Surprise
Sarah's suddenly opened her eyes, as a loud scream filled her ears, the whole bed shaking, and the sheets almost getting tugged off her body. She immediately knew that it wasn't her kids. They don't scream in a voice that loud and low.
She looked to her side, seeing Tyler sitting up in their bed.
His breathing heavy, small tears running down his cheeks.
He seemed confused for a moment, like he didn't know where he was. His head slowly looked back and forth, taking in the sight that was in front of him.
He tilted his body, looking back at Sarah as he laid back down, looking into her eyes.
"Sorry" he whispered, as his head coming back down on his pillow.
"Another nightmare?" she asked, pulling him close in comfort.
He gave a slow nod, rubbing his hands over his face, groaning in frustration and exhaustion.
"I just wish they'd stop" he said. "I just want my past in my past."
Sarah draped her arm over his chest, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Your parents had more of an impact on you then you want to believe Tyler."
He gave a long sigh, looking up at the ceiling of their room. He said nothing for several minutes. He just continued holding Sarah, close, before sitting up and out of bed.
"Where are you going?" she asked, as she watched Tyler put on some jeans.
"I am not going to be able to get back to sleep. I am just going to go down stairs for a while."
"Alright Ty. Don't make to much noise when you come back up."
He gave her a smile, before walking out of their room, and downstairs.
As he entered the living room, he paused as he saw the mess his kids left before they went to bed. Toys and wires covered the floor. You couldn't even tell here was carpet underneath.
He sighed, about to bend down to start cleaning, when he suddenly felt a small sharp pain in his chest.
It felt like a bad case of heartburn, that was starting to turn worse and worse.
He clutched his chest, as he made his way over to the washroom, turning on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. He had been feeling these pains for the last few days.
It would come and go and last only a few seconds and would be more uncomfortable then painful.
But the time, there was something different.
His skin looked pale. And from his chest, a weird pattern of grey lines spread across his body. It almost looked like some sort of maze. The lines were all straight and bent on ninety degree angles. It looked like some sort of weird circuit board.
He took a deep breath of pain, as the pattern on his skin quickly disappeared.
He knew something was going on. Something was happening to him.
He looked down at his chest, a small glow covering it as it opened up, revealing his spark.
Where it would normally be a slow pulsing and rotating, it was now almost flashing, spinning around like a top.
He watched it, not knowing what was happening or why.
Soon, his spark returned to normal, going back to slow speed once again.
Was he somehow sick? Was this some sort of disease?
He had no idea.
But he did know one thing. That this was not normal, and whatever it meant, it would not be good. It was this dark feeling that was hanging over his shoulders. Something bad was coming. It was some sort of weird connection, like he somehow knew what it was, but at the same time, couldn't put his finger on it.
"You You know that dress we spotted the other day when we were shopping" Sarah said, as she and the Chippettes sat on the back patio of her house, all of them laying in their swimsuits, enjoying the warm rays of the sun.
"I thought it was the cutest dress I have ever seen. Bright sparkles, spaghetti straps."
"And what did you do?" Brittany said, as she sat up, pulling her small sun glasses down, giving Sarah a small naughty smile, knowing what she was about to say.
"I bought it."
All the girls squealed, laughing and giggling.
"You are so bad" Brittany laughed, as she layer back down in her chair.
"What did Tyler say about it?" Jeanette asked.
"I haven't shown it to him yet. I figured I'd let it be a surprise. He has just been under a lot of stress lately. I'd figure I's show it to him when we are on vacation."
"How long before he is off duty?" Eleanor said, standing up to stretch.
"He should be home any minute now" Sarah replied, looking at her watch that was resting on the small table. "And then he can finally relax for a while, and enjoy a nice vacation with his family."
"Alvin's already making all these big plans" Brittany huffed, as she put turned to her side to face everyone. "He's trying to get us into all these activities and programs, saying they will be fun."
"You know his heart is in the right place Britt" Sarah said, giving her a smile.
"Still" continued Brittany. "He should know that Tyler isn't into all that. His ideal vacation is just reading and biking."
"A little change can be fun Britt" said Jeanette.
"My opinion is that this is all of our vacation. He should be consulting us on what we want to do" Brittany replied, leaning back in her seat
"We don't even know what Tyler wants to do because he doesn't even know yet. Alvin is just taking trying to help give us a little push" Eleanor replied.
