A/N: as always I own nothing that's familiar.
Abby, Chris, and Sonja jumped into Chris's truck as soon as they were dressed and ready. Everyone was assembling at the morgue for a pre operation meeting. Chris had his and Sonja's gear in his back seat. Just as the rest of the team would have theirs. Abby would be staying at the morgue, ready for anything they might need.
When they walked in the whole team swarmed Percy. Giving her tight hugs and letting her know they were glad to see her healthy again. She shook hands with Gibbs, Vance, and bishop meeting them for the first time.
They made plans to collect the mayor at his home. That would be less public than anywhere else. While protected it would not be as secure as city hall.
They broke into four groups. Percy with pride at the front door. Chris with Gibbs at the back. Vance and bishop watched the east side while Sebastian and Gregorio watched the west. They had a warrant that the gateman decided was enough to leave his post. Not wanting to get involved with whatever was going down.
They drove down the drive in the police cruiser that they had borrowed from the two cops they had in custody. Before getting too close to the house the other teams jumped out and got into position. Chris squeezed Percy shoulder as he got out, but neither said anything to the other. Once in place they radioed pride and he continued down the drive.
Pride pulled right up under the carport in front of the house. He and Percy had barely opened the doors before the mayor was on the steps yelling about where they had been. Had they found the girl? He stopped short seeing who got out of the car and started yelling at them to get off his property and why were they in a NOPD cruiser?
"We borrowed it from a couple of friends of yours. They won't be needing it for a few years." Percy answered, a look of satisfaction on her face when the fear crossed his.
"Hamilton, you are under arrest." Pride added reading him his rights. When he was finished pride showed him the warrant and explained that it covered both the house and his office, with domestic terrorist charges against him, nothing was going to be left to the chance of being missed.
"Domestic terrorism?" Hamilton asked shocked.
"Your attorney can take the charges up with the court. I didn't write them up, though I do agree with them." Pride answered as he stood over Hamilton. Who was now sitting on his front steps as the teams went through his home for evidence.
They managed to go through the whole house without interruption. When they dropped the mayor off at the county jail however, the media got wind somehow and crowded around the entrance. Trying for a picture of the mayor in cuffs and being led inside by none other than Sonja Percy. Pride thought she disserved it after what she had been through because of the mayor. The media had descended on city hall as well, making it hard for them to get inside and finish their work.
It had been a long hard day so when they got back pride made them all a late dinner while they did their paperwork. Everyone wanted to finish the case that day so that everything would be ready for a jury as soon as possible. Abby and Sebastian had been going through the evidence since they raided the mayor's home and were nearly done at the same time as the team was so Sebastian drove them over to headquarters to join the others for dinner.
Percy having been out of the field for nearly two months fell asleep on Chris's shoulder at the table. She had eaten and tried to stay awake and listen to her teammates talk around her but she slowly drifted off.
Gregorio made a fuss about how cute they were and Chris just shrugged the shoulder that wasn't holding Percy's head. She could sleep on him any time she wanted.
When they were ready to leave Chris pulled her into his arms, managing to not wake her up, and was followed to his truck by Abby, pride, and Gibbs.
"While you are taking care of Percy we thought we would be the protection for you and the girls." Gibbs answered his questioning gaze. It surprised Chris that Gibbs answered and not pride.
Gibbs, Vance, and bishop followed Chris home and made sure the three of them got inside safely before heading to their own accommodations, the safe house the cops were stashed at.
There was a note that dinner was in the fridge. Chris was almost sorry that they had already eaten as her mother was a great cook. He was glad she had put it in the fridge so that it hadn't spoiled with how late they had been.
He laid Percy down on his bed and took off her boots. He smiled at the shit kickers she had been wearing knowing she could handle herself. He checked his room, Abby's, and the rest of the house. Even peeking in to make sure her mom was ok before he settled himself on the couch.
He woke a little while later when Sonja snuggled in next to him wrapping her arms around him and snuggling her face down against his neck.
"Everything alright city mouse?" He asked wondering why she was joining him on the couch.
"You weren't there." She muttered sleepily, "Missed you." Chris fell asleep happy to have her in his arms.
