The Treasure Collector

Chapter 5: Detective Hewitt

"Honey I'm home and I brought a fellow co-worker with me" I announced as I enter the house with Manner following behind. Unfortunately we didn't get to have dinner yesterday so it was postponed until today. The sound of footsteps ascending towards us catches my attention as not only my wife but my son walks to greet us.

A wave of happiness fills me like a three year old when they got candy as a treat for good behavior. "Hey babe" Sophia greets me embracing me into a hug which broke as soon as she saw Manner. I roll my eyes internally seeing that it was every woman's reaction. "This is Detective Manner, he's helping me out with the case, this is my wife Sophia" I introduce him. He takes her hand giving it a light kiss on the back, her cheeks startes to flush and a small smile forms onto her lips.

"Yeah, yeah break it up" I retorted. Chuckles fill the room as my son comes up to greet me with a tight hug. He walks over to Manner and shakes his hand firmly while giving him a brief nod. We walk to the dining room as soon as we finished greeting each other. I told Manner to take a seat as I follow Sophia into the kitchen. The familiar scent of her famous lasagna catches my nostrils sending an 'I am frickin hungry' message to my stomach.

I walk up behind her as she continues to stir the sauce that's on low heat on the stove. As soon as I wrap my arms around her defined body she relaxes indicating that she's tired. I kiss her head and continue embracing her. She was a one of a kind woman, she did nothing but take care of me and Alex and gave us the love we deserved. But it's safe to say that I'm not deserving of it.

Whatever that has been going on with me and Kimberly is because there was no excitement again. Our sparks had died down ever since Alex was born, I wanted to talk to her about it but I didn't want her to feel shitty. Kimberly was a very beautiful woman when I first laid eyes on her and new to our forensic team.

Her character, how free spirited and out going she was grasped my attention. It went from flirting with her every little chance I got, to having lunch together, then to meeting in her office, one thing led to another turning it into a full blown affair and here we are, still continuing our two years of affair. She was also having problems with her marriage and needed some excitement too so we were a good match. Of course we kept it as a secret.

"Babe...it's finished, why don't you go join the others in the dining room with another white wine to refill their glasses" she says letting my hand loosen from around her waist. I nod my head and did as I was told,
they both seem to be getting along really well. Substituting the fact that they are both polar opposites.

"Who wants more wine?" I ask interrupting their conversation about Hockey. "I'm good" Manner responses while Alex shook his head causing me to pour him yet another glass. After pouring myself and Sophia a glass I took my rightful seat and within minutes Sophia comes out with her famous lasagna with a warm smile on her face.

"Do you want help Mrs. Hewitt?" Manner asks but she smiles and fans him off indicating that she was fine. She was acting rather strange today or was it my concise that was bothering me. She emerges another time out of the kitchen with the sauce and two utensils, a spoon for the sauce and a spatula for the lasagna. Sophia always likes trying new things when she's cooking but the apple sauce was the cherry on top.

She takes a seat after removing her apron and mittens. "Well dig in boys" she says chuckling. "Alright!!" Alex cheers with excitement as if this was the first time he was going to taste his mother's lasagna. After ensuring that everyone had something in their plates we started eating. The familiar taste tingles my taste buds each time, but I couldn't help but notice something different.

"Honey did you add something new to it?" I ask, she swallowed what she had inside her mouth before answering. "Yes, I didn't think you would notice.." she chuckles. "It's thyme" she admits, "Well it tastes hella good" Alex compliments making her blush. "It sure does taste amazing Mrs. Hewitt" Manner comments.