by Kris Jacen
“Sounds perfect. You ready?”
Siah reached out and grabbed a bag and tray just inside the door, checked for his keys and phone and stepped out the door. “Pull that closed, please?”
“Let’s go have some fun.”
Chapter Eleven
The heptad was just like he remembered them and they accepted him and Siah right into their circle. Oh it wasn’t the same — there’s no way it could be — but they weren’t treated any different than the others. The kids were all running around the backyard, chasing after the bubbles Cal and Cam were blowing for the littler ones. Babies were passed around based on who needed to do what.
Carter was currently holding a chubby little boy who was sound asleep. His father had plopped him in Carter’s arms before walking off to help with the grill telling him his son slept better when being held. Apparently the boy didn’t travel well from what Carter heard. He had the boy against his shoulder and was shifting side to side like he saw one of the wives doing.
He wasn’t completely sure where Siah was. Debbie had grabbed him when they got here and he’d only seen brief glimpses of him since. Siah must have passed his nervousness.
Someone moved up on either side of Carter and just stood there for a minute. “So you going to tell us what happened?”
Carter turned and looked at Mooney on one side, Sergeant Major Mac on the other. “Not sure what you’re talking about Mooney?”
A chuckle from sergeant major followed by “You’re going to try and bullshit us? Really?”
“Honestly, Sergeant Major, I—”
“Mackey, I’m not a sergeant major here. We’ve all had or have the star here. All of our bullshit meters are going off. I can see the guys all tensing over the bullshit level. Now?”
“I bet I can guess,” Mooney said.
The little one— Noah maybe? — started fussing. And Mackey reached over, saying, “Come here, nibble. Uncle Key’s got you.” The baby quieted immediately. What was Mackey, the baby whisperer?
“Now that your hands are free, let’s hear it.” Carter looked at Mooney trying to gauge what he could get away with not telling him. He shook his head, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to get away with leaving anything out.
“Last night as I was leaving, I bumped into one of the guys and he took offense.” Not exactly a lie but not the whole truth either. Carter stood there waiting to see what Mooney said.
“Bullshit,” Mackey whispered.
“I don’t think it’s completely bullshit, Mackey. I think something’s being left out though. Carter? You do realize gathered around you is over a hundred and sixty years of military experience and at least a combined total of close to thirty years give or take of first sergeant and/or sergeant major experience? So no matter what you think you can say or not say, we’ve heard it all. Now, what happened?” Mooney stood there with a look on his face that said they weren’t moving without the whole story.
“I did bump into one of the guys. I had stayed late to work on an assignment and when I was walking out I wasn’t paying attention. He took offense and decided I need to learn.”
“And…?” Mackey added.
“And he and a friend might have hinted they weren’t thrilled I was in the unit as I am,” Carter finished.
“As you are? What a good soldier with a clear view of what he wants to do? Or—”
Mackey cut Mooney off. “A gay man in uniform?”
“I guess both,” Carter said with a resigned sigh.
Mooney was mumbling under his breath. Carter couldn’t quite make out what he was saying but it didn’t sound like kid-friendly words. He glanced over at Mackey with a questioning look.
“We’ve all learned to watch what we say loud enough for the nibbles to hear. Having a teacher call up to talk about the language your child is using isn’t the most fun. Us uncles have learned too after being called on the carpet by whichever wife received the call,” Mackey explained.
The baby’s dad walked over to the group and looked from Carter to Mackey to Mooney before asking, “Do I want to know?”
“Jack-amoes acting like the morons they are, Mike. Carter’s turn to deal with them and it’s put Mooney out of sorts. Not a hundred percent why on that one since it’s not his unit.” Mackey handed over the baby with no fussing from the baby at all.
“Ahh, so we’ve got some retraining to do.” Mike gave the baby a kiss on the side of his head. “Okay, let me hand him off to Trish and we can go.”
“Please! No,” Carter said. The three senior enlisted looked at Carter. “Two of my buddies were there too and stopped the as— what did you call them? Jack-amoes?”
