Hi all, I'm back with another story for my favorite Lone Star boys, hope you all enjoy!
Also, thanks a lot to writeallnight for all the help as I worked on this story. I really appreciate it, friend.
*Written for the Bad Things Happen Bingo on Tumblr, for the prompt "Distress Call". Title of this story basically translates to "do not say goodbye".
"T.K, are you okay? What happened?" Nancy asked, sitting on the other side of the ambulance as they did inventory.
But T.K. wasn't listening, or he was, but the words weren't filtering. All he could focus on was his heart almost beating out of his chest and the ringing in his ears. The words that had just been spoken to him over the phone echoed over and over again on his mind and his world threatened to crumble down at any second.
Because Tyler Kennedy Strand thought he knew fear, he would even go as far to say that he was an expert at it. But never before had he felt such paralyzing terror.
Not standing rooted in place in front of the tv, at the mere age of 7, as he watched two skyscrapers collapse, all the while knowing his father, his hero, was one of those miniature figures fighting the chaos from below.
Not waking up in the hospital after overdosing the first time. Or overdosing a second time in his kitchen and fearing that his father would be forced to find his dead body.
Not the many times he had almost died on the job: almost consumed by flames, or crushed by a collapsing structure, and even shot once, and almost twice.
Tyler Kennedy Strand also thought he knew loss, but nothing could have prepared him for the all-consuming emptiness that he was suddenly feeling.
Not losing friends, teammates, and colleagues. And all his uncles and aunts from his dad's station when the towers had come down.
Not almost losing his father first in the attack, and later by the cancer brought upon by many years on the job.
Not even the many times he had almost lost himself. Almost destroyed from the inside out by the drugs he had voluntarily put into his system, or by the many calls almost gone fatally wrong.
T.K's life had been a series of almost disasters and they had all made him accustomed to fear and loss. But nothing he had faced before could prepare him for this moment.
"T.K?" Nancy called next to him, now drawing closer and shaking his shoulder. But the paramedic didn't even blink. "Tommy!" She shouted next, "something is wrong."
Tommy came running, stopping and hovering close as soon as she noticed T.K's blank stare and shaking hands. "What happened?" Her eyes were solely on T.K, but her question was directed at his partner because the man didn't seem in any position to answer for himself.
"I'm not sure. We were just doing inventory when he received a phone call, and that happened," Nancy explained, gesturing to T.K.
"Hey, T.K. can you tell us what's going on?" Tommy asked softly, "who called you?" Owen was at the station, and Gwyn wouldn't call her son before trying her ex-husband first, so that only left one person, but Tommy needed to be sure before raising alarms.
T.K. said nothing, just switched the call to speaker mode and continued to stare into space.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen." Carlos' pained voice came from the other end. "It was just a routine call, I don't know what went wrong." A cough, followed by a grunt.
"Carlos, it's Tommy. Where are you? What happened?" Tommy all but screamed, taking the phone from T.K, "I'm with T.K. and Nancy, how can we help?"
Another barely suppressed grunt, and a new fit of coughing. "Is T.K. there?" Carlos asked softly, "he hasn't said anything. I just needed to apologize, and to tell him I love him."
"Carlos, he's here. Just a little shaken," Nancy tried to explain, shooting a concerned look to her partner, "you can tell him everything you want when you see him. But now, where are you? Should we call your station? 9-1-1?"
"No cops," Carlos said quickly, making everyone frown, "and no time. T.K, I need to talk to T.K. Please."
That last comment seemed to have set something loose inside T.K. because tears instantly clouded his eyes as he launched forward to take the phone back from Tommy. "Carlos," he breathed out, "I'm here babe, give us a location. We will come pick you up. Patch you up and everything will be good."
"Don't ... know ... where," Carlos mumbled, a gurgling noise cutting in between his words. "And I can't find Mitchell. T.K, I'm so sorry. Just a routine call, but we were grabbed and left for dead. And Mitchell, I don't know where she is."
"Carlos, no one is dying," T.K. said, his voice pleading, both to the man on the other side of the line, and to any higher power willing to listen. "Just tell us where, please. What can you see around you? We will search, and find you, I promise," T.K. begged, tears now flowing freely down his face because Carlos was beginning to repeat himself, clearly disoriented, and T.K. knew that was a sign of too much blood loss and pointed to eventual shock.
