Take My Breath Away

Blair knew all about Megan. Some tidbits she heard from others. Some from Colleen. She even told her things that nobody else knew about.

"I never thought about it before." Wesley paused. "Maybe till she can find someone to take care of her."

That was the same thing he said to her. Blair rolled her eyes. "Officer Li, you're such a noble, decent, warm-hearted, selfless, wonderful man!" She used all the words she could think of at that moment. She was being sardonic, of course. Blair didn't buy into the "captain save-a-hoe" story. Wesley didn't say anything.

Blair knew he wouldn't.

She sighed and asked, "Are you sleepy?"

"No." He didn't understand why he would be tired. It was still morning. They had just gotten up.

Blair leaned back in her seat and was going to doze off. "I am. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up if you start to get sleepy."

"Why would I do that?"

With her eyes closed, Blair answered feebly, "I'll talk to you so you can stay awake."

"Just go to sleep. Wake you up when we get there." Wesley thought she slept too much as it was. Of course, he didn't need much sleep anyway.

"Okay." She yawned, used the lever to ease the seat back until she felt comfortable, and then drifted off.

When they arrived, Wesley woke her after he parked the car. "Do you need more Zzzs? We can go in later," he asked as he looked at her droopy eyes.

"No, I'm good. Let's not waste any time." To prove that she was already totally awake, Blair unbuckled her seat belt quickly and jumped out of the car. Or at least, she tried, and then she remembered how high up his vehicle was, and stepped onto the running board, and then down. Then she closed the door.

A long line had formed in front of the ticket office. "Wait here. I'll get the tickets," she said.

Wesley stopped her, thinking that a man should be taking care of this kind of thing. "I'll go. Just wait for me by the entrance." He gestured in that direction to make his point.

Blair agreed and went to wait by the entrance.

Soldiers were able to gain early access at the ticket office. But Wesley lined up just like everyone else.

At the entrance there were security scanners and staff inspecting visitors' bags.

When it was Blair's turn to go through the security check, she noticed a man would be inspecting her bag. She remembered she left two tampons in there. She didn't check her bag when she left her apartment this morning.

She looked inside. There they were. She had forgotten to take them out. It would be pretty embarrassing if they found them—or worse, take them out to inspect them.

Just when she was considering putting them in her pocket, the man rudely snatched her bag away.

He was going to root through it when Wesley took the bag from him and handed it to a female worker. "This way,"

he said to Blair.

"Oh, okay." Blair walked quickly over to where he indicated. The woman went through her stuff. When she was certain there was nothing dangerous there, she let them through.

After the staff scanned their tickets, Wesley asked Blair, "Do many fairs have checkpoints like this?"

Blair thought about it and replied, "I think it's only Happy Valley."

Wesley frowned. He could understand the scanner and the security (you didn't want a bomb being brought in, for example), but going through people's belongings was not cool.

Since she wasn't the only one whose bag was inspected, Blair didn't mind. She quickly forgot all about it. Pointing at the double-decker merry-go-round, she asked, "Oooh! Let's ride that one!"

Wesley made a face. "I'll wait for you."

Blair knew he wouldn't want to do that. She was just teasing him. Seeing the awkwardness on his face, she snickered, "Okay. I'll go line up." Some people said that deep down, every adult was a child. That was true with Blair.

The line wasn't long. After a few minutes, she was allowed on the carousel and climbed onto a yellow seahorse.

Wesley stood nearby, waiting. She waved at him with a smile, and he nodded in response.

Before long, the carousel started up. Blair took out her phone to take pictures. Before she could line up a shot, Joslyn called.

"Hi, Joslyn," she said, one hand holding the iron bar.

"Bless, good news!" Joslyn sounded thrilled.

Happiness was indeed contagious. Before Joslyn had a chance to tell her anything, Blair was already in a better mood. "You sound so happy. Are you pregnant, or something?" she joked.

Joslyn suddenly screamed, "Oh my God! How do you know? You're psychic! I just got back from the hospital. I'm pregnant! I'm so excited!"

"Congratulations! You're going to be a mom. That's great!"

"I married your cousin right when I graduated college. I've always wanted a kid. But Hartwell wasn't so sure. Now that I'm about to be a mom, I'm really happy." Joslyn was actually gasping out those words, choked by feelings of joy.

Blair comforted her, "Take it easy. You need to take care of yourself, for the baby."

Wesley watched her while she was on the phone. He had no idea who was on the other end. But she looked happy.

Her smile was magical.

It was like a candle that could light up the entire world. And her dimples...

Wesley pulled out his phone and snapped a pic. She was mesmerizing.

Now, that amazing smile, captured while she was on the carousel, was now in his photo gallery forever.

When Blair got off the carousel, she was still talking to Joslyn. She walked over to Wesley and took his arm.

"Me? I... I'm in Happy Valley right now," Blair replied on the phone.

"Happy Valley? Alone? Why didn't you invite me?" Joslyn complained.

Blair felt embarrassed, stroking her bangs awkwardly. "Um, I came with someone," she said in a low voice.

"Who?" Joslyn pursued the question, afraid that her best friend would forget all about her once she found herself a boyfriend.

Blair looked at Wesley, not knowing how to tell her. Wesley looked at back. When their eyes met, she panicked and looked away. "Joslyn, tell Hartwell. I'll text you when I'm home." She changed the subject hastily.

However, too thrilled about the fact that she was pregnant, Joslyn didn't detect anything unusual in her tone. "Okay. Bye, Bless."

"Bye, sweetie."

"'Sweetie'? Is that what girls call each other?" Wesley asked with a smile after Blair hung up.

"Er... Yeah. You guys do it too. The term 'bro' ring a bell?" she replied with a giggle.