"Alright Alex, are you ready to go costume shopping?" Ellie asked from the little girl's bedroom door.
The girl had been sullen over the few days since her daddy had to go on deployment. The only thing that excited her was her shopping trip to get costumes for herself, her daddy, and Miss Ellie.
"Yeah!" She cheered, dropping the toys she'd been playing with and hopping up.
"Are you forgetting something?" Ellie asked.
Alexandra looked over her shoulders and sighed, "Yes ma'am," She quickly picked up her toys, putting them back where they belonged before following Ellie out of her room.
Ellie led her to the living room closet where their jackets and Ellie's purse were stored. Ever since John left for his deployment, Ellie had been staying at his house at Alexandra's request. The day before, Helen had jokingly referred to herself as superfluous and returned to her condo. Ellie, of course, had the older woman's phone number just in case she needed help, but so far didn't need to use it. Since Ellie was not a dependent or service member, shopping at the Exchange was not an option, so once she and Alexandra were loaded up in the car, they headed toward the nearest gate to exit the base.
After clearing the checkpoint, Ellie drove them to a nearby shopping center which held a variety of apparel and second-hand stores. Since she knew the adult costumes would likely be a little harder to find, they started with that. By stroke of luck, one of the stores carried adult-sized hooded pajamas, and one design was of fox. After shuffling through the rack, Ellie pulled a large onesie from the back of the rack and double checked the tag against the label on the hanger – it was John's size. She couldn't help the snicker that escaped her throat as she dropped the oversized garment into the shopping basket and high-fived Alexandra over the find.
Next on the list was to find something that would work to turn Ellie into the monkey from Alexandra's favorite cartoon, but after five stores, no dice.
"Okay Alex, there's one more way we can try to make this work." Ellie sighed as they got back into the car, "I can make my costume, but we have to go to the fabric store and find the fabric and a pattern."
Alexandra looked at her curiously, "You can do that?"
"Yeah, I used to make my brother's costumes all the time when we were younger," Ellie assured her, "We just have to stop at my apartment to pick up my sewing machine and materials."
"Okay," Alexandra shrugged and sat back in her seat.
Ellie drove a few mile away to one of her favorite craft and fabric store. Their first stop was to look through the catalogues of patterns to see if the store carried patterns that could work. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find an adult pattern, but Ellie had found a monkey pattern intended for kids. All she'd have to do is use purple and yellow fabric instead of the brown fuzzy fabric the pattern called for. Now, all she had to do was convince Alexandra of her plan.
"Alex, Sweetie, come here for a sec," Ellie called her over and sat the girl on her lap, "So, they don't have any patterns for grown-up sized monkey costumes, however they have one that is a perfect size for little girls." She explained, pointing at the images of the costume in the catalogue, "Would you be okay dressing up as Boots and we can try to find something I can wear to look like Dora?"
Alexandra thought about it for a minute, then smiled, "Okay, but we have to find me some red boots."
"I think I saw some red rain boots at one of the stores we went to before, we can go back and get them once we get our pattern and fabric." Ellie advised, with Alex's 'help' Ellie located the correct pattern. Soon they were going through the aisles of multicolored fabric looking for just the right shades of fabric. Once the bolts of fabric they needed were located, Ellie selected a zipper and a few other items she might need to make the costume. They caried everything to the service counter and, consulting the pattern for the correct measurements, Ellie informed the woman working the desk of how much of everything she needed, including a small piece of blue fabric that would eventually be turned into John's mask for his Swiper costume.
Once everything was paid for and bagged up, they put the materials in the trunk and headed back to the first shopping complex they'd visited. They were quickly able to locate the red rain boots in Alexandra's size and even found a t-shirt and shorts in a similar color and size of the cartoon explorer. A stop at the second-had store yielded them a pair of white tennis shoes for Ellie to wear with her costume. After a brief stop at Ellie's apartment to retrieve her sewing machine and other sewing accessories, they headed back to base. They stopped to get dinner at one of the fast-food restaurants on the way to the neighborhood that John and Alexandra lived in before driving the last couple miles to the house.
