For the first time in months, he woke after 4 am. Early mornings were as routine as death and taxes to a top sergeant, especially one with as massive an outfit as the one Duke oversaw. With all the paperwork, duties, random tours and check ins, inspections, PT sessions, target practice, sparring practice, meetings, missions, mission briefings, random trips to the Arena of Sport, and whatever else fell into his lap in the course of an average day, he had to get up before the crack of dawn just to get a good six miles in before breakfast. Late nights, early mornings, perhaps a few winks after lunch if he could sneak 15 minutes in his desk chair before someone noticed he wasn't busy and came to him with a catastrophe. Usually it was Shipwreck. Or involved Shipwreck. Or the motor pool. Other Joes seemed to have plenty of leisure time to get into trouble and leech away Duke's. God forbid he find an hour or two to himself.
But this morning was different. This morning he wasn't on base. This morning, he was home. The coming day was filled with, well, nothing.
It was fucking weird.
In a way, Cobra had done him a favor, blowing him off of that oil platform. He'd woken up from a coma and run smack into a stubborn Doc.
"That's it, Duke. No work, and I mean nothing, for three weeks. No paperwork. No missions. No fights. No trainings. No meetings. No briefings. No budgets. No trips to D.C. Nothing. You can fit in your regular exercise schedule when you feel strong enough, but that's it."
"And who, exactly, is going to run my damn base?" Duke sat up in bed and crossed his arms over his robe.
"Flint can handle it. Stalker can help. Scarlett can back them both up. Frankly, I'd make you spend a week in bed first, but I know I'd have to use the restraints on you to keep you there. So, no work."
"Doc, you're killing me. What the Hell am I supposed to do?"
"Have you ever considered relaxing?"
Duke rolled his ice blue eyes. "Not when those guys are involved. I turn my back for an hour and they're zipping off to a stadium rock concert in an awe striker, or joy riding over the Rockies with a news crew in tow. You're telling me to leave the Joes to their own devices for three weeks?"
"Flint can handle it," Doc sighed.
"The second I'm not looking, Flint is sneaking Lady Jaye into his room. Trust me, I try to sleep next door. I never knew there was that many ways to say the word 'oh' before she came on base."
"Flint can handle it, Duke. You're off duty. As of now. I do outrank you, you know."
"Yeah, but you don't outweigh me." Duke growled and swung a leg out from under the covers. Doc smiled and stood his ground.
"Sorry, not intimidated. Try it on someone greener who doesn't know you wear happy face boxers on the battlefield. I've already called Sharpe and Abernathy to let them know."
"But what the fuck am I supposed to do?"
"Well, you could go home for a bit. See the family. I spoke to your mother when you were out of commission. She said she hadn't seen you in quite a while," Doc cleaned his glasses absent-mindedly.
"Oh, right, apply the guilt treatment. Nice bedside manner…whatever, I'll go home, then. You win."
"Great!" Doc grinned warmly, "a trip home for a rest and some home-cooked chow will do you good."
"Yeah, well, just keep the boxers to yourself."
The more Duke had thought about it, the more excited he got, it had been a long time. He hadn't seen the land in, well, forever. Plus, there was plenty to do on the property to keep him busy. So he wrangled a ride to Leonard Wood out of Bill , called home when he knew his mother would be in the classroom , and convinced Jack to slip out and pick him up. His mother had been completely surprised. The kids were speechless. The last time he'd seen them, they'd all been shorter. Drew had glasses. Vince was up to his chin. Jennifer had…well, he was going to have to keep tabs on the local boys with her.
Dinner was the best meal he'd had in ages. On plates. Not trays. Plates. Juicy chicken, fried crisp and golden. Fluffy biscuits dripping with butter and honey from his aunt's hives; he must have eaten a dozen. Broccoli and zucchini fresh from Mamma's vegetable patch. Hot home-made blackberry pie drenched in melting ice cream. And beer. Good beer.
So, for the first time in as long as he could remember, he went to bed with a full belly at a decent hour in his old room, and woke up with the sun. Birds were singing.
Fucking birds, man-the sun, how cool was that? Goddamn it if he didn't smell bacon and coffee. Hell yeah.
Duke rolled out of bed, slipped into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and went right up to breakfast, without shaving. He'd run in the evening, or, maybe tomorrow. OK, the evening, he told himself, remembering all he'd eaten last night and knowing he'd do it again for breakfast.
Duke didn't mind his room being on the lowest floor. When he had come home from Vietnam, Mamma had decided that perhaps moving him back in with Vincent until he figured out what to do wasn't a great idea. He was too old and had seen too much to share a room with his little brother again. Every mother eventually realizes when her son has grown into a need for a certain type of privacy. So he and Jack had walled off a part of the lowest floor and given him a room.
The lowest level would have been a basement if the land hadn't sloped behind the house enough to give the space it's own exit and set of windows. It was mostly taken up by the workout room he and Jack had spent years putting together when he was a kid. Weights, a heavy bag and a speed bag, what looked to be a relatively new treadmill to replace the one he'd heard Vince had trashed accidentally, and a stationary bike. Now one end was occupied by a massive cushy leather couch and a giant projection TV.
In the end, to her dismay, he had re-upped, and the room was only used on leave times, which had been rarer and rarer lately. He pondered on this as he climbed the stairs and wandered into the kitchen.
