Woody…

I closed down my computer and pulled on my coat as I readied to leave for the day. It had been relatively uneventful. On my way out I called Cal and told him I was heading home. He told me to go to Jordan's.

"Why?" I asked as I pulled open my car door.

"Just go damn it! Does it matter?" He said irritably and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Okay." I said and disconnected the phone, sticking it into my coat pocket. I drove to Jordan's in silence, a thousand possible reasons for why she wanted me to come over floating through my head. I pulled up outside and climbed the stairs to the lobby. I rode up the elevator tapping my foot and pocketed my keys.

I knocked on her door and when she didn't answer, I pulled out my newly acquired key and opened it myself.

"Jordan?" I called looking around the room. All the lights were out except for the kitchen light. I rounded the corner and Jordan was standing placing plates on the table. She was wearing the same outfit she had been wearing the night before the shooting. I smiled and lay my coat on the couch.

"Hey." She said walking over to me and standing on her toes to give me a kiss. I kissed her back.

"Hey yourself." I said glancing around the room and wrapping my arms around her.

"What's this all about?" I asked gesturing towards the set counter/table. She smiled.

"Ten days left." She said and I smirked.

"Really? I'd forgotten." I said playfully and Jordan swatted my arm and looked over at the centerpiece that I noticed was made of the flowers I had sent her earlier that day.  She led me to the table and I sat down on the stool, hungrily dishing out linguini onto my plate. Jordan pulled a pan out of the stove and scooped a heaping spatula full of chicken parm and cheese onto my plate. I smiled and kissed her quickly before digging into my food. We ate in comfortable silence, every so often talking about our day.

As I was helping Jordan to clear the dishes she turned to me and leaned against the counter.

"There…there was a something else…." She said nervously and I set the dishes down. She looked frightened for a second then moved to stand in front of me.

"Uhh…somebody told me that you were asking around…trying to find a little B&B for the 28th day?" She asked quickly and I was sure that hadn't been what she wanted to say. I smiled anyway and nodded as I leaned back against the counter.

"Yeah, I thought it might be nice to get away for a couple of days…was…was that all?" I asked and Jordan nodded slowly at first.

"Umm…yeah…yes…that was all. I just wanted to make sure. I think it's a great idea." She said and picked up a dish, busying herself with cleaning it. When everything was cleaned up, I stood in the kitchen rolling my sleeves back down.

"So…that was a great meal thank you." I said bending to capture Jordan's lips. She rested her hand on my arm and sighed against my lips.

"I'll see you Saturday?" I asked and she pulled back.

"Yeah…I want to say good-bye to Cal before he leaves." She said and I nodded.

"He'll be thrilled to hear that." I said moving past her to grab my coat. I pulled it on and started towards the door. I pulled it open slowly and was about to step into the hall when I heard Jordan's voice.

"I love you." She said loud enough for me to hear. I stopped still and turned slowly to face her. She was standing with her hands held together in front of her. She smiled.

"I love you." She said again and I stepped back into the room moving toward her and pulled her into my arms. I lay my lips gently to hers and a rush of warmth spread through my body.

"I love you." I whispered and she pressed her body to mine. "I love you." I said again and our kiss deepened. Jordan pulled me by my coat lapels into the room and we stood holding each other and kissing as we conveyed our love to each other with touch and then newfound words.

Jordan was the first to pull back and she looked lovingly up into my eyes.

"I'm sorry…it took me that long to say it back…I just…I always FELT it…I just couldn't…do you understand?" She asked and I nodded holding her back against my chest.

"I love you." I said and Jordan sighed, repeating it again as I took her lips one last time.

"Can…can I stay here tonight?" I whispered and Jordan nodded.

"Yes." She said quietly and I pulled off my coat. I dropped my gun belt onto the couch and removed my dress shirt and coat in the dark. I slipped off my pants and my sox and padded barefoot through the apartment to Jordan's room. She was already in there in bed waiting for me. I threw off my undershirt but left my boxer briefs on as I slipped into bed beside her. I wrapped my arms around her body and my body reacted instantly to finding that she was wearing the tank top and little sleep shorts with the... I moaned as she rubbed her hip into me and I felt her smile against my chest.