He woke late the next day with Percy curled on top of him like a contented cat sunning itself on a comfortable cushion. He grinned and kissed the top of her head before stretching. He noticed himself rub against her and wondered about her reaction to waking up to that. He tried to slide out from underneath her but only ended up dropping them to the ground. He was still under her so at least he hadn't squished her, but now she was awake.
"Why are we on the floor?" She asked confused. "How did we get back here? Why aren't we in the bed?" Suddenly there was a scrambling noise followed by pounding coming from the kitchen. And then she was being licked.
"Bradley, Baron Sit!" LaSalle said trying to keep his voice commanding when Percy was squealing with laughter.
Her mom came in, "sorry I didn't think you would be up yet."
Chris shook his head and detangled himself from Sonja and the puppies. "Don't be sorry, they are aloud to run around the house. I'm just trying to keep them from the bedrooms."
"Since when do you have dogs?" Sonja asked as she moved over to them and started petting them. They sat quietly and let her pet them having not yet been released from their command to sit.
"You are good boys, you can play." Chris told them, they had taken very well to the training they were getting. A buddy of his trained police dogs and recommended a place to Chris for training. So far he was very satisfied. "I had been looking into dog breeds for a little while. Their litter was just released to buyers about a week ago. I had been visiting them with a trainer to start that process before I could take them home. And since then we have had a few training sessions here at the house."
"These puppies are that young?" She squeaked looking at the size of them already. "How big are they going to end up?" Chris pulled up a picture of the parents he had taken at the breeders. They were standing next to their owners so she could get a sense of the size they would be. "Wholly crap Chris! Did you get the biggest dogs ever?"
"Nope, they weren't even on the biggest dog breeds list I started looking at. They are known for being protective, great with families, and guarding as long as they are trained well and socialized early. So the whole team has to come over and meet them and often for a while so they can get to know them. And I have been taking them to the dog park as often as I can so they know how to treat other dogs."
"What made you get guard dogs?" She asked him as she rubbed their bellies cooing at them.
"I want a family in the future, and I need to know that they are safe. Having well trained dogs will keep them that way. But you can't get dogs and train them once you have a family you have to train them ahead of time so the family is always protected." He said quietly watching her the whole time. Neither noticed her mom was still in the room or the tear that escaped her eye knowing that this man cared so much for her daughter that he was planning ahead for them.
Sonja turned and gaped at him. "You need to slow down Chris..."
"I'm not rushing you Sonja. Like I said they need to be fully trained and I know we haven't even gone out together that it may not be us that I have a family with, we might not work." He paused and clears his throat. "Either way these guys will be ready for a family when it happens." Her mom went back into the kitchen letting them talk it out, she knew her daughters could be stubborn and she was hoping that Sonja wasn't so stubborn that she pushed Chris away.
Chris went over and slid his body in behind her and held her against his chest. Petting baron while she pet Bradley. He leaned his head against the back of hers and said "I want you in my life like this but I would never push you. I never want you to feel like that. I was so scared when I found you in that jail cell, I know what our job is but seeing you like that knowing I couldn't protect you that I won't be able to protect a family, if I ever have one, 24/7, it made me a little paranoid. So I researched good dog breeds for guarding. I needed to have something in place to keep me from worrying when I have a family someday."
She turned her head and kissed him not saying anything yet.
Neither noticed Abby as she walked through to the kitchen. She noticed they were having some sort of moment and walked through silently not treating them and the puppies like she normally would have.
In the kitchen she asked Mrs. Percy. "So what's going on out there?" She gestured back towards the living room.
"He was explaining why he got the pups last I saw and she was a little shocked at the reasoning. She didn't pull away did she?"
Shaking her head Abby said, "He has her wrapped in his whole body and they are each petting one of the dogs. He seemed to be talking to her, his head resting against hers."
They heard Sonja's laughter from the other room and Abby poked her head out to see what was happening. Walking back to the island she took a seat smiling at Mrs. Percy. "They are fine for now. They were kissing and being licked by the pups."
Chris and Sonja joined them in the kitchen hand in hand Bradley and baron following at their heels. "Bed!" Chris said and both pups went over to their cushions in the corner. "Don't want them to think they can start begging for food." He told Sonja at her curious glance.
