Veterans Day Daddy Page 7

  “Brittney,” I say. My mind goes blank. It’s such a shock. I just can’t put what I need to say into words.

  “Are you…going somewhere?” she asks.

  The doorbell rings as a man knocks on the door. It’s still half-open.

  “Sir. I’m here to take you to the airport. Sorry, but we’re on a tight schedule. If you’re ready we need to go right away.” He sees we’re having a moment. “I can wait three minutes,” he says, and I hear the sounds of his leather soled shoes tap the concrete quickly as he scurries away to give us space.

  I would have dismissed him if he would just given me a second to reply. No way will I be ready in three minutes. I can’t go anywhere. I need to be here with her. I don’t care about the consequences. The Marines can write me up for disobeying a direct order if they want. They can say I went unauthorized absence for not showing up at my next duty station on time. I don’t care. All I care about is her.

  “Go,” she says. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “You’re having my baby and that means more to me than anything in the world.”

  I see her head turn to look up at mine. The river of tears turns into a flood as her arms wrap tightly around my neck.

  I hold her so tight I can feel her heartbeat…unless maybe it’s a whole other heartbeat I’m feeling. The heartbeat of my child.

  Our child. The child with the only woman I want. The only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, no matter what.

  “But you have to go,” she says quietly into my ear as her cheek squishes against mine.

  “I’m not going. I’m not leaving you. I’ll always be by your side, and you by mine.”

  “But you’ll get in trouble.”

  “Punishment from the Marines is one thing. Punishing myself for the rest of my life from walking away from the woman I love is the worst kind of punishment I could ever imagine.”

  Her sobbing grows louder and louder.

  Suddenly she pulls back and then her lips come at mine harder than they ever have.

  The rap of knuckles against wood fills the room. I look up expecting to see the driver, but instead there’s a Marine in his service “c” Charlie uniform.

  “Warrant Officer Verlander, Sir.”

  “Yes, Lance Corporal,” I say addressing the young Marine standing tall and proud in my doorway.

  “Sir, your orders have been changed at the direction of the Commandant.”

  “Where to?” I ask.

  “I don’t know, Sir,” he says.

  “Can you read them too me, Lance Corporal?”

  “Lance Corporal Washington, Sir. Yes, Sir.”

  The young Marine removes the single sheet of paper from manila folder he’s carrying.

  “Chief Warrant Officer, Verlander. You have been reassigned. You are to report to your new duty station by 0800 on the morning of—”

  “Tomorrow, Washington. I can figure it out. Just tell me where.”

  I watch as Lance Corporal Washington’s eyes skim the paper. “NCIS New York, Sir.”

  “Thank you, Lance Corporal Washington.”

  “Yes, Sir,” he says. He slides the paper back in the envelope and I motion to him that he can leave it on the table.

  “Thank you, Washington.”

  “Am I dismissed, Sir?”

  “Washington, if you make it a habit of brining good news like this…well then I think you can come and go as you damn well please.”

  The slightest of smiles tries to make its way out of the corner of Washington’s mouth, but he quickly suppresses it. He performs an about-face and takes off back out into the hustle and bustle of New York City.

  “But isn’t NCIS New York—” Brittney begins before she’s cut off.

  “Sir, we have to go now,” the driver says. He’s standing in the same spot Washington was not seconds earlier, yet looking nowhere near as buttoned up as the young Marine. The driver looks fine, but there’s something the Corps does to young men that takes them to the next level.

  I’ve been giving my all to the Corps for years and today she gave something back to me. Something that will help me take my life to the next level. Scratch that…our life to the next level.

  “Young man, there’s a hundred dollar bill inside the first drawer right there next to you. It’s yours for the trouble.”

  “You won’t be needing a ride today?”

  “Not today and not ever. I’m staying right here…to start a family with the woman of my dreams.”

  EPILOGUE

  Brittney

  Two months later

  I grab three cups of hot chocolate and sit down next to the rink. Somehow I’d never come to Central Park to skate in the winter. You’d think after all these years I would have come at least once.

  But this is a romantic place to me. Someplace I dreamed about, but I never had the right person to share that dream with…until now.

  And now it’s not just the right person, it’s the right people.

  Isabella waves at me with one hand and Sean with the other. Their other hands are connected, as he holds her hand and guides her around the rink…or maybe it’s the other way around.

  I can’t help but laugh a little watching little Isabella try her hardest to skate fast, but not being able to quite pull it off. It’s not easy when you’re just a little girl and you’re pulling a big load. Sean looks a bit uneasy, but he’s faking it pretty well. I think all those squats in the gym have his center of gravity pretty low, so I’m not too worried about him falling over. I’m another story all together.

