Having Fun with Dycke and Payne Ch. 14

Lord Whitbred was whisked away back to his hotel, to keep Fiona's surprise intact. Everyone else headed to Grace church, for the rehearsal. This time, everyone was early, but those who had not seen Marti, at the spa, had time to look at her, and comment on how beautiful she looked.

When Fiona arrived and saw Marti, she said to her, "Payne warned you not to bet with Dycke. However, he has turned you into a beautiful woman. Do we kill him now, or after the wedding?"

Marti smiled and replied, "I have not decided, yet. I know he is going to die, but the method, and the length of time we will take to do it, has yet to be decided. I will get back to you on that decision."

The Right Reverend Michael Rivers called everyone to order, and told each of them what he expected. He asked them to form up in the vestibule of the church and he would tell them when to begin. Chad would be given the honor of walking Fiona down the aisle, and give her away."

Dycke had reserved an entire restaurant for that evening's rehearsal dinner and Alvena was the center of attraction, again. Fiona did not remember half the stories she was telling about her, but everyone who listened to her mother was sure that they were true, and laughed the evening away.

Bob was prepared this time, and after an hour of listening to Fiona's mother telling stories, he handed his bride two maximum strength aspirin for the headache that she had, or would have shortly.

Fiona washed the aspirin down, with half a bottle of wine, to ensure they would work, quickly. What she did not remember was, this mixture gave you a maximum strength headache, in the morning, and sometimes made you nauseous. Both of those things happened to Fiona, the following morning.

She called Bob and he told her to use an ice pack for the headache, but he had no idea what to do for her stomach. He told her to call Bacillica and see if she knew anything that would help her, because her mother was out shopping.

When Bacillica picked up the phone, Fiona said, "You sound awful, what is the matter?"

"I do not think it is anything major, Fiona. I think I have a stomach bug. I have felt nauseous for the last week or so, and I have a nagging headache that comes and goes. I drink some chamomile tea, and I feel a lot better, afterwards. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to see what is going on. I will be at your wedding; I will not miss that for the world. I may not go to the dinner afterwards, but I will be at the service."

"I have a headache this morning, and I am nauseous, also. I mixed aspirin and wine and I am paying for it now. Will the chamomile tea help me, also?"

"Absolutely! If you have some honey in the house, add a drop to it, for sweetness. It will settle your stomach and your headache will vanish."

"Thank you Bacillica. I will have Gracie get me the tea and honey at the store. Feel better, and I will see you at the church."

Alvena came back from some last minute shopping, looked at her daughter, and asked, "Are you pregnant?"

Fiona said, "Mom, I have my period, I am not pregnant."

"Do you have a heavy period or a light one?"

"It is light, but it is steady."

"You are pregnant."

"Mom, give me a break. I am getting married in a few hours. I do not need to be harassed by you now."

"When I was pregnant with you, I had light periods for three months. Are you nauseous? Do you have a headache that comes and goes for no reason at all?"

"I have been having headaches, lately."

"You are pregnant."

"Mom, not today, please, let me be."

"Where is Gracie?"

"I asked her to go to the store, and get some tea and honey."

"Chamomile tea?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"You are pregnant. Call Gracie and give me the phone."

"Hello, Gracie? This is Alvena. Would you do me a favor and get me two different pregnancy test things. I think she is pregnant. Thank you. Goodbye."

Gracie was back in a flash. She looked at Fiona and said, "I thought you had your period?"

"I do. This is my mother's idea of a joke."

"Gracie, five will get you ten, she is pregnant."

"How can you be so sure, if she has her period?"

"As I told my darling daughter, when I was pregnant with her, I had a light period, for the first three months. She does not believe me. Those little testers will let us know in a few moments. Get going, Fiona, I want to know if I am going to be a grandmother. I have waited a very long time for this to happen, and I am not going to wait one more second, than I have to."

Fiona went into the bathroom and opened the packages. She read the instructions, and urinated on both testing strips. She was going to wait and see the results, for herself, but her mother yelled to her, "Bring them here; I do not want you to cheat."

As the allotted time passed, both tests turned blue. Fiona's face turned white. Grace caught her, as she started falling towards the floor.