"Told ya it was just the medicine." She said softly and I smiled snuggling closely to her under the comforter.

"So where were we the other night when Cal interrupted?" She asked suddenly and I groaned.

"Oh…looking forward to it?" She asked and I chuckled.

"That was a groan not a moan Jordan." I said sadly.

"Why do you gotta be such a nudge!?" Jordan asked and I rolled over onto my side.

"Roll over." I said stubbornly and Jordan threw and arm and a leg over me. "The other way dummy!" I said chuckling and Jordan laughed rolling to her other side so that her back was to me.

"Okay so…what would you do to me if we were….having sex?" Jordan asked whispering out the word sex. I smiled and squirmed a little.

"Well…I would…start by kissing you neck, while I was holding your cheek gently….Then I would use my other hand to slowly untie those cute, tight little purple girl boxers…and…" I rubbed the tip of my big toe against the mattress to keep me occupied while holding a fistful of sheets in my right hand.

"Uh huh…" Jordan said and I could hear the playful smile in her voice despite the darkness of the room.

I decided to kick it up a notch. "Then I would let the back of my hand slide up over your belly button…over your ribs…I would take your breast in my hand and squeeze…just…enough." I whispered and I could feel Jordan squirming on her side of the bed.

"Uh huh…" She said and I could tell it was through her teeth. I smiled self satisfactorily. I had her right where I wanted her.

"Then I would let my hand slip back down and gently tug at the edges of those little shorts until they slid down over your hips and you could feel the cool sheets against your…bare…skin." I said and Jordan 'uh-huhed' again.

"And then I would bring my hand back up to…" Jordan cut me off, lifting her head from the pillow and turning it to look at me.
"Why the hell are you going back up!?" She said sharply and I laughed.

"Your turn! I said and Jordan scoffed flopping her head back down on the pillow. She thought for a minute.

"Well…I would…start by kissing across your shoulder…connecting the freckle dots if you will…and then I would a…drag…my teeth down your neck and chest until I reached the edges of those cute little boxer briefs…" She said and I tightened my grip on the sheets as my body responded to her words. I grunted quietly and I could tell Jordan had heard it.

Then I would a…use my teeth…to pull them down…and I would…slowly…kiss…my way…back up to your lips." She said getting more quiet and sultry with every word. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat.

"Nine…" I said quietly staring at the pulsing red light of the clock as it turned over to midnight. Jordan got my drift. I wouldn't be able to control myself if this went any further.

"Nine…"She said with a sigh and we rolled back over to face each other. Jordan started to scoot towards me and I warned her.

"Give me a minute or two…" I said straining and Jordan stilled. "I almost forgot how painful this was…" I said chuckling and Jordan scooted up to me again.

"No! Jordan it's integral to my survival that you don't touch me right now." I said as I tried to picture those large polar bear club women taking the January dunk into Lake Michigan in my head.

Jordan stilled and after about a minute, I scooted forward myself and wrapped my arms around her.

"Good night Jordan." I said quietly. She kissed my chest tenderly.

"I love you Woody." She said back and I kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too." I said and yawned as I closed my eyes and we drifted off to sleep holding each other.

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In the morning, I woke before Jordan and grabbed a cup of coffee in the kitchen. Jordan came in a few minutes after me and I was sitting at the counter in my underwear and undershirt sipping my coffee and reading the paper. She kissed me on the cheek as I took a sip and I smiled.

"Morning." I said casually and Jordan grunted with a smile as she poured herself a cup.

"You going in to work today?" She asked and I nodded.

"Round noon. I have to go to my place and shower and change though. And the time it'll take me to convince Cal we didn't have sex last night alone is gonna set me back an hour…hour and a half." I said smiling and Jordan laughed.

"Don't you let him leave tomorrow without saying good-bye to me." She said sternly and I nodded as I stood and took my cup to the sink.

"You want some help with this stuff or should I go?" I asked looking down at the dishes. Jordan shooed me off.

"No go ahead, I don't want you to rush back to your place and get killed." She said stirring her coffee. I nodded and pecked her on the cheek before heading to the living room to find my clothes. I dressed quickly, not bothering to fix my tie and just let it hang around my neck. I slid into the kitchen and gave Jordan a quick kiss before I left.

