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Post by Jen on Mar 10, 2005 0:49:42 GMT -5
Harley didn’t even stir when Gus crawled into bed beside her late that night. He sighed and kissed her bare shoulder.
“Sorry,” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and she finally woke up and turned to face him. “Sorry I’m so late,” he repeated and kissed her softly.
“That’s okay. I’m just glad you’re home now,” she said and pulled him on top of her, kissing him.
“Ooh, I’m really sorry now that I see you’re wearing this,” he moaned as he ran his hand up her thigh under the silky slip she had on.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Almost one,” he answered and she stopped kissing him.
“Katie will be awake soon,” she explained.
“No she won’t. I just fed her and she went right back to sleep.”
“Oh, you are my hero,” she smiled and kissed him again.
He laughed and sat up beside her, “Let me get undressed,” he said and sat on the edge of the bed, taking off his shoes.
Harley knelt behind him and helped him take his shirt off, “How was work?” she asked.
“Okay, but I’m ready for you to be back working beside me,” he replied and leaned back against her.
“Just one more week, honey,” she said, kissing his cheek, “I’m ready – I miss it.”
“You do? I thought you enjoyed being a lady of leisure,” he teased.
“You’ll get leisure,” she laughed and choked him with his tie.
“Kidding, kidding,” he surrendered and she ran her hands down his bare back as he stood up.
Gus turned around and stood in front of her, “Baby, why don’t we just let Amanda watch the kids for us?” he asked.
Harley smiled and slid her hands down his chest and started undoing his belt. “Oh,” she said, “I kinda already told her she could.”
“Thank god,” he sighed, relived, “Those ladies today were horrible!”
“Yes they were, but now we have that settled, so why don’t you just focus on this lady,” she replied as she pushed his pants down.
“This lady? My lady?” he asked quietly, running a finger over her lips.
“Mmmhmm,” Harley nodded as he lowered his head to hers and kissed her deeply before he pulled her slip over her head and they sank into the bed tangled in each other’s arms.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Zach? Sweetie, come on and wash your face. We have to drop you and Katie off at Aunt Amanda’s on our way to work,” Harley said from the hallway and Zach slowly made his way out of his room.
“I’m taking her down,” Gus said as he carried Katie downstairs to feed her before they left.
“Let’s go slow-poke,” Harley teased and she ushered Zach into the bathroom.
Thirty minutes later, everyone was dressed and out the door. Katie was asleep by the time they got to Frank and Amanda’s and was completely oblivious to her mother’s hesitance at leaving her all day. Zach kissed Harley and Gus goodbye and curled up on the couch, watching cartoons until it was time for him to catch his bus.
“Call us if there are any problems,” Harley said as she kissed Katie’s forehead.
“I will, but there won’t be,” Amanda assured them before she kissed Frank goodbye and he left the house.
“Come on baby,” Gus said and pulled Harley away, following Frank out to their cars. “Everything will be fine,” he said as he kissed her, then started the car.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Harley’s first day back at the station was a relatively uneventful one. By eleven, they had already interrogated a suspect in a bank robbery, gone through evidence for a trial the following week and filled out a mound of paperwork.
“You know, I like this,” Gus said as they spread out cases on the table in the interrogation room to finish some more paperwork.
“Paperwork? You are a weirdo,” she teased, not even looking up from the case she was working on.
“No…working with you. I missed just having you in the same room with me,” he explained and she finally looked up at him and smiled as he continued.
“I don’t know, there’s just this energy between us when we’re working together. I don’t know…it’s stupid, nevermind…”
“It’s not stupid,” she replied as she reached over and touched his hand. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“It’s just a lot different than what I get when I work with Frank and John,” he added. “I’m glad that you’re back.”
“Me too,” she nodded as the door opened and Franklin stuck his head in the room.
"Harley, can I see you in my office please?" he asked.
"It's my first day back, what have I done wrong already?" she teased and followed him back to his office.
"Have a seat," he motioned and she sat across from his desk.
"Seriously Chief, what's up?" she asked.
"Commissioner Johnson has been wanting to put together a special Homicide team. Since we normally don't have all that many homicides, he doesn't want to bring in anyone new. He's looking for someone to head up the team, and we both decided that you were the best one for the job," Franklin explained.
"Well, I'm flattered. What exactly does this entail?" Harley asked, surprised.
"Your official title would be Lieutenant. You would oversee all homicide cases and assign detectives to those cases. It's a raise in pay and you would get your own office," he continued.
"And what about my job now?" she asked. "Would I just be working strictly on homicides?"
"Well no, you would still be on cases with Gus, but when it's a homicide, you'll be in charge. It's not much different from what you do now, except you'll be handing out orders and doing a lot more paperwork."
"Well, like I said, I'm flattered, but I'm not sure I could take it. With the baby, I just don't know if I want to take on anything that will take even more time away from my family," Harley said.
"I understand that, completely. But this really won't be much more work. Harley, you work all of our homicides anyway, now you'll just be getting paid more for it. You can do this and still be a wife and mother, I wouldn't have suggested you if I didn't think so. I know how important your family is to you."
"I need some time to think about this. I need to talk to Gus first," she said and he nodded.
"That's fine. Take a few days if you need to. I'll get the official offer to you this afternoon so you both can look over it," Franklin said as he stood when Harley did.
"Thank you," she replied then left his office.
"Hey," Gus said as he walked back to his desk and saw her. "What's up?"
"I'll tell you over lunch," she said as she took his hand and they left the station.
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Post by Jen on Mar 21, 2005 21:53:55 GMT -5
"Wow, Lieutenant? Baby, that's great!" Gus replied when Harley told him about the offer over lunch. "Congratulations," he added with a kiss, "We'll have to celebrate tonight."
"Well, don't break out the champagne yet," she stopped him. "I don't know if I'm going to take it."
"What? Why not?" he asked.
"Well because, I already feel like I don't spend enough time with my kids, now I'm going to take on another job?"
"He said it wasn't really that much more work," Gus replied.
"Yeah right," she scoffed. "Besides, I'm probably not even the best one for the job, they just offered it to me because I'm a woman and it would make them look good."
"Give me a break, Harley," he interrupted. "You are the best one for this job, that's why they offered it to you. Because you're smart, aggressive, a good leader, you know this town better than any of the other detectives, this job is perfect for you. I think you should take it."
"But the kids…"
"The kids will be fine, Harley. Plus you would have your own office, think of all the fun we could have with that," he teased, his face close to Harley's and she laughed.
"So I should take this job just so we have an office to have sex in?" she asked.
"Number one reason," he smiled. "Come on baby. You can do this, and you should, but it's your decision. And you know that I will support you either way," he said with a kiss.
"Thank you. He's giving me the paperwork this afternoon so we'll look over that tonight and then I guess I'll make my decision," she replied and he nodded.
"So, would I get any perks for being married to the Lieutenant?" he asked.
"You mean besides the whole office sex thing?" she replied.
"Oh that's right," he laughed.
"Well, you'll be the one who gets to go home and feed the kids when I have to work late. And you'll be the one who gets to tuck them in at night because Mommy's too busy filling out stupid paperwork," she continued.
"Honey…"
"I just don't want to miss them growing up, you know?"
"I know, and you won't," Gus promised.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning, Harley walked into Franklin's office and accepted the job offer, on the condition that if her homicide cases began taking up too much time along with her normal cases, she would be taken off other ones so she could concentrate on the homicides.
"That's it?" Franklin asked. "I can do that."
"Good. Then you got yourself a Homicide Lieutenant," Harley smiled.
She and Gus talked about the job a lot the night before, weighing the pros and cons until she finally decided that it was a great offer and it wouldn't hurt to be making more money with the new baby and Susan going to college.
That night, there was a press conference where Commissioner Johnson made the announcement and Harley gave a speech about how this would just be the beginning of cutting down crime in the town. Afterwards, they celebrated Harley's new job with Buzz, Frank and Amanda over dinner at Towers while Susan and Marina watched the three kids.
"Look honey, you're the top news story tonight," Gus said, pointing to the television above the bar where they were showing a snippet of the news conference. Harley was on the screen vowing to put murderers behind bars and give families closure over their losses.
"Slow news day, obviously," she replied and went back to her salad.
"So Gus, how do you feel about Harley being your boss?" Frank teased.
"She's already my boss everywhere else, why not work too," Gus laughed.
"Better watch what you say, she can get you fired," Frank replied.
"Yeah, I think this one's gonna be trouble," Harley said as she put her arm around Gus. "I have a feeling he's going to be spending a lot of time in my office," she teased and Gus's eyebrows rose before she kissed him softly.
"God, remind me to always knock first," Frank rolled his eyes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day, Harley was in meetings with the Commissioner, the Mayor, and Chief Franklin the whole day, so after she and Gus were supposed to be going home, they finally moved her things into her new office.
"I think that's the last of it," Gus said as he set a box on her new desk.
"Okay, I'll put everything away tomorrow. Let's go home," she replied and headed to the door but he stopped her.
"We don't have to go yet…" he said as he pushed her up against the door and kissed her deeply.
"Honey, you know when we were talking about the office sex, that was before I knew my office would be right next to Franklin's and in front of everyone," she stopped his kisses.
"You have a door, with a lock, and blinds on your windows," he said between kisses on her neck. “Plus, everyone is upstairs for roll call. We’ll be done before they get back.”
“Can’t we just go home and not have to worry about being quick?” she asked, shying away from his kisses.
“Shh,” he whispered as he locked the door then urged her over to her empty desk.
“You are so bad,” she moaned as he slid his hands up her thighs, pulling her skirt with them.
“No…I am so good,” he replied in a low, sexy voice and hooked his fingers through the sides of her bikinis and pulled them down her legs before setting her up on the desk.
“Mmmhmm,” she nodded and he laid her back on the desk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“I can’t believe we just had sex on my desk,” Harley laughed as she kissed Gus’s neck while she sat in his lap in her chair.
“Believe it baby,” he growled and lifted her chin with his finger before he kissed her, long and hard.
They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Harley jumped out of Gus’s lap and straightened her skirt.
“Baby, calm down and go open the door,” he laughed quietly and she went and unlocked and opened the door.
“Hey Chief,” she greeted when she saw him outside of her office.
“Getting all settled in?” he asked.
“Yep,” Harley nodded and Gus smiled at Franklin from her chair.
“Well, I’m heading out, so you guys have a good night and let me know if you need anything else for in here,” he said and left again.
“Hey, I was thinking…” Gus began as she shut the door and joined him in the chair again.
“About?”
“Valentine’s Day,” he finished. “Let’s go away.”
“Oh honey, I would love to, but what would we do with the kids?” she asked. “I think the only thing we’ll be able to do this year is beg Susan to stay with them while we go to dinner early then come home and do the usual routine. Maybe adding some wine and candles after the kids are asleep,” she let out a sigh, as did Gus.
“Alright, wine, candles and sleeping children. As long as we’re together and I can spoil you, I guess it doesn’t matter where we are,” he replied.
“That’s very sweet,” she smiled and kissed him.
“And a load of crap. I want you all to myself that day,” he said, “But it will be impossible to get a babysitter, so I guess we make do with what we got.”
Harley laughed, “What we got is pretty good,” she reminded him.