“And did you report this to your platoon sergeant or top?” Mackey asked.
“Uhhh, not exactly,” Carter admitted.
“Didn’t I fu—” Mooney caught himself, looking around for little ones. “Tell your first sergeant there was an issue in his unit he needed to nip?”
“I’m sure you did, Mooney, but yeah, he’s not the greatest from what I’ve seen. Not like you or your heptad.” Carter looked across the yard and saw the twins with one of the other boys bent over something. It looked like they were up to something. Before he could say anything, Top Glenn was walking over to the boys.
“Someone needs to—” Before Mackey could continue, there was a scream from the corner of the yard. They all looked over to see Top Glenn bent over the bushes and it looked like he was being sick. Then the twins started yelling.
“Mom…”
“We didn’t…”
“Do anything.”
“Uncle D doesn’t…”
“like worms.” Carter couldn’t tell which was which.
A few of the guys moved across the lawn to get a closer look. As Doc Mac got closer, he looked at what the boys had been doing and then checked on Top Glenn. The other, Kevin, Carter thought put a hand on the little boy’s shoulder and began to shake. He was obviously trying to hold in his laughter.
“Tristan? What did Mama tell you about cutting up worms?” he asked through his laughter.
“That I shouldn’t do it in the house,” the little boy answered.
“Umm, well, that’s right, but what else?”
Carter could tell the boy was trying hard to remember but didn’t know what his dad was trying to say.
“How about, not everyone likes cut up worms?” Kevin suggested.
“But Dad, Uncle D’s a soldier,” Tristan argued.
“Yes but Uncle D…” Kevin trailed off, trying to figure out how to answer that one.
Doc Mac called over, “Uncle D was a soldier but sometimes when you’re not ready to see something cut up it’s not a good thing. Not everyone likes when things are dissected.”
“What’s dsickeded?” Tristan asked.
“Dissected,” Doc Mac corrected. “It’s when living things are cut up to find out how things work. It’s something that you should wait to do until the creature is already dead.”
Carter could hear the chuckles being held in around him. Apparently, Tristan was providing some entertainment for the adults — or it was Top Glenn’s reaction to Tristan’s antics that was doing the job.
“Can you show me, Uncle Li?”
“I can, squeaker, but I don’t think in the middle of a cookout is the right time. How about I show you when you get home? Uncle D and I will come down and we’ll spend some time with worms?”
“But Mama said not in the house.” Didn’t look like Tristan was going to let this go. The three standing around Carter were about to choke on their laughter.
Doc Mac leaned down and “whispered” to Tristan, “We’ll send her and Daddy out to dinner and cut up worms on the back deck.”
“What about Uncle D? He don’t look good.” Tristan finally seemed a bit worried about Top Glenn.
“Doesn’t,” Kevin corrected.
“He’ll be fine. He can have a tea party with Julia and watch Andrew while we experiment,” Doc Mac assured the littl
e boy.
“A tea party?” Top Glenn didn’t look too happy at that until a little girl ran over and threw her arms around his legs.
“We can have cookies and tea, Uncle D! Brother doesn’t eat any so you can have his.”
Carter watched Top Glenn just melt for the little girl. He picked her up and kissed her check. “You’ve got it, squeaker. Tea and cookies with my best girl.”
“Uncle D!” several little girls yelled at Top Glenn.
“One of my best girls,” he corrected himself and with that, everyone went back to what they were doing.
§ § § §
Siah had never felt so comfortable with a big group as fast as he did at the cookout. Debbie had grabbed him as soon as they got there and introduced him to the rest of the heptad’s partners. He really liked listening to all their different stories and watching how they handled not only all the little ones but the husbands. There was no gender divide here. Siah thought if one of the guys tried that they’d have their balls handed to him by the ladies.
“Siah, take this,” one of the wives said as she shoved a platter at him. “Jeanine. Take it out to the grill please.”
“How did—”
“I know you were trying to remember my name? You had a look on your face of concentration, since there isn’t much going on right now and you’re just meeting us all…” Jeanine trailed off.
