Epilogue 2
EPILOGUE 2
Late Christmas Morning
Katlin sat on the long couch in the living room watching JT and Simon play with the gifts Santa had brought in the parlor across the foyer. The French doors to both rooms were open allowing guests to wander and mingle in a huge friendly space. The remains of brunch sat in warming trays in the dining room where several guests grazed and chatted.
Nita Banks Callahan, Katlin’s former teammate and current sister-in-law, wandered by with a bottle of red in one hand and white in the other. “Are you ready for a refill?” She nodded to Katlin’s nearly empty wineglass. “You need this after the last few days you’ve had.”
She smiled up at her old friend. “Hit me. I’d stand and give you a hug but I’m just too fucking tired.” She glanced at the boys before she continued, “Thanks for picking up a bike for JT.”
“Thank Alex for helping Daniel put them together last night.” Nita splashed red wine into her glass and sat down beside Katlin. “Thanks again for watching Simon and Bella for us yesterday. I couldn’t believe how many last-minute patients needed to be seen. My practice is too young to turn away customers.”
“Tell the truth,” Tori Denton, another former teammate, insisted as she sat down on the other side of Katlin and sipped her red wine. “You just can’t stand to see any kid in pain.”
“You’re right,” Nita admitted. “But staying in the city let me grab a few more gifts, especially for JT. I swear we bought Simon every age-appropriate gift possible and thought we were done by Halloween, but last night as Daniel and I combed the aisles I found even more.”
“I know exactly how you feel,” claimed Lei Lu Sorensen Morgan as she sat down with baby Henry Randall “Rand” in her lap. “Spear won’t let me go into baby stores anymore by myself. And before I forget, thank you, Katlin, for letting us stay here last night. I hope Rand didn’t wake you up. It’s as though he has one volume when he wakes up hungry.”
“They all do,” Katlin reassured. “Ric used to wake up screaming to be fed every two-and-a-half hours for the first several months after he was born.”
Nita leaned across to speak to Lei Lu. “He’s a big baby. Have you started him on cereal like I suggested when I saw you last week?”
“Yes, but with all the excitement in the house last night he was too busy to eat much,” Lei Lu considered.
Skylar came toddling into the living room, Harper Tambini Silva only steps behind her. “Who knew something two feet tall could run so fast?” She grabbed her one-year-old and wrestled the child into her seat across from the filled couch. “I don’t need to go to the gym anymore. I’m constantly doing twenty-five-pound curls and chasing after this one.”
“Pick me,” Nita said while waving her hand like an elementary school student. “I’ve had Bella since she was an infant. And I can attest to the fact that it doesn’t get better until they’re out of college. Warning. Teenage girls suck the life out of a mother. My whole day yesterday was filled primarily with teenagers. Ugh!”
Grace Hall Mitchell strode into the room with a tall glass of something clear and bubbly with a sprig of green, smiling ear to ear as she took the other wingback chair across from the couch.
“Okay, spill.” Nita wiggled her fingers. “Either you just got laid, or Griffin gave you something absolutely wonderful for Christmas.”
All the women scanned their former teammate’s body head to toe.
“I can’t keep it a secret any longer…I’m pregnant,” Grace confessed.
Several of the women jumped up to hug her.
“That’s wonderful.”
“I’m so excited for you.”
“How far along are you?” Nita asked.
“Almost three months.” Grace seemed to burst with happiness. “It’ll be perfect to have our little one in the Guardian Angels.”
Katlin took in all the happiness that surrounded her emanating from her former Black Swan Team 1. Each one had moved on. Grace, Tori, and Lei Lu now worked for Guardian Security in one capacity or another.
“Do you want to see pictures from Christmas morning at the Cantrells?” Kayla Scarlatto asked no one in particular as she strode into the living room.
Lei Lu held out her hand. “Here, hold Rand and I’ll hook your phone up to the TV.”
“That would be awesome,” Katlin declared, holding out her arms. “Let me hold Rand while you handle that.”
Alex, Griffin, Rafe, Marcus, Henry, and Daniel wandered into the room.
“Kayla, how did it go this morning?” Alex asked.
With a smile, she answered, “We’re about to see the pictures.” The phone rang. “Let me answer this. It’s Piper.” There was only a short pause before Kayla excitedly asked, “How did it go? Hold on. I’m going to put you on speaker. We’re still here at Katlin’s home.”
