotic fluid.”

“Right,”he answered, not sure what else he was supposed to say.

April tried again.“Xavier, my waters have broken.”

That he did understand.His eyes widened in shock as he turned and looked at her.“Now?”

She nodded.“Uh-huh.”

“Wow.Um, what do we do?Call a taxi?Or-or an ambulance?”

“Ambulance might be best.They’re cheaper.”

“Right!”Xavier thought this through.“Call the ambulance, then pack a bag.”

“And get dressed?”April suggested.

“Yeah, that too.”

“April Scott, 18, gone into labour at 40 weeks,”the ambulance technician announced as he wheeled April into maternity, Xavier following just behind.

The doctor smiled at them indulgently.“How are you feeling, April?”

“Tired and sore and fat.”

“Good, that sounds about right.Are you the father?”

It took Xavier a moment to realise he was being spoken to.“Yeah.”

“Congratulations.”The doctor placed a stethoscope to April’s stomach and listened for a moment. “Strong heartbeat and in the delivery position.How far apart are your contractions?”

“About ten minutes?”

“Shouldn’t be too long them.The midwife will keep an eye on you.”

“Is there anything I can do?”Xavier asked.

“You could try holding April’s hand?”

As the doctor left them alone, Xavier did as instructed.“How are you doing?”he asked.

“Let’s not do the bit where I sweat and curse and blame you for everything, okay?”

April leaned over to look into the small crib next to her bed.She reached out a hand and felt tiny fingers grip it in recognition.She looked at the chart next to the crib, inscribed with the words “Lily Scott”.A happy smile spread across her face.

Xavier tiptoed into the room behind her, a bunch of flowers in his hand.He kissed April on the cheek and clambered onto the bed with her, peering over her shoulder.“How is she?”

“Gorgeous.Like her dad.”

“Oh, thanks a lot.Have they said when we can take her home?”

“Tomorrow,”April said nervously,“but…”

Xavier noticed her tentativeness and was suddenly concerned.“But what?”

“Well…where is that?”

“The flat, we’ve got it all kitted out…”

April shook her head.“Xavier, think about it.We’ve been working all the hours we can to afford the rent on that place.Now we’ve got Lily, I’m going to have to give up work to look after her.Or you are. There’s going to be extra food, nappies, a dozen other things we haven’t thought of.We’re not going to be able to manage on our own.”

Xavier was even more concerned.“You’re not saying we should give her up, are you?”

“No, I’m saying we need help.”She looked him in the eye and he realised what she meant.“I think it’s time to go home.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Thank you for the comments!Last chapter here, hope you like it.

CHAPTER 14

“One coffee and two coffees,”Irene announced, handing Gina and Bianca their cups.

“Thanks, Irene,”Gina answered,“We’ve got a difficult day coming up at school.”

“I was thinking of taking a sickie,”Bianca agreed,“Do you think the boss would mind?”

Irene was staring over both their shoulders in the direction of the door.“I think you might want to do that.And I think you both might want something a bit stronger than coffee.”

Gina and Bianca both turned round…and found Xavier and April standing in the doorway of the Diner, a baby nestling in April’s arms.

The two women were frozen in shock.They had made several attempts to track the pair down over the last few months but all had come to nothing.They seemed to come out of their trance at the same moment and ran to embrace the pair.

“Awww, Mum!”Xavier complained.

“Well, I haven’t seen you in months,”Gina protested.She looked at Lily.“Is that my grandchild?”

“And my”-Bianca stared hard at the baby-“niece?”

April nodded.“Lily, I want you to meet your grandma and your Auntie Bianca.”

“Lily,”Bianca repeated,“Awww, that’s cute.”

“Kinda runs in the family,”Xavier noted, kissing April on the side of the head.

Bianca looked from one to the other of them.“Has something happened between you two?”

April grinned.“You could say that.”

“We’re sorry we didn’t handle things better,”Gina noted once the four of them plus Lily had decamped to her house.

“Well, we probably shouldn’t have run off like that,”April conceeded.

“You seem to have coped,”Bianca pointed out.

“We managed,”April agreed,“But Lily deserves more than us just managing.”

“We’re not going to just move back in with you,”Xavier added,“But…we could use some help.”

“Of course,”Gina agreed,“What do you want us to do?”

Xavier looked awkward.“Actually…we hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

“How about we find the three of you a place to stay?”Bianca suggested.

“Yeah, that would help.”

“And we’ll be happy to babysit any time you want,”Gina added.

April breathed a sigh of relief.“That would probably be useful.”

“Have you thought about jobs?”Gina asked.

Xavier grimaced.“Yeah, that could be a tricky one…”

April put Lily down in her cot and looked around the room.“Last place we stayed, Daddy and I didn’t even have her own room,”she remarked to her daughter,“You are very lucky to have so many people who want to make sure you have everything you need.”She felt a bit guilty that Gina and Bianca had had to help them out with the bond on the flat but she wasn’t going to let Lily want for anything.

“Hello?”Xavier called from the front room as she heard the front door close.

“In here!”April called back.

Xavier came to join them, crouching by Lily and stroking her cheek slightly.“Have you missed me?”

“No, she didn’t even notice you were gone,”April replied,“How did you go at the restaurant?”

Xavier grinned.“Heath gave me my job back.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.I think he was missing having someone to shout at.I was thinking of getting you to try and persuade him if he said no, I think he fancies you.”April raised an eyebrow.“Hey, stranger things have happened.”

“I went to college,”April noted,“They’re happy to have me start back next year.So I’ve got that long to work out what course I want to do.Irene’s given me a couple of evening shifts at the Diner, that’ll give us some extra money and get me out of the flat.”

“You sure you’re okay with being a waitress again?”

“I’ll cope.I spoke to Molly earlier, she wants to come and visit at the weekend.”

Xavier nodded.“Last time I spoke to Ted he was grumbling about training up my replacement.”

April looked suddenly nervous.“Xavier…things have worked out for us, haven’t they?”

Xavier planted a lingering kiss on her lips and they both smiled.“Yeah.I think they have.”

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