Ellie tossed her costume and John's in the washing machine for a light wash then began setting up in the kitchen. She looked over the pattern and, calling Alexandra over, took the girl's measurements, noting them down on a post-it note that was in the junk drawer.
It had gotten late, so after a bath, story time, and prayers, Ellie tucked Alexandra into her bed and crept out of the room to allow the girl to fall asleep. As the girl slept, Ellie got to work laying out, pinning, and cutting out the pattern for the girl's costume. Tomorrow, she would start sewing everything together, since she didn't want to risk waking Alexandra up with the sound of the sewing machine. She locked up the house and turned off the lights before heading into John's room to get some sleep. She read up on some techniques that had been written up in a recent medical journal before turning out the bedside lamp, snuggling up with John's pillow – which still smelt of the alluring scent of his after shave, cologne, and his natural scent – and fell asleep.
The next morning was Sunday, and Ellie woke the girl up to take her to church school as per John's request. Since she didn't want to be late picking the girl up, she decided to go to the service and was quickly spotted by Polly McGillis.
"Ellie, I'm surprised to see you here," The older woman greeted her just outside the church's sanctuary. Ellie must have made a face because the woman back tracked, "Not that I find it surprising you're attending a church service, since I know you've accompanied Captain Casey more than a few times since you started seeing each other. I just meant since John is currently deployed, and you don't live on base."
"Alexandra asked me to stay with her and Helen while John is away," Ellie explained, "Helen decided to go back to her place since I was fine on my own with Alex, so I've been staying at John's with Alexandra so I can take her to school and daycare, it's also closer to my office and the clinic than my apartment is."
The women chuckled at the joke before Ellie continued, "I know how important John's faith is to him and that he wishes to instill the same faith in his daughter, so I made sure to drop her off at church school this morning." She explained, "Since I didn't want to risk being late picking her up, and I like the services here, I figured I'd join you this morning."
"In that case, you must sit with me and J.D." Polly insisted, wrapping her arm around Ellie's and guiding the younger woman into the sanctuary to the row she and her husband usually sat in. "J.D, look who I found milling around outside."
"Doctor Bartowski, it's nice to see you again," The general gave her a kind smile as he rose and shook her hand, "How are you and Alex holding up?"
"We're managing," Ellie sighed, following the older couple into the row and taking her seat, "We've had a couple hard days, but yesterday was a nice distraction. We went shopping for our costumes for Halloween. I'm having to make Alexandra's costume, but that's also a bit of a nice distraction while we wait for him to come home. Speaking of, have there been any updates on when he might be coming back?"
"From the reports I've been seeing, things are going as well as can be expected," General McGillis informed her, "If things keep progressing the way they have been, he'll hopefully be back next week some time. More than enough time for him to help you ladies carve your pumpkins and make your rounds begging for candy."
"Make sure to stop by our house, too," Polly added in, "We give out full-sized candy bars and would love to see how little Alexandra's costume turns out."
"I'll make sure we do that," Ellie smiled at them as the worship team took their places on the dais and began to play the opening chords of their first song. Ellie joined the congregation in standing and singing along.
As it had gone every time she'd joined John for Sunday service, the music was a good mix of contemporary and traditional music, and the sermon was thought provoking. When the pastor dismissed them with a final blessing, Ellie thanked General and Missus McGillis for allowing her to sit with them and headed toward the church school classrooms.
While Ellie had found the service calming and comforting, it seemed Alexandra was having a rough day. When Ellie arrived in the classroom, she found Alexandra sobbing in a beanbag that was set off in the corner of the room, "What is going on here, why is Alexandra over there by herself, clearly upset?"
One of the younger teachers, Ellie was pretty sure her name was Bridgette or Briana or something along those lines, tried to explain that Alexandra was upset because she was missing her father. "It happens from time to time when parents deploy," She'd explained with a casual shrug that only served to anger Ellie more, "We generally let them have their space to feel what they need to feel. We try to get them to participate in activities, but don't force them."
