Hi everyone - and yes I know - it's been too long! Sorry it's taken me a while to get this up. Truthfully, I was going to delete this chapter, it's just a bit of a filler and I didn't know if it was necessary, but I've left it in because it sets up the next couple of chapters.

I don't own The Brave or any of it's characters... But I wish I did!

Chapter 48

They started their last morning of camping the way they had the first morning. Despite the confines of the swag, they explored each other and made love to each other, right there in the day light. The sun had replaced the stars, but their desire for each other had far from diminished in the sunlight.

The swag has been surprisingly comfortable with its inbuilt mattress, and Jaz was amazed to see how it all just rolled up into itself. She was a big fan, and hoped they put it to good use again soon.

Before they packed up the rest of their gear, they went for one last swim in the lake. It was refreshing first thing in the morning and Patton joined them, being the lover of water that he now was.

Jaz lay floating on her back, just gazing up at the sky above feeling so thankful for where she was right now. Not just where she was physically—in this beautiful location—but also emotionally. The relationship she shared with Adam had snuck up and surprised her, but she wouldn't change it for the world. She had felt herself grow and change so much over the last month or so, and she was eager to continue that.

Dalton swam right out to the middle of the lake, trying to burn off some energy. As he swam, he found himself thinking over the last month. It had been a whirlwind of emotions, some he knew that he had been supressing and others that had just snuck up on him. He knew they were far from done with processing everything, there was certainly still so much to figure out, but he couldn't help but smile to himself, thankful for where they were right now.

After leaving their campsite, Dalton took the scenic route in to town. They needed to top up some supplies before heading back to the cabin, but enjoyed some more of the stunning scenery these mountains provided on the way there.

Parking in town and letting Patton out with them to stretch his legs, they made a beeline for the grocery store.

Wandering the aisles with their shopping cart, they were surprised to bump into Katie as they rounded a corner, with her own cart half full.

"Hey!" She greeted them both with an excited smile before leaning forward to hug them both enthusiastically.

Jaz stumbled back a little at the enthusiasm, still not quite used to spontaneous hugs, but returned the hug nonetheless while Dalton watched on with a grin.

"So good to see you, what are you guys up to?" Katie asked them.

"We're on our way back from camping." Dalton replied, "You?"

"Gotta fill the pantry. Sarah and the kids are coming for dinner tonight." Her face lit up as an idea crossed her mind, "Hey, why don't you guys come too?"

Dalton exchanged a quick glance with Jaz, "Thanks for the offer, but we're actually pretty beat from the camping. Why don't you and Sarah figure out a good day to bring the kids up to the cabin, and we can all spend the day together?"

Katie was happy with that compromise, "Sure, that sounds like fun, the kid's will be rapt. We'll let you know. Ok, I better get back to it then, small mouths to feed and all that..."

Jaz couldn't help but smile at her bubbly personality, and wasn't quite as surprised at the goodbye hug before Katie continued on her way.

"She's…"

"Crazy?" Dalton finished for her.

Jaz laughed, "No, she's just enthusiastic about everything. I like it."

Dalton looked at her sideways, "Are you sure? The Jaz I know would be rolling her eyes at someone that… bubbly."

"Well – yeah, ok you're right. But this is your sister, it's different."

He took a step forward and dropped a kiss to her forehead, "I appreciate that. But she drives me crazy too sometimes."

Laughing, Jaz took his hand, "Come on, let's finish up here so we can get home to Cass."

"Speaking of crazy…" He muttered under his breath as he steered the shopping cart.

Jaz turned and gave him a sharp look. Knowing full well that she had heard him, he grimaced waiting for some sort of retaliation, but when it didn't come straight away, he knew it would… eventually.

Pulling up to the cabin, Dalton was surprised when Jaz helped him unload the truck instead of racing inside to check on Cassiopeia. They unloaded all the camping gear, making sure to hang the swag over the back veranda to give it an airing before they would put it away for the next trip.