Mamma was standing over the stove frying bacon and scrambling eggs. A stack of pancakes was slowly growing on a plate balanced on the back of the stove. Coffee dripped into the pot in the machine on the counter next to her. Duke put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. She smiled up at him.
"Sleep OK?"
"Like a baby. Slept in late." he snagged a slice of bacon right out of the pan and munched it happily.
"Conrad, it's just gone seven. On a Saturday."
"I know, it's amazing. I'm not sure I could even stay asleep this long."
Her blue eyes met his, honey blonde brows rose, "this you consider late? When do you normally get up?"
"Four or so," Duke reached to steal another piece of bacon, and she thwapped his knuckles with her spatula, "ow, crap!"
"Don't swear. This is for everyone, you know. With you home, I have to feed two armies. Your brother and sisters, and your army of one stomach. Combined, the four of you will mow through my refrigerator in a day."
"Hey, it takes a lot to keep a guy my size going on a daily basis," Duke shook his hand out and poured himself a mug of coffee.
"I bet. You're bigger now than the last time you were home, and I thought you were a beast then. What in God's name are you doing to put on all that muscle?"
"Keeping the world safe for democracy is a great workout. Plus I lift weights." Duke leaned against the counter and tried to sneak a hand back to the bacon.
Thwapp.
"Shit, you're fast."
"Don't swear, Conrad," she thwapped him on the arm. He chuckled down at her.
"I bet all that muscle impresses the ladies," Vincent wandered in from the den and began to set the table, "my big brother, the beefcake. Hey, Jenn, you're supposed to help, you know."
Jennifer oozed across the floor in her robe and slippers, "It's only seven twenty two. Why did you wake me up this early, Vince?" She pulled a carton of milk and a pitcher of juice out of the fridge and set them on the table.
"I heard talking and I wanted to get to the table before Mr. Universe over there ate all the bacon."
"Still seems late to me. By now, I would be three or four hours into my day," Duke made one final attempt at the pan. Thwapp , "Jesus, Mamma, just one more piece."
Duke's mother brandished her spatula threateningly, "You can have all you want if you sit down and let me dish it up. I've already got a whole second rasher keeping warm in the oven. Where's Drew and Pop?"
The screen door slammed as Jack came in from his morning chores, "Here, Jane. That smells good," he grabbed a mug, poured himself coffee and grinned at Duke, "managed to stay in bed past reveille, huh?"
"Oddly enough," Duke scratched his chin, "I should have gone out and helped you, though."
"Took me years to learn to sleep till the sun came up after I retired. Don't worry about it. Vincent holds his own after breakfast with all of your old chores." Jack sat down at the head of the table and reached for the paper that lay folded there.
"Doesn't mean I can't put a hand in while I'm home. I'll come out after breakfast with you, yeah?" Duke looked over at his brother, who seemed happy with the idea.
"Thanks, Con. Duke. Con…what do you want me to call you now, anyhow?"
"Con's fine with me. Duke's fine, too. I'll answer to either. Don't hear 'Con" much anymore," Duke sat to the left of Jack and snagged the sports section. His mother put a plate piled high with bacon, eggs and pancakes in front of him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You've been 'Duke' since you enlisted," she lovingly stroked the back of his head, "I named you after your great-grandfather, only to find everyone in the world calls you something completely different most of the time. Even on the news."
"That's a security thing. Well…let's just say you can call me whichever one you like. At home, it doesn't matter."
"So I can call you 'Duke'?" Drew yawned, padded up to the table and climbed up into her chair next to him.
"Rabbit, you can call me just about darn near anything," he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
"I like 'Duke'."
"Well, there you go."
"Oh God…you two… thanks Mamma," Vincent accepted his plate and forked up a mouthful of eggs.
"Oh God, what?" Drew grabbed her juice with both hands and downed half the glass in one gulp. Mamma set a plate in front of her, checked to make sure everyone was provided for, and sat down to the right of Jack with her own plate and mug.
"You two are just so very precious," he stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry.
"These are the International House of Coffee moments of our lives, celebrate them," Jennifer took a small bite of eggs and sipped her milk. Vince snorted.
"How's the food, troops?" Mamma smiled over the table at the rare sight of all of her family together.
"Wonderful, Jane."
Duke raised his glass to her, "Delicious," he burped, "pardon. That's a compliment."
"Great, Mamma," Vincent plowed through his pancakes.
"Fabulous, thanks! Best scrambled eggs ever." Jennifer forked in her last bite.
"Goddamn badass fucking pancakes, Mamma!" Drew spoke through a mouthful of pancake and syrup, "badass shit."
Silence would have fallen over the room if Vince hadn't have laughed his orange juice through his nose.
"Young lady, that's not breakfast-table appropriate language," Jack glowered over the paper.
"Drew! That's never appropriate language. When you're finished, you may go to your room and think about it."
"In fact, why don't you start thinking about it right now and apologize to your mother?" Jack's voice dropped low.
"Sorry, Mamma. Sorry, Pop." Drew focused on her plate, face fallen.
Jane looked across the table at her eldest, "Now where did she pick that up, you think?"
"Your pancakes are pretty badass," Duke tried to hide behind the paper.
"Conrad."
