When Devon got home after finishing his meeting with Thomas he informed Jennie of what the next step was going to be with his assignment. “Honey, I have the next two days free before I go overseas, is there anything you would like to do or someplace you would like to go to? I could be gone for several months, so we should make the most of these next two days.”
“You know the only thing I want is for the three of us to spend some quality time together. Maybe, we can go out to a nice restaurant tonight, otherwise, I just want to stay home. Devon, you really need to spend all the time you can with your baby Amelia. The next time you see her she could be walking. You also need to spend some time making your wife happy.” She said mischievously.
“That sounds like a great idea Jennie, I have an idea for a restaurant already in mind. I am going to definitely miss our little angel. As to the last comment Mrs Howard, you better look out.”
“Jennie give me a moment to make reservations, then we can go and watch our baby girl sleep.”
“I want to take you to the La Pergola Restaurant, which is located in the Rome Cavalieri Hotel. Following complete refurbishment, the new Pergola pays tribute to the colors and materials of Rome, from the travertine marble to the red color scheme. It offers a breathtaking panoramic rooftop view of our eternal city, including St. Peter’s Basilica. It is the only three-star Michelin restaurant in Rome. Below Monte Mario hill, the whole of Rome, encircled by hills, is spread out before you, appearing silent and enchanted, almost as if it were dozing. Although he’s been at the helm here since 1994, Heinz Beck’s enthusiasm remains undiminished, as he continues to update his dishes, explore new avenues, and create classic and imaginative cuisine with a strong Italian and Mediterranean flavor. It offers one-of-a-kind cuisine with the real flavors of Italian and Mediterranean traditions. Chef Beck focuses on light and healthy cooking, incorporating scientific research into the nutritional aspects of fine dining. The service is impeccable, and the attention to detail is exceptional, right down to using Riedel glassware and personalized napkins. It is also known for its excellent wine cellar and sommelier Marco Reitano, a master of fine wines who is at the top of his profession. It offers tasting menus, such as 7-course or 10-course options.” Devon added as he read the description from the restaurant’s web page.
“It sounds amazing honey,” Jennie remarked excitedly. “I have just an outfit to wear, something I have been wanting to try on ever since I got pregnant. Now that I am back to regular weight I can fit in it again. Now let’s go and watch our daughter sleep.”
When Jennie asked her mother if she wouldn’t mind watching Amelia while they went out to eat, she of course said yes. Clarice was overjoyed at the opportunity to have Amelia all to herself.
Devon in a suit
When Devon saw Jennie in her new dress, he about fell over, she looked simply amazing. He had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He had to have been the luckiest man alive.
When Devon finished getting ready he looked in the bathroom mirror. He had to admit that Jennie and him made a pretty good-looking couple.
When they were all dressed and ready to go out, they both kissed their baby girl as she slept in her bassinet. When they finished kissing their daughter, Jennie started to give instructions to her mother. Clarice would have none of it and started shooing them out the door. ” I have got this, now go out and have a good time.”
After the couple finished their meal, Jennie called her mother to tell her they would soon return home. Her mother told her, “Nonsense, Jennie and Devo, go out and have fun, see a movie or go out to a dance club. You may not get a chance to do this for a while. Besides, Amelia and I are doing just fine.”
The Race Club
Neither one of them felt like going to a noisy nightclub, so they decided to try something different and go to a Speakeasy cocktail bar.
It was a Classic & inventive cocktails in a brick-vault setting with a cozy, old-world vibe. Here is a little information on the bar. From the outside, The Race Club Roma Speakeasy is easy to miss. This bar stands on a street close to the Colosseum—one of those streets people walk down every day without even knowing that there’s another great Roman gem around the corner. But The Race Club is here, hiding in the dark, waiting to be discovered. Hidden from plain sight, we are seriously dedicated to our cocktails. Settle in and relax on one of our plush sofas with a well-mixed libation unique to Race Club’s menu. Choose between a classic recipe, a classic drinks reinterpreted or one of our signature cocktails.
What’s Inside The Club?
