A/N~Firstoff:THANKYOUtoallofmyreviewersandallofyouwhohaveputthisstoryonyourStoryAlertsandFavorites!I'msogladpeoplearelikingthis,andIreallyappreciatethereviews!
Secondly: I am SO SORRY that this chapter has taken so long to come up. I was trying to make it perfect (which I don't think it is, but enough was enough). Thanks for putting up with me guys!
Anyways, enjoy, and please don't forget to leave me a review!
Throwing his keys on the table, Callen remained standing in the front hallway of his house for quiet some time, thinking about his conversation with Hetty after their last case. He meant what he said - he knew he wasn't ready to have a family, and he'd already spoken to Evelyn about how dangerous it would be.
Callen wasn't usually one to drink alone, but that was exactly what found himself doing: abandoning his usual beer for a stronger shot of whisky. Just a few though - he could never be wasted enough to let his guard down.
He sat in the only kitchen chair playing with the now empty cup in his hands thinking about how things would be different without all the reasons why he wouldn't - couldn't - start a relationship with the beautiful woman across the street. He wanted one, that was for sure. He wanted be able to call her beautiful, hold her hand as they walked to the park with Seth and Natalie, help get the kids ready for school and bedtime, caress her, stay up late talking, share secrets and stories, make love to her...
Callen let himself get carried away with the fantasy, forgetting for a moment why it was such a bad idea. And they all finally came crashing down on him.
His job. He imagined leaving in the middle of the night for a case, and her waking up alone and disappointed, coming home late and not being able to talk about what was going on, having her worry and get suspicious about strange phone calls, disappointing Seth and Natalie by having to leave during soccer games early, cut out during play time at the park, or skip story time, and worst of all, setting all of them up for a disastrous phone call or visit bound to happen from Sam or Hetty if something were to happen on duty.
The danger. Threats, stalkers, wire taps, coming home to a trashed house or an intruder, or being followed by some of his enemies who wanted something to hurt him with. Evelyn or one of the kids taken for to be used against him - being asked to trade a government secret for the life of someone he . . . loved.
Not being ready. Not saying he was freaking out about how fast things might be moving, panicking about the closeness between them, the things and secrets she would know about him, and then shutting down, effectively breaking it off and hurting her, but not just her - leaving Seth and Natalie without a father figure. He didn't want to become too consumed by questions about his past that he didn't enjoy his present either.
He cradled his head in his hands, trying with everything in him to block all those scenarios from his mind. Callen knew he had to let whatever he felt for her go. The possibility of her and the kids ending up dead or hurt was too much - and it was a highly probable. Pouring another, a higher, glass of whiskey, he decided to stop thinking and go to sleep.
/
It was Saturday and he was caught up on his paperwork. That always meant one thing for Callen - morning work out and football games. All day. After throwing on a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt, Callen laced up his running shoes and headed out the door for a long run. As he began to jog to the sidewalk, he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter coming from his lovely neighbor's yard. He looked over just in time to see Natalie run (waddle really) - without any support - to Evelyn, who swept the baby girl into her arms, cooing and praising her as Seth sat in the driveway surrounded by several toy trucks. Callen's heart clenched seeing them as a family, and for another glorious moment, he couldn't' remember any of the reasons why he couldn't join them.
Callen caught Evelyn's eye as she spun around again; they both stopped and looked at each other, thinking about their talk in the park, until she decided to break the ice and smile at him, which he couldn't help but return. At that moment, Seth looked up, and upon seeing Callen, leapt up and ran to him, ignoring his foster mom's instruction to look both ways before crossing the street.
"Mr. Callen! I lost my tooth!" the little boy exclaimed proudly, pulling down his bottom lip to show him the gap.
"Wow, check that out, little man! How'd that happen?" Callen couldn't help but reply.
"It was wiggly, then I bit an apple, and it came out! It was so cool!" he said.
"Sounds like you're a man now, Seth! And you know what? Men always look both ways before they cross the road, okay?" Seth nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm pretty sure if you asked him to jump off a bridge, he'd do it no questions asked," Evelyn said with a light laugh as she walked up to the two with Natalie on her hip. Callen smirked, looking down at the little boy and throwing him a wink, perplexed as to why the six year old seemed to look up to him so much. "Out for a morning run?" she asked, subtly checking him out in the tee shirt that hugged his arms and chest.
"Yeah, low key Saturday. How about you guys?" There was no harm in small talk with a neighbor, right?
Seth cut in for his mother. "We're going to see a movie! And then mommy said we could get ice cream!" It was adorable (not that Callen would ever admit to using that word) how excited the little boy was. Natalie, catching onto her brother's excitement, started to happily squeal and clap her hands together, something that warmed both adult's hearts. "Can you come, Mr. Callen? Mommy, please?"
Both Callen and Evelyn started to babble at the same time, not really making much sense or giving an answer. After an awkward few seconds, they both stopped and Evelyn smiled shyly, saying, "it's up to Mr. Callen, sweetie. He might already have plans for today, but he's always welcome to come." Seth turned expectantly to Callen, who started to panic. He should say no. He should tell the boy he had to go to the office and finish up some nonexistent paperwork and say out of sight for several hours. He should start his morning run rightnow. But he couldn't do any of those things. He and Sam did things together all the time, and weren't overly concerned about being followed or watched. If he was careful, very careful, he could make this work. A kids movie - it was a one time thing, and he was going for the little boy.
"Okay," he said after a minute, then repeated it, firmer this time, giving all three of them a small smile, which was immediately returned.
"Great! We're going to see the 3-D Puss in Boots movie at 12:15 and then head over to Coolhaus afterwards," Evelyn said. Callen nodded, knowing he would have to meet them there - driving together was a bit too much. "Well, we'll let you get back to your run - this squirmy one has to get ready for a b-a-t-h now, which really means one for both of us," she joked, not realizing her words put a dangerous image into Callen's head. They said their final goodbyes. Callen watched them walk inside before he started to run again, shaking his head to himself. I'mintrouble.
A/N~ Sorry this was a shorter chapter! I wanted to get something up really quick since it's been a LONG time, much longer than I anticipated. I probably changed how this chapter was going to go a million times, and this is not even close to my original idea. I'll work on chapter 4 coming up soon!
