Baby Fever [Jacob & Edward]

4

"It looks like a fucking barn." He grumbles and ignores the chuckle that gets out of his new found nuisance. He can feel the energy shift with that laugh as Black falls into his easy-going persona, putting on a show for the people who glance at them as they're heading into the diner.  

"Language." Black hisses loud enough for the family in front of them to hear, nudging him in the back, and Edward can't help but rolls his eyes. 

Edward's house is nice. It was decorated beautifully, it was spacious, and it had a magnificent view. Black's house was surrounded by dense trees and looked like it was built out of spite.

"It's not cozy." Black says before falling into that smile that he throws at the waitress who is heading over with a menu. This particular waitress was a round woman, potentially in her late thirties to early forties, who smelled like grease, but looked warm and inviting. Some of her hair was stuck to her forehead with sweat and she had a pencil stuck behind her ear. Edward doubted she was Black's type, so maybe he was like that with every waitress who worked at this place. 

"Oh, You brought him back!" The woman says with a bright smile that is aimed at Edward. Her eyes are gleaming with excitement that he doesn't fully understand. 

"I'm Bailey, I'll be your waitress for tonight." 

It occurs to him that their little stunt from this morning must've circulated through the diner staff, because Edward can see the cashier peering at them from behind the register and one of the cooks pops his head out to get a peek.

"Sorry, this one is more of a Carver's guy." Jacob says with an easy enough smile, fingers grabbing for Edward's free hand as the waitress leads them over to the same table that Black had been seated at this morning. Black's grip is tight as if he thinks Edward's going to go wandering off into the kitchen with the cooks. Edward was starting to believe that he did this stuff purely to keep up appearances as he slips their interlocked fingers loose to plop down into his seat. None of this was necessary for people to believe they were...whatever they were supposed to be. From the endearing looks to helping Edward with the baby when he'd previously declined to kissing Edward on the cheek must've all been some kind of act for this particular crowd. That endearing grin was morphing itself into a tight smile as they settled into their seats.

"You didn't tell me you were expecting." The oblivious waitress says in an accusatory tone, clearly curious as she eyes the car seat with renewed interest.

The way she words the sentence is interesting to Edward. She hadn't asked if they'd adopted, she just jumped to the conclusion that she belonged to Jacob. Which, with every passing day, she was getting just a little more color, so maybe that shouldn't be surprising. Though, did she think they were using some kind of surrogate?

"Yeah, it was bit of a rocky one." Black lies just as casually as if he were recalling the truth. The woman straightens up a little, sympathy written across her face as she turns her head to look over at Edward. She seemed sorry for even asking.

"Well, the little lady is here now. What would you two gentlemen like to eat?"

Jacob doesn't even bother flipping open the menu.

"The usual for me. See anything you like?" Black asks, catching Edward's gaze before he can even glance back down at the menu. It's annoying despite the fact that Edward wasn't going to find anything inside the glorified, laminated brochure appetizing. He lets out a sigh.

"I'll have what he's having."

She scurries away towards the kitchen with her writing pad in tow and her pencil lodged back behind her ear.

"Mike  -- Newton wanted to come here during lunch and they jumped me with all types of questions." Black answers his unspoken queries as soon as the waitress was far enough out of earshot. He has this soft, little smile on his face like he's recalling something that he thoroughly enjoyed. He covers it up with a grimace before taking a sip of his water.

He'd come here during lunch with a man who casually oggles him to answer questions about his supposed family. Edward doesn't bother commenting on that, instead, leaning over to check on Bear. Her eyes are now open and she's got her mouth turned down in a little frown like she does when she's about to start whining. Edward was actually prepared this time, grabbing a bottle out of the side of her bag and slipping her out of the car seat.  It's a nice distraction from having to actually talk to the man in front of him. 

He doesn't even want to think about what they'd apparently told everyone. He just wanted to get though this evening so that he could get home and press his face into a pillow to muffle his frustration. 

Bear, unfortunately, chugs the bottle like she hasn't eaten in days and burps before he can even hoist her up onto his shoulder, so they have to make conversation. They have to say something to one another because there is an audience in the form of the diner's employees watching them in between actually working. 

Edward stares down at the table for a second before deciding to just say the first thing that popped into his head.

"Do you actually have a dog?" Edward says, recalling rushing over to Black on the pet food aisle. 

Jacob seems surprised by the question and Edward would have to admit that its not his best work. He doubts their audience could actually hear the pair over the quiet buzz of chatter in the diner so they would just see them casually talking.

