Page 7 of Ciao Bella

“This had better not slow us down, Sara. What are you seeing?” asked Faith. Sara looked at the women and smiled, shaking her head.

“Rhinos. At least two, maybe a baby. Three antelope that I can see and a moose. Do moose like this weather?”

“I have no idea,” laughed Alexandra, “but I can’t wait to see Gaspar’s reaction when we get back.”

“Let’s go, ladies. The boys are at the plane already,” said Remy.

“Why are they there already?” asked Grace.

“I am not supposed to say a word, and I’d really like to keep living, Ms. Grace,” smiled Adam.

“Okay. Okay, they’re trying to pull a few surprises. I guess we let them do that,” smiled Grace. “But so help me, if it involves us wearing protective gear or adding trackers to our bodies, I’m going to hurt someone.”

The boys just laughed as they took the short ride to the main property. Once they docked in front of the big house, Hunter, Sean, Kiel, and Fitch loaded one group of trucks with luggage and another group with their beautiful passengers.

The men all smiled, seeing the women so happy. They were thrilled that they were going to finally get the trip they deserved. As they pulled up to the waiting jet, the men took care of the luggage while the women patiently waited beside the plane.

Carl, Ben, Luke, and Adam walked toward Alexandra. They each hugged their mother, kissing her and whispering in her ear.

“Have a great trip, Mom. Don’t worry about a thing here. We’ve got it all taken care of. You deserve this more than anyone I know, and we love you,” said Luke.

“Oh, Luke, you’re going to make me cry,” she whispered, hugging her big sons. When the other children walked up hugging their mothers, the women all started crying. Suddenly, the steps of the jet came down, and Casey and George waved at them.

“Why are you guys here?” laughed Grace.

“We prepared your in-flight meals. Everything is ready for you, and you’ll have plenty between here and Italy,” smiled Casey. She and George got into one of the ATVs and headed back to the main cafeteria for the day’s work.

“Where are the men?” asked Lauren.

“Right here,” said Trak, standing at the top of the steps. “We’ve been waiting on all of you.”

As each of the women boarded the jet, her husband handed her a bouquet of her favorite flowers. For Lauren, it was always tulips. For Grace, daisies. Faith, pink roses. Each and every one of them had their own bouquet and a vase ready for the flowers, secured to the tables on the plane.

“I can’t believe you guys did this,” smiled Erin.

“We’ve done a lot more,” said Nine. “We should have done all of this years ago, and we’re damn sorry we didn’t. You know that we suck at subtlety, so if there’s something we’re missing or something you really want to do, please just tell us. We think we have a great itinerary, but we’ve been known to screw up before. Directness is always what works best for slow thinking men.”

“I’m sure it will be perfect,” smiled Erin, smelling her bouquet. “You’ve got a great start here, and I know this will be wonderful.”

“Well, we have a lot to make up for,” said Ian as the last of the wives entered the plane. “This won’t even begin to apologize for our stupidity and thick-headedness, but we hope that you all know how much we love you, how much we desperately need you to survive. Without all of you, none of us would be doing what we’re doing. I, for one, would have gone back to combat after that injury and never had the amazing life I’ve had with my wife.”

“Same,” nodded Nine. “We would have done something stupid with REAPER. We would have taken a mission that we shouldn’t have or a case that would have us running for our lives forever. Stupid. I just know it.”

“Maybe not stupid,” smirked Erin. Nine looked around her toward the cockpit, staring at their two pilots. They knew them well and knew they were trained by Savannah and Doug on the equipment. But they weren’t moving.

“Is everything okay up there? Why aren’t we taking off?” he asked.

“Problem on the runway, sir,” said one of the men.

“Problem?” frowned Gaspar, walking forward. He bent down, staring out the glass in the cockpit. He thought he saw something, but wasn’t quite sure it was registering with his brain.

“Oh, it’s good, sir. They’re moved now.” The pilot nodded at him, beginning the forward motion of the plane, moving along the runway.

“They?” repeated Gaspar, frozen in place.

“Yes, sir. Some old lady walked right up to those two grizzlies and shooed them off the runway. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Just shooed them away like they were puppies or something.”

The entire plane froze, turning to stare at Gaspar as the plane picked up speed. Just when they thought he was okay, he let out a scream.