“Charlie, we have mail, oh my god look and I think you have a care package. Come on, let’s open it together.”
I grin at Paige, who has become a great friend to me here. She is missing her girlfriend just as much as I miss Emily. We have spent a few nights talking about our girlfriends and how we had met. We showed photos of Emily and Valerie to each other and when we would get low, the other would try to pick the other up again.
Paige was the person beside me on the train and we got on so well that we sat beside each other on the plane. We both comforted each other as the tears fell, as the realisation of leaving our girlfriends behind hit.
I join her on the floor and laugh as she grins. She squeaks excitedly as she opens the envelope.
“Oh my god it’s from my baby. Charlie, I have a letter from Val.”
I smile as I try and open the box. “I see that, do you have extra tissues now to dry those tears.”
“Oh ha-ha, Charlie…yes, I do.”
She goes quiet as she starts to read and I open the box. There are photos of everyone in there and a picture drawn by Ray that makes me smile. I have a letter from mom, Emily, and Stacey.
I hear a gasp from Paige as she holds the letter close to her chest and I see tears forming. I frown concerned. “Paige, everything okay?”
She looks at me and starts beaming. “Yes, everything is wonderful.”
She doesn’t say much more and I wait patiently, but she doesn’t continue so I nudge her. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, Charlie, I’m going to be a mom. Valerie is pregnant, the IVF took and she is pregnant. My baby is pregnant. Look.”
She hands me a scan photo and I trace it so gently. “Wow, would you look at that. It’s beautiful and so amazing. Congratulations Paige, you are going to be a mom and while we are out here, I will watch your back the entire time. We will get call times later, I want in on that call for a few seconds to tell Valerie I have your back.”
Paige grins at me. “Only if I get to say hi to Emily.”
“Of course, it’s a deal. This is going to be great.”
I open the care package and grin. “Oh, we have chocolate marshmallow eggs and homemade cookies. Emily has sent me a Carolina Panthers top too and if I’m not mistaken, it’s sprayed with her perfume. I am going to read these letters…”
I look up and realise Paige is not even listening, she has zoned out looking at the scan photo. I grin and walk to my bunk. I lay back and read the letters. I have tears in my eyes reading Emily’s words and my heart aches because I miss her so much. I knew it would be hard but the ache I feel is unheard of. Paige keeps my spirits lifted and anytime we have been on patrol, we have stayed close together and come back safely. We haven’t been taken into the worst affected or most dangerous parts yet, but we both know that will come very soon. I started to write a letter back to Emily but it hasn’t been completed yet. I have some downtime so I take out my pen and paper to start to write again. Every so often, I hear Paige mumble. “I’m going to be a mom, dear god, I’m going to be a mom.”
She is in total shock but the smile on her face has lit up this dreary sand filled hell hole. I finish the letter, lay back and close my eyes as my mind is flooded with a montage of beautiful images of Emily. Paige shakes me and I keep my eyes closed making her shake me harder. I smile and open one eye. “What do you want, you pain in the butt?”
She grins. “I’m going to be a mom.”
I open my eyes and grin. “Yes, you are, there is going to be a mini you running around, God help us all. Let’s hope it’s a mini Valerie.”
She is laughing and then the smile slips before she hits me on the arm. “Hey, what the hell Charlie.”
I start to laugh, sit up and rub my arm. “Damn, you can pack a punch.”
“Yes, I do, my little girl or little boy will too. Charlie, I’m going to be a mom…”
I watch her as the colour drains from her face and I jump off my bunk. I sit her on a nearby stool and grab some water.
“Are you okay? Paige?”
“Yes…no…I don’t know how to be a mom…what if I am a bad mom?”
She looks up at me shell-shocked and I smile softly. I pull a stool beside her and sit down. “No one knows how to be a mom straight away, it is something you learn and when you meet your baby for the first time it will all fall into place and you have Valerie and she has you. You will both learn together.”
She takes a drink of the water and nods. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted Charlie, to be a mom, to have a family with Valerie. I need to propose to her and that is what I intend on doing when I get back at the train station as soon as my feet touch home. Look.”
She gets up, walks to her bag and pulls out a velvet box. “I was meant to do it before I left but I got scared and nervous. How chicken shit is that?”
“Paige, you love her and she loves you. You are going to be a family and she knows you are there for the long haul. She won’t care when or where you propose, she wants to be yours. I can help with the proposal and make it even more special for you because from now on, you are family to me. We stick together and we will give Valerie the proposal she will never forget.”
Paige starts to tear up and I nudge her. “No tears soldier, they are for the weak and we are not weak. We are brave and show no signs of weakness.”
She laughs as she watches me stand with my hands on my hips, repeating the words of one of the numbnut male soldiers that met us the first day we got here. I open the cookies and hand one to Paige. “These are mom’s cookies if you don’t like them, I will beat you.”
She takes the cookie and laughs. “Even if I don’t, I will say I do.”
We are interrupted by our senior officer. “Okay ladies, you have twenty minutes call time and then you are out on patrol.”
