June 1, 2011

Berlin, Germany

Tej used his pointer to point out all of the locations on the map where a team of two would be located. Hobbs had talked the German government into agreeing to ship the intel in a tank. Yes, an obvious target, but also not completely strange in the area given that there was a military base nearby. The idea was that even if they stopped the tank it would be more difficult to get the package and in the time required to take it the team would be able to get on the scene, take the package, and get Lukas apprehended. But it was certainly easier said than done.

"Han and Giselle, you'll be trailing the tank from the get go. Giselle has the best aim and if any of them get out of their vehicle to get the package, she is most likely to take out her target," Hobbs held a bag of ice over his busted lip as he called out the teams. Giselle grinned at her boyfriend and winked. She was completely aware of her badass persona. Hobbs gestured toward the section of the great room that was committed to their weapons, "go shopping girl!"

Giselle jumped up and clapped excitedly before heading toward her newest toys. Hobbs eyed Rome and Brian, "despite my thoughts on the issue it would be best to have you two together. Like Dom and Letty, one of you needs to be dedicated to driving like a beast and the other needs to be ready to jump out of the vehicle if necessary."

Rome stuck his tongue out at Brian from across the table. Brian threw a bunched up paper ball at him. Dom sat across from his wife, who not even one hour before had essentially broken up with him, yet he continued to finger her gold cross in his pocket. It had been weeks and months since he'd finally gotten her back but he was still grateful that she was even alive and on earth. It was a fast rebound but he was all ready sure that he was going to get her back. She was trying to use her head when she had admitted that he all ready had her heart. Maybe it was time he made some admissions of his own. Maybe it was time to drop the macho bullshit and let her all the way in. She'd all ready been stuck in his heart for years.

"You ready to jump out of a car," Brian asked her.

Letty rolled her eyes, "it's what I do."

"Damn right," Han agreed, "on a gas freight in the DR she jumped from the back to the top of Dom's car. He swung the car and essentially ricocheted Letty back into the passenger side. Two words: bad, ass."

"How'd you do that girl," Rome asked.

Letty grinned, "you heard the man, I'm a bad ass."

"If I'm supposed to be doing that shit tonight then I might need a drink right now! Come on girl, what do I do if it happens?"

"All you have to do is trust your driver," she admitted. Nothing and nobody on earth could have gotten her to jump that day except Dom. And no matter what had transpired since then if she were in the same position tonight she would only jump for Dom.

"I love you Letty." Letty deadpanned as everyone in the room turned to look at him. He didn't shrug it off or look down, he took everyone's scrutiny. There had been years that he hadn't voiced the words because he hadn't been brave enough back then. Now, with everything to lose, he was finally brave enough.

"Well…that's awkward. So," Tej cleared his throat, "are we ready for go time?"

Giselle smoothed her Remington with her hand as if she were caressing her lover, "I think we're as ready as we'll ever be."

6666

"You trust your driver," Dom asked as they sat in the dark of his Chevelle.

Letty nodded, "of course. I've always trusted you to keep me safe physically when we were together. I just have a hard time trusting you with my heart, trusting you to stay."

"This sound familiar," he asked the question gently knowing that she would be thinking of the night before their wedding too.

"You broke that vow, Dom."

"I did. And there won't ever be anything that I'm more sorry for. Hurting you, making you feel so badly, is the biggest mistake I've ever made. I know that my actions are what have caused you to question our relationship. Just know that since the day you died I have lived with that fact as surely as you have since the day Fenix shot you."

Letty stared ahead as drunk party animals walked past the car, uncaring that there were two random people sitting in it. She took a deep breath, "Mia told me what you said the day you found out I was alive. You were right, you are the fuck up in this situation. I'm pissed that Christian won't grow up with us together the way your parents were. You created this division."

"And I'll make it right even if it takes the rest of my life. Letty my dad once told me that my mother showed up, cut through all of his bullshit, and took his breath away. I haven't been able to breathe since the first time I saw you fix an engine. I didn't want to love you for a long time. And then I didn't want to hurt you. The problem was that I never trusted you enough, never respected your decision enough, to stay."

Tej's voice sounded through their ear pieces. It was go time. Dom started his car and began speeding toward the tank. In approximately ten minutes they would run directly into the tank and Lukas' team.

"To be honest I don't know why the hell you stuck with me so long. Until the very moment Mia called me and said those fucking words I was the same arrogant piece of shit. But holding Christian, knowing he was me and you, and that in the end I was still the only one you trusted to love him told me everything I would ever need to know."

