Washington, D.C. Date Night #2
Because they all were one either by blood or marriage. They were consistent across the board. No one was ever left out.
“Ready for this award dinner?” Chris asked him, keeping the ruse going.
He nodded.
“I’m not shocked Elizabeth has another award. She collects them like men.”
From where he stood not far away, Gene laughed.
“She’ll kick your ass,” he stated. “You know she doesn’t give a shit about awards. I’m shocked that Gabe got her to this one. Normally, they just get it shipped to work where she tosses them into her desk drawer.”
That was the truth.
It was also why Ethan hoped Gene didn’t put two and two together and see how unlikely this whole scenario was.
Elizabeth would NEVER go to an award ceremony for herself.
Yeah, here were the nerves again.
“Well, he must have bribed her with something,” Chris stated. “You know, like her own personal tank.”
Callen laughed.
He pictured it.
“I don’t know,” he stated. “The world is wonky. We could use a tank, but I’m more curious about how she got another dog. I swear, Ethan said he’d eat his own loafers before that happened.”
They were trying to distract Gene, and so far, it was working.
“It was really good sex,” Ethan admitted. “I’m easy when I’m distracted by a few things. Those things are naked people—Chris, Gene, Elizabeth, and Callen. Who here doesn’t know she’s got one hell of a mouth on her?”
Wasn’t that the truth?
Well, except Gene.
“Well, either way, it’s nice to have a date night. Who’s dancing with me tonight?” Callen asked. “Any takers?”
Everyone raised their hand.
“I like when I’m this popular.”
Only, their party of four just became a party of five.
“It’s your dick, Callen James,” Elizabeth said, walking into the room.
All of them turned, and they were caught off guard. Elizabeth wasn’t in some ridiculously fancy gown. She was wearing a simple black dress, heels, and looked beautiful, but it wasn’t her norm.
As of late, she wore Marine red and gold in honor of their son, Koda.
They all stared.
“What?” she asked, turning around. “Do I have toilet paper on my shoe? Is my dress tucked into my underwear? Why are you all staring like that?”
There was a good reason.
The men were befuddled.
“Where are the sequins and fancy shit?” Callen asked. “You packed a different dress than that. I know, because I packed the jewelry that went with it.”
She was honest.
“Tonight isn’t about me. This award ceremony is about other people. I want to blend in.”
Ethan was staring at her, and in that moment, he loved her so much.
That was for him and Gene.
He knew it.
Heading his way, Elizabeth went into his body and kissed him.
“You look handsome. In fact, you all do,” she admitted. “I’m a lucky girl.”
Ethan rested his forehead against hers.
“I love you. Thank you,” he said softly, knowing she’d understand.
Oh, he didn’t need to thank her. She loved the nuts in this family, and what wouldn’t she do for them?
Going to Chris, she fixed his bowtie, even though it was perfect.
It was their thing.
“Look at my handsome doctor,” she said. “As always, nice bowtie.”
He grinned.
“Well, I know what my girl likes. Nice necklace.”
She was wearing only the rosary that Callen had given her. It was ruby and diamond, and she wore it a lot. For a long time, she did battle with God and her role in this world, but she’d come to grips with it.
As a mother, she had to be open to all kinds of things for her children, and she had one that loved God and wanted to be a nun.
She wasn’t nun material, but their daughter was.
Moving toward Callen, she went into his arms, and he hugged her.
“You smell nice too,” he said. “I personally like the dress. It shows off your legs,” he admitted. “Whatcha got on under that LBD?” he asked.
She snorted.
“My dignity, and that’s it.”
He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Later, I need to get acquainted with your dignity. I’ll be the one wearing lechery. They should meet up.”
She grinned at him.
“Any day, Callen James.”
At Gene, she touched his face. He looked nice in his tuxedo, too. They’d just come off a rough case, and she was glad to see that he was holding up.
Their world wasn’t easy, but he was doing double duty holding Ethan up for the time being. Going back to Damascus had been a bumpy ride for everyone—including her partner in the field.
“Look at you. Cleaned up and ready to party. Save a dance for me,” she said.
He brushed a piece of her hair out of her face. It was hanging down from the updo.
“You know it. Who am I to say no to the newest award recipient?”
She snorted.
“I tell you what. You can have this award. I’ll take a step back, and you get to be the man of the hour.”
Yeah, no.
He was more of a supporting character in their world, and he liked it that way. Nothing pissed him off more than having the media talk about him.
It made him twitchy.
