Chapter twenty-two; Engagement announcements.
I am awesome as always and we're not far from the new character I have to unveil… Hehe… I can't wait.
Jo felt her heart breaking as she saw Henry sitting at his desk in his office with his head in his hands. He was either thinking of something sad of his past or he was worried about something… or it was both. Jo slowly strode his way as she started noticing that he was crying. Henry was over emotional over things sometimes, but he never cried over a victim of murder he barely knew.
"Henry?" Jo questioned sympathetically. Henry looked up at her and then smiled sadly.
"You know the friend that I mentioned earlier today? He was 25 when he died. He was married to a young woman by the name Mary. I never met her, but she was also a soldier in the war. A sniper too to be exact. She was the one who shot him." Henry said as he stood from his desk.
"She betrayed her own husband?" Jo asked trying to get the weight of the past off of his chest.
"No. If only it was that. He was captured during the mission they were on, they were compromised and his captors were holding him hostage so the rest of the team would give themselves up. She knew that if she left him he would be tortured for months on end and if they gave themselves up they would suffer the same fate. She chose the hardest most kindest decision she could and shot her own husband and to top it all off she was pregnant. I tried my best to find her and help her through the struggle, but she vanished. There isn't even a single U.K. report of her existence." Henry said as he threw his hands dramatically into the air.
"This was the man that taught you that lullaby, wasn't he?" Jo asked as she stood in front of him now.
"Yes. He was my 'drinking buddy' as you'd call him in that horrible time." Henry said with another sad smile.
"Ok, come on. We're going to the bar across the street and even though that you have something about drinking on a Sunday you need one and I need one for this conversation." Before Henry could reply with a no Jo interrupted him. "And you have no say in this what-so-ever." Jo said as she took his hand and led him.
"But I still need to finish the report, Jo." Henry said with a sigh. Jo rolled her eyes and turned to him once again and kissed him softly.
"You can finish it tomorrow, Henry. Reece wouldn't bite your head off." Jo said as she started leading him to the elevator once again.
"You're absolutely right. She'd shoot it off." Henry said with a sigh.
Henry tightened his grip around Jo's waist gripping the fabric of the old large T-shirt she was wearing in his hands tightly. He snuggled his nose into her hair and inhaled her sweet scent. Henry smiled softly as he realised that their wedding day wasn't far now, but what accord to him was that they would need to tell their friends soon much to their dismay. Henry opened his eyes and quickly removed his arm from Jo so he could look at the time on his pocket watch. He sighed heavily as he noticed that there were only five minutes left of peaceful slumber before they needed to get to work. Henry slowly stood up knowing that there was no use in trying to go back to sleep for a measly five minutes. As he did so Jo began to stir and soon she started lecturing him.
"Come back to bed, Henry. You're not going down to that dungeon of yours." Henry chuckled softly at the memory of when she caught him in his laboratory in the middle of the night one time. Angry was an understatement in that situation.
"No I wouldn't dream of it, but we need to get to work soon and I thought that I'd make us breakfast." Henry said as he placed a soft kiss on her fore head.
"Ok. I'll be there in a minute." Jo said as she exhaled heavily. Henry quickly dressed into his daily clothes and made his way to the kitchen finding Abe in front of the stove.
"And here I thought I'd cook for us this morning." Henry said with a smile as he sighed.
"You? Cook? Oh no, I like living here and with your luck you'll burn the place down." Abe said chuckling out loud.
"Do be quiet, Abraham." Henry said with irritation.
Henry and Jo drove to the Precinct in comfortable silence. As always Henry was lost in thought once more thinking back to past events. Jo on the other hand was thinking about how they were going to break the news about their engagement to their colleagues.
"Henry, what are we going to tell our colleagues about our engagement?" When Henry didn't answer Jo snapped her fingers, bringing him back to reality.
"Oh, sorry Darling. Did you ask me something?" Henry asked. Jo sighed and looked at her fiancé with a playful smile.
"I asked what we are going to tell our colleagues about our engagement." Jo asked once again.
"Ah yes there is still that predicament. I guess that we must tell them soon?" Henry asked.
"I think so too. We can tell Hanson tonight when we go to dinner with him and his wife. You can tell Lucas today at work and then we'll have to find a way to tell Reece." Jo said sighing at the last part. That was definitely going to be embarrassing for the both of them.
"Ah yes the good Lieutenant. I think this is the proper time to say not it." Henry said as he held up his crossed fingers.
"Oh no. There is no way I am letting you leave me alone in this situation." Jo said as she gave him a deadly glare.
"I was only joking." Henry said as he held up his hands to show innocence.
"Hm-hm." Jo said as she parked in front of the precinct. They both made their way through the precinct's door and as they were about to part ways to get to work, Reece stuck her head out of the office.
"Martinez, Morgan! My office now." She said with a coy smirk on her face. Henry and Jo gave each other a curious look. Shrugging it off, they both made their way to her office. Once they entered it Reece closed the door behind them along with the curtains.
"Did we do something wrong, Lieutenant?" Henry asked confusedly.
"The only thing you two did wrong was not let me in on the secret." Reece answered as they both took a seat.
