Chapter 57
*one week later- Phoebe 1 month old*
Monday morning came too soon for Alex, she still needed another day to recuperate from the weekend she had with her little family. She laid in bed a while longer waiting for the alarm to go off but Phoebe felt abandoned again since no one noticed her in a crib for a while and started crying. "Good morning baby girl." Alex said picking her up kissing her little nose, carrying her over to the bed to check her diaper before her morning feed and bath. Ryan heard the two of them and turned around on his side, looking at his wife and daughter. "Why are you awake so early, Phoebe?" He asked checking the time, 05:30AM. Another hour left of sleep before his alarm is about to go off, but clearly having an infant in the house changes everything. Alex changed her diaper and handed her to her father, leaving the room to discard the dirty diaper and warm up a bottle. She pumped like a maniac over the weekend to have enough milk stored so Phoebe can take the bottles to day care. It was a struggle at first to get her to take it, but she came around eventually. "Morning munchkin, are you excited about today?" Ryan asked her looking at her as she kicked her little legs out, locking eyes with her father. "I'll take that as a yes then. And, guess what else is special about today." He continued picking her up and holding her at eye level supporting her head. "You are one month old today." He said proudly although Phoebe was oblivious to his proud statement and more occupied by the down lights in the roof.
"Come on, let's get you ready for today." Alex announced as she came back into the room carrying one of her bottles and a dripple nappy over one shoulder for when she burps her. "You ready to get back into the swing of things?" Ryan asked his wife as she handed over the bottle and nappy to Ryan so he can feed her while she gets her bathing stuff ready. "The more I think about it the sadder I get." She confessed. "It won't be that bad babe, she'll be asleep most of the time anyway and before you know it it's 5o'clock and then we go fetch her again." He said trying to get her to relax. "Easier said than done, but it'll get better once I'm used to it I guess." Alex said sitting next to him and Phoebe, watching her finish her bottle, and waiting for Ryan to burp her before taking her again. Ryan got up to make something to eat, but turned around in the doorway, walking back to Alex as she undresses the baby to start washing her. He kisses her forehead without saying anything, and then left for the kitchen. Leaving Alex smiling down at Phoebe. "Your Daddy amuses me some times baby girl." She says lathering Phoebe's little body with baby soap.
Downstairs Ryan decided to be different, compared to his usual flapjacks he always makes and settled for French toast. Easy and fast enough not to burn it and even if it comes out a bit darker than it should be he'll say it's smoky and it's suppose to be that way. By the time he was done Alex came downstairs with Phoebe and they switched her from one parent to the other. Alex ate breakfast while Ryan played and talked to her for a while until it was his time to shower, leaving Alex to do the dishes. By the time she was done Phoebe was on the verge of sleep and Alex laid her down in the nursery taking a quick shower in the guest bathroom, heading upstairs to dress and pack Phoebe's bag before the three of them were on the road.
"Are you okay?" Ryan asked pulling away as the light turned green. Alex didn't answer but nodded her head instead. "This is day care, how am I going to survive when she goes to college?" She asked looking at Ryan. "Wooaaahh , let's take it one step at a time, I don't want her to grow up so quickly." He answered but couldn't help thinking about that statement. They stopped in front of the day care center and Ryan got Phoebe out while Alex carried her bag. They walked through the doors and were greeted by the friendly receptionist once again, and Marci, Phoebe's caregiver. "Hi Marci, I'm a bunch of emotions right now so we'll just drop her and then leave." Alex explained and the caregiver smiled at her sympathetically. "The first day is always the hardest, but it'll get better. She'll be fine we'll let you know how she's doing through out the day." Marci assured the parents and they nodded. They both kissed Phoebe goodbye and drove off to work.
"Don't say anything." Alex said as they pulled into the parking lot. Ryan was about to open his mouth but at that statement he shook his head and smiled. "All right. I just wanted to tell you to have a good day." He lied, he actually wanted to tell her not to count the hours until it was time to go home. "Whatever." She laughed shoving him playfully as they walked into the office.
"Well well well, if it isn't the long lost sheep returning home." Maranda greeted her in the foyer. "How are you feeling? Ready to get back at it?" She asked hugging the agent. "Yeah, figured I couldn't be home all day. To be honest I missed this place." Alex admitted. "And three other happy faces missed you too." She whispered in Alex's ear as she heard her friends enter the building. Maranda smiled at her and left the four of them alone walking to her office.
"I missed you, weirdo!" Natalie said coming over to hug her. "You're gonna squeeze the life right out of me Nats." Alex laughed and Natalie loosened her grip. "Welcome back, Booth!" Nimah said high fiving her friend and Shelby approached the group. "Hey, you decided to join us. Where's Phoebe?" The blond asks. "Day care." Alex told her friends and they all had shocked expressions on their faces. "No way, she's still a baby. Weren't you emotional when you had to go drop her off?" Natalie inquired as they walked over to their office. "Yes, I was but I got out of there as soon as I could. She was fine and Ryan kept telling me not to worry." Alex explained. "And here I am now, trying to get busy so I can go home and get my daughter so come on, make it snap." She said and laughed as her friends followed each other like little ducklings into the office.