"Do I have to go to my room and think about it?"
"Conrad!"
"Hey, sorry. Sorry, Mamma. Things are cruder on base. I'll try to be more careful around her," he finished his eggs and started in on the bacon.
"Do you swear like that in front of the women?" Mamma leaned back and eyed him, "Do they appreciate that kind of language?"
"They're connoisseurs. Cover Girl is better at it than I am. She can make a sailor faint," Duke thought about it for a minute, "come to think of it, she has."
"You're kidding me. This was the one who was a model? Or was she the one who went to marine sniper school, the martial arts expert."
"Oh, no, Scarlett?" Duke felt his pulse jump a little at the name, "No, she doesn't swear much. But Cover Girl, yeah, she's a model. Can swear a blue streak. Says she picked it up in the dressing rooms behind the catwalk. She can also replace the tread on a tank in under a half hour."
"I can see how one leads to the other," she shook her head and grinned.
"Drives the boys crazy."
"I'll bet."
"Scarlett, no, she doesn't swear much. Rather classy, really," Duke put his fork down and pondered why he could never stop his gut flipping over when he talked about her.
"I see." His mother's eyes twinkled, "you've put some thought into it."
"Um." Duke turned his attention to drowning all five of his pancakes in a lake of maple syrup , "Now Lady Jaye, she can go either way. Depends upon her temper at the time."
Mamma's grin settled into a knowing smile, "but Scarlett's classy."
"Yeah. Very." he met her gaze, and, held it long enough to convey a message.
Back off, please.
She always could read him like a book, and with a small nod she let him know she understood. Duke wasn't ready to discuss it.
Jack sensed tension in the room, and deftly changed the subject, "So, gang, what's on the agenda today?"
Jennifer waved her arms excitedly above her head, "It's my sleepover party tonight! Whooooo!"
"Is that tonight?" Vince's face split into a grin, "Really?"
"How could you forget, she's been talking about it for almost a month now," Mamma finished her coffee and started in on her single pancake.
"Oh yeah, a house full of the ladies," Vincent rubbed his hands together.
"Mother! You're not going to let him bug us? He's super gross and he'll wreck everything." Jennifer panicked.
"Wait, what?" Duke, "What's going on?"
Jennifer rolled her eyes, "Like, almost all of the squad is coming over for my party. We're going to the river for a picnic and swimming, then, we're getting tons of pizza and soda and ice cream and stuff, and we're going to watch movies downstairs super late and have a big breakfast tomorrow morning."
"This is tonight?"
"You got it, big brother. Musick's Ferry High School's finest drill team girls, at our house, all day and all night long. In swimsuits and sleepwear." Vincent chuckled, "better pump up these guns before they get here," he flexed an arm.
"Hang on, lemme get a magnifying glass," Jennifer smirked, "I'll use the same one we used to see your beard last month."
Jack laughed from behind his paper. Duke used the last bite of pancake to mop up his syrup and contemplated catastrophe.
"A pack of teenage girls downstairs all night, getting hyped up on soda and ice cream?"
"Well, that's where Pop put the big screen TV," Jennifer stood up and cleared her plate to the sink.
"Right next door to my room?" Duke rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at his mother.
"Ah, yes. You didn't give us any warning you were coming home."
"It was a last-minute thing. Being in a coma can do that. Not that I'm whining about it."
Jennifer paled. "Mother! You're NOT going to stop us from watching movies downstairs! I've promised everyone we can use the big screen!"
"Now, Jennifer, perhaps we can find a solution…"
"MooooottttheeeeeEEER," Jennifer curled her mouth into a pout as she wailed, "that's not FaaaaIIIiiiiRRRrrrr!"
"Oh, forget it, Jenn, have your party, don't worry. I'm not going to wreck it for you," Duke smiled over at her, "teenage girls, how bad can it be? How much noise can they make? I imagine that friend you've had forever, Laura what's her name, is one of them. I remember her, she's quiet."
"Bad? Bad?" Vincent stood up and did some sort of dance, "it's friggin' AWESOME. Mary Jane Simmons will be here. And Katie Jefferson. OOoooooooohhh, Katie."
"Mo-THER!"
Duke grinned knowingly at his brother, "So you'll be at the river and downstairs too, huh?"
"Aren't you a year older than these girls?" Jack raised an eyebrow at his son.
"Not all of them. Age is but a number, Pop. What's a year, or a few months?" Vincent dropped his dishes off in the sink and went through the screen door to start his chores, whistling The Police's "Roxanne" as he went.
"Mother! Neuter him!"
"Jennifer, we are NOT neutering your brother. "
"He'll be drooling around us the whole time!"
Duke stood to go help Vince with morning chores, "Yeah, well, say the word and I can chain him up in the barn. He'll be fine as long as we remember to feed him."
Jennifer glanced at him, "You mean it? You promise, Con?"
"Conrad, really. No. Jennifer, we are not chaining Vincent up. He was kidding. You're kidding, Conrad." Mamma rubbed her eyes.
"I'm kidding. I'd have to use rope, we don't have enough chain."
Mamma shot him a dark eye, "Look, Jennifer, I'll make sure he's not a problem. You will not be a problem, Vincent. Pop will too. Right, Jack?"
"Urm."
"FINE. Just make sure his horny butt's far away," Jennifer flounced out of the room.
