“Hello, beautiful,” I whispered. Wendy jumped and turned around wide eyed. It took her a full 2 seconds to recognize me. 

“Russ?!” She yelled in the cafeteria.

“In the flesh,” I said. “What? It hasn’t been that long.”

“No, I just-didn’t think you’d visit me at work again,” she said, tears in her eyes. She fanned her face and stood up hugging me. 

 

“What’s wrong?” I asked, pulling back a little to study her. My hand on her forehead, “Are you sick?”

“Yeah a little,” she said, blushing. “Just a fever. And my emotions are all over the place.”

“Well dang. I have to take care of something after this. I’m not sure when I’ll finish, but do you want me to stop by afterward?” I asked. 

Her lip quivered trying to keep her from crying. “I’d love that,” she said, her eyes already red. 

“Babe,” I said, laughing as I drew in for another hug. Rubbing her back her face buried into me and I frowned confused at the other girls at the table. “You alright?” 

“Yeah, just tired,” she said. Wiping her eyes again she moved her hair behind her ear as she smiled up at me, kissing me again. “Sorry these um, these are my friends. This is Emily, Jackie, and Cindy. Girls, this is Russ.” 

“The baby daddy,” I said. Extending my hand out, I shook their hands one at a time. 2 of them held hands at their own stomachs. “Oh, are these the pregnant friends you talked about?”

“Yeah, there are a few more on other shifts,” Wendy said. “What are you doing here though?”

“I had to drop something off for Audrey,” I lied. “I thought I’d stop in to see you. I have some time till I need to do that thing. Can I join you for dinner?”

Wendy looked nervously to the other girls. “Sure,” Cindy said. She was an older woman in her late 20s. Wendy was the youngest of all of them. 

I pulled a chair up and sat with them next to Wendy. It was still Wednesday. I knew she had been working on a project so she was working an odd shift, but I was lucky to catch her at her break. The large cafeteria had groupings of nurses, doctors, and other technicians like Wendy. I knew she had a degree in Biomedical something or other, but she hated the job. Her mom owned the hospital though so I was sure Patricia was grooming her for something. 

 

“Russ, right?” Cindy asked. “Wendy has talked a lot about you. I can’t help but admit I’m surprised you’re here.” 

“Yeah, I’ve been busy lately,” I said. “I hope to come around more, but things could get hectic again.”

“How’d you 2 meet?” Emily asked. She was only a little older than Wendy, but didn’t have a ring on her finger. I was often surprised how many single women signed up to have a kid. Since not everyone was all for a lesbian relationship, or was holding out for someone special. I thought they preferred to have a kid to fill their house with chaos because they were alone. 

 

“Church,” I said before Wendy could answer. “I asked her on a date afterward.”

“Russ,” Wendy said, laughing as she slapped my chest. “These girls know the true story. Not really a secret since us ladies have our own struggles making it happen.” 

“Ah, of course,” I said. “Sorry babe, I prefer my version.” 

“Me too,” she said.

“You mind if I ask how it happened for you all?” I asked. “I’m new to this whole thing.”

“Got lucky with the lottery” “Donor” “Bribed a donor” They said unashamedly.

“Oh bribe? How much?” I asked.

“Russ-” Wendy said, scandalized. 

“$3k,” she answered without shame. “He wasn’t the best, but it was short and sweet.” 

“You talking about the sex?” I asked with a laugh. 

“Yep,” she said, hiding her own smile behind a glass. “Lasted about 30 seconds.” 

“Jeez, he made out like a bandit. That’s over a quarter million dollars an hour. Was there a line out the door?” 

“Hell no,” she laughed. “The guy was all blushing and stammering. Kind of just laid there.”

“Mine too,” the other one laughed. 

 

“Ah, true love,” I said, enjoying the bluntness of the girls. “That’s how it was for Wendy and I too.”

“Russ!” Wendy whined blushing.

“Oh do tell,” Cindy said, her eyes sparkling with joy. 

 

“She was very gentle. I hardly felt any pain,” I said. “Bought me flowers. Was really sweet about it.”

“Ha!” Jackie laughed. “I would believe you if she didn’t brag about what really happened.” 

