All is Found

Bonus Chapter

When I woke up the next morning to my alarm, I knew that Thea didn't get much sleep the night before. I found her already awake and out of bed, sitting at the desk in the room. She is reading the paper and drinking some coffee from a cup that looks like it came from a deli. Slowly I got out of bed and walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders and kissed the crown of her head.

"Morning" I said and just rested my chin on her head.

"I got you breakfast, the kids are already up and are getting dressed. We need to leave here in 45 minutes." Thea said and rubbed my hand.

I accepted the bacon, egg and cheese and coffee from Thea and it didn't take long for me to suck it down. Once I got through breakfast, I started to get ready for the ceremony. I went with a simple black dress and flats because I knew we would be standing around for a while we wait for Thea's turn. After I was done I returned to our bedroom and found Thea wrapping her tie around the collar of her dress shirt. She is wearing her dress uniform today and it made me so proud to see her in it. Thea noticed me in the background of the mirror and gave me a smile. She tried to go back to doing her tie but I didn't let her. I stepped in front of her and took her tie in my hands and slowly pulled the knot together. Once it was done I pressed it to her chest and made sure it was straight before backing away from Thea. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and grabbed her suit jacket.

I watched as Thea slipped it over her shoulders and buttoned up her jacket. After it was on I watched Thea's eyes track over all of the ribbons and medals making sure they were in the right places. When she was satisfied that they were, Thea looked up and found my eyes in the mirror again. I gave her a smile and handed her her hat. Thea took her hat and put it square on her head. Once it was on she gave herself a complete once over and then turned her back to the mirror. I moved away and sat on the edge of the bed waiting for Thea to be ready. She moved to the desk and gathered a few things and then she grabbed her dads windbreaker.

With it in hand she came over to me and got down on one knee. Thea laid the windbreaker on my lap and then took my hand over it.

"I want you to wear this. You said you saw him before while we were at the cite and because I'm wearing my uniform I wanted you to wear this to have a piece of him with me up there." Thea said and finally looked up at me. I could only nod and pull the windbreaker around my shoulders. When it was on I stood from the bed as Thea stood from the floor. She couldn't help but laugh a little when she noticed the sleeves are far to long for me.

"He was pretty tall." Thea said as I pulled the sleeves up my arms.

I couldn't say anything but just held out my hand for Thea to take. When she did I pulled her into a kiss. It wasn't long or much, but just one of love, to convey it in a different way as I'm having trouble finding the words right now. After we broke apart we made sure the kids were ready and we left the hotel room. I didn't say anything when I saw Sammie wearing an oversized blue FDNY button down shirt with Ramsey stitched into it over her black three quarter sleeved shirt. Preston is wearing a an FDNY hat paired with his dress shirt and slacks.

As we left the hotel and walked down to the sight we turned a lot of heads. Thea in her dress uniform was a sight to see. She had her credentials and gave them to one of the workers who led us into the waiting area. We didn't have to wait too long before it would be Thea's turn to go up to speak. Thea just walked around the area for a while, not getting too close to any of the other people waiting around.

But soon enough her time came and we got into line with the other families waiting around. As we got closer to the podium I could tell Thea is trying to steal her nerves. She took a few deep breaths and then all of a sudden it was her turn to move forward. I watched as Thea stepped out onto the stage with pride and class, Preston, Sammie and myself all stood behind her.