"Hey Emily," Lori said as she answered the phone and Callen looked her way.
"Hey Lori."
"Everything alright with the girls?"
"Yes they are doing fine. I just called to let you know that Myra tried to stand just now. She pulled herself up at the table. I was just in time to grab my phone so I filmed it. I'm sending the film over to you."
"Alright, that's fine. Thank you."
"No problem. See you later."
"See ya," Lori said and she hung up.
"Everything okay honey?" Callen asked.
"Yeah the girls are fine. She just called to tell us that Myra tried to stand. She made a movie and she's sending it over."
"Ah that's nice. You got it?"
"Yeah just now."
Lori played the video and held her phone so both she and Callen could see it. Sam was in the car as well, he was driving. Callen and Lori saw their little girl trying to pull herself up to the table. She was bouncing up and down first trying to get to the table edge and then to pull herself. After a while she pulled herself up. Smiling she was slamming her hands down on the table.
Both Callen and Lori had to smile as they saw their little girl.
"I guess we have to make sure from now on that we don't leave anything on the table," Lori said.
"Yeah I guess so."
Sam glanced over at them and saw them smiling and remembered when his kids did that for the first time. Lori sat back in her seat and sent a text to Emily.
"Thank you for the movie Emily. That is really cute."
It was just before 6pm when Callen and Lori walked into the house.
"Hey guys," Emily said.
"Hey Emily," Lori said. "Hey, my little sweeties." Lori walked over to the girls and she picked up Myra. "Hey, my big girl. Mommy saw that you were standing today. That's my big girl." Lori gave her a kiss.
"Did Julie try and stand too?" Callen said.
"She watched her sister and then she tried it too but she couldn't get it so she started crying," Emily said.
"Aw my sweet girl," Callen said as she picked up Julie. "You'll get the hang of it too sweetie." Callen gave her a kiss.
"You really have two great kids and you're great parents," Emily said.
"Thank you Emily. That means a lot to us," Lori said.
"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Callen said and he walked her to the door.
"Can you stand for mommy again?" Lori said as she sat down on the couch and she tried to get Myra to stand on Lori's legs.
Myra stood on Lori's legs while Lori held her and she was bouncing up and down.
"You're such a cutie."
Lori sat there and played with the girls while Callen made dinner. This time the girls behaved during dinner, no more food fights. Callen put the girls in bath and then in bed. By 7.15pm the girls were asleep in their cribs. Lori was cleaning up there toys when Callen came into the living room.
"They are already asleep."
"That's good."
"Before we know it the girls will start walking."
"Yeah, it would be nice if they could walk at someone's hand at our wedding."
"Yeah that would be cute. Seeing them walk down the aisle first and then you," Callen said as he put his arms around Lori's waist.
"Yeah that would be cute. Who knows maybe they will."
….
It was just a month before Lori and Callen's wedding. Lori had already booked a honeymoon for them. Callen asked her sometimes for a little hint but she didn't give it.
"Don't worry honey, it's really beautiful there," Lori said.
"Come on, just a little hint."
"It's nice and warm weather there."
"So something tropical?"
"You could say that."
"Hmmmm, come on just tell me."
"Nope, we agreed I would book the honeymoon and you didn't get to know it."
"Fine. Then you don't get to know all the special things I have planned for our honeymoon."
"That's fine. Just surprise me. I love it when you surprise me."
"Good," Callen said and he gave Lori a kiss.
"I've been looking at some houses and I found a really nice house, in a kid friendly neighborhood."
"Really? Let me see."
Lori grabbed her laptop and let Callen take a look at the house. They already made 2 house visits but they didn't like those houses.
"That really does look nice."
"Yes and it has a big yard for the girls to play in."
"That's nice. Maybe we should go and take a look at it."
"You sure?"
"Yes. It looks really nice."
"Alright, I'll call the realtor to set up an appointment."
Lori called the realtor and they could come for a visit this Saturday.