“Oh, telling about our sex life now, darling?” I asked. Wendy’s face was beet red as she tried to hide it behind her hands. 

 

“She goes into exquisite detail. Tell me, do you really go again and again?” Cindy asked. 

“I can’t help it, she’s so cute,” I said, jostling her hair. “Oh babe, come on. All women talk about this stuff.” 

“What?” She asked, peeking between her hands.

“It’s a common fact that women are the biggest pervs out there. They like to share notes,” I said flatly. 

“He’s not wrong. Some of us married girls need to hear all the nitty gritty of the younger girls,” Cindy said. 

 

“How does that work?” I asked her. “Was your wife with you for the…deposit?” 

“Hell no. I asked if she could be, but the guy said she had to wait outside,” she answered. “Really made the whole thing…lackluster.”

“I bet,” I said. “It’s sad how little respect I have for these supposed men.”

“Not all are like that,” Jackie said. “A friend of mine had one donor. Said they did it all night.” 

“Oh that’s new. Who was it?”

“I went to pre-med with her. Chloe, she’s in school to be a psychiatrist. She shared this guy with her sister.” I blushed, that sounded like my twins.

“Sister? At the same time?”

“She said no. But they were trying for siblings,” she said.

I didn’t want to burst their bubbles that it was me there too. “What about with the lottery? Doctor at least light some candles? Set the mood?”

“No, it was even worse than a donor. I got strapped down. They used a turkey baster and everything was cold,” she said.

“Ouch. Is that how I should do it next time, Wendy? Maybe we could-”

“Stop,” she pleaded, hitting me again. “I can’t believe you’re talking about this stuff.” 

“What? I’m interested.” I noticed the clock on the far wall. “But I gotta go. When are you off?”

“2 hours,” she said. 

“I should be done by then. If I am, I'll pick you up,” I said.

“What about my car?” She asked, trying to hide her smile.

“I’ll drop you off in the morning,” I said. “Bye, love you babe,” I said. Kissing her she stammered and said the same. I heard the girls grilling her as soon as I left. I heard more than one jealous remark. I had been trying to say love more. A part of me loved all of them. That part of me that I could give to them. It was getting easier, and because of the fact that I would do anything for her and our kid, it was easy to admit. 

But I put my game face on. Heading back to my target’s floor I found her still doing rounds to the patient’s room. She was a simple nurse. Pushing the medication cart down the hall I got a better look at her. Putting my wig back on I looked like a woman and was able to pass through the hall unmolested. 

 

I walked by her, picking her pocket she had her keys on her. She owned a little Ford car. Putting her keys back I headed down to the carport levels. There were 3 levels so I looked for small Fords. 2 on the upper levels I found a spot where I could see the elevator exits for each floor. Sitting down and waiting it wasn’t too long until another shift headed in. 

 

Getting excited I had to keep repositioning myself to try not to draw attention to myself, which was how I almost missed her. Her Ford was closer to the elevator on the floor above. I only caught a glimpse of her when she got in, but when she did I ran to Luna’s car. She had given the keys to me with a smile on her face since she then proceeded to go joy riding with her friends in my car. Since I could fix anything she did to it, I wasn’t too worried. If it had been Audrey I would have sweated about it a little. 

 

Her small car burping to life I waited and as my target came down the ramp I followed behind her. Twisting around the ramp there were a few other people leaving but we were joining traffic without issue.

 

I had been watching her since after school let out. Since this was the day she should have been meeting Florence, it was my one hope to finish this whole ordeal up quickly. When I first started my plan to deal with the leader of the Nightingale I thought it would take at least another month, but as I thought on it more the woman was easier to deal with than I expected. I just wished I had the chance to let her know it was me that fucked her over. But I knew better not to. Best to let her keep questioning who had a hand in her problems.

It wasn’t too long until the small Ford was pulling into the mall parking lot. The place wasn’t very busy for a Wednesday, but she parked near the back of where everyone else was. Dark outside I could see her turn on the light in the car and mess with something. I scanned the cars but didn’t see anything too out of place.

 

Readjusting my wig I put the balaclava on and got out of the car. Moving a ways away, I found a nice spot close by between a few cars. Since these cars were at the back of the lot it was less likely their owners would come back to them quickly, so I settled on watching my target and waiting.