Dom was speeding and Letty loved it, "and what's that?"

"That you still see the good in me. Knowing I still have your love and loyalty makes me want to work overtime to prove my love and loyalty to you. I will show you Letty. Because I've lived a life where you were dead and nothing was okay."

"Not even Elena?"

He slid into the third gear, "I tried to be okay without you. And Elena is a good woman. She deserves someone who can love her like her husband did, like I love you."

"Love has never been enough for us. It's never been enough for you to stay. You said it yourself you never had the trust and respect for me that I had for you."

"And that's the fuck up you chose to love for the last twenty years. Hoping I would change even if you never asked me to. And now I have. I'm sorry it was such a hard fought lesson."

"What's your point," Letty finally huffed out. She knew he would be sorry she was hurt. She had known he cared for her. But it didn't change the way he was, only time would tell if he had really changed.

"My point is that my life and my thought processes are an open book. When this shit is over you can ask me anything you want at any time and I'll answer as honestly and fully as I can. I'm not hiding anything from you anymore Letty. And I'm not asking anything of you either. If and when you're ready to take me back it will be on your time. Because I'm not going anywhere."

"We'll see," she replied. But her heart leapt. Even if she didn't want the answers he was willing to answer every question she had. It gave her power over him that her alpha male husband never gave anyone. Dom was quiet in most cases, too much the leader to ever feel like he had to explain himself. Giving her that power made her heady although her brain reminded her that they were so far from made up that it wasn't even funny.

Dom and Letty approached the tank from the left flank while Giselle and Han approached from the right. It was just after sunset and because of the festival the road was practically deserted.

"Coming from the Southeast! Is that a-? What the fuck! They have a tank too!"

At Tej's words Letty and Dom turned to the left and saw what Tej's cameras in Hobbs' helicopter had all ready picked up. Lukas was coming in full force. Not only was there an equally large tank but two modified tank-like low riders flanking it.

"Oh shit, he actually found a way to make those," Letty muttered out loud.

Dom spared her a quick glance, "what the fuck are they?"

She pressed her finger to her earpiece to activate it, normally she wouldn't until right before she had to leave the vehicle. When she knew the whole team could hear she explained, "they are iron covered V12 monster machines with bullet proof glass and a fun little steel bumper nicely molded so that it easily slides under other cars to flip them over. You can't take them out from a distance and you also can't get too close."

"And you knew about these," Hobbs asked.

"Shut the fuck up. If she knew he could actually make them she would have disclosed," Dom replied, immediately defensive. This did pose a problem though. They had prepared for a lot of shit but this was not one of them.

"So what's the plan chief," Rome's voice sounded as worried as Dom was beginning to feel.

Letty took a deep breath, "now you get me in that tank. I'll take the package and we'll get out. We can't beat them but you sure as hell can out race them."

"Fuck Letty," Brian's voice was angry, "Mia's gonna whoop my ass if you get hurt or dead for real."

"Sorry for the inconvenience," she looked into Dom's eyes as he continued to drive confidently. His eyes were telling her what they always did in these situations. His words confirmed the words she knew, "ride or die."

"Ride or die," she repeated. She pulled on her holster, making sure it would hold the package. The idea of her or Rome needing to get into the moving tank wasn't completely out off the wall. They had prepared for it. It had just seemed very unlikely. And because she had more experience jumping it was her responsibility to go. If she fucked up it would be on Rome.

Dom took off faster, trying to beat them to the tank so Letty would have a clear jump initially. He felt his palms sweating. Even the thought of Letty leaving again, dying again, made him feel completely unhinged. He could not lose her again. Not before he could prove to her that he was here to stay. Not before he could live every day of their life putting her on a pedestal and treating her how he should have every day from the get go. He had fucked up so completely and he knew he deserved her anger. But God help him he had never loved another woman the way that he loved Letty just for being 100% herself.

"Hey," she grabbed his attention again. She was tightening her boot strings, her left foot pressed against his dash board. Her ponytail was pulled back tightly, she definitely meant business. She reached over and squeezed his bicep, "baby, stop gripping that steering wheel so hard."

"If I don't then I'm going to grab your hand to stop you from jumping out of this car and take you away from here as fast as I can," he admitted.

"He better not," Hobbs muttered.

