Chapter 37: Change
Street and Chris left the city hall, hand in hand. But before leaving it, they took some minutes to thank the clerk and her assistant for their help and understanding. Once outside, they paused a moment to process the fact that they were married for the last five minutes. Like married, married. Like Deac and Annie or Tan and Bonnie.
They hurried to reach the patrol car and sat in it. They remained silent for a moment. Street grabbed Chris's hand once again. He needed to feel her, just to be sure he was not dreaming. After a while, he turned to her and looked at her, right in her big brown eyes.
"That was such a crazy move… Just glad I did it with you."
She grabbed his lil finger with her thumb and stroked it. As only answer, she smiled at him. She was happy. Appeased. But still she needed to tell him something. For the peace of her mind.
"I did do another crazy move last year..."
He stopped smiling for a while and looked at her, concerned. "Is everything alright, Chris? You scare me…"
He pressed her hand harder to let her know he was here. The lightness of the previous minutes had vanished in the blink of an eye.
"It's just…" She was embarrassed, she didn't know how to tell him the truth.
"You can tell me everything, Chris. You know that, right?"
She nodded to him. She knew she could. But still, she was embarrassed. She fidgeted her fingers as a way to let the stress get out of her body. Not a real success. She took a deep breath.
"When you were in a coma and everyone thought you were about to die…" She swallowed hard. She didn't like to remember this awful time.
"Hondo gave me your letter… I didn't want to read it and then everybody was telling me you were down, that you were about to die… And I was lost for a while… And I didn't know what to do … And eventually, I opened it and I read it… And after you woke up, I didn't know what to do. And I kept it a secret. Not really proud of what I've done… Still feeling awfully ashamed since because I shouldn't have done this. I knew from the beginning you will wake up and I did it anyway and …"
"And I don't care."
"What?"
"Chris, I don't care you read it because it's you and all I wrote in it was the truth. And I could write another one… A million of other ones to be exact because you're the only one I want to write letters to. I just wish you never read this kind of letters anymore…"
She felt relieved, hearing he was not mad at her for reading the letter. "But still it was part of your intimacy and…"
"And you are part of my intimacy so it's not a big deal, Chris… And if you feel so guilty, I know a lot of ways for you to apologize to me…"
"You, shut up." She burst into laughing. He was good at making her feel well.
"Just sayin…"
"Let's drive to HQ before anything!" She took her bossy tone he liked so much. "The others are gonna wonder where we were and what we were doing… And we have some good news to tell them…"
Street started the engine and drove till the HQ. Chris looked by the windows, watching the road go by her eyes.
[…]
"Hey kids, we were wondering where you were." Hondo called out Chris and Street as they entered the HQ.
"Told you." Chris whispered to Jim right next to her.
"Oh you know, they can do a lot of things together…" Tan started teasing them.
"Oh Tan, please, you go on the slippery slope." Street quickly answered, indicating Chris's black eyes, pointing to Tan.
"Sure they were working on something very important. They are professionals." Deac added with his wise tone.
"Oh sure we were…" Chris told with a mischievous voice which surprised everyone.
"Look now who's teasing us!" Tan joked.
"Hey kids, just tell us the truth. You were celebrating Karlsson's falling, right?" Luca asked them.
"Speaking of Karlsson, Hicks and Lynch interrogate him with the FBI. It's gonna be a long night, guys! Should see what's going on right now, been more than two hours they are in there…"
"Hondo, please don't go right now, we'd like to tell you something, to all of you…" Chris told suddenly aloud, surprising herself with the joyful tone she had just used.
"Yeah, could we go in the locker room for example?" Street offered.
"Now you're scaring me you two!" Hondo answered with a puzzling look.
The whole team followed Chris and Street who led them to the locker room. The best place to announce their crazy move to the team. As Luca closed the door, they faced their four colleagues, who all wore astounded looks on their faces.
"Stop looking at us with those eyes, it's kind of scary!" Street tried to relax the tension in the room. "Seriously guys, it's good news, really good news!"
He looked at Chris who nodded at him, as a way to tell him to announce the big news.
"The reason why Chris and I disappeared for almost two hours… It's because we went to the city hall… To get married. We are fucking married, guys!" Street slipped, too overjoyed.
"You two, married?" Deac froze for a second. Chris and Street shared a concerned look. Had they made a mistake?
"But this awesome! I'm so happy for you guys!" Deac fell in Chris's arm, whispering in her ear how she deserved all the happiness she was experiencing lately.
"Ohhh bro, this is huge! Congrats! So happy for you." Tan ran in Street's arms.
"Let me hug them." Luca pushed Deac and Tan to hug both Chris and Street, at the same time. "Congrats, guys! So happy for you, for both of you. Come here!" And he embraced them tighter.