"Blindfold when we were moved," Carlos explained weakly, "now I only see dirt and grass, maybe water nearby."
The emptiness T.K. was feeling growing into a void that threatened to swallow him whole as he silently wondered if his boyfriend had been left for dead in a ditch somewhere in Austin.
"But T.K, please promise me you'll be okay. Promise me you will let your friends help you. Don't shut down, don't…" Carlos continued, his voice growing quieter by the second.
Use again. Carlos didn't say it, but T.K. just knew.
"... I just wanted to say goodbye. I love you, baby. Always have, always will." Carlos sobbed, his voice now barely above a whisper. "Please tell… tell Gabriel and mami that I love them, and that I'm just so sorry."
"Carlos, no. Please, give us something more and we will look for you. Where was the call?" T.K. continued to plead, because Austin was too big a city to begin a search without any kind of clue or hint, and there was dirt, grass and water in more than a few places. And T.K. trusted Carlos enough to accept that he couldn't call the cops. He didn't know why, but Carlos was a boy in blue through and through, and for him to say that, something major must have happened.
"I'm sorry, babe. But you'll be okay, just remember I love you," Carlos said softly. "Goodbye, T.K." And just like that, the line went dead.
"Carlos? No, no, Carlos?" T.K. shouted over and over again, but the call had cut short. And no matter how many times he tried to call again Carlos wasn't picking up.
Getting out of the ambulance, T.K. stumbled and practically collapsed. Back sliding down the wall of the apparatus bay as all his contrasting emotions began to overpower him. Carlos' words continuing to echo on his head, making T.K's sobs become more frantic, his breathing coming in small gasps.
"Breathe, T.K, breathe," Marjan was saying as she kneeled next to him. But when had she gotten there? TK shook his head to help clear it and noticed that Nancy was no longer doing inventory and Tommy wasn't standing on the doors to the ambo. They were both standing next to Judd who was now on the phone, Owen was also talking to someone on his cellphone, and Paul and Mateo were walking towards him with a cup of steaming tea and tissues in hand, both which they wordlessly passed to T.K. before clapping his back and squeezing his shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"Got it! Thank you, Gracie. You really are our guardian angel. I will let you know as soon as we find something," Judd shouted a few minutes later, as he threw his phone back into his pocket and ran towards T.K. "Carlos and his partner were responding to a 9-1-1 call, Grace gave me the details and the original address. Might not be much, but it's a place to start."
Wasting no time, T.K. ran to the passenger side of the ambulance, knowing that his boss and partner would follow.
"Tommy, I sent the address to the firehouse group chat," Judd hollered, already climbing into the truck.
"We will meet you all there," Owen said, running to follow Judd, with Marjan, Paul and Mateo close behind.
"Wait, you all don't have to come," T.K. croaked.
"Of course we have, son," Owen said softly, "we can't risk anything else happening to the three of you. Plus, Carlos is family. And, speaking of family, I already called Mr. Reyes, Gabriel and the Rangers will meet us there, too."
"Thank you." T.K. could only whisper the words because while he had let Carlos' distress call throw his mind and heart into complete chaos, Tommy and Nancy had rallied the troops and now they had a place to start searching for Carlos. And for now, that just had to be enough.
-x-x-x-
"Carlitos, what are you doing laying there? You have to get up."
"Mami?" Carlos asked, opening his eyes and squinting as intense brightness blurred his vision. "Where are we?"
"What's that? We're at Pleasant Valley, of course. Don't you remember, mijo? We used to come here when you were a kid so you could play on the sand next to the river," Andrea explained as if it was obvious. And Carlos could only chuckle humorlessly because there was nothing pleasant about his situation, just a lot of pain, the feeling of too much blood soaking his clothes and a cold sensation that began deep in his bones and extended all over his body, so the word just made him angry.
"Okay," Carlos said simply, not really able to recall the memories his mother spoke of. His mind was a fog of confusion and he couldn't hold onto any thought for more than a few seconds. But he did try to lift this head, barely, and allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he saw the river and the beautiful sunset casting the water a bright yellow. Taking in the view before his strength gave in and his face fell back into the dirt, Carlos absentmindedly acknowledged that from all possible places this was a nice one to go. Just too bad the area was not totally safe at dark so no bystander would stumble upon his body until it was too late.
"You have to stay awake, mi vida," Andrea said sharply but softly, kneeling next to her son and cupping his cheek. Her other hand caressing his brown curls.
