Because She Always Comes Home.
"In that in all the years that I've known your Mom, she's always came home. Always."
Rachel disappears and Joe talks to Cammie. R/J insinuated.
A/N Another story, yet again, I'm on a roll, it had been SAT revision (and the boredom that it concurs) that inspired this. I hope you all like it. Oh and another thing, to put this in context, basically Rachel's disappeared (during school time, of a year I'm not sure about, probably after Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover and before winter break) after some CIA op thing that she was involved in. Buckingham told Cammie what had happened.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not in the slightest and nor would I want it to be. The books on my desk say Ally Carter and I'm thankful for that (I'd just screw it all up!)
I sat on the window seat of my Mom's office, hugging my legs that I'd drawn up to my chest. The door to her office opened slightly and I let my heart jump, it could be my Mom, but then the door opened further and I could see a man enter the room. It was Mr Solomon. It wasn't my Mom.
"Mr Mom's not here." I whispered, not really looking up.
It was a stupid thing to say, of course he knew she wasn't there, she would've told him that she was leaving. But she didn't tell me. Anyway I had been expecting him to mutter something and leave, leaving me to contemplate how much I wanted, no needed my Mom right now. What I totally didn't expect was for Joe Solomon to say.
"I know, but she wasn't the one I came looking for."
Under any other circumstances, having your majorly hot CoveOps teacher say he was looking for you would've been great, like perfect supermegafoxyawesomehot great; but right now I just wanted him to leave.
I Looked up at him in surprise at his words. "Me?" I asked quietly.
He smiled at me sadly and said. "Yeah Cammie. You." His voice was soft and kind, a voice I had never heard before, and I'd heard a lot of his voices before, I'd heard his: scary CoveOps voice, his I'm disappointed in you voice, his flirtatious (ew) tone with my Aunt (extra-ew), I'd heard his friendly/I'm-always-here-for-you-voice with my Mom and I'd heard his authoritive taking charge tone (when Aunt Abby was shot). But the only voice that this ever came close to was his tone he'd had when he'd told me way back at the end of my first Sophomore year "I've already lost one member of the Morgan family that I care about."
Mr Solomon stepped closer to me, having already closed the door behind him. I didn't flinch when he sat down next to me on the window seat either. We sat there in silence, me refusing to look at, merely staring at the tops of my knees, willing tears not to fall.
After what seemed an age I managed to croak out. "I want my Mom."
"I know Cammie. I know."
I turned to look at Mr Solomon and instead of seeing my CoveOps teacher I saw not only my fathers best friend but my mothers too. He cared about my Mom, almost as much as I did. I knew he'd search the ends of the earth for my Mom and right now I would bet anything that he already had a command team in place searching in every single country across the world.
"Do you love my Mom?" I blurted it out without thinking.
Thinking back on it now I think that that could possibly be the most embarrassing thing I have ever, ever asked. I don't know where it came from, it had been my Aunt for goodness sakes that had kissed Mr Solomon, not my Mom; but I guess I'd seen too many conversations between the two. Too many looks and smiles not to have known that they were anything less than best friends.
But still, that has still got to be the most embarrassing thing ever, there must be a rule about somewhere, anywhere that states: You must not ask your hot teacher if he loves your Mom. Even if you meant it as 'friends' or 'family' way. Love still has romantic attachments and sometimes you just don't want to know the answer, it may actually scar you...for life!
"Yes." He replied.
He didn't elaborate in which sense of the word, and I'm glad I never probed, what happens between my Mom and Mr Solomon is something that stays between them, I just (ew) don't want to know.
"Good." I said.
I don't know why, but it came out in a "If you hurt her you're dead" sisterly way, something that Aunt Abby doesn't insinuate she actually gets the knife out and pins them to the ground (or so Mom said).
I saw a flicker of a smile take over Mr Solomon's face. "I have something to show you." He said after a moment of comfortable silence.
"Ok?"
He turned over a white piece of photographic paper that I hadn't noticed he'd been carrying (stupid yes but given the circumstances, give me a break!). He gestured for me to take it, which I did, dropping my legs from my chest and onto the floor at the same time.
It was a picture of my Mom, she must've been 15 or 16 at the time, but she looked a lot older. She was wearing her Gallagher uniform (which hasn't really changed in 20 years) and she still looked like the one of the most beautiful woman I have ever met. But oh my god, I blinked three times each time checking to see if I'd accidentally imagined something but finally realising I hadn't. I'd been so transfixed on seeing my Mom as a Gallagher Girl I hadn't processed who she was standing next to, more like kissing (on the cheek might I add!) and that man was currently sitting next to me! Oh God. There in the picture was a boy about the same age as my Mom, with blonde hair and dazzling eyes and was looking as hot as he does now (maybe even a bit more). He was wearing a Blackthorne t-shirt, similar to the one I'd seen him wear in the picture of him and my Dad. They were quite a pair, like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Oscars, but reeked a thousand times more of hotness. But why was he showing me this?
I looked at him to see him smiling as if reliving the memory of the two happy teenagers (a memory I do not want to know thank you very much, this picture is enough detail as I ever want to be privy too!).
"Why?" I asked him, glancing back to the picture in my hand.
"That picture was taken one summer, something had happened to your Grandparents." (they'd died, I knew that) "And your Mom had gone missing, she was due back at Gallagher but nobody could find her, not even Abby." He added (which meant that she'd totally gone into deep-cover style escape because my Aunt can find ANYBODY. "I was really worried, we all were but then as I went home to back to go back to Blackthorne I found your Mom sitting on my bed ready to go back to school, we spent the rest of the day with your Aunt wondering Atlantic City."
I looked at him, as if taking him in for the first time. He'd divulged more about his personal life (and past) that he'd ever done in the years since he walked through those doors.
"So what I'm trying to say Cammie." He continued, after my lack of response. "In that in all the years that I've known your Mom, she's always came home. Always."
Mr Solomon stared at me, his words rang true, my Mom had always came home, after every mission, after every day, after every trip to Langely where I wasn;t allowed to tag along she'd come home. Always. I suddenly felt a tear drop, and I suddenly realised I was crying, in front of my hot teacher to top everything off, but right then as I clutched the picture of my Mom kissing Mr Solomon (on the cheek!) he looked less like my teacher and more like my father's best friend, who'd made a promise long ago to protect me and my Mom.
"It's going to be alright Cammie." He whispered as he wrapped an arm around me.
And right then I believed him. He was the best spy I knew (only beaten slightly by my Mom and probably on pare with Aunt Abby, but don't tell her I said that!) and if he said it was going to be alright I was going to believe him. Always.