Twenty-eight

Carly stood in the middle of her bedroom, hands on hips, stalling. She had been dreading this morning. Today she was going to Germany… or so Jack, the kids and everyone else thought. Well, everyone else but her and Rosanna. She hated lying to Jack. She had always hated it, but sometimes it was necessary. This was one of those times. She knew Jack would be furious. However, as long as nothing went wrong, he wouldn't be too angry and would hopefully forgive her because Carly did plan on telling him the truth upon Rosanna's return. Carly had already convinced Rosanna to shorten her trip. A majority of what Rosanna had needed to get done while in Germany had already been started. Most of her personal things had been packed up and were awaiting further instructions. So once Rosanna was there, her attention could be focused on the business side of things and getting it set up so that she could now work from Oakdale a majority of the time.

Jack walked into the room carrying two mugs. A cup of tea for Carly and coffee for himself. He stood in the doorway and watched his wife. She had her back to him and her hands firmly planted on her hips. She was staring at the half-packed suitcase with a glare that would cause the fiercest of drill sergeants to pause. "It's not the suitcase's fault," Jack said smiling as he walked towards her. Carly whipped around and focused her attention on her husband. He handed her the tea which she took willingly. She took a sip and let the warm liquid soothe her nerves.

"I realize the suitcase is not to blame," Carly began.

Jack cut her off knowing exactly where she was headed. "We've been over this Carly. Julia has already gotten into the house once. I'm not going to give her another opportunity to do that again. Wasn't Sage getting poisoned enough? I won't let her near you or the baby or the kids."

"But we could hire a bodyguard or two even. Rosanna offered to do that… I don't see why we couldn't take her up on that offer."

"Carly we've been over this. We know Julia is capable of anything. I'm not sure a bodyguard or two would be able to stop her if she was determined enough. I'm not willing to take that risk. You and the kids are everything to me. You're my whole life." He looked down at her as he pulled her against him with one arm. He kissed the side of her head, "I love you too much to risk loosing you. Now, we need to get you over to Rosanna's or else I'm going to end up driving you to the airport myself."

That was the last thing Carly wanted. "Alright, alright. Go get my makeup bag out of the bathroom for me and I'll finish up in here," she said setting the cup down on the nightstand.

She and Jack finished up in about 20 minutes and were heading downstairs on their way to Rosanna's. Carly grabbed her coat and her purse and took one more glance around the room. She wasn't really leaving she told herself, but she couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that this was the last time she'd be here for awhile.

"You'll be back before you know it," Jack said setting down the luggage and wrapping his arms around her, hugging her from behind.

"You're right," she said giving a weak smile.

"You are going to have so much fun with Rosanna that you won't be ready to come home," he teased.

"I sincerely doubt that," she said flatly.

"Well, if you enjoyed my saying goodbye last night… I'll make sure you enjoy your homecoming even more," he whispered wickedly in her ear before kissing her neck.

Carly giggled and turned around to face him. "Now that's something to look forward to," she said softly leaning up to kiss him.

Jack reluctantly pulled back and looked at his wife's beautiful face. She slowly opened her vivid blue eyes and looked back at him. He let his gaze roam all over her face memorizing every detail. He lifted a hand and gently cupped her face and let his thumb graze her bottom lip. God he loved that mouth.

Carly watched him as he studied her and she saw his mouth part and she could feel the electricity between them building. The subtle touches always had a way of doing that. They always had. Jack, unable to resist, reached up and with both hands pulled her to him for another kiss. He kissed her slowly enjoying every moment until he knew he had to stop.

"We should go now," he said huskily. "You are much too distracting for your own good."

Carly smiled playfully. "Are you sure you don't want to go upstairs and say goodbye again," she said raising an eyebrow at him.

Jack laughed. "I would love nothing more than to carry you upstairs, lock the door and never leave our room again. However, you have a plane to catch and I have a job to do. Hey, I had a though. How about once the baby is born and you feel up to it, what do you say just you and I getting away for a long weekend? We'll go somewhere quiet, order dinner in and never leave the bedroom the entire time. How does that sound?"

"Do you mean it? Really? Oh Jack, I would absolutely love it! You know, we've never had a real honeymoon."

"Then I'll set it up. You just let me know when you want to go and I'll take care of everything else."

"Deal," she said sealing it with a kiss. "I'm so excited, I can't wait! So where are we going to go?"

Jack laughed. "Remember, I said after the baby is born and you're feeling up to it. It'll be a couple of months, Carly."

"I know, I know. I just can't believe it. Time away… just by ourselves. I can't wait."

"Well, we'd better get going. We'll have plenty of time to plan our trip later. Right now we need to get you to the Lakeview before Rosanna leaves without you," Jack said.

"And that would be a real shame," she said dryly as she headed toward the door.

Jack laughed. He picked up the luggage, followed behind her, locking the door and setting the alarm.

