Free Don't Wake Me if I'm Dreaming by J. E. Chaney Page B

overwhelming to the point of wanting to scream, but instead I curled onto my side letting the heaviness of the pill’s effects weigh my eyes closed, allowing me to fall into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Impossible
     
     
    T he office chatterers greeted my arrival in the break room at work. After failing miserably with my incognito slip-in for a cup of coffee, I surrendered myself to them for a few minutes.
    My co-workers lived vicariously through my romance with Matt and were always thrilled to corner me for an interrogation. Since I’d been hiding from them, they were past due for juicy details. It was known throughout the break room there was nothing comparably sexier than a firefighter, and of course, I agreed. I was the only one in my department that wasn’t married other than our revolving young interns that floated in and out. I honestly didn’t mind sharing the rated PG - 13 version of my love life, since the alternative was everyone else’s drab stories about their bittersweet, mostly bitter marriages.
    After escaping the break room interrogation, I found the morning paper sitting on my desk. Matt and a couple other firefighters made headlines, with a picture of them in front of the blazing warehouse.
    “Looks like ol’ lover boy made the news, again.” Martha’s face popped around the cubicle wall. “Thought he had the night off?”
    “Eh, he got called in,” I mumbled, reading the headline print.
    “Huge fire. Suspected arson it says. Glad nobody was hurt.”
    “Yeah, I’m reading it now.”
    After I had read the article, I tossed the paper in the drawer. “I wonder how the department wives deal with this. It makes me a wreck just reading this crap.” I stared at the picture of him on my desk feeling uneasy.
    “You wouldn’t ask that if you didn’t fancy the idea yourself.” Her left eye became sharp for a second, digging for the truth.
    “It’s been a subject lately,” I confessed.
    I caught a glance of her large grin. “Don’t make me wrench out your tongue, sugar bun.”
    “We talked about it, and I’ve thought about it a little,” I admitted, “but nothing is set in stone. I’m just not sure I’m ready, yet.”
    “Yet! I bet your diamond will be extravagant.” She tried looking at my hand.
    “I haven’t given it a thought. He hasn’t even asked yet, and he still has to ask my dad first.”
    “Uh… didn’t you say your old man lives on the other side of the continent?” She smirked.
    “Suppose it might be a while then.” I wrinkled my face. “I have to get to work. I’ve got a ton to do around here.” I didn’t need her encouraging the ideas in my head.
    “Liar!” she said, returning to her cubicle.
    “Oh, hey, Martha, I’m going to sneak out early again. I’m meeting Aimee at the gym. Will you text me if anything exciting happens, pretty please.”
    “That twiggy girlfriend of yours? If she loses any more weight, you’ll have to tie a string around her ankle to keep her from drifting away in the wind.”
    “Cute. She’s trying to gain muscle. There’s a difference. Maybe you should come with us? It would be good for you.”
    “Ha. Honey, this ass hasn’t seen a gym since my senior year in high school, and it’s not about to now.” She snorted. “You sure are a hoot sometimes.”
    ***
    A imee strutted into the locker room with her hot pink gym bag over her shoulder. Her eyes were bright and her mouth embellished with a smile. She tried to smooth her smile with her hand, but let out a squeal and grabbed my shoulders.
    “What already?” I questioned her as I tied my shoe.
    Her expression changed as her smile returned, more strained than before. “You were right.” She clapped her hands, bounced on her toes, then threw her arms around me in a death grip and blurted, “We’re pregnant!”
    “What?”
    “I’m pregnant!”
    “Really?” I choked as she let go. “I was only joking about you eating that burger.”
    “I’m not kidding. I took a