“Gotcha. Out to the grill.” Siah turned and pushed open the sliding door with his foot. He carried the platter over to the grill and handed it over to guy manning the grill. “Uh, Jeanine told me to bring this out here.”
“Good. Grill’s just about ready.” The guy took the platter and started putting the meat on the hot grill.
“Daddy! Daddy!” a little girl was running toward them.
“Shit. Grab her please.”
Siah crouched down and intercepted the little girl, saying, “Whoa there, little lady. Your daddy’s working with hot stuff. What’s your name?”
“Maddy,” she said and promptly put her thumb in her mouth. Siah looked up at her dad and saw him shaking his head.
“I’m Siah. It’s nice to meet you.” Siah put his hand out, waiting to see what the little girl would do. She pulled her thumb out and shook his hand then moved into him, putting her head on his shoulder. Siah stayed there for a minute before standing. “Is this okay…?” He was going to learn these names if it killed him.
“Brian. And if Maddy is cuddling into you, she’s decided you’re good so it’s fine. She doesn’t warm up to people quickly. It’s been a challenge at day care.” Brian checked the meat on the grill before running a hand down his daughter’s pony tail. “What’s wrong, snugglebug?”
“Uncle ‘ook chased me. He gonna getted me.” And in went the thumb again.
“Bad Uncle. You want Daddy to get him?” Maddy’s head went up and down against Siah’s chest. Someone seemed tired to Siah. He began to shift slightly side to side which made Brian smile at him. “Okay, I’ll get him for you.”
“You want to take her?” Siah asked.
“Nope, I’m on grill duty. She’s claimed you, so you’ve got her. We all take turns with the under ten set if you haven’t noticed.” Brian reached for the spatula and started flipping and turning meat and hot dogs.
Siah looked over to the backyard and saw the guys chasing the kids around with two dogs herding the little ones. Cal and Cam seemed to be “saving” a little girl from their uncles while a toddler was trying to climb on one of the dogs.
The sense of belonging and family squeezed at Siah’s heart. He searched the backyard until he found Carter. When Carter looked over, almost like he felt Siah’s gaze, he smiled. Yeah, he could see forming their own little group in the future. Maybe that smack down all those years ago was worth it all.
Chapter Twelve
A few days later Carter was over at Fort Belvoir so he figured he’d stop by and see Mooney. Surprise him this time. He didn’t know if he’d be available but at least he’d have tried to check in. Mooney had been so good to him and the cookout at his house had been a great time. Seeing Siah interact with all the spouses and children did something to Carter. He wasn’t completely sure what but he definitely knew he wanted to see where things could go with Siah even more now.
“Sergeant Major?” Carter knocked on the door frame and waited to be called in.
“May? Come on in. How have you been?” Luna asked as he looked up from his desk.
“I’m doing good, Sergeant Major. Surprisingly the class isn’t killing me. So different from high school.” Carter took a seat in front of Luna’s desk.
“Good to hear. Showing the initiative to get more education looks really good on the boards. Have you thought more about possibly an Audie Murphy board or NCO of the quarter?”
“I’m still not sure on those. Seems like tooting my own horn and I’m just not… I don’t know…” Carter trailed off. He just didn’t think he had the caliber for those things.
“Still having a problem in believing in yourself? Mackey told me a little bit. Small town, military to get a job, wife left you, high school wasn’t your thing. Did I miss anything?”
“Pretty much right on, Sergeant Major, except missing the ‘seeing Siah and don’t see why he’s with me’.” Carter shrugged and looked around the office. Awards and certificates were nicely framed on the walls. Jumpmaster. First Sergeants’ Course. Drill Sergeant. Audie Murphy. The sergeant major had it together, just like Sergeant Major Mac. Pictures on the desk of his wife and boys. Sigh, I want to be like them.
“I can’t help you see what he sees in you. You’ll need to figure that out yourself. I can help you figure out how and where to go where you want—” Luna’s phone interrupted him. Holding up a finger he answered, “Sergeant Major Luna.” He paused for a minute. “Hey Kevin, how’s things?” Another paused. “Hold on, let me put you on speaker. My neck is killing me from being on a teleconference earlier.”