The next thing Fiona felt was a pillow, under her head, and an ice pack on top of it. She looked up and saw two smiling faces. Her mother asked, "Are you feeling better, oh, pregnant one?"

"How, Mom? I just came off the pill, and we just started trying. It is not that easy for most people. Some couples try for years, before they get pregnant and I get pregnant in the first few weeks. It is not supposed to happen that way, is it?"

"Baby, sometimes people get lucky. Bob and you are in love, and you two are going to be wonderful parents."

"What time is it? I have to start getting ready soon. I have to tell Bob he is going to be a father. He will be so happy. He is such a wonderful man, mom."

"It sounds like you two had a wonderful first date."

"It was not a date. I challenged him to a Karate Match, and he accepted. I am younger, taller and I thought, stronger than he was. I was correct on the first two, but I beat the heck out of him in the first match, and he knocked me senseless in the second one. He cheated during the third match, and his tongue forced me to concede, while we were in the shower. I had so much fun with him that night, I could not leave him."

"It is 12:30 P.M.; do you think you can stand up now?"

"My wedding is at two, and I will not be late for it. Help me up and we will see what happens."

Fiona wobbled, for a while, however, that passed quickly. She sat down while Gracie made tea for everyone. They talked about her pregnancy for a time, and then, Fiona said it was time for her to dress. She showered quickly, did all her intimate things, and wondered how Bob would react to the news. Then, she thought about Bacillica. She said she had been nauseous, for a while, and that she had headaches. Fiona wondered if it could possibly be morning sickness. Could Bacillica be pregnant? If she were pregnant, that would be too funny for words.

At 1:30 that afternoon, Fiona, Gracie, and Alvena left for Grace Church. It was a very short ride from Bob's apartment building and when they arrived, there was still a crowd, outside the church. Alvena told the limousine driver to continue driving until everyone was inside the church. Then Fiona would be able to get out without the hassle of moving through dozens of people. It took another fifteen minutes, but everyone was finally inside, and Fiona was able to exit the car. Chad met her at the curb, with Marti. They straightened her gown, and led her towards the entrance to the church.

From behind them a voice said, "Mister Schneider, if you do not mind I would like the 'honor and privilege' of taking Miss Brooks down the aisle to meet her new husband."

Fiona did not immediately recognize the voice, but she whirled around, wondering who was trying to interrupt her wedding ceremony. When she saw Lord Jeffrey, she cried and fell into his arms.

He kissed her on her cheeks and whispered in her ear, "Daughter, you are too beautiful for words. I do not want Bob to think I upset you. Please, put a smile on your gorgeous face, and allow me to walk you down the aisle."

"Your Lordship, how could you possibly know about my wedding? Who contacted you? How did this happen? I have a million questions for you?"

"Fiona, I believe I can answer most of them with one word: Dycke."

"Your Lordship, either Marti or I have to kill him. He is too good a person. People are going to take advantage of him, all his life. "

"Fiona, I will discuss that with you later. Right now, my daughter, they are playing our song."

Lord Jeffrey Whitbred and Fiona Brooks walked gracefully, down the center aisle, to a waiting Robert Short and Angus McFarland. Lord Jeffrey kissed Fiona, and presented her hands to Bob. Then he took his place beside Martina Innocent, and watched as the Right Reverend Michael Rivers performed the Episcopalian Marriage Ceremony. Unlike Dycke and Payne's ceremony, video cameras were allowed in this church, so the entire ceremony could be watched over, and over again.

After they were pronounced "husband and wife," they turned and accepted the applause and congratulations, from their fellow comrades in arms. As they were walking back down the aisle, Fiona stopped to ask Bacillica how she was feeling. Bacillica responded that she was feeling much better than she was this morning. Fiona whispered into Basilica's ear, "Is it possible you are pregnant?"

Basilica's pupils dilated, and she sat down quickly. That answered Fiona's question, as well as any verbal answer could have.

Chad asked his wife what was wrong. She said to him, "Fiona just asked me something that I could not answer properly. Please do not ask me again."

Chad said fine and let the subject drop.

The happy couple got into the limousine and headed towards the studio where the official pictures would be taken.

Limousines behind them carried the remainder of the wedding party, including Martina and Lord Jeffrey.