Duke looked to where Drew sat chewing slowly on a slice of bacon, "you're awful quiet, Rabbit."
"I'm 'thinking about it'."
"Ah."
"You want my last two pieces of bacon, Duke?"
"Sure you don't want 'em, Rabbit?"
"No, I'm not all that hungry anymore. You can have them," she held up her pieces and he happily accepted them.
"Goddamn badass bacon, Rabbit. Thanks." He rubbed the top of her head lovingly.
"Conrad…honestly."
"Sorry, Mamma, forgot myself." He winked at Drew. She grinned up at him.
00000000000000
In the stables, Duke and Vince worked together to haul in fresh hay bales and muck out the stalls. Since it was the end of the week, they decided to strip the stalls completely. Jack had already fed the horses their morning oats and let them out to pasture. It was dusty, hot, sweaty work, and Duke enjoyed the hell out of it.
Both of them quietly pitchforked the soiled hay and droppings into the wheelbarrow and took turns taking full loads to Mamma's compost pile. They used brooms to sweep up the left bits of soiled bedding and anything they had missed. Both went to fill the water pails with clean water while the floors aired dry. Finally, they flaked out the bales and spread a thick layer of fresh, sweet hay over the floor of each stall and re-hung each water pail.
Vince leaned against a rail and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his arm, "So, Con. You OK?"
"Yeah, kid, why?"
"You were blown off an oil platform. They told us that when they called."
Duke hung the pitchforks on their rack and turned to face him, "yeah, well, I don't really remember much after the shockwave caught me. I don't remember falling"
"That's like almost five hundred feet or more. I looked it up. You fell a long way. My physics teacher says that from that height, hitting water is like hitting concrete. You should be-"
"I'm not, Vince. I didn't break a bone. I got lucky," Duke tilted his head as he looked at his little brother.
"You freaked Mamma out. When they said you were in a coma. Then they told us we couldn't come. Pop got all weird. Mamma fell apart," Vincent scratched his side, "we were scared."
"I didn't mean it to scare anyone. There was an active mission going on. The infirmary on base was off-limits. Stuff goes on lockdown. That's to protect everyone," Duke cracked his knuckles.
"How did it happen?"
"It was a Cobra base. I wanted to check it out. Actually, I knew it would be abandoned by the time they got there-I set that up- but I wanted to see the inside of a base without people shooting at me. It helps me the next time I have to make a go at one," Duke crossed his arms and stared at the floor, "I figured there would be some sort of booby trap, but I thought my guys would be able to avoid tripping it."
"So?"
"It was a room full of explosives set to a light switch trip and fuse. Two of guys tripped it, and managed to get up to warn the rest of us before everything blew to Hell."
"And you got caught? Why did you get caught?" Anger made Vincent sound gruff, "Why were you the last one off?"
"Because, Kid, I had to make sure all my soldiers were out and safe," Duke leaned on the rail next to his brother, "that's part of my job kid. First Sergeant, last out. It part of the reason I'm there. I'm responsible for all of them, I have to bring everyone home."
"So who's there to watch out for you?"
"They all do. We look out for each other." Duke felt a flush of pride, "Same two guys who tripped the explosives dragged me out of the water."
"Yeah. Too late."
"If it was too late, I wouldn't be here now, kid. Hey, this is battle, Vince. This isn't a game. The risks are real, and I've already accepted them," Duke ran his fingers through his still sweaty hair, "You still thinking of enlisting when you're old enough?"
"Yeah, Pop's really into the idea. Mamma, not so much, but Pop's behind me," Vincent looked dubious.
"Is he pushing you while he's back there, kid?"
"YaaannNNNnnaaa, No. Not really. Did he push you?"
"Fuck yeah, he pushed. I tried college, though. Made up my own mind in the end." Duke thought back to the day he'd left that path for good.
"Why'd you do it? You were in school, you had a football scholarship, you didn't have to go," Vincent kicked his heel back at wood behind him.
"Good guys were dying, kid, and I felt pretty rotten knowing Jack was sending guys off while I sat safe in a dorm room."
"You regret it? Ever?"
"Regret? No. Wonder what could have happened? Yeah. Now and again. But no. Believe it or not, I love what I do. I'm good at it, Kid. It fits me." Sounds of girlish screams of glee wafted through the stable door. Vincent perked up.
"Hey, the girls are starting to arrive."
"Keep it in your pants, kid."
"Sure. Hey, Con…" Vincent let his voice fall to a whisper.
"What?"
"Did the coma…did it hurt?"
"Not that I can recall. My head ached when I woke up, and my throat was raw from the tube they shoved down there and yanked back out. Not much else."
"Oh. Cool. Hey…"
"What?"
"You're into that Scarlett chick, huh? The classy one."
Duke chuckled, "that, kid, is a real mess. Let's talk about something else. C'mon, we'd better hose off if there is going to be a platoon of teenage girls here for the next few days." Duke lead them both back towards the house and the girlish giggles.
"Yeah, sure. Get clean for the ladies. You better be careful, Con."
"Why?"
"Since you've been on the news and stuff, I've seen girls with your picture from the paper or magazines up in their lockers."
Duke stopped short, "You're kidding me, Vince."
