All is Found

Bonus Chapter

September 2031

The end of the summer every year always comes with a lot of excitement in the house. Preston, Sammie and myself all starting a new school year. The days leading up to it always are usually always filled with last minute school supply runs, setting up new binders, and trying to memorize schedules with a lot of yelling in between. Thea is always usually the silent rock holding us all together the last week of August and the first few weeks of September. But this year was different. Something was up with my wife and as the summer came to a close she just started to shut down more and more.

The week before school started I was able to get both Preston and Sammie out of the house at the same time so I could have some time alone with Thea to try and get to the bottom of what's going on. I ordered us in some Chinese food and we sat and ate at the kitchen island with a few beers in between us. As we started to finish our food I thought now would be the best time to bring it up.

"Thea, did something happen at work?" I asked thinking whatever might be weighing on her mind might be coming from work stress.

"No, nothing happened at work, why do you ask?" Thea said and wiped her mouth on a napkin.

"You've just been really quiet these last few weeks and I wanted to check in with you about it. I know that start of the school year always drives us crazy and it settles after the second week is over but, I've noticed that you've really taken a back seat to everything that's been going on lately." I said trying to not lay it on too thick.

Thea sighed and ran her thumb around the bottle she's been tightly holding onto since I've started talking. I didn't try to pressure her into speaking unless she was ready but I needed something because this has been really unlike her.

"I got a phone call from the organizers of the 9/11 tribute at the beginning of August. They got my phone number from Captain David Morta, the captain we met when we visited the station back when you were on tour with Halsey. This year being the 30th anniversary, they are also going to be reading the names of the first responders who passed away from 9/11 related illnesses. They asked if I wanted to come down to read my parents' names." Thea said and finally turned her head to look at me.

The air left my lungs and it took a lot of will power not to just pull Thea into a hug and keep her close to me. Over the years Thea has told me more about her parents. How her dad always tried to get her to play softball even though Thea didn't like it. How her mom always bugged her to become a volunteer fire fighter or EMT after they moved to Salem. Thea always said she would think about it but finally joined the fire service as a probationary fire fighter the summer before her mom past. When Thea joined the police academy she dropped out of the fire service to really commit everything to becoming a police officer.

Every time the anniversary of 9/11 comes up, she usually takes the day off of work and go to the cemetery to be with them. When she comes home late, I make sure the kids give her hugs and then leave her alone for the rest of the night. She never really spoke about the actions of her parents the day of 9/11 though. I know that she has kept in contact with the now retired Captain Morta over the years. Every once and a while the two would get together either here in Salem or in New York to trade war stories or just catch up.

"What did you say?" I asked hoping that my wife would want to go.

"I didn't give them an answer yet. I have until tomorrow to give them an answer. If I don't go, David said he would say their names." Thea answered.

"I think you should go. I would happily come with you. Preston can watch Sammie for the day unless you would want them to come with us. Or you could go just yourself and we can all support you from here. But I think you should definitely go." I said and brought my hand up and pulled the rubber band out of the bottom of her French braid. Once the band was gone I started to run my hand through her hair to try and relieve some tension.