A unique location where you can meet and relax thanks to the warm hospitality of our team. We can’t reveal everything to you, boost your happiness and come and visit us. Drink our exclusive drinks and live this unique experience. We will provide you with the right fuel for the evening.
Why Come??
We offer cutting-edge drinks, accessible to everyone. With innovative blends and refined design, we turn every sip into a work of art.
Jennie and Devon enjoyed themselves immensely. It was just the touch to finish off a perfect evening. When they got home, they found Jennie’s mother sleeping in a comfy chair right next to her granddaughter’s bassinet in her room. Jennie gently woke up her mother and helped her to her much more comfortable bed.
The following day, Devon and Jennie decided to take Amelia out to Orange Garden a nice park, so she could get some fresh air.
Orange Garden (Giardino degli Aranci)
What this small park on the Aventine Hill lacks in size, it more than makes up for in views – in fact, its popularity is mainly due to the breathtaking vista over Rome, which stretches from the Tiber River to St.Peter’s Basilica. Giardino degli Aranci was built over the ruins of the Savelli family fortress, built in the 14th century. The name derives from the many orange trees growing in the park. These were planted in homage to Saint Dominic, who founded a monastery here and, according to legend, gave the park its first orange tree. The rectangular garden is symmetrical in its layout, with a central avenue aligned with the viewpoint. The fountain at the entrance is adorned with a marble mask made in the 16th century.
After spending some time at the park, Devon, Jennie, and Clarice spent the rest of the day at the villa, where they just relaxed, played with their dogs, and enjoyed being a family.
Now that we know what Devon did on his two days, we need to spend a little time discussing what Thomas did. Reviewing how they spent their two days was a study in contrasts. In contrast, Devon didn’t have a care in the world. Don’t get me wrong; Devon had his concerns, but over the years, he had developed the ability to compartmentalize. He had needed this skill to survive, and it was a skill that now came in good stead. Thomas, on the other hand, had little free time, and certainly dawdling was not on the menu. He and Devon were lucky that the Gendarmerie had a very extensive armory. They certainly had the connections with the Italian military to get what they didn’t have. It just so happened that Thomas had a very good friend, Tore Eneide, who was in charge of the armory in the Vatican.
Thomas and Tore had a friendly rivalry that had been going on for years. As part of his job at the Vatican, Thomas was required to do some very interesting jobs that occasionally required exotic weapons. So he had been coming to Tore’s armory, as it was unofficially known, for these weapons. He had been able to provide them for himself every time, without resorting to the fallback, which was, as I stated earlier, the Italian Military. He thought for sure that with Devon’s help, he would be able to stump him. When he gave the list of weapons he needed for their mission in the Philippines, Tore looked over it for a while, with his hand on his chin as if perplexed. He cleared his throat a little, gave his shirt collar a little nervous tug, and then broke out in a big smile and gave a hearty laugh. Then he looked at Thomas and said, “Good try, old body, but you still haven’t stumped me.” He then spoke seriously, “How soon do you need this stuff?” Thomas replied, “Here is the thing, I need the weapons and body armor as soon as possible, actually immediately. The tricky part is that I need them sent by a Diplomatic transport, with the final destination being the Puerto Princesa Airport freight office. I need the anonymity provided by the diplomatic status of the Vatican to get these weapons into the Philippines. This mission is off the books. And it goes without saying that you can’t speak a word of this to anyone, Tore.”
He finished up by telling Tore what sizes he would need for the body armor. Most of the body armor was one-size-fits-all, with some differences for males and females. However, this wasn’t exactly true. There were some differences in sizes. Especially if you had a very tall or large person, you needed some modifications. Fortunately, all three team members were built about the same, though Devon was a little broader in the chest, thanks to his working out.
It took most of his first day to take care of the weapons with Tore. Tore was the only one working at the armory, so he needed help packing everything and loading the crates on the transport to the airport. When he was finished, he got a quick bite to eat at the employee cafeteria in the Vatican. It is situated behind the Vatican’s central post office on Via Sant’Anna. The cafeteria offers a variety of options, including pasta, cod, grilled tomatoes, and French fries, and primarily serves the Vatican’s blue-collar workforce, including technicians, electricians, plumbers, metalworkers, and craftspeople. Employees of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, also utilize this canteen.