"Everyone in the briefing room in 5." Liam announced, and they all huddled to get there and hear what today has in store for them. "First, we need to address the elephant in the room. Alex, congratulations on the birth of your daughter, and welcome back." Liam congratulated and everyone clapped and high fived her, and some of the guys who were standing close to Ryan gave him a pat on the back.
"All right, let's get to it a new cocaine deal is going on downtown, they're on the run. Ryan, Caleb I need you two to track the vehicles down and arrest the drivers, they might have some information on the deal. As soon as we get them we can continue on busting the shipment whenever it comes in." Liam said looking at the two agents, who nodded their heads but didn't make a move to leave the office. "Well off you two go, bring me back some good news." He said after them but they already left. "The rest of you once they have information I'll e able to brief you further. Meeting dismissed." Liam said and the rest went their separate ways, disappearing up the staircases and hiding in their offices, not that that was much of a hiding place, since the whole building basically has glass offices.
"Watch it. Don't lose him" Caleb said. "I got it. You wanna take the wheel?" Ryan asked as they drove downtown chasing the black truck. "Nah, I prefer to backseat drive." Caleb responded to his friend's question. On the radio they were informed that the chase they're on is a robbery in progress and not the one about the cocaine informants. But they continued to follow the truck regardless. "Boom, there it is, right on time." Caleb said as they sped through a red light spotting the truck again that they lost a few seconds ago. "You doubted me?" Ryan asked. "On a daily basis." Caleb said leaning through the window to get the driver's attention that they have to pull their vehicle over, he didn't want to be firing shots in the streets close to innocent civilians. "Hold on." Ryan said as he drove closer to the backside of the truck and hit it slightly, so they can see that they mean business. "We need to get off the main road." Caleb said and Ryan maneuvered the car in such a way that the truck driver had no where to escape since traffic was heaping up, and he had to take the right turn off the main road onto a small narrow industrial road.
Once they were onto that road the truck driver soon realized it was a dead end and he had no here to turn but tried to regardless. He drove full speed into a fence and the truck came to a halt. Ryan and Caleb jumped out with their weapons raised towards the four guys in the truck. "FBI show me your hands." Caleb commanded and all four of them obeyed, showing their hands through the window, soon two other police cars showed up on the scene. "Whhhooooooo dude, that was awesome. Was it good for you?" Caleb exclaimed looking at Ryan to answer the question. "Bro, don't make it weird." Ryan laughed and they walked to the truck with the other officers to get the guys into the cars.
They rolled up back to the office to hand the guys over and ask Liam about the mishap they heard on the radio about a robbery instead of the cocaine bust. Turns out it was a robbery Liam made it sound important so that they could go all in. "After all I know you guys are much more into drug busts than armed robbery." Liam answered their question, gaining an evil eye from the both of them. "Hey on the bright side, we got them behind bars. And I gotta keep you two grounded" He commented but that didn't satisfy the two.
Once everyone was back in the briefing room, Maranda took over the briefing and informed them on the new case at hand. "All right people, the DEA got word of a new type of cocaine doing its rounds on the streets again. Wait for it, it's infamously known as California Corn Flakes or CCF for short." Maranda said, earning smiles at her co workers for that name. "Creative genius who came up with that name." Simon said shaking his head. "We can joke about it all we want, but this stuff is potent. I don't know when the shipment comes in, which is what I need all of you to find out. Does anyone have an informant who might lead us to this?" She enquired looking though the agents. ""Any of the old drug lords we've dealt with who might be involved in this too?" Ryan asked. "We're not sure, up to this point the lords in K-Town have cornered the markets in this CCF deal, and their new leader would do anything to prevent their rival gang The Beach lords form establishing a pipeline in the city." Liam commented. "K-Town has a new leader? How long was I gone for?" Alex exclaimed surprised at this new piece of information. "Welcome back, Alex!" Caleb laughed shaking his head, as the rest of the team joined in. She really needed a catch up session on what's going on out there in the streets. " Stan Burma is their new leader. If this deal goes through we're looking at a full scale gang war, one that could be avoided if we get to that shipment before these gangs do." Maranda concluded leaving the pictures and mugshots. "So float the word, work your sources kill this deal." Maranda said before leaving the room.
Alex was just about to ask the girls on how much she's missed out, since she didn't even know about the new K-Town leader, when her phone buzzed. The day care center. T first her heart skipped a few beats since she thought something was wrong with Phoebe but, Marci sent her a picture. One of Phoebe and another baby about the same age laying on their backs, admiring the teddy bear one of the care givers had in her hand. "And that smile?" Ryan asked when he exits the briefing room seeing her standing in the hallway. She didn't answer him just showed him her phone and a small smile appeared on his face at the sight of his daughter. "Do you believe me now, when I'll tell you again that she's fine?" He asked hugging her. "Yeah, now I do." She answered, slapping him on the butt before walking back to the office to call up some long lost sources.