  The pregnancy is coming along perfectly, but there’s no way I’m going to take a single risk…especially not ice skating. I don’t mind at all though. Thanks to Isabella I already have a head start on being mom. Plus when her and her dad skate the other direction they won’t notice if I accidentally drink a little bit of the delicious, warm sweet chocolate out of the wrong two cups by “accident.” Oops!

  Plus it gives me the chance to take pictures with the new camera Sean got me. He said we need to start documenting everything now, so our little baby will see everything he or she was apart of, but wasn’t able to fully participate in…yet. We promised each other we’re going to make all these moments family traditions all over again after my delivery.

  We’ve decided to keep the sex of the baby a secret. It would seem we’ve had enough surprises over these last few months, but we figure we can handle one more.

  And as excited as Sean and I are, I don’t think anyone’s more excited than Isabella. She can’t wait for a little brother or sister to play with. By this time next year she’ll have an ice skating partner that’s closer to her own size. Now that will be the picture of a lifetime. It will be cuteness overload when I see Isabella helping her little brother or sister out onto the ice rink here in Central Park.

  And maybe the best part of it all was when Sean and I called my mom together and told her I was pregnant. She freaked out. Okay, that wasn’t the best part. But she did calm down and then it hit her that she was going to be a grandma, and everything was okay again.

  She had a call planned with my dad that night. He was deployed again, but something happened this time. Luckily no one was hurt over there, but he just said that he’d had a lot of downtime over there and he’d had time to think. He realized life is short and you have to go for what makes you happy. He was really mad about Sean at first, but in a way it started to make sense to him. And the more he thought about it the more he realized that he’s best friends with Sean because of the kind of stand-up guy he is. My dad doesn’t have a lot of true friends, and he only has one best friend. It takes years for my dad to consider you a friend, and there’s a reason why. You’ve got to be just as honorable of a guy as he is. Just as loyal, caring, and courageous…and that’s Sean.

  My mom let him finish, and then gave him the ultimate test of his own words. “Well then, you’re going to be happy because your daughter is p
regnant…with Sean’s child.”

  My dad took a deep breath in and my mom expected him to start yelling all over again, but instead he just started laughing. “The world works in mysterious ways,” he said And he sure is right.

  And everything is right in my world again. My mom and dad are like two lovebirds, calling each other from halfway around the world all day and night like high school kids dating. Sean and I couldn’t be happier, and I’m taking classes again at CUNY - John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

  Sean’s caseload isn’t very heavy these days so he has a lot of time to help me study. Even little Isabella loves doing the flashcards with me when I’m prepping for a test. She couldn’t be any cuter or more helpful either when she yells, “You got it right!” She’s a bundle of encouragement and positivity.

  And speaking of positivity, I am positively in love.

  Sean’s the man I always wanted. And I got him.

  And he reminds me every day that I’m the perfect woman for him. He’s fond of saying, “I’ve seen the world from the air, on land, and from the seas…and there’s nobody and nothing like you anywhere, and certainly nothing more beautiful…and that’s the truth.”

  And that’s why I know he’ll always love me. And I’ll always love him. And always love us. All three and soon enough to be four of us.

  And who knows. Maybe one day there will be five, or six, or seven or…

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE

  Sean

  Five years later

  Ian takes Brittney’s hand and they carefully make their way out onto the ice at Central Park. We promised to make this a yearly event and we have, but this is the first year Ian was ready to give ice skating a try. Next year maybe Ivy will be ready to give it a shot.

  She’s only two, and somehow the terrible twos haven’t started yet. We got lucky and missed them with Ian. Hopefully Ivy will breeze right past them as well.

  We say we got lucky, but we like to think it’s less about luck and more about the environment we create for our kids. Okay, I say we create but the real leader of the pack here is Brittney.

  As much as I like being in charge it’s Brittney who sets the tone for us all. She’s always happy and upbeat and it carries right over into our kids’ demeanors and their approach to life.

  I definitely still enjoy being the man at home. I like fixing things around the house and I’m comfortable being the one who dishes out discipline when need be, but luckily it’s never been in the form of a spanking. I just give the kids responsibilities and make sure they follow through. One thing I learned from the Marines is that fear certainly motivates, but it only provides temporary compliance. I want long-lasting results for my kids, and to get that the discipline and drive have to come from within them. I like setting up little challenges and then working with them to stay focused and overcome any and all obstacles until they succeed.

