Then Came You

Chapter 7 -- Our Life Together

To say LaSalle was depressed when the movers arrived was an understatement. He had no idea where his wife was or when she would be back. He was overcome when he hugged Miss Loretta goodbye at his farewell dinner. "Look Christopher" she said. "Thousands of families go through this every day of the year. I'm glad I am going to be able to tell you this. Find a Family Readiness Group when you get there. There are many families right there in D.C. that endures what you will experience in the years ahead."

Chris wondered why Sonja had asked what he was bringing with him. Her condo had a storage area where much of his furniture ended up going but she had put up sticky notes for the placement of items that would find their place in the condo. The weapons' safe was another story. The movers had to take off two doors to get it into the third bedroom and even then he wasn't quite sure how they got the thing in. He had all of his items put away by Wednesday and found himself extremely bored.

The next week found him completely immersed in his new job. He had a lot of new names, faces and locations to learn. He was partnered with a longtime agent of the organization. Charles or Charlie as he preferred to be called had been in five different NCIS offices. He told Chris that he only wanted to be on the streets. He was a former Marine who had made it to the rank of Sergeant. He told Chris that he never wanted to supervise again. He found civilians for the most part too relaxed to the danger of situations. A combat tour in Mersad had convinced him that it was time to leave the Corp. It did not take long for Chris to realize what a great agent he was and how fortunate he was to have him have his back.

Three weeks after he started his job he got an e-mail from his wife. She was back and waiting for him at the condo. Chris worked hard to get his last report closed out so he could leave early.

He made a quick stop at a florist shop and made a beeline for the condo. Sonja was not subtle at all. She had evidentially taken a quick shower and put on one of the negligées that she had gotten in the shower that Tammy held for her.

"How long do you think that dinner will hold" Chris asked Sonja.

"Long enough come on."

"There you go again" LaSalle remarked as they finished their dinner.

"What?"

"Avoiding my eyes? What's going on in that expansive mind of your Sonja LaSalle?"

"I was reflecting on how I was just sitting here struggling with life and 'then came you'! A handsome, smart, kind and loving man who helped me take down my walls. Someone who allowed me to help him through the pain of his own life and let me know how I was able to assist him in binding up his wounds. I didn't' realize that love could be this wonderful."

The newlyweds had taken the time on their honeymoon to start mapping out a life plan. Sonja took stock of Chris' investments and recommended that they put away a few extra dollars a payday to get him to where he needed to be for retirement.

Planning the children was an unexpected moment for Chris. Chris snarked "you do know that practice makes perfect right?"

It didn't take them long to realize that they had out grown the condo even with a third bedroom for the office. Actually it was missing the water that drove LaSalle to bring up the subject of buying a house. Looking at the area, there was really only one city near Quantico with water. Sonja really wanted to live in a larger town but found the train being so close to the suburb made it viable. She wasn't home most of the time anyway. The town had great schools and the fishing was great on Lake Montclair. They lucked up on a great find. The home was listed on the base as a rental when the Marine who owned it was suddenly reassigned. LaSalle caught up with her spouse and they were able to negotiate a sale. It worked out for both families.

****************************