After Thomas finished his meal, he went back to his apartment where after studying a map and guide book on the Philippines, he made an early night of it.
The next day, he purchased the plane tickets and packed the clothes he would need for their mission. Thanks to his storied career with the Gendarmerie, he had amassed quite a varied wardrobe, and as a result, he felt pretty comfortable that he would have everything he needed. After Thomas was all packed, he called Devon to notify him of the flight times. After they chatted for a while, he updated Devon on the arrangement that he had made. After finishing his call with Devon, Thomas decided to go out for a nice dinner. While he didn’t have the budget or even the palate of Devon, he still enjoyed a good meal once in a while. One of his favorite places to eat was 500 gr Brace e Burger.
500 gr Brace e Burger
Menu
When Thomas finished, he went back to his apartment and watched a couple of Netflix movies, then he hit the hay early. He knew that he was going to need all the sleep he could get because tomorrow was going going to be a long day.
Now that Thomas is safely ensconced in his bed, let’s check to see how Devon is getting along. Oops, sorry. Devon and Jennie are in a state of undress, if you know what I mean. Since they won’t be getting to enjoy this activity for a while, let’s give them some time and privacy. Knowing those two, let’s say a couple of hours. Meanwhile, let’s take a peek in on baby Amelia.
Amelia Clara Howard’s nursery Baby Amelia
I couldn’t resist including a photo of her nursery, including the comfy chair her grandmother spends so much time snoozing in. What do you think of the beautiful baby Amelia? You had to know she was going to be beautiful, just look at her parents. Do you want to do a little time traveling tithe future to see what she will look like? I will take your silence as a yes.
Since we can’t travel into the future, I will include an artist’s rendition of Amelia at the age of 20. What do you think? Pretty cute. Well, I think we have given Devon and Jennie enough time to finish up. Who knows? Maybe they just created a baby brother for little Amelia.
After hopping in the shower, a reinvigorated Devon started packing for his extended travels. Like Thomas, he had several decisions to make about what to pack. Devon decided to pack a lot of his dark combat and camouflage clothes, just in case they had to do some jungle excursions. He also brought some business suits, dress suits, and several light casual outfits. He also packed exercise clothes and bathing suits.
Because they would be doing some surveillance, Devon packed a compact camera outfit with two Sony a6000 camera bodies, one with a 16-55mm lens and the other with a 70-350mm lens. This way, he would not have to change lenses and risk getting the sensor dirty, and he would always be ready to get the shot he needed, regardless of the subject. Both cameras had anti-theft straps and cages that provided extra protection and also allowed the camera to be secured in many different ways for unobtrusive positioning and remote firing.
He finished with a 3-mm dive suit, scuba fins, a dive mask, and a snorkel.
When he finished, he brought his suitcases to the foyer, preparing for an early departure. Then he climbed into bed next to a satisfied and pleasantly exhausted wife.
The next day, we found Thomas and Devon chilling at their terminal in the Leonardo da Vinci – Fiumicino Airport. Even though they were both pros of several of these types of missions, there was always the feeling of excitement and anticipation, and this trip was no different. While neither of the two gentlemen was a mindless zealot willing to follow any commands from his superiors, they both believed in doing what was right. Thomas and Devon were all too acutely aware of the sad state of affairs in the world, where evil seemed to triumph far too often. They had been tasked with a difficult task that most assuredly would involve bloodshed. Unfortunately, sometimes it was necessary to bring to justice people by this means who not only felt that they were above the law, but in effect were.
Each man was quiet and seemed to be at peace with his lot in life as he sat in his seat. It was as if they knew that they were put on the earth to do sometimes distasteful things to make the world a better place. Finally, the gate attendant started calling for the boarding of their plane. Devon and Thomas flew business class, so they were among the first to board. I won’t bore you with the details of this long flight; suffice it to say that it was uneventful. Each of them took turns watching movies, listening to music, and sleeping while away the time—nothing out of the ordinary and certainly nothing that millions of travelers do every day. I will pick up the adventures of our intrepid adventurers in the following chapter.