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FAMILY REUNION

Chapter Two

"Hey, mom?" Leon Ochoa called from the dining room, stretching over his homework to get his mother's attention.

Amy snapped out of her reverie, setting aside her moment of gazing at the moon to set down the dish she was drying and step into the adjacent dining room. "Yes, Leon honey?"

Leon settled back in his seat and thumped his sheet of paper with the eraser end of his pencil. "Can you help me with this math problem? Mrs. Ramirez didn't have time to go over this part today in class. I can't figure it out."

"Sure," Amy beamed and took a seat next to her son. Although she was no math whizz either, she managed to help Leon understand the problem. And what she couldn't show him, he figured out on his own. All he needed was that little nudge to help him.

Leon continued to do his homework after Amy had helped him. Meanwhile, Amy remained seated next to him, her chin cradled by her fist as she smiled subtly over her son.

"What?" Leon asked, awkwardly eyeing her from the side.

"I'm just so proud of you," she explained. "Ever since you said no to the gangs last year and joined the Police Scouts, you've become a completely different person. And I'm so proud of you." Amy reached to plant a kiss on Leon's forehead.

Leon's thoughts raced as he remembered back. "I messed up bad, didn't I?"

Amy nodded. "Oh, but I still loved you."

"Even when I treated you and Detective Sandoval so rudely?"

"Even then." Amy's mouth turned up a bright smile as she wrapped her arms around her son.

But apparently Leon was beginning to feel he was too old for such gestures as he wriggled just barely beneath her grasp.

"Oh, so you're getting too old for a hug from your madre though?" Amy laughed.

Suddenly, Leon realized it wasn't so bad and dropped his pencil to give her a hug in return. "Never." He paused to look her in the eyes. "Just…not in public. Ok, mom?"

Amy chuckled and touched him on the nose. "Okay. Not in public."

Glass suddenly shattered into a million pieces in front of them, immediately interrupting the moment as flames erupted and began to engulf the room. Meanwhile, Amy had sheltered Leon to the ground in the wake of the piercing sound, not realizing the flames inched closer to them both.

"Mom!" Leon shouted, pointing to the carpet next to Amy's foot. It was on flame and burning across the room quickly.

"Hurry! Get to the water! Now!"

Amy and Leon rushed into the kitchen grabbing towels and bowls and cups—anything that could be soaked or filled with water to help contain the blaze. Amy stayed over the flames, smothering them with a wet towel as quickly as she could manage. Yet the smoke caused her to cough constantly, almost rendering her unable to fight the fire. Meanwhile, Leon continued to run from the kitchen to the dining room, filling containers with water and dousing the fire just as quickly as his feet could carry him.

"Call 911!" Amy managed through the coughing fits that seized her.

"But…"

"Do it now!"

Without another word, Leon did as he was told while the fire showed no signs of letting up at any point.

Nearly half an hour later, Amy and Leon were huddled together outside the paramedic unit, watching as half of their home remained among the other burned rooms. Flashing red and blue lights swarmed the narrow street, the cool evening hair serving as somewhat of a respite to the mother and son who had nearly become victims. Still, they were victims. All Amy could think about was the fact that now they wouldn't be able to live in their own home for months. And she could hardly afford repairs. Leon doesn't deserve this, she thought to herself. He's been working so hard to make something of himself. I can't let that go to waste!

"Amy!"

The sharp male voice jerked Amy from her despair. She quickly stood off of the paramedic's truck edge to discard her wrap, circling the truck to see who was calling her name.

"Sal!" Amy threw her arms around her older brother, tears falling freely now that she was able to shed them.

"Shhh!" Sal consoled her, holding her tightly. "I heard what happened over the radio and came as quick as I could." He pulled away to look at her. "Are you both okay?"

Nodding through her tears, Amy replied, "The kitchen and dining room is completely ruined. But they managed to save the rest of the house."

"Leon?" Sal moved over to his nephew. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay, Uncle Sal."

"Thank God."

Leon gladly accepted a hug from Sal, the latter giving him a solid pat on the back as they separated.

Leon turned back to Amy. "You'll stay at my place tonight until you can sort things out."

"Sal," Amy interrupted, touching him on the arm and searching for his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Someone tried to kill us."

"What do you mean?! I thought it was a grease fire."

Amy shook her head. "No. Someone threw some sort of contraption through our window. It exploded through the window and caught fire. Someone did it on purpose." She wiped at her tears. She knew Sal would be furious. He had fought the bad guys on the streets for years and would not be happy that they tried to hurt his own family.

Sal clasped his lips shut. He seemed to be thinking…gathering the words to say. "I'll go talk to Ranger Walker first thing in the morning after I see the firemen's report. Hopefully we can sort all this out. Someone will pay."

Amy knew it. She could see the anger in his eyes. It wasn't evil but passionate. Still, she hoped Sal would take it easy and not do something he'd regret.

