Cactus Wren

Chapter Seven - Family Day

I wake up the next day just before noon. These late night shifts are going to be hell on my sleep schedule. I crashed hard after our night's debriefing, I didn't even hear Travis come in the room. In fact... he's not here now, I realize as I glance around the empty room. I see that his boots are missing from their usual spot near the closet. I get out of bed and make my way to the bathroom to relieve myself. When I come back out I walk out toward the living room and find Carlos cooking breakfast, well I guess it would be lunch now. I find Travis in the living room going over the video feeds with Eddie and I don't see the twins anywhere.

"Morning, boys." I announce as I enter the room. Travis and Eddie look up, Eddie smiles sweetly at me. Carlos calls out from the kitchen.

"Good afternoon, Rebbie." he emphasizes the afternoon part. I ignore him.

"Where are the twins?" I ask and Travis stands with his coffee cup and heads to the kitchen for a refill while he answers me.

"They were just picking up a few things." Travis says. "Feel like having a family day with us Rebbie?"

"My interest is peeked, what did you have in mind?" I ask.

"We were thinking about going to a shooting range. A friend of mine owns some property nearby. It's off the beaten path a bit." Travis says. I look at Eddie and try to imagine him with a gun, but I know looks can be deceiving. These are Academy boys, we've all been trained to defend ourselves whether it is with fists or firearms. The front door opens and I see Matt and Michael walk in, Matt is wearing dark sunglasses and Michael is wearing a dirty ball cap and carrying a grocery bag. He walks into the kitchen and hands the bag to Carlos who nods his thanks to Michael.

"What's with the baseball hat?" I point to the offending item in question.

"We didn't feel like getting a lot of attention or playing the twin game." answers Matt.

"Makes sense." I say nodding. I finally notice the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. I peek my head into the kitchen and see Carlos plating some sautéed meat and vegetables and then setting them aside. He opens the grocery bag and pulls out a tied plastic bag with what looks like freshly made tortillas. "Are those fresh?" I ask eagerly. I love the taste of fresh tortillas.

Carlos looks back at me over his shoulder and nods with a flirty grin. "We found la panderia around the corner, a little mom and pop place. Fresh is always best." He places the tortillas onto a different plate and covers them with a warm damp paper towel to keep them soft. Without a word the guys all move suddenly like a choreographed dance; Eddie clears everything off the table, Michael collects plates, Matt grabs the cups, Travis grabs bottles of juice and soda from the refrigerator. I jump in, not wanting to be left out, and collect the bowl of fresh guacamole and salsa while Carlos brings the rest of the food. The six of us gather around the table, taking our seats. Luckily it's round so no one is stuck on a corner.

The meat is juicy and seasoned perfectly with the vegetables, I hold back a moan of delight and enjoy my fajitas in silence. The others, not so much. Matt groans loudly making his brother chuckle.

"Carlos, man! Did you use your Abuela's secret seasonings again?" Matt asks. Carlos, laughs.

"Of course. Why would I use anything else?" He asks.

"Did your grandmother teach you to cook?" I ask Carlos.

"Yeah. I spent a lot of time with her, growing up. My parents were both Academy, so they'd get called away on missions and I'd go to Abuela's house." Carlos tells me. He smiles and his natural smolder softens while he talks about her. "Cooking is her favorite thing to do but she also has a small garden that we spent lots of time weeding together."