“We took that here, in this spot.”
I look around and see that he’s right, or almost right.
“I know you’ve only been here for a day, Penelope, but having you here feels like home. I’m not going to pressure you, or ask you over and over again, but just know that I don’t want you and Claire to leave. This is your home. This is the life we had planned out for us. Give us a chance.”
Tucker doesn’t give me an opportunity to answer him. He places a kiss on the tip of my nose and takes my hand in his until we reach his car. I quickly glance back at the courthouse and remember the day I said ‘I do’.
IN THE END, I won. Shortly after Lawson’s trial, Penny informed me that her and Claire were moving back to California. All I heard was that they were moving home, where they belonged. It was the same day Claire made it known that once she moved here, we could call her Claire since no one would know her as Chloe. I wanted to hug her, but kept my distance and hands to myself.
Claire and I have come a long way in our rebuilding process. I know living together helps and she sees how much I love her mother. I will say, though, sleeping on the couch is getting old, but I refuse to pressure Penny. For right now I can live with stolen kisses and sweet moments with her.
It’s been six months since they moved in, leaving the day after Claire’s school let out for the summer. Nate and Cara went and helped them move. I wanted to as well, but we thought it would be best that I didn’t. Penny wanted to make sure Ray’s reputation stayed intact. I acted like I understood, but really I didn’t. Maybe she was afraid that I would kiss her in front of her friends or something. Knowing me, I probably would’ve slipped and done so and that wouldn’t have been good.
My house … our house finally feels like a home. Pictures of Claire from her years in school decorate the hallway. We don’t have many pictures of her when she was a baby with those being left in the house and who knows where they are now, but I have the one I kept in my wallet all these years and that sits on our mantle. I often find Claire staring at it when she thinks no one is watching.
I’ve also learned how to use a bow and arrow thanks to my well-educated daughter. That is one thing that I have to give Ray credit for, he raised her well and taught her everything he knew about the outdoors, leaving me enough room to teach her what I know. Right now, Claire can tie fifty different rope knots and is learning how to scale a wall. These days when I ask her if she wants to go to the park, she suggests the SEAL beach so she can play on the apparatuses. She’s a girl after my own heart and has told me that she’s going to be the first female SEAL. I wished her luck after she witnessed a group of BUD/s sleeping with their feet in the air.
Most importantly, Claire loves it here. She loves the weather, the ocean, and is excited to start at her new school. Having her and Penny home, with me, makes me feel complete and it makes me feel like I can conquer anything, like my new job as a SEAL instructor.
Penny and I discussed retirement and both agreed I wasn’t ready, but I’m also not ready to go back to combat or deploy on secret missions. When I was offered the job as an instructor, I jumped at the opportunity. I can still train, with the fun stuff, all while kicking snot-nosed punks in the ass. It’s the best of both worlds.
Lawson is currently serving twenty consecutive life sentences and Ingram goes on trial in the fall. We’re hoping he pleads out, but have a feeling he won’t. He’s too proud of a man to do so and we’ll be required to testify. It’ll be worth it this time.
The team is together except Ryley and Evan are still living up north. They come down often, but refuse to move. I know once Carole retires, we’ll never see them again. I’m secretly hoping that Jensen refuses to sell his lake house, giving us a place to still hang out.
River is around, every now and again. Sometimes we don’t see him for a month, and other times he’s at everything we do. I know he’s lost and I’ve tried to reach out to him, but his walls are up. It’s a hard thing, as a SEAL, to get over letting your team down and it doesn’t matter how many times we tell him he’s forgiven, he still distances himself from us.
“You home?” The sound of Evan’s voice echoes down my hall. I come out of my bedroom to find him dressed in a cream-colored linen suit.
“Hi, and what are you doing here?”
He hands me the black bag he’s holding nods toward my bedroom. “Go put this on, we gotta go.”
“Where?”
He looks down at this suit and back at me, with a shit-eating grin on his face. I understand it now; he’s getting married today. I quickly look at the fridge, wondering if I forgot, but I don’t see an invite.
I change quickly, racking my brain about the date. I must’ve been so caught up with Penny that I forgot and that’s not like me. When I come out, I notice that we’re dressed similarly except my tie is blue, while he’s not wearing one.