"Oh no, they think you're dreamy." Vincent clutched his hands under his chin and batted his eyelids. "I've seen other Joes in lockers, too. But you're there most often. Probably because you're the one the news people talk to the most, and you're a from here, so the local stations and papers feature you a lot. Sometimes people bug me and Jenn about it."
"Goddamn, I told Hawk I should have never started talking to the press." Duke kicked a rock from his path, "Sorry about that."
"Are you nuts? Every girl going gooey over you and you're sorry? I'd kill to be you."
"Vince, you're all kids! I'm almost twice all those girls' age," Duke scratched his chin.
"They're, like, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen. You're telling me you never think about sixteen and seventeen, maybe eighteen-year-old girls? Ever? That I don't believe."
Duke threw his hands up and resumed walking to the house, "I am not having this conversation."
"You do, don't you. C'mon. You're a red-blooded guy like the rest of us," Vince trailed behind him, "you can't say you've never thought about a hot seventeen year old and not gotten all-"
"Gotten all what?" Drew popped out from under the back porch.
"Rabbit!" Duke stopped at the steps, "what are you doing under there?"
"That's my fort."
He peered beneath the wood to see she had dragged in blankets, rugs and wood to make a little hollow hide out with places to curl up. The wood had been made into shelves on which she had stored assorted toys, bottles and even a book or two. "Oh. Nice. I guess every Rabbit needs a burrow."
"Yeah. This is mine," She looked to Vince, "Gotten all what over hot seventeen year olds?" Her blue eyes moved to shine up at Duke through her spectacles, "What do hot seventeen year olds get you?"
Duke grumbled, "Arrested." He took the stairs in one large bound and pushed his way through the screen into the kitchen, letting the door slap shut behind him. Hearing the sound of numerous teenage girls yammering in the den, he made a quick detour through the basement door and down to the safety of the lower level, barely missing his mother as she was coming up the stairs.
"Oh, Conrad. There you are. I was looking for you. I want you to come out and introduce yourself to these girls. Laura's mother is here; she hasn't seen you in years-not since right after Southeast Asia."
"Mrs. What's Her Name?"
"Stanavaugh, Conrad. Mrs. Stanavaugh. Ben and Mary Ann Stanavaugh. You've known Laura and her parents since she and Jenn were babies."
"I can never remember her name."
"Yes you can," she slapped his shoulder, "you couldn't pronounce it when you were thirteen, so you called them 'what's their name'."
"Yeah, well it stuck. Now, in my head, they're the What's Their Names," He tried to get by to go downstairs, but she stood firmly in his way.
"Oh, no, you're going to say hello. They know you're home."
"But I've just been sweating in the stable, I need a shower. I'm all horsey," He tried unsuccessfully to nudge his way past. Anyone else, Duke would have just shoved by; this was Mamma. He wasn't insane enough to try it with her.
"You smell fine. They understand you have chores. Just wash up a little in the kitchen sink," She crossed her arms over her chest and stood firm. Any Joe would have recognized the gesture instantly, "go on. Move, mister," she pointed over his shoulder to the doorway into the kitchen.
Duke sighed and turned back up the stairs. He paused at the top and turned to her with a pleading look, "they're going to stare at me."
"Nonsense. Mary Ann knows who you are, why should she stare? Sink. Wash. Den," she pointed again over his shoulder, this time at the huge kitchen sink.
"I've sweat through my shirt."
"They know you're a hard worker. She can't stay and wait while you take a shower."
"Vince is in the shower."
"She saw Vincent last week at the game. Sink. Wash. Den, Conrad."
"OK, look, its..." he stumbled for a way to tell her how incredibly awkward he felt standing on display. A pack of vipers was far easier to face than a group of girls who, if Vince was to be believed, oogled him every time they opened their lockers. Like he was some movie star or teen idol. "It's weird."
"Conrad, honestly. You know these people. You grew up in the same town. What on earth are you afraid of?"
Unable to answer, Duke shrugged, turned back, slunk to the sink and sluiced his hands and head under the water. He used his hands to scrub his face and neck. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to find his mother handing him a kitchen towel. He rubbed himself dry and hung the towel over the faucet.
Mamma looked satisfied, "Good. Let's go," she rubbed his back as she guided him to the den, calling out ahead of them through the doorway, "Look, ladies, here he is, I found him."
They went through the door, and Duke found himself facing a garrison of teenage girls he had never seen in his life before. Jennifer and Laura What's Her Name stood smack in the middle. Drew hung over the banister on the landing, watching happily. Mrs. What's Her Name rushed forward, face split by a beatific smile, and embraced him warmly.
"Conrad! Look at you! You look wonderful. You're so..." she took a step back to take him all in, "so...big. Whatever happened to little Connie?"
Inside, Duke grimaced. He loathed that nickname. Loathed. Outside, he gave her his best media smile, "They keep feeding me, Ma'am. Just keep growing, I guess," over her head, Duke saw the girls staring at him with awe. Except Jenn and Laura, who waved and gave him a genuine warm grin. He remembered torturing her and Jenn with his sweaty gym socks, long ago, when he was in high school and they were tiny. Apparently, she didn't. Or maybe she did.
Mrs. What's Her Name patted his chest, "and so handsome. I imagine once you're in uniform, you're fighting off more than Cobra. Connie, you're quite the man now, aren't you?"
