Come Home

Chapter 7

"Here you go," Marc said as he put multiple bowls of taco meat out on the table while Luke put bowls of shredded cheese and chopped up lettuce on the table. A couple of the other men put out other toppings while Alice and her two men approached the table.

"Excuse me," Alice shook her head and turned away.

"No, we aren't doing this, Sugar," Jackson said turning her back to the table. "I already made your dinner, sit down."

"What are you talking about?" North asked. "Tacos are her favorite."

"Not anymore," she glared.

"Here you go, Sugar," Jackson said as he put a plate of pasta in front of her. "Asparagus, spinach, and cheese raviolis."

"Yay!" her eyes lit up as Jasper handed her his fork after she dropped hers. He took the one she picked up and sat it to the side while Jackson handed him a clean one. "Thank you."

"You're a vegetarian?" Marc asked and she nodded.

"Since college," Jasper said placing her flavored water in front of her. "Eat."

"Yes Sir," She smiled as he sat on one side of her while Jackson sat on the other side.

They started making their tacos and noticed that Marc was looking at them confused, "What?" Jackson asked after he put hot sauce on his tacos. She leaned forward to take a bite and the men noticed that unconsciously Jasper pulled her hair back while Jackson pulled it into a ponytail at the nape of her neck with the hair tie that was on his wrist. It was just a regular moment between them that none of them noticed but the Blackbourne Toma men did.

"You aren't vegetarians?" Luke asked making them shake their heads. "Yet you support her being one?"

"Yeah, so?" Jackson asked.

"It doesn't bother you that they are eating meat around you?" Marc asked, "Does it bother you that we are eating meat?"

"I could care less about you," She rolled her eyes. "What they eat is their own business, I don't force my own beliefs or habits on them. They make their own decisions and support mine. It's called a healthy relationship."

"Where did you get those?" North asked, "they look good."

"I made them," Jackson smiled.

"He's a world renown chef," she beamed, "he even has his own restaurants."

"She loves when I make fresh pasta from scratch," she smiled as he kissed her forehead. "I have more when you're ready."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Anytime."

"Can I ask how it works with him being overseas all the time?" Kota asked. "I'm very curious about it."

"I trust him," She glared at them. "It took lots of time and reassurance thanks to you assholes." They flinched but knew it was the truth, "But he loves serving this country and I'm proud of his going for his dreams. I'll support him in accomplishing his dreams just like I support my other fiancé and they support me in mine. We have a system that works for us and it's founded on open communication but mainly it's built on trust, something you obviously know nothing about." She stood, "now excuse me, I have some work to do."

"You didn't eat much, Love," Jasper said holding her hand. "Want to eat in your room?"

"Yes please," she nodded. "But I really must get ahold of—"

"Officer Romeo is expecting your video call," Jackson nodded picking up her plate and glass. "I sent him a message earlier so he could clear his schedule for you to talk however long it will take."

"Here is the Wi-Fi information," Corey said writing something down and handing it to her. "You shouldn't have any problems with connection."

"I'll come check on you in a bit," Jackson kissed her forehead. "Jasper will stay with you. He understands that stuff better than me anyway."

"Okay," She kissed him softly then headed up the stairs with Jasper right behind her.

About twenty minutes later Jasper came back downstairs and sat her plate down. Without skipping a beat Jackson put more of the raviolis on it and Jasper kissed him softly before heading back upstairs. An hour later she came bouncing down the stairs happily while holding Jasper's hand.

Jackson hang up his phone, "Everything going well with Paws and Bars, Cuore Mio?"

"Yep," she popped the 'p' while kissing his cheek. "Meine Liebe helped me and Romeo figure out a way for me to run things while down here. He's okay with running things up there until we can come back home. We're going to have weekly video conferences and Meine Liebe had an excellent idea!"

"What's that?" Jackson asked liking how she was slightly back to herself.

"I can go speak to the places around here and maybe just do a short term run here since we're only going to be here for six months. No point in making it permanent but I can do a temporary trial thing and see how it goes here and maybe if it goes well, we can look into expanding."

"That's an excellent goal," Jackson nodded.

"Told you he would agree," Jasper smiled, "as long as you understand it won't happen over night and no pushing yourself for it while you are here. Small steps."

"I understand," she nodded.

"Good," Jackson smiled standing and wrapping his arm around her waist, "now it's late and I know two people that need to get ready for bed before the jet lag catches up to them."

"Not our fault we don't travel as frequently as you," she rolled her eyes then squealed when both smacked her on her ass. "What? If anything it'll be Meine Liebe that crashes before me."

"There's no way in hell I'm crashing before I get my welcome home present," he muttered as the bedroom door shut cutting off her laughter.

"Fucking hell," Gabe sighed, "It's going to be a long ass night."