A/N: Happy (late) 4th of July!

Okay… so I know this idea was done several times about a year ago, when CA just came out. I prefer to do an original idea, but I just love the dynamic that this idea creates, and I've wanted to do it for a while. Fourth of July was the perfect excuse! Besides, I had two other ideas I really liked, but this was the only perfect idea. :)

And just for reference, this is connected to both Christmas with Auggie, and then A Night with Annie and Bella Lou. I've tentatively decided to do a series of holiday one-shots to follow up Christmas with Auggie, which everyone seemed to adore. I may put all of them (except for Christmas with Auggie) together as a collection of one-shots, but for now, it's separate. :)

Please review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs!

Apple Cake, Summer, and Hope

Auggie reclined against the side of the pool, listening to the sound of the children squealing and shouting. Everyone was eagerly anticipating the fireworks that would go off any second now.

Cara Anderson had insisted that everyone watch the fireworks from the vantage point of the large in-ground pool. She'd turned on the underwater lights, and with Auggie's six siblings (and nearly as many significant others), not to mention several aunts, uncles, and grown cousins, Cara had convinced them that the children would be safe. Besides, after the unexpected heat of the day, the coolness of the pool—even at this hour—was welcome to just about all of them.

He could hear Isabelle splashing across the pool and his mom's sweet, alto laughter as she tried to talk sense into his daughter. He smirked. He wondered how long it would take Cara Anderson to realize that sense couldn't be talked into that blond-haired, blue-eyed wonder.

As Isabelle's laughter pealed across the water, he couldn't help thinking this was a good decision, letting Isabelle see Grandma and Grandpa during the summer, really getting to know some of her cousins, besides Chloe and Katia. The past few days had been spent fingerpainting with Grandma, blowing bubbles into the hot Glencoe summer afternoons, and learning how to swim (which, by the way, Isabelle had become a pro at). This past week reminded him of the good times he'd had in Glencoe, growing up with Caroline Anderson and the four brothers he thought could do no wrong.

He heard the sound of someone wading toward him before the lingering scent of grapefruit wafted toward him. As Annie's arms wrapped around him, he grinned down at her and met her lips in a brief kiss. "Hey, baby."

"Hey, soldier boy," she said in return. The words sounded like a term of endearment coming from her. He was sure he would explode if another of his mother's friends thanked him for his service in Iraq, but from Annie? It wasn't a reminder of where he'd been, of what he was trying to forget. It was just Annie, being Annie.

He wanted nothing else.

Annie turned a little, tucking herself at his side, as she stared in the direction where Isabelle had been with Cara a few moments ago. "Isabelle seems to love it here."

Auggie snorted. "Don't encourage her. I don't think we'll be able to get her back on the plane on Wednesday."

Annie full-out laughed into his shoulder, her dripping hair, put up in a sloppy bun, leaving several droplets of pool water on his otherwise dry arm as she pulled away. "She loves your mo—" A high-pitched wail tore through the air, and the night sky exploded with a red geometric design. "It's starting!"

Auggie tensed next to her, his hold on Annie's shoulder clenching, and she looked up at him worriedly. "Baby? Auggie?"

He so easily got lost in the emotions, the raw feelings of his time in Iraq and his recovery in the following months. Turning around to face him, she touched his arm gently. "Auggie?" In the past eight years that they'd been together, he'd gotten so much better at dealing with the fireworks, but still, she worried about him.

She reached up, cupping his face gently. She rubbed her thumb gently across his cheek and five o'clock shadow. "Baby?"

He gave her a brave smile and pulled her into his arms. She held him tight. Annie still couldn't believe how incredibly much she loved this man, how easily he wrapped her heart around his finger. She buried her face in his chest, and he buried his face in her hair.

A thousand memories assaulted him, joking with his buddies, the sight of bloodied and mangled bodies, the casualties of war, waking to nothing but darkness. If there was one thing in his whole life Auggie wanted to do, it was to be defined by his girls—Annie, Isabelle—and not the nightmares of his past.

He pushed the images away, instead trying to focus on the million descriptions Annie had tried to give him of their daughter. Heart-shaped face, sparkling eyes the color of the Caribbean, an adorable little pug nose dotted with light freckles, sweet, soft locks of blond hair the color of the sun, a radiant smile to match.

