Chapter Twenty-Two
JOSHUA
Six months later
The sound of running feet pounded over the hardwood floors of my house.
The bark of a much larger Garbanzo followed by giggles reached my ears and I grinned, turning from the sink where I’d been doing dishes.
Meggie and Pete came charging into the kitchen, their laughter a common sound in our house these days.
Garbanzo ran into the room after them, skittering to a halt as his claws caught the edge of the rug where I stood, bunching it up against my ankles as he tried and failed to stop.
“Kids! Slow down!” I said, sounding very much like a parent, comfortable as hell in that role since that’s what the kids needed from me.
Of course, things had changed over the last few months.
Though Nash and I were now living together, sharing co-parenting duties of my younger siblings, the burden and constant worry of raising them alone wasn’t mine alone any longer.
I now had a strong, good man at my side who loved them deeply and they’d taken to having two big brothers very well.
When Nash and I showed up at school functions holding hands, they were proud to show our newly constituted family off to their friends.
“Hey, stinkers!” Barbie shouted, walking into the room after them with Twilla at her side. She was grinning. “If you want me to take you for ice cream, you’d better clean up those dog toys before Nash gets home!”
“Ice cream!” Pete shouted, pumping his fists in the air as he jumped up and down. “I need ice cream!”
“Sugar? That’s all they need,” I said. “Look at them.”
Meggie ran over to me and grabbed my waist, looking up at me with a pleading expression.
Barbie and Twilla had done her hair up in high ponytails that stuck out on either side of her crown looking like fluffy little pompoms secured by pink barrettes that barely contained my sister’s kinky, black curls.
She grinned, showing off dimples that got more prominent the older she got.
“I neeed sugar, Nash!” she cried. “I neeed sugar!”
I laughed, bending over to kiss the top of her head. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Joshua,” she said before letting go and racing out of the kitchen as she called to Pete. “Last one to clean up dog toys is a rotten egg!”
Pete whooped and ran out of the kitchen, Garbanzo right on his heels, barking like crazy.
I was so grateful that Billy had allowed the kids to keep the puppy when he’d come out of rehab and also glad my friend was now working diligently with his sponsor, still clean after six months.
He’d known that giving Garbanzo to the kids was the right thing to do.
His small apartment was no place to raise a lively puppy when he had to work all day and we had a perfectly wonderful backyard and two silly little people who loved lavishing affection on him.
“You’re taking them for ice cream?” I asked Barbie, hugging her and winking at Twilla.
Barbie pulled away, grinning at me. “Well, Nash has been training that Tac Team in San Diego for two weeks and I know you boys might appreciate a little alone time when he gets home.” She looked over at Twilla and smiled as she slung an arm over her girlfriend’s shoulders.
“Besides, Twilla loves to tell me all the things I’m doing wrong when I drive. ”
“Oh, God,” I pleaded, pressing my palms together and looking to Heaven. “Please don’t do wrong things when you drive. My insurance is already like a million dollars. The last thing I need is my premiums to go up because you’re not obeying the law.”
Barbie spun to look at me. “And you know I’m kidding, Joshua,” she said emphatically even as she ruined the expression of innocence with the smile that played around her full lips.
“I’m a very good driver and since I’m starting college in a few weeks, I needed that car.
I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it. ”
I knew that but hadn’t been kidding about the premiums. Adding them to an already stretched budget, was a killer, even though Nash’s salary—now that he’d moved himself, Marvin, and an entire greenhouse in with us—helped to pay the bills.
At first, I’d resisted his offer to help and then he’d sat me down and we’d worked out an amount I’d accept.
He’d showed me his current rent, and then his FBI paycheck which came with the civilian equivalent to military hazard pay.
Then again, resisting was a hard thing to do to a man who’d insisted on fucking me into the bed after laying out his case.
The memory of that night still made me grin.
I smiled at Barbie. “Okay, so, take them out for ice cream, but drive carefully, please.” I glanced at my watch, anxiously anticipating Nash’s return. “And, maybe take them to the mall for a few hours.”