A short time later, Jack and Carly were walking down the hall toward Rosanna's room. They reached the door and were about to knock when the door suddenly opened and Daryl nearly knocked them over. He had his jacket and tie slung over an arm. Jack noticed immediately that it was the same suit he'd worn yesterday to work.

"Morning Daryl," Carly said smiling.

"Good morning. I'm sorry I didn't mean to run into you. I didn't realize you two were out here."

"We just got here," Jack said giving him a knowing look.

"Uh… yeah, I just came to say goodbye to Rosanna. I didn't know if I'd still be here in Oakdale when she got back or not, so…" he trailed off.

"Well that was very nice," Carly said. "I do hope that you plan on coming to visit every once in awhile once you head back to Washington."

"Yeah. That would be nice," Daryl agreed. "I'll see you at the station later Jack?"

"Yes, I'll be there."

"Have a good trip Carly. It was really nice to finally meet you and the kids," Daryl said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said.

"Alright, so I'll see you later Jack."

"Yup," Jack said nodding his head. Carly headed into Rosanna's room. Jack and Daryl exchanged a final look before Jack followed Carly into the room.

Rosanna was in the bathroom finishing her hair and makeup before leaving. Carly knocked softly before entering. "Did you forget something Daryl?" Rosanna said smiling as she turned around. The smile was replaced by an instant blush when Rosanna saw Carly standing in the doorway.

"Sorry to disappoint, but Daryl already left," Carly said giving her sister a good long look.

"Oh. Yes, well, he uh… just stopped by this morning before work to say goodbye," Rosanna stammered as she turned around to finish getting ready.

"This morning, huh? It's interesting that he wasn't wearing his tie when he left," Carly replied grinning.

"Oh shut up," Rosanna glared at Carly in the mirror.

"So… am I going to get any details?"

"Not when you look so smug, you won't," Rosanna answered.

"Are you ladies just about ready?" Jack called from the other room.

"Jack is here too?" Rosanna whined looking at Carly. "He saw Daryl leave?"

"Yes, Daryl nearly knocked us over as he was leaving. Perfect timing, really."

"Yeah… perfect," Rosanna closed her eyes. "Do you think Jack knows something happened?"

"So something did happen?" Carly teased.

"Carly you know damn well something did. Does Jack suspect?"

"He's a detective, Rosanna," Carly said dryly. Of course he knows something happened.

"That's just great," Rosanna said shaking her head.

"So are you going to share any juicy details?" Carly asked.

"Not with Jack around to hear."

"Later then…" Carly said walking back out to the other room.

Jack sat in one of the chairs waiting for his wife and her sister. When they both came out of the bathroom, he stood up. "Did you want me to pack anything down to your car Rosanna?" he offered. "I could take Carly's luggage and anything you have that's ready to go."

"Oh thank you Jack, but no. I've hired a car to drive us to the airport. I didn't want to leave my own car there the whole time. They'll take care of the luggage for us."

"Alright. Well then, I guess I should probably head to the station." He looked at Carly.

"I'll just grab a few more things out of the bathroom," Rosanna said excusing herself.

Once Rosanna had left the room Carly walked over to Jack and hugged him tightly. "I'm really going to miss you," she said quietly.

"I'm going to miss you too. Every moment of every day. Will you call me when you get in?" Jack asked hugging her back.

"I'll call tonight, I promise." Carly tilted her head to look at him. "Please be careful. I don't want anything happening to you G-Man."

"Always," he said smiling back. "Have a safe trip… and have fun. That's an order."

"Yes sir," she said kissing him. Jack kissed her back holding her close, not wanting to let go. Her mouth parted and her tongue flicked along his lower lip eliciting a moan from Jack. She wrapped her hands around his neck threading her fingers through his hair.

Rosanna stood in the doorway and cleared her throat, in an attempt to break it up. Jack and Carly broke apart, breathing heavy. Jack brushed a strand of hair back from Carly's face and looked into her eyes.

"I should probably go," he said quietly.

Carly didn't want him to go, she hugged him tightly. "Not yet," she whispered.

Jack pulled back to get a better look at her. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"I need… I… I'm just going to miss you," she finished fighting back the tears. She'd almost come clean right there.

"Me too, baby." Jack kissed her head once more. "You ladies need to get going or you'll miss your flight and I need to get to the station." Jack hugged her again and gave her one last kiss on the mouth before walking toward the door. He opened it up and turned around. "Thank you, Rosanna. Please take care of her," he said his eyes never leaving Carly's.

"You have my word Jack," Rosanna replied.

Carly watched him the entire time. " I love you," she mouthed to him as a tear fell down her cheek.

Jack flashed her a grin that sent her heart racing. "I love you too," he mouthed back. He blew a kiss to her and slowly closed the door.

Rosanna gave Carly a moment to collect herself before she spoke. "We need to go over everything one more time before I leave," she said.