"But Alexandra is clearly distraught," Ellie pointed out as she walked over to the little girl, lifting Alexandra into her arms when the girl finally registered her presence and immediately sought comfort from the young doctor. Ellie rounded on the teacher, "Someone should have come and gotten me, called me, something. I know John made sure you have my number for when he is unreachable."
"Well, we didn't think it was really necessa…" The teacher tried to defend their decisions.
"Do you have any idea what this little girl has been through in the past several months," Ellie demanded, rocking from foot to foot, patting Alexandra's back, trying to calm her down as she tore into the church school teacher, "She lost her mother, the only parent she'd known up to that point. Luckily, she'd been at her nanna's house rather than in the car when the accident happened, or else we'd likely never have met this wonderful little girl. She was introduced to her father, who had only just learned of her existence, and soon after was moved clear across the country, far away from her aunt and anyone else she might know with her father, who she'd only met a week prior. Her own grandmother wasn't able to join them right away. Thankfully John is a good man and loves his daughter with everything he has, he loves for his country falls second to the love he feels for his daughter. They have a close bond as most girls do with their fathers, and now he's been sent away for God only knows how long!" Ellie huffed, "That's just the highlight real, it doesn't even begin to touch on the vast amount of trauma all these changes have put upon her. Honestly, I'm surprised her pediatrician hasn't recommended she see a therapist by this point."
"Aren't you her…" The teacher started.
"NO! That would be highly unethical for me to be her doctor and be dating her father," Ellie protested, "I may work at the same clinic, but she is not my patient. That is beside the point, anyhow. Here is what is going to happen going forward, until Captain Casey returns from his deployment, if Alexandra is showing any signs of distress, I don't care if it's a single tear, depressive mood, or a full-on panic attack, someone is to call me, if not come and physically remove me from the service, am I understood?"
The teacher looked at her wide-eyed, terrified of what the doctor might do if her instructions weren't carried out to the letter, her nervousness had stolen her voice, so she simply nodded her understanding.
"Good," Ellie nodded curtly, then addressed Alexandra with a softer, kinder voice, "Okay doodlebug, let's head home, huh?"
"Yeah," Alexandra nodded.
Ellie kissed the girl's check and carried her over to where the kids left their jackets, quickly locating Alexandra's and draping it over her small form and carried her back to the car for their drive home. When they got back to the house, Ellie told the girl to change into her play clothes while she made lunch. Feeling like comfort food was in order, she started warming up some tomato soup while she quickly grilled up a couple cheese sandwiches.
"Hey, Sweetie," She greeted Alexandra as she set out their lunch, "Did you put your other clothes in the hamper?"
"Yes, ma'am," Alexandra nodded, climbing into her booster seat and began quietly eating. When lunch was finished, Alex went over to the couch and sat while Ellie cleaned up.
Ellie could still see the girl was upset and gave her a sad smile as she joined her on the couch, "Having a hard day?"
Alexandra nodded slowly, shifting to lean up against Ellie's side.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ellie encouraged.
"I miss Daddy," Alexandra said, a small tear escaping her eye.
"Oh, Honey," Ellie wrapped her arm around Alexandra's shoulder and gave her a small squeeze, "I miss him too."
"What if he never comes back, like Mommy?" Alexandra asked, "What if he goes to Heaven?"
Ellie took a moment to figure out her answer. She knew Alexandra's concern was legitimate, it was a very real possibility that something could happen, and John could be hurt or killed. After a moment, she spoke, "Alex, your daddy loves you very much and would do anything to come home to you."
"He loves you too," Alexandra pointed out, "I've heard him tell you."
"Yes, he does, and I love him, too." Ellie acknowledged, "But he loves you more than anything in this world."
Alex nodded her understanding, "I still miss him."
"That's okay," Ellie told her, "It's okay to miss the people you love, and it's okay to have a hard day because you are missing them. You can be mad, or sad, or whatever because you are missing them, and if you need space to feel what you feel, let your teacher know. If you want me or your nanna to come get you, tell your teacher, they have our numbers. I might not always be able to come if I'm at work, but Nanna is usually around."
Alexandra nodded and sighed.
