Page 5 of The Perfect Gift
I got to meet Old Joe during that rescue and let’s just say, I’m not a fan of swimming with great white sharks. Noodles, however, was totally Zen about it.
When he needs to think, he heads out beyond the break to talk to his watery friend.
Talk about first impressions.
“He loves that, just promise no communing with Old Joe.”
I wish I could go with them. A day spent playing in the surf sounds divine, but I have a job to do, and lives depend on me. The rest will have to wait.
“I love you,” I say fiercely.
“I love you too. Now go save lives.” He shoos me off the bed, and I scramble to get ready, clinging to the memory of his smile.
Today is going to be a good day.
It has to be.
I burst into Guardian Headquarters, scanning the room. I’m the last to arrive. Everyone else is ready to go, reviewing the details of the situation.
“There you are.” My boss, Sam, waves me over to the monitors, where live footage shows a bank robbery in progress. He’s the lead of Guardian HRS, kind of like a CEO, or General.
CJ, the lead for the Guardian teams is with him. He’s Guardian HRS’s version of a full bird colonel. “We have a dozen hostages at a bank; the gunmen are demanding a helicopter and safe passage out of the country.”
“They’re armed and volatile,” CJ says grimly. “This is going to be a tech-heavy op. They want to deploy the drones.”
“Do they have eyes on the hostages?” I glance at Sam.
“No. All interior cameras are disarmed.”
“I’ll get the drones prepped. We’ll send in the bumblebees. It’s the best way to get eyes in there.”
My team springs into action, preparing to deploy our high-tech arsenal of autonomous drones. Over the years, we’ve created several variants, each performing unique functions. From bumblebees to dragonflies, to the Rufi, along with Smaug, a high-altitude drone, our capabilities continue to expand.
The bumblebees are perfect for covert surveillance. Not only can they crawl through the smallest of openings, people tend to ignore insects. Outfitted with high-tech cameras, with wide-angle views, they’re perfect for covert surveillance. They’ll get us the information we need without alerting the gunmen. It’ll make rescuing the hostages that much easier.
I roll up my sleeves and dig in.
Chapter Five
A few months later, Noodles joins me at an appointment with our obstetrician. I’m smack dab in the middle of the second trimester at nineteen weeks and already showing. I pull up the hem of my loose floral top an odd sense of unease prickles at my senses.
Dr. Johnson squeezes a blob of gel onto my stomach and gently moves a wand over my skin.
My baby is a beautiful gray and white blob on the screen; head, arms, and legs all forming. He or she gives a little kick. We listen to the steady thump-thump-thump of the heartbeat, a rhythmic symphony of life that fills me with joy.
A flutter of joy rises in my chest at the steady beat.
That’s our baby. A new life.
“Everything sounds good. The baby’s heart is strong and healthy.” Dr. Johnson smiles, her kind eyes crinkling behind her wire-rimmed glasses.
I breathe a sigh of relief. At four and a half months along, the baby is the size of an avocado, according to my pregnancy app. Still tiny, but with fingers and toes and a little nose. A whole new life growing inside me.
Tears prick my eyes as I grip Noodles’s hand. He squeezes back, equally mesmerized by the sight of our child.
Dr. Johnson clicks off the machine and cleans the gel off my belly. “Everything looks great. We’ll finish with a breast exam and call it a day. Are your breasts tender?”
“Yes.” I’m not well-endowed when it comes to boobs and barely fill an A-cup bra.