Carly took a deep breath and put on a business face. "Yes we should. But first things first… you need to tell me exactly what happened here last night between you and Daryl."

Rosanna blushed and turned to casually straighten things on the dresser. "There's really nothing to tell. Daryl came over. We had dinner. He left."

"This morning… he left this morning, Rosanna," Carly said coming over to her and spinning her around. "This is me you're talking to. You know I'm not going to drop this until I hear every little detail."

"Well, I'm not going to share every little detail," Rosanna said folding her arms. She couldn't help but keep from smiling though, as she said it.

Carly was thrilled for Rosanna. "Of course I don't want to know every detail," she said.

"Well, I'm sure you and Jack said goodbye last night… Daryl and I did too."

Carly thought about her night with Jack. Her thoughts drifted as she got lost in the memory.

"Hello? Carly?" Rosanna said attempting to get her attention. Carly snapped back to the present. "Thinking about last night?" Rosanna asked. "Care to share?"

"Absolutely not," Carly blushed.

"Exactly," Rosanna countered.

"It's not the same thing. Jack and I are married. It's obvious we would have spent the night together. However, you and Daryl aren't and hadn't as far as I know before last night. I just want to know how it came about," Carly reasoned.

"Well, Daryl came to my room to ask me to dinner. I was busy packing and getting ready for my trip and I declined. But, then I asked him if he wanted to have dinner here with me in my room instead," she explained.

Carly just smiled. "Good for you. Way to take charge of the situation… let him know what you want."

"It wasn't like that Carly. I didn't ask him to stay in the hopes that he'd stay the night." Carly just looked at her sister. Rosanna felt herself blush. "Oh alright… maybe I hoped he'd stay," she admitted.

Carly laughed. "It's ok Rosanna. You both are responsible adults and free to do what you want." She thought for a moment and couldn't help but add, "Was it good?"

Rosanna gasped but couldn't help but giggle. "It was wonderful," she said smiling.

"I'm so happy for you. I just knew you two would hit it off. Daryl is a great guy and you deserve someone like that, Rosanna."

"Well, it was just the one time. He'll probably be gone before I get back. Especially if they catch Julia," she said softly.

"There's nothing saying that you can't have a successful long-distance relationship. Besides, who knows what the future holds," Carly suggested.

"I'm not going to get my hopes up. That's always backfired and I wind up disappointed and alone. Though, he did ask me to call him once we arrived and he did say that he hoped to see me again," she said wistfully.

"There you see. He wants more than just the one night. I think that's sweet."

"We'll see. Once he gets back to Washington, he'll be back with the bureau. Things happen. Life happens. I refuse to allow myself to want anything more."

Carly sighed. She knew Rosanna had been burned too many times in the past. Perhaps while she was cooped up here she'd use that time to do what she could to help Rosanna and Daryl.

Rosanna sat down and pulled out a list of things to go over before she left. She wanted to make sure they had their stories straight. Carly sat down and they went over everything in fine detail.

"Now, I will call you immediately once I'm in Germany. That way you can call and let Jack know you've arrived. I will also let you know how quickly I can arrange to come back to Oakdale, so that you can break the news to Jack that the trip has been cut short. You know he won't be happy about that," Rosanna told her.

"Yes, I know. He'll be upset and try and get me to extend our stay," Carly acknowledged. "He'll just have to deal with it."

"You know… since I'm cutting my trip short anyway - you could just come with me," she reasoned.

"We've been over this. I'm not leaving Oakdale. I refuse to allow Julia to run me out of town. She wants Jack and I'm not going to let her have him."

"Ok, I just thought I'd offer again. See if you changed your mind. Obviously, that's not the case," Rosanna stated standing up. The phone in the room rang and Rosanna walked over to answer it.

"Yes… Thank you. I'll be right down." She hung up the phone. "The driver is here and waiting downstairs. Now, you're sure about this. You're going to be alright here in the hotel the entire time?"

"I'll be fine. Bored out of my mind, but fine," Carly said smiling. "Don't worry about me. Just hurry up with what you need to do and get back as quickly as you can."

"Of course I'm going to worry about you. You're my sister and that maniac is wandering around out there. As far as the hotel is concerned, I'm not leaving. I didn't want them to question why food was still being delivered to the room if I'm gone."

"Oh good thinking. I hadn't thought about that," Cary said. That reminded her of the other little detail she needed to take care of. "Before I forget, could you pick up some clothes and a little souvenir thing for Parker, Sage and JJ? Sage asked me to bring something home for her last night. I hadn't even thought about that little detail."

"Yes, I'll get the kids something. Anything else?"

"No. I think that's it. Have a safe trip and thank you for everything," Carly said giving her a hug and kiss before walking her to the door.

"Be safe. And don't even think of leaving until I get back," Rosanna warned her as she picked up her suitcase and giving her a final kiss before leaving.

"I'll be here in the hotel the entire time. What could possibly go wrong?" Carly said giving her sister a smile.