Oh, lord.
"Ah, um. Thank you?" Duke saw Jennifer stifle a laugh. Laura rolled her eyes.
"His name is Duke. Or Conrad. No one calls him Connie. That's a girl's name," Drew climbed over the banister, hung on the rail, and dropped down to the couch below.
"Oh, so sorry, Conrad!"
Duke felt bad for the woman. She was only trying to be nice, after all. She'd known him since before his voice had dropped, "No, Ma'am, don't apologize. Doesn't bother me." Much. "It's nice to see you again."
"Oh, Jane, no wonder you're so proud. He's turned into a gentleman… and such a hero."
Duke felt like backing out of the room to the safety of the kitchen, "Just doing my job, Ma'am. It's not me all on my own."
"Well, you all are wonderful and I personally appreciate everything you all do. It's a great thing, risking yourselves for our country. You could have stopped after Vietnam, and you went right back. You didn't hear this much after that damn war, so I'll tell you now. Thank you. Thank everyone you work with for me."
Duke felt genuinely touched, "Ma'am, I really appreciate that. I do. I'll pass it on to my men."
"And the women," Laura piped up from behind her mother, "it's important. I like that there are girl Joes."
"Of course, dear, we all do," Mrs. What's Her Name rested a hand briefly on Duke's shoulder, "Jane Falcone's firstborn isn't a misogynist. Not one bit, right Jane?"
"He knows better," Mamma had snuck back to the kitchen and filled a tray with a pitcher of iced tea, a plate of brownies and a stack of plastic cups, "refreshments, girls? Let's all sit down and relax. Are you staying, Mary Ann?" She put the tray on the coffee table. Duke watched in amazement as a swarm of teenage girls descended upon it and wiped it clean.
"No, sorry, Jane, but Ben's expecting me back home soon. Now that you've taken Laura off our hands, we're working on getting rid of Benji for the night to have a little time to ourselves."
"I'll walk you out then. Conrad, why don't you entertain the girls for a few minutes while I say goodbye to Mary Ann?"
Duke looked around at the teenagers who were now slung all over the den furniture, munching brownies and sipping iced tea, "Um."
"Goodbye, Conrad. So wonderful to see you!" Mrs. What's Her Name waved as she and Mamma walked out onto the front porch, their conversation drifted through an open window, "really Jane, so very handsome. Just like his father was-and so strong looking."
"Oh, he's strong. I watched him flinging bales of hay around this morning."
"Built like a bull. Good thing, too. I heard he fell over a thousand feet."
"He's fine now, thank God. Scared the Hell out of me. Let me walk you to your car. Are you free next week for th-" they moved out of range.
"Hey, Conrad, come meet my friends." Jennifer came over and stood by him, waving over at the cadre of teen girls, "you know Laura."
Thank God for Jennifer. Duke wasn't sure where to begin with the room full of strangers openly staring at him, "Hey there, Laura. How're you doing lately? Last time I was home, you told me you were going out for track."
"Track, Volleyball and Drill. Like Jenn. Choir, too, Duke," she came up and socked him in the stomach meeting only a plane of hard muscle, "and boxing."
"Boxing? Really?" Duke raised his eyebrows, "that's great! A girl's team at school?"
"Well, no. Mom's getting me private lessons. I started off wanting Karate, but I like boxing better."
"Well, why not? I enjoy the Hell out of it. The best women I know can fight."
Jennifer giggled, "they hit you?"
"Sometimes. Been kicked a few times, too."
A tall brunette stepped up and smiled prettily, "Hi, I'm Katie. That's Liz on the ottoman." A girl with short dark hair blushed and waved.
"Hi, Duke."
Jennifer pointed around the room at the rest of the girls, naming them in turn, "Mary Jean, Danielle, Persephone, Vikki, Jessica, Erica and Susan."
"And me!" Drew lay upside down on her back with her legs against the back of the couch and her head hanging over the seat.
"I know you, Rabbit," Duke smiled. She oozed the rest of the way off the couch to the floor.
"Watch this," Jennifer told the girls, "everyone, move around," all the girls swapped places, and Jennifer turned back to Duke, "OK, big brother, who's who?"
That's easy.
Duke smiled, "From the left, Vikki, Susan, Danielle, Erica, Katie, Mary Jean, Persephone, Jessica, Liz, and Rabbit, now on the floor in front of the couch."
The girls oohed and aahed in amazement.
"He knows us all already!"
"What a memory!'
"Wow, muscles and brains, too!"
Drew jumped up, "and he bench presses four hundred pounds!"
More oohs filled the room.
"And he kills all the bad guys!"
At that, the room exploded in several questions at once.
"Is it frightening?" "Do they hurt a lot of people?" "Where do they get all their money?" "Is Cold Slither gone forever?" "Does Cover Girl dye her hair?" "Have you fought in Russia?" "Are most battles in vehicles?" "How much can you pick up with one hand?" "Can you show us your shooting?"
Duke dropped onto the easy chair and looked at them in amazement, " Most of the time, I'm filling out paperwork and running exercises. The rest is kind of classified.
"Oh, come on," Katie sat on the arm of his chair, "I bet you have some pretty exciting stories. Tell us about, say, what just happened with that guy, Dusty Rudat. I saw it on 'Twenty Questions'."
