Chapter Two

"Mr. Warren let's not get ahead of ourselves. Imaging first then further diagnosis, planning and treatment. With the rapidity of your wife's pain its most likely that we have caught it early. If it is pericarditis a simple addition of a NSAID to her medications will get her back on the right path."

They had arrived at the imaging room and were preparing to take Joss in. Even though they told John he couldn't go in with her he quietly found a protective apron and was putting it on to go in with Joss when she grabbed his left hand and shook her head no. As he started to protest Joss took his left hand in both of hers and closing her eyes, gently brought it to her lips and released it with a gentle kiss to his palm. John cupped her right cheek and softly stroked it with his thumb. With a soft sigh of frustration John bowed his head and acquiesced. The trembling hand John removed from her soft skin caused her to look up at him. If the kiss in the morgue hadn't let her know how special she was to John then the look in his eyes right now left no doubt.

John's eyes had become a deep vibrant blue with very little grey to mute the intensity of them. She remembered his eyes had turned that color during their game of I'll show you mine if you show me yours... in the morgue just before he told her she had changed him. And then, he kissed her. She had become confused and uncertain then because what she saw when John was looking in her eyes was a reflection of what she had finally admitted to herself she was hoping for for the past few months. Then Finch called with his bad timing and the ramifications of that kiss got lost in what was happening all around them. But the possibilities that kiss had thrown up in the air followed her around the rest of the night like a small snow flurry and settled around her all the next day. HR was mostly gone and her heart was lighter and even a little giddy when she went to get John from the cop shop and she was letting those rampant possibilities sneak to the front of her heart . Until.....

What Joss saw in John's eyes that night in the morgue was still there but there was something new also and John's trembling hand brought it into sharp focus for Joss. John Reese was scared. And a scared John Reese terrified her. Joss had only seen him this frightened one other time since she met him. If Finch hadn't seemed to need Root around Joss was sure that after Root had kidnapped Finch and John rescued him and captured her the police would have never found Root's body.

The fear in his eyes broke her heart and made her cry. John gathered her gently in his arms and rubbed comforting circles on her back to reassure her that they would face this new challenge together, he'd be there for her, he'd be strong enough for the three of them. But Joss wasn't crying for herself or any new physical problem she may yet face. She cried for John and that she was the one responsible for the fear behind his beautiful blue eyes. In that instant Joss knew what he stood to lose if she didn't make it through this new problem. Finch had told her what John had done before any of them knew that she had survived Simmons murder attempt. She had almost, no they all had almost lost this good man she had the privilege to have love her and be in her life.

As the imaging techs took her into the room Joss vowed she would spend the rest of her life removing and keeping at bay as many fears for her from John's eyes, his face and most of all his heart that she could. So when she turned to John in the kitchen with bits of garlic dangling from the press in her hands Joss had every intention of telling him that they needed to stop hovering and she can take care of herself. But she looked into his eyes and saw it and the words turned to dust in her throat. Joss nibbled on her bottom lip, gently put down the press and kissed her husband sweetly and tenderly. John melted in to her and the kiss.

As the kiss deepened and John opened his mouth at the entreaty from her tongue, Joss sighed into the kiss. "You're a good husband Mr. John Riley. I done good when I said yes to you." John broke the kiss and leaned back to look at her. "Joss are you ok?" She shakes her head yes and lovingly smiles at him. Joss reaches up to softly smooth the worry lines over his brow. Johns voice lowers and gets thick when he tells Joss, "No I'm the one that done good Mrs. Jocelyn Riley when I finally let you in my heart," and he returns her kiss gently. When they break the kiss Joss announces, "I am a little tired so I think I'll let my boys step in and take over for a bit and a nap sounds pretty nice right now. If Fusco and Sameen get here early please keep them out of the kitchen and the food until everyone else gets here."

By way of parting to go take said nap Joss trails kisses on John's forehead, nose, wonderful high cheek bones, sensuous neck, down his strong chest stopping at the bottom of the v of his open shirt and back up to linger on his lips briefly. Her final kisses are for those beautiful eyes of his that could see her, see through her, see into her and told her all she needed to know about his love for her and their family. While the feel of her lips still linger on John's closed eyelids, Joss lightly states, "Now, Momma's gonna' go take a nap." As she starts for the staircase Joss flips him a little wink and a wave while his lustful gaze follows her swaying hips all the way to the stairs.

John had stopped chopping the stop light peppers for the stuffing when she had kissed him and she knew he was watching her. She also knew the sounds coming from behind her meant that John was getting ready to follow her upstairs. So Joss tosses over her shoulder with a lilt in her voice, "No, no Mr. Riley, you stay in the kitchen and finish what you need to. I need to get a little rest so that your dessert will be good and hot after everyone's gone home tonight, because it's good and ready right now." She gave a throaty laugh when she heard John say something under his breath, right after he dropped the knife.

At the top of the stairs John hears her tell Taylor to not forget his tooth brush. "What do I need my tooth brush for mom?" Taylor asked confused. "So you can brush those babies after you have French toast at your Granma's tomorrow morning," Joss said from her bedroom door. "Aw mom, again? Does Granma know I'm spending the night?" "She will in ten minutes when you go down stairs and ask her baby. After you pack go help John with whatever he needs please. He kicked me out of the kitchen so I'm gonna' take a nap." On the way to his room Joss hears Taylor grumble, "Why do newlyweds need so much time by themselves? It's not like you guys don't see each other every day." He laughingly gets a trio of the same answer from his mom, John and Granma. "You'll understand when you get older," they all say in unison. Taylor feels a little ganged up on and responds, "Yeah, but you're not even newlyweds any more. You've been married almost 3 months now."

