Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

"Yes I did," Tony paused searching for the right words. "I know there are times when I forget to think of both of us." Like last night, she silently added. "I never had to do that before." Tony looked into Megan’s eyes and continued, "But you are more important to me than anyone. You are a part of my life now. She needed to know that."

Megan’s mind struggled to grasp the enormity of the chance Tony had taken. She had been willing to risk a renewed relationship with her mother by telling her about them, yet she did anyway. Megan said, "I love you," and drew her partner’s head down, meeting her lips with her own.

Sherman sat at the table in his room carefully going through the file on Antonia Viglioni. He grudgingly acknowledged that it was quite impressive. She had excelled from the time she entered the academy and with each assignment became more proficient. What a worthy opponent she would have been to take on. Too bad he had to stage an accident.

The only thing he didn’t understand was why she had requested a transfer out of covert operations and taken a desk job in Cleveland. It was obvious she had a personal interest in militia groups because of her brothers’ deaths. So why did she transfer? It doesn’t make sense.

Abandoning that train of thought, he decided it really didn’t matter anyway. It wouldn’t change the outcome.

Knowing he couldn’t plan what type of accident to stage until he arrived in Cleveland and became familiar with her schedule, Sherman wanted to cover anything that might come up. With that thought in mind, he began mentally listing the things he needed to do before departing.

Request leave, rent a car, pack weapons and alternate identities, take pertinent information from the file, put the file in his safety deposit box and see about acquiring some electronic equipment. He knew the last item might be difficult. The agency usually provided this and he couldn’t very well ask for it.

Taking his suitcase out of the closet, he began packing enough clothes to last a week, making sure that he included a wide variety. If for some reason he was gone longer than a week, the hotel would have laundry services. Sherman then began mentally ticking off the other things he might need as he packed them.

Satisfied he hadn’t forgotten anything, he closed the suitcase and departed for the administrative offices to request leave. Ben had actually done him a favor by halting all operations. Since he wasn’t assigned to a case right now, he knew the leave would be automatically approved.

Megan looked in the mirror again checking her appearance for the third time. Making another minor adjustment to her makeup, she sighed and hoped she would make a good impression on Tony’s mother. I need to relax. I’m a nervous wreck.

"You ready yet?" Tony called from the other room.

Looking in the mirror once more, Megan answered, "Yes," and walked out of the bathroom.

"You look nice," Tony said, smiling at her partner.

Megan was wearing a pair of wine colored slacks and an off-white blouse. She had put on a pair of gold earrings with a matching rope style necklace.

Tony had donned a pair of white slacks and a teal V-neck pullover. A silver chain adorned her neck. She would have rather worn jeans, but

Megan wanted to wear something a little less casual to meet her mother in, and knowing how nervous she was Tony had decided to dress in kind.

Megan smiled at the compliment before her thoughts turned once again to the upcoming evening. "Well… I guess we should get going,"

Megan said after looking at the clock. The last thing she wanted to do was be late.

Arriving promptly at 5pm, Rosa opened the door and invited them in.

"Mom, this is Megan. Megan, this is my mother, Rosa," Tony said smiling, while unobtrusively watching her mother.

"Hi," Megan said smiling. Looking at Tony’s mother she could see the family resemblance. Both had blue eyes and black hair, but there the similarity ended. Tony had high cheekbones, fuller lips and a smaller nose. Rosa was quite attractive in her own way, though.

"Hi Megan." Rosa smiled at her guest. She took in the beautiful woman with blonde hair highlighted with red, and soft hazel eyes. She was a little thing, but well proportioned and there was a warm smile on her face.

"Why don’t you both have a seat? Dinner will be ready in about 15 minutes."

"Need any help?" Tony asked.

"No. I’ve got everything under control. Do you two want something to drink while you’re waiting?" asked Rosa.

"No thank you," Megan said followed by "No thanks," from Tony.

Rosa went back to the kitchen leaving her guests to entertain themselves for a few minutes.

"Your mother’s pretty," Megan said to Tony.

Tony smiled, "I think so too, but I may be a little prejudiced."

Tony noticed Megan’s hands clasped in her lap. Putting her hand over Megan’s she said, "Hey, relax."

Megan smiled at her partner. "I’m trying. I’m just a little nervous," Megan said and thought, yeah right. Try very nervous.

"There’s no need to be," Tony said reassuringly.

Tony was surprised at how comfortable she was. It just seemed right to be here at her mother’s house with her partner. A few months ago if anyone had said there was ever any possibility of this, she would have laughed it off. Life is strange sometimes, she acknowledged silently.

But this time in a good way.

Megan looked around the living room. It was decorated simply, but felt warm and cozy. The furniture was old but well cared for. There were little knickknacks in a shadowbox on the wall. On a shelf across the room there were three pictures. Focusing on them, Megan recognized a younger version of Tony and two boys. She knew they had to be Tony’s brothers. All three were quite different in appearance, yet the family resemblance was apparent.

Rosa bustled around the kitchen. Taking the lasagna out of the oven, she placed it on the table on a couple of hotplates. She had already set the table and prepared the salad ahead of time. She was looking forward to chatting with her daughter and her friend. Taking out a couple bottles of salad dressing, she called out, "It’s ready," and waited for her guests to join her at the table.

"This is really good," Megan said smiling over at Rosa.

"Sure is," Tony agreed.

"Thank you," Rosa said. Directing her attention to Megan she said, "Tony tells me you’re the Assistant Coroner in Cleveland. How did you get interested in that line of work?"

"One of my classmates was murdered when I was in college. That’s when I decided that I wanted to do my part to help stop the senseless violence. I felt I could do that in forensic pathology."

Rosa listened to Megan and heard the passion in her voice when she spoke about her job. It was obvious she had a good heart. She seemed so young for a job like that.

"Do you come from a large family?"

"Well… I have two sisters and one brother. I never thought of our family as large though."

"They must be very impressed to have a sister who is a doctor," Rosa commented.

Megan blushed. "No, not really. Charles is an attorney just like Dad, Ashley is a CPA and Taylor has an MBA."

Tony looked at her partner and said, "I think Megan’s being a little modest. She was credited with finding out how a serial killer was murdering his victims. No one else had been able to figure it out."

Megan thought, I’m gonna kill her. Looking at Rosa, she said, "Your daughter was credited with solving the case and made the front page of the newspaper."

"So did you," Tony retorted.

Rosa looked from one to the other and started chuckling. It had been so long since young people had been around. It felt good.