by Naomi Niles
“Of course,” Peter nodded. “I wish they’d both been here, especially John, but…”
“Have you spoken to him today?”
“This morning,” he nodded. “No new leads. He said he’d let me know as soon as he knows more.”
“Good,” I nodded. “And, have you told Alan and Sam yet?”
“Alan knows,” Peter replied. “But I have to find the right time to tell Sam. For all his jokes, he’s sensitive about this particular subject.”
“Of course,” I nodded. “Just ease him in.”
“I’ll try,” he replied. “But sometimes, no matter how gently you approach it…”
“It’s still hard,” I nodded. “Trust me, I can understand that.”
“How’s Victor, by the way?” Peter asked, putting me a little closer to him. “And Polo?”
We had settled into a comfortable pattern with one another. We checked on each other constantly, just to make sure the other one was okay. We looked after each other.
“Polo’s good. Victor says he’s missing me, though. As for Victor, he’s liking his new job,” I nodded. “He’s even made a few friends.”
“I’m not surprised,” Peter said. “He’s a charismatic guy when he wants to be.”
“It’s a little new for him,” I admitted. “These friends are so different from the kind of people he’s used to spending time with.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“Of course it is,” I nodded. “It’s just an adjustment. And apart from that, he’s doing well. He was only late with the rent that one time, he pays the rest of his bills on time, and he seems to really be keeping his head down.”
“He’s been working hard,” Peter observed.
“He has,” I agreed proudly. “He’s really pulled himself together.”
“I think you had a huge hand in that,” Peter pointed out.
“I helped a little,” I said fairly. “And you helped a lot, but Victor’s tried, too.”
Peter smiled. “Things seem to be working out, huh?”
“Don’t speak too soon,” I said quickly. “Let’s not jinx anything.”
He laughed. “I didn’t know you were so superstitious.”
“I surprise myself sometimes,” I laughed. “But in all honestly, I’m not used to things going so nicely. I half expect the other shoe to drop any second now.”
“Don’t psyche yourself out,” he said gently.
“Believe me, I try and tell myself that, but sometimes old habits die hard.”
“True,” Peter nodded. “There’s one way to deal with them, though.”
“Oh?” I asked. “And what’s that?”
“Distract yourself,” he said, wagging his eyebrows at me. “Making love is a great distraction.”
I laughed and pushed him away from me. “Peter,” I said, shaking my head at him. “We can’t, not now.”
“Why not?” he demanded.
“Because everyone’s waiting for us on the slopes, remember?”
“So what?” Peter shrugged. “They’ve waited this long, they can afford to wait a little longer.”
“I just got myself all bundled up.”
“And, you look so good that I just want to unbundle you.”
I pushed him away from me and headed for the door. “Let’s go,” I said sternly. “Before Sam comes up here and drags us down.”
“He would do that,” Peter sighed in agreement.
I grabbed his hand, and we headed downstairs together. Our little group was sitting in the lobby in their full ski gear. Sam was standing between Alan and Jessica, recounting his latest triumph on the slopes.
“I can’t believe you guys missed it,” he sighed. “I mean…it was beautiful.”
Jessica was at least pretending to listen, but Alan was completely uninterested. “There you guys are!” he said, the moment he saw us. “We’ve been waiting ages.”
“Sorry, my fault,” I said. “Peter had to convince me to join you guys on the slopes.”
“Why?” Jessica asked.
“Because I’m useless at skiing – I’m just holding you guys back.”
“It just takes some getting used to, Madison,” Jessica said comfortingly. “Give it a few more tries. It’ll come to you.”
“I don’t know about that,” Sam said, giving me a teasing smile. “She was a complete klutz out there.”
Peter aimed a punch at Sam’s arm, but he managed to dodge it at the last minute. Laughing, he headed outside towards the snow-capped slopes. “Come on, you slow pokes. I don’t want it getting too crowded out there.”
Jessica headed on after Sam, but Alan lagged behind a little. “Hold on,” he said, pulling Peter to a stop. “I had something to tell you guys. Both of you, actually.”
“Me, too?” I asked.
“Of course,” Alan nodded. “You’re part of the family now.”
I smiled, feeling that familiar little tingle of happiness every time I was included in anything familial, at all. It was nice to know I was part of something. It was nice to feel as though I belonged somewhere.
“What is it?” Peter asked.
Alan slipped into his trouser pocket and took out a little Tiffany box that was wrapped immaculately. “Oh, wow,” I breathed, immediately recognizing what he was showing us.
Peter looked at me as though I had gone crazy. “It’s a little blue box,” he said.
“It’s not about the box,” I sighed. “It’s about what’s inside the box.”
“Okay… What’s inside the box?”
“A ring,” I hissed, looking back behind me to make sure that Jessica wouldn’t see us.
Alan smiled at me. “I knew you would appreciate it. Want to see it?”
“Of course!”
Alan opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond. Even though I appreciated the cut and beauty of any diamond, I wasn’t educated enough about them to know the finer details of the ring. All I saw was a beautiful diamond.