While Mrs. Percy made breakfast for Abby, Chris, and herself. Chris moved around behind her making something. When Mrs. Percy started plating food he turned around and brought the plate in his hands to Sonja. He made her toast with peanut butter some with bananas and chocolate chips others with apple slices and cinnamon. He kissed her cheek, moved to sit next to her, and dug into the food he had been served.
"Thank you again, for cooking, it's delicious." Chris told her mother after taking a bite of the omelet and fried potatoes she had made.
"It's nothing, your opened you home to my daughters and I, bought all the groceries for a house full of people without taking a cent for them, and made sure that we all stayed safe. I think that deserves a few home cooked meals. Since you said that you were ok with questions about marriage and kids what are your plans for my daughter?" She asked making Sonja make an inarticulate sound of horror.
Chris grinning squeezed her hand. "I was hoping I could talk her into a date this evening. We got the bad guy and the paperwork is finished. But as for wedding and kids we aren't there yet to have any sort of answers. I'm not rushing into this we'll see how it goes once we are actually seeing each other."
The three of them went into work, everyone meeting at the morgue again so they were all in one place. They went back over everything making sure every t was crossed and every I dotted. That every single piece of evidence was catalogued correctly. Pride made copies of all the reports and all of the pictures. He took pictures of the catalogs and the items they pertained to. He gave a copy to Vance for safe keeping and kept one for himself before letting the evidence be taken for trial storage.
The dc team members flew home that afternoon and would continue to guard Brooklyn. Doc wade returned to New Orleans in time to thank Palmer for his help before they left. When Abby hugged Chris goodbye Sonja was right there next to them making sure she wasn't too handsy with him.
Grinning wickedly Abby kissed Chris's cheek and said, "Thanks for taking me in. I enjoyed my time with you." She hugged Sonja, who was obviously stirred up, next and said into her ear. "Relax I'm just teasing, he was a perfect gentleman." Abby laughed and moved on hugging the rest of the team before they left. Chris squeezed her hand quickly; not holding too long knowing Sonja wasn't ready to show that sort of intimacy around the team.
Pride gave them a speech about staying save and being vigilant. He suggested not being alone and Sonja staying with Chris until after the trial. He let them have the rest of the day off unless a new case came up, but all the rest of their work could wait another day.
While driving back to his house he asked if she wanted to take the pups to the dog park with him. He wanted to start slow, let her get used to being just with him. Let her work out any lingering anxiety she might have. Grinning he reached over and took her hand in his holding it the rest of the way home.
Bradley and baron greeted them at the door their wagging butts on the floor. Their whole bodies wriggling with excitement. Chris pet each of them on the head and left them sitting like that as he went to go get their leashes. Baron couldn't help himself when he saw the leash in Chris's hands he jumped up and barked.
"Baron, sit!" Chris demanded. "Good boy Bradley!" He told the other dog once baron sat again. Giving Bradley a piece of kibble and a pat on the head. "Positive reinforcement." He explained to Sonja. "You don't want a dog that is meant to protect you and your family to be afraid of you or you to be afraid of them. When I give them commands I have to be authoritative and occasionally they recommend wrestling with them and getting them pinned so that they know who is leader of their pack."
"Are you going to teach them commands in a different language too?" She asked nodding her head in understanding having worked with police dogs before.
"No, they recommend that you teach them in your native language for guard dogs. When you are stressed you don't tend to remember to call out in a different language. We could teach them Spanish if you wanted..." he started but stopped seeing her eyes get wide. "English is good enough. They'll learn who they should listen to just by being around those people often enough."
Chris got the dogs into the back of his truck. He opened the windows so they could put their heads out. Both did so but they sat quietly tails wagging ears flapping in the breeze. Sonja laughed at baron she could see his puppy smile in the mirror. At the park normally Chris held both of their leashes but he gave Bradley to Sonja today as they walked over to the fenced in grassy doggy play-yard.
Bradley walked with her, right next to her leg. Not pulling ahead or lagging behind sniffing everything he passed. Sonja reached in his pocket and got a couple pieces of kibble and gave him one for walking so nicely on his lead. Once inside she had him sit and stay while taking off his leash. When he didn't even twitch to get up after she took off the leash she gave him another piece.
"Good boy, Bradley. You are a good puppy yes you are." She cooed at him. She got him to shake both paws separately and gently giving him kibble each time before telling him, "alright buddy go play." She looked at Chris a huge smile on her face. It brightened even more when he produced a frisbee.