Carlos opened his eyes at that, not even realizing they had slid shut. "But I'm so cold, ma, and tired. I just need to rest a little, solo un poco," Carlos mumbled pleadingly, unconsciously leaning close to the warm, comforting touch of his mother.
"I know, but you need to be ready when they come. You need to be able to answer their calls," Andrea directed softly.
"I'm scared, mami," Carlos whispered, "I don't want to die. Not now, not yet, after I finally found what I'd been looking for." Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as he remembered T.K. and how he had given him a family, not only with his love, but also how T.K's team had accepted him as one of their own. But Carlos knew this cold he was feeling wasn't natural and he was too weak to save himself now.
"You're not really here, are you?" Carlos asked sadly, when his mother remained quiet, a lone tear sliding down his face at the realization.
"I'm always with you, Carlitos. Right here." Andrea moved her hand and placed it on top of Carlos' heart. "Even when you can't see me, solo recuerda que yo siempre estoy contigo."
Carlos' eyes clouded with more tears and he blinked them a few times, his heart breaking as soon as his vision cleared and he realized that his mother was gone. And he was alone again. Had always been alone.
-x-x-x-
"Carlos!" T.K. shouted for what felt like the hundredth time. "Carlos? Please answer us."
T.K, the rest of the firehouse, and Gabriel and the Rangers had met up an hour ago. They had exchanged some quick words, Gabriel sharing what he had been able to find out about the call Carlos had been responding to, and how his boss suspected that Carlos and Mitchell had been led into an ambush by some cops they had been helping IA investigate. While T.K. had recalled in painful detail everything his mind remembered or had just picked up during Carlos' call. Then they had all gone their separate ways to search in their assigned quadrants.
20 minutes into the search, Marjan, Paul and Mateo had found Mitchell, shot and unconscious on the side of the Colorado River Park Wildlife Sanctuary. Her pulse had been weak but she was alive, so another ambulance had transported her to the hospital and now she was in surgery. Tommy and Nancy wanting to stay behind so they could be the ones to treat Carlos once they found him.
But another half hour of desperate shouting had yielded nothing, and no one had any idea if they were even close to locating Carlos or if they had dumped his body farther away.
"We will find him. Your boy's strong. He will hold on for us. For you," Judd said softly, coming to stand near T.K. and offering him a bottle of water. The relenting sun had not yet lowered all the way down and the summer heat was taking its toll in all of them.
"But you didn't hear him, Judd. He sounded so hurt, and so weak," T.K. mumbled, "how can you be sure?" He finished, daring but terrified, to sound hopeful.
"Because he has you. When our car went into the water, Grace was trapped and I couldn't get her out. But she held on because she knew I was waiting for her on the other side. And Carlos knows that too. So he will fight, he will fight with everything that he has to get back to you."
"But sometimes that's not enough," T.K. said more to himself than to the man standing beside him.
"Don't you think I know that, brother?" Judd challenged, fighting memories of his old team and the wives, husbands and children they had been forced to leave behind. "But sometimes it has to be enough. And we just ought to believe it. Believe that there's someone up there willing to bend the hands of time for us. Give Carlos a little longer so we can find him on time. So, let's go. Time to keep searching."
T.K. just nodded at that, following Judd as they continued to search in their assigned section. But even as he shouted Carlos' name over and over again, he felt himself losing hope. And at that moment, T.K. could only wish that he shared some of Judd's faith. Because when rationality tells you that your boyfriend had probably already bled out, the belief in some higher power granting you a miracle is one of the few things that can help keep you going.
And with that thought, T.K. began to silently pray. Barely remembering the words he had been taught as a young child, but saying them as best as he could, as he begged to any God willing to listen to please save Carlos. Not for himself, because T.K. doubted he deserved pity from any deities, and all his miracles had already been used the times he hadn't died after overdosing, but for Carlos himself, because the man was too young, too good, and too pure, and just didn't deserve to die so soon.
-x-x-x-
"Carlos, abre los ojos," Gabriel Reyes ordered.
"Yes, Sir," Carlos said, trying to sound stronger than he felt. And following his father's commanding voice, he had no choice but to follow the order. Looking up at his father from eyes at half-mast, Carlos rapidly blinked a few times as he tried to clear the blood that had slid into his eyes from what he assumed was a wound somewhere on his head. Stifling a groan, Carlos then tried to find a more comfortable position. Which he should have realized was an impossible task when you were lying face down in some kind of ditch. "Sorry," he muttered. Missing the comforting presence of his mother, and not wanting his father's disapproving voice to be the last thing he heard, even when he knew it was only happening in his mind.