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When I got back to my place Cal was standing right inside the door holding a cup of coffee and tapping his foot.

"You could have CALLED!" he said looking at his watch. I just smiled and walked past him into the living room. I threw my suit coat from the day before onto the couch and headed for my bedroom.

'So!?" Cal called from where he still stood at the door. I turned to face him and he had that boyish gleam in his eye. "Did you two…have fun…last night?" He asked and I nodded.

"We had a wonderful meal, Jordan admitted she loved me, had a playful game of 'describe what you'd do to me' sex, and fell asleep." I said and Cal scoffed.

"Bull shit. You had sex with her." He said and I shook my head.

"I swear on her life, no." I said and smiled Cal shook his head bewildered as I headed in to take a shower. As I shut the bathroom door I heard him mumble.

"You're a better man than I am…" he said as he walked past into the kitchen. I smiled and turned on the shower.

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On Saturday morning I woke up already starting to miss Cal. I snuck into the living room and peeked in on him. He was sleeping on his stomach, hanging off one side of the bed and only half of his body was under the covers. I smiled and went into the kitchen to make some breakfast for us both. Cal's favorite is French toast.

 "Do I smell French toast!?" I heard him call a few minutes later from the other room. I laughed.

"Yep." I called and he came rushing into the room and sat down at the table. He smiled and clapped his hands together before taking a big gulp of the orange juice I had put out.

"Oh hey I brought something with me…but I didn't wanna give it to you until the last day for fear you would get all huggy with me." He said and I nodded as he ran into the other room to retrieve whatever treasure he had found for me. I was just flipping the French toast onto his plate as he came back in holding a 5X7 picture frame.

He handed it to me slowly and I turned the frame over. I stood staring at the picture for a long time. When I finally got my wits about me, I sat slowly down at the table. Cal was already sitting and shyly avoiding my eyes as he ate.

"This…this is…great. Thanks a lot man." I said quietly and Cal shrugged his shoulders. I looked back down at the picture. I remembered the exact day it had been taken. I was 5 and Cal was 4. We had come in from playing out in the snow and Cal is sitting on the toy box right inside our front door, his snow pants pulled down to his ankles and one arm out of his thick sweater. The hair on one side of his head is sticking out in all directions and his cheeks and lips are bright red in contrast to his white skin. I'm standing in front of him, one boot on my foot and the other laying beside me. I have already gotten my jacket and sweater off and am wearing a three button bright red thermal shirt. I have the same laughing expression on my face as Cal as well as the bright red cheeks and lips to match. I have my feet braced on the bottom of the toy box and I am yanking on one of Cal's snow boots as my snow pants are slipping down my waist. We look like we don't have a care in the world. Hell, we probably didn't at that age.

"No problem." Cal said through his toast. "Just thought you might like to have it." He said and I stood from my chair, setting the picture down gently on the table standing up. Cal cringed and looked up at me.

"You're going to hug me aren't you?" He said and I smiled.

"Come here." I said laughing and he stood embracing me tightly. "Thank you…it's a great present…and you probably didn't have to pay for it either so I know it was right up your ally of present giving." I said and Cal laughed, pulling back and grabbing my face, planting a hard, exaggerated kiss on my cheek.

"You know me too well." He said slapping my cheeks and returning to his breakfast. I just shook my head and went back to the stove to cook my own breakfast.

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Jordan came over around noon and made a deal of doting over Cal as he packed.

"Honey, if I could find a lady like you back home I'd be the second luckiest guy alive." Cal said to Jordan from the couch where she was helping him to fill a bag.

"And who's the first luckiest guy in the world?" Jordan asked with a smirk and Cal shrugged, winking at me where I stood by the little card table in the corner.

"Well, my big brother of course…he's got the real deal…" Cal said and Jordan nodded. "He's already got the greatest chick in the world, I'll be lucky to win second place…or even first runner up for that matter." Cal said and I laughed, looking over at the picture where I had placed it on a shelf.

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At the airport, we said our good- byes and Cal walked off to through his boarding gate wishing us luck next weekend with a wag of his eyebrows. As he disappeared on his way into the plane Jordan turned to me with a smirk.

