Chapter 26-It's All Over

August 29, 2002

Today was the last day. The ship had docked back in Miami about 6:00am. The coast guard and customs had to come aboard and make sure that everything on the ship was ok. Then it was time to wait to disembark. They called people off the ship based on the color of their luggage tags. Once the bags were checked by customs the people were allowed to come pick them up. Ty and Alex had green tags. Luckily, green was the third color called. They headed off the ship and gathered their things. Then they joined the rest of the people waiting for the bus to the airport. They had a 12:30pm flight. By the time they got to the airport it was 11:45am.

"Want to grab something quick to eat?" Ty asked Alex.

"I am kind of hungry."

"There is a little place just on the other side of that walkway."

"Let's go."

They walked hand in hand to the little café. Ty just got a bagel and Alex got a muffin.

"I'm not looking forward to going back to New York," Ty said.

"I am. I like the city. The trip was nice, but I want to go back to my life."

"There is just a small problem with that."

"What might that be?"

"You're Mrs. Davis now, a whole new life awaits you in New York."

"You know what I mean, I want to go back to our daily lives and I want to start my new life as Mrs. Davis," she said with a smile.

"Good."

They finished eating and headed back to the gate and waited for the flight to begin boarding. At about 12:20 they began boarding. Alex and Ty waited for their rows to be called. Soon enough they were in the air heading back to New York.

The flight was almost perfect. The weather was nice, they were on time and they would be seeing everyone soon. When they arrived at the airport the deplaned and headed for the baggage. It was about a 45-minute ride back to their apartment because of traffic, something you can always count on in New York. They finally got back and were happy to be there.

"I'm just going to put everything in the bedroom, we can deal with it tomorrow," Alex said.

"Sounds good to me. You hungry?"

"Yeah, I could go for some Chinese. I want to stop by the firehouse too."

"We can go to the place right around the corner and then head to the firehouse."

"Works for me. Hopefully Kim didn't miss me too much."

"Depends on who she was partnered with. I don't know how well her and Carlos would get along."

It took all the self-control Alex had not to say anything to Ty. She had promised Kim that she wouldn't say anything about her and Carlos. Plus, she hasn't been around for a week and didn't know what may have transpired between them since she left. That was half of the reason she wanted to visit the house.

They walked to the Chinese restaurant; their apartment was fairly close. After grabbing a quick dinner it was on to the firehouse.

"They must be out on a run," Alex said as they approached and she saw both ambulances missing.

"Maybe the guys are still there," Ty said referring to the company.

"I guess we'll find out."

They continued walking and neared the bay where the engine was. They entered the bay and saw that the engine was still there. Alex led Ty upstairs to the lounge area.

"Hey guys," Alex said as she reached the top of the stairs.

"Taylor! What's going on?" DK said from the kitchen.

"Taylor? Come on DK, you were there," Alex said, trying to look hurt.

"Oh yeah, sorry, Davis. That's going to take a while to get used to."

"Make it quick, Alex Taylor is no more."

"Hey Alex! Ty." Jimmy said as he came downstairs.

"Hey Jimmy, what's new around here?"

"Nothing too much, same old stuff."

"I guess that's good."

"Who did Doc get to ride with Kim as my replacement?"

"Actually, Doc put Carlos with Kim and took the replacement himself."

"Really? How did that work?"

"Oddly enough, Kim hasn't had any complaints. I thought she would have freaked out they first night."

"Maybe Carlos has cleaned up his act?"

"I don't know, I'm sure she'll be glad to have you back though."

"Dinner best be ready, I'm starving," Kim yelled as she walked up the stairs.

"Nice to see you too," Alex said as Kim reached the landing.

"Alex! Ty! What are you guys doing here?" she asked giving them both hugs.

"I just wanted to come by and see how things are going. Hey Carlos," she added as Carlos came up the stairs.

"Hey guys. You have fun?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, it was fun. How was your week?"

"Better than I thought."

"That's good."

Carlos walked upstairs. Ty had gone with the other guys to watch some TV. It was just Kim and Alex in the kitchen.

"So, the trip?"

"It was a lot of fun. We met this couple from the Jersey Shore. We are going to keep in touch with them."

"You should have them come up here one time."

"I know. Heather, the woman we met, is a police officer and does EMS stuff too. She was pretty cool."

"Sweet, maybe you can get her a job up here," Kim joked.

"Her husband, Jason, was nice too. He is a manager of a store."

"And you and Ty? You have fun together?"

"It was a lot of fun, but I am glad to be back. So how did riding with Carlos go?"

"It was good. I'm surprised how our relationship has progressed in the last month."

"Progressed?"

"We have been able to talk a lot. I really like him Alex. He hasn't tried to push anything."

"That's great. Does anyone else know?"

"No, we just want to get to know each other better first, before we have to start dealing with everyone's crap."

"Makes sense, I think it's good Kim."

"Thanks Alex, that means a lot."

"Squad 55, Adam 5-5-3, Boy 5-5-3 MVA at Arthur and 96th, possible entrapment," came the dispatchers voice into the house.

"That's us, duty calls. I'm glad you had fun. I'll see you when you get back," Kim said running towards the stairs.

"Bye. Be careful," Alex replied.

Alex walked over to the lounge area and saw Ty sitting there by himself.

"So that's what happens," Ty said referring to the alarm sounding.

"Yup, just drop everything and go."

"Definitely different from our response," Ty said still amazed how the firehouse worked.

"Just a little. Come on, I'm tired."

"Bed sounds like a good idea. It has been a long day."

They walked back to their apartment and went to bed. It was a long day, their honeymoon was over and they were back in bustling New York City.