Author's Note

Thank you for all the reviews. They are all appreciated.

I apologize if I got it wrong the way the military operates in those kinds of situations further down in this chapter. I am not a military person, so I have no knowledge of it.

I just want to speak out a warning for this chapter. It is definitely not Jason friendly. I have never been a huge Jason fan and always thought he was too loyal to his conniving, manipulative dad. So if you are reading this chapter and hoping for a nice Jason, I am sorry, I couldn't write it.

You have been warned!

Enjoy!

Charlie's POV

As I am waiting for Jason to arrive, I contemplate if I am doing the right thing or not. Bass has given me no indication that he is willing to fight for us, but I can't keep stringing Jason along. It is not fair to him.

And I have a bad feeling that he has a mean jealously streak. He nearly blew up yesterday, as I told him that Bass was still staying at my house. Jason doesn't see that it is important to Alex to have Bass around.

"Hey" Jason says as he sits down on the opposite side of the table, bringing me out of my own thoughts.

"Hey to you too" I reply and shoot him a small smile.

"I thought we were going out to dinner, why the change of plans?" He questions as he scans the drinks menu.

I take a sip of my black coffee for courage, before speaking up. I don't know why I chose to do this in a public place. "Listen Jason…I can't date you anymore" I wince as the words leave my mouth. I certainly could have worded that better.

"What?" Jason meets my eyes in shock. "Is this because of Bass?"

"Yes…No" I sigh. "Not directly anyways. You are nice and all, but I am not ready for this." I say and motion from me to him and back. I wince again at my choice of words. I was never the break-upee, until Bass that is, but before him there we only a couple of boyfriends and they always broke up with me.

"You can't be serious" He jumps up, knocks over the chair and bumps the table, making my coffee spill all over the table.

"Jason…I am sorry, but yes I am serious." The other coffee patrons start to stare at us and I am trying to ignore them. I am sure my face is now as red as a tomato.

"After what…two months you are dumping me for your Ex-Husband?" He shouts and I can feel my temper rising.

"Yes" I simply answer and wipe up the coffee with a napkin. Even though my answer isn't quite true, since there is nothing between me and Bass at the moment.

A waiter appears at our table and says "Excuse me…could you please turn it down or I will have to ask you to leave!"

"I am sorry…we will keep it down" I assure him.

"Screw you" Jason snarls and leaves the Café. My face heats up even more and I am close to digging myself a hole to crawl into of embarrassment. I hoped he would take it better, but deep down I knew he wouldn't.

I pay for my coffee and leave. I have no reason to be here any longer and I just want to go home to see my son. Thankfully I don't have to work this or next week, since I have enough overtime saved up.

I get into my car and point it towards my mother's house, because that is where Alex is. Bass had something to do in the city and Alex was excited to get out of the house. Thankfully, this time he didn't put up much of a fuss and got into the car without any complaining.

Bass's POV

"All Right Mr. Monroe. I want to see you back here at least twice a week." Doctor Sullivan tells me and makes a note on her legal pad. "When are you going back overseas?"

"I am not sure at this stage. Probably in two to three weeks." I answer and shrug my shoulders.

"For how long?" Dr. Phoebe Sullivan probes further. She is a 30-something woman, who was recommended to me by Andrew. Apparently she is the best psychologist in town and Black Ops will foot the bill, which is another plus.

"Unsure yet" I answer.

"Okay, just let me know your schedule and we can work around that" Dr. Sullivan says and stands. "It is the right step into the right direction, Mr. Monroe."

"Thank you Doc" I say and shake her hand.

When I step out of her office building the world seems a little lighter than before I went in. I made an appointment the day after Charlie and I had that fight in the kitchen. 'Do you also want to miss everything else?' kept going through my head that night, so first thing the next morning I called Andrew and he gave me that referral.

At first the appointment didn't go very well. She asked me questions regarding my job and symptoms and I only gave her short answers. I don't want to be weak. I am a man for Christ sake, I can deal with that stuff on my own, but then she asked about my wife and son and suddenly I remembered why I am doing this. After that it went a little better.

She said I had all the signs of PTSD, which made me wince. I am sure there are people out there who have been through worse than I have.