…
Before the house visit on Saturday Lori went to the dress shop with the bridesmaids for their final fitting. The adjusted some things on the dress and Lori could come and pick it up 2 weeks later.
"Could I also pick out bridesmaids dresses then?" Lori asked.
"I thought you already had those," the saleswoman replied confused.
"Yes I do, these are for my daughters."
"Ah okay. What size do your daughters wear?"
"See, that's just it. They are growing really fast so if I buy something now I don't know if they're gonna fit in it on our wedding day."
"You're wedding day is in 4 weeks from now right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Okay, so that would be 2 weeks when you come to pick up your dress. That can work for the girls' dresses. You can take them then right away."
"Great thanks. See you in 2 weeks."
Lori went back home to pick up Callen and the girls. They took the girls with them.
"Good afternoon," the realtor greeted them as Callen and Lori walked up to the house.
"Good afternoon," Callen greeted.
"How old are they?" The realtor asked as she saw Myra and Julie.
"8 months," Lori answered.
"They are really cute."
"Thank you."
"Well, shall we?"
Callen and Lori followed the realtor inside.
They had to walk up some steps before they were at the front door. They stepped into the house and into the spacious living room. To the left of the room was a stairway that led to the upstairs floor, it had some few steps then a 90 degrees corner and then more steps up. They could look over the living room from the landing. They walked straight ahead to a swing door and they entered the kitchen. The kitchen was roomy. It had a kitchen block and island. Left of the kitchen was a scullery, through that you could go back to the living room again. In the left far corner was a stairs to the upstairs floor. Under the stairs and a little to the left was the entrance to the basement. On the right of the basement entrance was the back door which led into a spacious garden. They had enough room for toys for the girls and a swimming pool for when it was hot. In the garden was also a driveway where they could park their cars.
They took the kitchen stairs to the upstairs floor. They came into a long hallway. There were 5 rooms, 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. On the front side of the hallway was also a side door that led to the stairs for the attic.
They walked back down and went downstairs and to the basement. The basement was roomy as well and well isolated, so they could make an office or a guest room of it.
Callen and Lori liked what they saw and could imagine living here. There was enough room for the girls and their toys and there was room should there ever be an addition to the family or for when Lori's family came over.
"Do you have any questions?"
"If we say yes, how soon can we move in?" Lori asked.
"In a week."
"That should give us plenty of time to get it to get it in order before our wedding," Lori told Callen.
"Yeah that's right. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, I really like how it looks. It's nice and roomy."
"Yeah I like it too. It looks really nice."
"So shall we buy it?"
"I think so. Unless you wanna look further."
"No I think this is right for us."
"Alright."
"So we have a deal then?" The realtor asked.
Callen and Lori looked at each other.
"Yes we have," Callen replied.
"Alright, congratulations. If you follow me to the office we'll get the paperwork started."
Callen and Lori followed her to the office and signed the papers. Callen paused for a second before writing down his signature.
Before going home they stopped by the jewelry store to pick up their wedding rings. They went back home and Callen put the girls in their cribs for their afternoon nap.
"Are you sure you want that house?" Lori asked when Callen walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah I'm sure. Why?"
"I noticed your hesitation when you signed the papers."
"Oh that. I was just thinking if I was absolutely sure before I signed it."
"And are you?"
"Of course, I wouldn't have signed it otherwise." Callen wrapped his arms around Lori's waist. "Don't worry honey. I'm sure of buying that house. I'm glad we did. It feels good."
"Yeah it does. I'm glad we did it too," Lori told him and she gave Callen a kiss.
Callen kissed her back and pushed her back against the counter. Lori moved her arms around Callen's neck.
"I love you Lori."
"I love you G."
Lori squealed as Callen picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. Playfully he gently threw her down on the bed and lay down on top of her.
"You really are an amazing woman. I'm really happy to have a family with you."