“I know,” he smiled and kissed her. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s go home,” she nodded and got off of his lap.
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Post by Jen on Mar 21, 2005 21:54:50 GMT -5
Harley spent the next few weeks in meetings and doing paperwork. When Gus was done at the end of the day, she usually took home a stack of cases or stayed late. The commissioner wanted reports on all of the homicide cases from the last ten years, which meant Harley had a lot of catching up to do. She wasn’t even in Springfield ten years ago, so it took a while to get details on the cases, because the files were less than perfect. She was thankful that no homicides had occurred since she took the job, maybe she could get a head start on the loads of work that had been put on her shoulders.
Two weeks into her new position, she was in her office working a report when Gus stopped by and stuck his head in the door.
“Hey you,” she said without looking up.
“How’d you know it was me?” he asked.
“I just know,” she replied.
“Lunch?” he asked and she shook her head. She still hadn’t looked up from her work.
“I can’t, I have so much work to do,” she answered.
“Harley, you haven’t left your office all morning, and you haven’t had lunch with us since you started this job. Come on, take twenty minutes and have lunch with your lonely husband,” he urged her as he rested his hands on her desk and leaned over her.
She finally put her pen down and looked up at him, “You’re lonely huh?”
He pouted as he nodded his head, “Frank and John are bo-ring,” he explained and Harley laughed. “Please have lunch with me?” he asked again and she looked at her watch, hesitating. “I’ll even bring it to you, we’ll eat in here,” he suggested and she finally gave in.
“Alright. Bring me something good,” she replied.
“I’ll be right back, finish the sentence you’re writing, then put it away!” he said as he left the office.
When he returned ten minutes later, she had pushed her case aside and was ready for the break.
“What did you get me?” she asked as he closed her door partway then pulled a chair up to her desk, sitting beside her.
“I got lasagna, a salad, and a roll – the cafeteria special of the day,” he answered and she licked her lips, exaggerated her response. “Plus a nice big piece of chocolate cake for us to share for dessert.”
“Now that sounds really good,” she replied as he opened up all of the containers and she reached for her salad and dug in but Gus reached over and stopped her from lifting her fork to her mouth.
“Don’t I even get a kiss?” he teased.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot how lonely you were,” she replied and put her salad down.
She turned her chair towards him and took his face in her hands, placing a soft kiss on his lips which quickly turned into a deeper one until they were both breathless.
“Much better,” Gus said as they leaned their foreheads against each other and she kissed him again.
“Good. Can I eat now?” she asked and he nodded before they went back to their food.
“So what are you working on that requires all of your time?” he asked.
“Double murder from ’96. Maid goes crazy and kills her employers- husband and wife, then runs off with the two kids,” she answered.
“Yikes. Did she work for the Spauldings?” he teased, making her smile against her better judgment.
“Unsolved,” she continued. “She just disappeared. I mean, we have all of her information, but she’s just gone and so are the kids. Hopefully she’s taking good care of them.”
Gus smiled at her and tossed her a roll, which she caught one handed.
“Nice…” he winked and she laughed as Frank knocked on the door.
“So this is where you guys are hiding, can we come in? Got some stuff on that case you’re working on,” he said and she waved them in.
She ate while they went over the information they had for her to add to her report and John asked her how things were going.
She shrugged, “Well, they’re keeping me busy, that’s for sure.”
“That’s what Gus said,” he replied then leaned over the desk and whispered, even though everyone could hear him, “I think he’s a little lonely,” he teased and Gus laughed.
“Of course I am. I’m stuck working with you guys instead of my beautiful wife, I think I got the raw end of this deal!” he replied as Franklin came into the office.
“Harley?” he said and motioned her to follow him.
She sighed and got up, “Save me some cake,” she told Gus and he squeezed her hand before she left.
She returned a few minutes later with an unhappy look on her face that Gus noticed the minute she walked into the room and Frank and John turned to see what was wrong.
“Well, we don’t have to worry about what we’re doing for Valentine’s Day anymore,” she answered and sat back down in her chair.
“Why?” he asked.
“I have to go to a conference slash training session that week. In D.C.,” she answered. “It’s from Tuesday to Saturday.”
“Why would they make it Valentine’s Day weekend?” Frank asked.
“To punish me,” she gave a half-hearted laugh.
“Well, okay, so you go to DC for the week, and Friday we fly down and join you. And we spend the weekend there. We can take the kids to some museums. Hopefully Susan will come, because I don’t know if I could handle Zach and Katie on the plane,” Gus said. “It will be fine. Remember, doesn’t matter where we are,” he finished and took her hand in his and she nodded.
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Three weeks later, Gus was standing with Harley at her gate at the airport, waiting for her row to be called to board. She had said goodbye to the kids earlier that morning when they dropped them off at Amanda’s and Gus drove her to the airport before he went to work.
“Don’t forget to give Katie her ear drops, and no matter what Zach says, only one story a night,” she instructed as they stood with their arms around each other and Gus nodded along.
“Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got it taken care of, I know the routine,” he assured her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “You just enjoy three whole nights of uninterrupted sleep,” he said.
“Oh, that’s true,” she smiled. “Call me if you need anything, okay? If anything happens.”
“I will,” he promised her and pulled her closer to him in a hug. “I’m going to miss you,” he whispered into her ear when her row was called.
“Me too,” she said as she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll see you in a few days,” he smiled and kissed her softly.
“I’ll call when I get there,” she said and backed away, but held his hand until she had to let go and he waved to her as she walked away.
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Post by Jen on Mar 21, 2005 21:57:59 GMT -5
“Is that Mommy?” Zach asked as the phone rang Thursday night while Gus was feeding Katie before he put Zach in bed.
“Might be,” Gus said as he picked up the phone and answered it.
“God I miss that sexy voice,” Harley said on the other end as she walked out onto the balcony attached to the room she shared with a female detective from Virginia.
“Hey baby,” Gus replied as he shifted Katie over his shoulder.
“Is that Mommy? I wanna talk!” Zach said as he jumped up onto the couch beside Gus and pulled at the phone.
“Your son wants you,” Gus said and handed the phone to Zach.
“Hi Mommy!” Zach exclaimed and went on to have a long conversation about everything he did that day from the time he woke up.
When Zach was finally done talking, he handed the phone back to Gus and Harley was still laughing at Zach’s wild re-creation of the day.
“Isn’t it his bedtime?” she joked.
“Almost,” Gus replied, “How was your day? What did they have you doing today?”
“Some more classes, then we actually got lucky and got to work a crime scene. There was a drive-by this afternoon in southeast D.C., so that was interesting,” she answered.
“You realize you just called a drive-by lucky?” he replied.
“Ugh, the life of a homicide lieutenant,” she sighed. “How’s everything there?” she asked.
“Everything’s great. We are all packed and ready to jump on the plane tomorrow. Kids can’t wait to see you,” Gus answered. “Me too.”
“Oh, me too. I just wish I was done tomorrow and I could spend all day Saturday with you guys,” she said.
“Well, it’s only a few hours in the morning, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So, that’s okay, the kids can sleep in…I can sleep in,” he teased as Katie started fussing. “I better get her settled down and get Zach in bed. You doing anything tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah, there’s a get together at a bar or something we’re going to check out,” she answered.
“Alright, then I’ll try to call in the morning before we leave. If not, I’ll call when we land,” he said. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” she replied. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Sweet dreams.”
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The next afternoon, Harley and her roommate, Kara, sat in the lobby of their hotel with another woman they had met, relaxing after another day of classes and meetings.
“Oh, the sexiest man I think I’ve ever seen just walked in with two little kids,” Kara sighed as she put her drink down on the table in front of them. “All the good ones really are taken. That just makes my heart melt,” she added as Harley turned to see who she was looking at and a big smile came over her face.
“Mine too. Excuse me,” she said as she got up and greeted the sexiest man she knows she’s ever seen who just walked in with her children.
“Mommy!” Zach exclaimed when he saw Harley walking over to them and he ran up to her.
Harley swung him into her arms and squeezed him tightly. “Hi sweetheart, oh I missed you so much!” she said as she held out her hand towards Gus and he squeezed it, smiling.
“We missed you too,” Zach said as he gave her a big kiss on the cheek.
“You guys are here earlier than I thought you would be,” she said.
“We wanted to surprise you,” Gus answered as he pulled her over to him and kissed her.
“You just made my day so much better,” she smiled and she hugged Gus then bent over to kiss Katie who was sleeping in her stroller. “How long has she been asleep?” she asked Gus as she hugged Susan.
“About twenty minutes. She was wide awake on the plane though,” he replied.
“Well come on, I want to show you off to someone then we’ll get you guys settled in and get some dinner,” Harley said as she put Zach down.
“Do we need to get a room?” Gus asked her.
“No, I already booked one. It’s a suite, so there are two rooms, we just need to get a crib,” Harley answered as she led them over to Kara and Maria.
“Kara, Maria this is my husband, Gus, Kara is a detective in Richmond and Maria is a sergeant in Charleston,” Harley introduced them and they all shook hands.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kara said.
“You too,” Gus nodded.
“This is my daughter, Susan,” she introduced them. “And this is Zach,” she continued and Kara bent down and shook Zach’s hand.
“Hello Zach.”
“Hello,” he said quietly.
“You are just adorable. I bet you’re already breaking hearts, aren’t you?” she gushed.
“That’s what Aunt Blake says,” Zach smiled, showing off his dimples and the adults laughed.
“And this is our little angel, Katie,” Harley said as she moved the baby’s blanket.
“Oh, Harley, she is beautiful,” Maria cooed. “And I see she got her daddy’s hair.”
Harley laughed, “Yes, she did. And she’s had that much of it since the day she was born.”
“She’s gorgeous,” Kara agreed.
“Thank you,” Harley replied. “We better get our room. I’ll see you guys in the morning if I don’t see you again tonight.”
“What are you guys doing tonight?” Kara asked.
“Zach has chosen the Capitol River Cruise for tonight,” Gus answered. “He loves boats.”
“Oooh, that’s a good one. I think you’ll like it,” Maria told Zach and he smiled shyly.
“I’ll go check in. It was nice to meet you both,” Gus said and went over to the front desk while Susan took Zach and Katie over to an empty couch.
“Harley, I’m sorry about what I said…I didn’t realize he was your husband!” Kara said, embarrassed and Harley laughed.
“That’s okay. I think he’s pretty sexy myself,” she teased. “I’ll see you girls tomorrow,” she said before she left then and joined Gus at the front desk.
She went up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a squeeze.
“Just let me go check on the crib for you,” the receptionist said and went into the back room while Gus turned around.
“Hey you,” he said and hugged her tightly.
“Rumor has it you are very sexy when you’re lugging around two little kids,” she teased and he smiled.
“Is that what you think or what they think?” he asked.
“I think you’re always very sexy,” she replied and he ran his hands through her hair before he kissed her.
“I missed you,” he said quietly.
“I missed you too,” she replied. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re all here.”
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“So where are we going to go?" Susan asked after they got settled into their room.
"Someplace kid-friendly," Harley answered as she laid Katie back in her seat. “What are you hungry for Zach?”
“And don’t say pizza,” Gus interrupted and Zach giggled before he struck an exaggerated pensive pose and tapped his finger on his chin while he considered the question.
