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THE APARTMENT
Gabi awoke to find Antonio sound asleep next to her. She gently pushed his hair off his forehead brushing her lips against his cheek. Antonio didn’t budge…she knew he had probably just recently come to bed. She rolled sleepily out of bed and headed for the shower. This was her first day back at work and she was more than a little nervous. Gabi showered and dressed. Maria had left her some of her smaller maternity clothes. Gabi picked out a cute floral tank dress. She surveyed her profile in the mirror groaning playfully at how her belly was protruding more each day. Gabi walked back into the bedroom to find Antonio snoring quietly. She smiled as she grabbed her purse and headed for the kitchen. Gabi located a pen and paper to leave Antonio a note. Hey sleepyhead, I had to leave for work. I hope you slept well. I love you. Gabi THE STATION Gabi stood outside the station hesitant on going inside. She glanced at her wedding ring for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking through the doors. She was greeted heartily by Spence, Ruiz and the others. "Gabi, hey, we missed you. How you doin’?" Spence said cheerfully. "I’m fine, Spence. Thanks." Gabi replied with surprise at how laid back they were all being to her. Didn’t they know...? "Congratulations, Gab. We’re all very happy for you...for you and Antonio," Ruiz said. "Uh, thanks," Gabi was stunned. They all turned back to what they had been doing. Gabi walked to her desk with a confused smile. She put her things down as she sat in the chair. She heard footsteps coming up to the desk as she looked up to find Ricardo standing in front of her. "Ricardo!" she said almost shouting. "Were have you...I mean, Maria said you..." Ricardo shook his head with a laugh. "Gabi, can we go talk somewhere private?" Gabi stood up quickly and followed Ricardo into one of the interrogation rooms. Ricardo closed the door behind them. Gabi stood close to the door as Ricardo paced the room slowly. "Gabi, I need to apologize to you," Ricardo was staring at the floor. Gabi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. "I know that I handled everything very badly. It was just such a shock, you know. I never imagined…I still don’t want to imagine." Gabi felt a wave of embarrassment. "Anyway, I thought we had something more, Gab. I thought we were meant to be together. But, love has to be mutual, you can’t make someone love you if they don’t." He paused for effect as he looked directly at Gabi. "I’m happy for you, Gabi. For you and…Antonio." The words made him sick but he had to say them if he was going to make this work. Gabi stared incredulously at Ricardo speaking so calmly to her. "But, Ricardo. Maria said she found your...well, your empty holster and we all thought that you…" Ricardo cut her off, "I was upset, Gabi. I went to the chapel, I saw you and Antonio. It hurt, Gab. I don’t know what I was thinking. I had a little too much to drink and…" Ricardo turned away from Gabi. "I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, Gabi. I want you to be happy and if Antonio makes you happy, then I want you to be with him." Ricardo swallowed hard hoping Gabi was buying all this. Gabi played nervously with her wedding rings. "I am, Ricardo. I’m very happy. We’re both very happy." Ricardo turned around with the best fake smile he could manage. "Good. I hope we can try to put things behind us, Gab. I hope you’ll be able to keep working here, with me." Ricardo said sincerely. "Of course, Ricardo. But what about you...how do you feel about..." "I’m fine, Gabi. Really. It’s going to take some time before I can really move on, but I want you to keep working here. You’re going to need the money, you know. Antonio doesn’t know anything other than the priesthood, it’s going to be rough on him for awhile." Dig #1, Ricardo noted mentally. Gabi suddenly remembered how upset Antonio had been thinking Ricardo might have done something crazy. "Oh, Ricardo. I have to call Antonio and tell him you’re okay. We were so worried last night…" "Gabi, let me talk to him, okay," Ricardo said feigning emotion. "It would mean a lot for me to be the one to apologize." Gabi was in awe of the man standing before her. He was so calm and sincere, completely changed from the day they had received the test results in Tyus’ office. She was relieved to see he was being sensible and so understanding. "Sure, Ricardo. I think it would mean a lot to Antonio." Gabi smiled. "Good, is he at...well, where do the two of you live now anyway?" Gabi gave him the address. "I’ll head over there as soon as I finish this report." Ricardo headed out of the room. "Ricardo," Gabi called after him softly. "Thank you." It was all she could think of to say. Ricardo smiled warmly as he left the room. Score one for me, he said to himself. He walked past Spence and Ruiz giving them both a wink. THE APARTMENT Antonio rolled over groggily as he heard pounding on the door. "Gabi?" he called out sleepily. When she didn’t answer, he sat up quickly. "12:30?" he said with surprise looking at the clock. "Gabi?" he called again, forgetting she would be at work. He jumped out of bed as the pounding continued. "Just a minute," he yelled as he pulled on his jeans. He rushed down the hallway and pulled the door open. "Ricardo," he said with surprise. Ricardo smiled, "Yeah, we need to talk, T. Can I come in?" Antonio was shocked, "Sure, come in." Antonio stepped back letting Ricardo into the room. "How did you know where to find me?" "Gabi...she gave me your address at the station," Ricardo said as he surveyed the apartment. "Right, the station. I forgot she was going back to work today," Antonio shook his head. "So, this is a nice place, Antonio. Not very big, though." Ricardo said smugly as he walked around the apartment. "Ricardo, where have you been? Why are you here?" Antonio was growing impatient seeing that his brother was alive and well after all. "Oh, I told Gabi I wanted to come by and tell you I was fine. She told me how worried you were last night when Maria told you I was gone. I just went for some R&R…to do some thinking." Ricardo peeked down the hallway, "Hhmm, quaint." "What thinking, Ricardo?" Antonio