An Internal Affair

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Everything was going right for once, Chad thought with a satisfied sigh as he glanced over at Andrea. She was sitting in the passenger seat, engrossed in flipping through a supply catalog and studying the new Kevlar products. “Anything good in there?” He started the car and pulled into the street, frowning slightly as he noticed a familiar-looking car parked down the block.

“More of the same, but this one looks good,” she commented, pointing to one of the bullet-proof vests and going back to thumbing through the catalog after he’d had a chance to glance over at it. “I’m thinking about getting a spare. How many do you SWAT boys have?” she asked curiously.

“Two, but I still have my old one when I was still an Officer.”

Andrea closed the glossy pages and shifted in her seat to look at him. “Were you ever shot? I mean, I know you’ve got some scars but you’ve never told me much about them…”

He laughed. “I keep forgetting that you’ve never heard all my stories. Did you ever hear about that cripple in Tarzana?”

She shook her head and settled back in her seat to listen. “I want to know everything about you.”

Chad smiled. “We’ve got all the time in the world for that.” After nearly six months together, he was still in no hurry to uncover all her secrets – she’d told him what he needed to know about her, and as far as he was concerned, anything else she wanted to share with him was a gift. “I love you,” he reminded her suddenly, reaching a hand over to touch her cheek.

“I love you too, Sarge,” Andrea said softly, turning her head to kiss his knuckles. “Are you sure your family’s going to like me?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course they will.” He wondered briefly about the advisability of pulling the car over so he could give her reassurance of an entirely different kind, but decided against it… they’d be late, and he hated being late. Even if he was late more than he’d like these days, but it was bound to happen to anyone if they woke up and Andrea was in bed next to them.

Chad sighed and shook his head, thinking about the trick she’d played on him the previous weekend; knowing his phobia of tardiness, she had shaken him awake and pointed to the clock, telling him that he was going to be late. He’d fallen for it and had leaped from the bed and pulled on his clothes in a rush, only realizing it was Saturday morning when running out the door and seeing one of the neighbors wheeling a mower from his garage. In retaliation, he’d rolled Andrea up in the coverlet and carried her out the door to dump his giggling burden in the backyard, locking the doors and climbing back in bed while she tried to get back inside the house.

He dialed his mother’s phone number and dutifully let her know that he was on his way and yes, he was bringing Andrea along like she’d asked… as if he wouldn’t have brought her anyway? Andrea bent an amused glance his way at his exasperated tone when his mother started asking the sort of questions he’d rather she didn’t, such as if he’d mind terribly if Andrea slept in the same room with Annie and Sarah because he wasn’t married to her and she wasn’t having any premarital sex happening under her roof. “Mom,” he finally protested. “I can’t handle talking about my sex life with you – you didn’t ask when I was with Rita, did you?” Andrea stuffed her fist against her mouth to muffle her laughter. “What? No, she’s nothing like Rita, thank God - and what is that supposed to mean, that’s why you’re making sure we don’t…? Bye, Mom.” He hung up and tossed the phone over his shoulder into the backseat, irritated.

Andrea coughed. “Let me guess – separate beds?”

“On opposite sides of the house,” he grumbled.

She reached up and placed her palm against the back of his head lovingly. “I think we can go without for an entire weekend, Sarge.”

“I can’t.” He’d become accustomed to falling asleep next to her in either his bed or hers – ever since the night they’d finally confessed their feelings for each other, they rarely slept apart. “And it’s a three day weekend!”

“Poor baby.”

“Your pity warms my heart,” he said sarcastically. “We’ve gotta stop to pick up some ice and a couple cases of beer, do you want anything? There’s obviously going to be no need for any condoms...” he’d been looking forward to making love to her someplace other than the familiar surroundings they’d become used to.

She winked at him. “We don’t need to use them anymore – I went to the doctor last week, remember?”


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Andrea watched the crafty look forming in his eyes and smiled, knowing that Chad was thinking up some way to lure her off when they got to his parents house… she wouldn’t mind a bit, as long as her reputation wouldn’t suffer in his mother’s eyes. It was odd and out of character for her, but she wanted to make a good impression on his family – Chad was the most important thing in her life, and she didn’t want anything to ruin the bond they were forming. It scared her sometimes when she thought of how much she loved him; every day she found herself just a little deeper in love with the big sergeant.

And he loved her just as much, if not more. She’d never have thought such a man could exist; to outsiders he was intimidating in size and manner, and his words could cut a person to the quick – nobody expected a man who looked like Chad to be as intelligent as he was. But to her, he was warm, sweet, and so funny he often made her collapse in laughter for minutes at a time with the things he’d say. And he was a phenomenal lover….she shivered just thinking of the previous night when she’d lain in his strong arms while he moved inside her gently, whispering how much he loved her.

“Do you need any help?” she asked as he got out of the car when they pulled into a supermarket parking lot an hour later.

Chad glanced over. “No, but I could use the company.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She walked under the arm he held out and Chad tucked her against his side as they walked in to collect the required beer and ice. “You know, I’ll never forget that time we went grocery shopping with Second Team,” she laughed. “I don’t think that store’s employees have ever quite recovered from having a contingent of SWAT descend upon them.”

He laughed along with her. “That was some fun, wasn’t it? No, don’t get the Budweiser, that stuff’s like water…” They paid and loaded up the back of the Yukon when another car caught Chad’s eye. “Let’s go,” he said suddenly.