“It’s breathtaking,” I said, appreciatively. “She’ll have a hard time saying no to that.”
“Whoa,” Peter said. “You’re really going to take the plunge? No pun intended.”
Alan laughed. “Looks like it,” he nodded. “And, I want you all to be there.”
“When are you going to do it?” Peter asked.
“I’ll let you know when I decide,” he replied. “I haven’t decided on the timing just yet. I just know it’s going to happen in the next few weeks. You’ll be there, won’t you?”
“Of course, man,” Peter said emphatically. “Miss my little brother getting engaged? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Hey!” Sam’s voice was raised with impatience. “What the hell are you guys talking about over there?”
Alan shook his head. “Better get over there.”
He went on ahead and I moved to follow him, but Peter held me back. “Hold on a second,” he said. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere Sam can’t find us,” Peter said.
We moved around to the back of the hotel, which boasted stunning views of the surrounding area and the snow-covered mountain caps that looked like a scene from a painting. Peter gestured to me to take a seat and I did as he told me, curious to know what he had brought me around here to say.
He sat down next to me and took my hand. “It’s a little ironic that Alan chose to show us a ring just now,” he said.
I looked at him pointedly. “What do you mean?”
“Now, I don’t want you to get too excited because it’s not the same thing. But it is a gesture – and a promise,” Peter said, tripping over his words a little.
“Okay…” I said hesitantly.
“I got you a ring, too,” he said.
And then he pulled out a thin, silver promise ring and handed it to me. “What do you think?” he asked, and I could tell by his tone that he was a little nervous about my reaction.
“Peter,” I breathed. “I l
ove it!”
And I truly did, more than any diamond engagement ring that he could ever have given me. This ring was special because it was my future, and it was staring me in the face.
“Sure?”
“Positive,” I said.
He smiled and slipped the ring on my finger. “It suits you,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “This is the first piece of jewelry I’ve ever been given.”
“I wish it was-”
“Stop it,” I said quickly. “I don’t want flashy things. I don’t want expensive things. I just want pure things…like this ring.”
“So, will you promise to be mine when the time is right?” Peter asked. “I can’t afford to ask the question just yet.”
I put my finger to his lips to stop him speaking. “You don’t have to,” I said. “The promise is enough. If it’s going to happen someday, then I’m happy.”
“It will happen,” he said confidently. “I don’t intend for you to wear that ring for very long. I’m hoping to replace it with an engagement ring soon.”
“Then, of course, I accept it,” I said, feeling my smile stretch out wider. “And I promise to be yours when the time is right. Even though I feel I’m yours already.”
“You are,” he nodded. “Just as I am yours. This is how it works. We belong to each other.”
“That sounds…”
“Perfect?” Peter suggested.
I smiled and touched my lips to his. My life was finally beginning, and for the first time ever, I wasn’t afraid to look to the future.
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SEAL’S BABY
By Naomi Niles
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Naomi Niles
Chapter One
Dylan
I could feel the sting of heat from the explosions going off around me. Sweat dripped down my forehead into my eyes, but I ignored the uncomfortable sensation and kept them open and alert. We had broken off into factions, forced apart by the tirade of gunfire that had been hurled at us.
“Malcolm!” I yelled. The moment I had his attention, I signaled to him to stay down.
My peripheral vision caught sight of Antony crawling through the sand to take cover behind an obtuse rock sticking out of the beach. The moment he was covered, he looked at me and signaled that the others were some distance away.
I looked at the distance between Antony and me; I needed to get to him without being hit. On the heels of that thought came another explosion that sent waves of sand swirling into little tornados that danced in cacophonous chaos before settling back into the ground. I scanned the terrain and weighed my chances of getting to Antony before another explosion went off.
Everything was engulfed in stillness, but I knew from experience that this was simply the calm before the storm. I looked around me and made a calculated decision. I needed to get to Antony and Malcolm so that we could reunite with the rest of the unit. They had succeeded in separating us, but they would not succeed in keeping us parted.
I took one more cursory scan and then I jumped out of my hiding place and zigzagged across the open space. Instantly I heard the roar of gunfire as it met my hurried run. I didn’t run in a straight line; the worst thing to do in this situation was to be predictable. I was only a few feet away from Antony when I jumped towards him and belly crawled into place beside him. The gunfire continued for seconds afterwards, and then silence descended again.
“Were you hit?” Antony asked urgently.
“I don’t think so,” I replied panting hard. “Where’s Malcolm?”
“He’s covered; don’t worry,” Antony replied. “We need to find the rest of the unit.”
I nodded. “Our best bet is through the abandoned shed two metres from this spot … it’ll give us some coverage.”
“It’s risky.”
“I know,” I nodded. “But it’s less risky that attempting to walk through this minefield.”
As I checked my arsenal, Antony nudged me and gestured over to where Malcolm was hiding. “The kid doesn’t look so good,” he observed. I glanced over at Malcolm and took in his chalky skin and shaky expression.