I pull up at the curb of our old house half an hour later and get out. I lean against my truck and look up at the house that used to have a happy family living in it.

The house is located in a cul-de-sac in a decent neighborhood. It has 4 bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large living room and kitchen with a massive backyard. This was the first house Charlie and I looked at and we instantly fell in love with it. I had to do all the moving by myself, because she was 8 months pregnant, but I didn't mind.

I have some good memories in this house and I would love nothing more to go in and get my stuff, but the amount of pain I will feel as soon as I cross that threshold, hold me back.

I hope by going to see Dr. Sullivan I will be able to get my family back too. I also know it is not just that simple. And I don't want to tell Charlie just yet that I am getting help. I first want to get better, to show her that I mean it and that I am working at it.

I just hope by the time I tell her, it won't be too late.

"Charlie?" I call out as I enter her house. She gave me a key, so that I was able to come and go as I please.

"I am up here" She shouts back. As I enter her room, I have to smile at the sight that greets me. Music is coming from the radio in the corner and she is swaying her hips to the rhythm, while folding the laundry on the bed.

"Where is Alex?" I question. She jumps lightly, her head snaps around and she shoots me an evil look. She obviously didn't hear me coming up the stairs, which makes me smile even more. I used to do that to her a lot. I love the surprised look on her face.

"Ohh…don't sneak up on me like that" Charlie chides me, with a small smile. We were overly polite to each other, these past few days and only talked to each other when it was necessary.

"I see your jumpiness hasn't changed" I grin and walk further into her bedroom. There are pictures of family and friends attached to the mirror on the closet and I am surprised to find that our wedding picture is among them.

"And I see you can still move like a cat" She retorts.

"Where is Alex?" I repeat my question from earlier and successfully change the subject.

"He wanted to stay at moms." Charlie answers and turns back to the washing basket.

"Chocolate cookies and ice-cream?" I ask, knowing that is exactly what Rachel offered her only grandson to get him to stay at her house.

"Yupp…sugar induced coma inclusive" My wife replies.

"I am going to make dinner tonight. Any preference?" I ask as I turn around to face her. She is wearing a green tank top, denim shorts and her feet are stuffed into red wool socks. It is 40 degrees outside and she is standing here wearing those stupid socks. I never understood that particular habit of hers.

Charlie looks up with a big grin on her face and questions "Mexican wraps?"

"Sure" I say and leave the room, unable to suppress the grin. It is one of the few things I can make and Connor taught me how to make them. Charlie loves them and thinks they are to die for.

After a quick inspection of her fridge and cabinets in the kitchen, I realize that I have to go food shopping. "Charlie you need anything from the shops?"

"No, I am good" She replies and I grab my car keys and leave the house.

"Oh that was soo good" Charlie tells me and leans back on the couch. We ate outside, since it is a nice night. "I am completely stuffed." She adds and opens the button of her shorts.

"Wow…that is so attractive" Her head snaps up and as she sees my grin, she realizes that I am teasing.

"Fuck off" She laughs and takes a sip of her beer. "Seriously Bass…thanks for dinner."

"You are welcome." I reply and we fall into a comfortable silence.

"I…I just wanted to let you know…that I broke it off with Jason" Charlie informs me, looking down at her fingers, which are peeling off the label of her beer bottle.

"Okay…" I don't know what to make of this. I am relieved to say the least, but does this mean she will give us another shot?

"Do ever think about the night, when you kissed me for the first time at Miles's place?" Charlie questions after yet another moment of silence. If she only knew how often I think about that night

"I kissed you?" I laugh at the fact that she is bringing up this old argument. "May I remind you that you kissed me, not the other way around?" It was the best thing I could have ever done, apart from marrying her and impregnating her that is. Truth is that I don't remember who of us started that kiss, but I will never admit that out loud. I enjoy arguing about this far too much.

"No…No…Bass…you can't deny that you kissed me" Charlie retorts with a laugh of her own.

"I won't" I say and as triumphant smiles spreads across her face, I quickly add "I won't deny that I kissed you, AFTER you kissed me. And you know that is the truth, since you were far more drunk than I was."

