Chapter Thirty

 

 

 

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

Megan delivered on her promise. I wasn’t positive I could walk by the time we went to sleep that night. She fell asleep almost instantly with her head using my shoulder as a pillow and the serene smile stayed on her lips long after she’d dozed.

It had been awesome to have everyone at the game cheering us on. After Alex had used me as a punching bag the weekend before, I wasn’t sure we’d get to a point where family functions would be doable. I had watched them both converse quietly and it’d been jarring to see him make her laugh like nothing had changed, but so much had. The love that shined on her face when she looked at me made all of the difference.

I was glad they’d broken the ice at the game because it made the recital less awkward than it would have been. My mom and Phil were also there and they were both very warm and kind to Megan. Clarissa had greeted her like they were old friends and the two of them ended up chatting quite a bit.

Although we’d arrived together, Megan and I kept the PDA to a minimum. The two of us ensured that we were constantly touching the other, usually by our joined hands, but otherwise we behaved ourselves for the sake of everyone’s feelings.

Megan was so supportive of the children that no one would think she was anything but family. She cheered the loudest for Kendra and had even made me stop so we could get a bouquet of flowers for her. When the recital was over and the flowers had been given, we had to pry Kendra from Megan so everyone could go home.

As I drove us back to the apartment, Megan stared out the window in silence. We were almost home when I reached over and linked my hand with hers.

“The kids love you, you know.”

She turned to look at me and I could tell she was smiling even though it was dark.

“I love them. They’re great kids.”

I nodded my head in agreement and squeezed her hand. “If we ever split up…” Megan’s mouth dropped open so I hurried on before she could speak. “I’m not anticipating it ever happening, but if we did, Megs, I want you to know that you should be a part of their lives. If you want to.”

“How noble,” she muttered quietly and I just laughed.

“I mean it. In case you ever decide you don’t want to be with me anymore, it doesn’t mean you have to break up with the kids.” I squeezed her hand again as I pulled into the complex parking lot.

“Okay. I got it. Now shut up.”

Megan refused to let me bring it up again for the rest of the night. We spent Saturday morning at the apartment, not doing a lot while we could, and Megan made me go get a haircut after lunch. Once I was clean shaven, I showered and put on the dress blues I’d only worn a handful of times in my career.

“You look great,” Megan murmured with a smile on her face as she straightened my tie. I looked her up and down and shook my head.

“So do you.” And she did. She was wearing a tight, red dress that fell to her knees. It was sleeveless and cut in a way that accentuated her beauty and gave her a classic look. Kelly had curled her hair for her and it fell in perfect spirals at her shoulders.

“Are you ready?” she asked as she stepped into a pair of black heels and picked up her black clutch.

I nodded and grabbed the garment bag that had my jacket and hat inside of it. We left her bedroom and found Kelly sitting on the couch in a purple dress that was a bit shorter than Megan’s and a fair amount tighter. Her light brown hair was twisted at the top of her head and she had gold, strappy heels on her feet. She turned her head when she heard us and smiled.

“Are we ready to celebrate our hero?”

I rolled my eyes as I bent down to pet the dog. Megan immediately jerked on my arm and I stood as she pulled me from Simba.

“You have hair all over your pant leg now,” she said with a sigh. I watched as she grabbed the lint roller from the kitchen and immediately started running it down my leg. “I’m bringing this with us. Let’s go.”

I drove the three of us to New Hope City Hall and once we were parked, I pulled my jacket out of the garment bag. Megan helped me button the gold clasps and she smiled once I put my cover on my head.

“You look so handsome,” she said with a smile. She smoothed her hands on my chest and made sure that I didn’t have a single piece of dog hair on my uniform.

Kelly stopped us before we could go anywhere and made us smile as she took a picture with Megan’s phone. She grinned as she showed it to us and happily told Megan she’d already put in on all of her sister’s social media accounts.

We went inside the building and my mother and Phil were already waiting. My mom peppered me with kisses as Phil slapped me on the back with a proud smile on his face. We stood around chatting for a bit since we were early, and Alex showed up with the kids not too long after. Kendra was wearing an adorable floral dress and Hudson was in his little suit. Kendra handed me a rose as she grinned.

“I want you to have one of my flowers since you did a good job, too.”

I picked her up and crushed her to my chest. “Thank you, pretty. I love you so much.” When I put her down, I gave Hudson a tight hug, too, and he pushed back after a moment looking embarrassed.

I was surprised when James and Renee walked through the door, both of them dressed up and smiling. James shook my hand while Renee wrapped me in a hug. When she released me, I stepped back and immediately grabbed Megan’s hand.

People from my company started to filter in, all of them in their dress blues, too. Christos and Kelly promptly stepped aside to talk, smiles on both of their faces as they did. I wasn’t sure what was going on there because I knew they had been talking and hanging out a lot but as far as I knew, they were both still seeing other people.

A couple of other companies had shown up to support their members who were also being promoted. We all moved inside and I gave Megan a quick kiss before I went to find my seat. I sat between two others who were being moved to lieutenant and the two who were going to captain sat at the end of the row. I held my cover in my hands nervously and barely heard anything the District Chief said as he stood at the podium.

When it was my turn to step up, Megan stood, too, and I watched as she wiped her palms on her dress nervously. I’d asked her if she’d be willing to pin me a few days before and she’d looked surprised. I’d always thought that it would be Phil that I’d ask to do the honor but Megan had changed all of that.

She stood off to the side as I swore my oath and my captain gestured her forward when it was time. Her fingers shook as she fixed the round pin to my jacket but a small smile flit to her lips. Once it was on, Megan and I stood back so they could pin the last person and soon everyone was applauding. We posed for picture after picture for about fifteen minutes, including one of my entire company, and finally people started to leave.