All the fishing rods and paraphernalia, and extra camping equipment was put away before Jaz said she would take Patton for a quick walk to the jetty before going inside.

Dalton stared incredulously after her, not quite believing that she still hadn't checked on Cass.

He dropped their bags inside by the front door, before going back to retrieve the groceries. Once he had placed them on the kitchen bench, ready to unload, he lowered himself so he was the same level as Cass's fish bowl and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief seeing the fish still happily swimming circles. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been worried that the fish would be belly up by the time they got back, but it seemed the slow feeder really did work this time.

"Hey buddy. Still happy in there huh? Did you miss us? Just between you and me, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you still swimming laps in there. If— "

"And he thinks I'm crazy."

Dalton jumped upon hearing Jaz's voice and turned around to see her phone held up in front of her.

"Jesus Jaz, you're like a ninja, you know that?"

"I refuse to continue to answer that, but by all means, smile for the camera, it's recording."

He stuck his middle finger up at the camera instead and she laughed loudly and happily in response. She had his whole conversation with Cass recorded and she couldn't wait to send it to the team.

Begrudgingly laughing with her, he knew that that was the retaliation, and he'd fallen for it. He should have known better. He watched her as she put her phone away and joined him in front of Cass' bowl while she had her own conversation with the gold fish.

He began to put the groceries away as she did so and he couldn't help but just smile again at the amount of happiness that one small gold fish gave her.

"You know we could have gone to your sister's for dinner if you wanted to."

Dalton turned away from the fridge to see her having joined him in the kitchen.

"Nah, it's all good. Trust me, when you meet all the kids you'll understand why."

"But they're your family, and they want to see you."

"And they will," he took a step closer to her before hooking his fingers into her belt loops and pulling her even closer, "But I want you all to myself for just a bit longer. Trust me, once we've spent time with them, Katie will be wanting to catch up all the time."

"You make that sound like a bad thing."

Chuckling and leaning down to bury his face in her neck, his beard tickled her as he whispered, "Just wait and see."

"But—maybe you guys… uh…"

Instantly distracted by the sensations on her neck, she lost her train of thought and instead it turned just to him. Closing her eyes in desire, she lifted his head with her hands to look into his eyes, "We need a shower."

In complete agreement with her, he led her to the bathroom and his double shower to wash off the last couple of days, among other things.

Sitting on the couch after dinner that evening, Jaz sent a few pics to their SOG7 WhatsApp group from their camping expedition, including the view from the top of the mountain they had hiked.

Looks like you're on top of the world – Preach

Great pictures, Jaz – Amir

That's a lot of trees – McG

After that, she sent them the video of Dalton talking to Cassiopeia.

WTF, Top? You're going soft on us – McG

I will be watching this over and over again. Well done on capturing this, Jaz – Amir

Animals are agreeable friends. They ask no questions; they pass no judgement – Preach

Which is clearly what I need right now, with friends like McG and Amir – Top

You need friends like us before you fall too far into domesticity ;) – McG

I have no problem with domesticity. But the concern over a gold fish is charming – Amir

Hey! That's my goldfish. And her name is Cassiopeia – Jaz

Cassiopeia? I'm not even gonna ask – McG

Ah. The vain queen. Great choice – Preach

Dalton smiled at that. Not many people knew about his love for the stars, but Preach was one of the few who did.

Well at least you didn't kill it yet, well done Jazzy – McG

*middle finger emoji* - Jaz

While the team were partaking in their usual banter, Dalton got a message from Katie at the same time. She, Sarah and the kids were free in a couple of days and wanted to know if it was ok with him and Jaz to drive up to the cabin to spend the day together.

He leaned over to show Jaz the message and when she immediately nodded her head, he shot off a quick text back to Katie to confirm. She replied not knowing if her husband would be able to make it or not, but all five kids would be there.

Dalton knew it would be a hectic day, but he was looking forward to seeing his nieces and nephews again. And he was really looking forward to them all meeting Jaz. It had seemed surreal when she had met his sisters, and now she would meet the rest of the family and he couldn't be happier. So long as Jaz was happy with it all, that's all that mattered.