“Isn’t he always that pale?” I joked.
Antony snorted. “It’s his first mission.”
“We survived it,” I said without sympathy. “And he will too. Now put your helmets on and keep your shields up; we’re going in.”
Antony communicated the information to Malcolm and both of them got to their feet the moment I did. Their bodies were hunched down low, in an imitation of mine so that we weren’t obvious targets. “Move fast,” I mouthed to both of them before I launched myself into open space with single-minded purpose.
They were on my heels and we jogged through the shaky sand that seemed to want us to sink into it. The gunfire started up again when we were half way there and I launched myself into a defensive position without ever slowing down.
“Cover yourself,” I yelled over the noise.
Within seconds, we scrambled into the abandoned shed and Antony closed the door shut behind us. It was larger than I had anticipated. In fact, it was not a shed at all but a base of some kind, cordoned off into separate rooms that we couldn’t see.
Malcolm came forward but I threw my fist up to stop him. “Hold your ground,” I said, sensing danger. “This is not what we expected.”
I walked around; my boots were covered in sand and they left a trail of dust behind me. I covered the left side of the room, Antony covered the right and Malcolm stayed in the middle. “Something’s not right,” I whispered.
Malcolm took a step forward and his boot made a loud, crunching sound against the floorboards. Instantly a sound came through from the closed door of the next room.
“There’s someone in here,” I mouthed to Malcolm and Antony. We converged together in the centre of the room. “We’re going in.”
I moved towards the door slowly and placed my ear up against it. I couldn’t hear much, but instinct told me that whoever was on the other side of it was hostile. I looked back over my shoulder and nodded once. Then I slammed open the door and we were through it in seconds, my eyes open and my body was ready to respond to whatever we found.
Chaos was the only way to describe what we met, and yet, within the chaos, I knew I needed to be calm and ordered in how I met the situation. There were four men in the room and the moment they saw us, they acted with fury. Each had a different weapon, but it didn’t matter to me. I had been trained to deal with every kind of assault.
Two men charged at me; one had a gun in hand and the other had a knife. I disarmed the man with the knife easily and knocked him out before the second one had closed in on me. I dodged his aim and tackled him to the floor before he could fire. He was screaming something but I didn’t care to find out what. Once he was down, I rose and glanced behind me. Antony and Malcolm had managed to stop the remaining two men.
“Are we clear?” Antony asked breathlessly.
The room was as plain and empty as the one before. “They were guarding something,” I said with conviction. “I think what we’re looking for is in the next room.”
“Or it could be a trap?” Malcolm said coming forward.
“It could be,” I agreed. “There’s only one way to find out.”
I saw the panic flit across Malcolm’s face and I recognized the feeling all too well. I had experienced the same mindless fear on my first mission too. I knew that in time, with training and experience, that would pass. “Stay behind me,” I said before I kicked the second door open.
Dust creat
ed a translucent curtain before us for a moment before finally settling. We were not met with hostile enemies or gunfire. All was quiet, and so I slowly entered the room and scanned the area. There was a chair in the centre of the space and in it sat a man whose hands and legs were tied. A brown sack had been placed over his head so that his face was hidden from us.
I felt a wave of triumph overtake me as I moved towards the man to pull off the bag from his head. He blinked his eyes open and looked at me with a smile. “Hi, Dylan,” he said with a congratulatory note in his tone.
“Hi Vic,” I replied before I turned to Malcolm. “What now?”
Malcolm hesitated for a second. “You’re the bullfrog in this mission.”
“And I’m asking you,” I insisted.
“E and E? Malcolm said, and then he continued with confidence. “Escape and Evade.”
“That’s right,” I nodded as Antony started to untie Vic from his binds.
At that moment, the door opened and in walked the captain with his discerning eye and commanding presence. He was six feet tall, two inches shorter than I was, and yet somehow he still seemed taller and bigger than me.
“Well done, boys,” he said as he nodded to them. “This Body Snatch mission is a success. The training drill is complete.”
Instantly I felt the veil of suspense fall and I was once again in a safe environment surrounded by my friends. We walked out to the cheers of the rest of the unit and I nodded at Malcolm, who was standing beside me. “Good job, kid; you did good.”
“I didn’t do much,” Malcolm replied.
“You didn’t get killed or hurt,” I reminded him. “That’s saying something.”
Malcolm looked at me as though he was trying to figure out if I was joking or not. “It was a training drill,” he said slowly. “I wasn’t in any danger of being killed.”
“You have no idea how many SEALs before you have been hurt in training drills. Trust me, they may not be life threatening, but they’re certainly not safe.” I looked around at the rest of the unit. Everyone had streaks of dirt and sweat that had left patterns on their faces.
“Good job, boys,” I said, raising my voice so that everyone would be able to hear me. “This was the fifth training drill in a row that was completed successfully. I think that calls for a little down time. Let’s hit the bar tonight!”