She moved closer to him and kissed his lips. She needed the comfort as much as he did. She was so close to seeing Christian and Mia again. She really didn't want to die for real this time.

Dom returned her kiss with a moan and ravaged her mouth with his tongue. She pulled back enough to look him in the eyes, "I'm not leaving this Earth until I hold my baby again. And not before I give you all sorts of hell."

He grinned despite himself, "you trust your driver?"

Letty rolled down her window as they approached the tank, she looked back at him, "with my life."

Dom got her within feet of the tank. Hobbs had ordered the top open. Letty positioned herself in the window and leapt quickly. They had perilously little time to get her in the tank, the package attached to her, and her back into the car. She landed with a thud on the top of the tank, her breath whooshed out of her in a puff.

"God damn, I am getting too old for this shit," she muttered. She shifted easily into the tank and greeted the soldier. He quickly began putting a code into the government grade steel box holding the package. He continued on and on, Letty rolled her eyes, "how many damn numbers are there?"

"Enough to make it damn hard to crack," he replied.

The tank was knocked toward the left suddenly and the soldier dropped the box. And then Tej's voice, "Damn it! They're hitting you with the other tank. Get the package and get the fuck out of there! Brian watch out for that mini-tank-thing!"

The tank got knocked again. This time Letty fell over, she rose despite the almost tilting sensation and got to the soldier. She shoved the box into his hands, "open this shit so I can get the hell out of here!"

Outside Brian and Rome were being run down by one of the mini-tanks. Brian held his ground, trying to out maneuver them, but the sharpened edge of the bumper popped his tire. He was forced to slow his car as he pulled out of this race. He slammed his hands down on the steering wheel, "fuck. We're out guys!"

Han and Giselle slid behind Dom, flanking him because Letty would be jumping into his car. Giselle slid her upper body out of the car. Her body language was relaxed as she aimed her shot gun and took one easy shot. She didn't wait to see if she hit her target because she simply didn't miss.

As she rolled the window up Han was watching the road and his right hand was extended to her, in it was a gorgeous pink gold solitaire engagement ring with a huge clear diamond. Giselle's eyes shot between him and the ring. Han finally looked at her, "I love you. Marry me and shoot bad guys beside me forever."

Giselle laughed out loud as she snatched the ring and kissed his cheek, "that was the best proposal ever!"

Behind them one of the mini tanks tires had blown out at top speed and they had rolled over multiple times. Dom grinned as he glanced in the rearview mirror, she never missed. But that tank was pushing their tank too far over. If Dom had to get on the grass beside the street he wouldn't be able to drive as smoothly for Letty to jump over.

"Letty get out now," Dom ordered.

"Just getting strapped up now," she replied.

"Han can you get over to the other side? Maybe if we can take out that other mini-tank it will redirect the big tank."

Immediately Han's car fell back to get around to the other side. Lukas' tank was coming toward their tank again, this time aimed for the back left flank, purposefully trying to take out one of the few weak spots on a tank. Letty popped up on top of the tank and tried to get her bearings. Dom was precariously close to the grassy shoulder of the road. She climbed out fully as the other tank struck them. She found herself in flight and at the last moment was able to grab onto the turret. She felt her legs flying in the air before the tank regained balance and they landed with a slam against the tank.

"Letty," just the way Giselle said her name told Letty that it was getting more dangerous for her to be here.

"I'm good," she grunted.

"I'm going to pull up ahead of the tank baby, get ready to jump," Dom told her.

The mini tank was bumping the back of Han's car repeatedly. Han had to pull back just enough to get around the opposing tank and toward the front of their tank. If he was closer then Letty would have to jump to them. Either way they had to get the hell out of this situation.

Letty gathered herself to get ready to jump to Dom but before she could Lukas' tank finally popped the steel on the left flank and she felt her tank beginning to tip. Her stomach dropped as she made a life or death decision and launched herself in the opposite direction, hopefully toward Han and Giselle. The moments slowed as she felt herself moving through the air. And in that time she thought of only one thing: holding Christian in her arms while Dom held them both in his.

Dom grunted as he ditched his car and used all of his leg muscles to launch himself toward Letty. They landed on the hood of Han's car, Dom beneath her to shelter as much as he could. Letty looked up at him in wonder, "are you fucking serious?"

"What can I say? I love you," he replied. He knew he was going to ache for real tomorrow.

"How sweet," Lukas' German accent was thick.

