Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (43 page)

“Oh Cal,” she whispered.

Ethan was swamped with emotion too. His son was everything to him next to Elizabeth and Callen. “It’s beautiful.” On the blue leather binding was the baby’s name. Across the bottom it said ‘our son’.

“Open it, there’s more.”

As Elizabeth opened it, a disc fell out onto her lap. “What’s this?” she asked, holding it in her hand.

“Remember when you called
Wyler, and he told you that CJ sat up alone for a few seconds?”

“Yes?”

Callen grinned. “Ethan said that he’d get dad to record him, and you could watch him all day long. Well, I had him do it. On that disc is CJ sitting up, and him playing with toys, and his first O’s. There will be more discs. That’s just the first one. You both never have to worry about missing another first again.”

Elizabeth glanced at her husband
, and she started sniffling, and Ethan wasn’t far behind.

“Wait, there’s still more.
Keep flipping.”

Elizabeth had never seen the pictures before, and the poems beside the pictures were beautiful. “Where did you get all the photos? They’re gorgeous.”

“I had dad take CJ to a photographer when you were out shopping, or he was watching him. You have a book of CJ.”

Elizabeth ran her fingers over the photographs. “This is amazing,” and then she read the words. “You wrote these poems,” she said softly. “These are your words.”

Ethan read what Elizabeth pointed at, and read the poignant words besides the pictures of his son. Some were in English, and some were in their native language.

“Oh, Callen,” she whispered. “They’re beautiful.”

“You once gave me a book of poetry, Elizabeth. Inside you wrote
‘Words should be shared when love has found a place to bloom
’, and I’ve cherished that one sentence since I’ve read it.”

Ethan finally spoke. “Callen, this is staggering. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

He warned them. “Don’t turn to the last page unless you want to cry. It just felt fitting to end the book with it.”

She braced herself. “Now I have to look,” she said, turning to the last pages. It did indeed make her cry, and she handed the book to her husband and went into Callen’s arms.
“I love you.”

He held onto her and kissed Elizabeth gently.

Blackhawk flipped to the back of the book, and his heart flipped in his chest. There sat a picture of their granddad holding his first great grandson. It was the last time they were together. It was the only color photo in the entire book. Beside it was a poem. Ethan wiped his eyes. “Thank you, Callen. This is an amazing present and I’m blessed to have you as my brother.”

“I’m the lucky one, Ethan. You and Elizabeth gave me so much that I can never repay you.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Don’t you see Callen, before you we weren’t complete. We’re the lucky ones. You made us whole.”

Blackhawk wrapped his arms around his brother and wife. “I love you both.”

After a while, Callen laughed. “Okay, more presents or this is going to take three months.”

Elizabeth stayed in his lap as she opened the last box.

“So you know, angel, I too shopped for really trashy, slutty and vile lingerie,” he said laughing. “But I put it in the drawer. I know better than to call it a present.”

Ethan snorted and punched his brother. “
You’re a traitor!”

She giggled. “You both get to see me in all of it,” she promised, opening the box. Another jeweler’s box fell out. Opening it, she gasped. “Callen, it’s amazing.”

“I hope you love it.”

Elizabeth ran her fingers over the bracelet. It had three charms on it.

“The raven is Ethan, I’m the fox, and the infinity symbol is us together.

“It’s gorgeous. I love it. I promise to wear both the locket and the bracelet every day.”

She kissed both men and then stood. “Okay, you both on the couch. I have two gifts for each of you.” The men obeyed and sat where she was sitting previously.

“Callen, you get to go first,” she said, handing him the first box. “I hope you like them.” She watched as he ripped into the paper, grinning like a fool.

Whitefox pulled the lid off the box, and inside were a new pair of cowboy boots. He ran his fingers over the trimming and stitching. “Custom boots?”

She nodded. “Look at the detail,” Elizabeth stated, pointing at the picture stitched into the boot.

“It’s a fox.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Because you
’re my fox.”

“I love them, they’re absolutely gorgeous.”

She grabbed the next box. “This is part two of the gift.” Elizabeth placed it in his hands, and watched the happiness on his face.

Opening the box, the belt buckle sat in red tissue paper. He and Elizabeth had an affinity for them but this was, like
the boots, a custom made one. On the front was a gold fox on a silver background. The eyes were little tiny red stones. “Angel, this is amazing.”

“Flip it over.”

He did what she asked, and found it was engraved.

                           
For my love.

Callen’s heart skipped a beat at the words. At first, he always wondered if he would fit into their lives, and from day one he had. They made him part of them, and he was finally alive.

“I love it.”

Elizabeth grinned. “Ethan’s turn are you ready?” she held two boxes in her hands for him. “The bigger one first.”

Blackhawk opened the box delicately, savoring the moment and enjoying the surprise coming. When he pulled back the tissue paper, he ran his hand over a blue silk tie with ravens on it. “How did you find this?” he asked, grinning.

“I had it custom made. Callen got foxes and you got ravens. There’s also a suit pocket square so you match.”

“It’s beautiful baby, and I’ll wear
it and think about you.”