“Tacos!” he finally answered and Harley looked towards Gus.
“Know any kid-friendly Mexican places?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think Tortilla Coast will do,” he answered and they headed out the door.
"So how much did I miss while I've been gone? She's not walking yet is she?" she asked Gus as she looped her arm through his while they walked towards the elevator.
"You were only gone a few days," he replied. "And she's still only three months old."
“No, she’ll be three months old in twelve days,” she corrected him. “Don’t make her grow up any faster than she already is.”
“Excuse me,” he apologized.
"Anyway, it felt like longer. I'm going to kill Franklin. Business trips were not part of our arrangement," she said.
“Well, it shouldn’t be a recurring thing,” he said. “Besides, this just means we get to show you how much we missed you,” he added and Zach jumped into Harley’s arms.
“I missed you this much, Mommy!” he exclaimed, spreading his arms out as far as they could go.
“You did? I missed you guys that much too,” she replied and squeezed him tight.
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Post by Jen on Mar 21, 2005 21:58:26 GMT -5
“When Katie falls asleep, you can bring her in here. I’ll get up with her tonight, since you have to be up early,” Susan offered as she crawled into her bed later that night.
“We’ll see,” Harley replied, not wanting to sound too eager to have at least a few hours without the baby in the room with her and Gus.
“Well, bring her if you want,” Susan yawned and rolled over.
“Thanks sweetie,” Harley said after she kissed Zach’s forehead and left the room.
Gus was in their room, swaying Katie to sleep over his bare shoulder. Harley came and stood in front of him and kissed Katie’s cheek, then Gus’s before she went to get ready for bed. Gus watched as she let a pink silk and lace slip fall over her body and his eyes followed her into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, when he was sure Katie was asleep, he gently laid her down in the crib and waited until her breathing got steady, then slipped into the bathroom behind Harley who was brushing her teeth.
“Finally, I have you all...to…my…self,” he said between kisses to her neck.
She turned around and smiled before she kissed him quickly, “Are you ready to go to bed?” she asked.
“Mmmhmm,” he nodded as he sucked on her neck.
“No…not tonight,” she laughed. “I mean do you want to watch a movie or something before we go to sleep.”
“Oh. I guess so,” he agreed and pulled her into the living room onto the couch where they kissed for awhile before they finally ordered a movie.
“What are you guys going to do tomorrow morning?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Susan wants to sleep in at least until nine, she insisted. Then maybe I’ll just take Zach swimming until you get back,” he answered. “He wants to go to the aquarium and the zoo tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” she nodded. “We can do that after I get back.”
“Then how about a museum? Air and Space, maybe? Then I want to take him up to the top of the Washington Monument,” Gus said.
“That sounds good. You’ve thought this all out, haven’t you?” she laughed.
“Yeah, well, it’s been awhile since I was here…” he replied and Harley shifted so that she was leaning back against his chest and he wrapped his arm around her neck and ran his hand up and down her arm.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked her after a few minutes of silence.
“I was just thinking that if you had taken that job offer a few years ago, you would still be living here,” she answered quietly.
“What?” he asked, confused.
“If you had taken the job when the FBI offered it to you…”
“Oh. Why are you thinking about that?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I just…”
“What?”
“Sometimes I wonder if you should have taken that job,” she finally answered.
“Harley, you’re making no sense,” he said as he kissed her cheek. “I thought we settled this years ago. I didn’t want the job. I didn’t want to move to D.C. I wanted to stay in Springfield with you.”
“I know. But at the time, I actually thought about coming with you if you would have taken the job,” she explained.
“What? Phillip never would have let you take Zach,” Gus replied quickly.
“I know…”
“Harley, I would never have asked you to pick up your entire life and move to a new city so I could take a job,” he argued. “Your family is in Springfield, Zach’s father is there, we were happy there. I made the right choice when I turned down that offer and I have never regretted it for one second,” he assured her. “Do you believe me?” he asked.
“Of course I do,” she nodded.
“Then can we get past this? Please?” he pleaded into her ear and she smiled.
“Okay. Let’s talk about tomorrow night. It’s Valentine’s Day and Susan is watching the kids all night. What are we doing?” she asked.
“Don’t worry, I have it all taken care of.”
“Really? Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise. Don’t be nosy.”
“Nosy? I’m asking about my Valentine’s Day and you think I’m being nosy?” she asked, pretending to be offended.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Don’t worry. I promise it will be a great evening,” he said and ran his finger over her lips before he bent down and kissed her deeply.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day, after Harley ditched the ending luncheon, she and Gus took the kids around the city for the rest of the day. They went to the National Aquarium where Gus and Zach got to feed a seal, then to the National Zoo. Zach favorite exhibit was the giant pandas and he would have been content to stand and watch them eat bamboo all day long, but Gus and Harley pulled him away to the other exhibits so they could get to the Washington Monument before it closed.
After an exhausting day, they got back to the hotel and Susan fed Katie while Gus and Harley got ready for the night.
“Wow, you two look nice,” she said when they came out of their bedroom all dressed up.
Gus was in a black suit with a black shirt and tie underneath and Harley was in a black cocktail dress.
“Is that new?” Susan asked.
“Yeah, I got it this week,” Harley answered as she kissed Zach’s cheek. “We shouldn’t be too late.”
“Take your time. We’ve got dinner on the way and we’re going to order a movie, so we’re not going anywhere,” Susan replied.
Harley smiled and kissed the top of her head, “Thank you for coming with Gus this weekend. I know you’d rather be with Marcus.”
“That’s okay. He’s working tonight so he promised to spend all of his tips on me next weekend,” she teased.
“Alright, we have our phones if you need anything,” Gus said and helped Harley into her coat.
“We’ll be fine. Enjoy your night,” she insisted and they left the room.
“So where are we going?” Harley asked as she snuggled into his body when the elevator doors closed and he pushed a button behind her.
“You’ll see,” he answered, still not divulging his secret.
When the doors opened again, they got off and Harley noticed that they were on the fourth floor instead of the lobby, but Gus started walking down the hall.
“Honey, this is the fourth floor,” she said and he turned around and walked back to her.
“I know,” he replied and took her hand as he led her down the hall.
“Oh,” she said when they stopped at a room and Gus pulled out a key. “Silly me, I thought we were going to dinner.”
“We are,” he nodded as he opened the door to reveal a small suit with a small table set up in the middle of the living room in front of a crackling fire. The table was set for dinner, with two candles lit in the middle.
“I wanted you all to myself tonight,” he explained. “I didn’t want to share you with all the men who wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off of you, just like me,” he finished and took her coat off before he removed his own.
“You’re so sweet,” she smiled as she turned around and pulled him into a kiss as they heard a knock on the door and Gus looked at his watch.
“Room service. Right on time,” he said and turned to open the door.
The waiter from Room Service rolled in a cart full of food and poured wine in the two empty glasses on the table. He set their salads on the plates in front of the chairs that he had just pulled out and turned back towards Gus after he turned on the stereo in the room to some romantic dinner music.
“Can I get you anything else?” he asked.
“I don’t think so, thank you,” Gus answered and gave him a tip as he opened the door for him. “Hungry?” he asked when he turned back to Harley.
“Famished,” she nodded and they sat at the table and ate their dinner.
“What’s next on the agenda?” Harley asked when they were done with their meals, though she had a pretty good idea what they would be doing the rest of the evening.
“Hmm, maybe a little music, a little dancing, a little kissing, followed by a little love-making…” he answered.
“How about a lot instead?”
“Even better,” he nodded as he stood up and took her hand then pulled her close to him.
“This is becoming a habit for us. Dancing in a hotel room,” she said.
“Well, we have to take advantage of every chance we get. They are few and far between these days,” he replied.
“And yet we want to have another baby. What are we thinking?” she laughed.
“We are thinking how beautiful Katie is and how lucky we are to have her. And how much fun it will be to try for another one,” he added and she smiled as he pulled her closer.
“That is fun,” she nodded. “So why aren’t we having that kind of fun yet?” she asked as she looked up at him and started undoing his tie. “We only have a few hours before we should be getting back upstairs and we have a couple of days to make up for.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day to us…” Gus growled as he urged her backwards into the bedroom as they removed each other’s clothes and fell onto the bed.
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Post by Jen on Apr 3, 2005 16:19:46 GMT -5
Harley jumped in Gus’s arms when the phone rang early one morning in April. Gus sat up and looked at the clock, rubbing his eyes before he picked up the phone – it was almost four am.
“Hello?” he answered, half asleep.
“Gus? It’s John,” the voice on the other end of the phone said. “I need to talk to Harley. We’ve got a body here. And it’s bad.”
“Hold on,” Gus replied and turned to Harley who had sat up beside him. “It’s John. They found a body.”
“Damn,” she muttered and took the phone. “John? What’s up?”
“Hey Harley, I found a body a few minutes ago out here on Route 37. Female, thirties maybe, it’s hard to tell. It’s really bad Harley, you better get out here,” John explained and she got out of bed and went into the bathroom.
“Did you call Franklin?” she asked.
“I called it into the station, Patrick and Mike are here and Andy called Franklin. But you’re it Lieutenant Aitoro,” he replied.
“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” she said and hung up the phone and washed her face quickly before she went back into the bedroom. “I have to go in,” she told Gus and he nodded and fell back against the pillows.
“Want me to go with you?” he asked.
“No, Patrick and Mike are on duty until you and Frank come in, we’ll be fine. And you need to get the kids up and get them to Amanda’s later,” she answered. “I have to get ready,” she added and pulled a suit out of her closet and got dressed.
Ten minutes later, she was dressed and sitting on the bed getting her shoes on. Gus rolled over and ran his hand over her hip. She turned around and leaned over the bed to kiss him.
“I’ll see you in a few hours,” she said and stood up.
“Be careful,” he replied and she left the room.
Gus sighed and rolled back over when he heard the front door close. Harley rushed out to her car and shivered as she started it up. It was late April, but it was also four o’clock in the morning and it was still cold. She pulled out of the driveway and started down the street, but did a U-turn before she even got to the end of it and drove back to the house. She left the car running and rushed back into the house and up the stairs. Gus was just about to fall back asleep when he heard her come back into the room and crawl into bed beside him, so he opened his eyes.
“Happy Birthday,” she whispered and kissed him deeply.
“Mmmm…thank you. So stay here in bed with me,” he mumbled and kissed her again.
“Oh, I would love to, but duty calls,” she replied. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he replied as she walked out the door again.
As soon as he heard the front door close again, the phone next to him started ringing and he rolled over to answer it.
“Yeah?” he answered, expecting Harley.
“Gus, it’s Frank,” he heard instead. “Did Harley leave yet?”
“Yep, just left. What’s up?”
“Well, John called me and told me about what happened, and I think I’m going to go in and see what I can do. If you want to go in, you can bring the kids over now,” Frank answered.
“Amanda okay with that?”
“Yeah, she’s not in much of a sleeping mood anymore,” he replied.
“Neither am I,” Gus sighed. “Alright, I’ll be over in a little bit,” he added then they hung up.
As he was hanging up with Frank, Susan knocked on the door and came into the room.
“Gus? What’s going on? Where’s Mom?” she asked.
