Tropical Threat (#3 - Semper Fi Series )

Epilogue - Baby?

The next two months passed too quickly, and Lee and Natasha settled into their new life.

The new protection branch of Max's agency was up and running, and was only an hour from Grubbstown. The commute wasn't the best, but they were sure happy to not have to travel back and forth to Washington D.C.

Natasha was promoted to Lead Detective in charge of the Murder and Violent Crimes Division. Andrew Billings was also promoted to Lead Detective in charge of the Drugs and Illegal Trafficking section. They were no longer official partners, but still managed to work almost every case together.

The phone rang, bringing Natasha back to the present. Lee had been gone for a week and a half on a detail that involved ambassadors and international leaders. She missed him like mad, but was swamped with enough work to pass the time swiftly.

"Detective Connelly!" She answered in a huff from running to grab the phone.

"I never tire of hearing you say that."

"Lee! How's it going? I miss you."

"Well, I should be home soon." His voice sounded odd, almost like he was underwater. "I was thinking, but I want your opinion."

She let out a light giggle. He was full of surprises. "Well, are you going to make me guess or are you gonna just let me know now?"

"Well, I was wondering where you'd wanna eat..." his voice echoed, and she turned around, throwing her phone on the couch. Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him with a hello kiss that would curl his hair, if it weren't cropped short. "Dinner?"

She didn't answer him. It felt like an eternity since he'd been home.His arms wrapped around her shoulders. His cast had been replaced by a sling, and he only had to wear it if he was in pain, which meant the macho man in him didn't wear it at all. "How about in bed?" She finally said with a suggestive raise of one eyebrow. "We can order Chinese, or pizza. We can order sandwiches for all I care."

"I wanted to take you out to celebrate, but your idea is just as good." He smiled a warm grin that said he had much to tell her, among other things.

"Celebrate what?"

Before he could answer, her phone rang again. "Detective Connelly!"

"This is Paul. I just wanted to let you know Amanda's in labor. She wants you to come to the hospital."

"Paul, getting to D.C. before the baby arrives is gonna take a miracle." She covered the phone and whispered Paul's news to Lee, who seemed disappointed almost as much as he was happy. She put Paul on speaker so Lee could hear, too.

"Well, see, the thing is, I was transferred and we are actually in Atlanta right now. We didn't have time to tell anyone, as Max sent us packing quite literally overnight. Our things will be here next week. We don't even have a place yet."

Before she could ask, Lee spoke up. "We're on our way right now!"

"We're at Northside Hospital. We had literally just stopped for dinner. She took three bites and her water broke. Go figure!"

"We'll be there shortly!" Natasha promised as they hung up. She'd never thought she'd get to see her best friend's baby born. It stirred up emotions she hadn't felt since Aaron died: the desire from deep within to have a family. She would wait until life settled before talking to Lee about babies.

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On their way out of town, they ordered dinner at a fast food drive-thru. "We still get dinner together, at least!" Natasha said after slurping sweet tea through a straw. "So, what are we celebrating, besides our friends' impending parenthood?"