"I know I don't cuddle nearly as good as your daddy does, but would a cuddle help?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah," Alex said quietly, crawling into Ellie's lap.
Ellie wrapped her arms around Alexandra, the girl's head resting on her shoulder. She held her as they both cried and calmed, letting their emotions out as they came over them in waves. Eventually Alexandra fell asleep in Ellie's arms. Ellie carried her to her bed and tucked her in for a much-needed nap.
John was tired as his flight landed back at Camp Pendleton in the early evening a few days later. The mission had been successful, if a little unorthodox. He'd been paired with a DEA Agent who seemed more focused on getting him into bed than capturing the guy they'd been tasked with bringing in. He knew he'd missed a bullet there; he could only imagine how that would have turned out if he didn't have Ellie waiting for him at home. More than likely would have ended with him somehow handcuffed to his headboard in nothing but his boxers. He shuddered at the thought, damned red heads, he thought to himself.
As he drove up to the house, he noticed Ellie's car was parked in the driveway and his mom's was along the curb. He hit the button to open the garage door and pulled the Vic in. Deciding to leave his things in the car for now, he went inside. He could smell something delicious wafting through the house as he entered. He noticed his daughter was sitting on the floor in front of the couch coloring.
"Hey Kid," He greeted her.
Alexandra looked up at him, blinked a couple times, clearly processing, before her eyes lit up and she sprung to her feet. "Daddy!" She ran and flung herself at him as he bent down to scoop her up in his arms. "I missed you, soooo much!"
"I missed you, too, Alexandra," John held her close, reveling in the feeling of holding his little girl in his arms again. He never knew that a person's arms could ache from not holding someone until he left on his trip. Holding Alex satisfied much of the ache, but he knew that he needed to feel one other person in his arms before too long.
"Miss Ellie is making white chili for dinner," Alexandra informed him, sitting up in his arms. "She pulled out this big pot and plugged it into the wall this morning. She let me put in the beans and the corn!" The girl announced proudly, "Then she put in some other stuff and put a lid on it, and we left for school."
"Well, it smells amazing," John smiled at the girl. "Why don't you work on your picture a little more while I go check on dinner and make sure Nanna isn't pestering Miss Ellie too much." He noticed the hesitant look on his daughter's face, "I'm only going as far as the kitchen, promise."
"'Kay," The girl agreed and went to finish her coloring while her daddy continued on into the kitchen.
"Welcome home, Johnny," His mom greeted him, standing from the stool where she was sitting separating a can of biscuits onto a baking sheet. She wrapped him in a tight hug, "We're so glad to have you home."
"Glad to be home, Ma," John returned the hug and kissed her on the cheek before releasing her to return to her work. "Where's Ellie?"
"She's in your room, changing out of her scrubs," Helen informed him, "She only just got home a little bit before you did. I offered to help her get the biscuits ready for dinner."
As if summoned by their conversation, Ellie rounded the corner into the kitchen and let out a squeal. She practically lept into his arms as he pulled her in for a tender kiss that seemed to last forever but was over far too soon.
"God, I've missed you," John whispered against her lips as they slowly withdrew.
"I've missed you too," Ellie replied, lifting up on her toes to kiss him again, loving the feel of his strong arms around her, the security she felt just living in the little bubble they created for themselves in that moment. She stepped back and began running her hands over him.
"What are you doing?" He chuckled at her.
"Checking for injuries," Ellie replied.
"Medic checked me over when I stopped to debrief in D.C." John informed her, "Clean bill of health."
"I'll be the judge of that," Ellie sniffed, "I intend to do a very, thorough, check later.
"Can't wait," John grunted, and impish smirk on his lips as he caught her meaning.
Clearly Helen did too, "Would you like me to take Alexandra home with me for a sleep over?" She teased.
"I don't think that'll be necessary," John shook his head, "I kinda want my girls home with me tonight."
Helen nodded with a knowing smirk, "Just make sure you turn on some music or something when you go to bed."
John gave his mother an inquisitive look then realization and horror crossed his face, "Oh dear God…"
Helen snickered seeing her son's reaction, "Oh please, how else would we had you and Debbie?"