“Got a call and had to go in. I’m getting the kids ready, then taking them over to Amanda. Could you help me get them into the car?” he asked as he got out of bed and went into the bathroom.
“Yeah, sure…I’ll go down and start a pot of coffee for you,” she replied.
“You’re an angel,” he said as he peeked his head out the bathroom door and she left the room.
Twenty minutes later, Gus was showered and dressed and trying to pack a bag for Zach for the day. Susan already had Katie ready to go and when Gus was finished getting clothes together for Zach, he sat on his bed and urged him to wake up.
Zach rolled over towards Gus and rubbed his eyes, “Daddy, it’s still dark out,” he complained.
“I know, but I have to take you over to Aunt Amanda’s now because I have to go to work. You can go back to sleep in the car- do you want me to carry you out?” Gus asked and Zach nodded and reached for Gus to pick him up.
Susan was already outside putting Katie in the car when Gus got Zach into his carseat.
“Where’s Mommy?” he asked.
“She’s already at work. Want your blanket?” Gus asked and Zach nodded, so he covered him with the blanket and Zach was asleep again before Gus could even get in the car himself.
“Happy Birthday – but not quite the day you were planning on huh?” Susan asked as she leaned into the car and rested her arms on the door.
“Not quite,” he smiled. “Thanks a lot.”
“No problem, try to have a good day,” she said and kissed his cheek before she went back into the house and he drove away.
When Gus pulled up to Frank and Amanda’s house, Frank came out and helped him get the kids into the house and back to sleep, then they took off for the station. They had an on-duty cop fill them in then they went to find the crime scene.
When Gus got out of the car, he spotted Harley talking to John right outside a line of yellow tape, marking off the crime scene.
“Hey,” he said as he and Frank walked up to them. “What’s going on?”
“What are you guys doing here?” Harley asked.
“Couldn’t sleep. We’re too nosey,” Gus teased.
“Where are the kids?”
“With Amanda. She couldn’t sleep either,” Frank answered and Harley sighed.
“I can’t blame her,” she said and looked over towards the spot where John found the body.
“So what is this? You weren’t on duty, how’d you find the body?” Gus asked John.
“I couldn’t sleep, so Max and I went for a run,” John answered, pointing over to the police dog he takes care of. “Max starting whining and acting strange, and he led me over here.”
“Why were you running alone at three o’clock in the morning? Are you crazy?” Gus asked, noticeably upset.
“Max was with me,” John laughed.
“I don’t care. This is a windy road, you don’t need to be out here running in the dark,” Gus reprimanded and Harley and John looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
“Look, it’s the father in me. Worrying has become a reflex. I have three children and a wife to worry about, I don’t need to worry about you going out and doing something as stupid as running by yourself in the middle of the night, okay?” he explained and Harley ran her hand up his back. “I’d be telling your father the same thing,” he added.
“I know you would,” she nodded and John put his hands up in surrender.
“I won’t do it again, I swear. Although, we wouldn’t have this lovely case to keep us busy if I weren’t such a daredevil,” John teased and Gus rolled his eyes.
“So what’s going on? Do we know anything yet?” Gus asked.
“Not really, we have people checking the missing persons files, but so far nothing there. Forensics is checking out the area now, hopefully they’ll have something for us soon,” Harley explained. “The body is pretty badly mangled. Her face is bruised and swollen, they think we’ll need to do dental identification. Hopefully we’ll know something significant by mid-morning.”
“Have you eaten anything?” Gus asked.
“I had some coffee earlier,” she shrugged.
“Frank and I brought some bagels. They’re in the car, come on, might as well, eat, it’s going to be a long day,” Gus said and pulled her over to the car, motioning John to follow them.
Harley and Gus slid into the back seat of Frank’s car and John sat in the passenger’s seat and passed them the bag of bagels. Harley and Gus each picked one then passed it back to John as Frank joined them in the driver’s seat.
“Kids okay?” Harley asked Gus and he nodded.
“Zach woke up, but he went right back to sleep when we got in the car and Katie never woke up,” he answered. “You okay? First big case!”
“I’m okay. A little freaked out by the victim and means of attack, but…” she replied slowly and Gus ran his hand through her hair before he leaned over and kissed her forehead.
Harley grabbed his shirt and pulled him close into a kiss, ignoring the two guys up front and taking advantage of the tinted windows.
“I’m glad you came early. I needed one of your hugs and kisses,” she said quietly and kissed him again before he pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Will you guys give it a rest for two minutes so we can talk about something important?” Frank asked as he and John turned around and interrupted them.
“What’s more important than loving my wife?” Gus asked and Harley smiled.
“Celebrating your birthday,” John answered and produced a bagel with a lit candle stuck in the middle of it between the front seats. “We’d sing, but Frank and I have terrible voices.”
Gus laughed and blew out the candle, “Well, if the rest of the day goes this good, we’ll be lucky,” he sighed and pulled Harley back against the seat of the car in his arms.
Ten minutes later, forensics was done with the crime scene and the body was transported to the morgue for the autopsy. Before they all went back to the station, Harley met with the Medical Examiner. The M.E. assured her that he would let Harley know as soon as he got anything that would lead to the identification of the victim and suspect.
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Post by Jen on Apr 3, 2005 16:21:27 GMT -5
When they got back to the station, John filled out a statement for Gus for the case records since he was the one to find the body, then they filled their time by working on other cases until they had something to go on. Gus was trying to convince John to go home and get some sleep when Harley came up from the morgue.
“We have an ID on the victim. Jessica Moore, 637 Washington Avenue. Gus, we’re going to the house, Frank, put out an APB for her husband, Daniel Moore. The M.E. is doing DNA testing on some evidence found on the body. Call me when she has the results. Also, someone find her next of kin and call me with an address or phone number, I’d like to be the one to tell them,” she gave out orders before she and Gus left the station and climbed into Gus’s car.
“So?” he asked after he pulled out of the parking lot and went through a stop sign at an empty intersection.
“She was raped, she has bruises all over her body, signs of strangulation on her neck, but that’s not the cause of death, obviously the stab wounds to her chest took care of that,” Harley sighed and leaned back in her seat.
“You think it was the husband?” he asked.
“I don’t know. There are hospital records of her going to the ER for some broken bones and bruises. She always said she fell down the stairs or something, but you know how that goes,” she replied.
“I just can’t imagine. I mean, forget me being a husband who can never even think of hurting you like that, but how can a human being do that to someone else?” Gus asked, shaking his head.
“If we knew that, we would be out of work,” she replied as he turned onto the street where the house was located.
Gus pulled into the empty driveway and they both got their guns ready before they got out of the car. They kept them holstered, but in close reach as Harley knocked on the front door. She knocked a few more times, but there was no answer. Gus pulled out his gun and aimed it for the doorknob.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Let’s go in,” he answered.
“We can’t, we don’t have a warrant,” she reminded him and pulled him around the back of the house, with her gun drawn.
The backyard was empty, as was the garage, which Harley did let Gus pick the locks on since he could do it without blowing the door apart. They were on their way to the neighbor’s house when Harley’s cell phone rang. It was Frank with the name and address of the victim’s mother.
“Thanks Frank. Any word from the M.E. or on the husband?” she asked.
“Not yet Sis, but I’ll call you,” he replied before they hung up.
“Let’s ask if they’ve seen Jessica or her husband lately, then let’s get to the mother’s. She should be with her daughter,” Harley said as they approached the neighbor’s house.
The neighbors had seen Jessica and Dan early the day before packing up their car. Dan told them they were taking a weekend trip with their two children to the mountains. They hadn’t heard from Dan or Jessica since then and didn’t know where in the mountains they would be. As far as they knew, they didn’t have a cabin anywhere. They also didn’t know of any family in the area other than Jessica’s mother and sister. Gus and Harley thanked them then went to the mother’s house to tell her that her daughter had been murdered. She didn’t have any idea where Dan and the kids could be either, she was never told of their trip. She was distraught over the news, but not very surprised.
“I begged her to take the kids and leave him, but she wouldn’t. She kept insisting that he loved her. Do you call this love?” she sobbed.
“I’m so sorry,” Harley said as she comforted Jessica’s mother.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“But Mommy, we were supposed to have a party for Daddy!” Zach complained later that night when Harley called to tell him that he would be spending the night at Amanda’s since they were still at a dead end as to where to find the husband and children.
“I know sweetie, but we have to work. We’ll do it another night though,” she replied.
“But I have a gift for him.”
“You do?” Harley asked.
“Yeah, I made him something today after school.”
“Well, I am sure that he will love it and you can give it to him tomorrow night,” she said and Zach sighed.
“Okay,” he finally surrendered.
“Are you being a good boy? Are you helping Aunt Amanda with Katie and Matt?” Harley asked.
“Yeah, but Matt threw his dinner at me!” Zach exclaimed.
“He did? Why did he do that?” she asked.
“I don’t know…”
“Well, when you were his age, you threw your food too,” she told him.
“At you?” he asked.
“Sometimes,” she laughed.
Zach giggled, “We had food fights?”
“Something like that,” Harley replied. “Honey, I have to go, okay? Have a good night. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mommy,” he replied and they hung up.
When Harley was done on the phone, she went back to the interrogation room where Gus, Frank, John and Franklin were with a handful of other detectives and forensic specialists trying to stay awake and make some progress on the case.
“Why don’t we take a break? Get some food, get some rest, meet back here in an hour? Alright with you, Lieutenant?” Franklin asked, looking at Harley.
“Absolutely. I’d like to see my kids for a few minutes today,” Harley answered. “We’re still waiting on those DNA tests anyway.”
“Okay then. See you all in an hour,” Franklin said and everyone left the room.
“Well, we can tuck Zach in at least,” Gus said, looking at his watch, as he, Harley and Frank walked out of the station and got in the car to go back to Frank’s house to see the kids.
“Think we’ll get home at all tonight?” Frank asked.
“I hope so. I am exhausted,” Harley answered. “We’ve all been up way too long.”
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Post by Jen on Apr 3, 2005 16:21:52 GMT -5
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Mommy! I thought you had to work!” Zach exclaimed when Frank, Harley and Gus came in the front door.
“We snuck out for a little while so we could tuck you in,” she smiled and pulled him into a hug.
“Can I give Daddy his present?” Zach whispered into her ear.
“He would love that,” she nodded and put him down so he could run into the kitchen.
He returned with a card made of two pieces of construction paper tied together by yarn. He handed it to Gus with a beaming smile, “Happy Birthday, Daddy,” he said.
“Oh thank you. Come here, let me look at this,” Gus said as he sat on the couch and pulled Zach into his lap while Harley and Katie sat beside them.
On the front of the card was a cut out page from a coloring book with a bear blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.
“And look, I even stayed inside all the lines!” Zach said proudly.
“I see that. You did a great job,” Gus praised.
“Open it!”
“Okay,” Gus said and opened the card. On one side was a drawing of Harley, Gus, Susan, Zach and Katie. Harley was holding a cake and Gus was blowing out the candles on it.
“Wow. Did you draw this? This is a work of art!” he gushed. “Look at that big gust of wind coming out of my mouth – or is that fire? Did you make me a dragon?” Gus teased and Zach giggled.
“No, that’s your breath!”
“I need all that breath to blow out all those candles, huh?”