Dom looked up to see that there were all ready guns aimed toward Han and Giselle. And Lukas was staring at Letty with a ferocious scowl as he aimed his hand gun at her. They rose slowly, their hands in the air. Lukas had four other men total, a small but efficient group. Their tank was on fire in the middle of the grassy median.

"What happened to Hobbs," Lukas wondered.

"He's around here somewhere," Letty replied.

"No doubt. Give me the package."

"Can't do that," Letty's trigger finger itched. Lukas wasn't a soft man. He would kill them all.

"Luger go get that package off of her," Lukas ordered.

Dom was still as he waited for the man to approach her. When the behemoth of a man snatched the small box off her he thanked her by tossing his hand back to smack her. Dom roared in outrage and tackled the man. Then all hell broke loose. Brian and Rome jumped into the mix from out of nowhere. In the midst of the brawl Dom noted as Lukas caught Letty who had tried to get around them and away. He aimed his gun again and pulled the trigger. Once again Dom found himself jumping in front of her. The power of the bullet going through his right shoulder was astounding. He fell backward, landing on Letty. She grunted but was trying to crawl away as Lukas himself snatched the small watch box sized package from her. He stood again and aimed at her again, "goodbye Letty."

And then, like an archangel just in the nick of time, Hobbs' helicopter found them and he began to rain bullets down. Dom managed to get off of Letty and then she and Brian helped to move him behind Han's car for cover. But it was too late, even with one of Lukas' men dead from the bullets, they were getting into their mini-tank and getting out of the line of fire.

"Fuck," Brian raged. It was the most fitting word possible for the situation.

6666

The fall out was swift. Failure hadn't been an option on the table but the U.S. government was always prepared for the worst. They had met at the rendezvous point and were immediately placed in a nondescript private plane headed toward Cuba. Just because they had failed the mission didn't mean it was back to hiding from the government. There had been an alternative. It just hadn't been one that any of them had wanted to consider. Now that Lukas had the intel he would have to sell it. And that provided their final opportunity to earn their pardons. It was also a suicide mission. Lukas would be expecting them. He would have the power to plan the location, how many international criminals were present, and would undoubtedly have the high ground. In short, they were fucked. Literally the only thing they had going for them was that Lukas would not be able to copy the intel because it would bring down it's value considerably, so there was still only one package to retrieve.

"Stop thinking so loud," Dom murmured the words to Letty as a doctor removed the bullet from his right shoulder.

Letty watched the doctor patch up her husband in silence. Finally when they were left alone in the small private room she went to him. He watched her with hooded eyes, not moving, allowing her to control what happened. Finally she dug her thumb into his wound making him yelp before swatting her hand away. She pushed him back, an easy feat given the blood loss, and straddled him. She looked down at his face, "I don't like the idea of anyone except me shooting you."

"I killed the last guy who shot you," he reminded her.

She recognized that their relationship was completely obsessive and probably completely unhealthy. But she had loved this man for years. Had given birth to his son and had her happiest memories with him. Seeing him be shot, and knowing it had been to protect her. Appreciating that he hadn't shut her out while they had transferred him to the plane. And feeling in her bones, even if she wasn't ready to admit it, that this time really did feel different. It changed everything even as it changed nothing.

Letty needed to feel him, to know he was alive. She yanked at his jeans, pulling down his briefs, he was hard all ready. She wasn't wet enough but she wanted the friction and the baseline pain. Letty accidentally put her hands down on his bruised ribs and he barely winced. As she rode him he gazed up at her, in awe of her. He knew exactly what she was feeling. Understood the need to fuck even if it hurt just because she was so familiar and yet every single time still invoked that feeling of utter disbelief that anything could feel so damn right. He came in heavy gushes inside her warmth even as she groaned long and loud. Even when everything in the world was wrong being with this woman was never ever wrong. She collapsed on him, mindful of his wound, "Dom, if I ever get ahold of a mold of your dick I don't think I would ever need to speak to you again."

He laughed even though it hurt because she was such a damn spitfire. And because he knew she loved being pressed up against him when he laughed. And since he didn't know how long this closeness would last he started talking.

"I tried to make it this way with Elena," he felt her stiffen, "but she just isn't you. None of them were ever you."

"Then why were you with them," she whispered the question.