Giving him a kiss, he accepted it, and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Their relationship was a work in progress. It wasn’t easy at times, and that was mostly because they didn’t have sex to clear the obstacles.
Being in love with someone was one thing, but making a partnership out of it, when neither was attracted to each other, made for interesting moments.
Still, they made it work.
Like now.
A kiss, the act of love, and the comfortableness of two people bound together due to the love of another man could help just about any situation.
“Don’t listen to the men. You’re killing it in that dress. They’re just jealous that I’m going to steal you away,” Gene teased.
She laughed.
“I mean, I do like a big man,” she said.
Callen cleared his throat.
“The other big man in the room doesn’t like this conversation, and he knows where Gene sleeps. He’s not as attached to him as the man might think.”
That was amusing. As for knowing where he slept…
They all did.
He was in their bed.
Gene just slapped Elizabeth on the ass, mostly to egg the men on because she was against him, and not them.
Half the fun was busting ass in their family, and now, he felt like he really belonged.
Walls were down, and there were no boundaries. If he wanted or needed affection, he could go to not one, but four people for it, and there was never a no to be found.
Family was nice.
His family was even better.
When Ivan walked into the room, he was in a suit, but it was crystal clear he had body armor on under it, and was packing a gun.
Old habits die hard.
Someone was on protection duty.
“Your chariot awaits, Brunhilda, and by chariot, I mean your security team to walk you to the award ceremony. The president arrived, and you don’t want to keep him waiting.”
Yeah, God forbid.
She’d be more than happy to annoy Gabe, so that was a false statement. She loved to keep him waiting, and his blood pressure up.
Ivan continued.
“Where’s the rest of your costume? Putting the horns on when you get there?” he asked, acting normally, so Gene didn’t suspect anything.
They’d all been working on this to surprise the man, and what wouldn’t they do for Ethan?
He was their family.
“Har-har, Toady. You would know about costumes. You cosplay as an actual adult in your shoe lifts.”
He snorted.
“Nice dress. It brings out the mean in your eyes.”
She walked past him and kicked out his knees from behind, making him drop.
“I know,” she said, getting the last laugh.
They all headed out of the room, and it was the one that they always had when they went to the conference center. At the elevator, half of security went first to get to the main floor before her.
As she stood there, Ethan was in position. He was holding Gene’s hand.
It was a short walk to the actual ceremony, and he needed to stall for Callen, Chris, and Elizabeth to get inside. So far, everything was running smoothly.
When the elevator returned, they all got in with Raphael and Ivan with them.
“Someone grab my ass,” Callen said.
Chris looked over.
“Did you mean someone grabbed?” he asked.
Callen grinned.
“No, I like a good elevator fondle. Someone grab it,” he stated again.
It made Gene laugh.
“You’re not even lowkey about it anymore,” he stated, as Raphael grabbed Callen’s ass.
It was fair game since he asked them to, right?
“I didn’t mean you, Raph,” he said, laughing. “I was talking to one of my spouses—not someone else’s spouse.”
The Archangel shrugged.
“My bad. Don’t put it out there then,” he joked, trying to keep it light.
Why?
They were almost to the finish line.
As the doors opened, people were in the lobby, and of course, they all stared at them.
No.
Shock.
There.
That was just part of their life.
“This way,” Uriel said, as he was in front, leading the way, and Raphael was in the back, covering their flank.
As they headed down the hallway, Elizabeth made small talk.
“When this is over, let’s fly home. I miss my kids,” she said, knowing that wasn’t necessary since their kids were there.
Ethan agreed.
“I miss them too. Willa asked Dad where we were, and I want to get home to her.”
Gene was holding Ethan’s hand, and he’d do whatever they all wanted to do. Nothing made him happier than spending time with their kids.
“I’m mid-model with EJ, so I’ll be more than happy to get out of this monkey suit, and head home. Uncle Gene promised him that we’d finish it,” he said in the third person.
Oh, he had no idea.
Soon, he’d be with the kids, and no longer Uncle Gene.
At the conference ballroom door, Ethan stopped and glanced over.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked Gene, putting their plan into place.
The man smiled.
“Sure, Baby. What’s going on?” he asked.
Elizabeth kept the rest of them moving.
“We’ll meet you in there. Look for the table with the annoyed President and Director of the FBI. I may or may not have skipped filing my paperwork after the last case. My bad,” she said, laughing.
Oh, that would annoy Axelle to no end.
“We’ll be right in,” Ethan offered.
As they left them there, slipping into the room where all their guests were quietly waiting, Ethan faced Gene.