Chapter 8 – Regaining My Footing

Sonja and I had decided that we would have a bi-coastal relationship. Unfortunately I would bear the weight of the separation but at least we were on the same side of the country. I quickly learned every scheduled air plane flight from home to D.C.

Sonja was on her first overseas assignment since the wedding when I received a phone call from Isler. Hearing his voice put me into a panic. I just knew he was calling to tell me that something had happened to my wife.

"I'm so sorry Agent LaSalle. I have thought this through better."

"I'm calling to see if you might be interested in a position with the FBI.. The Community Relations Unit works with citizens and citizen groups across the nation. They target young people with programs like Teen/Youth Academies, Adopt a School, Junior Special Agents and Future Agencies in Training."

"Well Isler I hadn't even thought of that. Since I can't get a gun permit with the feds, I had tried to put that part of my life behind me."

"I understand that you have done a lot of volunteering with children so it would seem that communicating with them would be a strength that you could bring to the FBI."

"Why don't you think about flying out and we can review data and you can talk with the team."

I found out later on that King had recommended me to Isler. King and I first met when we were investigation separate cases that merged with a car in the case. Several years later details that I had discovered came up in that old NOPD case in a new NCIS case. As I searched the old evidence, the finally resolution of the case fell out right to our feet. We barely stop the murders of the victim's wife and daughter.

Once I knew the details, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only did I get to live in the same city with my wife, it allowed us to practice baby making more often.

While I loved working with the FBI, being a father was the job I cherished the most. Seven years after we were married Sonja became pregnant with our son Christopher. He was ruddy like Cane and had Sonja's father's eyes. I knew early on that we were going to have the beat the girls off. Somehow he had every bit of charm that my old man had. It was so interesting watching him hypnotize every grown woman he encountered. His sister soon learned to let CJ doing the talking as they walked away with a handful of candy, cookies and in some cases an entire pie or cake.

Natalie on the other hand was a 'master of facts'. I swear that girl knew everything. She read three newspapers a day. Sonja would fuss about her being on the computer so much. One day I called Natalie in and quizzed her on current affairs in front of Sonja. Sonja was just stunned that she could tell her all about what was going on in European governments at that moment. Natalie had inherited her mother's quickness. She played guard on her high school basketball team and was selected all conference and all academic her junior and senior years.

CJ would go running with his little sister as a safety issue and ended up going out for Cross Country. No one was more surprised to see my brainiac son win the state 1500 meters championship in track his senior year. He just shrugged it off and asked if I could drop him off in the morning at the library.

All I can say is thank goodness for momma and her advice. Momma shared the writings of a man named Josh Mc Dowell who had conducted extensive research about raising teens. While others would like to question his premise of the importance of having the father in the home with his children, his data was pretty spot on.

Momma also impressed me to keep our home open to our kid's friends. I screened what they were watching on TV and limited the time they could spend on the gaming systems. We invested in game boards and knew we were successful as we had to often break up full blown arguments over games, particularly Spades and Bid Whiz. Darts was another special feature although I'm not sure whose warped mind dreamed up some of the things that the boys did with the gaming pieces. Sadly I was often banned from the pool table. The kids complained that it wasn't fair for me to play with them since I had so much experience.

Most of the kids did not have grandmothers nearby and responded to momma in that role too. While they wanted to act like she bored them, I could see the look of wonder on their face when she told them about her experiences from the 60's and 70's. They loved the home made treats. I noticed even the boys navigated toward her when she was in the kitchen baking something new for them to consume.

Each fall we hosted a back to school night which was actually an afternoon and evening. We invited all of the kid's friends and parents over for the day. I encourage our children to invite the 'lone wolf kid' as well. It allowed me to meet their parents, informed the parents and the young people of the house rules and made sure that they knew that they were welcome. Sonja talked with them about the activities that she did too. I made sure that both the Sheriff and the Police Chief were there in plain clothes. They managed to meet all the girls individually and then visited with all the kids about drug use, bullying, abuse and how to handle reporting it.