"I won't ever be able to listen to The Stones again…" He grumbled, earning laughter from his mom and girlfriend.
"Dinner is almost ready, just have to bake the biscuits," Ellie informed him, "So if you want to unload and shower, we should be ready to eat by then."
"Fine, hopefully I can wash my brain out while I'm at it," John grunted and walked off.
"I think you traumatized him," Ellie giggled, opening the oven and sliding the sheet of biscuits into the oven.
"He'll live," Helen shrugged, "Deb walked in on us once. She learned the hard way to stay away when the music was playing."
Ellie laughed at the older woman and began to set the table. A short time later, she heard the timer on the oven go off. As she was putting the biscuits into a basket, she heard the shower in the master bedroom turn off. Handing the basket to Helen to put on the table, she went into the living room to tell Alexandra to go wash up for dinner.
As they shared dinner, Ellie and Alexandra caught John up on what had happened while he was gone. He frowned when Ellie told him about the incident at church school but was proud that Ellie had handled it so well. The following weekend was Halloween, so plans for the even were also made. After dinner, Helen helped to clean up then bid them goodnight as she headed back to her condo, offering – jokingly- one last time to take Alex for a sleep over so that they could have a proper reunion.
"Thanks for the offer, but we're good," John assured her, giving her one last hug and sending her on her way.
Ellie got Alexandra ready for bed and he joined in to read a bedtime story to his daughter and join in for prayers. He lingered at the girl's side a little longer than he usually did, memorizing every little feature of her face. He never thought he could love someone as completely as he did his daughter. Once he was sure she was fast asleep, he pressed one last kiss to her brow and quietly exited the room, leaving the night light on as he closed the door.
Ellie had been waiting in the hall for him, enjoying watching him watch is daughter sleep.
"Hey Doc," John pulled her into his arms and gave her a warm kiss, "I'm ready for my exam."
"Well go lock up and I'll be waiting for you." She gave him a coy smile and walked into his room with a wink over her shoulder at him.
He'd never done his security checks so fast in his life, as he checked all the doors and turned off the lights in the house along the way back to his room. Upon entering, he noticed the lights were low and Ellie had music playing on the radio in his room. She waited for him to shut the door and approach her. They shared a passionate kiss before Ellie slowly and methodically stripped him, using her hands and lips to investigate every scar and potential injury he might have.
Lord help him, it was one of the most erotic things he'd ever experienced, and they hadn't even gotten to the good part. She had his engine revving good now, and he could tell by the proud smirk on her lips that she knew it. He groaned into her mouth as he felt her nimble hands at the waistband of his pants, slowly undoing his belt, popping the button, lowering the zipper until the garment was barely hanging on. He tried to return the favor by trying to undress her, but she held him off, slipping her hand under the elastic band of his boxers and pushing them down along with his pants. She quickly helped him out of his pants and socks as he'd not bothered to put shoes on after his shower. He could feel her soft hands trace up his legs, around to his ass before feeling up and over his hips. The feel of her hands as she grasped him, nearly set him over the edge.
"Not yet, John," She smiled up at him from where she knelt on the floor.
John's eyes rolled back in his head and his knees went weak as she continued her ministrations, "Oh my God Doc," He groaned, trying to keep his voice down but fearing he would not be able to do so for much longer if Ellie kept this up.
Almost as if she had sensed he was near his limit, she slowed down and released him, licking her lips before standing and kissing him. This time, she didn't resist as he started to undress her.
"Turn about is fair play," He grunted, doing his own study of her as he revealed more and more of her beautiful form. John smiled into his kiss as he felt her trembling in his arms, knowing she was getting as amped up as she'd made him just moments before. Once she was freed of her clothes, he guided her over to the bed and sat her down so he could continue his work.
The moan she let out, as his lips made contact with her, was near enough to make him lose his control right then and there. He was barely able to contain himself as he continued his ministrations, leaving her trembling as he pushed her over the edge. He pulled the covers down and joined her in the bed. They made love well into the night before finally falling asleep in each other's arms. Sated, satisfied, and just happy to be together again.