"Morning you were late last night" Sophie smiled as she placed a cup of coffee on the table for Eddie as he entered the kitchen dress for work.
Walking up to his wife and slipping his arms around her waist he pulled her close so she moulded into him and kissed the back of her neck.
He felt her shiver at his touch "Thank you...yeah sorry sweetheart debrief when on way longer then we thought it would"
Eddie whispered in her ear convincing himself that as much as he hated keeping secrets from her now it was easier for him if she didn't know the full story just yet, there had only been a couple of incidents and there was no guarantee there would be anymore so why worry her at the moment and if there were the team now had a game plan in place.
"And anyway when I did come up our daughter was taking up all of my side of the bed and I didn't want to wake you guys so I slept in the spare room...and..."
Before he could continue Sophie noticed the fresh dressing and grabbed his arm making him take a sharp intake of breathe hissing with pain.
"Eddie what happened?" Sophie's concern made her voice raise a good few octaves.
"It's nothing just a stupid accident had a little altercation with a window and came in second" Ed said with a smile reluctantly letting go of Sophie "And don't worry Wordy made me have EMT look at it and it's all good just sore"
"Are you sure?"
Taking his coffee and sitting at the breakfast table he nodded "Stop worrying its just a scratch...now come sit over here" Eddie playfully patted his knee, "And tell me what you've got planned for today"?
Going and sitting on Eddie's lap Sophie got the feeling that he was holding something back but saw the signs that told her now wasn't the time to push the matter she now knew that unlike in the past when he was ready he would tell her everything all she had to do was wait.
"Well after I drop Clark off at school I need to go and get a new driving license I still can't find my old one any where, I get the feeling that Izzy may have had a hand it that I caught her the other day copying the mailman as she was just about to post the remote for the TV in the garbage bin"
Eddie laughed at Sophie's description of his daughter's actions "We'll have to make sure we start putting stuff out of her reach if she wants being a mail carry as her career choice"
"Seriously Eddie have you seen the grit and determination on that child already" Sophie got off of Ed's lap and grabbed the coffee pot to replenish their mugs "The same temper you're two peas in a pod, the only career that little one's gonna take is in her daddy's footsteps"
"God help us a female version of me loose on the city with a gun" Ed replied the huge smile of pride on his face slowly fading "But if I'm honest there was a time when I would have loved for one of my children to do the job I love but now..."
Frowning at her husband's replied Sophie stayed quiet giving him time to continue.
"Now I'm not so sure" Ed gave a small laugh "You know I actually breathed a sigh of relief when Clark told me he wanted to pursue a career in music."
Sophie continued to listen in silence with the same feeling of inconsolable saddness creeping into her heart for the burden he had carried for all these years.
Eddie was now so deep in his own thoughts he spoke as if he was the only person in the room "Knowing he wouldn't ever get to see the things I've seen or have to deal with the things I've dealt with knowing that he would never have to come home to his family and not be able to tell them about his day"
All of a sudden hearing Sophie's voice the spell was broken "Eddie sweetheart what's brought this on...why were you really late last night?"
Rubbing his hand over his face Eddie realised he had told Sophie more then he had wanted to without even knowing it and now he needed to quickly re-group.
"It's nothing just a bit of a rough day yesterday some young punk gave us the right royal run around I let him get under my skin out of pure frustration" Not talking his eyes off the floor Ed continued "And I just need to talk I'm sorry"
Crouching down in front of him and placing her hand under his chin so he had to raise his head she spoke looking directly into his eyes.
"The only time you have to be sorry to me now is when you stop talking to me about how you feel...ok?"
Looking at the woman who never ceased to amazing him Eddie kissed her "Have I ever told you just how much I love you?"
Seeing the dark shadows on Eddie's face start to fade Sophie smiled "Yes but it never gets old"
"Oh god get a room already there are children present" Clark's voice rung out as he walked in from the hallway carrying Izzy.
Raising to their feet laughing Sophie reached for Izzy while Eddie pulled Clark to him for a good morning hug.
"Funny real funny Clark and on that note I need to get to work" Eddie leaned forward and kissed Izzy and Sophie goodbye.
"Feeling a little better?" Sophie whispered
"Much thank you" Heading towards the front door Eddie stopped and turned back "Hey I'm owed some hours off I'll get off shift early tonight what say we all go out have some fun"
Seeing Clark's face light up Sophie knew that even though is was a school night she wasn't going to say no "Sounds good I'll call you later and we can make plans"
"Look forward to it! Ed shouted as he closed the door behind him.
5 HOURS LATER
As they wove their way through the downtown traffic lights flashing sirens screaming Greg looked over seeing Eddie's stonewall expression as he listened to the information Winnie was giving them over the head sets.
"Report of a car bomb Sgt...a red Hyundai parked at the bottom of Younge St by the the waterfront the area has been has been cordon off I can't get any information as to whether to car is occupied or not...but I'm working on it, there are two uni's waiting for you they were first on the scene"
"OK Winnie we're just pulling up now I speak to them directly...so much for a quiet day...you ok?"
Not taking his eyes off the road Ed relaxed his grip on the steering wheel as he pulled the SUV to a stop just outside the exclusion zone "Yeah I'm good boss just want to get this done."
Getting out the SUV's the team gathered around and waiting for the young uniformed officer to walk over to them.
"What have we got?" Greg asked already surveying the scene.
"We secured the area sir an got the immediate public out of the way, but didn't approach as we did notice some sort of device by the back wheel"
Making notes as the officer spoke Greg continued without looking up "So do we know if there are any occupants"?
"No sir sorry" the office answered nervously
Noticing the officer's apprehension Greg smiled "Thank you, you did all the right things we'll take over from here...Spike"?
Walking back to the command truck Spike indicated that he was already on it "I'll find out who the vehicle is registered to"
All ready with his field binoculars in hand Ed walked to the hood of the SUV so he could get a clear look at the license plate and froze.
"NO...NO...NO...NO!" he screamed making everyone turn and look only to see him take off running at full speed towards the car only to be blown back the distance he had made by the large explosion pieces of metal raining down on him.
Gathering their senses around them the team run over where Eddie was struggling to get up off the ground, helping him up Sam and Wordy were shocked as Eddie got physical and fought them off and once again started to move toward the burning car.
Grabbing the back of his tac-vest Wordy and Sam struggled to turn Eddie around and hold him back as he continued to try and free himself from their iron like grip.
"Ed...Eddie"! Wordy shouted seeing the tears streaming down his best friend's face "What's wrong...stop what the hell is wrong with you!?"
All of a sudden just like a marionette with it's strings cut Eddie fell to his knees taking both his team mates with him.
Sobbing and rocking himself backwards and forward Ed's team were left reeling as they finally made sense of what he was saying.
"The car... it's Sophie's."