About 20 minutes later Joss hears Taylor go downstairs to help John. She had assembled most of the ingredients for the last dishes before she went to take her nap and she's confident that between her two guys they would be able to complete the dinner. She thinks she might even stay up here and relax until just before 2 p.m. when the guest start arriving. As she lay on the divan in their bedroom enjoying the different smells of the day that house was now full of, the soft strains of some Gospel radio station that her mom had found gently climbs the stairs to her room. It was currently playing a rotating list of contemporary Black Gospel and holiday music. Joss could just make out the lyrics to one of her favorite Walter Hawkins song "Be Grateful". Lady Tremain Hawkins was singing that song and working that refrain.  The song made her think about another song she used to like as a child. Joss wasn't sure if she remembered all of the words but when she started singing it in a sweet soprano the words sprang to the front of her memory and escaped from her lips.

Count your blessings name them one by one

Count your blessings see what God has done

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your many blessings see what God has done.

Joss knew she had to apologize to Taylor, John and her mom for the ungrateful way she had started this day with them. She knew she had so much to be extra thankful for this year. She was thankful she was given another year to spend with her son who she had seen change so much in the past few years. That she had so much health and strength after the year she had been through was nothing short of a miracle and she was thankful for it every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day. Watching Taylor accomplish and attain his goals even throughout their ordeals of the past three years, how he handled his relationships with John and Paul and listening to him and John work together in the kitchen made her thankful and proud of the young man he was becoming.

Her mother who is as stubborn and unyielding on some things as she is was still with her on this side to sometimes argue with and most of the time love on. She was thankful that even though she would never be a cop again because of the damage to her heart from the GSW she was still going to be helping people by using her law degree and practicing law. She was thankful that Fusco had turned his life around and become the man, the detective and father that she had suspected he was when he first became her partner. She was thankful that she was done with HR and, much to John's chagrin, she had taken them down legally.

Harold Finch. What an interestingly strange man but she was thankful for him too, especially for what he had done for Taylor. Even though Joss and Finch had a rocky start because she had gotten John shot and all, Harold had become part of her family now. It seemed strange but she had a new set of running buddies and if everyone's schedule worked out right The Estrogen Brigade, meaning her, Sam and Zoe would kick the boys butt's at a cutthroat game of charades later in the evening. She had even invited Root to dinner. But she was fairly certain she wouldn't show. And to be honest Joss wasn't quite sure if she was thankful about Root or not. Even the hair that Bear was currently shedding on the sofa and rugs was something she was thankful for this year.

Bear had helped Taylor during her shooting and recovery. During her stay in the hospital, especially the first month or so, Harold had left Bear with Taylor. Having to take care of Bear drew Taylors focus to something other than the life and death struggle his mother was going through at the hospital. Bear was always there to listen, go for a run, comfort and offer Taylor a loving doggie grin and a slobbery kiss when things got to be a bit much for Taylor. Bear the protector therapy dog. He'll rip your attackers face off then lick yours to help you through the trauma of it all. Ya gotta love him!

How could she not be thankful for the great strides that Paul had made in his life in the last few years? Joss  was so thankful he had finally gotten help for the PTSD and for the relationship he was building with their son, Taylor. She was thankful that the fear she had, that the PTSD Paul suffered from would permanently separate him from Taylor, had not and now would not come to pass. Since Paul was getting treatment for the PTSD he was suffering from, Taylor was getting to know the man she had at one time been in love with. And Joss couldn't be more thankful that her and Paul could now support and co-parent their child together.

She was thankful for the shoes on their feet, the clothes on her family's backs, the roof over their heads and the food that will shortly, if Taylor and John follow all her directions(yeah right John follow her directions), be on the table to share with friends and family.

But most of all she was thankful beyond words for her wonderful, loving, sometimes off the rails, caring, kind good man and husband Detective John Riley, aka John Reese, aka John Warren, aka Detective Stiles aka her man in a suit, aka her vigilante, aka Mr. BadAss, aka her guardian angel, aka the one and only love of her life - John.  Joss hadn't told John that she knows his real name yet but she's thankful that she does know it, thankful for this small piece of his past that only she and Finch know. When John landed in her life four years ago he was intriguing but no one she thought she would really deal with ever again after he was processed and shipped off to serve his time. He was a vet that might need and get some help transitioning back into society if he would just ask for it.

But John was in her life to stay. First to make her miserable and Joss chuckles softly as she thinks about her man in a suit and their early days of cat mouse through New York City. Then to save her life - twice, to rescue Taylor, to help her bring down HR and save a bunch of people along their journey to this point in time, and to give her the most happiness she has ever had. If someone had told Joss two years ago that this point in time would see her married to a homeless, vet, ex CIA assassin and she be thankful for all the troubles he's caused her, who saves people in trouble, regularly breaks the laws she upholds, loves her and her son and would lay down his life for them in the blink of an eye, who truly is the other half of her soul and who is at this very moment, in their kitchen cooking Thanksgiving dinner with her son for them and their friends - well Joss would have just walked away knowing you were crazy for sure.

Joss knows she has been given two miracles in one year, four in her life time by her count and she is thankful for all and for who she has in her life right now, today.

Count your blessings name them one by one.

No, ever thing is not perfect with her and John and their life. But most people don't even get one miracle in a lifetime.

Count your many blessing see what God has done.

~~~~~~ FINIS ~~~~~~