“That’s cause you’re old,” Zach replied.
“Oh you think so, huh?” Gus laughed and tickled Zach into a giggling fit. “Alright, let’s look at the rest of this,” he said and Zach calmed down while he read the other side. “Happy Birthday Daddy. I love you, Zach. And lots of birthday stickers! Thank you so much Zach. I love this.”
“You do?”
“You bet. Hands down the best birthday card I have ever gotten,” Gus replied as he kissed the top of Zach’s head, and he meant it with all of his heart. “In fact, as soon as I get back to the station, this is going on my desk so I can show it off. Is that okay?” he asked.
“Yep!” Zach beamed and gave Gus a big hug.
Harley and Gus tucked Zach in then they went back to the station with Frank for another few hours. They finally headed home at midnight, with Franklin reminding them to be back by eight the next morning to prepare for a press conference at nine-thirty about the case. Since they had two cars at the station, they left one there and rode home together. It was late and they had been up too long, Gus didn’t want Harley driving home by herself. They kept each other awake by discussing the case a little bit and Harley ran some ideas for what she was going to say to the press in the morning by Gus.
“Baby, you’ll be fine,” Gus assured her as they walked up the stairs to their bedroom when they finally got home.
“Hey, I was wondering if you guys would be home tonight,” Susan said as she came out of her room.
“Yeah, we’re here for a few hours at least,” Harley said and kissed her daughter goodnight.
“Are Zach and Katie still with Amanda?” she asked and Harley nodded.
“I don’t know what we would have done without Amanda today,” Harley said.
“I’ll go over tomorrow and give her a break. I only have one class in the morning,” Susan replied.
“Thank you,” Harley said. “Good night sweetie.”
“I saw on the news that this was pretty bad, do you know who did it?” Susan asked.
“We’re looking for him,” Gus answered and she nodded before she went back into her bedroom and Gus and Harley went to theirs.
“I’m going to take a shower. Good night,” Harley said and gave Gus a quick kiss before she went into the bathroom.
Gus stood by his closet, more than a little confused. “Honey? You okay?” he asked, pushing the bathroom door open.
“Yeah, I just need a shower,” she said quietly as she got undressed. “Why?”
“I don’t know, that was just weird out there.”
“What was?”
“What was? ‘I’m getting a shower, good night’, then you shut the door on me. Why don’t you wait until the morning to get a shower and come to bed?” he suggested.
“Because I didn’t get one today and I don’t want to go to bed dirty,” she replied.
“It’s okay,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled into her neck.
He felt her stiffen under his embrace and she pulled away from him.
“I just want to get a shower and get some sleep. Go to bed, Gus,” she said and got in the shower.
Gus sighed and left the bathroom. By the time Harley got out of the shower, he was changed and in bed, watching TV. She put on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top and crawled into bed beside him, shutting the light on her nightstand off and burying herself under the covers. Gus switched off the TV and rolled onto his side, facing Harley’s back.
He stuck his head over her shoulder and ran his hand down her arm under the covers, “I thought we promised each other we would never go to bed mad.”
“I’m not mad Gus, I’m tired,” she replied.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes, I just want to get some sleep, honey,” she repeated and he finally stopped talking and wrapped his arms around her for the night.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:44:32 GMT -5
Harley smiled when she woke up the next morning and looked at the clock. It was almost six o’clock and they didn’t have to be up until seven, but she decided to take advantage of the extra hour and give Gus his birthday present a little late. She slid out of bed and got undressed before she crawled back in beside Gus and ran her hand down his bare stomach while she kissed his neck. He woke with a moan and stopped Harley’s roaming hand.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he mumbled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “Oh. Mrs. Aitoro, are you trying to seduce me?”
“Is it working?” she giggled.
“That depends on what you plan on doing to me,” he whispered into her ear with a nip to her earlobe.
“Well, I was planning on making up for your ruined birthday,” she replied.
“And how do you plan on doing that?” he asked.
“Crawling into bed beside you naked isn’t enough?” she teased.
“Almost,” he replied and flipped her onto her back and ravished her chest with kisses.
“No, no, no,” she fought against him and pushed him onto his back. “This is for you,” she said as she kissed his chest down to the waist of his pajama pants.
“Okay,” he smiled, as she ran her finger across his stomach under the elastic and pulled the pants down his hips.
He rose up off the bed a bit to help her and she followed his pants down his legs with kisses and soft touches that drove him crazy.
“You’re off to a good start,” he moaned and pulled her back up to him after she tossed his pants away.
“Good,” she whispered with soft kisses on his face, finally covering his lips with hers in a deep kiss.
“Don’t tease me,” he replied as he pulled her hips to his and entered her completely.
“You just can’t stand not being in control, can you?” she teased and he stopped her talking with a kiss and rolled her over so that he was on top of her while he moved inside of her.
Harley took the cue to be quiet and wrapped her legs tightly around Gus as she moved in rhythm with him. He slowed his movements and brushed her hair off of her forehead before he leaned down and kissed her softly.
“I love you,” he said and she smiled as she ran her fingernails down his back.
“I love you too,” she replied and pulled back down to her in an embrace until they both reached the climax of their lovemaking and Gus rolled off of Harley and pulled her into his arms.
He ran his hand softly over her shoulder and down her arm while he kissed her neck. She sighed contently as he pulled the sheet up over their naked bodies.
“I think we should wake up like this every morning,” Gus said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. “I would never hit snooze on you,” he whispered and she laughed.
“Good to know,” she said as she turned in his arms and snuggled into his chest, relishing the safety she felt with his strong arms around her.
“I wish I could lay here in your arms all day instead of having to go look for a man who killed his wife,” she sighed and he kissed the top of her head.
“Me too,” he replied. “But we gotta go catch the bad guys.”
“You know, if being a cop has taught me anything, it’s how much I appreciate you. I mean, how often do we see women beat up by their husbands? Or children being abused or neglected? But I know that I am safe with you, and that my children are safe with you. And there are so many women out there who can’t say that,” she explained.
“That’s not something women should have to appreciate. It’s something you should expect,” he replied and she nodded.
They laid together in silence for awhile until Harley finally looked at the clock and sighed. “Want to shower together?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah!” he laughed. “When was the last time we got to do that?”
“Valentine’s Day,” she laughed.
“Too long ago,” he said and pulled her into the bathroom.
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“Lieutenant Aitoro,” Harley answered her phone for what felt like the millionth time that day, trying not to sound annoyed, which was hard after another unsuccessful day looking for the husband of Jessica Moore.
“Lieutenant, huh?” the male voice on the other end replied and Harley stiffened, not saying anything.
“Harley?” the voice said when he didn’t get a response. “It’s Mallet.”
“Uh yeah, I know,” she finally answered quietly.
“Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have called,” he said.
“No, I just…I’m just surprised, that’s all,” she explained. “Umm, what…why did you call?”
“I umm, I saw you on that press conference this morning. Things are going good huh? New husband, new baby, new job…I’m happy for you Cooper,” Mallet replied, not answering her question. “Oh I guess I can’t call you that anymore. Sorry.”
“That’s okay, a lot of people still do. Gus calls me ‘Coop’, so…”
“Oh. Coop. Cute.”
“Mallet, you ignored my question and you have five seconds to answer it or I’m hanging up. I have a lot of work to do and I would like to get it done so I can go home and spend time with my husband and kids,” she said, exasperated.
“Okay, I’m sorry. You know we haven’t talked since the divorce…I thought it would be nice if we could,” he explained.
“There’s probably a reason we haven’t,” she replied with a smile as Gus walked by her door and blew her a kiss.
“Look, I’m transferring a prisoner to Valesburg in a few weeks, and I thought since I was going to be that close that we could have dinner together,” he suggested.
“I don’t know, Mallet…”
“I think it would be good for both of us. It’s been a long time, Harley,” he said.
“Yes, it has, and maybe that’s a good thing,” she replied and he sighed. “When will you be here?” she finally asked.
“Well, the best day for me to get away would be May 15th…” he answered.
“Oh, I can’t do that. It’s our anniversary,” Harley interrupted.
“No it’s not,” he replied quickly.
“Mine and Gus’s.”
“Oh. Sorry, wasn’t thinking. Umm, what about the 14th then? I can probably get away for a few hours,” he asked as Gus came into Harley’s office and stood behind her.
“I uh…I’ll have to check that, but I’ll call you back,” she replied as he kissed her neck.
“Okay, I’ll give you my number,” Mallet said and she wrote down his number on a post-it before she said goodbye and hung up.
“Who was that?” Gus asked as he sat in the chair across from her desk.
“Uh, just someone I met in D.C., it was nothing,” she lied, then smiled at him. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to pick up Zach and take him to soccer practice,” he answered.
“Oh okay,” she said as she looked at her watch.
“I’m going to take Katie too so you can have some quiet time to work or relax when you get home, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that, I can pick her up,” Harley argued.
“No, you finish up your work, go home, eat something, take a long, hot bath and relax, okay? Promise me?” he insisted.
“Okay. I promise,” she smiled.
“Good. I love you and I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said before leaning over her desk and kissing her goodbye.
“Be careful in the rain,” she replied as he left the office then she sighed as she looked at the post it with Mallet’s number on it.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:45:00 GMT -5
In the pouring rain, Gus pulled up as close as he could to the front door of the soccer arena. He knew getting Zach, Katie and himself out of the car and into the building without getting one of the kids wet was more work than he was in the mood for, so he put on his flashers, turned off the car and got his umbrella ready. He got Zach out first and ushered him to the door that was covered by a roof, then went back to get Katie.
“What do you think sweet pea? You think your old man can get you out of this car seat and hold at the umbrella at the same time?” he asked and Katie beamed up at him, not knowing what he was saying, but enjoying being the center of Daddy’s world.
He held the umbrella between his neck and shoulder while he picked Katie up and put her over his other shoulder, successfully keeping her completely dry.
“Alright, let’s go,” he said as he opened the front door and followed Zach into the arena. “Give me your coat,” he told Zach and he shrugged his raincoat off before he ran to join the other kids.
Gus shook off Zach’s wet coat, then walked over to the bleachers where he saw Danielle, the wife of his good friend Kevin who was killed the previous summer.
“Danielle,” he greeted and kissed her cheek. “How are you?”
“I’m doing pretty good, Gus. Thanks,” she answered. “How about you? Where’s Harley?”
“Oh, she’s working for a little while then hopefully going home and getting some rest. It’s been a busy few days,” he replied.
“Yeah, I heard. It’s terrible. Have you found the husband or kids yet?”
“No, not yet. We have a couple leads, but they’re in other states, so it’s out of our hands for now,” he answered.
“She has grown up so much since I saw her last,” Danielle said as she reached over and stroked Katie’s cheek.
“Tell me about it. She’s growing up too fast,” Gus replied and kissed the top of Katie’s head.
“They all are,” Danielle laughed.
“Ahh, my car. I’m illegally parked out front. I have to go move it – could you take her?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” she replied and reached for Katie who went to her without a fuss.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and left the arena.
As soon as Katie realized Gus left, she looked up at Danielle and started to cry.
“Oh, shh, Daddy will be right back,” she soothed Katie and stood up, taking her to the edge of the field where she swayed back and forth, talking to her until she quieted down and it wasn’t long before Gus was back.
