"Thought we might like an update from our little guests we had in Libya" Jess said later that day as she walked into the team room to get ready for afternoon drills, she held her phone in her hand with the pictures up ready to show everyone
"Ah look at them, they look so much happier" Brock said taking the phone to get a closer look
"What do you think Pep, 8 girls who won't have to worry about ever having to give birth or raise babies in a warzone because of you" Jess said scratching the dog around the ears who was sitting primed for action and wagging her tail in anticipation of their afternoon drills
"8 girls" Jason asked
"All 5 kittens were girls and 3 of the puppies, Laura thinks they're just on 4 weeks now" Jess said, she'd suspected the kittens may have been girls given their colouring, tortoiseshell males were extremely rare, it was something like less than 1 in 500000 were male
"They still coming to the US" Clay asked popping his head over Brock's shoulder to see the pictures
"Yes, Laura's flight gets in on the 30th next month, surprised Brock didn't mention it" Jess said informing the rest of the team
"You still been talking to Miss Laura then I take it Brockoli" Sonny asked him
"So, what if I have" Brock responded to his comment
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"You're slipping Jess" Jason said as they walked back into the team room after another briefing session a few days later
"Its not my fault Al-Asiri has gone to ground" Jess responded frustrated over the whole affair as they all went to their respective cages
"Do you even know where he is" Jason asked the EOD
"Anyone of a dozen potential countries, how long did it take the US to find Bin Laden, bet they had more than 2 people working on it" Jess said getting sick of the pressure being placed on her, she was trying her hardest but she felt she was copping most of it, purely because she was constantly in their sight. Packing up her bag to head home she grabbed a folded white piece of paper and placed it on the table as she went to leave
"That's not an answer, whats that" Jason said annoyed
"Leave form, Zah's got her cardiac ablation surgery tomorrow at Bethesda, I'm not going to be here" Jess said as she put her hand on the door to walk out of the room
"You'll be back in" Trent asked looking at her, he sensed the stress was getting to Jess a little bit and wanted Jason to back of a bit, she was doing everything she could to help Lisa, they'd set a trap but it wouldn't work until Al-Asiri took the bait
"72 hours, unless I'm needed earlier" Jess said to him, she would be back if they got a spin
"We need you now" Jason said sternly
"Forget it Jason, I'm not staying behind while my daughter is having heart surgery unless it's an emergency, I'll be working remotely" Jess said abruptly as she turned the handle to open the door
"And what if I don't allow it" Jason said getting angry
"Take it up with Blackburn, he's already signed of on it" Jess said as she walked out the door
"Jason what was that" Ray said immediately as soon as the door was shut
"I don't know, just sick of waiting for this guy" Jason said slamming the side of his cage in frustration
"Same here, but threatening Jess about not allowing her to take of while her kids having heart surgery, thats harsh coming from you brother, you know damn well if it was Mikey or Emma you would be there, and if it was Meelah or RJ, I would have knocked you out flat for even suggesting I stay behind when we're already stateside" Ray said pulling him up
"You heard her say she'll be working remotely and she'll come back early if she is needed" Trent said reminding him that she was still going to be working
"It just feels like her focus is shifted with Zalie being here" Jason said
"Now that's not fair, she is still committed to Bravo just as much as her kid" Ray said to him
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"Is the surgery going to hurt" Zalie asked sitting in the hotel room getting ready to go to the hospital
"No Zah, you're going to be asleep while it happens, you're not even going to have a scar" Luca told her with a smile
"Are you staying at the hospital while they do it" Zalie asked looking at her parents
"Sure are, now do you remember what Doctor Michaela said, its important for you to not move when you wake up until she says so" Jess said to her
"So I don't bruise to badly" Zalie said softly
"Yep, now one of us will stay tonight with you, who do you want" Jess said giving her a cuddle
"Mummy, as long as she doesn't get sent out today" Zalie said looking at her dad for approval
"I think that's a great choice for you to have mummy stay tonight" Luca said kissing her on the head
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"Trent, how big is this surgery Zalie's having today" Jason asked the medic, he knew Trent had kept himself up to speed with what was going on with Zalie
"Think its about 4 hours, then she's got to spend 5 hours laying still in the cardiac care unit so she doesn't bruise to much, all going well she'll be up and about tomorrow and discharged the day after. Zah will be back on her feet fairly quickly" Trent said, even though it seemed scary he wanted everyone to realise that the surgery wasn't going to be as bad as open heart surgery
"Why" Ray asked curious as to Jason's change of behaviour
"Thought I might drive up and see them tonight, make sure Jess is okay considering how I acted yesterday, I mean it took a whole team of analysts 14 years to find Bin Laden, its Davis and Jess tracking Al-Asiri" Jason said sounding genuinely sorry for what he'd said yesterday
"You could simply call Jess" Brock said
"Tried to, can't bring myself to do it, how is she holding this all together" Jason asked not looking at anyone in particular
"She's got a great support network and role models to help, a lot more than what we would have, and she's using them" Trent said referring to the fact that Jess was by no means alone in this, she'd had more than a few conversations with her dad about the emotions she was feeling and she followed his advice
"Yeah maybe that's it, I'm seeing this from my point of view, I'm a better soldier than parent, in my mind it's not possible to be able to do the 2 well at the same time" Jason said softly
"Jase, I think you'll find Emma and Mikey have a different view on that" Sonny said