"They like to chase it but they aren't very good at catching it yet. And half the time they carry it back together." He told her handing it over.
Sonja waited for them to investigate the sights and smells of the park before calling them over and throwing the frisbee. Chris watched her play a smile on both of their faces. She threw the frisbee until both of them stopped bringing it back for her to throw it again. Chris being the gentleman picked up all of their bombs and went and gather the frisbee which made Sonja laugh. Chris flipped the frisbee over and poured some water into it. Seeing what he was doing Sonja called them over. Chris smiled to himself when both obediently lumbered over to her.
Back in the truck Chris took her hand again as he drove back to his house. He happily sang along to the radio. When they got back And the pups situated Sonja asked if they could go get some of her things. Chris sat on her bed as she packed up some of her things so she could stay at his house until pride thought it safe for her to return home. When she seemed finished Chris pulled her down into his lap holding her close.
"Would you go to dinner with me tonight?" He asked looking in her eyes as he held her close.
"What about mom?"
Grinning Chris said, "I'm not taking your mother on our first official date. She'll be fine at the house. She has an early warning system in the pups and the FBI are still outside. They will be until after the trial is done."
"No ya goofball. I meant she is living at your house. how do we explain...?"
"She knows that we haven't been on a date yet Sonja. My guess is she will understand." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, "but we could probably stay here until its dinner time if you wanted. But then since she knew we came here she might get suspicious of such a long absence." She smacked his arm. But didn't protest when he kissed her.
Chris lay back on her bed and pulled her with him, never breaking their kiss. Now lying on top of him Sonja pulled back. "And what do you think you are doing?"
"Getting more comfortable?" He answered questioningly wondering if she was mad at him for moving too quickly. They were just kissing he thought.
She laughed at his evasiveness, Kissed him again, then got up off the bed. "No beds yet. Let's head back to your house. I'll get settled in the guest room and then we can go to dinner. Nothing too big. ok Chris, low key maybe?"
Grinning he hopped off the bed and pulled her back into his arms. He did a happy little dance with her before kissing her. He grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "The only part of that that makes me sad is getting you settled in the guest room. I really like wakin' up to you in my arms."
Later they drove down to the quarter and found a place to park. Once out of the car Chris took her hand and they walked to Chartres House where Chris had made reservations. They ordered fried green tomatoes to share while they looked over the menu. Sonja decided on the Portobello burger and Chris chose the hot roast beef and gravy po' boy. They sat quietly until the waitress came back to take their orders and deliver the appetizer.
Because they already knew each other so well Chris asked, "so what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you want to be a cop?"
Sonja laughed, "no I wanted to be a vet. I attended a lecture in college with a friend applying to the FBI though and loved it. What about you?"
"I always was making Cade play the bad guy so I could catch him and lock him up. So yeah my momma would tell you I was always going to be a cop." He answered.
They spent the rest of the meal chatting and laughing with each other. Chris held out his hand to her after he paid. She took it and stood, they walked out hand in hand. Outside Chris spun her into his arms and kissed her. Lifting his lips just slightly he said, "I'm not ready for our date to be over. Do you want to go dancing?"
Sonja kissed him and laughed nodding but said, "you can dance?" A teasing look in her eyes.
Chris nibbled along her jaw to her ear and whispered, "I'd love to show you exactly how well but I have a house guest. So I guess we have to keep the moves at a pg-13 level, and probably keep them contained to the clubs."
Sonja shivered and pulled him back for another kiss, "I'll have to convince her to leave then." She told him before taking his hand that had traveled down to her butt and heading off to a club.
They danced for hours, their bodies never leaving contact with one another. Each had had to glare away a few people looking to cut in with one of them. One girl was bold enough to put her arms around Chris and try to put her body between them. Sonja was ready to pull her off him when Chris politely put her aside saying he only danced with his girlfriend. She pouted and tried to grind against his back so Chris looked down at Sonja and nearly yelled so it would be loud enough for the hanger on to hear. "Want to go home? I think it's getting too crowded here, and there can be fewer clothes involved." He said a grin taking over his face.
She pulled him down for a kiss putting some body English into it before yelling back that she was good with fewer clothes. They walked out hand in hand; the hanger on watching them slack jawed. They walked back to his truck hand in hand.
