Quietly shutting the door behind him, Face bypassed the bed and headed into the ensuite bathroom to undress before walking naked back to the bed. Sliding between the sheets, he snuggled up against Gloria's naked body before running a hand down her side and tracing her curves and lightly caressed her swollen stomach.
He suddenly smiled in the darkness when just as he was about to let her go, he felt a little ripple cascading across her belly as the baby moved within causing Gloria to shift in her sleep to a more comfortable position while he watched. To him, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever been with and he suddenly felt fiercely protective of her.
They couldn't get married soon enough as far as he was concerned. And, it was still his plan to take everyone to Aspen for the surprise event but he had to wait until Maggie cleared Murdock and Stockwell for the trip. If he was to start a relationship with his real father, what better way to show how much he wanted to by inviting him to the single most important event in his life.
The next morning at breakfast, Murdock and Stockwell surprised everyone by having breakfast in the dinning room. A sure sign to Face that at least something's were getting back to normal. Maggie wasn't to please to find them both out of bed at the same time but even she had to agree, it was good to see them up and about.
As Face recounted the meeting with the President and Joint Chiefs Of Staff from the night before, Stockwell listened intently and afterward, he added a few tidbits of information that Face found to be helpful the next time they'd meet.
"I can't believe the President of our country acted like that, Carla," Gloria said after Face told them how the man took an instant attraction to his sister.
"It was disgusting is what it was," Face said harshly. "A married man with a wife at home lusting after another woman is the most heinous thing imaginable to me and it took everything I had not to plant my fist into his drunk face!"
Maggie exchanged glances with Hannibal before turning directly to Face. "What I find hard to believe is that a man who used to be such a prolific womanizer is now defending the sanctity of marriage," she said smiling broadly. "You really have changed, Face!"
"Well, yeah," he said slightly embarrassed as Gloria came to stand beside him. "I guess, I have," he said gazing into her eyes.
"Prolific womanizer?" Gloria asked as Face cleated his throat.
"It's just a figure of speech," he said shooting a look toward Maggie. "Right, Doc?"
"If you say so," Maggie replied with a laugh as Hannibal, BA and Murdock joined in.
"It's alright, honey," Gloria said with a giggle. "I just wanted to see you squirm."
"It really wasn't like that," Face replied snuggling into her neck. "Not all at the same time anyway," he said with a laugh as the phone rang and Carla went to answer it.
"What!" Carla said loudly as Face looked over at her in concern. "When!" she said as the look on her face became more worrisome. "Yes, I understand, sir." Carla said meeting Face's eyes. "We'll get back to you if anything turns up."
"What's wrong?" Face asked as Carla shakily hung up the phone. "Carla," he said sternly as she remained silent.
"That was the President," she said slowly looking up to meet his eyes. "He was calling to warn us."
"Warn us about what?" Face asked worriedly.
"General Hayes was found dead in his house this morning, the medical examiner said, he was killed with some kind of poison," Carla stated in shock. "A few of the other generals are sick and it's been determined the bartender was a Russian spy."
"Poison?" Face said looking from Carla to Maggie. "What could it be?"
"Thallium," Stockwell interjected. "The Russian's have been using it for years because it's easily mixed with liquid and it's odorless and tasteless. And, you wouldn't know you were exposed until it was to late."
"What did you two have at the gathering last night?" Maggie asked worriedly as Hannibal joined her.
"Scotch on the rocks, which I didn't even finish," Face said meeting her eyes. "That's it!"
"And, I had a glass of sherry," Carla stated. "I did drink the whole glass but that was all I had as well."
"Everyone else had been drinking long before we got there," Face said thoughtfully. "And, the President didn't seem affected, right?"
"No," Carla replied. "So they could have selected targets."
"So maybe we weren't supposed to be poisoned," Face said looking at Maggie.
"It's a possibility but there's only one way to know for certain if you've been exposed and that's through some blood work," she said turning to Carla. "What hospital do you use?"
"George Washington University is the best place to take them," Stockwell said as Carla nodded.
"I'll call ahead," Maggie said looking at Hannibal. "Have a car waiting!"
"Should we be worried?" Gloria asked as Face shook his head no.
"I don't think so," Face said smiling encouragingly. "I don't feel sick and it doesn't appear that Carla is either so we'll go have the blood work and be back before you even have time to miss us."