The shimmering lights of the runway was the first thing Katheryn saw as Carlos nudged her awake from the side, her eyes flickering open as a smile spread across her over-relaxed face. By what she could vaguely make out through her stupor, the pilot had just announced their arrival into Mexico City. Thankfully, she was awake enough by the time the plane had taxied to a complete stop at the terminal. As best as she could, Kath stretched and yawned, eager to join Carlos who had already begun retrieving their luggage from the overhead compartments along with the other passengers.

Waiting for them at the airport entrance some distance from the terminal was Theresa along with Jesse and Carlos' nephew Hector who had all arrived a few days prior. Eagerly they peered across the half-empty airport hoping to catch a glimpse of Carlos and Katheryn.

"Uncle Carlos!" Jesse suddenly hollered out loud, startling Theresa beside him.

As Theresa turned, Jesse was running to meet the couple, giving each of them a tight hug before shoeing them the way to the other family members who were nearly forgotten.

"It's so good to see you, Theresa!" Katheryn exclaimed, taking advantage of a quick hug from the beautiful woman before Carlos had his sister all to himself.

"Kath," Carlos turned to get her attention, tapping her on the arm. "I'd like you to meet my nephew Hector. Hector, this is the love of my life Katheryn Beaumont."

Kath refused Hector's offer of a handshake and quickly wrapped him in a hug. "It's so good to finally meet you, Hector. I've heard so much about you. Where's Carman and that sweet baby of yours?"

Hector gave a half-smile. "They are at the hotel with abuela Catalina. But they are so eager to meet the girl that's managed to rope in their uncle." He winked over at Carlos.

"Haha. Very funny," Carlos jabbed. "Alright! Let's get a move on people! We're burning daylight."

Katheryn laughed out loud, not hiding the snort that accompanied it. "You do realize it's almost 9 P.M. don't you?"

Carlos distracted her with a quick peck on the cheek as they began following the others out of the airport. "Minor details. Nothing to worry about. I'm just glad you're here no matter what time of day it is."

Her mouth curved into a smile as she paced to the calendar on Ranger Trivette's desk in Ranger Headquarters. Suddenly she remembered this month would mark two years since she became a Texas Ranger. Ambling back to her own desk, the hubbub of the massive office space was just as lulling as it was invigorating. Truth be told, she had no idea how she ever got any work done. At the same time, she pushed aside all the negative thoughts that tempted her to think about what her life would be like had she not applied to join the Rangers, had she not met Ranger Walker, and had she not truly found herself among the people of the organization. Even with the sacrifices she had to make sometimes in her personal life, in the end it was worth it.

Bobbie immediately set to filing away a few case files in the nearby filing cabinet, not noticing anyone had entered as she relived the cases virtually through each label she read. It was satisfying to know how much good she was doing for the city of Dallas even if she only played a small part.

"Excuse me."

Bobbie turned, startled, to address whomever had attempted to get her attention. "I'm sorry," she chuckled. "I was caught up in my work. What can I do for you?"

"That's okay. Is Ranger Walker here?"

Bobbie shook her head. "No. I'm afraid you just missed him. He and Miss Cahill went away together for a camping vacation. They'll be gone the rest of the week. I think Rangers Gage and Cooke are still here though. I think Trivette is due back from lunch any minute. Would you like me to call them for you?"

"No. No, that's okay," he explained, turning to leave. "Just let them know Detective Ochoa came by. I'm sure they'll be in contact with me then."

"Ochoa?" Bobbie echoed. "Sal?"

"Yes, Detective Sal Ochoa." He didn't seem to understand the lady ranger's sudden fascination with his name as he nodded dumbly. But then he realized why as he gave her desk placard a quick glance over. "Bobbie," Sal smirked. "So it is you."

Roberta turned back to the filing cabinet and gave it a hard and emphatic slam shut. "I'm surprised we haven't run into each other already what with the way the Rangers work so closely with the department and all."

"Yeah. Me too," Sal cleared his throat, fumbling around with ideas in his mind. He should leave before he said something he would regret. "Well, have a good day, officer…I mean…Ranger Hunt. Please let the others know I called."

"I will," Bobbie replied. But the comment was not as fast as Sal's departure and was left dangling from Roberta's lips as if she had hardly said anything at all.

Ever since I connected the dots between the facts that Amy Ochoa and her son Leon and Detective Sal Ochoa from completely different episodes and stories all had the same last name, it sparked in me the very credible idea that they could have been related. True, they didn't HAVE to be. But why not? The most logical solution in my mind was that Sal could be Amy's older brother. So that's the direction I decided to go! Also, you'll notice that Sal and Bobbie seem to know each other. Trust me, they'll get to relive their past and get to know each other even more in the near future. I'm eager to explore this new idea of mine! I hope you all are enjoying this new tale so far.

Thanks for reading and reviewing as always! God Bless, 'Kath'