Author's Note - I know, I know. It's been forever, and I'm sorry! With two online classes the last thing I wanted to do was spend more time in front of the computer typing and proofreading. Does it help that I'm going to be giving you seven chapters this time? Maybe? And they were some of my favorite chapters to write?

Chapter Fifty Four – Unexpected Surprises

Suvi whined and tried to hunker down even lower as he reached his paw under the couch again. Despite his attempt to reach further it didn't work. Frustrated, he whined again and dug at the carpet in front of the couch. Of course it didn't do him any good either.

"Is it stuck?" Olivia asked.

"Roooo-ooo."

It was one of the most pitiful sounds she'd ever heard him make, and she had to try incredibly hard to resist the urge to laugh. She pushed herself up and crawled over to the couch to rescue him. When she reached him he barely moved enough to give her room to lie flat while reached under the couch to grab his trapped toy. It was way further back than she had initially put it. Apparently his attempt at getting the squeaky bone out had only pushed it further in. She got her fingers on the bone and pulled it out into the open. The second Suvi caught a glimpse of it he pounced. Olivia was an object of complete unimportance as proven by the fact that Suvi nearly trampled her in his furor to get the bone.

"Hey! Suvi!"

Suvi paused in his dancing around and looked at her with pricked ears and a wagging tail, his bone hanging out of his mouth. He definitely didn't look even the least bit apologetic. Olivia shook her head at him but couldn't be angry.

"Well, come on. Hand it over."

He dropped it at her feet and raced into her bedroom to wait for her to hide the bone again. They'd settled into the routine of their hide and seek game a few months after beginning to work together. Suvi didn't even need direction during the game anymore and he rarely failed at finding the hidden toy. Olivia glanced around to find another place to hide the bone and finally settled on the throw pillow on the couch. She could even push it down behind the seat cushions a little bit. With everything covered and situated she called Suvi. He came bounding into the room and immediately started sniffing around. Olivia had hoped to fool him at least for a little while, but he focused right in on the couch. It took him a little more searching to decide the bone had to be somewhere on top of the couch instead of under it. After vaulting up onto the couch he got to work again. He pawed the throw pillow out of the way and stuffed his nose down into the crack between the back of the couch and the cushion. It only took him a moment to triumphantly pull his bone out.

"Come here, you," Olivia laughed.

Suvi stayed where he was with all four paws planted firmly on the couch cushions. It was almost like a taunt, and Olivia was more than happy to play along. She pulled herself up and moved toward him. When she was almost arm's length away he jumped down and dashed around to the side of the couch before stopping and looking at her. Olivia stepped forward, and again Suvi raced away. It clicked for Olivia then. He wanted her to chase him. Well, fine then. Without warning she rushed toward him, and he took off. She chased him twice around the couch and into the kitchen. He skittered across the tile floor before darting out again to make another loop around the couch. Olivia was almost dizzy by the time he bolted for her bedroom. Apparently this was going to be her workout for the day. She got to the door of her room just in time to see him dive up on her bed and race across it so he could jump down on the other side. Her bedspread was rumpled enough from his one trip through, but he wasn't done yet. He bounded over the bed three more times, basically leaving her bed looking like she hadn't even bothered to make it. Olivia was mostly out of energy, but Suvi, rather unsurprisingly, had energy to spare. He proved that when he ran full speed past Olivia and into the living room again.

"Oh come on, Suvi."

Olivia jogged after him but instead of continuing the chase she flopped down in the middle of the living room floor. Suvi slowed and stopped to watch her, wondering if she would get up again to join him. When it became obvious that she wouldn't he plodded over to her, set his bone on her chest, and laid down so he could rest his head on her stomach.

No sooner had they gotten comfortable than her phone rang. Olivia groaned in frustration. Of course she couldn't have gotten the call a few minutes earlier. Suvi wasn't any more impressed with the interruption than Olivia, and he pressed his head harder on her chest and stomach to keep her where she was. She wanted to stay there with him too but knew she had to get the phone, so she slowly pushed his head away and got up.

"Benson."

"Hey, Olivia!"

It was a voice she hadn't heard in an incredibly long time. One that she definitely hadn't expected to hear.

"Micheal. Hey. What's going on?"

"I just got an opportunity I hadn't been expecting."

Olivia's forehead wrinkled in confusion. That was a bit of a cryptic answer, and it didn't really explain why he'd suddenly called her. Aside from a few emails they hadn't spoken since the fundraiser.

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me you have tomorrow free."

His voice was so filled with excitement that Olivia couldn't help feeling her curiosity spike. Something had him nearly through the roof.

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

"Good," Micheal replied instead of answering her question. "Keep it open. I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise? Micheal, come on. What are you up to?"

"You'll see. I'll meet you at your place tomorrow. See you later."

"Micheal!"

Olivia was only met with a dial tone. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared down at it with an open mouth. That had been one of the strangest phone calls she'd ever gotten. She was stunned and just as confused as she had been when the phone call had begun. Shaking her head she headed back toward the couch and Suvi. After sitting down she let her mind drift to this "surprise" Micheal wanted to give her. His coming into the city to visit her was definitely a surprise, but he'd outright said he was coming. Since he'd told her, it couldn't be the surprise, which mean it had to be something else. But what? What could he possibly have to give her or show her that would make him as excited as he had been? She honestly couldn't think of anything. Well, whatever it was she would be excited to see him. Of course Suvi's excitement over seeing Tucker would likely put her own excitement to shame. Despite all of the other dogs they'd met in the last year, Tucker was still by far Suvi's best friend.