"That's sweet honey. I'm really happy to have a family with you too."
Callen kissed her again and started taking her clothes off. A half hour later they were both naked in their bed and they made love.
After their love making Lori took a bath. Callen decided to join her which resulted in another round of love making, in the bathtub this time.
The next day Lori and Callen took care of some more details of their wedding. Everybody had already RSVP´ed so they send the number of people to the vendor. They also sent out payments to everyone they already could. They had agreed to write vows for each other. Callen sat down at the dining room table and Lori at the kitchen table so that they couldn´t see each other´s vows.
Monday Callen went back to work, Lori didn´t work on Monday´s. She took the girls grocery shopping and went to the mall to get some new clothes for them. She also bought some bridesmaids present to give at the rehearsal dinner.
…..
Callen and Lori were at work early and went to the gym to do some training. They sparred together. Callen was really impressed with Lori's fighting skills. She was back to her normal fitness after her pregnancy. Lori threw Callen on the ground just as Sam walked into the gym.
"If you wanna be on top all you had to do was ask," Callen joked, not knowing Sam was there.
Lori wanted to respond but the she heard Sam's chuckle. Quickly she stood up.
"Hi Sam, didn't know you were there," Lori said.
"It's okay. You keep on fighting."
"We're done actually. You two have a go at it if you like."
Lori moved over to the punching machine while Callen and Sam started sparring together.
A little later Nell came into the gym.
"Hetty needs you guys up in OPS," Nell informed them.
"Alright, we'll be right there," Callen replied and the three of them quickly showered and joined the others up in OPS. "What do we have Eric?"
"Corporal James Reed was found death in his apartment this morning," Eric informed them and he put the crime scene photos up on the screen.
"Yuck, that looks messy," Deeks said.
"Any leads who did this?" Callen asked.
"No not so far."
"What was he working on?" Lori asked.
"He was working with naval intelligence. He had top security clearance," Nell told them.
"Guys, I just found that Reed went into the system just before he died," Eric spoke as he was typing on his tablet.
"What did he access?" Sam asked.
"Let me see… He accessed files for SEAL team 3's mission in Afghanistan."
"If they made him access those files….." Kensi started.
"Then the mission would be compromised," Callen finished.
"Which is why we need to find these people fast and make sure that SEAL team 3 is safe," Hetty spoke as she entered OPS.
"Eric, Nell, see what you can find about this mission and who would want Reed dead. Kensi, Deeks you go look through his apartment. We'll go to Coronado to speak to the team," Callen told them and they left.
A chopper took Callen, Sam and Lori to Coronado.
"NCIS, we're here to speak to Commander Stowe," Callen told the guard as they showed their badges.
They were shown in and went to the office building. They were met by Commander Stowe in the briefing room.
"You must be with NCIS?" Stowe asked as he walked into the room.
"Yes, Agents Callen, Hanna and Carter," Callen answered.
"Can you tell me if our mission has been compromised?"
"At this moment we don't know. We're doing everything we can to find out who did this and if the mission is compromised. Have you received any threats to this mission?"
"No nothing. The preparations went very well. We are supposed to fly out tomorrow evening."
"We'll do our best to have this solved before then."
"Is it possible we speak to the SEAL's?" Sam asked.
"Sure, I'll have them send over here."
They spoke to the SEAL's and they all agreed that no one from the SEAL's was behind this, so they took the chopper back to LA.
"Anything new Eric?" Callen asked as he walked into OPS.
"Kensi and Deeks took Reed's hard drive so Nell's looking through that and I'm looking at cameras in the area and Reed's phone records and financials."
"Alright, let me know if you find anything."
3 hours later they had a lead on who killed Reed. Callen and Lori had to go undercover as guns for hire for the terrorist group in Afghanistan. Callen and Lori were gearing up in the armory.
"Did you call Emily to let her know what's up?" Callen asked.
"Yeah I told her we needed to go somewhere for work. She didn't mind. She would stay at the house until we are back."