"You TOLD him what next weekend is?" She said exasperated and I folded my arms.

"And if I asked Lily what next weekend was…might she tell me?" I said and Jordan laughed nervously.

"I take the 5th." She said and walked away. I uncrossed my arms and followed after her.

"That's what I thought." I said wrapping my arm around her waist as we headed through the terminal and back out to the car.

"So…you coming back to stay with me?" Jordan asked as we drove towards her apartment. I shrugged my shoulders.

"At night? I guess…but I think I'll be okay during the day at my place…besides…" I said lowering my voice and coughing. "The chief put me back on call for nights." I said and Jordan turned to me.

"What!?" She said and I cringed looking out the window as I drove.

"I'm feeling a lot better Jordan, and…and it's just my regular on call nights, no biggie…I'm not the only guy on call those nights so they'll go to the others first. Don't get so upset." I said sighing and Jordan shook her head.

"I still think it's a mistake. You need as much sleep as you can get right now until you're completely healed." She said and I sighed again.

"Yeah, well…like I said, I'm not the go to guy…they know the circumstances it's just rules that they gotta have a certain number of guys on call in case something goes down." I said and Jordan turned back to look out the window. I knew she understood whether she agreed or not. She had grown up a cop's daughter.

When we got to her apartment I pulled my overnight bag out of the back seat and I caught a telling smile on Jordan's face as she walked around the car toward her building. I followed her in and she commented that she had picked up some movies to watch. I commented that a quiet night of popcorn and movies was just what we needed.

We fell asleep together on the couch and this time I was able to carry Jordan to bed when I woke in the middle of the night. I set her gently down on the cool sheets and she reached for me unconsciously as I slipped in beside her.

"Love you." She mumbled sleepily and I smiled, rubbing my nose against her cheek and whispering the same back to her.

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Jordan…

In the morning I woke in my bed, vaguely aware that it was Woody who had put me there, as I could smell him nearby. I rolled out of bed and stretched as I walked into the bathroom. My toothbrush was already sitting out and I smiled bringing it to my lips and then noticing something different about it. I pulled it back from my lips and chuckled. Woody had written a tiny '7' in toothpaste on my brush. I was actually sort of curious as to how he managed to do that. I wet the brush and cleaned my teeth quickly. Woody and I had planned a whole day of lunch and walking in the park since the weather was beginning to warm up and the snow was slowly melting. We even picked up a sled to take with us if there was still enough snow on the sledding hills at the park.

When we arrived at the park after lunch, half the kids in Boston were at the sledding hills getting in the last bit of sledding until the next snowfall. Woody and I were the oldest people there besides a few stray parents standing off to the side of the hill chatting as their children raced down the hills. We went down together a few times, screeching and laughing on the way as the kids stopped occasionally to watch us. There was a particular trio of girls about 8 or 9 years old who seemed to be taking a particular interest in Woody. I smiled as they gradually shifted their sledding spot to be right beside us.

"Ask them if they wanna ride on the sled with you once." I whispered and Woody narrowed his eyes at me.

"Who?" he said trying to catch his breath as we trekked back up the hill. I wagged my eyes towards the three little girls who quickly pretended they weren't watching us.

"Your fan club members over there." I said chuckling and Woody laughed.

"Really?" He asked and I nodded.

"Go ahead. It'll make their day." I said and he nodded, holding the long sled at his side as he trudged toward the little crowd. The girls eyes all widened and they tried to play it cool as Woody laid on the charm and gestured about going down the hill with them. They all looked at each other then over at me before nodding vigorously. Woody smiled and set down the sled, hopping on to the very back end. The three girls clambered to get on with him and situated themselves before scooting the sled over the edge and racing down the hill. I could hear them screeching and Woody laughing as they skidded to a stop at the bottom.

An hour later, as Woody took the 30th group of little people racing down the hill on our sled, I realized that I had created a monster. There were little ones lined up along the top of the hill, sitting, hopping around or rolling their sleds in a circle as they waited for their turn to go fast down the hill with the 'big guy'. Finally, I noticed Woody's fatigue and intervened.

