AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Though the two of them gave off such a weird vibe, Erin wasn’t certain they counted as a couple. Or was he trying to tempt Vanessa, who played it both ways, to go after Nikki instead? Possibly, though it might have been having more of an effect on Glen.
Her musings were shut down because Theo kept the show moving.
“Luna Rodriguez, come forward, as your efforts to destroy yourself and every piece of equipment we own has not gone unnoticed,” Theo said.
“Yes, you are quite expensive. For your own body, you spent time at MetroGen for smoke exposure, Freon exposure, a broken arm, hypothermia, and a concussion,” Erin added.
Theo went on, “You also had a hand in destroying Engine 15, Ladder 15, Medic 15, and Ladder 15 again after its return as Ladder 0. We salute you.”
“Only one of those was my fault,” Luna said with an eye roll. “Will I ever live this down?”
“Nope. Crushed by a garage, crushed by a bridge, crushed by a runaway acetylene tank, and used as a lightning rod. At least you change your methods. So, for you,” Erin handed Luna her new ‘What the FiretrUCK’ shirt with a bow.
“Now, Lieutenant Aiden Clarke,” Theo called out.
He stood, grimacing when he saw Luna immediately sat in his chair, effectively boxing him out from Vanessa. She gave him her best ‘wide-eyed’ innocent grin and waved her shirt at him.
“Moving right past seat stealing,” Theo said, “You had quite an interesting year, so we struggled long and hard to pick out a good T-shirt.”
“And then we just gave up,” Erin announced. “Because this is how we roll.”
Sure enough, his shirt read ‘this is how I roll’ with a picture of a rolled hose on it.
The whole group snickered at the result. Erin and Theo had nixed the ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ and the ‘I put out (fires)’ shirts lest they draw attention to the wrong part of Aiden’s life.
“Last but not least, come on down, Captain Williams!” Erin pointed to the back row.
“I’m not coming up there.”
“It’s okay. The humiliation will continue with or without your participation. Would you like another Un-Birthday Party?” Theo reminded him.
Williams’s scowl had less force than usual, and he strode to the head of the table.
“Captain, we know we tried your patience and got on your last nerve more than once. Fortunately, you managed not to murder us and have hopefully learned the importance of fun at work,” Theo said.
The captain raised his eyebrows.
“Or not.” Erin waved the Picard face palm meme ‘I can’t unsee that’ shirt at him. “And thus concludes our shift awards for the year. Thank you for coming to Noah’s and my little party.”
No one moved.
Theo said, “Wait. Wait. We aren’t done yet. There’s still one more award.”
Erin shook her head. “No, there isn’t. Jacob Carver isn’t here.”
“You’re forgetting there is one more member. Chief Baker, you served as captain for almost a month last year. Therefore, you get your own honorary A-shift award.” Theo announced. “Besides, we’ve been informed he has to suffer through an endless number of wedding events, too. Don’t worry, it’s not a T-shirt.”
Noah stood up from his seat off to the side. “Not a T-shirt?”
“Nope, though I totally wanted to give you a Princess Bride, ‘I will come for you’ one.”
“Sounds dirty,” Kevin quipped, and Erin mused that he must have gotten over censoring himself in front of Noah, a plus.
“You don’t say? So, here you go.” Theo handed Noah a small, wrapped package.
Noah opened it to find two sparkling pink objects. “Gag gift wedding rings?”
“No, these are decoder rings. Now you and the missus can send each other secret text messages. Or emails. Or pass notes. The point is more ways to talk quietly so neither of you have to do the Romeo and Juliet thing. No one is dying at the end of this love story.”