Minutes ticking away a few people got close, but no one noticed me. I was starting to get a little agitated, but forced myself calm. This was hunting, not killing. When my mind was set I let the minutes go by without concern.

As soon as I got in the mindset of waiting patiently the car pulled up. I had seen it a few times during my monitoring of the Nightingale’s club. A big Chevy truck there was a discolored section where heat from my propane bomb had stuck it. A smile escaped my lips as Florence got out and made her way to my target. 

The nurse I was watching got nervous but rolled the window down. Handing her the small vial, Florence gave her an envelope and it was over. Nothing else was said or done. Florence went back to her truck and drove away while the nurse counted the money. A kick in her step she got out of the car ready to spend some at the mall. 

 

When she walked passed I raised up and shot the nurse in the back of the shoulder once. She cried out as she fell. Some people near the mall screamed. I walked away. Ducking down between cars I pulled the wig and balaclava off and got into Luna’s car as people ran to the woman I shot. Driving away slowly I put the gun on the passenger’s seat and made it out of the parking lot without anyone noticing. 

 

Turning on the music to distract me I forced my mind to not worry about this or that. No matter how trained you were, you worried, did someone see me, will there be witnesses, what if I forgot something. But you wouldn’t last long in my business if you let those questions eat away at you. Pushing the thoughts and worries out of my mind I stopped the car at Florence’s house. The truck not there. I waited and went through my plan over and over again. 

Lanny told me she was interrogated by the police about the death of Mary’s stalker. I worried they were looking at her for the murder despite her condition. And of course that was when they moved their attention to Mary. Both interrogated separately. I needed to solve their problem for them. Despite what I told them they hadn’t gotten a lawyer right away and might have let things slip, so Florence was my solution. 

After finding the gun I’d used to take care of Mary’s stalker problem, I scrubbed it clean and made sure it still worked. Only a few weeks in the snow and rain, it was able to be used. The gun I’d taken from and used on the stalker was also the one I used to shoot the nurse that sold Florence her morphine. 

As I thought about her Florence drove up to her house in the big truck. Carrying some take out it looked like she wanted to veg out on the couch with some food and drugs to make her forget the pain. I respected that. When she was inside and the lights were on I stepped out of the car and walked to her truck. 

Unlocking it I threw the gun in the backseat and walked away. Getting in my car I headed onto the interstate, getting closer to my house. Coming off a few exits before I found a gas station without cameras and went to a payphone. 

 

“911, what’s your emergency?” The woman’s voice asked on the line.

“Yes, someone was shot at the Jolly Hill Mall a half hour ago. I was uh too scared to call it in then, but I saw a woman drive away right after the shot was fired, and she looked real…I don’t mean to be insensitive, but rough,” I said in my girliest voice. 

“Uh yes, anything else?” The woman asked. 

“Yes, her license was JTY 555,” I said. “She drives this big truck. I thought I saw her with a gun, but it may have been the light.”

“Okay, can I get your name?”

“No, sorry, I don’t want any trouble,” I said and hung up. Getting back in the car that should have been 2 problems solved. I had stolen the gun from Mary’s stalker, then used it to kill the stalker. Now that it was in Florence’s possession I hoped she would be charged with the stalker’s murder. Since the stalker was a cop she would be treated especially rough too. With any luck someone would kill her for me. If not she would spend at least the next year fighting the cases in court. 

 

Florence could probably provide alibis for the stalker's murder. I doubted that her morphine dealer would out her, but if good police started digging into it they could put 2 and 2 together and put a stop to the nurse stealing and selling morphine too. Then tie that to Florence at least. 

Lots of things up in the air, it solved my problems for now. Florence would be puy away, Eleanor could step up. And I could stop spending my day’s off watching the biker club. Focus on what was truly important like my girls.

When I was back at the house Luna had parked the Elle cockeyed. Grumbling, I ran inside and gave her a piece of my mind. Which she loved and was asleep directly after. Heading back outside I got in the Elle and headed off to the hospital. Ready to treat Wendy like a sick patient I was sure I could talk her into playing doctor. The blonde was more than agreeable to most anything, and I loved her for it.