“Oh, wait a minute.” Katlin jumped up from the couch and jogged into the parlor. “JT, we have something special to show you.”
“May I come to? I want to see.” Simon stood up right behind JT.
Katlin put her arms around both boys. “Of course you can.”
JT walked into the living room and his jaw dropped when he saw what was on the television. Picture after picture of the Cantrells gathered around a pile of gifts in their small living room. His nine-year-old foster brother jumping in the air as a large bald man hands him a bicycle In the next picture, his six-year-old foster sister sat on the floor amidst piles of colorful clothes, but she was intent on redressing a Barbie doll. A photo of the Cantrells’ worn dining table covered with a huge meal of ham, turkey, green beans, and all the other holiday fixings including three pies.
JT looked up at Katlin and Alex who now stood with their arms around each other. “They got Christmas!”
Alex nodded. “They most certainly did.”
“Did Santa bring all that to them?” JT asked.
“He had a little help,” Katlin noted as she looked to Kayla, Kira Frost, Mia McCormick, and Ashlin Cartwright; Black Swan Team 2.
“Our friend, Piper Knight, and her husband Kenner Lane, flew to Kansas early this morning to deliver those gifts to the Cantrell family,” Kayla explained.
“If you bring me your new iPad,” Katlin suggested, “you can talk to them. Your oldest foster brother also got an iPad. From yours, you can call Mr. and Mrs. Cantrell on their new iPhones.”
Five minutes later JT was FaceTiming with his former foster family in the quiet of the parlor.
“What were you able to gather for them in the late hours of Christmas Eve?” Katlin asked Piper who was still on speakerphone.
“Given the ages of the kids, we bought lots of clothes. Every little six-year-old girl wants a Barbie and she was going to need plenty of clothes to dress the little doll.” Pride and happiness in Piper’s voice was heard through the phone. “We picked up several cases of baby food and diapers as well as a baby-proof doll for the infant. I think you saw in the pictures when Kenner gave the little boy the bicycle. I love that picture. The only thing that would have made this better was if Kenner had dressed up as Santa.”
“No fucking way,” came the male voice from the background.
“So where are you headed next?” Mia asked.
“Well, the plane belongs to the Holt Agency. That’s where Kenner and I were last night, with his team. They have a complete blowout bash on Christmas Eve so each family can celebrate Christmas morning together. Heath Kubiak and Annali Frantz made the run to Kansas with us this morning. As soon as we get back to the plane, we’re taking off for Florida. Kenner and I are having supper with my parents.” Her excitement came through the phone. “My brother, you know, the one that’s a SEAL, will be there too. Heath and Annali are going to go on a four-day cruise starting tomorrow morning. They’ll take us back to Washington, D.C. on their way back to southern Indiana.”
Everyone yelled to them, “Merry Christmas,” just before she hung up.
“Katlin,” Kayla said with her team standing behind her. “Thank you for an absolutely wonderful morning, the best breakfast I’ve eaten in…years probably, and sharing your Christmas with us.” She glanced at her team. “But we really need to go. Most of us have flights this afternoon. As you well know, it’s not often we get to be home for the holidays, so we’re all going to take advantage of the few days’ leave our great boss has given us.”
“I keep my promises…when I’m able.” Katlin hugged each member of Black Swan Team 2 as they left.
Still standing in the foyer, both her uncles approached with their coats on.
After she’d hugged her uncle Tom, she noticed their old family friend, Brigadier General Ava Standish, who for a time was also Katlin’s boss.
“All three of us are headed to Costa Rica,” her uncle Francis, the Monsignor, announced.
“We’re celebrating my retirement from the Marine Corps,” the woman she’d often referred to as Aunt Ava throughout her childhood announced. “But I won’t be gone for long. I start my new job January twentieth when the new president takes over.”
“New job?” Black Swan Team 1 asked in unison. The women on her former team had joined the circle in the foyer.
Proudly, Ava announced, “I have been tagged to be the next Secretary of Defense. The transition team will announce it within the next few days.”
Hugs were passed around the women.
After they’d said goodbye to her uncles and Ava, Nita held up four bottles of wine.
“Ladies, it was one hell—” Nita glanced around then corrected herself, “heck of a Christmas. I believe it’s time for wine.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Katlin glanced over at JT once again playing with Simon in the parlor. Jenny, holding baby Riccardo, had joined them. “I’ll be right there. I need to hug my children.”
The end.