He would need to plan some activities for the day, and luckily, that was something he was good at.

Early the next morning, while they were still in bed, they were both disturbed by their phones with a barrage of incoming notifications.

Guess what peeps? – McG

Mama McG is going away on a girl's weekend in 2 weeks – McG

Perfect for you guys to come and visit – McG

Shitloads of space for y'all – McG

You guys keen? – McG

Jaz and Dalton were both squinting at their phones, reading McG's multiple messages.

You couldn't have just sent that in one message instead of disturbing us with a million notifications? – Jaz

I don't even wanna know what I was disturbing – McG

What are you even doing up this early? – Amir

He probably hasn't been to bed yet – Top

Ding, ding, ding Top – McG

Well I'll have you all know that I've already been and finished my rehab session for the day, while all your lazy asses are in bed – Preach

So what do you guys think? – McG

Sounds good, let me check with the Mrs though – Preach

Should be fine with me, but I was hoping to meet your Mom – Amir

Too bad. Straight in the kitchen for you Amir – McG

Typical – Amir

Should be fine with us – Top.

Us? You two cuties ;) – McG

Jaz and Dalton rolled their eyes at each other at that.

Ok, let me know if you look into flights – McG

We'll get back to you soon – Top

I'll let you know ASAP – Preach

I'll definitely be there – Amir

*thumbs up emoji* - McG

"Have you ever been out to his place before?" Jaz asked Dalton, knowing that McG had been on the team longer than herself.

"No actually. We've mentioned it a few times, but it never ended up happening. It'll be great to see where he's from – might explain a lot."

They both chuckled in agreement. McG was a much loved member of their team. They all liked to give him crap and tease him for still living with his Mom and for his love of food, tequila and a pretty face, but they also couldn't imagine the team without him. And when he was in medic mode, there was no one else they would want treating them.

Jaz yawned as she asked Dalton what he wanted to do today.

Smiling at her he said, "It looks like you need some more sleep, how about a lazy day today?"

"A lazy day actually sounds amazing."

Pulling her close so she was tucked up against his chest, he stroked her hair softly and she felt her eyelids start to feel heavy once again and she drifted off to sleep. Gazing down at her, still holding her tight, he pressed his lips to her forehead, still so thankful that moments like this were real. He fell back asleep soon after and for the first time since either of them could remember, they slept until nearly midday, clearly needing the rest.

The rest of that day they hung around the cabin, watched TV, read a little and cooked dinner together. They also took some time to write in the journals that Jaz had bought the two of them. Both had been jotting down a few things every now and then. Xander had told them to jot down things, both good and bad, as a method to help avoid anything from playing on their subconscious too much. It was similar to Xander encouraging communication for the very same reason.

Jaz had a lot of new experiences to write about. This whole cabin experience obviously took up a lot of space in the journal; their camping expedition too. Being a pet owner now was also brand new, and of course her relationship with Dalton was the absolute highlight. But she found it difficult to put that into words a lot of the time. But she did as best she could. She was fiercely determined to continue with the progress she had made during her sessions with Xander, and if writing about her feelings was going to help, that's what she would do.

Dalton wrote about his relationship with Jaz, for the very same reason that she did. He was equally as determined as she was and could only hope the benefits continued. He also wrote briefly about seeing his sisters and the upcoming day with the whole family. He had a feeling he would have a lot more to write about after that.

They spent that night apart, as they had been practising. Being this happy was making it a little easier to get through the night nightmare free. Sleeping in Adam's t-shirt definitely helped and even though Adam woke in the middle of the night, it was just to go to the bathroom. Once he poked his head in Jaz's room and saw her resting peacefully, he returned to his bed and did the same.

The next day Dalton wanted to go back into town to get some supplies for the day with his family. He needed barbeque supplies, kid friendly drinks and stuff for the kids to play with.