Paige jumps to her feet. “Come on Charlie, I want you to meet Valerie and make sure we have the two computers side by side.”
She runs out of our bunk and I laugh because it’s the fastest I have seen her move all day. I follow her out and sit down beside her. She is already logging in and waiting to be connected. I log in and I’m connected quickly. I hear the excited chatter beside me and the tears from Paige. My screen flashes and there in front of me is my baby girl. I grin and my heart almost jumps from my chest.
“Hi baby, how are you?”
I can see the tears sting her eyes and she grins at me. “I’m fine honey, I’m at your mom’s house for a couple of days and I am being spoilt.”
I grin as I see my mom wave to me as she passes behind Emily.
“Hi mom, thank you for looking after my fiancée.”
“Anytime baby girl, talk to Emily, I will jump in for a minute soon.”
We talk and then Paige ducks her head in so Emily can see her and waves.
“That is Paige baby, a friend who has just found out her girlfriend back home is pregnant. She wants us to switch over for a second okay.”
“Sure, okay.”
I laugh. “It’s nothing, bad love, I promise.”
“Put her on please, I want to speak to her.”
I switch over and see the same look of confusion on Valerie’s face too.
“Hi Valerie, I’m Charlie and for some unknown reason, I got assigned beside the pain in the butt you love. Since then, we have become friends and I want you to know I will watch over her every day until we get back. Congratulations on the baby news, she is so excited by it.”
“Thanks, Charlie, and yes she can be a handful but she means well always. Please watch out for her and yourself, we want you all back safely.”
“I will and you look after that little person you are carrying too as well as yourself. I’m being thumped to get out of the way. So, I will talk to you soon, take care.”
I switch places again and Emily is laughing. “What did she say to you?”
“Nothing, I like her, she is funny and very sweet and seems to have you all figured out.”
I frowned looking at
Paige who just grins and goes back to her conversation. “I see she has won you over anyway. Tell me how is school? What are you doing at my mom’s, is everything okay?”
“Charlie, slow down, school is going well and I had more exams which I am quietly confident about. I come to see your mom every weekend, she is teaching me how to drive.”
My mouth gapes open. “You can’t be serious. Is my mom teaching you? She tried teaching me, it was a disaster.”
“I heard that Charlie, I will have you know, Emily is a much better student and not so sassy. She will be ready for her driving test in no time.”
“Really? Em, honey, you are really taking lessons from her?”
“Yes, I am and my test has been applied for and I will pass it, I know I will.”
“Yes, you will my darling, yes you will. Anything else happening I should know about?”
I see a twinkle in Emily’s eyes. “What, what is it?”
“I think Niall is going to propose to Stacey. I saw him in the jewellery store when I was shopping with your mom. When we bumped into him, he got all flustered and blushed so bad. It was really cute. She will say yes, right?”
I grin and am happy for my best friend. She deserves this happiness and that boy worships her. “Oh, I am sure of it. She is besotted with him. Does he spend a lot of time with her or is it just weekends?”
“Mostly weekends but when he can he comes for longer. He is a mean cook, I may have more meat on my bones when you come back again.”
I laugh. “You look beautiful as always sweetheart. I’m sorry baby but I’m being flagged, my time is running out. I love you so much, I will get the letter sent as soon as I can. I love you mom, take care of Emily for me. I miss you all so much.”
“I love you too, Charlie.”
She blows me a kiss, which I place on my heart and I do the same back before the screen goes black. I sit back on the chair as does Paige, both of us quiet but thrilled to see the other half of our hearts. We make our way back to our bunks, talk about our calls and the proposal. Those calls are so precious and I worship every second of them. Emily is my heart and my soul. I am already counting the days to go home to her. We are relaxing until we hear a commotion outside and we are yelled at to get to our posts. Paige and I jump into action. She hides the scan photo under her pillow, kissing it quickly before we grab our weapons and meet the rest of the patrol unit outside. Everyone is tense as we head out to confront those that have no problem with ending our lives. It’s what we have trained for, but there is always something new to set your emotions on high alert. The smell, the sights of burning buildings, the noise of gunfire. All have left me with finding a way to adapt and stay focused to do my job safely and to look after those around me too. We are all sitting in the back of our patrol truck and the air is filled with tension. The truck slams on the brakes and we are thrown forward out of our seats. There are shouts, screams and gunfire. We jump from the truck, run for cover and return fire. I look around frantically for Paige when she jumps down beside me.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again! Emily would have my skin if anything happened to you. What the fuck is going on?”
I quickly look out and see the first of our fleet blown up. “Fuck, it must have been hit by an IED. I can see some gunmen too. We need to get more cover, we’ve been ambushed.”
Chapter 24
The screen goes black and I sit back in my chair. I miss her already but I am so happy we got to talk. I feel arms come around me from behind. “Are you ok Emily?”
I look up at my future mother-in-law and smile softly leaning back into her embrace. “I’m doing okay, she looked good though, right? She looked strong and she seems to have a good friendship with Paige.”
