Palermo returns to Santa Monica after two years leave in Italy. He's been assigned to Long Beach PD after the retirement of their lieutenant.
Back To Earth
Cory rushed out of the lieutenant's office where she'd been sorting through paper work as soon as she saw that the Chief's car had pulled into the parking lot. She was eager to find out who the new lieutenant would be. In fact she'd been excited about the whole process she'd tossed and turned all night and Tc had threatened to make her sleep on the couch.
Cory broke into a huge grin when the Chief waltzed through the doors of Long Beach Police Department with a tall, muscular, tanned blonde with an otherwise familiar face.
The Chief made the introductions. 'Lieutenant Palermo, this is your sergeant, Cory McNamara. Sergeant McNamara, this is your new lieutenant, Anthony Palermo.'
Cory immediately gave Tony a big hug. 'It's great to see you again.'
'It's great to see you too.' He said.
The Chief looked a little confused. 'I take it you two have met.'
Cory nodded. 'He used to be my lieutenant at Santa Monica before Lieutenant Callaway.'
'Ah.' The Chief just nodded. 'Then I can see that you will have no problem working together.' He looked at his watch. 'I'm sorry Tony, I have to rush off to a meeting. I'm sure Sergeant McNamara can show you the ropes.' He gave Cory a polite smile before leaving.
Cory beamed. 'So.' She said.
'So.' He replied.
'What have you been up to?'
'Nothing much. Relaxing, getting a lot of sun, that sort of thing.'
'Sounds great.' She said with envy. Lately she didn't even have time to file her nails properly.
'It was. So what about you? What are you even doing here? What happened at Santa Monica?'
Cory held up her left hand so show off her wedding ring.
'Who's the lucky guy?' Palermo asked.
Cory blushed. 'Tc.'
He gave her a startled look. 'You poor thing.' He said jokingly and she gave him a friendly punch on the arm. 'Seriously though, how did that happen?'
'I got pregnant.'
'Really?'
She nodded. 'It wasn't really meant to happen that way. I got pregnant and we started thinking. 'She sighed. 'Cut a long story short, we fell in love and got married.'
Palermo frowned. 'So what happened to Chris then. Last I heard she was married to Tc.'
Cory shrugged. 'I'm not really sure what happened. All I know is she joined the FBI and left Tc heartbroken. We haven't heard from her in ages. I called her and left messages for her a couple of times. She sent us a wedding present and a card when the baby was born but that's about as much contact as we've had.'
'That's a shame. She was a good officer.'
'Yeah, and a good friend.' Cory bit her lip. 'And you heard about Victor?'
He nodded slowly.
There was an awkward silence between them for a while.
'Why are you back?' She said lightly tapping him on the arm. 'We though that you'd stayed there when you didn't come back.'
He shrugged. 'Things got complicated. I met someone and her family didn't like the fact that I'd been married before and that I had Jessie. She has one of those really close Italian families and she felt her decision to marry me was tearing them apart. In the end she decided to come back here with me.'
'She won't miss her family?' Cory asked. She'd gone to school with some kids with a family like that. They didn't like being in the country without their family.
'She does miss them, already. But she's going to a language support group at the community hall. I know she'll make friends there.'
'And when do I get to meet her?'
Tony smiled. 'She's going to meet me here for lunch one day this week. Actually she'll be really glad to meet you. She's been dying to meet the people I keep telling her stories about.'
Cory put her hand across her heart. 'I'm honoured. What's her name?'
'Carli, short for Carlotta.
'That's a pretty name.'
'She's a pretty lady.' Palermo smiled and blushed a bit. 'I can't help it. We're not married yet, just engaged. I'm still required to fawn over her.'
Cory smiled. She remembered Tc coming home one night with a rather bemused look on his face. Upon asking what was wrong he answered with 'I got told to stop talking about you today.' Apparently he'd been talking about her all week and everyone at the firehouse had heard enough. Cory thought that it was very sweet of him.
Palermo looked around the building. It was quite a lot bigger than the Santa Monica station.