"I didn't raise you to give up so easily. No son of mine is a quitter, Carlos Reyes. And you didn't follow in my footsteps just to die on the shore. So open your eyes and fight like a Reyes," Gabriel continued to push.
Tanto nadar para morir en la orilla. His dad's words made Carlos remember the family saying his mother used to tell him all the time when he was a child wanting to quit something and she wanted him to try very hard and not give up just before he made it. Ignoring the agonizing pain he was feeling, Carlos allowed himself a brief smile, recalling his mama's voice saying the words when he had wanted to quit futbol after a bad season, or when he fell off a horse when he was learning to ride at his abuelo's ranch and angrily said that he would never ride again. And even as an adult when he had sometimes questioned his desire to become a cop.
Drawing strength from all those times he had succeeded after hearing his mother say those words, Carlos set his hands under his body and pushed himself slightly up, managing to turn himself around, before collapsing onto his back. Staring at the sky, Carlos gasped for breath, but felt better just by the fact he was no longer face down practically eating dirt.
"That's my boy," Gabriel boasted, making Carlos's face scrunch in confusion partially because he thought his dad sounded proud, or maybe that was wishful thinking brought upon by the blood loss, but also just by the fact his father was still there at all. "We're coming, mijo. You just have to hold on and be ready. Then the hospital will patch you up and your mama is going to take you to the ranch and cook her famous hervido for you, you know that soup can even raise the dead. So, please Carlos, just hold on for a little while longer."
"I'll try, dad. But if not, just know that I did fight. With everything I've got," Carlos said desperately, choking on his own sobs when he looked up and realized his father was no longer there. So now he could only hope that his family and boyfriend would really know that he had given it his all. Alone again, Carlos' lips began to move in a silent prayer, as his hand instinctively reached for the Rosary he always carried around his neck, under his uniform shirt, the one his mother had given him the same night he graduated from the academy.
-x-x-x-
"Carlos!"
Carlos opened his eyes and gasped, "please no," he whispered, knowing he wouldn't be able to take another hallucination, especially if this one was T.K.
"Carlos!"
Desperate to get away, Carlos shut his eyes and shocked his eyes, grunting when the movement increased his agony.
"Carlos!"
T.K's voice shouted again, closer this time, and curiosity got the better of him, so Carlos reopened his eyes. He could see what he thought were flashlights in the distance, and now that he focused more on his surroundings, he recognized different voices alongside his boyfriend's, one clearly belonging to his father. All shouting his name.
Remembering his father's promise that they were coming, Carlos swallowed a few times to relieve his dry throat before he put his faith in the hands of God. If this was another hallucination it would probably break him, but if it wasn't it could mean salvation.
"T.K, here, I'm here!" Carlos shouted, using all of his remaining strength, "T.K, dad, please help," he ended up in a whisper, coughing and choking on a mouthful of blood.
Seconds stretched into minutes and Carlos tried to call again but his voice wouldn't come out any higher than a weak whimper. But seeing the flashlights move farther away, Carlos gathered the remaining of his strength and shouted his boyfriend's name one last time.
-x-x-x-
"T.K," the unmistakable voice of his boyfriend called back and T.K. whirled around desperate to find its source.
Looking down at the river, T.K. gasped as soon as he noticed a shoe coming out from some bushes, a hand a little farther away hanging limply into the water. Terrified of what he would find, but placing all of his hopes and dreams on the fact that he had heard Carlos' voice so that meant he was still alive, T.K. ran to the waterfront, sliding on the rocky shore and getting his clothes wet. But not caring at all.
Reaching inside the shrub, T.K. pushed the overgrown branches away and almost had another near panic attack as soon as his eyes landed on Carlos. He was lying on his back, looking paler than T.K. had ever seen him and covered in more blood than should be okay to have outside once body, but T.K. ignored it all and focused instead on his barely open eyes and the slight fall and rise of his chest. But still needing a bigger reassurance, T.K. moved his hands to Carlos' pulse point and felt his eyes cloud with tears as soon as he felt something, because Carlos was really alive, and this near disaster would one day just be another almost finale in their histories.