“She looks great and it’s important for her to have Paige. It’s very easy to see how much she misses you. She will lean on Paige and I have no doubt, Paige will lean on her. These calls are precious and you have been lucky to have had so many in the first couple of months that she has been there. You need to ready yourself for long periods of no contact that will come.”
“I know it will, I miss her so much and even just twenty minutes of a call has lifted both my spirit and hers. I knew it was going to be difficult but knowing she has someone to keep her spirit up over there makes me happy. I’m sorry you didn’t get to speak much to her.”
Ellie smiles at me. “I had enough, I got to see her smile and I got to see you smile. That’s what I needed to see. Emily, you and Charlie are connected and are so in love with each other that distance and time will not disrupt your hearts. It will make you both stronger and you will both learn to appreciate the other more. Let Charlie see that you are able to function and get the grades you deserve because she will strive to do her best out there to make you proud. Charlie will do everything to come back safe, she needs you. You complete her Emily, never forget that.”
“Thanks, Ellie, I just miss her, it’s been four months already and I have been spoiled by the time I’ve had with her. I worry about when the time comes that I don’t hear from her for a while and that scares me. I know she will be as safe as she can be but you never know what will happen over there. I can feel it from her when she is nervous and that’s when I try to be stronger. I will always support her and love her in everything she does. She has her father’s spirit but she has your love and warmth. She is equal parts of her parents and that is what makes her so precious and special to me. I wake up every day dreaming of the day I become her wife. It will be my dream come true to join your family and join our hearts as one in that commitment. I promised her I would look out for you and to lean on you when I needed help. You have been that and more to me. I see you truly as my second mom already.”
Ellie gathers me in her arms tighter. “You are my second daughter and I am so very proud of the woman you are and the wife you will be. Charlie has found her true mate - her one. Her heart will not stop or give up on that love for you because it feels the pull from you. Charlie’s father was my true mate, he was fierce in his love and compassion and his spirit made me soar to new heights. I see that with you and Charlie. From the first moment I met you, I felt how strong your connection was between you and it just lifted my heart to know that both of you get to share something wonderful.”
“How about I take my second mom out for lunch and we can relax knowing that Charlie is safe. I think we need to spoil ourselves just like she wanted us to do.”
“That sounds wonderful but Stacey is arriving soon, I swear she is in here more now than she ever was when Charlie and she were growing up. She is insanely happy and so hyper. I’m glad I have you today to keep her somewhat grounded. I thought it would be a good match with Niall, I just never realised she would turn into a hyper puppy that talks nonstop about him.”
I start to laugh because even though Stacey misses Charlie like crazy, she has been on cloud nine with Niall since she left. She talks a mile a minute, barely taking a breath and when he walks in, she goes so coy, it’s like two different people. She has fallen for him hard and he is just as bad. They are like giggling teenagers when they get together. It’s very cute until you hear ‘no you hang up…no you hang up’ a million times before they actually hang up.
“Is she arriving today or has she been with Niall already?”
“She arrived late last night and texted me to say that she is safe and expects us to be ready when she comes to visit. She said you better not be crying after the call with Charlie because it should be a happy time and cherish them and not mope. She is hyper already and we haven’t seen her yet but you have to love her, she does brighten us up.”
“Yes, she does and if I didn’t have her at home I would be lost. The nights are the worst, I miss Charlie the most then. Stacey used to lay with me at the start but then she took one of Charlie’s tees and got it made into a pillow, so every night I cuddle it. She must spray it every day with Charlie’s perfume because every night it feels like she is right there. It has made my nights
so much more peaceful.”
“That was very sweet of her and such a brilliant idea. You are doing great Emily and I love having you come here on weekends, it makes me happy and I love your company.”
“I love coming here and getting to know you more is what I want. Plus, I love hearing all the stories of Charlie growing up. I can even imagine her groaning and blushing and scolding you when she hears you say it.”
Ellie laughs and nods her head. “Very true, I would be in a lot of trouble with some of those stories I told you.”
The door bursts open and in bounces Stacey. “Hello, my beautiful second mom and my bestie, isn’t it a beautiful day?”
Both Ellie and I laugh making Stacey frown. “Why are you laughing?”
Ellie gives her a hug. “It is so good to see that smile of yours. I take it you had a wonderful night last night?”
Stacey blushes but nods her head. “It really was a wonderful night. What would you like to do today?”
“I want to do something fun, something that we will laugh and just don’t have to think much about.”
Stacey plops down on the sofa. “Hmmm, how about the amusement park? There are awesome rides and we can get the photos printed from some of them and send them in the next care package to Charlie. It will be her birthday soon, she will laugh her ass off with those in there too.”
I look at Ellie and she shrugs. “I’m up for that and if there are any rides, I am out of my depth on I will leave it to you two. Is Niall going to come along?”
“No, he is going fishing with his dad, but we are all invited to theirs for dinner tonight.”
Ellie grins. “Sounds wonderful, ok, let me just change into something more comfortable for an amusement park and we will go then. It will be fun and there is an ice rink nearby, we can go there too, they have amazing hot chocolate there.”
A Chance Encounter Page 17