Carter moved to leave and Luna motioned him to remain.
“Okay, Kev, you’re on speaker and May is here with me. Hope that’s okay?” Luna asked.
“Hey Carter, how’s things?”
“Doing okay. You and the family get back to Bragg with no issues?”
“Not a one. Julia and Andrew slept the whole way. Tristan spent time with the book Uncle Li got him.”
“Okay, Kev, I can tell in your voice something’s up. You just said you got home with no issues so what’s going on?” Luna asked.
“No easy way to say it, Britt’s dad died. He just didn’t wake up. Britt’s mom called yesterday morning hysterical. Think the only other time I’ve been up and out the door that fast was when we did one-hour recall. We’re in Tennessee now. Her mom can’t even remember how she takes her coffee. Britt isn’t much better.”
“Christ, I can only imagine. Britt’s always been a daddy’s girl. What do you need? Do you need me or Debs there? Call the guys? What?”
“Britt’s dad must have known this would happen with Kate and Britt. Don’t get me started on Penny. I think if Debbie was here she’d be first to smack Britt’s sister. You know those letters we all say we don’t have, but have left with someone in case something happens? Oh yeah, he left letters for Kate, Britt, Penny and me.”
“He left letters? Was he sick?”
Carter could hear Kevin let out a deep breath before he answered. “Yeah, he left them in his desk. I was looking for an address book and found them. He wasn’t sick or if he was they didn’t tell us. Since he died at home, they’ve got to do an autopsy and rule out foul play before anything can proceed but that’s what I need your help with.”
“You need my help with the autopsy paperwork? I guess I could figure it out. Forensics was one of the courses I took for my masters. Been a while since I studied it but—”
“Not what I need help with. Let me read you my letter.” There was some rustling of papers then he started reading.
“Dear Kevin,
If
you’re reading this, well, take care of my girls and grandbabies. I know when Brittany brought you home, I wasn’t that friendly and made you feel like you had to prove yourself to me. She’s always been my little girl and I know you understand it a bit better since Julia’s arrival.
Kate and Brittany are probably not doing too well and knowing my oldest as I do, Penny’s not being the nicest. Try to stop any arguments if you can. Lord knows her and Brittany haven’t always got along which is probably partly on my head. Yes, you’re not supposed to have favorites with children or grandbabies but I know I’ve always shown a bit more toward Brittany and Tristan. Sue me. Tristan was my first grandson.
I’d like to ask something of you, and in turn your guys, your heptad. That you and they have formed your own family of choice, you’re there for each other, is admirable and enviable. It’s been arranged I’ll be buried at Arlington. I’d like it if you and your heptad could be the pall bearers with Stetsons and spurs. I know a few of them are retired and it might not be the easiest to get them to DC but for an old Cav soldier, if possible.
Please make sure Tristan gets my Stetson and spurs. Maybe one day he’ll grow up and want to be like Papa, Daddy and his uncles. Him, his sister, his new brother (naming him for me did bring a tear to my eye) and cousins have been a source of smiles and love for me and their grandma.
I know you’ll take care of Kate for me, not that she’ll think she needs any. You’ve become a good friend and I’m glad Brittany found you.
From one soldier to another,
Andy
Col(Ret) Andrew O’Connor”
Carter looked at Mooney and could tell the letter affected him. When any soldier deployed they didn’t want to think about not coming home. That Kevin’s father-in-law left letters for the family? Yeah, says a lot about the Army when he was active.
“Just tell us when. You know we’ll all be there for you and Britt. That he asked—” Mooney cleared his throat.
“Yeah, I know. He was a tough man but once you were inside his inner circle? Christ, we’ve got to figure out how to tell Tristan. He loved his papa so hard. Julia isn’t really going to remember him and Andrew won’t ever know his namesake.” The sound of something crashing came through the phone. “Shit, no clue what that was but I better go check. Can you call the heptad for me? I don’t know the details yet.”
