OUT OF THE RED ↝ dave grohl

one-hundred-seven.

OCTOBER 2nd, 1997, LOS ANGELES, CA

"SO, ARE YOU with child?" came Dave's anxious, crackling voice from over the phone. He sounded jumpy and Reagan sensed that it had little to do with his show in D.C. that night.

She sat on the edge of her desk, looking out the windows of her office at the busy streets of Santa Monica below. She sighed, crossing her ankles and picking up a pen to twirl between her fingers.

"I don't think it's as simple as that," she said.

Dave's hopefulness deflated. "No baby?"

"No baby," Reagan confirmed. She'd gotten her period the day prior much to her disappointment.

"Damn," he swore, sounding like he'd lost a bet rather than dropped the ball on conceiving with her. "I thought my aim was pretty good."

"I hate to break it to you, but I don't think performance factor has anything to do with it."

"Neither do I, but think about it. We fucked for like, ten days straight."

"That's putting it bluntly," she said as heat blossomed in the apples of her cheeks.

"Are you kidding? That's putting it lightly. My dick was hanging on by a thread."

It was unavoidable for Reagan to laugh. "Thanks for putting that image in my head."

"That one was for free," Dave said. She could hear him grinning through the receiver. "The next one will cost you."

"It's going to take some time," she said slowly, attempting to be rational. Not everyone got pregnant overnight.

"Not with my champion sperm. Hey, did you tell Kate yet?"

Ignoring his first remark, Reagan guilty pushed herself off her desk and grabbed the cradle to her office phone, walking it with her to the window.

"No," she admitted. "I don't want anyone to know until it happens."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Your mom is going to be a real joy to tell," Dave agreed.

Kimberly aside, thinking about her family made Reagan's stomach ache. It had only been a few days since she'd last phoned Kate, but she'd let the weeks irresponsibly stretch on since she'd last talked to Robbie or the twins. Despite being so young, they'd proven to have a keen understanding of just how tangled her adult life could be, but still. She really did miss them.

She missed Chris, too. They'd been talking about Chris venturing down to L.A. for months, but nothing had so far come of it. Chris was apparently busy bartending in Olympia.

"Maybe we'll fly out to see them," Reagan said tentatively. "If it happens."

"Of course we will. We'll visit my mom, too. She's gonna' freak."

"I miss you."

Reagan spoke the words without having planned to say them. They rolled off her tongue, coaxed out of her by the sound of his voice.

"I miss you too, baby," Dave said tenderly. He paused, allowing Reagan to listen to the faint sound of his breathing, before he spoke again.

"Hey," he said, "do you think you could come see us play? We're going to be in Fargo and Omaha the weekend of the twenty-fourth. That's enough time for you to make some arrangements."

The offer was incredibly enticing. "What about Gracie?" Reagan asked. "Who would watch her?"

"Bring her with you."