O . o . O . o . O

Suvi's ears pricked at the sound of the outer door buzzer the next morning and he popped to his feet. Olivia set her coffee aside and did the same. Was it Micheal already? He hadn't exactly given her a time he would show up with this "surprise." She still didn't have any brilliant ideas about what it could be either. After moving to her door she hit the intercom button.

"Yeah?"

"Hey there. Want to let me in?" Micheal called.

"Want to tell me what this surprise is first?"

"Nope."

"Then I don't think I want to let you in."

"Sure you do. Otherwise I'll stand out here and keep pressing your buzzer. I'll drive you crazy, which would be fun. In fact, don't let me in. I think I like this idea."

Olivia rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. He would totally stand out there hitting the buzzer all day. Of course Ben would have too which was one of the reasons she'd been so concerned about what would happen when they met. It sounded like Micheal hadn't grown up any more than Ben had over the last few months, though chances were they probably never would.

"Come on in," she told him as she hit the door release.

It didn't take long after that before a knock came at her door. She didn't bother checking to see who it was and simply opened the door. The scene she was met with stopped her in her tracks. Instead of finding Micheal standing in her doorway she found another man from her past, though one from even further back than Micheal. It had been over eight years, and he wasn't in uniform, but she knew him.

"Dominic."

While she stared at Dominic Pruitt with wide eyes Micheal stepped into the doorway as well. He was grinning triumphantly.

"Surprise."

Olivia's eyes shifted from Dominic to Micheal, but she was still at a loss for what to say. She was standing so dumbfounded in the middle of the door that Suvi couldn't slip past her to greet Tucker, though he was definitely trying. He finally squeezed his head between her legs and tried to push forward. It snapped Olivia out of her shock. She stepped aside, flipping one leg over Suvi's back so he would be free to say hello.

"Come on in."

She stepped aside to let Micheal and Dominic inside. It wasn't quite as easy as it should have been since Suvi and Tucker were nearly blocking the entire door with their hellos, but the guys managed. As Dominic passed by her, only inches away, he couldn't help but notice that she didn't flinch back. He shouldn't have been all that surprised considering how much time had passed, but it still brought a ghost of a smile to his face.

"How?" Olivia asked vaguely once they were all inside.

How had Micheal even met Dominic and known who he was as well? When she'd talked to him about Dominic during their training he hadn't known the other marine.

"A happy coincidence," Micheal told her. "I was filling out some more of the endless military paperwork that comes with the course when I heard his name."

"And you remembered it?"

"Sure. You didn't exactly talk about that many people during training so it wasn't hard."

Olivia eyed Dominic and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Like he said, happy coincidence. I'm on leave and was checking on one of my retired marines. He approached me and mentioned you."

"And you had to come see me."

"Couldn't turn down a fellow marine. And to be honest, I couldn't turn down the chance to see you again."

Olivia could read between the lines to hear the "and see how you're doing" that he didn't say. Not that she really minded. He, almost more than anyone else, knew how much she had struggled even months after her assault at Sealview. She wanted him to see how far she'd come.

"I see you've stopped kicking yourself," Dominic said.

A smile lit Olivia's face. She hadn't completely remembered their conversation from years ago until his statement had triggered the memory. Now it made sense to continue mirroring their last discussion.

"Yeah. It just took a little practice."

"I told you you'd get there."

"You were right."

Olivia smiled happily. After everything that Dominic had seen and been through because of her experience at Sealview she was glad to have the opportunity to show him what she was really like. Plus, in her mind she'd countered the possible assumption that she was weak. Not that Dominic had ever thought that, though he was just as happy to see her looking well. There was one problem though. Something wasn't completely right. He reached out and took both of her hands in his, looking at them closely.

"Your hands are shaking."

"What?" Olivia asked at first. "Oh. Just a little."

She pulled her hands away and clenched them loosely at her side. So much for showing him that she was alright now.

"Olivia?" Dominic asked worriedly.

"It's alright. This really isn't bad. I really hadn't noticed much."

She'd noticed the trembling that morning, but it hadn't been bad enough to get in the way. It being so minor was the reason she'd been so caught off guard by Dominic mentioning it. She'd almost forgotten her hands weren't that steady. Before Olivia could even begin explaining what had happened and why trembling hands weren't that big of a deal Micheal sidetracked her.

"Olivia, do you mind if I steal some of your food?"

"You don't change do you?" she laughed. He'd stolen food from her plate during training too. "Sure. The kitchen's right there. Snacks are in the top right cabinet, and the pantry is the door right next to that."

"Great. Thanks."

While Micheal headed off to grab food Olivia returned to her conversation with Dominic. There was a lot to get him updated on, and she wanted to know what had been going on with him as well.

"I'm guessing Micheal told you how we met."

"Where, but nothing more than that."

Again she didn't get the opportunity to explain anything to Dominic without Micheal breaking into the thread of conversation.

"You have cheeseballs?" Micheal called. "I wouldn't have pegged you as a cheeseball person."

"I'm not. It was a joke. I called Ben a cheeseball one day and the next time he came over he brought that jar with him."

"Love it," Micheal laughed.

Olivia only rolled her eyes. Ben had absolutely loved it too.

"Uh, Olivia?"

"Hm?"

She turned to see what Micheal wanted this time and found Suvi standing next to him licking the bottom of the cheeseball jar. Micheal just continued staring at Suvi as he held the jar.

"Yeah, he really likes those. Just be careful when you sit down. He'll literally jump halfway into your lap to steal some out of your hand."

Micheal glanced down at Suvi, who didn't even pause in his licking.

"I'm never going to get rid of him, am I?"

"Probably not."

"Great."

Olivia grinned at him and turned toward Dominic. Maybe this time she would get a chance to actually have a conversation with him.

"Come on. Let's leave Micheal and Suvi to their cheeseballs while we talk."

"Yes, ma'am," Dominic replied.