Though some of the children continued to play (or gush over the fireworks), Isabelle had gone strangely silent. Auggie pulled away from Annie just a little. "Is Bella still with Mom?"

Annie turned to see their daughter sitting at the edge of the pool, next to Cara Anderson. Isabelle was fearless. She was pointing at the fireworks, complete wonder exuding from her, as she whispered her little secrets to her grandma. Annie smiled into Auggie's arm. "Yeah, she's fine."

She slipped her hand into Auggie's, intertwining their fingers, as she pressed gently against his side. "I'm kinda more worried about you right now, Aug."

"I'm fine, Annie," he said, winking down at her.

He held her hand tighter than usual, though, and she began to talk slowly, as if she was unsure of herself. It was something she'd considered doing in the past, to help him through it, but she'd never really put it into practice. "Okay, this one is one of those fireworks that starts really loud… ya know? But then it makes that crackly noise… and those white lights crackle. Remember those? They never get really high in the sky… Oh, this is one of those that doesn't make any noise until it gets—okay, get ready… there's gonna be a loud boom…"

When it came, Auggie only slightly flinched. Tears blurred Annie's vision. If there was anything she could do to ease Auggie's pain, she would do it. "Ohhh, that one was in the shape of a star!" She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting the side of her face against his chest as she stared up at the night sky. "Okay, it looks like this one is one of the ones that wails all the way up, and then it's a stupid dud, seriously, can't they come up with anything besides that?"

Auggie chuckled next to her—actually chuckled—and she felt its vibrations through her cheek. She smiled against his chest for a moment, but quickly turned her attention back to the fireworks. Her descriptions seemed to distract him, and if she had the power to keep that fear, those memories, away, she would do it.

She would do anything for Auggie.

When the finale came to an end and Auggie relaxed against the side of the pool, Annie beamed up at him proudly. "You did it!"

He reached out, his hand connecting with her bare shoulder, and he caressed it gently. He could stand there, forever, with Annie. It touched him more than he knew how to say that she cared so much about helping him overcome his demons.

Before he could realize what she was doing, she had pushed on her tiptoes, pressing a hard, sweet, emotional kiss against his lips. Annie. When he'd fallen for her eight Decembers ago, he hadn't known what a jewel she would be in his life. Now, he couldn't even imagine life without her.

He kissed her back, hard, his hands finding their way to her hips, pulling her closer into his arms. She had already wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging him closer. He obliged. He wasn't sure what had caused this influx of emotion, but ever since that cold afternoon under the mistletoe in Danielle's house nearly eight years ago, kissing Annie was one of his very favorite things in the world.

Tonight, she tasted like apple cake, summer, and hope. Or maybe that was just the best she brought out in him.

Annie pulled away shyly, hiding in his arms, and it made him smile, that she was still shy around him sometimes, after being completely, hopelessly in love for the past eight years.

After a few moments, she looked up at him and caressed his jaw lightly. "You know I'm crazy about you, right?"

He chuckled softly and gave her a tender smile that told her he understood exactly what she was trying to say. "Me, too, baby."

"I would do anything—anything—to take away your pain." Her voice shook, almost as if she was about to cry.

He cupped her jaw gently and kissed her softly, sweetly. That Annie would make sure he knew that stole his breath away. "Baby, I—"

He was about to tell her how much that truly meant to her, but his mother cleared her throat a few feet away, one of her hands covering her eyes while the other covered Bella's eyes as she floated toward them in her miniature inner tube. "Is it clear for little eyes?" she called out, and Annie and Auggie laughed.

"Yeah, Mom, it's fine."

Smiling, Cara let go of Isabelle's eyes, and their daughter paddled her way over to them. "Daddy!" Bella squealed, reaching out to him. "D'you see the firewooks?"

Annie grinned from Isabelle to Auggie. "See? I told you."

Isabelle latched onto Auggie's arms, and he lifted her tiny form out of the inner tube and into his arms. "Hey, Bella."

Giggling, she wrapped her little arms around Auggie's neck. "I love you, Daddy!" she squealed into his ear. Despite how much he wanted to cringe at the volume of his daughter's voice next to his ear, he held her tighter and reached for Annie, holding his wife close. He brushed a kiss against the crown of Annie's head, and then on Isabelle's forehead.

There was no doubt about it. He would do anything to keep these two girls in his life forever.

A/N: Please review!