In Uniform
1

Ms. Sexy In Blue's Proposal
     
    From the couch of Charley Marone...
     
    She wants me to make the biggest decision of
my life like this?
    They say that text messaging has taken over
the world to the point where lovers even ask each other to marry
one another over it. This is the first time that I've ever heard of
anyone asking if their boyfriend of several years will consider
having a baby with them. The emoticons alone take away from the
seriousness of the proposal.
    I swing my feet over the side of the couch
and throw my boots one over the other. My naked skin is touched by
a light wind from the nearby open window that looks over the street
to the police station where the sender is texting from.
    Rubbing the stubble on my
jaw with one hand, I thumb in my reply: You are asking me by text?!?
    The reply comes shortly with a little
bell-like bing from my phone.
    Work is busy.
    It's always busy, I write back.
    The captain has us working
late tonight , Jenny continues without
replying to my text message – probably ignoring it because of the
angry face next to busy .
    “ Then fucking tell him you
want to have a serious conversation with your boyfriend and get your ass over here,”
I voice.
    Instead I write: So you are seriously asking me this over
text?
    It's the best I can do.
    Sliding up the cushion, I stare at my school
books. My girlfriend is a cop. She's been a cop for 5 years and is
getting to that age that women do when they want to babies. I'm
still in university studying for my PhD in Physics (I'm a math
geek). The answer is simple.
    I can't have a baby with a cop just now.
What if you get hurt or killed?
    If we are going to get to it on text message
then we might as well REALLY get to it.
    There's radio silence. I wait and stare at
the door before reaching down, picking up my coffee in the chipped
mug I like and take a sip before settling back to switch to the
game app I was playing. The lady of the house is pissed and,
fortunately, due to her work, won't be coming over to take it out
on me.
    I pity the criminals that get in her way
today. I wouldn't want to be them.

2

    HANDCUFFED TO THE BED
     
    In the evening around 8pm...
     
    “ Charley Marone, you will
not deny me.”
    Silly me: I mistook pissed for planning.
Jenny has her night stick out and I'm cuffed to the bed after a
short scuffle in the lounge that didn't go my way. As I was naked
except for my boots at the time, I'm still naked right now.
    “ I'm not saying I won't,” I
try.
    The sexy blond, who has had my heart from
the moment she arrested me for drunk and disorderly several years
back, shifts one leg out and puts on a wide stance with her arms
crossed and the night stick hanging from her fingers. I note that
she has put on black heels with high pins. If one of those pin
heels where to connect with my nuts then I'd be having the kind of
visit to the hospital that is hard to explain with “I fell down the
stairs and impaled my balls.”
    We stare at each other. Her blues eyes are
like fire and tell me about as much as I want to know about the
quality of her anger. My brown eyes are more calm than I feel. The
truth of the situation is that my older girlfriend has a mean
temper that is razor sharp when she's mad. Right now Jenny is about
as pissed as the buxom blond can get. It's all part of the dynamic
of our relationship, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about
the future of my nuts.
    “ You said that you wouldn't
in your message.” The woman's voice is like lava. I'm definitely at
risk of sleeping on the couch for a few nights here – if not
something more.
    “ What I said is the truth.
We aren't ready yet. You'd have to give up the job.”
    She raises an eyebrow and taps the
nightstick against her curvy hip.
    “ You know I
won't.”
    Then it's time to tell the truth.
    “ If you don't then I won't
give you a baby. I can't be a single dad and your job is too
risky.”
    Again we stare at each other.
    “ You are
serious?”
    “

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