"Hell," she muttered and rubbed her belly. "I'm hungry," she blurted out. "Feed me first and then I will be ready for some play-acting," she assured them. "But food first, then maybe a nap and then I will be clean and refreshed and ready to catch a bad guy."
The captain snorted and shook his head. "The woman has her priorities," he said.
"That she does." Ansell chuckled. Reaching down for her hand he tugged her up from the chair. "Cap, can you put those sheets somewhere the cleaners can't get at them?"
"Absolutely." He nodded. Leaning across his desk, he took them from Lacey's fingers. "Go, do whatever you need to do and then let's start wrapping this up. This asshole has taken enough of our time and more than his share of manpower. Let's put an end to him and the fear he's causing in the folks around here."
"I couldn't agree more," Lacey murmured. "And I'm hungry because I'm pregnant. Pregnant women need food lots, lots of food," she mumbled and rose with Ansell's help. "Now, take me and feed me please?" she asked with a grin.
Zhubin took her other hand and they left the captain's office. They didn't speak of anything concerning the case. They just spoke random things, idle chit-chat as they headed for the elevators and toward the cafeteria when they reached the right floor.
Lacey inhaled and sighed. "Oh god, they have lasagna." She was barely pregnant but already some foods called to her while others sent her running for the bathroom. Lasagna was one that called to her. "Smells sooo good. Will you get me two slices while I check out what they have for dessert?"
"I've got the main course," Ansell said with a chuckle.
Zhubin let her go ahead of him toward the dessert end of the buffet-style lineup. He was tense, watchful and didn't stray more than five feet from her. Not all that odd really, given how they'd both been acting since she'd come back to work. They never left her alone and when she needed to be someplace by herself or with someone else, they always checked it thoroughly before letting her in there.
She was drooling, literally. The dessert bar had everything on it and she seemed to want it all. Without even thinking of it she slipped her hand into Zhubin's, knowing that one of them would be close by and leaned into him with a happy grin. "Look, yum. I think I will take just a little of everything, except Jell-O. Ick." She couldn't look at Jell-O cubes without thinking of how they were made and that was just plain bad.
"Then ignore the Jell-O," he said, nudging her past and turning his body to block her view. "You have plenty of other things to choose from. Including several chocolate-made items, a few caramel and then all the various fruit concoctions."
"O, the caramel ones." Her mouth began to water. "I think I will take those. Not so much on the chocolate but the caramel is all mine." Okay, so she was like a ping pong ball with her "I want this" and "no instead I want that," but that was all a part of being pregnant, or so she was telling herself.
Zhubin collected two different dishes, darling man that he was, and waved her onward. He didn't even question her choice, not even a flicker, he was either rolling with it or had decided it was better not to question the pregnant woman. Either way it was a wonderful and very wise choice.
Lacey smiled, that's all that she could do at that moment. She was happy, so very happy to have the men in her life that she did. When she took a seat she sighed happily and licked her lips. "You are both so good to me. For me," she said and bumped her shoulder to Zhubin's and watched Ansell approaching with a heavily laden tray of foods. "See, so good to me."
"We just want what is best for you," he said with a shrug. "You've been through so much this past year and I just want you to be happy and feel safe always. With the baby on the way I feel this need to get this asshole wrapped up and delivered on a silver platter sooner than later. He's taken too much from us already and doesn't deserve any more from us, ever."
"I couldn't agree more." She sighed and closed her eyes. "He doesn't deserve another breath from us but we will have to dedicate more than that in finding him. We have to stop him. We have to ensure that this monster never again harms another."
"We'll stop him," Ansell said, his heat warming her other side. "There is no other option and, no matter what, it will happen. He's a threat to everything and everyone. Because he's got nearly no pattern at all we only have one route to stopping him. In just a few hours we'll start laying the groundwork and see if we can't get him to bite."
"Good. As long as we can be sure to catch him, that's all that I care about. We catch him. We make him go away for good. And then life will go on. Once he has been caught and I'm able to take maternity leave I think that I will feel a hundred times better."
"We'll definitely feel better with you safe from him," he said. He slid the tray in front of her so it was easy for all three of them to reach. "Had no clue what you wanted, Z, so there are some options. Lasagna for the lady though, as requested, and a few other things I know you'll want to nibble on."
"Thank you." She took the lasagna and inhaled the scents of it. Her stomach rumbled. "Oh goodness I'm starving. Thank you for getting me food." She began to eat without waiting for her men.
They split up the remaining food between them, leaving some of the extras that Ansell had mentioned, on the tray before her and then dug in. Conversation was suspended as they all ate, the men watching everyone and everything happening in the cafeteria. Both were tense, but it was to be expected when they were so damned close to finally getting their man.
After she was finished with her lasagna Lacey then began to grab miscellaneous items from the tray and ate this and then that. She enjoyed the food that was before them a great deal. Especially the meat dishes. "Goodness, I've never been much of a meat eater but right now I can't seem to get enough."
Both of them gave a snort. "Luhpynes are primarily carnivores," Ansell pointed out, not for the first time. "The more meat we have in our diet the happier we are. And you are carrying a Luhpyne cub so it stands to reason you need more meat in your diet to appease the little appetite you're caring for."
"Well then you better get in line at the butchers. If I am eating like this now, imagine how much more meat I will eat the further the pregnancy progresses? I mean seriously? I will totally be eating whole cows and pigs by that point."
"We've already arranged to double our standing orders," he grinned at her. "Another two weeks I think is when it goes into effect. Then we will be more than ready for you and your new appetites. We should also likely mention that your need for sex will likely go into overdrive. More than right after the mating even."
"That's a very good thing. And two weeks? You really think that I will start to pack food away like that in two weeks?" She blushed then, and laughed. "Oh you poor, poor men. If my sex drive increases the both of you will be begging for extra shifts at work just so that you can rest up." He was right though, she was horny. Very.
"I highly doubt that," Zhubin put in his two cents. "And yes, it will be about two weeks when your appetite goes into overdrive if my mother is to be believed. Which, considering she's been through it before, she is. Plus she asked a few other women, neighbors of theirs, and they gave the same reply."
"Wonderful," Lacey muttered. "So will you guys be able to take time off while I am in this needful state or should we just get an office and soundproof it now so that I can attack you boys at any given moment in time?"
"Uh, no." He shook his head with a smirk. "We will be doing the rotations, same as we are now, with you at home. It's best you don't work longer than you feel the need to. Especially once we have this asshole taken down, you can step back and just worry about yourself and the little Luhpyne."
"That sounds perfect to me. I will still want to remain active and doing something, I don't think that I'm cut out to be a stay-at-home mom but I do want to be there for our child's first formative years. I just … I don't know what I want. I think that I just need to let it all go and come to me when it does. Thoughts?"