They sat on the couch again talking until they fell asleep. Chris again sat with his feet up on the ottoman on one end of the couch. Sonja sat curled into his side, his arm around her with her feet up on the rest of the couch, their fingers interlaced. Chris rested his head on top of hers. Bradley lay along Sonja's legs, her free hand resting on his head, and Barron lay on the ottoman snuggling with Chris's feet.
Sonja's mom found them like that in the morning and shooed the dogs outside before starting breakfast.
The dogs barked for a moment outside but settled and the noise didn't wake either of them. Not long after that the front door opened and Cade and Chris's mom walked in the pups at their feet. Wondering how the pups got back in Sonja's mom came out of the kitchen. Having seen them in the pictures around the house she knew they were his family. She brought a finger to her lips and motioned them into the kitchen with her. And pointing to the couch so they understood why they were being quite.
In the kitchen Cade asked, "since when is cuddling something Chris and Sonja do?"
Having not met the team before his mother looked at him, "that was his partner Sonja?" At Cade and her mother's nods she smiled and said, "he has been wanting to snuggle that girl for a long time."
"Oh?" Asked Sonja's mom. "I'm Sofia Percy, Sonja's mother by the way." She said offering her hand to first Chris's mom then Cade. "that's the second time I've found them on the couch like that. the third time they were more relaxed and actually laying there together."
Shaking her hand Chris's mom said, "I'm carol Ann LaSalle, Chris's mom, and this is my older son Cade. If you don't mind my asking, you seem to be at home here, how come you are staying with Chris and not Sonja?"
Bradley and Barron seeing they weren't getting a treat went back to snuggle with Chris and Sonja.
"That's a long story, why don't you two sit while I start breakfast." She turned and gathered the items she would need before starting the story. "My other girls and I talk with each other and Sonja once a week. We are scattered across the country and I don't want us to grow apart. We hadn't heard from or able to get a hold of Sonja for nearly two months. We were worried so we all flew in got a hotel and went over to Sonja's apartment. We had been there for hours looking the place over. Her keys and phone where there the oddest thing we found was a few bags of jerky since she is vegan we didn't understand that at all. We were searching through her bedroom when Chris comes in and scared the daylights out of us. He was just checking on her apartment as she was in protective custody. We thought at the time that she was a bar manager so couldn't understand why. Their boss let one of my daughters talk to Sonja via a secure connection, when he saw her he decided we looked too much like Sonja and could be mistaken for her and we needed to be protected as well. My daughters went home after a day or two but I wanted to see that Sonja was safe before I left so I stayed. Since the tech from dc was staying here already the house was guarded so this is where they decided to have us stay while we were in town."
"You seem ok with what was happening out there." His mom started.
Laughing her mom said, "that boy is over the moon about my Sonja and he makes her happy. He has been a complete gentleman the whole time I have been here. until my other daughters left he had me sleeping in his own room and he slept on the couch. He refused to take any money for groceries despite the fact that at one point he was buying them for four other people than himself. He's a good man and that's all I could ask for for my daughter. What do you think about it?" She asked curious.
"As long as she doesn't push him away again. You're right he's completely in love with her but she pulled back once and told him to back off. He was crushed; I wouldn't want to see that happen again."
The smell of food woke Chris. He heard the sound of voices from the kitchen and wondered who was there but didn't go investigate yet as Sonja was in his arms and he wanted to cuddle a bit more. He pulled her more into his lap and turned her sleepy face to his for a kiss. "Good morning Sonja. have I told you that I really enjoy waking up with you in my arms?" He asked kissing her again.
She grinned and blushed but asked, "who is here?" At his shrug she jumped off his lap surprising Barron awake making him look around barking for an enemy.
"Barron enough." Chris soothed the dog as he stood up and pulled Sonja back into his arms. "Easy Sonja, whoever it is had to already have walked past us unless they came in through the back. They left us sleeping so it's not anyone that would have a problem with us seeing each other." He kissed her and held her tight until she relaxed a little. Once she did he looked down at her, "ready to find out who is talking to your mom?"
Hand in hand they walked into the kitchen, where Chris stopped abruptly. "Momma? Cade? What are you two doing here?" Chris asked confused.