“Owens.” I turned my head and found Jones smiling as she walked towards me, her hand outstretched. I shook it with a grown.

“It should have been you up there.”

“Not this time. Next time.” She widened her smile as she stepped back. “Congratulations, Lieutenant.”

We left City Hall and went to a family restaurant to eat a quick meal to celebrate. I’d made sure that James, Renee, and Kelly had joined us, too, and I was impressed with how easily our families got along. We didn’t stay out long since I had a shift at 0700, but it was the most fun I’d had at a big family function in a really long time.

I went home with Megan, who made me put my cap back on so she could take it off again. She and I stayed up past midnight, and I knew we’d both be dead on our feet for work the next morning. I also knew that the exhaustion would be well worth it.

My morning shift had started off pretty slow and allowed me to get a lot done before our first medical emergency call happened. I hopped in the seat beside Barthe and listened as the dispatcher gave us minimal details about the call. When we arrived to the home, we found a very confused woman who immediately looked back at her younger sons.

“Did one of you call nine-one-one?”

The one who looked about seven or eight had an ashamed expression on his face. “You were in the shower and Robby wouldn’t share.”

“I’m so sorry,” the mother said quickly as she turned to look at where I was standing with the Jones and Christos. “They know better, I swear. I can’t believe this.”

Christos nodded and flashed his panty-dropping smile. “It happens.”

I took a knee on the porch and plastered the look on my face I used with Kendra when she did something wrong.

“You can’t call nine-one-one when you and your brother fight, dude,” I said to the little boy in front of me. “That’s not an emergency, okay? You call us when you or someone else is hurt, if there’s danger, or if there’s a fire. Do you understand?”

He stared up at me, his wide eyes filled with unshed tears, and he nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just don’t do it again. Do you want a sticker?”

He nodded quickly and I pulled two gold badge stickers out of my pocket. “One for you and one for your brother.”

The little guy gave me a huge hug and ran off to find his brother. I straightened up and watched Jones and Christos finish speaking with the mother, who looked embarrassed as she shook their hands and stepped back to go find her kids.

We all loaded back in the truck and I sighed as I pulled my headset on. “Poor kid. I think he’s thoroughly scarred for life.”

Christos laughed through the headset as he nodded. “I might have called nine-one-one if my sibling wouldn’t share the Playstation. That’s just wrong.”

We were almost back to the station when the dispatcher sounded over the headset. “Company 21, we have a residential structure fire in progress at 855 Skyland Road. Can you respond?”

I pushed the button on my headset to transmit immediately. “Copy that. Engine Company 21 en route from Loop Drive.”

“Copy that, company 21.”

The Captain’s voice rang through the headset to let the dispatcher know he was leaving the station with Ladder Company.

“Gear up,” I told my team as we all traded headsets for helmets and made sure the radios were working.

Everyone was quiet as Barthe turned on the sirens and changed our direction. We zipped by cars and the dispatcher updated us twice through the radio. When we finally pulled up in front of the house, the second floor was billowing thick, dark smoke. Ladder Company pulled up as we were situating our gear and I started barking orders at people as I fixed my own.

“Barthe, Williams. I want vertical ventilation on that roof within the next five minutes. Trujillo, Dickerson, spray down the north side first and Christos and Hughes go from the south.”

“Two-One, be advised we have reports of two occupants inside,” the dispatcher said over the radio. “One adult, one juvenile, believed to be on the ground floor.”

I looked at the captain before glancing back at the house. Once we got it ventilated, we could get in easily but the smoke was swelling too fast. Even though the ground floor didn’t seem to be taking the brunt of the flames, the smoke would be deadly.

“Copy. I’m going to breech the perimeter and attempt to gain a visual. Jones, Christos, Hughes- you with me?”

“Copy, lieutenant,” Jones said first as the other two chimed in immediately after.

“Christos, Hughes, enter through the front. Jones, let’s go in the back.”

We all affixed our SCBA oxygen masks to our heads before pulling on our hoods, sealing them to our faces to start the flow of oxygen. I made sure my light was working and then felt Jones on my heels as we ran around to the back door. I pushed it open and my eyes began searching the kitchen for signs of anyone. Jones stayed at my six as we listened to the others around us. Trujillo and Dickerson already had managed to get the hose up and going and were trying to douse the flames.

Jones and I had cleared the kitchen when Christos came over the radio. “Living room clear. Adult female, unconscious. We’re taking her out.”

“Copy, Christos. Good job. Any sign of the juvenile?”

“Negative, Lieu. We haven’t cleared the side room, though.”

Jones and I cleared that room with no sign of the kid. I was ready to take us out the front door when I saw him at the top of the stairs. I could make out a little guy through the smoke, maybe no more than three years old, and he was hacking uncontrollably as the smoke got to him.

“Eyes on the juvenile,” I said through the radio as I pointed for Jones. “At the top.”

“Those stairs look ready to go, Lieutenant,” Jones said quietly as she inspected them. “We need to stay close to the wall.”

“Agreed. I’ll go. Stay at the bottom.” I put a foot on the first stair and slowly climbed, testing my weight before each step. The integrity of the top three stairs was weak but I managed to get my arms around the kid. I turned around and started towards Jones at the bottom of the stairs, barely able to make out her silhouette through the smoke. I was about halfway down when Barthe’s frantic voice came over the radio.

“The window’s gonna go! The window’s gonna go! Watch out for the flashover!”

“Jones, take him,” I yelled as she took three steps forward and I shoved the kid into her arms. “Go, go!”

She ran down the stairs as fast as she could in the gear and she’d made it to the final stair, me still four behind her, when it happened. It wasn’t as loud as I’d been anticipating but suddenly, I was airborne.