"When I was younger because I couldn't believe that you were the one. I'm not sure if you noticed but I was pretty fly," when she snorted into his throat he laughed again. "I wasn't ready to be the man. I understood what being the man meant. It was my father's position. And since he was alive and well, why try to take that position? Then you punched the shit out of me that day in the backyard. My Dad was proud of you. He told me that you were the type of girl who would stand by me through the worst of the worst. And then he died, and you did. You should know that I kept every letter you ever wrote me. You should know that I am so thankful that you and Vince were there for Mia. You should know that I fell even deeper in love with you when I realized that you were exactly what my Dad told me you would be."

"So why drape yourself in all the race whores?"

"It was my reputation. Even when I got out of prison I still didn't want to be the man. I knew that I had to be but I was still immature. And to be honest, I just loved the attention. I'm an alpha male, it was good to know that I could attract any woman I wanted. Being an alpha male and immature was a poor combination in me. I completely understand why you punched me that day. I earned it. But that's the thing, you were always so damn stubborn. You didn't walk away no matter what. No matter how much I fucked up you refused to give up on me. I'm proud of you for breaking up with me."

Letty glanced up at him, still silently listening, they made eye contact as he continued, "I've been trying to tell you from the get-go that I am not worthy of you. And the thing is the more I fucked up, the more you loved me. Why?"

"First of all, I still love you, you fucking buffoon. It's just that for the first time I can't imagine our future because I don't know if I'll ever stop worrying that you'll just leave one day when you say you're going to the beach. And the thought of Christian missing out on you breaks my heart. The thought of me doing something really stupid because of you and hurting Christian in any way terrifies me. Second of all, you believe you aren't worthy for me. It doesn't mean that it's true. I'm fucked up too Dom. I fuck up too."

"But why did you refuse to give up," the question had been dogging him for years.

If he was going to be truthful then she couldn't do anything other than return the favor, "because something in me, that is as natural as my own thoughts or breathing air, is convinced that you're the only man in the world who can make me feel as alive as I feel when I'm near you. I could love another man, I know I could! But it wouldn't be fair to him because you touch something deep inside me. Something I didn't even know was in me until I loved you. If I could eradicate you I would. But I've never been one to fight the inevitable. What's the point?"

"I fought it," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but like you said you're stupid."

He laughed again, although the thought of her with another man hurt him. He felt it was no more than he deserved. She caressed his chin before laying a kiss on it, "Christian has your chin. And your forehead crinkle. And your sensitive ears."

"He is a really good looking baby," Dom mentioned, he tangled his hand in her hair appreciating its cool smoothness.

"He really is! I thought it was just me because I'm his Mom. I can't wait to hold him."

"Tell me about the pregnancy and the delivery."

Letty sighed, she pulled her underwear up and helped him with his briefs, "well I never had one day of nausea. But when I hit six months I had heartburn like you wouldn't believe! I tried to work all of the time to avoid thinking of you but Andre was very protective and started pad locking the door! Stop growling, I said I wanted to overwork but Andre was very stubborn. Very reminiscent of you. Anyway, Christian was a night owl. I would lay in bed at night and he would move constantly. He loved kicking my ribs. My belly was huge. Toward the end I was so damn hot that all I wore were wife beaters and cut off shorts. Then I hit nine months and he dropped down. I could breathe again but I peed every five minutes. Some nights it was all I could do to roll my girth out of bed and into the bathroom in time. I don't do anything in half measures. I wasn't just pregnant, I was super pregnant."

"And then you went into labor…"

She snorted, "if you want to call it that. Then one night I started having crazy back spasms, or so my stupid ass thought. I went to the garage and had them all day. And then I bent to lift up a wrench that one of the kids had left on the ground and my water broke right there. Andre flipped out. I went to the midwife's clinic and proceeded to have the most agonizing back labor you could ever imagine for sixteen hours. Then I went into transition."

"What's transition," he asked. The story had enraptured him.

"That's that lovely part of labor that happens before you're ready to deliver. I just about fell apart. I have never felt pain like that. They encourage you to bring things to help you through it. I had a picture of us. I wept and I rolled around on this huge yoga ball and stared at a picture of us. And I got through it and had the easiest delivery ever. Four pushes and he was out. I was so damn proud of myself."

Dom held her closer, "I've never been as proud of you as I was when I met him."

"He is our masterpiece," Letty replied.

"No matter what you decide the only thing that will take me out of Christian's life is my death."

"You're not going to die Dom. I don't know how we're going to do it but we're going to intercept that intel before he can sell it and capture Lukas. Because you owe me a lot of years of being this open and staying put until I can really trust you again."