Fiona decided that the best way to tell Bob about her being pregnant was to tell him fast. She did it in the most obvious way. She took his hand, placed it on her stomach, and said, "Hello daddy!"

Bob's hand flew off her stomach and his eyes looked into hers. He said, "Really?"

Fiona went through the entire story, about her mother's intuition, and the two test kits and Bob started kissing Fiona, as if the world was going to end, at midnight.

He said, "I never thought I would have a child. You make me so proud of you. You start school next month and you are going to have our baby. What more can aman ask for in life."

"Bob, I am not going to school. I am on protective detail. I do not have time for both of them."

"Yes, I know. You will have to speak to your boss about that situation."

"What has he done now?"

"I am not at liberty to say, however, I wind up being a babysitter."

"Someone has to stop that man, or he is going to go broke."

"Somehow, my love, I do not think so."

The pictures were taken, the hors d'oeuvres were eaten, and everyone entered the Main building for dinner.

Dycke did one thing that the FBI and the other federal agencies did not count on. He had the building swept for bugs, before anyone entered it. His people found nearly 700 listening devices, and twenty-five recording devices hidden in the flowers under the tables inside crevices and anywhere anyone could hide something as tiny as a quarter. As everyone entered the building, Dycke's agents funneled each guest towards the crates, which held the devices, the various government agencies had hidden. They all smiled and went to their tables and knowing their conversations would remain private.

When everyone was seated, several agents picked up the crates and brought them out to the four unmarked vans that were being used as listening posts. They knocked on the rear doors, until they were opened. The listening and recording devices were unceremoniously handed back to the federal agents, and they were invited inside, for dinner. Each of them accepted.

Dinner conversation among covert operatives is very graphic, and sometimes gory. However, these men and women live on the edge every day they are on assignment. Bob and Fiona circulated amongst these people, during the evening, and reminisced about the good times and bad times, from the Soviet era, to the present day. Many, like Bob, wound up forgotten, by their governments, until it suited them to get them out of a foreign country.

Many stories that were told that night would have closed, or cleared up, many operations, governments around the world would have paid dearly to seal. However, these were Dycke's guests, and nothing they said, while they were in this country, was going to compromise them.

As the evening was ending, Bob stood up to make an announcement. He said, "Ladies, gentlemen, and honored guests, I have been informed today, by my lovely bride, that we are pregnant."

Fiona wanted to kill him for making that announcement. However, everyone in the room was standing and applauding. Lord Whitbred approached his 'daughter' with a smile on his face, a mile wide. He hugged her to his body, kissed her, and congratulated her. He ordered her to give up her gun. He told her that he would not take no for an answer. He said to her, "Guns and parenthood do not mix. You have a husband that adores you and can keep you safe. You can keep a gun in your house, for protection. I do not want you to carry one every day. Do you understand me little girl."

"Yes, your Lordship. I will take care of that, immediately."

"I was expecting an argument from you. I am glad to see that you are maturing."

"Not really, your Lordship. I was just informed by my husband, that I am starting school in September. Somehow my boss got me into the Doctoral Program in Economics and I will be up to my eyeballs in numbers, very shortly."

"I am going to enjoy working with Dycke. He seems to be my type of fellow."

"Your Lordship, never make a bet with him. He does not lose. I do not know how he does it; however, he does not lose. He had never run a marathon and he ran against eight people, who run them every year. He bet Marti that he would be first. He would have to call her 'Your Majesty' for the rest of her life, if he did not win. If he did, she had to wear dresses to work every day. She wanted to back out of the bet, but he baited her and used her own words against her, until she finally agreed. He beat everyone to the finish line by over ten minutes. We still do not know how he did it, but we will find out; then we will kill him. He is that good, your Lordship and his mind is as sharp as any you will ever come up against."

Lord Whitbred laughed and said to Fiona, "Where are you going on your honeymoon?"

"I cannot go on a honeymoon, now. I will have to see a doctor, about the baby. I will have to check about school, and I have to check with a friend, to make sure she is feeling better. We will put it off until Christmas."

"I hate to say this, but it works out perfect for me. I will stay a few days longer and I have a surprise for you and a few of your friends. Will you help me set up a catered dinner, at whoever has the largest open space and we will have some fun for an evening, before I leave."