"I found him. Gabriel, Judd, dad, I found him!" T.K. shouted as hard as he could before turning back to his boyfriend, and kneeling down next to him. "Babe, I'm here. You're going to be okay. Nancy and Tommy are here. My dad, and your dad, too. Everyone is here. You will be okay, you will be okay. I promise," T.K. began rambling, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or Carlos, but he didn't think that mattered.
Carlos said nothing, just continued to stare wide-eyed at T.K.
"Tell me what hurts, what happened?" T.K. asked, already moving his hands to stop the blood of flow from the very obvious gunshot wound on Carlos' side. But there appeared to be another gunshot, or maybe stab wound on his other side, and Carlos was generally bruised all over, and T.K. only had two hands to work with, so he turned around and shouted again. "Help, we need help!"
"Are you really here?" Carlos whispered, lip quivering as he reached with a trembling hand and grabbed T.K's shirt.
"What?" T.K asked confused, before he recognized the fear in Carlos' eyes. "Carlos, baby, I'm here, I promise." He then grabbed Carlos' hand and set it over his heart, hoping the beat would help ground him.
"You found me," Carlos cried, "you really found me." He sounded incredulous and it broke T.K's heart that the usually stoic officer had seemingly given up.
"I'll always find you, Carlos. Always. So don't ever say goodbye to me again," T.K, promised, but any other words were cut short as soon as the rest of the search party finally reached them. Judd grabbing his shoulders and pulling him back as Nancy and Tommy got right to work. They packed the wounds, and set Carlos on oxygen, a heart monitor and IV, while Marjan, Paul and Mateo fumbled with the stretcher on the sandy shore and Owen drove the ambulance, trying to park it as close as possible. Gabriel and the Rangers standing to the side as they let the paramedics and firefighters work, knowing their time would come later when they brought to justice every dirty cop involved in what had happened to Carlos and Mitchell.
And at that moment T.K. realized that for as long as he loved, he would never really know the extent of fear and loss. Because the more you love, the more you fear what you have to lose. But seeing his team, his family, rally around him and his boyfriend, and noticing how Carlos was oblivious to everything going on around him, his eyes instead glued to his, T.K. knew that he wouldn't change this for anything. So, every day, he would gladly deal with the uncertainty and dangers of their jobs, the fear of the unknown and the threat of loss, and just continue hoping that they had many more almosts to live through.
And as Tommy and Nancy finished their work and loaded Carlos into the stretcher, T.K's eyes landed on Carlos's phone discarded to the side, sprinkled with droplets of water but still mostly dry. The sight brought a new wave of panic to T.K. as he thought back to the call, and he had the sudden urge to throw it into the river, but T.K. remembered the many pictures of the two that it contained and which he wasn't sure Carlos had backed up, so he just shook his head and picked it up. Dropping the phone inside his pocket, T.K. sighed and followed everyone towards the ambulance.
-x-x-x-
"Mami, come on, I can get out of the car on my own," Carlos grumbled, pulling his arm away from his mother. "And I don't need help carrying my bag either. I'm okay, really. You don't need to fuss over me."
"You were just shot, Carlitos. Also beaten and stabbed. And you had surgery and spent almost two weeks in the hospital. You and your partner are both lucky to be alive," Andrea chided, making another attempt to grab Carlos' hand and snatching the bag from his son. "Besides, I'm your mother, it's my job to fuss over you."
"Not anymore, I have T.K. for that now," Carlos said, a mischievous smile on his face as he finally relented, letting his mother guide him out of the car and toward the entrance to the main house in the Reyes Ranch.
"I don't fuss," T.K. squealed indictantly, stepping out of the other side of the SUV.
"You do," Carlos, Andrea and Gabriel responded at the same time.
"I don't," T.K. protested.
"In the hospital you were getting up every five minutes to fluff Carlos' pillows," Gabriel said.
"And you kept offering a cup of water with the bendy straw and another blanket every time Carlos woke up," Andrea added.
"Not to say you threatened to call the nurses every time I so much as breathed the wrong way," Carlos finished.
T.K. could say nothing to that, so instead he grunted and moved to the trunk to grab the groceries they just bought on the way from the hospital. "I wonder if it is too late to call the station and ask to get back on tomorrow's shift," he mumbled under his breath, still pouting as the Reyes family ganged up on him.