"Pfft…I remember everything just fine. You tickled me, we fell and you kissed me." Charlie says with a big smile on her face.

I place my bottle on the ground next to the couch and quickly attack her sides with my fingers. She instantly starts laughing and begs me to stop.

"Bass…no…you are a dead man" She gets out in between laughs. Charlie manages to put her bottle safely onto the ground as well and starts tickling me too.

I trap her beneath me, with both of her hands in my left hand above her head and my right hand tickling her sides.

Charlie's POV

Bass stills his hands and I am finally able to catch my breath. As I look up now, I realize that his face is really close and he is looking down at my lips. Bass can ruin my panties with only a small kiss and god knows how much I want him to kiss me right now.

My stomach does a flip and my heart speeds up in anticipation of a kiss from him. I am trapped beneath him, with his hard manhood pressing into the right spot between my legs, if just weren't wearing and clothes this would be perfect.

"Sorry" He mumbles and his breath graces my face. Bass releases my hands and pulls away. "I...uhh… I am tired. I am gonna go to bed." He adds and stands.

"Help me up, please?" I ask and I am able to hide my disappointment. He holds out his hand to me and pulls me out of my awkward position from the couch, right into his arms. "Thanks" I mumble and step away from him.

We clean up the outside area in silence and take everything into the kitchen. "Good night then" Bass says and turns to go into the living room.

"Wait" I call out and he stops dead in his tracks. I quickly walk over and place a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for dinner" I whisper into his ear and as walk away I could swear I heard him growl.

I lay awake for quite a while, since my body only wants to do one thing. And that is go downs stairs, rip his clothes of and have hot and heavy sex with him.

But my heart and head tell me to stay put. I don't want to destroy what progress we made this week. He is too important to me. Tonight I had a feeling he was his old self again. The guy I fell in love with all those years ago.

Bass's POV

"Charlie…" I sigh and quickly walk over to my highly pregnant wife.

"I can carry that" She snaps.

"Babe, you cannot." I state the most obvious and take the box out of her hands. "I told you, that you are not allowed to carry anything heavier than a feather."

"I am pregnant…NOT SICK" She stomps her food like a child, making me smile. "Stop smiling you jerk!"

"I love you" I tell her and kiss her on the lips.

"I maybe love you too…but that is a big maybe!" She retorts and walks into the house.

With the signing bonus I received from Black Ops and my first pay check, we were finally able to make an offer on this house.

I just got back two weeks ago from Afghanistan and will stay until after the baby is born. I hate leaving her alone so soon after, but I don't have much of a choice. We need the money.

"That maybe isn't that big, or you wouldn't be carrying my child" I inform her and walk into the house after her.

BANG

I look around and see that the door has slammed shut behind me.

BANG

BANG

"BASS WE HAVE TO MOVE" Nutter shouts and ducks behind the wall, as more bullets come flying through the window.

"How far is the Humvee?" I shout over the noise. We got separated from Tom and Rick as the gun fire started and now we have to find a way out of this mess.

"About a click north" He replies and we both start crawling towards the other exit of this house. Thankfully Max is staying quiet and keeps close to my side. This is the second time this week that this happens to us. Either someone is leaking Intel or they are following us. Neither one is an appealing scenario.

"Can you see where these shots are coming from?" Nutter questions through the radio.

"Mountains." Tom simply answers.

"Shit…Sniper" Nutter curses.

I prop myself up to look out the window and a bullet just misses my head by a few centimeters. "They are getting closer. A vehicle is coming down this side of the mountains."

"Okay…we get out of here and turn north. I will cover you. Make it to the next house and then cover for me" Nutter relays the plan once more to Tom and Rick, before we execute it.

Thankfully the other two are able to meet us half a click away from the Humvee and together we make our way towards it quickly. The houses cover us almost all the way, but we unfortunately left the vehicle right in the center of the town square.

"Cover me" Rick says and makes a run for it. Just as he reaches the door, a bullet hits his thigh and he goes down like a sack of potatoes.

"RICK" We all shout in unison.

"I am okay" He replies weakly, pulls himself up into a sitting position and is able to open the Humvee door.

