“Do you need a broom?” Poppy asked as we walked inside.
I tilted my head. “What do you mean, sweet pea?”
“Fallon needs to sweep. I help Mommy sweep.”
Everyone laughed at how adorable my daughter was. “That’s just a word Daddy and his coworkers say when we go into a new place to make sure it’s safe for Fallon.”
“So, where are you going to put this thing?” Leigh asked, looking around the small apartment from the doorway.
Luckily, I didn’t have much furniture and didn’t need to move anything around to make space. “Probably next to the couch?”
Day placed the stand on the floor and then lay down so he could tighten the screws while Fallon and Leigh held the tree in place.
Once it was set up, Leigh left to post up in the hallway outside my apartment while Day stayed behind.
“Can we decorate now?” Poppy ran over to the bags of Christmas décor I’d bought earlier in the week.
“Of course. We should start with the lights. Do you want to use the white ones or the ones with different colors?”
“Different colors.” She bounced around the living room while I took them out of the packaging.
I glanced at Fallon, who stood next to the tree while watching me and Poppy. He was quieter than usual, and I wondered if something was bothering him. The last time he became withdrawn was after I tried to put a stop to things between us. He’d seemed fine at the breakfast event, but had something happened since then I wasn’t aware of?
“Day, I need an extension cord for the lights. I have one in the hall closet. Could you grab it for me?” I asked, hoping for a second to speak with Fallon.
“Sure thing,” he responded.
When he was out of sight, I walked over to Fallon and whispered, “You good?”
He gave me a small smile. “Yeah. It’s just weird with Day here because I don’t know how to act without it looking suspicious.”
“Yeah, I wish I could tell him to hang out in the hall, but he’d think something was up for sure. I already let it slip during poker night that I was seeing someone, and I don’t want to give him a reason to think it’s you.”
His eyes widened. “You told him you were seeing someone?”
“It’s not like I planned to say anything, but Day started talking about relationships and because we’re trained to be observant, he noticed something was up with me.”
It seemed like Fallon wanted to say something, but Day returned with the extension cord in his hand, and I took a few steps back.
“Found it. Now let’s get these lights up.”
While Fallon and Day began stringing the lights, Poppy and I searched for a Christmas movie to stream. We settled onRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeerand Poppy moved back and forth between wanting to help with the lights and watching the movie. With Day on the opposite side of the tree from where Fallon stood, I took advantage of being out of his line of sight and ran my hand across Fallon’s back as I walked around him.
He whipped his head around and mouthed, “Behave.”
I winked at him.
Once the lights were in place, I told Poppy she could plug them in.
“It’s so pretty,” she squealed when they turned on. “Fallon, you like?”
He nodded. “I do. You did a great job picking out the multi-colored ones.”
Watching the two of them interact made me look forward to the day I could have a normal family life. I’d worked hard to get to where I was with my career, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. But I also wanted a future where I could enjoy the holidays with Poppy and someone I cared about. It was too soon to know if that would include Fallon, but most agents didn’t work on protective details much longer than six years. When I returned to the field office, I’d have a more normal schedule, which would allow me to have more time with Poppy, and possibly Fallon.
We spent the next thirty minutes placing the ornaments on the tree. At some point, Poppy had become engrossed in the movie, leaving the rest of the work to us.When we were finally done, Poppy was sound asleep on the couch. Alexis had warned me she didn’t nap very often anymore, but I guess the excitement of our day had worn her out.
“I should put her in bed,” I said as I lifted her into my arms.
