Page 101 of Shockproof

Not being privy to the exact details didn’t stop me from receiving any.

Once recouping the amounts spent on keeping me safe – from supplies to manpower to alternative methods for information gathering aka Wiz – were obtained – courtesy of The Accountant’s impressive records – bonuses for those affected directly were handed out and followed with using the remaining amount to discover the identities of his investors. From there, all I know is, they too were handled accordingly by those at the top of the company.

Britt’s life was of course ended before I was rescued yet the haunting rumors of what happened to her – what happens when you’re caught betraying the business – live on to this day. And due to Melissa’s unintentional supplying of information, she was reassigned to another location. They masked it as a raise in position versus an inability to be trusted with secure information. She works in HR in our Paris division where her primary objective is arranging annual functions. I miss her, but we still keep in touch. Sharing kid pictures is like a weird universal language in itself.

All of a sudden, Lair Bear demands, “Higher, Daddy! Higher!”

“You really think you can handle higher, princess?”

Glancing over at the picture-perfect moment can’t be helped.

“All the high, Daddy!” she squeaks prior to being hoisted high above his head.

“Alright,” he lightly chortles. “Launchin’.”

Our daughter flies gracefully through the air with her water winged arms frantically flailing around to help her soar. She lands with a huge splash that drenches her slightly smaller in stature sibling. The instant she’s above the surface Lu grabs her face to ensure she’s okay before taking her turn to swim over to be thrown.

Thisis really what he retired for.

He wanted to do the dad thing to the fullest extent possible.

His change in position definitely allows it, yet not nearly to the level he implied it would.

There are still long stretches where he has to travel, which is much more agonizing when raising two kids even if his life isn’t directly on the line.

He misses important moments.

First words.

First footsteps.

First batter tasting.

And the girls?

They misshim.

Riding pretend horses around the backyard of the house Slater and his dad custom designed.

Ridingrealhorses at his stepfather’s property.

Brushing teeth, reading books, and lighting bedtime candles just like he did when he was their age.

The unexpected amounts of travel are a point of contention in our relationship, but we make it work just like we used to.

“Angel Cake,” my husband begins again at the same time he lifts Lu, “could you please stop workin’ and come play with us?”

“Pwease, mommy!” Lu squeals, little legs kicking in the air, hot pink letters springing each step of the way.

“Again, I am not working.” Closing my laptop precedes watching my three-year-old flutter through the beautiful morning sky. “I was just doing a little data digging.”

Slater slides onto the edge of our vacation rental’s pool and tosses me a sarcastic stare over his shoulder. “That’s work.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Did it involve algorithms?”

“That’s not a fair assessment.Mostthings involve those even when you don’t realize it.”

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