"Uh...yeah. I have a pitbull. Her name is Lucy." That little smile returns to Jacob's face despite himself. 

Edward's not great with dogs. In fact, he'd venture so far to say that dogs hate him. They howl and growl when he comes near them. Honestly, he can't blame them. He probably smells like some kind of threat most of the time. 

Jacob seems completely content to talk about Lucy for the next hour and Edward's not opposed if it means not actually having to say anything of substance.

"Had her since she was a baby." He informs Edward.

Edward hums quietly, with no plan to actually join in on the conversation.

"Don't worry she doesn't bite. She's a big baby." Edward glances up at that, confused about the reassurance, "You seem like the type of guy who is used to the small, yappy types."

 Black is teasing. He clearly is, trying to tug Edward into the back and forth. Though, this time, unlike when they were in the car, it's quite apparent what he's doing. He wants Edward to get riled up. Why? Maybe it was another ploy to make himself look better or a way to get out his frustration. Edward doesn't take the bait.

"No, they hate me too." He says casually, messing with Bear's hair after slipping her hat off. It's a fruitless task, her hair sticking up no matter what, but he gently smooths it anyway. 

He can feel Jacob's eyes analyzing him as if he's looking for some other way to get Edward to participate, but before he can figure it out, their waitress if coming over to the table with their food. She places a plate of steak and potatoes in front of each of them and puts a basket of bread in between them. 

She quickly rushes away again.

"So, what do you call her?" Jacob asks, nodding over to the car seat as soon as the waitress is gone again. 

Edward sucks in a breath, knowing that he's not about to enjoy the rest of this meal in silence. Honestly, he'd wished he'd come up with some kind of actual name for the time being, but how was he to know that today was going to go so poorly?

"My brother nicknamed her Bear." He answers reluctantly, eyes on the steaming plate in front of him. He's not really a cooked food guy. He cuts at the steak anyway.

"Bear?" He could hear the taunting at the edges of Black's voice.

"Yeah, Boo bear, Bear for short." Edward informs him and despite all of the signs, the officer's laughter still startles him as he full on guffaws at the poor baby's nickname. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Though, Black's laugh is contagious so Edward finds himself having to bite his lip to not join in on mocking the ridiculous choice.

"It's not that bad." Edward says, feeling the need to at least pretend to be defensive for Emmett's sake.

"Boo bear?" Jacob says, looking at him with wild eyes, mouth turned up into a smile.

"Well, what would you call her, Genius?" Edward huffs.

"No, no we're keeping it," Jacob says, laugh falling into a chuckle, "it's only fitting that our dog has a more thought out name than our kid."

"Will you shut up and eat your food."

Black doesn't shut up and eat his food, he pokes fun at Edward every chance he gets around eating his meal. He doesn't even stop when the waitress comes by, letting her in on his little tirade of mockery. Not just verbally, but physically. At one point, he reaches across the table to grab Edward's hand and plays with his fingers like they're love drunk teenagers.

By the end of the meal, Edward has a headache.

Jacob escorts him and Bear over to the cashier and pays for the meal. Of course, the woman strikes up a conversation about their relationship, offering up a congratulations when she glances at the car seat. She's practically beaming at Jacob as she swipes his card. It's uncomfortable to say the least and Edward decides to keep an eye on Bear instead.

Eventually, they make it out of the restaurant and back into the safe space of the car where Jacob doesn't have to pretend to like Edward and Edward doesn't have to talk to him. He can just stare out of the window at nothing. That is, until he starts recognizing the houses and buildings around them. 

They pull up into the drive way of Jacob's house and he slides out of the front seat with a muffled "Be right back". 

He doesn't come right back, in fact, he takes about twenty minutes to step out onto the porch again, a dufflebag now dangling from his shoulder. When he does, he turns to talk to someone that Edward can't see. After about a minute, a woman steps out onto the porch, arms crossed, unimpressed look on her face. A dog, Edward assumes is Lucy, is excitedly jumping up to greet the man before going back to sit at the woman's feet.

It never occurred to Edward that he may not be single. Sure, that maybe other people were interested, but not that there was someone already waiting at home for him.

"I have a family..."

He ignores the way his heart seems to drop at that.

Honestly, what is he even thinking? He'd spent the last hour being poked and prodded at by a man who detests him. Had he been out of the dating circuit for that long, that a little hand-holding was all it took?

He's so tired he's not thinking straight. He leans back against the passenger's seat, closing his eyes in an attempt to not have to think about it any longer.

This was just work. Police work. They were on a case.