She had the audacity to laugh. “We’ll be back in a few hours. Have a happy reunion.”
“Bye, Mr. Calder!” Twilla said, waving to me as she and my younger sister walked out of the room.
I finished drying the dishes as I heard the house quiet down and then walked out into the living room to make sure everything was just as I liked it. I didn’t want Nash to come home to a messy house. He probably wouldn’t complain about it, but he’d lived as a single guy for a long time.
I prided myself on keeping a welcoming home for him even though it seemed we were forever running the vacuum.
Ever since Marvin and Garbanzo had moved in and adopted the family, there seemed to be pet hair in odd corners of every room.
The byproduct of living with pets…I supposed it was just how things were.
The two animals adored each other, for which I was very relieved.
I’d been worried that an older cat like Marvin wouldn’t get along with a young puppy, but before Nash moved in, he’d taken the puppy’s blankets home and put them in all of the cat’s favorite spots in the apartment.
By the time they’d moved in, Marvin was accustomed to the puppy’s scent and had almost immediately taken him under his wing.
I often found them sleeping curled up beside each other which was very gratifying.
Our home had also bloomed in other ways.
Plants of every shape and size now graced every corner, making it seem brighter and much more colorful.
Meggie especially, had taken a great interest in them, bringing home library books about how to care for each one.
I was so proud of her…of all of them. They were the strongest people I knew.
Nash and I had worried about their safety for weeks after the incidents that brought us together, to the point of not immediately requesting they be brought home from Portland, Oregon. That city had been their WITSEC location in the aftermath of the home invasion which put their lives in danger.
We’d waited until we were assured that Carson Turley and John Sibley were the only two DEA agents responsible for making a deal with the Los Toros and Sanchez Cartels to protect their drug pipeline.
The investigation headed up by SAC Bannister of the DEA and SAC Bradley of the FBI, with the help of Raven Mathis and Judy Mendez running point in IT, had ended almost a month to the day after I’d killed Juan Rojas.
Since that terrible night, I’d spent many hours in counseling, both with Nash and alone, though, he was always with me in spirit.
I still got nightmares over the horror of killing a man the way I’d done it, but Nash was always—always—there for me.
With rare exception, we hadn’t slept apart for a single night, other than the last two weeks.
His team had been asked to fly to San Diego to train another Tac Team, then stayed on when they ran up against a tough case.
He’d come home on weekends, but it had been rough on both of us.
Our little family was still new, and we hated sleeping apart.
The nightmares weren’t so bad with him snoring softly next to me.
The jangle of keys at the front door made me look up from where I was plumping couch pillows and the sound sent excitement rushing through me as I jogged to the door.
Nash’s big, strong body was silhouetted through the frosted glass of our new front door, the one we’d replaced after killers had broken it, trying to get into the house that awful night.
I reached for the knob and yanked it open, smiling broadly at the beautiful man standing on the doorstep.
He wore silver aviators, a bomber jacket, combat boots, and loose-fitting jeans ripped at the knees.
His hair was cut short, looking as delicious as he could be.
I shouted his name and ran out onto the porch, leaping into his outstretched arms, and letting him swing me around in a circle as I wrapped both legs around him.
His mouth crashed down on mine as he began a devouring kiss.
I pushed my tongue against his, tasting mint as I smelled the leather from his jacket and the underlying sandalwood soap he used.
He grunted as he carried me into the house, never letting go as he supported my ass with two big hands, kissing me breathless the entire time.
When he finally broke the kiss and let my legs slide to the ground, I reached for his glasses, pulling them off so I could look into his smiling hazel eyes.
“I missed you so much, Nash,” I said as he moved past me to grab the duffel he’d dropped on the porch, kicking the door closed behind him.
“Missed you too, baby.” He began shucking out of his jacket when I stopped him, grabbing his hand, to drag him toward what had long ago become our bedroom. He laughed. “Wait…where’re we going? Where are the kids?”
“Barbie and Twilla took them to get ice cream and then to the mall,” I threw over my shoulder, talking rapidly “We have three hours, so I need you naked right now.”