Cory read the look on his face. 'It's not that scary. Come with me, I'll show you to your office.'
Back To Earth
Cory rushed out of the lieutenant's office where she'd been sorting through paper work as soon as she saw that the Chief's car had pulled into the parking lot. She was eager to find out who the new lieutenant would be. In fact she'd been excited about the whole process she'd tossed and turned all night and Tc had threatened to make her sleep on the couch.
Cory broke into a huge grin when the Chief waltzed through the doors of Long Beach Police Department with a tall, muscular, tanned blonde with an otherwise familiar face.
The Chief made the introductions. 'Lieutenant Palermo, this is your sergeant, Cory McNamara. Sergeant McNamara, this is your new lieutenant, Anthony Palermo.'
Cory immediately gave Tony a big hug. 'It's great to see you again.'
'It's great to see you too.' He said.
The Chief looked a little confused. 'I take it you two have met.'
Cory nodded. 'He used to be my lieutenant at Santa Monica before Lieutenant Callaway.'
'Ah.' The Chief just nodded. 'Then I can see that you will have no problem working together.' He looked at his watch. 'I'm sorry Tony, I have to rush off to a meeting. I'm sure Sergeant McNamara can show you the ropes.' He gave Cory a polite smile before leaving.
Cory beamed. 'So.' She said.
'So.' He replied.
'What have you been up to?'
'Nothing much. Relaxing, getting a lot of sun, that sort of thing.'
'Sounds great.' She said with envy. Lately she didn't even have time to file her nails properly.
'It was. So what about you? What are you even doing here? What happened at Santa Monica?'
Cory held up her left hand so show off her wedding ring.
'Who's the lucky guy?' Palermo asked.
Cory blushed. 'Tc.'
He gave her a startled look. 'You poor thing.' He said jokingly and she gave him a friendly punch on the arm. 'Seriously though, how did that happen?'
'I got pregnant.'
'Really?'
She nodded. 'It wasn't really meant to happen that way. I got pregnant and we started thinking. 'She sighed. 'Cut a long story short, we fell in love and got married.'
Palermo frowned. 'So what happened to Chris then. Last I heard she was married to Tc.'
Cory shrugged. 'I'm not really sure what happened. All I know is she joined the FBI and left Tc heartbroken. We haven't heard from her in ages. I called her and left messages for her a couple of times. She sent us a wedding present and a card when the baby was born but that's about as much contact as we've had.'
'That's a shame. She was a good officer.'
'Yeah, and a good friend.' Cory bit her lip. 'And you heard about Victor?'
He nodded slowly.
There was an awkward silence between them for a while.
'Why are you back?' She said lightly tapping him on the arm. 'We though that you'd stayed there when you didn't come back.'
He shrugged. 'Things got complicated. I met someone and her family didn't like the fact that I'd been married before and that I had Jessie. She has one of those really close Italian families and she felt her decision to marry me was tearing them apart. In the end she decided to come back here with me.'
'She won't miss her family?' Cory asked. She'd gone to school with some kids with a family like that. They didn't like being in the country without their family.
'She does miss them, already. But she's going to a language support group at the community hall. I know she'll make friends there.'
'And when do I get to meet her?'
Tony smiled. 'She's going to meet me here for lunch one day this week. Actually she'll be really glad to meet you. She's been dying to meet the people I keep telling her stories about.'
Cory put her hand across her heart. 'I'm honoured. What's her name?'
'Carli, short for Carlotta.
'That's a pretty name.'
'She's a pretty lady.' Palermo smiled and blushed a bit. 'I can't help it. We're not married yet, just engaged. I'm still required to fawn over her.'
Cory smiled. She remembered Tc coming home one night with a rather bemused look on his face. Upon asking what was wrong he answered with 'I got told to stop talking about you today.' Apparently he'd been talking about her all week and everyone at the firehouse had heard enough. Cory thought that it was very sweet of him.
Palermo looked around the building. It was quite a lot bigger than the Santa Monica station.
Cory read the look on his face. 'It's not that scary. Come with me, I'll show you to your office.'