"Alright that's good."
Eric came into the armory. "Here are your passports and information on your aliases."
"Thanks Eric."
They took button cams and ear pieces and left for the airport.
…
Hours later then landed on the airport of Kabul. A man was waiting for them and he took them to the house.
"Boss, the Americans you asked for are here," the man informed him as he walked into the boss' office.
"Send them in."
Callen and Lori walked in.
"So you are Mike and Melissa Young?"
"Yes we are," Callen answered.
"Sit down. Welcome to Afghanistan. I'm really impressed with your body of work. You two always work in a pair?"
"Yes, we're better that way," Lori replied.
"Very well. I've got your first job."
He threw them a file. Callen looked through it. They were supposed to kidnap a SEAL that was currently stationed in Afghanistan.
"Any problems?"
"No," Callen answered.
"Then leave. You have 4 hours to complete your mission."
Callen and Lori left the office and took whatever they needed. They took one of the cars and left for the place the SEAL was supposed to be. They found him in a dinner, alone. They waited for him to walk to his car. Just before he got it they took him from behind and punched him unconscious. They put him in the back of their car and drove off quickly.
On the way back the house Callen wondered about this mission. It had been way too easy to grab the SEAL. He hardly had put up a fight.
"Very well," the boss said when they got back. "You passed the test."
"Test? What test?"
"To see if you did what you were told. Welcome to the gang."
Callen and Lori were showed to their room so they could get changed.
"I knew it was way too easy," Callen said once he had put on the shower.
"Yeah I know. So is he really a SEAL or is he just posing as a SEAL. If he's really a SEAL he could be the one who led them to Reed."
"Could be. We'll keep an eye on him."
They had managed to plant a bug on the SEAL when they had taken him. Back at OPS they were tracking him. Kensi, Deeks and Sam were also in Afghanistan as backup. Eric tracked the SEAL back to the navy camp in Afghanistan and they found out that he was a SEAL.
Sam was beyond pissed when he heard that. When he left the camp again Kensi, Deeks and Sam went after him and captured him.
"Boss we have a problem," one of the men spoke.
"What is it?"
"Tim has been taken. The found his car empty on the side of the road."
"Damn it," the boss said as he punched his fist on the table. "Find him. Take Mike and Melissa with you."
Callen and Lori came back at the house a little later.
"Boss, we found him. Some American Agents have him."
"Agents? How would they know? Did you two tip them off?"
"No honestly we didn't. We don't even know of this agency, NCIS or something."
"Get him back. Kill whoever you need."
Callen and Lori went to the warehouse Sam, Deeks and Kensi were holding the SEAL. They shot their way through the building, making sure they didn't hit any of the others. They both had a flesh wound when they had rescued him. Sam had already gotten a confession out of him.
"Good work," the boss said when they got back to the house. "And you, how could you be so stupid to let yourself be caught?"
"I'm sorry boss, it won't happen again."
"No it won't." He pulled out his gun and shot him in the head. "We proceed with the plan."
Callen and Lori stayed in the house and were sure that their cover wasn't broken. In the middle of the night they woke up to a lot of gunfire around the house. They grabbed their guns and went downstairs.
"What's going on?" Callen asked as they ducked behind the wall
"American's, they are attacking us. Tim must have led them to us."
Callen looked out the window and saw Sam, Deeks and Kensi with them. Callen and Lori snuck out of the house. Once they were out of the house they gave them the signal and the gunfire erupted. Bullets were flying everywhere.
Callen and Lori were outside the house when the gunfire had stopped. They saw the agents walk into the house. The next thing they knew they heard the clicking of a gun behind them. They turned around and saw the boss standing there.
"Well well, looks like we have ourselves a couple of spies."
"What us? Come on, you know better."
"I know that all this trouble started since you two arrived."
He aimed his gun towards Lori and Callen. They next thing they heard was the sound of gunfire.
