Page 85 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“I was just getting off shift and I have plenty of bedrooms. We wanted to introduce the girls, anyway.”

Reina paid attention to the route she took just in case she’d have to drive it another time. Madison got in the left turn lane at one of the intersections. She pointed at the townhouse community to the right. “The rest of Alpha Team live over in that townhouse subdivision. Just a reminder, my husband John and I are on Alpha Team. If we were to go straight, we’d come upon the preschool we all use and beside it is the elementary school our kids will all go to.” Then she made the turn. “Most of Delta Team, the team that just came to pick you up, they live about a mile north of here in a different townhouse community, except Lambchop. He and his wife live across the street from us.”

“That’s convenient,” Reina said.

“We help each other a lot. It helps to live close to each other. Elizabeth, whose husband is also on Alpha Team, watches Hahna for us when we’re working. They even have a bedroom at their house for Hahna.”

“That’s truly amazing,” Reina said.

The car pulled up in front of a large two-story home. Madison went into an app on her phone and opened the garage door. Another car, a Lexus, was already in one of the three garage bays. “Oh, good, Elizabeth is already here.” She pulled her car into the garage.

They went into the house, passing through the large laundry room on the way to the kitchen, which opened up into a cozy family room. Standing at the kitchen counter was a young, petite blonde woman who held a little blonde toddler girl on her hip who had to be about a year or so old. Reina deduced the woman had to be Elizabeth.

Sitting on the counter was a dark-skinned little girl with a big smile who squealed and jumped down from the counter when she saw them come through the door. “Mommy!” After she gave Madison a hug, she turned to Lilly. “Hi, I’m Hahna.” She hugged Lilly.

Madison introduced them. Hahna took Lilly’s hand and drew her over to the large toy section in the corner of the family room. The little one on Elizabeth’s hip, her daughter Olivia, protested and wiggled. Elizabeth set her on the floor. She ran over to join the girls playing with the little kitchen set.

“Little girls love big girls,” Elizabeth said. “Hi, I’m Elizabeth. You must be Reina.”

“I am. It’s nice to meet you.” They shook hands.

“Oh, hey, I almost forgot,” Elizabeth said, “the unit next to us is going on the market next week. I asked the owner to hold off signing with a realtor because I know a few people who may be interested in buying it. I ran it by Dahlia to see if she and Michael wanted to look at it, but they’ve really got their hearts set on buying over near Delta Team. Angel told me that you and Jimmy are talking about getting a place. Reina, would you like for me to set up a time with the owner for you to come take a look?”

“Oh, I’m not sure. Yes, we have talked about needing a larger place, but I think I should wait for Jimmy to get back,” Reina insisted.

“I’d hate for someone else to buy it before he gets back. Alexander told me he’s not sure how fast they can wrap this case up,” Elizabeth said.

“It won’t hurt for you to look, Reina,” Madison agreed. “You can tell Wilson about it. Send him some pics if the team doesn’t get back before the owner needs to make a decision.”

“The team is pretty used to being gone when decisions have to be made,” Elizabeth said. “And they know we have to make those decisions without them sometimes.”

Reina just wasn’t comfortable with that, but she didn’t want to lose what could be the perfect place, either. “Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look at it.”

“Great!” Elizabeth said. “I’ll text the owner now and set something up for tomorrow morning. I can keep Lilly while you’re over there. It won’t take long. The units aren’t that big,” she said and then laughed.

“They’re very nice, three bedrooms, a two-car garage, basement, they even have their own little back yard,” Madison said.

“It sounds nice,” Reina agreed.

“And best of all, this one is right next to me,” Elizabeth said with a big smile. “I watch a lot of the children of the team members, so there’ll be kids next door for Lilly to play with. Angel and Jackson are down the block, and Anthony and Sienna are across the street from them.”

“And don’t forget that Elizabeth watches Hahna when Coop and I are working, even when we’re gone. It would be great for Hahna to have a girlfriend near her age right next door,” Madison added.

“Though all the kids think of the others as either siblings or cousins,” Elizabeth added.

Reina smiled as well. She really liked both of these women, and it would be good for Lilly to have friends living so close. “That sounds great,” Reina agreed. “I have to talk with Jimmy yet to see how it will work, but I also had just started college, a remote class that I should be able to keep taking. I may need to hire you to watch Lilly just for me to catch up on the assignments I fell behind on this past week.”

Elizabeth took hold of Reina’s hands. “I would love to have Lilly over to play. We’ll talk about money later. Just let me know when you want to work on your assignments.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth,” Reina said.

“You’ll be here for a few days at least,” Madison said. “I’m off tomorrow and Sunday. You should be able to get a lot of it done.”

Madison got out the ice cream and toppings, creating a sundae bar on the counter. Reina helped Lilly top her ice cream, thrilled that she already had made a friend in Hahna. She smiled, watching the two girls talk while they ate their sundaes.

Elizabeth left to take Olivia home shortly afterwards. Reina’s heart was overjoyed watching Lilly give little Olivia goodbyehugs as Hahna did. This wasn’t the normal Lilly she’d known from school. This new affectionate Lilly was obviously due to Hahna being so affectionate and outgoing. Hahna would be a great role model for Lilly.

Madison locked the door to the garage after Elizabeth left. She checked each door and armed the alarm system. And then the four of them headed upstairs. “We have several guest rooms. Do you want to share a room or have separate rooms?”

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