Vanished!

Chapter 13- Repaying a Debt

When I first started working at NCIS, a movement began called 'paying it forward'. I came home one early one afternoon only to discover that momma and Liam had gone out to lunch. I had told Tammy to stop by on her way home to see Liam. With him gone the two of us sat there talking with Sonja and enjoying the quiet of the missing three year old of our home. An hour later in comes the man of the house. Liam greeted each of us with hugs and kisses. "Where were you?" Tammy asked "I almost missed you. " With cereal" Liam said. "Who?" "Cereal" he repeats then turns to run to his room.

"Oh he means Cheryl" momma says. "Who's Cheryl" Sonja asks? We all got quiet as we looked at each other. "Well" Tammy finally says, "an angel." Sonja looks confused as momma starts to sniffle. I speak up "yeah, that would be appropriate."

Sonja listens attentively as we each share our own story with about this woman starting from the first day that she saw Liam and I at the doctor's office through her visits with the NCIS staff and her outings with momma and Liam.

Tammy says "she created a special relationship with each of us somehow understanding how each one felt while you were away from us. She had a Masters degree in Rehab which allowed her to respect Triple P in a more understanding way than the rest of us could. She was never embarrassed to shed a tear or to hug a neck." "Then she was like a walking library of life experiences" I interject. "From her childhood, time in the military as a female pioneer, politics and single parenting."

As we talked "I didn't know that" often came out of our mouths to our great surprise. We all felt special, sometimes even more favored than the others in our relationship with her. "Well, this is someone who I need to meet" Sonja says. I look up and say "momma, we need to make that happen."

I called her on the spot and invited her to dinner on Friday night. I told King the next day and he said "well you know I'm in." He offered to cook. "Here or at your place Chris?" I decided at the house to give Liam free reign and us to keeping him on his bed time schedule.

We all knew her and before we sat down to eat, I noticed that Sonja was quiet. She listened intently to the conversations going on all around her. Later she told me that it intrigued her how easily she flowed between each of us.

I suggested that Ms. Cheryl sit by Sonja as we ate. Talking in bed that night, Sonja said "I couldn't believe how much that woman knew about my son and about you! She knew when Liam got his arm caught in a toy and evidentially when the physical therapist was looking at the house to make the accommodations for me". Sonja never realized that it was Cheryl's many suggestions for low tech learning for Liam including teaching him to count backwards while jumping down the stairs from the rooftop patio to the first floor that I used as a first time parent.

I understand that later on Sonja asked Ms. Cheryl "Why us? Why my family?" As the tears welled up in her eyes Cheryl responded "I don't know that it had to be your family, it was just your baby and companion that I saw that day. My heart had always been heavy for a family with a missing loved one. My kind and loving grandmother died without ever knowing exactly what happened to her son. She had no body to bury. Back then we didn't realize the depth of the pain and sorrow that families went through. And even now, the social workers and therapist keep families at arm's length careful not to 'get involved' too deeply. I had a good idea what Agent LaSalle was going through. As I met your family and former co-workers, I saw a pain in their hearts and souls that made me want to help. I had no idea that two years later I would still be with them."

One day Sonja joined her for an event that she attended for military spouses who had lost their mate in service. Sonja came back and after she finally quit crying declared that she had found her calling. She would go back to school for some psychological and sociology courses and work with families who had lost loved ones in the war. It was in this volunteer effort where Sonja was able repay a debt she felt she owed to all of those who waited for her and supported her loved ones during her own captivity.

Years later at her funeral I saw Sonja trying to hold back tears as the honor guard fired their salute honoring this warrior's service to her nation twice over. The new director had honored Cheryl with the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award for her assistance in helping the New Orleans office endure and recover from the capture of one of their team members. Rita had herself recalled to active duty for the day so that she could present the flag and the medal to Cheryl's family on behalf of a grateful nation.

Our daughter, Victoria, flew in to be part of the color guard that day. Sonja had asked Ms. Cheryl one day if she had had a daughter, what would she have named her. 'Victoria' (as in the queen) she responded without missing a beat. 'Victoria was the name of one of the greatest women who ever walked the earth' she said. Our Victoria, with Cheryl's support and grooming, had sought an appointment to the Air Force Academy and would graduate next spring hoping to be a fighter pilot.