"Okay! One more guys! The 'big guy' is getting worn out." I called down the line and there were a lot of protests. Woody smiled and set the sled down, calling for the next riders and three little boys about 5 years old all hurried to the sled. After the initial fighting over who got to sit where that was resolved by Woody, they raced down the hill and I met them at the bottom. All the kids gathered around us begging Woody for one more turn. He shook his head and told them that weather permitting, he'd be back the next time it snowed.

"Her too?" one of the kids yelled. I nodded.

"Her too." I said pointing to myself.

Woody too the string of the sled and dragged it behind him as we walked off through the park.

"Sorry I laid that on you…you feel okay?" I said chuckling and Woody shook his head.

"It's no big deal… just a little pull on the stitching… I used to do that at home all the time…I was one of the older brother type guys and we always got recruited for stuff like that." He said and I nodded.

"It was kind of nice to see how you are with little kids…" I said taking his hand in mine. He smiled.

"Let's slow this boat down Cavanaugh." He said with a wink and I smiled pulling his arm closer to me.

When we got back to my place, Woody used his masterful cooking skills to dial the phone and order us some Chinese food. We ate it in front of the television while taking turns screaming at the idiots on 80's reruns of Wheel of Fortune on the Game show network

"We need to stop cause my grandmother does this every night." Woody said laughing as he tried and failed to get a piece of sesame chicken into his mouth with chopsticks.

"Does what?" I said abandoning my chopsticks for a good old American fork.

"She yells at the television when she watches Wheel of Fortune. Everyone in the house goes running for the family room thinking she's had the big one…and it's just that some cute little fella she liked went bankrupt on Wheel of Fortune." He said and threw his own chopsticks down and grabbed a fork.

I laughed and shoveled some more food into my mouth and flopped sideways so that I could put my feet on Woody's lap.

"So…do you want me to bring some of my stuff over still?" He asked suddenly during a commercial. I swallowed my chicken.

"Ummmm…yeah, of course." I said confidently and Woody smiled.

"Cool…I'll bring some stuff over this weekend." He said wagging his eyebrows.

"So where ARE we going?" I  asked curious and Woody shook his head.

"Don't wanna tell you." He said flipping the channel. I rolled my eyes and moved my foot closer to his crotch.

"pllllllleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssseeeeeee…." I said smiling coyly and Woody swatted my advancing foot away.

"Uh uh…I'll tell you on Friday." He said and I chuckled.

"Ohhhh…fine." I said snuggling back into his side before almost knocking both of us off the couch as I screamed yet again, at a bankruptcy on 'the wheel'.

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Woody…

On Monday I woke up and Jordan was already gone. When I got to the shower there was a sticky note on the showerhead.

'6'. It spelled out and a line was drawn under it. Leave it to Jordan to make sure I knew it wasn't a 9.

I went into work around noon again and once again I was sent to my desk and told to stay out of trouble. I called Jordan for lunch and Lily answered.

"Oh hey, Woody. Jordan's not here….she's on scene right now." Lily said and I cringed.

"Really, which one?" I asked leaning back in my chair and tipping down the blinds of my window with a finger.

"Car accident on 7th. Listen I gotta go Woody, the husband just got here. Get better soon! We all miss you!" She said happily and I smiled.

"Thanks Lily, I'll be back bringing sunshine into all your lives before you know it." I said smiling and Lily laughed.

"Bye Woody." She said.

"Bye Lily." I said and hung up the phone with a sigh. I wondered if maybe I could sneak out to the sight.

"Don't even think about it Hoyt." I heard a voice call from the door and I almost fell backwards in my chair. It was Eddie Winslow.

"Hey, Lieutenant, how's it going?" I asked standing from my chair as Winslow's eyes traveled quickly over me.

'How ya feeling kid?" he asked and I smiled.

"Pretty good, sir…getting there." I said and Winslow nodded glancing uncomfortably around the room.

"How's Jordan?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay…not real happy with me for coming back to work…but she'll get over it." I said chuckling and Winslow nodded.

"Good ol' Jordan." He said with a sigh and turned to walk out of the office. "Tell her and Max I said hi?" He asked as he left. I smiled and nodded.

"I definitely will." I said and Winslow smiled as he rounded the corner.