“It is still pouring like crazy,” he said as he shook out the umbrella and stood beside Danielle watching the kids. “She okay?” he asked.
“Fussed a little when you left, but she’s okay now.”
“She’s a Daddy’s girl,” he explained.
“And you wouldn’t have it any other way,” she teased.
“Damn straight,” he smiled.
“She is beautiful,” Danielle said quietly as Katie laid her head against her chest.
“Thanks,” Gus replied. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I just…before Kevin died, we were planning on having another baby and I was just thinking that if he hadn’t died, we would probably be getting ready to have one soon.”
“I’m so sorry,” Gus said quietly.
Danielle nodded, “I just miss him, you know?”
“I miss him too,” Gus replied. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“No,” she answered with a slight laugh. “I can’t even imagine being with anyone but him. People keep telling me that I should get out and see some people, move on with my life, but I can’t. I mean...you just don’t get over the love of your life very easily.”
“Well then, I won’t tell you to get a life,” Gus winked.
“Thank you. You know, we should go to dinner. When you guys have a free night, give me a call. It’s been too long,” she said. “Just please don’t drag along any single friends,” she teased.
“It’s a deal,” Gus smiled.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Harley got out of the bathtub and slid into her plush bathrobe. She got stuck in the rain when she left the station since she forgot her umbrella and even the warm bath couldn’t stop her chills, though she was pretty sure the phone call she got earlier had something to do with that too. As soon as Gus left, she cursed herself for lying to him. Why did she lie to him? Her conversation was perfectly innocent, so why didn’t she tell Gus about it? She shook her head and got a pair of pajamas on before she went back downstairs to wait for Gus and the kids. She sat on the couch and flipped on the TV although nothing caught her attention. She reached for the picture of her and Gus from their wedding that was on the coffee table and kissed the glass before holding it to her chest and laying down and drifting off to sleep.
Gus and the kids got home only a few minutes after Harley fell asleep, and Gus told Zach to be quiet when he saw Harley on the couch.
“Can I get a drink?” Zach whispered and Gus nodded, sending him to the kitchen.
Gus went into the living room and set Katie’s car seat on the coffee table. She fell asleep in the car, so he left her alone while he sat beside Harley and kissed her cheek. She opened her eyes and rolled over to face him.
“Hey,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”
“Seven,” he answered and kissed her. “Did you sleep long?”
“No, just a couple minutes,” she shook her head. “I took a bath though.”
“Thank you for listening to me,” he smiled and took her hand, pulling her up so she was sitting beside him. “How about we go to bed after Zach is asleep? Sound good?”
“It sounds wonderful,” she replied and snuggled into his shoulder.
“Danielle was there,” he said.
“How is she?”
“She’s okay. Wants to have dinner with us,” he answered.
“Oh, we should. I’ll call her tomorrow and set something up.”
“Good,” Gus said as he picked up the picture that he saw Harley holding earlier and gave her a questioning look.
“I was just missing you,” she smiled and put the picture back in its place.
“Two years soon, can you believe it?” Gus asked as Harley reached for Katie.
Harley froze as she thought of her phone call with Mallet, then shook it off and picked Katie up out of her seat and cuddled her.
“You okay?” Gus asked.
“Yeah, I just got stuck in the rain and have had a chill ever since,” she lied.
“I hope you’re not getting sick,” Gus replied and pulled her back against the couch with him as Zach came back into the living room.
“Hi Mommy,” he greeted and jumped up on the couch beside her.
“Hello sweetheart,” she replied and kissed him. “How was soccer?” she asked and he talked for the next half hour before Gus made him go upstairs for a bath.
“I’ll do it. Stay here with her,” he told Harley and kissed her before he chased Gus upstairs.
“Promise me that when you grow up, you won’t be as stupid as your Mommy, okay?” she asked Katie when Gus and Zach were gone and Katie gurgled and smiled at her.
An hour later, Zach was all tucked in and Katie was fed and asleep, so Gus and Harley went to bed early. They put in a movie, but Gus was dozing off, and Harley was too distracted to pay attention. She reached over Gus for the remote and shut the TV off then shook him awake.
“What?” he asked when she sat up beside him.
“I need to tell you something,” she said and he forced himself to keep his eyes open.
“Okay.”
“Okay…umm earlier when you asked me who was on the phone…” she began.
“What? When?” he asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
“At the station,” she answered and a look of recognition came over his face and he nodded for her to go on. “Anyway, I told you it was someone I met in D.C., but that was a lie. It wasn’t. It was Mallet,” she finally confessed.
“Oh,” Gus said slowly and sat up in the bed.
“I’m sorry for lying to you. I shouldn’t have. It was stupid,” she said quickly and he nodded.
“Well, yeah. Why didn’t you just tell me? Did you think I would be mad?” he asked.
“No…I don’t know. I just don’t think I was ready for questions about it,” she replied.
“What did he want?” Gus asked.
“This is what I wasn’t ready for,” Harley laughed until she saw Gus’s expression. “He saw the press conference.”
“So it was congratulations? A lead? What?”
“He’s coming to town next month and wants to have dinner,” she explained.
“Do you want to have dinner with him?” Gus asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered, honestly. “I mean, it’s not like I still have feelings for him or anything…”
“I know that,” Gus interrupted.
“If anything, I have no feelings about him, good or bad. That part of my life is over, and I would never want to go back there or anything,” she rambled, “but I feel bad if I don’t have dinner with him, because then it’s like I’m mad at him, because I’m not mad at him. I mean, I’m completely over that, because of you. But I don’t want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable.”
“Harley, stop talking for a second,” he said as he covered her mouth with his hand. “I’m not mad, or jealous, or anything like that. I’m not worried that if you have dinner with him, you’ll fall in love with him again and leave me. He was a big part of your life, and he was a big part of our relationship, his ghost was at least. I’m very glad that you are past that, but I understand if you want to see him. It’s fine with me if you have dinner with him, if that’s what you want. When is he coming to town?”
“Well, that’s another thing. He wants to do it the night before our anniversary,” she cringed and Gus smiled as he pulled her down next to him.
“Even better. You go out with him, and the next night, I can remind you of how good our life is now, without him,” he teased and kissed her cheek.
“You don’t need to remind me, Gus. I love you and I always, always will,” she assured him.
“I’m counting on it,” he said and kissed her softly on the lips before he pulled her into a tight embrace for the night.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:46:03 GMT -5
“Where is Mommy going?” Zach asked as he put his slice of pizza back on his plate.
“She’s going out to dinner with a friend,” Gus answered, feeding Katie another spoonful of cereal.
“Aunt Blake?” Zach asked.
“No, someone else. Eat your pizza,” Gus said and Zach took another bite as Harley came into the kitchen.
“Wooo, don’t you look pretty?” Gus whistled when he saw what she was wearing.
“It has a jacket,” she told him, holding up a blazer that matched the light brown pants she had on, topped off by a strapless dark brown top.
“Good, don’t give you know who any encouragement,” Gus teased as she kissed him.
“Mommy, who are you going to dinner with?” Zach asked.
“A friend,” she answered.
“That’s what Daddy said,” he sighed and went back to his pizza.
“I’m late,” she said looking at her watch and putting her jacket on.
“Where are you going?” Gus asked as he grabbed the bottom of her jacket and pulled her over to him and put his arm around her waist.
“Millennium,” she answered, running her fingers through his hair. “I won’t be too late,” she told him with a deep kiss, then kissed the top of Zach’s head. “I’ll be back to tuck you in. Be good,” she said then kissed Katie before she left.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Welcome to Millennium. How many in your party?” the hostess asked Harley who was scanning the room for Mallet.
“Actually, I found the person I’m meeting, thank you,” she replied and made her way through the crowd to the table where Mallet was sitting.
He finally saw her approaching and stood up to greet her, “Harley. You look amazing,” he said as he kissed her cheek then pulled out her chair.
“Thank you,” she replied and sat down across from him. “You look good too.”
“Can I get you something from the bar?” their waiter asked her as soon as she sat down.
“A glass of white wine, please,” she answered and Mallet asked for another beer. “Aren’t you working?” she asked.
“It’s my night off,” he answered.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“Not too long,” he shook his head and looked at her intently for a few moments before he continued. “I like you hair longer, it looks good on you. Everything looks good on you,” he added and Harley shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I mean, I saw you on TV during that press conference last month, but…you really look great.”
“You already said that,” she replied.
“Sorry, I’m just realizing that I am a stupid, stupid man,” he said and she laughed.
“You’re just realizing this?”
“Too little, too late, huh?” he asked.
“Way too late,” she nodded as the waiter brought their drinks.
“So…how are things?” Mallet asked as Harley took a sip of wine. “How’s the job?”
“The job is good,” she answered. “Stressful, busy, but it’s good. Turns out it’s not as much extra work as I thought it would be, things settled down after a few months, and the extra money is nice to have with the kids.”
“What about that case you were working on? How’s that going?”
“Good. We go to trial next week. We found the guy a few weeks ago, and the kids were safe, thank god. They’re with their grandmother and he’s about to be convicted for first degree murder,” she replied.
“Life is good,” he winked and she shook her head.
“How are your kids?”
“You’re full of questions tonight, aren’t you?” she asked.
“We gotta talk about something,” he shrugged.
“My kids are good. Susan is out, enjoying her first weekend out of school. She just finished up her freshman year at Illinois,” Harley began.
“Wow. That’s great. It’s hard to believe she’s old enough to be in college,” he interjected.
“No, it’s hard to believe we’re old enough for her to be in college,” Harley joked and Mallet laughed. “And Zach and Katie are home with Gus.”
“I’m sure that’s his idea of an enjoyable Friday evening. He’s at home with the kids while his wife is out having dinner with her ex-husband.”
“Well, I’m sure he could do without the ex-husband part, but he’s thrilled about having a night with the kids. He’s very good at the whole Daddy thing. Zach adores him and would rather be with Gus than Phillip, and Katie just…she’s the center of Gus’s universe and she knows it already,” Harley laughed. “She’s going to be the most spoiled child in the world, if she’s not already.”
Mallet smiled at Harley’s excitement over her children, “Do you have pictures of them?”
“Uh, yeah,” she answered and pulled out some pictures from her purse. “Here’s Zach’s soccer picture. He’s very into that right now. And this is Katie at three months, but she’s almost six months now, so she looks so different. And here is Susan’s senior picture, which is really old now,” she laughed and set the pictures in front of Mallet.
“They’re all beautiful,” he smiled and picked up Katie’s picture and held it up in front of him, looking from Katie to Harley.
“What are you doing?” Harley asked.
“I was trying to decide if she looked like you. Do you have a picture of Gus?” he asked and Harley nodded as she looked through the rest of her pictures.
“Here’s one, but you can’t see his face too well,” she said and showed him a picture of the two of them from their wedding where they were facing each other.
“Well, she definitely has his hair,” he observed and Harley nodded.
“Oh here’s a better one,” she said and pulled out a different picture. “This was taken last month at Gus’s birthday party. That’s a better picture of Katie and Gus. Susan was taking the picture of the four of us,” she said and Mallet looked at the new picture.
“I think she’s a good mix of the two of you,” he finally decided. “I bet she has your laugh.”
