Gen 1 Ch 3

Garnet was so shocked to see Sinbad at the door, she just stood there and gaped.

"Hey there, mind if I come in?"

"Oh, uh, sure. It's been a long time. Where the heck have you been keeping yourself?"

"Sorry about that, I was unavoidably detained. I missed it, didn't I?"

"Missed what?"

"Amber's birthday."

"Yeah, it was yesterday. She really wanted you there."

"She did?" His face lit up a little at that. "Can I see her?"

"First tell me where you've been. You know I'll figure it out eventually anyway."

He laughed a little. "Heh, you probably will. Okay then. I was doing a favor for an.. uh... business aquaintance, over in Sunset Valley, and the local law enforcement took offense. I've been an honored guest in their uh... facility ... just got out yesterday."

Garnet sighed. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear! I was framed! Honest."

"Amber, honey, look who's here!" Garnet motion Amber over.

Amber was hesitant. "Daddy?.. Daddy! Hi! I missed you." She waved shyly.

Sinbad took his cue from that, and waved back.

"Hi sweetie, I've been on a long trip. I brought you a birthday present."

"Yes! An Easy-Bake oven! Thankyou thankyou thankyou! Oh Daddy, please don't go away so long again. Can you stay for dinner? Mommy, can Daddy stay for dinner?"

Garnet made salad, which was about the extent of her cooking skills.

As they ate, she turned to Sinbad.

"Are you alright? you look exhausted."

"Ya, I'm beat. Drove all night to get here. Hey, uh, I hate to ask this, but can I crash on yer couch tonight? Roommate kicked me out."

"Sure." Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know why Sinbad always had that effect on her, but clearly it hadn't gotten any better in the time he was away.

After dinner, Amber headed off to bed, and they both sat there eying each other for a long while.

Then she stood up and quietly moved toward him.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch if you don't want to....unless you are too tired that is... "

"I'm never too tired for that, doll," as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

Afterward, he was instantly asleep, but Garnet lay awake for a long time, watching him sleep. On the one hand, she loved how alive he made her feel, but another part of her knew he was Bad News with a capital B.

After that, Sinbad stopped by every few days. Whenever she returned from work and saw his pick-up parked out front, her heart would begin to pound in anticipation.

"Hey doll, how's things?"

"Going good. You know, you really should get out of your line of work, it's not healthy."

"Haha, and detective work is?"

"I mean it, you could come work for me, we could do the old 'good PI, bad PI' routine. It'd be great."

"Nah, I have a new job lined up, some buddies hooked me up."

Garnet rolled her eyes. "Doing what, robbing banks?" She joked.

He started a bit, and there was a nervous edge to his laughter as he replied.

"Heh heh, course not silly, this is totally legit, I promise!"

Not many people would have noticed, but Garnet filed away that tidbit of information in her head, in case she might need it someday.

Amber loved her new oven almost as much as she did her dollhouse. Whenever her daddy would come over, she'd bake him muffins.

"Mmm, yummy. You're a much better cook than your mom."

"I heard that!" Garnet called.

"Daddy, this math is hard, I don't get it. What's the answer to number 3?"

"That's a tough one, the answer's 42."

"Thanks, daddy, you're the best."

"Your'e not supposed to tell her the answers, that's cheating." Garnet called again.

"Aw, she's right, it is too hard. Let me help her for pete's sake." He winked conspiratorily at Amber, and she grinned back.

Sometimes he'd stay the night, but he'd always leave before dawn. And so time passed, until it was time for Amber's thirteenth birthday, and Garnet's retirement party. Garnet would retire exactly one week after Amber's birthday, and there was to be a big party at the Town Center in front of city hall.

Garnet awoke very late the day of Amber's birthday. She had been up all night feeling sick, as she had been for the past few weeks. She heard voices in the living room, and realized that Sinbad had already arrived for their little family party. She had a sudden craving for pancakes, and although she had never made them before, she decided to give it a try.

Somehow she managed to set the stove on fire! She and Amber stood there screaming, but Sinbad grabbed a fire extinguisher, and soon the flames were out.

All that was left for the firefighter to do was clean up. Garnet felt miserable. The stove was ruined, and there was soot all over the kitchen, and Sinbad was approaching with a very angry look on his face.

"What did you think you were doing? You know you can't cook! In fact, you are the worst cook I've ever seen! Think what would have happened if I hadn't been here. You and Amber could have been hurt bad, or worse!"

Garnet burst into tears, and suddenly was overcome by the acrid smell of burnt pancakes and metal. Waves of nausea hit her like a truck, and she raced to the bathroom.

She couldn't remember ever being so sick in her entire life, not even when she was pregnant with Amber.

She managed to pull herself together somewhat so Amber could blow out her candles.

A spitting image of her daddy.

Afterward, she went straight to bed, and lay there moaning softly.

"Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital."

She must look awful, she had never seen him look so worried.

She almost didn't make it to the entrance, feeling like she was about to faint. But they made it into the ER, and she was rushed off to a room. The doctor had a serious expression on her face.

"I'm so, so sorry, Ms. Moonstone. It looks like you are losing the baby."

Garnet looked at her in confusion. "Baby?"

"Yes, you didn't know? Well, it was very early in the pregnancy. It is most likely due to your advanced maternal age. I'm somewhat surprised you were able to conceive in the first place. Now I want you to get some rest. We will keep you overnight for observation."

Garnet nodded numbly, and Sinbad sat with her until she fell asleep.