As he released the pressure, Hondo came closer. To be honest, he was the one they feared the most. He had been nothing but supportive when they admitted publicly their relationship. But what about a wedding? A surprised one, moreover.
"You kids are full of surprises!" Chris and Jim froze. Was it a good or a bad thing? They shared a concerned look once again. Standing next to each other. "Come on here!"
He hugged them. Chris first, then Street. " Really proud of the way you've come. And glad at the end you have found each other. But I can't promise you to keep you in the same team again. But it has never happened before. You're the first SWAT wedding so…"
He turned to face Chris. "You're making once again history, Chris!"
She lowered her head, embarrassed, blushing. She didn't like to be the center of all the attentions.
"I chose the best!" Street joked to make Chris more comfortable. She hit him on the arm with her fist. And slightly smiled at him. He understood the message.
"What about celebrating this?" Tan proposed.
"Yes! SWAT team at the restaurant to celebrate their first SWAT wedding. I like that!" Luca yelled.
"Let me check with Hicks before! Just to be sure he and Lynch have not killed the FBI agents yet. And to see if Karlsson is talking. We will tell him about you two when we are back at work in two days."
Hondo left the room. Tan and Luca took care of booking a table at the restaurant, checking if a table in what one of their favorites was available for tonight. Chris took some time on her own to take a shower, to clean all the mud she had on her.
Deac came closer to Street. "Well done, kid. You finally got the girl you wanted."
Street lowered his head, a little intimidated. "Yes…" He whispered. "I did…"
Deac let out a little smirk. "Chris is a really awesome person. But I do know you already know this." Street nodded.
"Treat Chris the way she deserved it, Jim. She may seem to be tough and reckless but she's hiding a lot of scars and wounds deep inside her…"
Right now, he seemed more like the threatening dad Chris never had, than the teammate he respected so much. "I will… I do… I…"
Deac eventually burst into laughing when he witnessed Street stumbling on his own words. "Was joking, Jim. I know you will. You're one of the good guys. Chris is a lucky woman to have found you."
Street was relieved as he understood Deac was joking. For one second, he thought he was threatening him. Chris came back, her hair wet, mud free.
"Let you, kids. Gonna ask Annie to come and celebrate with us. Her parents are in town so they can look after the kids."
"See you soon, then." Chris answered joyfully, watching Deac walking through the door. She was oversmiling. "What?" She asked, turning to her husband.
"Just love when you're smiling like this… That's all." He answered shyly.
"Should be back to my serious face then."
"Ouch, right in the heart!"
"You're welcome! This is not because you're my husband that I'll be less harsh. You can't fight your real nature."
"True… So you won't be bothered if I do this." He came quickly around her and dropped a kiss on her lips. She tried not to answer but her body soon gave up. She wanted this too badly. She allowed her arms to embrace his neck and let one of her hands get lost in his hair. She could feel his hands slipping along her back, dangerously reaching her bottom. She preferred to separate before she was unable to resist anymore.
"Better get dressed up, I think…" She concluded with a naughty smile on her face.
""This is over yet, Miss Alonso. You know that?"
She nodded, she couldn't wait for the conclusion of this conversation, which will be explosive for sure. They joined Tan and Luca who were waiting for them in the lobby.
"Thai restaurant? Is it ok for you?"
"Perfect!" Street answered quickly.
"His fav food. You couldn't have made him happier."
"Don't be jealous, Chris. Still number one in my heart… Even if at any time a Pad Thai can take the lead!"
"Don't be stupid, Long Beach. I'll beat the Pad Thai any fucking time!" Chris answered enthusiastically, hitting his arm with her fist.
"She's harsh!" Tan joked.
"Karlsson will be questioned for the next three days by the FBI, so it's ok for me tonight. You wait for me?" Hondo irrupted from the corridor.
Chris lowered her head, she would have loved to interrogate this bastard who almost killed her husband and stalked her for months. She wanted to crush it so bad.
"Chris, Hicks, Lynch and I manage to keep you some moments with this asshole when you're back at work in two days."
He saw her face glowing the very second he told her so. "Thanks, boss."
Hondo quickly ran to the locker room to get a change while Deac joined them. "Annie is in! She'll be here in 20 minutes!"
Annie will be waiting for them in front of the restaurant. Hondo was ready in less than ten minutes. "Time to kick some fried chicken and spicy noodles ass!" He told them enthusiastically.
"I text you the address, meet all there!" Luca announced proudly.
All walked to their cars while Jim and Chris reached Jim's bike. He was the first one to sit on it in order to turn the engine on. She put the helmet and got on beside him. He loved to feel her arms surrounded his chest. She eventually lay her head over his back. He smiled under his helmet. This was perfect and he started the engine to drive till the restaurant.