They headed straight for the water pistols and nerf guns upon entering Target. Dalton just loaded up the cart and left Jaz laughing, "You're just trying to turn them into mini versions of you."

"Well I don't see them that often, I have to leave an impression." He shrugged.

"Are they all outdoorsy?"

"I'm not sure to be honest. Maybe I should get a couple of other things just in case, what do you think?"

Jaz smiled inwardly at being asked what her opinion was. She didn't know if she would be much help, she didn't really know what kids liked, and not growing up with many possessions herself, she couldn't even help in that respect. But being asked was just a sweet gesture in itself. Like she was a part of something. Like she belonged to something.

They decided to get a couple of other things; a pack of Uno cards, a pack of traditional cards, colouring books and coloured pencils, and a few other pieces of sporting equipment.

When they got back to the cabin and unloaded their Target haul and their grocery haul, they just laughed at all the paraphernalia filling the cabin.

"So kids take a lot of… stuff, huh?"

Dalton just laughed with Jaz, "I have no idea. I just swoop in, be Uncle Adam for a couple of weeks, and then I'm gone. I've never been around long term to know the ins and outs of parenthood."

He stood looking around at everything they had bought, "So I'm thinking, they arrive at about midday; we can start with the water pistols, before a swim in the lake while it's warm. Then we can load up the nerf guns and take them into the woods for a bit to wear them out. Then we'll do some fishing on the jetty, have dinner at 6 and then wind up with some card games or colouring. What do you think?"

Jaz tried to bite back the laughter in her voice, but didn't quite succeed, "I think that sounds like a very action packed and well planned day, Captain Dalton."

He laughed, "Too much?"

"I have no experience with this either, but let's just wait until they arrive and see what they feel like doing. We'll… improvise. We're good at that."

Dalton smiled at her wryly, remembering their conversation about improvising in Tehran. And she had been right at the time; they improvise all the time.

He stood in front of her and kissed her softly on the lips "You're right, we'll improvise. And if anything goes wrong, we'll send them home with their parents."

Jaz laughed out loud at that and kissed him back, "That's the beauty of other people's kids."

That evening they sat out on the back veranda, after getting themselves as prepared as they could for tomorrow. The fridge contained the usual beer and wine, but there was now also juice and soda for the kids. The salad was chopped and ready to go. The ingredients for s'mores were restocked and the amount of snacks in the pantry, both healthy and unhealthy, was at an all-time high. So they sat, and stared skyward, as had become their routine.

Patton sat with his head resting on Dalton's foot and the three of them just enjoyed the peace and quiet underneath the galaxy of stars that were providing tonight's entertainment.

Jaz would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous about tomorrow. Meeting Adam's sisters had been one thing, and she was glad she had done so already before the entire family arrived tomorrow, but she hadn't been around many small children—at all. Occasionally a mission had involved some children, and those ones always struck her the most, but in her everyday life, they were like aliens to her and she wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Dalton was feeling much the same. Some of his nieces and nephews were still quite young and it had still been nearly 8 months since he had seen them last; he was far from a permanent fixture in their lives. Would they even remember him? Regardless, he was glad his sisters would be there too. It would give him a chance to spend a bit more time with them also.

He looked over at Jaz and smiled at her when she returned his gaze.

"Let's get to bed early, I have a feeling we're going to be flat out tomorrow."

"Going to bed early sounds good to me." She agreed, with a twinkle in her eye.

That twinkle had Dalton standing up so quickly, that Patton jumped up with him, wondering what all the excitement was about. All three of them migrated inside and with Patton on his bed in the lounge room, and a quick goodbye to Cass in the kitchen, Dalton and Jaz closed the bedroom door behind them.

Their early night, probably wouldn't end up being as early as first anticipated.

Well like I said at the beginning, this is just a bit of a filler. The next couple of chapters will be spent with Dalton's sisters and their kids and everything that comes with that.

Thank you to those of you who are still sticking with me, and once again, sorry this took a while to get up. I promise the next one won't take as long!

Much love to you all for reading and commenting - you're all the BEST! XXX