"None of that, T.K. You're staying here with us. I was very glad to hear you requested a week off work to help Carlitos. I was starting to get a little bit jealous with you three bonding alone every time one of you gets hurt," Andrea said, the worry hidden behind her words evident, even as she tried to sound lighthearted. "And speaking of which, I don't want any more of that. You two have already gotten hurt enough to last me a lifetime. So no more gunshot or stabbing wounds, concussions or kidnappings," she warned.
"Sí, mami," Carlos easily agreed, knowing he could never really promise her that but still wanting to alleviate her fears.
"All this worrying and hospital visits are taking years off my life, mijo. You have to take better care of yourself. You know your Tía Emilia made it to 103 and she didn't do so by worrying so much!" Andrea continued to chastise her son, even as she leaned forward to press a kiss on his forehead. "And the other day I found a grey hair, could you believe that? Reyes women don't get canas, Carlitos."
"Enough of that, Andrea. Leave the boy alone, Carlos has had a long week and he needs to rest," Gabriel said, taking pity on his son. "And we don't want them running away to that condo of his, so let's not push too much." Taking Carlos' bags from his wife, Gabriel kissed her on the cheek before he ushered everyone inside.
"Don't worry, Sir. We're not leaving. I keep hearing about Andrea's famous hervido and I can't wait to try it," T.K. said cheerfully.
"Suck-up," Carlos mumbled under his breath.
"I would never," T.K whispered back, "give me those, Mr. Reyes, I can carry them for you," he added, louder this time, moving to grab the bags, even as his hands were already almost full with the groceries.
Carlos could only roll his eyes, even as the corner of his lip twitched upward. His heart bursting with love and gratitude as he saw the effort T.K. was putting into getting to know his parents.
"Come mijo, come sit on the couch and I'll bring some blankets for you," Andrea said, pulling Carlos away from his thoughts and into the house. "T.K, just set the groceries on the kitchen counter and I'll be right there. You boys can rest while Gabriel helps me chop the veggies. I will prepare a snack while the soup is ready."
"Andrea, leave the boys alone. I'm sure Carlos can get his own blanket and if not he can ask T.K. for help," Gabriel said in practiced ease, pushing his wife towards the kitchen and chuckling as his son mouthed a silent thank you.
"Thanks for being here," Carlos said softly, as he carefully lowered himself onto the couch, barely suppressing a grunt as his stitches pulled.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be, Carlitos," T.K. said with a grin, his eyes sparkling with mischief, even as he continued to hover close, trying not to fuss over his boyfriend but at the ready in case he needed something.
Carlos grunted but said nothing, and just threw a pillow, hitting T.K. on the side of the head.
"I mean it. For a moment there, I thought I would never see you again, and I've never been so scared in my life," T.K. whispered, completely serious now and his eyes glistening with tears.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, you know I would never leave you willingly. Thank you for not giving up on me and continuing to search, thank you for finding me," Carlos whispered back, drawing T.K. to him and slowly wiping the tears from his eyes before his hands moved to cup his face and their lips crashed into each other.
"You have never given up on me, Carlos. And God knows I have given you ample reason, especially in the beginning. But now I'm here for the long run, if you would have me," T.K said sincerely, pulling back for a second before he moved forward again, deepening the kiss and pouring all his fears, relief and love into that one gesture.
"I would have you for all this lifetime and any other," Carlos murmured against his lips, "and I think my parents would agree. You're fitting in nicely as a Reyes."
"I like the sound of that, but I think my dad would have something to say about it and argue that you'd look good as a Strand too," T.K. said, surprising himself because the meaning of what their words were implying wasn't scaring him as much as he would have thought.
"Well, we can figure that out later, right? We have time," Carlos asked hopefully, remembering T.K's reaction the first time he had cooked them dinner and scared to push, but also happy that T.K. seemed open to the same future he dreamed for the two of them.
"We have all the time in the world, babe. Now time to rest," T.K promised, kissing Carlos one last time before he pushed them both down onto the couch. Carlos' head instantly coming to rest on T.K's shoulder as his eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Both T.K. and Carlos falling asleep within minutes, with Gabriel and Andrea, unbeknown to the pair, looking at them from the kitchen with big, hopeful smiles on their faces. Turns out Carlos and T.K. aren't the only ones with big dreams involving a joined Reyes-Strand family sometime in the near future.
Thanks everyone for reading! Would love to hear what you all think of this one.