Susan smiled, "Dusty's sort of cute! Is he single?"
Duke looked at Susan, then back at Katie, "well, you know, that was kind of a rough one. As for Dusty, couldn't say. As his field commander, I'll let you know I don't want him seeing anyone underage."
The girls all gathered around and cajoled him at once, "Oh! Tell us!" "You can talk about something!" "Are you still hurt?" "Did you lose your hearing after the bomb?"
"Now girls, if you're going to head out to the river for a swim, you should think about getting changed and out there soon," Mamma had returned to the rescue.
"Good idea, Mamma," Jennifer moved to the stairs, "C'mon, girls, we'll change in my room!" The chattering horde happily climbed up the steps to the top floor.
"Don't be too long! I've got a picnic packed already!" Cheers wafted back down in their wake.
"Thanks, Mamma. I don't really like going over all that stuff. Not to kids. It isn't a game," Duke felt lucky to be saved. He leaned back in the easy chair, and Drew landed in his lap.
"You smell like the stable."
"See?" he looked up at his mother, "what did I tell you?"
"Fine, take a shower, but make it fast."
"Why?"
"I need you to help drive the girls over to the river and put up the rope swing."
Duke sighed.
"Why hello, ladies!" Vince's voice floated from upstairs, "were you going swimming? It's a splendid day for it. I think I might join you."
"Vincent, why are you walking around in a towel? Get out of here, and stop trying to flex, it's not impressing anyone."
Duke sighed again and went to wash the stable off himself.
OOOOOOO
Showered, shaven, in a fresh pair of jeans, a clean t and his favorite flannel shirt, Duke felt a little better. He climbed the stairs into the kitchen and found himself amidst a small unit of teenage girls in bikinis. By the back door were two ice chests and a large drink cooler, already sweating in the summer warmth.
"Hi Duke!" several girls chorused cheerfully. They were all applying sunscreen to each other. Vince sat at the kitchen table in his trunks, happily watching Mary Jane slather cream on Katie's back.
"Mamma said you'd drive one of the trucks to the river for us," Jennifer hung a towel around her neck and started rubbing sunscreen on Laura.
Jessica backed up to him, lifting her long hair in both hands, "Hey, Duke, could you please get me back here? I can't reach by myself,"
"Ah, sure," He grabbed the bottle of SPF 35 off the table and rubbed it across her shoulders as matter of factly as he could. In his head, Duke counted up the number of his men who would kill to be where he was standing right now.
"Get right down to my lower back, if you could, I don't want to get burned back there," she looked over her shoulder at him and batted her eyelashes.
Duke knew when it was prudent to retreat. He tossed the bottle to Vince, "Here, kid, you do it, I gotta get the rope swing and the cleats out of the barn." Duke fled out the back door.
"Jessica! Honestly, you're shameless," Jennifer's remonstration filtered through the screen, "Conrad's, like, past thirty. He's not interested."
Jessica's laughter bubbled through the afternoon, "Doesn't mean I can't look. He's got great hands, too."
"Honestly, Jessica."
Duke found the rope swing and the cleats they used to secure it to the big cottonwood tree that leaned out over the river. When he was a boy, the rope was up all year round. Lately, however, local kids had been sneaking on to the property to swim, play, drink and get into trouble. Jack decided that taking the swing down every time they left was a small annoyance compared to the liability of a possible accident from a drunk or plain stupid kid. He had devised a set of heavy cleats and a brace they used to bolt the rope to the overhanging branch, rather than tie it.
Duke grabbed the coiled heavy rope, the cleats and brace, and a wrench and carried them to the outbuilding they used as a garage. He put the fastening hardware and wrench into a cloth sack and tossed the whole mess into the back of one of the trucks. Then he lost himself in looking over his motorcycle, checking the fluids, making sure everything was connected and nothing was loose or leaking. It sat on the trickle charger while he was away.
Really, he told himself, I should get it back to base. Or sell it. It sits more than it runs. I should ship it or ride it back. Bet Scarlett would go on a ride or two with me. The idea of her sitting behind him, arms wrapped around his waist, tightening as he swung the bike around curves was more than a little appealing. He grabbed a rag and wiped the grease off his hands and thought about it some more.
"Let's get these trucks out there and load up the food and girls," Jack startled Duke out of his reverie. He tossed his stepson a set of keys and climbed into the cab of the old work truck. Duke slid into the passenger seat of the newer dually and started the engine. He and Jack guided the big work trucks around the back of the house where Mamma was waiting with the cooler, ice chests and girls. Duke put the dually in park and got out to heft an ice chest into each truck's bed.
"Ok, girls, split up. Five in one truck, six in the other," Jack tossed the drink cooler into the back of the old truck, and turned back to the group. Duke helped a few girls into the bed of the dually and leaned against the fender.
Vincent tossed a towel in the cab of his father's truck and held his hand out, "hey, Pop, why don't you stay back with Mamma and Drew, I can drive these lovely ladies to the lake."
"But, I'm going, too," Drew climbed out from under the porch in a swimsuit and the world's biggest sunhat.
"Dreeeewwww. No. You're not invited," Jennifer climbed into the bed of the dually next to Laura and sat on the cooler.
"But I want to go swing on the rope and go swimming."