"I'm sorry Lieu. I don't think we follow you." Jo said absolutely confused as she traced her engagement ring. Jo tried to focus on what her superior was saying and then it hit her maybe she figured out their immortality. She almost started hyperventilating before Reece spoke again.
"I have noticed the slight tan forming on your ring finger again, Jo and the fact that every time you become nervous or confused your left hand dives into your left pocket. Henry isn't the only on in the precinct that has observation skills." Reece said proudly. Jo and Henry felt the relief wash over them. Jo smiled as she knew that the Lieutenant would've figured them out in such short time.
"Ah yes well, we were coming around to tell you, Lieutenant. We want to invite you as well so you wouldn't have been left in the dark much longer." Henry said with a playful smile.
"Well, of course I'll attend, but I want to know how long you've been hiding it under my nose." Reece said eyeing the dynamic duo.
"Since last week Friday." Jo blushed as she recalled his proposal. Reece smiled deviously knowing that it didn't take long for her to notice.
"So when will the wedding take place?" Reece questioned curiously.
"Well, next month the first of September. We have reservations for a trip over sea's and it was the only time that the hotel was available." Henry said giving away as little detail as possible. Jo sighed as her Detective curiosity burnt in the pit of her stomach.
"I'm guessing that you won't even tell the Detective here where you are going?" Reece asked as she saw Jo sigh.
"Of course he didn't. Henry here wants to keep it a surprise." Jo said as she crossed her arms. Henry chuckled at Jo's display of irritation.
"Well, that is all I needed to know. You two are dismissed." Reece said with a satisfied smile.
Henry smiled as he continued his autopsy on the victim that lay on the table. His mind kept wondering back to Jo. He couldn't really believe that life is giving him a second chance at love and one where he wouldn't lose her.
"What's gotten you so chipper this morning, Doc?" Lucas asked as he handed him the bone saw as he requested.
"Well, I was just thinking about Detective Martinez." Henry said as he smiled softly for what felt like the thousands time. "I asked her as you would say to 'finally' marry me." Henry said as his smile grew wider. Lucas giggled like a fan boy as he pulled Henry into a bone crushing hug.
"I knew you had it in you, Doc! Boy wait until Bruce hears about this!"
"Yes, thank you, Lucas. That's kind of you, but you are currently cutting my ability of breathing off." Henry stated.
"Oh sorry, Doc." Lucas chuckled as he rubbed the back.
"Well, I guess you could say that it was long over do." Henry smiled as he turned back to the victim in front of them. "I think we can role Mr. Even as a suicide, Lucas."
Lucas smiled knowing that Henry was trying to redirect Lucas's attention to something else. Understanding the immortal man's confusing point of view he took the bait. It looks like all Lucas would get out of Henry today was a hug.
Several hours later Henry and Jo walked hand in hand towards Mike Hanson and his wife Karen. The married couple was waiting for them in front of the new pizzeria that had just opened. Once the couple was in arms reach Karen grabbed Jo into a bone crushing hug.
"Oh, Jo! It's been ages since I last saw you. Oh my and look at the arm candy you're carrying around these days!" Karen smiled broadly as Henry too was pulled into a similar bone crushing hug. Mike shook his head sideways at his wife's actions. She was the bit of an odd-ball, but that was one of the reasons why he married her.
"It's also wonderful to meet you." Henry smiled charmingly at Karen before he took her hand and kissed it. He hadn't done this gesture in a while, but he wanted to do it more for himself than anyone else.
"Hey now, Doc. You can't have Jo and my wife. That's a bit unfair don't you think?" Hanson huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Henry and Jo only chuckled at Hanson as Karen continued to rant on.
"And he is a gentleman as well! Jo you are quite the lucky woman."
"I wouldn't say that, because I am the lucky man. I can just be thankful that I found the one woman that can put up with me." Henry smiled.
"And so modest too. Honestly Jo I am drooling where I stand." This statement made Jo chuckle.
"You'd be surprised what he meant by 'put up' with him."
"Tell me about it." Hanson stated as he rolled his eyes. "Come on. We'd better start heading inside. We wouldn't want to lose our table now would we?"
The four spend the rest of the night talking and eating. Henry hadn't felt this comfortable in a group in a long time and for once he wasn't worried about his secret. Why would he need to anyhow? He had the woman of his dreams with him now and forever.
"So tell me, Jo. When is this hunk putting a ring around your finger?" Karen asked as the night wasn't far from an end. Henry and Jo gave each other the same look with the same thought in mind.
"Karen!" Hanson sighed as he shook his head. His wife had always been the curious kind, especially when it came to love lives.
"Well, actually Karen. I already did." Henry stated as he smiled at his fiancé. Karen gasped at this statement and Hanson merely raised his eyebrows in shock.
"Damn, Doc. I didn't know you had it in you. I guess you two sorted out that fight you had last week." Hanson stated with a snicker.
"Congratulations you two!" Karen smiled brightly.
"And we were wondering if you two wanted to attend next month the first?" Jo asked with a smile that danced around in her eyes.
"Of course we will, Jo!" Karen beamed with excitement. Henry smiled even brighter at the young woman. For once in his two-hundred and thirty five painful years he was truly happy.
Yes! Finally I finished this chapter! So next chap will be the wedding! Until next time my peeps.