"Guys, for some time while hunting down these gangs, we've been going after their leaders. Why don't we try a different approach to this? Something that will hit them harder?" Caleb asked after an hour on the phone and he couldn't find anything valuable. "Like what? Go after their families or their kids?" Simon asked, Caleb nodded. "Anyone who profits from their illegal enterprises, making it cost more for them to fight than it does to lay down." Simon added. "How do we do that?" Niamh asked. "Can't we build cases that put people they care about behind bars, and keep them there until they come forward with everything illegal that their relatives are busy with?" Alex prompted twisting her pen around between her fingers. "Yes but if we put pressure on civilians what if this thing blows up in our faces?" Shelby asked concerned. "Guess we'll have to go mention this to the people in the high places. Alex you gonna go ask Ryan about this?" Natalie smirked. Alex pointed her pen at her friend. "No, at work he is my superior, no special favours." She said sticking her tongue out at Natalie. "Useless. We'll Simon, Caleb go give this proposal to our bosses. Alex is being stingy with her resources." Natalie said throwing the brunette with a piece of crumpled up paper. "Whatever." Alex laughed turning her attention back to the computer screen, looking up more sources to call.
The guys returned from Maranda's office smiling all the time. To which they assumed they got the go ahead, and everyone was on board with their plan. They all got emails to meet for a final briefing before they go home. They worked through lunch to get as much information as possible to provide feedback at the briefing.
Maranda updated the rest on how they're going to handle this deal and told them about the idea Simon and Caleb pitched to them. "Police department found four bindles of CCF stashed down at the warehouse." Matthew informed. "I don't think the shipment was ever there." Natalie said. "Look, a week ago my CI spotted a heavy shipment send south of the border. He thinks it might just slide through any day now. That might be our California Corn Flakes." Matthew concluded. "Which means we have a ticking clock, we need to shake some trees , figure out when it's coming and where." Ryan said. "I got an OG down south names Jay-Jay, he might know something. He's out on probation so he won't try anything funny. " Matthew said when everyone looked at him strange when he mentioned his OG. "Ryan, Matthew go pay him a visit in the morning. The rest of you can wrap up and mail me everything else you found out that we didn't mention right now." Maranda dismissed the meeting and everyone hurried back to get their things and call it a day.
After a brief conversation and hugging the girls, Alex waited out in the foyer on one of the black leather couches for Ryan to make his appearance so they can get their baby.
The car barely came to a halt in the parking lot at the day care center and Alex got out, walking through the doors to get Phoebe, Ryan following somewhere behind her. Or so she thought, It was full of grown ups and toddlers waling hand in hand with their kids, jumping up and down ready to inform their parents on everything they've done today. Alex walked into one of the rooms, painted a soft lilac color and found Phoebe's curious eyes scanning the room once again, in one of the small wooden cribs. Alex noticed the girl in the crib next to her daughter as the one in the picture. "Hello baby girl." Alex greeted as she picked he up carefully. It took Phoebe a moment to recognize her mother's face and Alex thought she saw a glimpse of a small smile form on her daughter's face. "Did you behave yourself?" She questioned more to Marci than to Phoebe. "Say yes Mommy. I was a god girl." Marci smiled rubbing Phoebe's dark brown hair.
The other girl's mother came in, turns out the baby's name in Jemma and she's about a week older than Phoebe. "Hey, you're the little girl in the picture who was playing with Jemma." The tall blonde woman said. "Hi, I'm Kelly." She smiled at Alex extending her hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Alex and this is Phoebe. " Alex smiled. The mothers and Marci talked for a while, before signing their kids out and departed their ways. Ryan got caught up in the parking lot talking to a guy he knew, they worked together and both did tours in Iraq. Alex and Kelly walked out together still talking, and was wondering where her husband disappeared to, when she saw him. "Oh this is my wife Alex. This is Bryan Avery." He introduced the two of them and Alex shook his hand. Surprised when Bryan turned out to be Kelly's husband. "You two know each other?" Bryan asked just as surprised. "We just met inside." Kelly smiled and greeted before they went their separate ways. "Small world." Ryan said as he helped Alex and secured his wide awake daughter in the car seat. "Hello munchkin, how was your first day?" He asked and Phoebe kicked her little feet out frantically while stuffing her hands in her mouth. "Okay, that looks like it was fun." He smiled, kissing her head before closing the door. Backing out of the parking lot and headed home.
Thanks for the read. Hope you enjoy. You guys don't seem to be reviewing as much as you did in the beginning do you guys still enjoy the story? Please let me know so I can improve or tell me if you're not feeling it anymore. Lovies-S
