As the children approached their last years in high school, the LaSalles began to reassess their futures. Sonja was finally eligible for her federal retirement as a law enforcement officer which would provide her with a considerable sized pension. She had also wisely invested her hazardous duty pay into the fund as well.

Like others on her team, she had long grown tired of the constant fire fights and time away from her family. The "bad guys" had gotten better at the game as well. It became more difficult to bypass the electronic devices and new monitoring techniques and smaller missiles. It was the "plastic" and other undetectable side arms that concerned her the most. Her first knowledge of those types of weapons came to her attention when her former squad mate Sabastian Lunde was framed for a murder involving an "invisible" weapon.

Then there was her home life. Her second marriage was more than she could have ever dreamed. Her husband was supportive, loving and caring. The nanny would send her photos and comments on nearly a daily basis about at least one thing that happened in the household that day to her private email account that she could sometimes access from a secure system.

Ruth Johnson had been with them for several years before Christopher joined the household. She could also see the changes in the family's routine and cohesiveness. The new family member had taken over all responsibilities for the children's educational and extra circular activities.

While Ruth appreciated these duties being taken off her 'plate', she began to grow restless. It was at this time that Mr. LaSalle encouraged her to expand her own horizons. He modified her work schedule to have one weeknight and a second weekend off duty. She enrolled in a local community college and soon found any extra time she had invested in her course work.

LaSalle had implemented "library night" for the entire family the week after he moved in. He spent much of the first year teaching the Jayden and later Emma how to use the library and the electronic systems. During the summer the children were expected to read one book a week and prepare a summary for their mother to hear when she returned. There were several times that one of the children received an unexpected delivery of a book which they would learn came from Sonja.

One afternoon Chris ran into Dr. Mallard and the recently retired Raymond Isler at a restaurant in Union Station. They were both more than delighted to see recent photos of the growing children. All three grew quiet as Sonja's name came up in the conversation. Even more reserved than LaSalle, Isler had begun carrying guilt about the constant danger that Sonja faced. He had read several of her classified missions including the one where her own team had been shot up in Africa.

Dr. Mallard called Sonja a week later and asked her to call him when she could. Three weeks later she phoned him to be informed that he had learned of a position at the American University in the School of International Studies. Sonja didn't discuss the job opportunity with her husband until after she had interviewed for and been offered the position. LaSalle was stunned. "You should have told me City Mouse".

"I'm sorry Christopher. I didn't want to get your hopes up". "What" his eyes told her? "Dr. Mallard told me about the job Butch. He is one of the few people in the world who could understand what you go through as my spouse. I will have the opportunity to help train the next level of American spies and be home with you and the children each night."

Sonja could only hope that her youngsters would find happy lives with good mates and the choice of their desired career. Jayden's solo experience at vacation Bible school had caught the attention of the church Worship Leader. He offered a year of free keyboard lessons to Jayden who years later would take his place in the congregation. While somewhat older than other child music prodigies, Jayden soon mastered the piano and organ and composed his first symphony for his high school composition course.

Jayden became a favored student of Jeffrey Mumford while at the Washington Conservatory of Music. LaSalle would observe them online at the piano when Mumford's age became a barrier for him to leave his house or later while Jayden toured the world. Both the nanny and Chris could drive the nine miles to his townhome blind folded.

Emma was presented with several choices for her professional career. She had participated in the Navy JRROTC program in high school with every expectation of pursuing admission to the Naval Academy. The LaSalles scrambled trying to track down what had happened to her mother as Emma prepared the documentation for her security clearance. In the end they had hire a private investigator to determine what had actually happened to her. Emma was invited to an on-campus visit at Navy. She returned as committed as ever to going to the Academy.

One day a "cloak and dagger" operative pranced into LaSalle's office. It had been a while since he had encountered someone other than one of Sonja's teammates wear a trench coat, but he had him pegged as soon as he walked into his office. Actually, LaSalle got scared. He just knew that had something to his wife.