One after each other we make a run for the vehicle and then pull Rick into the back. Bullets hit the Humvee and we speed out of there as fast as we can.

BANG

BANG

I jolt awake and take a moment to take in my surroundings and realize that I am not in danger in the Iraqi dessert, but safe and sound at home.

BANG

BANG

"CHARLIE" A Male voice shouts outside and I throw the blanket off me. Without bothering to put on a shirt I make my way to the door; grab Alex's baseball bat, which is sitting next to the stairs, in passing and open the door.

"Jason?" I question. I recognize the kid from Charlie's graduation party.

"I wanna speeeak to Scharlie" Jason slurs and tries to push himself past me.

"She is sleeping, right now. Come back tomorrow" I with that tone that says 'Don't test me or else'. But of course he didn't catch the draft in his drunken state.

"CHARLIE" He shouts and I gently push him out of the door way, to close the door behind me. "HEY…don't touch me!"

"I just want to close the door, so you don't wake her." I inform him, but in that moment I can see the light turn on upstairs and I know she will be down here any second.

"I wannna speek to herr" Jason repeats himself and tries to push past me again.

"NO…listen buddy, you have to leave!" I push him again.

"You don't own this house…Scharlie told me…so you have no say if she wants to talk to me or n-not. You are just her ex!" He replies and the front door opens in that moment.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" Charlie question from behind me.

"I am sorry…scharlie…I shouldn't have blown up like that…just can I schpeak to you?" Jason question as Charlie comes to a stand next to me. She is wearing a bathrobe and flip flops on her feet.

"Charlie" I warn her, but she squeezes me hand lightly, silently telling me she will be okay. "I will be right behind the door, if you need me."

Without another word I turn around and close the door behind me.

Charlie's POV

I hear the door click and turn back to Jason. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I love you…I didn't mean to get angry. Can we just please just talk about it?" Jason slurs and I can smell the alcohol on his breath from where I am standing.

"Jason…" I sigh. "There is nothing to talk about. I am sorry that I hurt you. But I don't love you."

"How can you say that? You haven't even taken the time to get to know me!" Jason spats.

"We should talk about this in the morning, when you are not drunk. Let me just call you a cab" I say and take my phone out of my bathrobe pocket.

"NO" He shouts and slaps my phone out of my hand. Not even a second later the front door fly's open and Bass comes storming out.

"Jason…I think it is better if you left" Bass growls and comes to stand protectively in front of me. I take a moment to admire is muscular back, before I focus my eyes on Jason again.

"Fine Scharlie…hide behind him…I don't want you anyways, you bitch" Jason shouts and I can see Bass's knuckles turn white. He is close to punching Jason in the head. Jason seems to realize the same thing and backs away. "Fine…fine….I am leaving!"

"Are you okay?" Bass questions as we walk back into the house a few minutes later, after Jason left our street.

"Yeah…just tired." I reply.

"Okay…good night Charlie…if he comes back I won't hesitate to call the cops." Bass lets me know and walks towards the living room.

"Uhm…could you stay with me…maybe?" I ask and as he turns around, I quickly dismiss the idea. "Don't worry…you don't have to…sorry that I asked…Good night Bass."

"I will" He says and is in front of me with a couple of large steps. "Come on…let's go to bed."

"I shouldn't have asked…I am not even sure where that came from. It's not like I am scarred or anything…I just…I just don't want to be alone!" I ramble on as we lie in bed a few minutes later. We are facing each other and even in the darkness of my room I can see him smile. "I mean…"

I can't even finish that sentence before he silences me with a kiss. It starts out innocently and then gets more heated as his tongue begs to be let in. I am more than willing to grant him that. Everything is so familiar yet new. My heart skips a few beats, before it comes back pumping in full force, and my stomach is dancing a samba of excitement.

As the need for air becomes too much, we pull apart and lean our foreheads against each other. "It is clear as day that you kissed me first this time" I say. He laughs and rolls onto his back, pulling against him, so that I can lay my head onto his shoulder.

"Good night Charlie" He whispers and presses a kiss to the top of my head. Soon enough my eyes close and his steady heart beat lulls me to sleep.

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