“Yeah, she does. And she has Gus’s temper, and both of our stubbornness. She’s perfect,” Harley gushed.
“I’m sure she is,” he smiled back then picked up the picture from the wedding.
“So in love,” he said. “Where was this?”
“Our wedding. We got married while we were in Jamaica on vacation,” she explained.
“Just couldn’t wait, huh?”
“Well, we already had a big wedding planned for September, but we were there and neither of us really wanted the big thing anyway, so we got married on the beach at sunset. It was gorgeous and exactly what we wanted, except that my Dad and Frank weren’t there,” she explained. “But they’ve been to enough of my weddings,” she added with a laugh.
“This the one?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” she nodded confidently.
“I hope it is. I’m glad you found someone who could make you happy and give you the things you deserve,” he replied and handed her back the pictures.
“You mean children?”
“Among other things,” he shrugged.
“I loved you, Mallet. I didn’t need children- I just needed you,” she said.
“And I wasn’t there…” he interrupted.
“No, you weren’t. But you weren’t the only one, and that’s okay,” she finished. “I’m happy, really happy now. And I don’t regret anything that I’ve done, because it all brought me right here, exactly where I want to be.”
“He’s good to you?”
“He’s wonderful- to me, to the kids, to my friends, my family. He is an amazing man,” she nodded. “I think you guys would really like each other.”
“You don’t think he would like nothing better than to strangle me with his bare hands?” he asked.
“Oh sure he would,” she replied. “But after that, you guys would get along,” she teased and he laughed. “So, enough about me. What’s going on with you? Are you seeing anyone? You’re not wearing a ring, so I assume you’re not married, although I could be assuming wrong.”
“No, you’re not. I’m not married. Never have been after you,” he answered. “I’m seeing some…people.”
“Multiple people?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.
“Not at the same time,” he laughed. “Nothing too serious though.”
“Why is that?”
He shrugged, “No one has held my interest that long.”
“Well, at least I wasn’t the only one,” she sighed with a sip of wine.
“You weren’t like that,” he assured her. “You were different. You were amazing, I just wasn’t in an amazing place in my life.”
She nodded, “And that’s okay now.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said as he reached over and touched her hand. “You, of all people, didn’t deserve it.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “Really, that means a lot to me. I mean, I’m over what happened, but it took me a long time, and it affected every relationship I had after our divorce. It probably was one of the reasons Phillip and I didn’t work out too, among other things.”
“So what got you over it?” he asked.
“Gus,” she answered simply. “Love that made me trust myself again. Unconditional, complete, perfectly imperfect love.”
“Perfectly imperfect? What does that mean?”
“It means neither of us is perfect, and we both know it. We never pretended to be. And we love each other not in spite of our flaws, but because of them in some cases,” she explained and Mallet nodded, knowing inside that he would never understand without having that same kind of love.
“Why don’t you come back to the house after dinner?” she asked. “You can meet Gus and the kids. I think it would be good for both of you.”
“Only if you promise he won’t kill me,” Mallet teased and Harley rolled her eyes with another bite of her dinner.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:46:53 GMT -5
Gus sat in the middle of the living room floor, with his back against the couch, Zach perched on knee and Katie happily playing with her toes on the other. Zach was reading Gus a Dr. Seuss book – a new nightly ritual that Gus enjoyed more than him having to provide multiple voices to entertain Zach. They were almost at the end of the book when the front door opened and Harley and Mallet came in.
“Hi Mommy,” Zach said as he looked up at them, then went back to his book.
Gus looked up and smiled at Harley and her guest, “We’re almost done,” he said and Harley nodded.
“Zach’s almost done with kindergarten and he loves to read. And we love that he loves to read,” Harley explained to Mallet and offered him a seat in the living room.
She went over to Gus and crouched down beside him. “Hi,” she greeted and he turned his head and they kissed quickly before she took Katie from him.
“Daddy, what’s this word?” Zach asked and got Gus’s attention back.
“Astounding,” Gus answered, sounding it out by syllable and Zach repeated it.
Harley took Katie and sat on the coffee table across from Mallet, “This is Katie,” she whispered and Mallet reached out and she gripped his finger.
“She is gorgeous,” he replied and Harley smiled as Gus and Zach finished up.
“Very good,” Gus praised Zach and kissed the top of his head. “Go put it back on the shelf, please,” he said and stood up when Zach got off of his lap.
Mallet stood when Gus did and reached out his hand, “Gus, this is Mallet. Mallet, my husband Gus,” she introduced them and Gus shook Mallet’s hand.
“How was dinner?” he asked.
“It was nice,” Mallet answered and Harley nodded.
“Are you Mommy’s friend?” Zach asked cautiously and he joined the adults and stepped between the safety of Gus’s legs.
“I’d like to think so,” Mallet answered. “You must be Zach,” he continued and Zach nodded. “And you can call me Mallet.”
“’kay,” Zach said and crawled into Gus’s lap again and an awkward silence came over the group.
“Uh, Mallet is Vice Chief in Miami,” Harley told Gus.
“That’s great,” Gus replied. “Miami Vice?” he made the inevitable lame joke and Mallet laughed.
“Well, one of you had to say it. She was kind enough not to make any cracks about it when I told her,” he said.
“Well, I never was as nice as she is,” Gus replied and Mallet laughed nervously while Harley shot Gus a look. “I’m kidding,” he added and Mallet relaxed as Katie started fussing.
“There’s a bottle in the fridge for her,” Gus said and Harley looked at him curiously.
“Uh okay,” taking the hint that he wanted to talk to Mallet alone. “I’ll be right back,” she said and went into the kitchen and Gus urged Zach to follow her.
“Uh oh,” Mallet sighed when they were alone.
“Sorry, I just thought it would be good for us to be able to talk without Harley in the room,” Gus said. “No need to worry.”
Mallet nodded, “So what are we supposed to talk about?” he asked and Gus shrugged.
“I don’t know. Thanks for breaking her heart so I could fix it?” he suggested.
“She had nothing but good things to say about you. She really loves you,” Mallet said.
“I know,” Gus nodded. “I really love her.”
“I’m glad, she deserves the best. You two have a beautiful family.”
“Thank you,” Gus said as Harley and the kids came back into the living room.
“How’s it going?” she asked cautiously.
“Fine,” Mallet answered and Gus nodded. “So, Harley tells me tomorrow is your anniversary. Congratulations. Are you doing anything special?”
“Yeah, sweetie, are we doing anything special?” Harley asked Gus who smiled back at her mischievously.
“Yes, but it’s a surprise,” he answered.
“So close,” Harley whined as they heard a car horn honking outside.
“That’s my cab,” Mallet said and stood up. He shook Gus’s hand again, “It was nice to meet you, Gus. You too, Zach. Good luck with soccer,” he waved at Zach then Harley walked him to the door. “Thanks for dinner,” he said and kissed her cheek. “I’m really happy for you.”
“Thank you. Have a safe trip home,” she replied and with that, he left.
“Okay, I think it’s bedtime. You have a busy day tomorrow with Grandpa,” she said as she turned around. “Want me to tuck you in?” she asked and Zach nodded.
“Go see Daddy,” Harley said and passed Katie and her bottle to Gus before she chased Zach upstairs.
When Zach crawled into bed, he reached up and pulled Harley down next to him, so she snuggled up with him for a few minutes.
“Why am I going to Grandpa’s tomorrow?” he asked.
“Why, don’t you want to?” she asked.
“Yeah, but why?”
“Because it’s mine and Daddy’s anniversary tomorrow, do you know what that means?” she asked and Zach shook his head. “Well, do you remember when we were in Jamaica and me and Daddy got married? It was May 15th, and tomorrow is May 15th, which means that we’ve been married for two years, so it’s our anniversary. And when married people have anniversaries, they like to celebrate.”
“Are you having a party?” Zach asked.
“No, not a party, just me and Daddy,” she answered.
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, he won’t tell me. It’s a surprise,” she whispered.
“Are you going to celebrate all day?”
“Umm…I don’t know. But Grandpa has so many fun things planned for you guys tomorrow! He’s going to take you to the zoo, and then the park and you can probably convince him to buy you some ice cream too if you ask nicely,” she told him and he beamed.
“Are me and Katie sleeping at Grandpa’s too? What about Susan?” his never-ending question and answer session continued.
“Katie and I,” she corrected him, “and yes, you are. And Susan is working then going to Uncle Frank’s. Do you have any other questions to stall or will you go to sleep now?”
“Will you call me tomorrow night before I go to bed?”
“Would you like us to call you?” she asked and he nodded.
“Alright, then we will call you to say good night,” she answered and kissed him. “Close your eyes,” she instructed and he obeyed and curled up beside her.
He was asleep in a few minutes and Harley slowly got out of the bed and walked down the hall. She could hear Gus singing to Katie in her room, so she stopped at the door. He was rocking her in the rocking chair, but by the way she was moving around in his arms, Harley could tell Gus’s lullaby wasn’t putting her to sleep like it usually did.
“She’s wide awake,” he said when he saw her standing in the doorway.
“Did you give her chocolate?” she teased as she came over and took her from him.
“Just a little,” he smiled as she held Katie close and swayed back and forth with her.
She kissed the side of Katie’s head then laid her in her crib, turning her mobile on, the sound of “Brahm’s Lullaby” filling the room.
“She’ll fall asleep eventually,” she said as she covered her up with a blanket and Gus came over and stood beside her.
He took her hand and pulled her back, twirling her around before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. He ran his hands down her back and over her butt before moving to the waist of her pants and unbuttoning them.
“Gus…not in here,” she giggled and he picked her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her into their bedroom, grabbing the baby monitor on their way out.
He kicked the door to their bedroom shut and laid Harley down on the bed, kissing her passionately, working his hands back down to her pants where he unzipped them the rest of the way and struggled to work them over her hips.
“Would it be wrong to make love after dinner with my ex-husband?” she asked, breathless when he finally got off of her to make the undressing easier.
“Depends on who you’re thinking of, me or him,” he replied between kisses on her bare knees.
“Him who?” she asked, pulling him back up to her mouth so she could work on getting rid of his clothes.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:47:09 GMT -5
“So, how was it?” Gus asked after they had caught their breath from their lovemaking and laid entwined under the covers.
“Amazing,” she replied, kissing his chest.
“I meant dinner,” he laughed.
“Oh, it was fine,” she answered. “Actually, it was nice. We talked about what happened between us, and then we talked about you and the kids and his job and my job, we just talked.”
“So things are okay?”
“Yeah. He realizes that I’m over our divorce and that I’m happy. He was very respectful after he told me like twenty times how good I look,” she teased.
“You do look good,” Gus said, kissing her cheek and running his hand over her flat stomach.
“You’re not mad that I brought him back to the house, are you? I just thought it would be better if you met him, that way it wasn’t some secret we were keeping from you or something. I’m sorry, I should have called and checked with you first,” she apologized.
“No, it’s fine. I’m glad I got to meet him,” he assured her and they fell silent for a few minutes. “I’m cuter than him, right?” he asked, breaking the silence and Harley smiled.
“Yes.”
“And sexier.”
“Much sexier.”
“And I definitely have more hair,” he added.
“Definitely,” she laughed and ran her fingers through his hair with a deep kiss.