I'm sorry to upset you Mr. LaSalle, however, this is not about your wife. It's about your daughter. We were on the Navy campus when she made her visit a few weeks ago. We were impressed with her interest and abilities in biology. We would like to visit with her and see if she would consider a position with the government. We prefer to find and train our candidates before they enter college. For the most part, we do not consider military officers. We recognize them to be "too polished" for our line of work and they often get hung up on duty and honor and the Geneva Conventions. It's too hard to deprogram them.

Fortunately for all of them, Sonja popped up on the radar. Somehow Sonja knew the building they ended up in for the interview. In the end, Emma chose this option and was able to choose her own college within a three-hour commute of the Federal District. Her liaison officer looked like she could be her sister. To their surprise she was posted on Redstone Arsenal. LaSalle was never quite sure what she did and like with Sonja, he learned not to ask questions.

Two weddings and a few babies later, it was time for LaSalle to retire. Sonja needed to stay in her job a couple of more years to be vested in the private retirement system of the University, so LaSalle decided to stay in the office of Strategic Support. LaSalle loved being able to take the train to the office each day avoid the horrible drive across the region and the unplanned salary added to his retirement and vacation fund.

Sonja and LaSalle retired two days apart from each other allowing their former colleagues to fly to D.C. for a reunion. There were photos all around as King, Loretta and LaSalle bragged about their grandchildren. Chris was glad to see the two of them together along with Rita.

LaSalle wasn't so sure that King would ever allow himself to love Rita like she deserved to be loved as his wife. He thought that Linda's fears followed him until the day he retired. It was only then that he reached out to Rita and pursued a sincere, committed relationship with her.

King, Rita and Tammy joined Sonja and Chris as they took the ride out to the Woodland Cemetery early one morning to lay flowers on Raymond Isler's grave. He wanted to be laid to rest among family members in the all black cemetery created during D.C.'s segregated era. Isler had saved each of their lives at one time or another. It was only then that King finally told them how Raymond had shared with him that someone was in D.C. was after him. Years later that he learned that person was NCIS Deputy Director Van Cleef. LaSalle thought that Rita was going to pass out when he revealed the name. Van Cleef had befriended her when she relocated to D. C. many years before. It was only then that she realized it was a guise to help him keep track of Dwyane and his movements.

A few days later the loving couple walked back into the big house alone again. The painters started in on the house on Monday and the professional cleaners arrived on Friday almost as soon as the truck from the resale store had pulled away. LaSalle thought it was just amazing all of the stuff that they had collected over the years. The children had been back the month before having been warned that everything was either going on the garbage heap or on the agency's truck as a donation.

All the extra stuff removed from the house that was going to Alabama was sat in the third garage stall with the gun closet. The house smelled like paint and new carpet throughout. Sonja said that she was exhausted and couldn't wait until the movers came next week.

Chris and Sonja took the weekend plus a few days to return to the Naval Academy and was even able to get the same cabin that we had for their first get away the many years before. This time, however, they stayed on the installation the entire time and enjoyed the great food and the spa. They were fortunate to have the house sell after the one and only open house. The house was just a few blocks from an elementary school and the trainline and coupled with its size was a great steal for any buyer.

LaSalle watched as his wife did one final walk through after the movers departed. She had spent many memorable years in this house. Tears trickled down her face as she tried to hold them back. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Cry Sonja my love" he said. "This house has been your foundation for 30 years".

They contemplated for some time what type of house that they would build in Alabama. There was one hill that LaSalle and his brother Cade would stand on and scout deer drinking down by the island. They decided to build a walkout ranch on that site. Later in life the grandchildren would sit at the picnic table on the ground level and watch the deer and other animals sneak up to the house only to finally catch their scent and scurry off. The two of them would often sit together on the deck and do the same thing or enter into a full blown make out session.

There were many days that LaSalle would sit out on the island or take the boat out to fish and sit there and look at Sonja's photo and think just how lucky he was. Well lucky and stupid at the same time. He was still was not sure what he was thinking the day that he let her leave New Orleans without him.