"Well, now is our chance to see what Tyler will say" Sarah said, pointing to the lane way.
They all looked, and could see Tyler's cruiser pulling into the yard. Everyone listened, soon hearing the sound of the car door slamming. The girls smiled to each other, knowing Tyler wouldn't be expecting to see them.
The vacation they were planning, was kept a secret from him, for a little surprise.
They could hear him walking up the patio, as they could looked back, seeing him take his hat off, and undo his utility belt.
Sarah got up and out of her chair, as she went up to Tyler, giving him a hug and a quick kiss.
"Hey sweetie" she said, as she pulled away, leading him to the chairs. "How was your day?"
"Same as it is everyday. Write tickets, have people scream at you."
He then looked to the chairs, pausing when he saw the Chipettes.
"Uh, hey guys. Am I interrupting some sort of women's meeting?"
"No" laughed Eleanor. "Why would you say that?"
He sat down on the chair across from Sarah and the Chipettes, giving them a teasing smile.
"Well, from what TV has taught me. When you arrive home, and you have a whole group of girls together, it is usually some sort of secret meeting."
The girls just laughed, as Tyler leaned back in his chair, undoing the buttons on his shirt.
"Are the guys here as well?"
"Yeah" replied Brittany. "They took all the kids for a hike into the field. We figured we should have our…."
Suddenly, Tyler's cell phone began to ring, as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"This damn thing has been going off all day" he said, as he reached for his pocket, pulling out his phone. He looked at the screen, slowly shaking his head, as he brought it up to his ear.
"Yeah Scott."
The Chipettes could see the stress he was experiencing. He more tired then usual, and more aggravated.
"She didn't get the job because she wasn't considered a appropriate choice."
They could see his face turning red, the anger starting to show when he spoke.
"What the hell was I suppose to do. She came in wearing ten pounds of make-up, in a tank top, and shorts that were more like underwear. I was following proper protocol."
He gave a long frustrated sigh, as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"She can make the complaint, but I did nothing wrong. And I am sure looking at the security feeds will help with my argument. Show them to Jim. Alright, I'll talk to you later."
He then hung up, setting his phone down, almost slamming it on the table.
"What was going on Ty?" Sarah asked, as she came up behind him, rubbing his shoulders.
"I had a lady come in today that wanted to be a officer" he said rubbing his temples.
"She came in, not appropriately dressed. I told her she wasn't getting the job, so she lodged a complaint to my superiors for sexual discrimination."
Sarah looked back at the Chipettes.
They were hoping to hold off on telling him about the vacation until the boys returned. But seeing what was going on, maybe now was the time to tell him.
Sarah reached forward, grabbing the envelop that sat on the table.
"Ty, this letter came in for you today."
"Great" he said sarcastically as he grabbed the envelop. "Can't wait to see what else will go wrong today."
He quickly tore open the paper, pulling out the letter that was inside.
He studied the page for a moment, his face taking a confused look.
"Sarah. You don't recall me sending in any vacation requests in recently, do you?"
"Why?" Sarah said, giving the Chipettes a large smile.
"Because this is a form from my detachment, saying that I have been approved for almost four week leave starting today."
"It must be a mistake" Sarah said, taking the letter from his hand. "Because when I spoke to your superior, we were only talking about giving you three weeks."
Tyler then looked back at Sarah in shock, his jaw dropping open.
"Wait. You were speaking to Jim."
Sarah gave a nod, her large smile growing.
"I was. And we both agree you had been under too much pressure, and need to relax."
Tyler looked down at the ground, his face in complete shock.
"Four weeks"
"Four weeks" repeated Sarah, as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
He quickly stood up, looking at Sarah, a large smile going across his face.
Their eyes remained locked for a moment, then he pulled her into a hug, almost lifting her off her feet.
"Thank you so much Sarah" he said, as he set her back down.
Sarah laughed, as she looked at the uniform he was still wearing.
"You should probably go and change Tyler. Because for the next four weeks, you are just Tyler Pauwel. You won't have to worry about orders, other than mine."
"Yes ma'am" he teased, as he went for the door, going into the house.
"I wish Alvin would say that to me once in a while" Brittany said, a grin spreading across her face.
"You have to learn how to train you man first" Sarah joked. "They are like dogs. Give them a treat every time they do something right."
All the girls laughed, as they leaned back in their chairs, continuing to enjoy the sun.