"I know," he replied even as he soothed her with a back rub. He had every intention of sticking to her like glue for the rest of their lives. But he didn't kid himself into thinking that this last chance was going to be easier. He had been lucky this time, it had only been a flesh wound. But he knew in the same scenario he would step between that bullet and Letty every time. And next time maybe he wouldn't be so lucky. He had been lucky a lot in his life. He'd had great parents and a great sister, he'd had a great best friend, he'd married his soulmate, and ended up with potentially the best looking baby ever born. Maybe his luck was finally up.

6666

Artemesia, Cuba

The group walked wearily towards the large villa that Dom, Mia, and Brian had been staying in while in Cuba. It wasn't LA but it was certainly home for the moment. The one place in the world where they could all relax while they waited for Hobbs to call them back to the front lines.

Mia shot out of the front door and directly into Letty's arms. The women stood in the middle of the front yard, completely unmoving, as they held one another. Dom watched as Brian stepped forward to accept Anthony into his arms from the sweet old housekeeper they had found. Brian nuzzled his son and smiled despite his aching body. It was really good to be back in the company of his wife and son.

Finally Mia pulled back, tears in her eyes, "I missed you every single day. I'm so thankful you're alive."

Letty's voice was gruff although she wasn't crying, "I missed you too. So much!"

"Christian is inside. You and Dom should go in, we'll go around to the back. I've created that promised feast!" Mia didn't mention the gauze wrap she could see under Dom's tee-shirt but she did pat it lightly just to reassure herself that her brother was still alive and well. She also didn't mention that he looked happier than he had in a long time even though from what Brian had told her his marriage was in shambles and they were about to walk into a final mission that certainly promised to kill them all. Tej and Rome took off toward the backyard at a run while Han and Giselle strolled hand in hand behind them. Brian smiled at his wife before pulled her beneath his arm and kissing her mouth.

Dom took Letty's hand as they walked into the villa. Christian was building a block tower with the housekeeper's thirteen year old granddaughter. His forehead was crinkled in concentration as he added a fourth block to the tower. Letty's palms got sweaty as she literally itched to hold him. Dom felt her anxiety and squeezed her hand a bit tighter in solidarity.

The girl noticed them and pointed, "mira Christian! Mira!"

His dark eyes turned toward them and they saw the instant recognition in them. Letty held out her arms, unable to contain herself any longer, "van aqui baby!"

Christian rose in his unsturdy baby fashion and immediately toddled to his mother as fast he could. She lifted him into her arms and held him to her so tightly that he squirmed. She couldn't stop herself from kissing his face over and over, so grateful that he was okay. For his part Christian clutched her shirt, his face buried in her neck, as she held him just as tightly.

Dom rested his hand on Christian's back and then couldn't help himself from pulling Letty to him so he could embrace both of them. This was the moment that he had dreamed of since first holding his son in his arms. He breathed in deep taking in Letty's familiar scent and the sweet baby smell of Christian. A new air of appreciation filled him as he felt the incredible love he had for these two people fill him. Life without Letty had never been full. And now he couldn't imagine how he would go on if anything ever happened to the little boy now grabbing onto him. Dom lifted his easy weight and kissed his cheek.

"I missed you Christian. I love you," the words were so easy to say to the miniature replica of himself.

"Love you," Christian replied.

"Were you such a good boy for Aunt Mia," Letty asked. She was still under Dom's arm and it was so damn comfortable and familiar and right that she couldn't bring herself to move.

"Yeah," he agreed with his mother. His little hand was patting her cheek gently, keeping a constant contact with her. They stood together for a long time. And even though he was just a toddler Christian was content to be held and loved.

"Let's go outside and get some food," Dom directed them. He switched Christian to his left arm because his right shoulder was starting to ache.

"How's that shoulder," Letty asked.

"Not too tender that I can't keep this arm around you for as long as you'll let me," he replied as he pulled her closer. She smiled at him as they moved toward the loaded picnic tables in the middle of the expansive yard and laid a brief kiss on Christian's bare foot. Their family was waiting on them, and right at that moment that was all that mattered.

This chapter was a labor of love. I plan on one more chapter that will hopefully fulfill all of the Dom centered self-flagellation that so many of you seem to want and complete the story. Again, I am a terrible action writer so if any of it seems inconsistent go easy on me. I look forward to your reviews.