Elizabeth smiled handing him the small box. “One more for you.”

Again, Ethan slowly opened it. When he found the black velvet box he snapped it open, and the corners of his mouth curled up. “I love them.” He delicately pulled out the white gold cuff links with the black onyx ravens on them. “They match my tie.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Yes, it does. As does Callen’s boots and buckle. Now you two can be matching, but in your own way.”

Ethan kissed his wife and stood. “How about we sit on the couch and cuddle,” he said, winking at his brother.

Callen kissed her too. “I could use some cuddling.”

She giggled as he pulled her into his lap.

Blackhawk went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine and three glasses. He carried it into the living room. “Drunken cuddling is on the agenda,” he stated. Pouring three glasses, he handed them each one. “To our family. May we grow bigger and happier in the new year,” he toasted, and clinked his glasses with Elizabeth and Callen’s and then sat beside her.

Well, it looked like now it was time to give them her last present. “Oh wait! I forgot a present for each of you,” she said, extricating herself from between them. “I have to admit, I didn’t buy this gift. I made it.”

Both men snickered. “That’s frightening.” Blackhawk winked at her.

“Funny, smart asses. You have to open them at the same time, since it’s the same gift.”

Both men put their wine down.

Elizabeth watched them open the boxes at the same time, and then pull back the tissue paper.

Ethan stared down at the words,
printed on the shirt. It simply said ‘Daddy?’. It didn’t take long for him to get it, and then stared over at his brother, mouth open.

Callen read his shirt
, that said the same thing, laughing at first, then getting it.

“Wait, are you saying…”

Whitefox couldn’t put a sentence together. “A baby?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Congrats boys, we’re kicking off the new year right and making Ethan’s toast come true. I’m pregnant.”

Neither man spoke.

In that second nerves took over, as did shock.

      
This couldn’t be good.

~ Chapter Twelve ~

All in all, it was a relatively fun evening. Tori sat beside Julian, his arm around her shoulders, and occasionally he’d whisper something reassuring in her ear. Everyone had been very welcoming, and even little Maryann stopped trying to hide behind Julian, and was talking directly to her.

So this is what a big family was like. No wonder Julian always seemed so damn happy. He had an amazing set of relatives that obviously loved him. She found herself looking at him the entire night, lost in the man beside her and it made her nervous as hell. Something about him just sucked her in and made her want to forget.

“So Tori,” stated Justin, leaning back in his chair. “Why the Army?” he asked, grinning at his brother
, as he gave him a dirty look.

Tori found herself relaxed enough to discuss it. “Well, my dad was
Army and my grandfather too. Then there’s the real reason,” she said, smiling at the man that looked exactly like Julian.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“It’s just the best,” she answered.

Julian started laughing, proud that she was relaxed enough to tease his brother back.

“Here we go,” stated Clarissa, laughing. “I thought it was bad with the Navy and Marines, but now we have the Army in the fray.

Justin laughed. “Hardly. I bet you had to have the men in your unit clean your weapons for you.”

Julian tensed; he was so going to kick his brother’s ass later if he didn’t tread lightly. “Justin, knock it off.”

Tori touched his cheek. “Julian, I’m okay. I know that I can assemble any of the weapons I had to carry
in less than one minute each. I’m betting Justin had to pull out the manual to do it. You know the one with the pictures in it.”

Julian laughed as all the family at the table gasped. “I believe it.”
It was entertaining to see his brother get one back for a change.

“What weapons are you familiar with, Tori?” inquired Justin, still grinning.

“I used the M16 first, and then on patrol in the streets my weapon was the M4. My personal side piece was the M9.”

He was going to school
the girl, whether she was his brother’s babe or not. “I happen to have my M4 in my case in my truck. Care to go head to head with me and prove that you know your weapons as well as a Marine?”

Tori shrugged. “Get your weapon, Justin. But when I win, you have to pay up.”

Julian was enjoying this. It was a whole new side to his girl, one he’d never seen before.

“What’s the
wager?” Now he was curious.

Tori thought about it.
“I win; you have to wear an Army t-shirt every time I see you again in my presence.”

Everyone started laughing, including Julian. If his girl could school his brother, then he was going to definitely marry her.
It proved she could be a Littlemoon.

“What if I win
?” questioned Justin.

“I’ll sport that Mari
nes logo for you on my morning run every damn day for a month.”

Justin stood. “Deal,” he held out his hand, waiting for Tori to shake it. When she did, he grinned. “Be right back.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” inquired Claire. “He’s fairly fast with his weapon.”

Tori wasn’t worried. “I served in a unit with Rangers on a front line. If you couldn’t get your M4 together in less than a minute, they’d leave your ass behind in the zone. I’m not scared in the least of a Marine; an insurgent with a death wish is far scarier.”

Julian pulled her closer to his side and took in her scent. “I know you can kick his ass,” he whispered in her ear. “I’d bet my horses on it.”

Tori was touched by the complete faith he had in her.

Just then, Justin entered the room and placed his weapon on the table.

“Nice gun,” said Connor.

All three service members at the table looked at him like he just committed a cardinal sin.