asked with frustration. Ricardo turned back to face his brother. "I want to apologize, Antonio. For everything that happened, you know, with Gabi." Antonio was taken aback. "I’ve been thinking Antonio. If Gabi doesn’t love me anymore, I can’t make her. What we had once was…well, incredible." Jab… "We were great together, you know." Jab, Jab… "But people change, people grow apart, everyone does over time." Jab, Jab, Jab. "But if you and Gabi are really in love, I won’t stand in your way, T. I want her to be happy…I just hope you can make her happy." Slam… Antonio stared Ricardo directly in the eye. "I do make her happy, Ricardo. And she makes me happy." "That’s great, T. Really. So, you’re okay with Gabi working at the station, I mean, working with me?" Ricardo paused. "Cause you guys are going to need the money, you know. Babies are pretty expensive and…" "We’ll be fine, Ricardo. But thank you for your concern." Antonio was leery of Ricardo’s enthusiasm. "I’m fine with Gabi working at the station, for as long as she wants to." "You mean needs to," Ricardo said dryly. Antonio was getting tired of this conversation. "I do have a job, Ricardo." Antonio said defensively. "Really, T? I didn’t think they allowed priests to be married." Dig #2. Antonio took a deep breath. "I’m working at the Deep, Ricardo. Ben gave me a job." "I always knew it would come in handy to have a rich brother-in-law," Ricardo interrupted with a chuckle. "It must be nice to have him do you a favor. At least he’s helping you take care of Gabi…" "I’M taking care of Gabi, Ricardo," Antonio snapped impatiently. "You know, I’ve got to get ready for work." Antonio walked toward the door to let Ricardo out. Ricardo took one last look around as he stepped to the door. "Okay. I’ll tell Gabi you said hello when I get back to the station." Ricardo patted Antonio on the shoulder and walked into the hall. Antonio closed the door behind him chiding himself for having been so worried about Ricardo last night. He should have known Ricardo would never do anything as stupid as kill himself. No, Ricardo would much rather stick around and make their lives hell. Antonio headed into the kitchen finding Gabi’s note on the table. He smiled as he read it. She’s happy, he reminded himself. I know I can make her happy. Antonio rushed to the bathroom to shower and get dressed for work. LATER... Antonio bounded up the stairs two at a time. He was anxious to see Gabi after her first day back at work, so he arranged a few hours off from the Deep for them to eat dinner together. Coming up to their door, he could smell something burning. His heart quickened as he fumbled with the key in the door. "Gabi...Gabi, are you okay?" he called out as he entered the apartment. Gabi was sitting on the floor in the middle of the kitchen sobbing hysterically. Antonio rushed over kneeling beside her to put his arms around her. "Gabi, honey, shhh. What’s wrong, is it the baby?" he was desperately trying to calm her down. Gabi shook her head miserably. "N...no...I...I...wanted to make...to make...you dinner...but I...I...," she was sobbing so hard she couldn’t get the words out. Antonio looked up to find the smoldering pan sitting on top of the stove. "I was...s...so tired and I...went to sit down...for just a minute. I woke up...and the smoke alarm was...it was...blaring and..." Antonio started laughing uncontrollably. "Oh, Gabi." He rocked her back and forth as she too began to laugh through her sobs. "Oh sweetie, shhh, it’s okay." He lifted her chin with his hand, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "Why don’t I take you out for dinner? I’m not a big fan of well-done roast!" Gabi let out a half-sob, half-laugh as Antonio kissed her tenderly on the cheek. Antonio helped Gabi up off the floor. "Uh, I’ll take care of this," he said surveying the black, smoking roast. "Why don’t you go dry your eyes?" Gabi shook her head and walked to the bedroom. Antonio dropped his head trying not to laugh out loud as he put the pan into the sink. "You can stop laughing any time now!" Gabi called from behind him. Antonio turned around smiling from ear to ear. "I’m sorry, it’s just that you are so incredibly adorable." Gabi smiled pathetically. "I can’t help it. I have a trillion zillion hormones running around in me and all these emotions just coming rushing out at the same time." She looked to the floor. "Oh, I know." Antonio took her in his arms. "I know, baby." He leaned down covering her mouth with his. A kiss from Antonio made Gabi forget about absolutely everything else in the world. They kissed deeply for a few moments before Antonio pulled himself away. "Hey, we better get going, I have to get back to work soon." Gabi tugged at his belt. "I don’t wanna go," she said playfully. "I want you to take me to bed." Antonio raised his eyebrows at her. He couldn’t resist the sexy smile she gave him. He picked her up kissing her passionately as he carried her into the bedroom. "I don’t have much time, you know," he whispered between kisses. "Don’t worry, this won’t take long," she growled as she nuzzled his neck. Antonio set Gabi down next to the bed as they quickly undressed each other. They climbed into bed and made love tenderly, almost as if it was the first time. Antonio rolled over onto his back as Gabi snuggled next to him. "I have to go...I’m going to be late." Antonio said reluctantly. Gabi held on to him tightly. "No, please don’t go. You know the boss, can’t you ask him for a favor?" Gabi whined playfully. Antonio thought back to the conversation he had with Ricardo earlier. "No, I have to go." He climbed out of bed, sorting his clothes from Gabi’s and hurriedly dressing. Gabi rolled over and propped herself onto her elbow. "Are you okay, Antonio? Is this about your visit with Ricardo today?" They hadn’t talked about it yet. "No, I just have to get back. It’s gonna be pretty busy tonight." He leaned over and kissed her warmly. "Don’t wait up. I love you." "I love you, too," she said softly, suddenly drowsy from their encounter. She laid back with her eyes closed. Antonio stood above her for a moment before heading out of the apartment and back to the Deep.
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