“So, enough about Mallet. Tell me about tomorrow. What are we doing?” she pleaded with him to tell her.
“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s a surprise?” he asked.
“Well, how much of a surprise? I mean, is it going to be an all day event?”
“No, dinner and after,” he answered.
“So what do we do before dinner?”
“Whatever you want. We can stay here and do nothing or we could go somewhere. It’s up to you,” he replied.
“Hmmm…how about we go to Laurel Falls after we drop the kids off? We can go hiking or horseback riding, or something. It’s supposed to be a gorgeous day tomorrow,” she suggested.
“Sounds good to me. As long as you are ready to leave the house by 6:30 so we can make our dinner reservations,” he warned.
“Not a problem,” she assured him. “So what time is dinner?” she asked, searching for hints.
“Nice try,” he smiled and tickled her into a fit of laughter and kisses.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:48:05 GMT -5
“Grandpa!” Zach exclaimed when he burst through the door of Company with Harley and Gus following him with Katie.
“Hey Zacheroo!” Buzz replied and Zach jumped into his waiting arms.
“Mommy said we’re going to the zoo. Is that true?”
“It sure is. Sound good to you?” Buzz asked.
“Yeah!” he cheered in response.
“Be warned, he’s obviously hyper,” Gus laughed.
“Oh that’s okay. We’ll run him down today,” Buzz said.
“We?” Harley asked.
“Yeah, I’ve bribed Alex into coming with me,” he answered.
“What did you bribe her with? Free chili for life?” she asked.
“No, I just promised her a good time in my company,” he smirked.
“Yeah, well just remember she’s also in the company of your grandchildren, so keep it zipped until after lights out,” Gus added.
“Gus!” Harley exclaimed, slapping his chest playfully. “Maybe he meant an afternoon of laughter with two beautiful children.”
“Sweetie, is that what I mean when I say I’ll promise you a good time?” Gus asked.
“You never say that to me,” she replied.
“That’s because it’s implied with us,” he teased and kissed her as Alex came into the dining room.
“Oh hello,” she said and kissed the top of Zach’s head. “Hello, dear.”
“Hi Aunt Alex. Are you coming to the zoo with us?” Zach asked her.
“I sure am. And I dressed right?” she asked and did a twirl as Zach giggled at her and nodded.
“I didn’t know the Spauldings owned blue jeans,” Gus teased as she kissed he and Harley hello.
“We’re full of surprises,” she winked. “Princess Katie! Aren’t we looking gorgeous today?” she asked and Katie kicked her feet and cooed like crazy at the attention.
“Are you guys staying for lunch?” Buzz asked and Harley nodded so he pushed some tables together so they could all eat together.
“So what are you guys doing today?” Alex asked after they all sat down.
“Well, we’re going to Laurel Falls for the afternoon and then Gus has something planned for tonight, but he won’t tell me what is it,” Harley answered.
“I’ll bet it includes a ‘good time’,” Buzz teased and Gus laughed.
“That’s a safe bet,” he replied, nodding.
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“This is nice,” Harley said as she leaned back against Gus who was sitting against a rock at the peak of the hill they had just hiked up.
“Mmmhmm,” he nodded into her shoulder. “I’m glad you wanted to come up here. It’s nice to have such a beautiful day today and to get to spend it outside instead of in the station.”
“Or in the car, like we spent our last anniversary,” Harley laughed.
“Oh that’s true. But if I remember correctly, we did have some fun that morning in the shower,” he said quietly into her ear.
“Oh I remember that. Somewhere between my morning sickness and Zach, Dad, and Frank we found a few minutes alone.”
“And this year, we have all night. What on earth will we do to fill the time?” he teased.
“We’ve never had a problem before,” she replied as she turned around in his arms and kissed him deeply.
When they broke the kiss, he squeezed her tightly, “We better get going,” he said and they stood up and started back down the trail.
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“Up or down?” Harley asked as she played with different hairstyles in their bathroom mirror later that evening.
“Down,” Gus said, coming up behind her and kissing her neck.
“Alright,” she smiled and let her hair cascade across her shoulders. “So what should I wear?”
“Well,” he said and pulled her out to their bedroom. “Why don’t you wear this?” he suggested, pulling a pink spaghetti strap dress with an asymmetric hemline.
“Honey, that’s like two years old, it probably doesn’t even fit me,” she laughed and pushed past him to look for something to wear.
“Actually, it’s three years old. It’s the dress you wore on our first date,” he replied.
“You remember that?” Harley asked, surprised.
“I remember everything about that night,” he smiled.
Harley returned the smile and stroked his cheek before giving him a soft kiss and taking the dress from him. “What do you know, it does still fit,” she said after she put it on.
“And you still look beautiful in it,” he added as he watched her in the full-length mirror.
Harley smiled and shook her head before she turned and grabbed him by his suit jacket and pulled him towards her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and settled into his body. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re too good to be true,” she sighed.
“Hey, that’s my line!” he teased and kissed the top of her head. “And you give me too much credit. I’m not that good.”
“Yes you are,” she replied, looking up at him.
“No, I’m not. But we are that good,” he said and she nodded before meeting his lips with hers in a deep kiss. “Shall we?” he asked and she slipped her shoes on and let him lead her downstairs.
They were just about to walk out the door when the phone rang and they looked at each other.
“Go ahead, we have some time. I’ll go start the car,” Gus said and Harley went to answer the phone while he left the house.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Oh, I didn’t think you would be home,” she heard Blake on the other end, “I was just going to leave a message.”
“We were just about to leave. What’s up?” Harley asked.
“Well, I wanted to wish you Happy Anniversary first and second, I wanted to see if you were free for dinner tomorrow. I want to hear about last night,” Blake answered.
“Last night?” Harley asked, confused.
“Yeah, dinner with Mallet?”
“Oh that. Yeah, I can probably meet you for dinner,” she replied as the doorbell rang and she started over to the door wondering who it could be since Gus was right outside. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning though,” she said and opened the door to reveal Gus standing on the front porch holding a bouquet of daisies.
Harley smiled at him, “Blake, we have to get going, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said and hung up before tossing the phone behind her onto the couch and pulled Gus back into the house. “Daisies. You brought me daisies on our first date too,” she said as he handed them to her.
“I know,” he nodded.
“Are we going to Towers for dinner too?” she asked.
“Uhh…yes,” he answered. “I know it’s lame, but I thought it would be nice to relive our first date tonight.”
“It’s not lame. I love it. Very romantic,” she replied with a kiss. “Let me put these in water then we can go.”
“What did Blake want?” he asked as he followed her into the kitchen while she found a vase.
“Wants to have dinner tomorrow night. Okay if I sneak away for a few hours and leave you with the kids?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure,” he answered and she set the vase in the middle of the table.
“Let’s go,” she smiled at him and he took her hand.
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Post by Jen on Apr 23, 2005 17:48:58 GMT -5
Gus took Harley’s hand in his and kissed the top of it while they waited in a short line to be seated at Towers. She looked over at him and flashed him a smile that took his breath away and he pulled her close to him. He sighed and kissed the side of her head.
“What?” she asked and he shook his head.
“Nothing, I just love you,” he replied quietly as they moved forward to the hostess who was ready for them. “Reservation for Aitoro,” he said and after checking a list, she showed them to their table. After they were seated, they ordered their drinks and looked over the menus. Harley saw that Gus was more quiet than usual and she lowered her menu.
“Know what you’re getting?” she asked and he shook his head.
“Not yet,” he answered, obviously distracted.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing, I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Stuff,” he replied vaguely and Harley took the hint and went back to her menu.
A few minutes later, they had placed their orders and Gus was still being quiet, Harley looking at him, trying to get an idea of what he was thinking. He took a sip of his water and looked over to see Harley scrutinizing him.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked and she narrowed her eyes before she nodded and he stood up and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor.
He pulled her into his arms and they started moving together to the music in the background. He buried his face in her neck and squeezed her tight.
“Alright, what’s going on? Why are you so quiet? You’ve barely said two words since we got here,” she asked and he lifted his head.
“I just…this sounds so stupid,” he started, almost blushing.
“What? Tell me,” she urged.
“When we standing over there and you smiled at me, I just…couldn’t breathe. You’re so beautiful and I love you so much that I just couldn’t breathe. And I’ve felt that way since the first time that I saw you. You amaze me, and just when I think I know everything about you, every inch of your body, every feel of your touch, you surprise me, and I fall in love with you all over again,” he explained and it was Harley’s turn to blush.
“Gus…”
“So you smiled at me, and all of those feelings just took over and they formed this big lump in my throat and I was afraid if I said too much, I would just start crying over dinner,” he laughed.
“And you think I surprise you?” she whispered and pulled his head down to hers for a deep kiss. “I love you too, Gus. I hope you know that.”
“Of course I do,” he nodded and she smiled up at him as she ran her hand through his hair before he gave her a soft kiss on the lips and she settled back into his arms for another dance.
Towards the end of the song, Gus’s phone beeped and Harley stepped back a bit while he pulled it out and looked at it.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Uh...text message, an advertisement,” he replied after a second and smiled back at her.
“Oh. I’m going to the restroom. Meet you back at the table?” she asked and he nodded then kissed her before she left the room.
He pulled his phone out again and read the message over before going over to the bar and getting the bartender’s attention.
“Yes sir?” he asked.
“I need you to do a favor for me. Downstairs, there is a woman, curly red hair, you can’t miss her, anyway, she’s waiting to pick up something for me. Could you get me like five different desserts and a bottle of red wine and take them down to her? This should cover the cost, plus a little extra for helping me out,” Gus replied and handed the man a stack of bills.
“Yes sir,” the bartender nodded. “Any specific desserts you would like?”
“Make one a cheesecake and one chocolate, and the rest just pick whatever is good. Her name is Blake Marler, she’s waiting for you. Thanks,” Gus said and turned around just as Harley came back into the room and walked over to him.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Oh, I was just trying to get the score of the game,” he lied and put his arm around her back, leading her back to the table right as their waiter came with their dinners.
“So who was winning?” Harley asked after they each started their meals.
“What?” he asked.
“The game, who was winning?”
“Oh, he didn’t know,” he replied and smiled at her. “How’s your dinner?” he asked.
“Good, want to try it?” she asked and held out a bite on her fork for him.
“Mmmm, very good,” he agreed after taking a bite. “I won’t bother asking if you want some of this?” he teased.
“No way, that thing is still mooing,” she shook her head and went back to her food.
A half an hour later, they were finished eating and were talking and holding hands when the waiter came over and asked if they wanted dessert.
“How about we skip dessert for now? We can get something later if you want,” Gus suggested and Harley nodded.
“I’ll bring your check then,” the waiter replied and left again.
“So what’s next?” Harley asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Still a surprise,” he replied and she pouted. “It will be worth it, I promise,” he added then leaned over the table and kissed her.
As he was sitting back down, his cell phone beeped again and Harley sighed as he pulled it out and looked at it.
All set Romeo. Have fun! this message read and Harley looked at him expectedly.
“Gees, you vote for American Idol once and they never leave you alone,” he said and put the phone away as the waiter came back with their check
“Ready?” Gus asked after he signed the credit card slip a few minutes later and Harley nodded and they left the restaurant.
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