Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 12: Chase Goode

   Now I'm not going to describe what happened after that because, well, ew. Let's just say Zach ended up with a broken finger from me squeezing his hand.

   I remember all the pain and I remember being tired. REALLY tired. But most importantly, I remembered the smile on Zach's face and the tears in his eyes as he held a blue bundle.

    "It's a boy, Cammie," he exclaimed. That was the first time I had ever seen a tear roll down Zachary Goode's face. I smiled as he placed our little boy in my arms.

    "Oh Zach," I cried. He looked at me. "We didn't even pick a name!" Zach put his hand on his head. We had a name set in stone if we had a girl, but a boy? We just couldn't agree.

    "You pick. You were the one who had to do all the hard work," Zach said.

    "No, I want you to pick. He is your legacy. I just want his middle name to be Matthew," I countered. Zach looked stunned and honestly, I was too. Then he snapped out of it and a huge grin grew on his face.

   "Chase," he stated. I nodded.

    "Chase Matthew Goode," I said. "I absolutely love it." And that was how we chose the name of our first child.

    Zach let me sleep, after all I really needed it. Zach was so mesmerized by his son. Chase had come out with a head of dark hair. His eyes were the same deep green color that Zach's were.

    "He looks just like you, Zach," Abby said. We finally were able to have visitors.

   Abby, Edward, the twins, mom, and Joe all flew out to Hawaii. It wasn't what we planned on, but I was grateful that they were there. Our friends were planning a party for when we got home.

    "He's precious!" Mom cried. She was the first to hold Chase, and she was crying tears of joy. "I'm your grandma, Rachel. You'll never get to meet your grandpa Matthew, but I promise you that right now, he's looking down on us and smiling." My son got passed around the room.

    "You can call me Mimi!" Abby exclaimed. "I'm your step grandma. I guess I'm also your great aunt, but we don't talk about that." We all laughed. Edward's eyes were glazed as he looked at his grandson.

      "You're a grandpa," Joe laughed. "Old man." Townsend frowned.

     "Don't get smart with me, Joseph. I'm clearly the better looking grandpa," Townsend joked. Townsend handed Chase to Joe. Then, he turned to Zach and did the most fatherly thing I've ever seen him do to Zach. He pulled Zach in close for a tight hug. They patted each other's backs like boys do. I bit back my smile as I heard Ed blubber, "I'm so proud of you, son."

* * *

Paternity leave is a bit different for spy's. We get the standard 12 weeks off that every normal person does, but then we get 4 more months that we spend training. We go on easy missions, but we mainly just condition.

    You can imagine my shock when I got called into my first big mission. Zach was mad that he was called in too, considering that we had told the director we didn't want to do partner missions because we always wanted one of us to be home with Chase.

     "Don't worry, this mission won't be dangerous," the director said. I knew it was to ease our minds, but it didn't ease mine and it definitely didn't ease Zach's.

     "That's what you said last time," Zach spat. The director cringed. Zach still hadn't forgiven him, and he wasn't trying to hide it.

     "I need you," the director said calmly.

    "Our son needs us more," Zach snapped. I sighed. Zach had grown up the second I had Chase. He was already protective and putting Chase first. "What would you have done if we didn't make it out. Do you want to know what I would've done if Cammie didn't make it out? Well first I would burn-"

      "Zachary," Townsend warned. He was standing in the doorway. Maybe it was the fact that he was his father, but I swear no one could hold Zach back like Ed could.

     "We'll do it," I said. I could feel Zach's glare on me. I took our file and walked out the door. "Cam." I was walking faster, trying to get away from Zach. "Cammie." He was getting closer. "Gallagher Girl." He grabbed my arm and spun me to face him.

"I don't need you to lecture me, Zachary," I snapped. He stepped back and stared into my eyes. "I know what I am capable of. I need to get back out there. I need to go on this mission."

"Cam," Zach said gently. It was a plea. "This is different. Before when we went on partner missions we had nothing to lose if we both died because in that way we would still be together. Think about what would happen if our son had to grow up without parents. Think of what path he could get put on."

Zach had a point. I knew he did. Maybe it was the spy in me. Maybe it was the mother in me. Maybe it was even the PMS. But for some reason, neither Zach nor myself was prepared when I replied, "we're supposed to make this world a world we would be proud to have Chase grow up in." Zach was silent, and I knew that I had him.

Dropping Chase off at Townsend and Abby's loft was hard. There was always the possibility that one day Zach and I would leave and wouldn't return. The thought made me sick. Still, I said my goodbyes and watched as Zach kissed his son and put him in his father's arms.

"Thank you for taking care of him," Zach said to his father. "If anything happens-"

"He'll be in the best hands possible," Townsend assured. He nodded to me and I stole one last glance at my son before walking out the door.

* * *

The mission was brutal. The subject that Zach and I were supposed to protect was walking to work at dawn and got caught up in a riot. It was quite a big group of people. When a giant man threw our subject to the ground Zach turned to me.

I did as I was trained to do. I used his weight against him and knocked him to the ground. The bigger they are the harder they fall. I saw Zach take 2 men at once and I moved to take on the next attackers.

I thought Zach and I were doing a good job considering our odds when I saw a man pull a gun out of his coat pocket. He aimed it towards Zach.

"Zach!" I screamed. I heard the shot and watched a body fall to the ground. The crowd ran. I turned to our subject. "Get inside!" The subject did as they were told.

I ran to the body on the ground. Zach was already there. An elderly woman had seen the gun and taken a bullet for Zach. I knew that she would die. We both did.

"You saved me," Zach whispered. "Why would you do that?" The old woman despite her pain, smiled. She reached up a shaky hand and touched Zach's face.

"You have more of a life to live," she said in a shaky voice.

"Can I help the pain?" I asked. The woman looked at me and smiled.

"You both need to get home to your son. He needs you. Save your daughter before it's too late. They want to take her," the woman said and she grabbed my hand, harder than I thought was humanly possible. The death grip. She started panting and coughing blood.

"She's hallucinating," I told Zach.

"Hey, hey it's okay. Shhh just look at the sky. Look at that sunrise. Isn't it beautiful?" he told her. He stroked her hair as he set her head in his lap. "It's so beautiful. I bet it's nothing compared to the beauty that you're about to see. Don't be afraid. Just look at the sky."

Tears rolled down my face. I had never seen Zach be this... gentle. He was so translucent.

That woman died in Zach's arms. We didn't have the time to mourn her, we didn't even know her name. We knew we had to complete our mission and go home to our son.