"Well we came to get mommas car since she had to return her rental and you hadn't had a chance to bring it back yet. But we've spent some time talking with Mrs. Sofia here. Your mother is a lovely woman Ms. Sonja." Cade said coming over and giving Sonja a hug. "It's good to see you again. I hear you were hurt recently. You good?" He gave her a kiss on her cheek.
Giggling Sonja hugged him back. "It's good to see you too Cade. Yeah I'm better or this one wouldn't have let me come back."
Chris grumbled and pulled her back into his arms away from his brother.
"You going to tell your own brother what she told Abby?" Sonja's mom asked him, chuckling.
Chris shrugged and nodded before turning back to his brother and saying, "mine." Still holding Sonja wrapped in his arms. Cade's mouth dropped open in surprise. Chris had never been so possessive of a girl with him, not even Savannah, and Sonja was just his partner.
"How was your date?" Sonja's mom asked them as she started plating breakfast. Chris took Sonja to a seat at the table and went to make her breakfast, bringing over coffee for her and a mug for himself before getting started.
His mom and Cade watched him curiously as he put her food together and brought it to her giving her a kiss before joining her at the table having grabbed a plate for himself from her mother as he walked by.
Chris grinned back at her mom, "it was great up until the end when some girl was trying to butt in. We walked out not wanting to deal with that."
"Date? With who?" Cade asked confused. "Last I heard you weren't seeing anyone cause you didn't know how to move into a relationship instead of just a series of first dates."
All three women shared a look that simply conveyed one thought, men sucked at seeing what was in front of them.
"With Sonja bro, that's why I said mine." Chris said shaking his head. "Grab a plate and come eat before it gets cold. Mrs. Sofia is a great cook. She has been spoiling me the whole time she was here." He added when Cade stood there stunned. Both of their mothers had already joined them.
Cade grabbed his plate and came and sat, "so how long have you two been an item, and why haven't I heard about this?"
"Cade, your brother has had a thing for Sonja since the first day they met; you could hear it in his voice when he talked about her." Sonja gave Chris a raised eyebrow look at that remembering how he fought against her joining the team.
"What I can't think you are hot and not want to change the status quo? But I take back everything I said then because you joining the team was the best thing that ever happened to me." He answered her look. Then turned back to his brother and with a wicked grin said, "we had our first date last night."
"Be nice, Christopher, start at the beginning." At his look she amended, "fine maybe not the beginning how about finding me in jail?"
"Jail!?" Her mother screeched.
Wincing Sonja nodded, "yeah, why I was there is part of the case we just finished. since it still has to go through trial I can't explain."
"If you aren't going to explain that, what about being in jail did you want me to tell them?" Chris asked.
"Not the how of it but when you showed up and told me you had a plan and then showing up to get me out."
"You don't think I need to start as far back as the hug?" Chris asked curious.
Sonja shrugged, "you could but then you'd have to explain melody too and I wasn't sure you wanted to."
"Momma and Cade already heard all about that." Chris said with a shrug. "She had me thinking that baby was mine how could I have not told them first that I had a kid and second that it turned out that he wasn't mine. his mother just used me to get the real daddy arrested because she was afraid since he was hittin' her, that he would start hittin' him too."
"She was staying here." Sonja growled.
"In the guest room your mommas in." Chris answered calmly.
"She kissed you, making sure I saw it."
"Now you wouldn't be jealous would you? Like you said she kissed me, I didn't know she was going to do it and I was not happy that she did. The only reason I let her stay here was I thought that little boy was mine."
"You are one to talk about jealousy mister. You spent a whole day spitting mad because a coffee date kissed me and you saw it."
Chris shrugged, "but I told you I cared about you. You were the one that told me to back off."
"Just start at the jail, I think our conversation just now explained our handful of months before that for them." Sonja said blushing.
"Yeah ok, so we had more than our share of tense little moments like that prior to her being in jail. Those all started with me trying to take her place on a dangerous mission because I couldn't take the thought of her dying. No actually I guess they started because I could have died but the guy's gun dry fired."
"That is not starting at the jail, and now look at our mother's you have them shocked that we both nearly died. And at least I could mostly control my situation you had no way of knowing that gun would dry fire."