“Trouble?” Andrea asked, glancing down at the small purse she’d brought to conceal her issued weapon in.

“Might be; get in.” He pulled out of the parking lot and behind the pickup truck, turning the lights on as they stopped at a red light. Andrea could see the driver of the other car glance in his rearview mirror, and as soon as the light turned green the man floored it and roared away. Chad sped up and Andrea thanked her lucky stars that she was already belted as they hurtled around a corner after the truck.

She hung on, wide-eyed with amazement as Chad maneuvered the SUV through traffic, tires squealing. “What the hell’s going on?” They followed the truck through a suburban neighborhood and when the man pulled into a driveway of a large house in a cul-de-sac, she reached down for her gun as the man took off. The car screeched to a halt and Chad was out the door running after the man, yelling something.

Chad tackled the other man just as the door opened and a tiny dark haired woman ran out of the house. “What’s going on here…? You boys knock it off and get in the house right now,” she scolded. “I don’t know what in the world is wrong with you two – oh, you must be Andrea!” The woman, who could only be Chad’s mother, bustled down the steps towards her in such a determined manner that Andrea didn’t know whether she should stand her ground or turn around and run away. As she approached, Andrea tried a tentative smile that was returned with such warmth that she couldn’t bring herself to be intimidated by this woman. “Oh, we’ve been waiting to meet you!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Shelten…”

“Please, call me Laurel. Come inside,” she was instructed, and Andrea was led past the two men who were rolling about on the grass struggling for the advantage. She cast a somewhat despairing look towards her lover, who was more interested in grinding his opponent’s face into the turf than introducing her properly to his family. “Oh, we won’t bite…much,” Chad’s mother laughed, correctly interpreting her glance. “Those two will need at least ten more minutes rolling around in the mud before they decide they’re finished for the meantime.”

Andrea tried one last ploy to delay the inevitable. “But I really should bring in my things…”

A firm grip on her elbow steered her into the living area, where at least six other women and four men perked up at the sight of her. “Nonsense, Chad and Andrew will bring your things inside when they’re finished working off all that excess testosterone. Now come on in and sit down,” Laurel invited, and began to point out the different people in the room. “Over there are Chad’s three sisters Rebecca, Megan, and I believe you’ve met our Annie…”

Andrea’s eyes widened as she recognized the slight woman who had been at the dance studio Chad had taken her to. “Yes, I have, but-”

“Oh, he didn’t tell you we were related?” Annie laughed.

“I think his mind was somewhere else that night,” Andrea said, then blushed as she realized what she’d just said. Annie laughed harder and waved off her mother’s curious look.

She was introduced to Chad’s cousins and brothers-in-law, and then did her best to retain her wits throughout the barrage of questions such as where had she met Chad? What had she thought of him at first? Was he good to her? What kind of family did she have, and had Chad met them yet? If he did, what did he think? How long had they been together? Was it true that her current partner was the one who was now dating Rita? What did she think of Rita, and about Chad being divorced? Did she and Chad want to get married?

“Whoa, go easy – this isn’t a grand jury investigation,” Chad suddenly broke in from where he was standing in the doorway, his clothes rumpled and grass-stained. “She just got here.”

To Andrea’s relief, he came over and ousted a cousin out of their spot so he could sit down beside her and encircle her with an arm. His touch restored her equilibrium and she was able to draw a deep breath and attempt to answer all the questions that had been thrown at her. “No, it’s okay, Chad… we actually met when he hauled me into IA as soon as I was assigned to Narcotics,” she informed the room, and had to elbow Chad when he started to snicker. “But we didn’t form any sort of relationship until years later, when we were at a retirement party…”

At length, the interrogation was over and they all went outside to the backyard where several nieces and nephews were playing a very lively game of softball without too much attention to actual rules. “Are you done trying to kill your cousin for the day?” Laurel asked. “You didn’t even say hello properly,” she chastised, and Andrea smiled at the sight of Chad stooping to give his mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek; she didn’t even come up to mid-chest level on him.

“How did you manage to create someone as huge as Chad?” Andrea couldn’t help asking. Her sergeant was easily the biggest person there, towering over everyone. “I mean, you’re…” she stopped herself from pointing out that Laurel was even shorter than she was “…a lot smaller than he is.”

Some of the kids spotted them and a cry of, “Uncle Chad!” went up, and at least four of them ran up to grab their uncle’s hands and tug him off somewhere while he cast an apologetic look at her and followed. “Well, his father and I certainly weren’t expecting him to turn out as large as he grew to be… my back has never recovered from the strain of giving birth to that lummox,” Laurel confided and Andrea hid a grin, remembering what Chad had told her his mother would say about that. “Now, I realize that you two are probably on intimate terms but I think you’re able to curtail your activities for the weekend,” she said suddenly. “We’ve got you bedding down with Annie, Meg and Becca, if you don’t mind…?”

Andrea coughed. “Um…no, ma’am, that’s just fine.”

Chad’s mother was quick to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “There’s no blame in it, dear – whatever you two do on your own time is no concern of mine and I know how persuasive my boy can be. Lord only knows the trouble he stirred up when he was going through adolescence! I once caught him with the neighbor’s daughter and you should have seen what they were-”

From somewhere around the corner of the house came Chad’s appalled yell of, “Mom!”

tbc…
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