"Of course, your Lordship. My apartment has the largest open space and we can have everyone over for a dinner there. Whom would you like to invite?"

"The Schneider's, Dycke and Payne, the Temples, including Stephen and his fiancée, Turnquest Schneider, Martina, Gabby, Desiree, Angus McFarland, and everyone that escorted you to Paris. If we could do this on Wednesday evening, I will have everything delivered and set up at your home in the afternoon, and the food delivered in the evening. There should be enough people, for a lively get together."

"Wednesday will be fine, your Lordship. I will advise everyone about the party and they will be there, with great anticipation."

"You be well, my daughter, and do not worry about the baby, he will be just fine."

"Your Lordship, I just found out I am pregnant. There is no way to know, at this early stage, what sex the baby is."

"In that case, Fiona, his middle name will be Jeffrey."

"Yes, your Lordship, I will tell Bob that he is going to have a son, whose middle name is going to be Jeffrey. I am sure he will be very pleased.

Sunday afternoon, Dycke, Payne, and their mothers went to the apartment to look around.

Dycke asked, "Payne which room is the playroom?"

Payne looked at him and said, "I do not know? I did not plan for a playroom."

"We were going to sleep on the floor?"

Payne looked at him and said, "You son of a bitch," and chased after him through the unwalled apartment.

Dycke yelled, "I told you not to talk about my mother, that way."

"I was not talking about your mother, you bastard."

"There you go, again. Now, I am going to have to spank you, because you insulted my mother, twice."

Payne screamed, because the tables had turned and Dycke was chasing her.

The mothers were standing on the terrace, laughing uncontrollably.

When playtime was over, Dycke asked the three women if it would be a good idea to have a professional decorator help Payne decorate part of the apartment in early childhood furniture. He thought it was a good idea, because he and Payne would be running around it, at all hours of the day and night, like children. In addition, they were hoping to have the sound of little feet running around the apartment, sooner rather than later.

No decision was made, but it was left open for discussion.

Tuesday morning, Bacillica went to her doctor. She wanted to find out why she had been so sick lately, and to get a prescription for birth control pills.

Her doctor took blood and a urine sample. Then, she started a complete physical examination.

Bacillica told her doctor that her breasts had been extremely tender lately and hoped that she had not developed anything serious.

The doctor started with her neck and checked her glands and under her arms and then her breasts, and her stomach and kidneys. Everything seemed fine. She checked her abdomen, which was a little swollen, and tender. The doctor proceeded to put Basilica's feet into the stirrups and began the pelvic exam.

When the doctor finished her pelvic exam, she smiled and asked, "Bacillica, what do you consider serious?"

"I have been very worried that I have cancer."

"No Bacillica, you do not have cancer. You have a lifelong disease."

"Oh, no, what is it?"

"Bacillica, you are pregnant."

"How can I be pregnant? Last year you told me I might be going through the beginning stages of my changes, because my periods were irregular."

"The magic part of that sentence was 'MIGHT BE GOING' not you are going through menopause. I would say you are about five to six weeks pregnant. It is early enough, if you want me to terminate the pregnancy, I can, because of your age, but you are very healthy and should have no problem carrying this baby to term."

"I am Catholic. There is no way I could terminate this baby, even if my life depended on it. Besides, when I tell my husband I am pregnant, he is going to kill me, and that will solve the problem."

The doctor smiled and said, "I would not bet on that happening. Late in life, babies are sometimes loved the most. I want to see you in six weeks, for your first sonogram. My nurse will give you all the prescriptions you need for your prenatal vitamins, and prescription medicines. Take them as if your life depends on it, because your baby's life does."

Bacillica walked out of the doctor's office in a daze. When Frankie saw her, she said, "Oh my goodness, Fiona was right."

Bacillica looked at Frankie and asked, "Are there any secrets kept between agents?"

"Bacillica, there cannot be. Your lives depend on the knowledge we have. The more we know about what is going on in your lives, the better we can protect you. It does not leave our circle, but we have to know. If Dycke had a mistress, and we did not know about it, that makes him vulnerable, when he is with her. We would not tell Payne, because it is not our business to tell her, but we have to know."