"A floating bomb that the coast guard was going to force to explode if you didn't disarm it is not control Sonja. I told you to get off that damn boat that they were going to blow it and you didn't listen. Thank god they didn't blow it right away. You didn't know that they wouldn't. And if Brody hadn't have shot him there was a remote switch that could have blown you up at any time!" Chris got up and started pacing his heart racing at the thought of her dying. He came to a stop next to her and knelt down taking her face in his hands he said, "please don't do that to me again. I..." he trailed off ducking his head not wanting to push her too hard and say that he didn't know what he would do if she died, that he wasn't sure he could live without her.
Sonja reached down and tipped his head up, "we are both still here Chris." She kissed him gently.
When they pulled apart he nodded and stood. "I'm going to take the dogs for a run. I'm sorry I can't get that out of my head. Go ahead and keep telling them what happened." He leaned down and kissed her again wishing he could tell her that he loved her.
"Keep alert, he still has connections." Sonja told him.
"Then keep Bradley here. I'll run him later; I don't want to leave you with no warning system. You've worked with him more he'll know to listen to you."
Sonja watched him go concerned that he was still so upset about what had happened. When she finally turned back to the table she found all three of them watching her waiting.
"The melody thing happened just before I came home to help with my step father. By the time I got back she was gone and Chris had had the guy arrested and shipped off to Texas for the warrant he had out for his arrest. He didn't tell me so I just thought he was being strange ignoring his phone then when he started answering it he'd leave a scene and not tell anyone why or how long he'd be gone. I found out because pride called us in on a case and told me he hadn't been able to get ahold of Chris. I offered to swing out here and pick him up. She answered the door in what looked like just a t-shirt. Then Chris came in from a different room playing airplane with this baby boy." Sonja kept telling them what had happened between them leaving out as much as she could about the cases. It took her a long while to put it all out there.
Chris walked back in just as she was finishing about them dancing last night and coming back here. How she didn't want to go to bed because they were talking. Happy hearing she liked being with him so much she didn't want to go to sleep over being with him he leaned down and kissed her.
"Why don't you two just go to bed instead of sharing the couch as you have been? Wouldn't it make more sense since you seem to end up sleeping together anyway?" Her mother asked.
"Mom!" Sonja was shocked she would say something like that.
"What? Just because my first husband is in jail and the second passed away doesn't mean I don't know what happens when you are in a relationship. Besides you have managed to just sleep on the couch what makes the bed any different?"
Grinning Chris whispered in her ear, "it would be a nice change from the couch. And you know my vote on waking up with you in my arms." Looking up Chris added loud enough for everyone to hear. "Momma we have been so busy I haven't had a chance to even look at your car. So why don't I make a pitcher of tea and you sit and get to know Sonja and Mrs. Sofia."
They sat on the front porch watching Chris and Cade fiddle with the car. Both pups lying at Sonja's feet. Sonja kept getting distracted by the sight of Chris without his shirt on, so she mostly let their mothers talk.
"You know she has always talked about not wanting to wear white. She didn't like to strictly follow traditions like that..." she heard her mother say.
She whipped her head around and nearly screeched, "what are you two talking about?" Both pups popped up to their feet and looked around for the source of her distress. Without thinking about it she put a hand on each of their heads to calm them both and herself.
"Nothing dear, go back to your gawking." Her mother told her.
"Please talk about something else, hell anything else. We have only had one date."
"Why do you assume we were talking about you? I have two other daughters. And we are getting to know each other."
"Because both of them want the big fancy white dresses, I'm the only one that doesn't."
Chris having noticed the dogs' change of posture had walked over to them. leaving Cade to tinker on his own for a moment. Sonja jumps in surprise when he says, "now momma, Mrs. Sofia I need you two to lay off this topic. Can't you see how jumpy she gets at just the thought? That's not good for our relationship. I don't want her to get jumpy on me and bolt. I like where we are now and what might come might come or it might not right now it is too early to know." Turning to Sonja he bent his knees and sat on his heels so he was on eye level with her. "Our speed is our speed, like I said, no one else gets a say. We are just going to enjoy everything as it comes our way."
He gave her a hug and her brain nearly melted having the muscles she had been admiring from afar surrounding her. Sonja leaned up and kissed him ignoring her mom when she turned to Chris's mom and said, "I can't believe she is defeated by the muscles, she can be so stubborn."