"That's true, they say adults are shaped by their childhood, are both your kids happy" Clay asked the team leader
"What's that supposed to mean, of course they're happy" Jason replied confused
"So what are you worrying about, took me a while but dad was actually a great parent by walking out of my life" Clay said
"That's kinda messed up Spenser" Ray said to his fellow snipper as everyone looked on confused
"If dad hadn't divorced my mum, I wouldn't have ended up going to live with my grandparents, I wouldn't have developed my language skills and I probably would be defending my dad from every one else who calls him a jerk, his absence allowed me the chance to become a decent human being" Clay said
"Okay then Clay, what is it my parenting has taught Emma and Mikey" Jason asked
"They now how to survive in this world and stand on their own 2 feet, there are kids at Mikey's school who's parents are at every practice and game to do everything for them, they want to go college and pro, the kids aren't always going to be able to rely on mum and dad being there to hold their hands and do everything for them and its same with Emma, she knows how to adult a lot more than kids her age. That's what you've taught them to do" Clay said simply, they knew that Jason wasn't always going to be there, they had to do things for themselves
"He's got that right" Sonny said, the comment caused Jason to smile, maybe he had done an allright job as a parent after all
"So who's going to go to Bethesda and see the kid" Jason asked
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"Mummy, is the surgery over" Zalie asked still sleepy from the anaesthetic she'd been given, her eyes were only just open so everything was still blurry, but she could clearly make out her mothers outline sitting in the chair beside her bed in the CCU
"Sure is my brave little Super Zah, how are you feeling" Jess said stroking Zalie's forehead softly like Alie had done for her on many occasions while she was sick
"A little sore, my chest hurts" Zah said letting out a yawn
"It will pass, now Doctor Michaela said I could help you roll onto your side if you want and give you a pillow and Eevee to cuddle, but once you're in the position you need to lay still" Jess told her, she knew it would put less pressure on Zalie's body if she laid like that, when she asked Doctor Sambridge about the position she was happy to okay it as a safe position for Zalie to rest in after surgery
"Okay, what you been doing" Zalie said agreeing to the move and curious as to what her mum was doing
"Just some stuff for uncle Eric, I often do it when I'm at the hospital or somewhere similar, feel more comfortable" Jess responded as she finished helping Zalie position herself
"Ah ha, so what does he have you doing" Zalie said, curious about her mums role
"Well I have to look at the history of people and places, but I also need to keep on top of whats happening in the world right at this moment" Jess said not wanting to go into to many details
"What else" Zalie asked curiously
"I've got to keep myself updated on politics, not here in the US, but overseas in different countries that have been affected by war, I've got to be able to tell uncle Eric if a country has an election coming up, who the parties are, if there's been any previous issues that may cause violence in the area and who that might affect" Jess said
"That's a lot to work out" Zalie said to her mum
"It certainly is, but you don't need to worry about any of that stuff, why don't you get a bit more sleep" Jess said softly
"Okay mummy" Zalie said closing her eyes
"What are you lot doing up here" Luca asked surprised as he saw the team walk into the children's ward, Jess had told him about the conversation that had taken place the night before
"Came to see Zah, and Jess" Jason said showing Luca the gift bag and get well balloons the team had brought
"Yeah well unless it's an absolute emergency Zah wants Jess to stay at the hospital with her tonight, then you can have Jess back tomorrow" Luca said informing them of what's happening
"We're just going to go and change" Sonny said as he and Clay quickly disappeared into the toilets
"Surprised she didn't want you Luca" Ray said
"She can only have one parent stay, and Jess could be shipped out with the rest of you at any time" Luca said
"She can have you stay tomorrow night" Jason said realising the reason for Zalie's selection of parent to stay
"Yep, but there's no guarantee she'll have Jess here tomorrow night" Luca said letting out a small laugh as Sonny and Clay re-emerged from the toilets dressed in inflatable Pikachu costumes they'd found in a shop, Brock immediately pulled out his phone to film the scene that was about to unfold, Luca unable to find the words to describe the situation just pointed to Zalie's room
"What the hell" Jess said bursting out laughing as 2 adult pikachu's walked into Zalie's room with the Pikachu song playing and dancing to it
"That's got to be uncle Sonny and uncle Clay" Zalie said smiling after the song finished, noticing her uncle Brock had his phone out and had filmed the whole thing she guessed that the Pikachu's were her uncles
"How did you know" Sonny asked as the rest of the team walked in
"Because only you would be silly enough to do it" Zalie said giggling
"See another way you're like your mummy" Jason asked noticing Zalie's position
"Mummy is a side sleeper as well" Jess said as Zalie looked at her confused
"I know, its so my chest doesn't hurt as much" Zalie said
"I think its a really good position to be lying in" Trent told Zalie
"You do" Zalie asked surprised
"I do" Trent said
"Bingo" Jess said suddenly
"Mummy" Zalie asked surprised
"Sorry, its just an expression, it means I found something I've been looking for" Jess said looking up at her brothers
"Does that mean you're not going to be able to stay tonight" Zalie asked sadly
"I'm going to be able to stay Zah, I don't have to go until my phone goes of with a message from uncle Eric telling me I'm needed on base as we're wheels up at whatever time" Jess said assuring Zalie she was staying put tonight, she would have to send the information to Lisa and allow her to file the report, design the mission and get it signed of on, it was already 1900, Lisa had easily 12 hours of work ahead of her
"Your mummy's right Zah, until uncle Eric says otherwise, she's all yours" Jason said to Zalie before looking briefly at Jess with a smile