  I wave at Ian, but he doesn’t wave back. His arms are flailing around so much he looks like an octopus. I think he’s doing everything he can to stay upright, and I’m doing everything I can to record this on the camcorder Brittney got me for our anniversary.

  A few minutes later and Brittney and Ian skate over for a break.

  “Hot chocolate break anyone?” I ask.

  Ian’s eyes perk up and he’s more than ready to chug down the entire cup when I hand it over.

  Brittney takes a sip.

  “Did you order a full one?” she asks.

  “Of course. Why?”

  “It seems like there’s some missing.”

  I wink.

  “You rascal!”

  “You think you could fool me all these years? I’ve been waiting for this moment for longer than you can imagine, and today the time has finally come!”

  “I never drank that much of yours.”

  “But over the course of all those years, you’ve robbed me of an entire cup.”

  She smiles and gives Ivy and me a hug.

  “Hey!” I yell, wiping the snow off of my face. The snowball was a direct hit, exploding on my shoulder and then covering my face. Somebody’s got good aim and I have a very good idea who that might be.

  I turn toward the direction of the attack and see Isabella laughing. I reach down with one hand, being careful with Ivy in the other, and pack up some snow into a snowball as quickly as I can. I lob it Isabella’s direction as she takes off. I get her but only on the back of the leg. I make a note to get her back before winter is over. Who am I fooling? I’ll get her back before the day is over. And it will go on all winter, back and forth between the two of us. I can hardly wait.

  “Wait a minute. You have got to be kidding me. It is you!” a man says.

  My eyebrows raise and I look up at the man who’s looking at me like I’m holding the winning Powerball ticket.

  “Who am I?” I ask. The man seems harmless and his intensions are good so I just play along.

  “You’re the guy who stopped that truck a few years ago at the Veteran’s Day Parade.”

  I don’t say anything.

  “Honey! Get the kids. This man is a bona fide New York City hero.” He turns back to me. I’m clearly embarrassed now. I’m honored that he took the time to say hello, but embarrassed nonetheless. “Do you mind if we get a picture?”

  “No problem,” I say, as I hand Ivy over to her mother.

  I pose for a picture with the man and his family. They take a couple, making sure they got a good one, and then the man shakes my hand and goes about his day this beautiful winter afternoon.

  “Honey,” Brittney says to Isabella. “Would you and your brother like to skate some more?”

  “Yes, please!” she says.

  “Okay. You can go ahead. We’ll get you another hot chocolate when you’re done.”

  “Thanks!” Isabella grabs her brother’s hand and they maneuver back out onto the ice.

  Brittney sits down next to me with Ivy sitting on the thick blanket in-between us.

  “You never told me,” she says softly, a tear forming in her eye.

  “Never told you what, sweetheart. I tell you I love you every day.”

  “Oh my god, Sean. You do, and I love you too…but you never told me. All this time…it was you. You were the one.”

  I raise my palms and shrug. “Never figured it was worth talking about.”

  “Even in your finest hour you’re still so modest. You just don’t accept the spotlight. It’s exactly how you are with our family. You always give me all the credit, when it’s definitely a team effort.”

  “It’s not how I was brought up to be,” I say. It’s true. A man who calls attention to his accomplishments just might not be a real man at all.

  “You amaze me every day.”

  Brittney wraps her arms around me carefully, with Ivy in-between, and I give Brittney a kiss on top of her cute little beanie.

  “But you know…I never did consider that my finest hour.”

  Her head pulls back quickly and she gives me a curious look.

  “Saving me wasn’t your finest hour?”

  “I went back and looked at the tape a time or two. As crazy as it sounds you weren’t in any real danger. I could see you were prepared. You assessed the situation and you were ready to hit the deck. You would have been fine. Definitely don’t get me wrong though. Please. I can’t even express how happy I am that it never got to that point, but you’re a fighter. You always keep your wits about you and you always pull through, no matter the circumstances. But also know this…there’s no way I would ever let some lunatic, or anyone, harm you or any part of our family.”

  “Thank you, honey. You know you’ve always been my hero, but now more than ever…if that’s even possible.

  I slide out of her hug and give her one of my own. She buries her head in my chest. She’s right by my heart. She’s safe, protected, and loved as she is and always will be.

  ‘Wait a second!” she says, pulling back again.

  “If that wasn’t your finest h
our, what was?”

  “The moment I put that ring on your finger and made you mine forever.”

  She shakes her head from side to side and that same tear that began a minute ago now falls from the corner of her eye, running down her cheek and landing on the fresh snowfall.

  “No words,” she begins. “There are just no words to describe how much I love you.”

  “Then don’t speak,” I say. “Just kiss me.”