Sammy & Ilna - La Famiglia, always. You are the best of the best.
Sammy thanks for the help on this one - so much appreciated!
Ilna thanks for proofing during your bestie weekend.
REALMcRollers - Thank you for all the love and feedback. Hugs to all.
Snuggly
Sunday late morning
Catherine ran her hand over Cammie's fur. "Hey, pretty girl, do you want to go on the balcony?" she asked when the dog nosed her way under her arm for a hug. Oftentimes when one or both of them were cleaning the bedroom or making the bed, Cammie liked to sit on the upstairs lanai - out of the way but close enough to keep watch on her humans.
Cammie huffed and instead of moving towards the lanai door, pawed the mattress and tilted her head. When Catherine said, "Okay, c'mon," and patted the bed, she backed up a few steps and bounded up, settling next to where Catherine was folding laundry, eliciting a laugh. She kissed the dog's nose. "If you want to help, you can fold underwear …" She chuckled. Cammie rarely hopped on their bed, but when she did, she always seemed to know it was an okay time and 'asked' permission.
"Last load is dry. Hey, if you're up there, you gotta help," Steve said as he entered carrying a basket that was full-to-overflowing with more clean clothes.
"That's what I told her, but there's that opposable thumbs issue." Catherine grinned and stood to put folded piles of t-shirts and underwear in each of their drawers. "You wanna fold or go over the kitchen floor with the mop?"
"You keep folding, I'll mop. I know you hate it. Then I was gonna hose down the deck."
"Ha, I hate it because I've had way more sea duty, especially in the early years, Commander. And thanks." She picked up a pair of black jeans to fold and a thought occurred to her. "I'm gonna need some more suits. And business casual stuff. And shoes."
"Don't get too many suits."
She looked up at him quizzically. Steve never commented on her shopping - unless it was because he'd recognized a Victoria's Secret bag or to compliment her on something she was wearing. "What? Why?"
His tone was light, but the hopefulness in his voice was unmistakable. " 'Cause..." his eyes dropped to her torso and he smiled, "if we're lucky, maybe they may not fit soon."
"Awww, I love you. C'mere."
He stepped close enough and bent to kiss her.
"I'm really happy Lea offered to get you clearance so I'm free to discuss whatever comes up at work."
He nodded. "I'll need to have clearance for the new administration so you can liaise with the team anyway, but full clearance is great."
"And this way, right out of the gate I can bounce ideas and talk to you about anything I need to. I would hate having a challenging day or even a good one and not being able to tell you details."
"I know, same goes. I'm way too happy being able to tell you everything, to decompress with you."
"Exactly."
He grinned. "I'm liking Lea more and more."
"Good." She beamed at him. "Me, too."
"Hope we qualify for the clearances." As she laughed at the absurdity that they wouldn't, he tossed her a smile and moved toward the door. "Meet me downstairs, we can swim when we're done. Cammie, wanna come with me or stay with Catherine?"
Fully expecting the dog to follow Steve outside, she moved a pile of his pants to her other side to clear the way. But when Cammie stretched and plopped her head and one paw on Catherine's lap with a contented sigh she gave her a hug. "Aren't you being all snuggly?"
Steve's eyes softened at the sight even as he teased, "Okay then. I'm not the only one still getting over missing you for two weeks." He shook his head. "I guess I'm swabbing the deck alone. I'll see you both downstairs." He turned back with one hand on the doorframe and two pairs of brown eyes looked up. "Ya know …" Catherine tilted her head in question and Steve smiled, half expecting the dog to do the same. "I wanna run to Home Depot later."
"For what?"
"Danny has a safe in his hall closet." He shrugged. "He was telling me Friday we should put one there to lock our weapons up. I mean, he knows we secure them when Gracie or any of the kids are here, but he said, and I quote, 'A little person full-time is a whole different issue and you have a lot of hardware.' "
"True," she agreed. "If Danny thinks it's a good idea, then we probably should get another one."
