As promised, Julien had made it happen; the BBQ celebrating the arrival of his old MARSOC buddy - Thomas Sullivan. Of course, there were other reasons for the celebration but Julien was more than happy to umbrella it under the fact that he was simply here in Tierney. He had set up the barbecue, allowing it to get hot enough before adding more coals to it. Billy Foxwell, his older brother had snagged up drinks duty whilst his mother and father had began setting up the outside table.

In all the years that he had been in the family, Julien knew that they had hardly spent a day indoors for dinner, much preferring to spend it out on a nice enough night and talk into the night about anything and everything. He glanced over at the meats and assorted vegetables that had been laid out on a small table to one side, a grin pulling on his face as he heard the cracking of a beer can opening. Julien spared a quick glance over his shoulder at his brother, holding a cold one in his hand.

"Don't give me stick about it, Jules." Billy replied, and despite the serious and deadpan expression, Julien could tell that there was a humorous undertone lacing his older brother's words.

"Wasn't planning on it, Bill. Just thought sharing was caring."

"So, remind me who Thomas's girl again?" Billy asked.

Julien paused to check on the grill, prodding it with the tongs. "Sarah, I think. But, being you haven't met her yet, feel free to introduce yourself. Makes it less awkward." He had probably mentioned Thomas's girl in passing, but had never truly thought to have explained it until he had made arrangements for a Foxwell-Sullivan BBQ. Billy knew of Thomas's name, and how they had met but nothing truly in-depth.


Tag: Sp. Agt Thomas Sullivan

Thomas wasn't sure if this was a good idea. He had just gotten back and in all honesty, he wanted to just spend the day in bed with Sarah. Of course, she wasn't having any of that. She wanted him to be social. Not that he minded being social, and besides, he was looking forward to seeing everyone. He was just having one of those days where he wanted to be lazy. But he wasn't going to go there. No, he had a chance to reconnect with an old friend and he was going to take it. Besides, after everything that had gone on in the past week, he could use some down time. And besides, he wanted a chance to have Sarah meet everyone.

When he finally reached the front door, he rang the doorbell, and then waited, his eyes clouding.
"Hey, relax. We're just here to have fun," she reminded him.
"Yeah I know. Just..." he shrugged.
"You've never liked crowds," she said. "You'll be fine," she said, kissing him on the cheek, resulting in a smile from him.
"Thanks, Babe."
"Anytime." Now then, all he had to do was wait for someone to answer the door.

Julien had heard the front door go at the same time as his brother, the two shouting out that they had it would have been comical to on-lookers who had not known them for a long period of time.

His mother had commented on multiple occasions that the two brothers were more alike than they had been, and in some occasions, switching back to Marine slang around others in their own little world. Julien had handed over the task to Bill, who had taken duty over manning the BBQ.

The fact that the man of the hour coming over certainly had used to be a Marine hadn't dulled the spirit.

He had reached the door first, unlocking and undoing the chains as he pulled open the door. A smile stretched across his face. "Hey mate, glad you could make it! Sarah, it's very nice to finally see you again! C'mon in." Julien moved to one side to make way for his guests to enter. "We're having an outback meal, Foxwell's tend not to like sitting indoors when a BBQ's cooking. Can I help take anything? Coats? Bags?"

Sp. Agt Thomas Sullivan

Thomas smiled as Julian greeted him and Sarah, saying it was nice to see her again.
"And you as well," Sarah responded. "I'm glad Thomas has been able to connect with some buddies here. It's...made things easier for him," she continued, smiling at him as they walked into the house.
"What she means is that she was worried that my homecoming and transition would be hard," Thomas said. "And honestly, I thought it would be too. But being here...seeing you...it's helped," he told him. Can't believe how much it's helped, he thought to himself. Of course, being with the canine unit helped some. Dogs were excellent therapy. Not that he had needed it...surprisingly. Had he had some trouble? Yes, absolutely. But spending time with Sarah and his family helped to keep him grounded.

His smile then grew as his friend went on to tell him that they were eating outside as they didn't tend to like eating indoors when there was a barbecue, asking if he could take anything from them.
"No I'm good. Thanks," Thomas replied.
"I'm good," Sarah responded at the same time. So happy, he thought to himself. He really needed this. The downtime would do him good.

"What she means is that she was worried that my homecoming and transition would be hard, and honestly, I thought it would be too. But being here...seeing you...it's helped,"

Julien nodded. He knew from a couple of his buddies who had left the services years prior to his move to Tierney had found the transition back to civilian life (or as close to it) was difficult, and often slow to acclimatize to. "You've known I've always got your six, Tom." And, he meant it. Whether through thick or thin, Julien would remain steadfast at his friend's side.

He gave Sarah a friendly smile, silently glad that Tom had found someone to share his life with. Of course, in his younger years and their time in MARSOC, they would have been relentlessly bantered about that mere fact to boost moral and to have a bit of a friendly chin-wag. That aside, Julien guided them out back to where his mother had taken over the BBQ, his father had sat himself down with his brother, Billy, who had gotten up as he spied the guests and greeted them with a friendly smile.

"Ah, you must be Jules' buddy and...Sarah, was it? Good to meet you, I'm Billy. Julien's older brother."

Julien was surprised at how easy his brother had gotten to speaking with new guests, often the quieter one as he weighed up the situation - but bearing in mind that Thomas had been a marine, there was that connection Billy would have latched onto.

"Please, sit down, make yourselves at home. Mi casa, tu casa and all that," Julien chuckled. "Would you both like anything to drink? We got beer, cider and scotch squirreled away somewhere. Or varying amounts of juice as well."

Thomas smiled as Julian told him that he always had his six, which he hoped that he knew.
"Yeah, I know. And it's appreciated," he responded, smiling at him. Glad to have him as a friend, he thought to himself. Without Julien, he would've been a goner many times and he was glad that they were reconnecting here. He then turned his attention to the man who was walking up to them, smirking a bit when he said that he must be his brother's buddy, introducing himself as Billy and calling the other man "Jules". Oh I can have so much fun with this, he thought to himself. "Yeah, I'm Thomas. Good to meet you man," he said, going to shake his hand, which glancing at Julien. "Jules?" he mouthed with a smirk.

He then sat down and listened to the offer of beverages.
"Scotch would be great. Thanks," he responded. He was glad he had come. He had needed the night out and it would do him some good to mingle for a bit. Was it a little weird doing the whole barbecue thing? Absolutely, but at least he knew a couple of people and it wasn't as if he was in a room full of strangers. Cause that would've really sucked.