Steve nodded and a small smirk appeared. "He also said …" he huffed a laugh, "that any kid of ours will be able to finagle a lock at their eye level by the time it's two."
Her amused grin matched his proud one. "Also true. And he gets points for using 'finagle.'" She chuckled at the vintage word.
"So I'm gonna get a reinforced steel cabinet for the garage and another safe for the hall closet. I'll install it at six feet."
"Sounds perfect. Can you save me a trip and pick up some of that fertilizer for Nonna's roses?"
He nodded. "I'll be an hour, tops. Wanna grab dinner someplace tonight?"
Her tongue peeked out with her smile. "You just don't want to mess up the freshly mopped kitchen. I'm totally onto you."
His eyes crinkled at the corners. "You always have been." He strode back in and kissed her quickly.
"Yes, I have." Her smile grew and she made a shooing gesture. "Let's finish the laundry and swabbing of the decks, Commander, and I think we both deserve a reward."
"Dinner out?" The glint in his eyes belied the feigned question.
"Yeah, that, too." She licked her lips.
He threw her a salute and turned on his heel. "I'll swab in doubletime."
Her laugh followed him down the stairs as she turned to Cammie. "Okay, my snuggly girl, let's finish up in here then we can swim. Can I move you just a little bit?" She pushed gently on the dog's withers and smiled when Cammie made a happy chuffing sound and lifted her head. "That's my good girl, can't fold all this with 100 pounds of cuteness on my lap."
Cammie readjusted her position, standing to circle and cuddle against Catherine's back and hip.
Before reaching into the basket for the next item, Catherine swiveled and kissed the furry face. "I really did miss you, too, sweetie. And you did such a good job making sure Steve was okay."
Cammie's tail thumped gently at the soft tone. From day one Catherine always spoke to her with such kindness and affection that even if she didn't understand all the words, it made her natural inclination to love and protect her people that much stronger. She nuzzled Catherine's cheek and sniffed the hair that fell forward. With a deep sigh, she stretched out and dozed off.
Sunday Evening
They'd chosen to walk to Wahoo's on Auahi, which had an outdoor cafe area for dinner so Cammie could come along. She'd been particularly snuggly, as Catherine called it, and after two weeks away she didn't want to leave her home when there were several cafes they frequented where dogs were welcome.
They'd enjoyed a 'scream'n burrito' with spicy chicken for Catherine and two orders of twin tacos - one set with wild caught salmon and one with braised pork - for Steve while Cammie had absolutely reveled in a special treat. Catherine ordered her a portion of plain grilled chicken which she'd happily devoured.
As they walked home, two men a few years their senior noticed the couple and immediately crossed the street and approached at a fast clip. The loud cries of, "Holy crap! Look who it is," and "Smooth Dog!" combined with their quick movements had Cammie moving from Steve's left side and positioning herself protectively in front of Catherine.
The taller of the two, Jesse Tureaud, caught Steve in a bear hug while Catherine took the leash and looked on with a grin, saying, "It's okay, Cammie, they're friends." The dog immediately relaxed and wagged her tail.
Ending their hug, the second man, Leo Alverio broke into an even wider smile as Jesse said, "As I live and breathe, Lieutenant Catherine Rollins. You actually took mercy on this crazy bastard and married him?" His eyes had flicked to her rings, then Steve's.
"You're just jealous, Tureaud." Steve's smirk lifted the corner of his mouth but the eyes that glanced at Catherine were full of love and pride.
"Hell yeah." He moved to hug Catherine. "I'm on my third divorce and you married the best, not to mention the prettiest NI officer in the Navy. How are you, Catherine? And who is this ..." he nodded towards Cammie, "your personal K-9 force?"
"I'm wonderful, and this is Cammie. You can say hi."
Jesse offered the back of his hand, then bent to pet Cammie who greeted both men enthusiastically.
"You like dogs." Catherine smiled. "She can tell."
"Love 'em I have two."
"I just reserved, so I'm definitely gonna get one soon." Leo added.
Cammie wagged her tail and circled back to press into Catherine's' legs. "I just got off reserves duty myself, so she's been a little more snuggly with me."
Steve grinned at the exchange. "Cath, this is Leo Alverio, The Barber," he introduced the second man. "Alverio could trim a crew cut with a bullet at a thousand yards," he explained the SEAL moniker. "Catherine and I got married in April."
Jesse snorted. "Tell Leo how long you dated." He turned to his friend. "Hadda be twenty, thirty years."
"Maybe you should try dating a few years before you get married next time, Jesse." The younger man laughed. "Nice to meet you, Catherine." He held out a hand and they exchanged greetings and Leo smiled. "That's a big dog to call snuggly."
"She's big but she's still my pretty girl," Catherine ran a hand over the dog's neck. "Aren't you, baby?"
"Smartest dog on Oahu," Steve added before he asked, "So what are you guys doing here?"
"Stopover for a seminar. I heard you were running a task force. Your old man was a cop, right? Bet he woulda loved that," he said sincerely and Catherine touched Steve's back gently.
"Yeah, and thanks. I think he would," Steve said.
Jesse looked at Catherine. "Last time I saw this guy we were hightailing it out of a jungle just ahead of a shake and bake some asshole desk jockey ordered without giving our team enough warning." He was referring to the term used when white phosphorous, which can be used as a smoke screen to protect friendly troops from observation, but can also be detonated, is triggered with a high explosive round.
She nodded. Its use was limited by international agreements, and Catherine also knew it burned fast and hot. She clearly remembered Steve's singed hair and eyebrows when she'd seen him soon after that mission. "Are you still on the teams?"
"No, we actually work with Human Rights Watch." He jerked a thumb at his companion. "Leo here just came on 60 days ago. I recruited him the second he reserved his commission. Our meeting is with the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery."
She smiled softly. "That's incredibly important work. Unfortunately, we see a lot of it on the island. I'd love to hear more about what you're doing. If you're here for a few days, please come by the house for dinner." Catherine fished in her bag for a pen. Jotting their address on a slip of paper she handed it over.
Steve smiled. "Yeah, maybe tomorrow or Tuesday? We'll grill some steaks and catch up."
"Definitely will." "That'd be great, thanks," both men said together. After another round of hugs, this time including Catherine, they promised to call to firm up dinner plans, parted and went their separate ways.
"That doesn't surprise me." Steve tilted his chin at their retreating forms. "Jesse saw some really bad shit on one of our missions. He pulled four kids out of a sex slave situation he literally stumbled onto in an abandoned house. They … a couple of them … they were really young." He shuddered involuntarily. "He actually got all of them out and to a hospital. The mission wrapped the next morning and he had Hoss go with him to see the girls were getting treatment for PTSD and not just for their physical issues. He did everything right, the kids got treated, but it stayed with Jesse."
"And now he and Leo are working to help combat human trafficking full time." She laced their fingers. "They're good men. Just like you."
Steve squeezed her hand in thanks as they began to walk again. "You're going to be one of the people who's a part of that same effort on a huge scale." He stopped walking for a second and placed a kiss on her temple before resuming. "I couldn't be prouder ..." He slid his hand from hers and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her close. "Like I always say, you're amazing, Rollins."
Cammie looked up when they reached the corner of their street, knowing which way to go but checking for confirmation. Steve smiled. "Isn't Catherine amazing, Cammie?"
A soft 'woof' echoed and Catherine returned his smile. "Well, thank you both."
"I know someone else who's gonna be very, very proud of you." At her questioning head tilt he gave her shoulder a light squeeze. Catherine's smile was beaming and immediate at his words. With his eyes drifting to her tummy, he leaned in and whispered with absolute conviction, "Whoever's lucky enough to call you Mommy."
# End thanks for reading
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