"Mamma, please, I don't want to have to watch her," Jennifer pleaded.
"Vincent's going," Jack dropped the keys into his palm, "maybe he can watch you."
"Pop! No! Vincent?!"
"He's driving, that's it. I wouldn't mind a quiet few hours with your mother."
Jennifer pouted with her arms folded over her bikini top, "Fine, but he better not be horny all over the place."
"Jennifer, your brother will not be a problem. But I would like him there with a truck just in case there's an emergency," Mamma turned to Vince, "would you mind keeping an eye on Drew?"
"Uh, yeah. She kinda cramps my style," Vincent looked at Drew with a frown.
Drew climbed onto the fender next to Duke and threw her hat on the ground, "what style? They don't even want you there."
Persephone blushed, "Well, I wouldn't really mind Vincent there. Not really."
"See, quirt? I'm on the VIP guest list for the pool party. You're outside the velvet ropes on this one. You're in the way."
Duke looked into his baby sister's eyes and saw them start to flood, "Hey, Rabbit, how come you don't want to hang out with me?"
"You're going to the river, too."
"Yeah, well, not all day. I'm gonna drop 'm off, hang the swing, and go back for them later. Vincent can babysit them. They don't want a grown up soldier out there in the way of their party. Thought I'd go on a little bike ride. But I'll be awful lonesome for the afternoon without company. Think you could come with me? I don't know if I'm as fun as those kids or the river, but I'd appreciate a co-pilot on the bike. Course, I understand if you're not interested. Sorta, anyhow. Come with me, huh?"
Drew beamed, "sure, I can do that!"
Duke picked her up and swung her into the cab of the dually. She was getting way too big to pick up, but not too big for his strong arms, "great! Ride out to the river with me and help me put up the rope. We'll come back and you can change into better clothes for the bike." He leaned down, picked up her sunhat and put it gently back on her head. She slid over to the passenger seat and strapped in as he climbed into the cab and pulled the door shut. His mother came to the window and smiled lovingly at him.
"Good job, Big Brother."
He grinned back at his mother and started the engine and put the truck in gear. Vince followed suit, and the trucks swung out of the yard and onto the dirt road that would skirt around the pasture and up to the place where the river curved and slowed and lay cool under the cottonwoods and sycamores.
"Be careful in the beds of those trucks, girls!" Jack called to them. Duke could see his mother and stepfather waving after them in the rearview mirror.
The trucks bumped gently over the soft rolling land, accompanied by the musical voices of happy teenagers. Soon, they were at the riverbank. Here, the river curved around itself to create a slow spot safe for swimming. There was a small "beach" of river sand. Elsewhere, the bank was cut under, and an old cottonwood tree reached a hefty branch out over the water. This was the tree that Duke had swung from to plummet into the cold river since he was a boy. The girls tumbled out of the truck beds and began laying towels out on the little beach.
Vince slammed the door of the old work truck after him, pretending to stretch so he could once again flex in front of the girls. Climbing out of the dually, Duke chuckled to himself. There wasn't all that much to show yet. He could strip his shirt and show the kid up without even a half flex; flash a few interesting scars, too. Then again, he really had no interest in showing off his muscles. Well, not much of one. He had caught himself tightening up as he walked past Scarlett in the gym once or twice. Or three times. Four, max. Maybe five. Then there was the time he had popped the heavy bag when she was there. Just went whole-hog at the thing till he wore through a thin spot and the sand began to flow out. It had been worth the sore knuckles to see her smile like that.
"Duke, can you get up the tree to put up the swing?" Jennifer looked in the bed of his truck, "you forgot a ladder."
"I don't need a ladder, sis." Duke unbuttoned his flannel shirt, pulled it off and threw it to Drew, who had climbed on top of the cab of his truck. Slinging the rope over one shoulder and across himself, he clambered up the cottonwood, straps of the cloth sack in his teeth. The girls went silent as they watched him pull himself over to the big branch. He shimmied out over the water, and then set his sack down and went to work fastening the cleats and bracket securely. Once the rigging was in place, he put the wrench back in the sack and tied it to the branch so it would be there when he came back to undo everything.
Duke tested his handiwork to see it was secure with a few strong tugs. Just to be doubly sure, he grabbed the rope in both hands and let himself drop to dangle above the water. If it could hold his weight through the drop, it would easily handle the kids.
Satisfied, he let himself drop into the river.
The girls were still quiet when he surfaced and swam to the shallows. Duke could see them all looking at him with small smiles and glittering eyes as he stood. He walked over to Jennifer, who handed him a towel.
"What? What'd I do?"
She rolled her eyes, "Made their afternoon. That was one hell of a show. Your shirt is wet, see-through, and clinging to every muscle. You'll be the star of every single diary entry for a week."
Laura clapped him on the shoulder, "Way to go, stud."
Duke rubbed his hair and looked down at himself, "Seriously?" He looked over at the rest of them out of the corner of his eye. They had all retreated to giggle and gossip on their towels. Vincent slunk over.
"Well, enjoy your motorcycle ride, bro. I'll handle things here," he pushed Duke in the direction of the dually, "don't worry, I got things under control. Have a fun time. Take all day!"
Duke smiled and allowed himself to be herded out of the way, "Tie a knot in that rope, kid. Give 'em something to sit on." That came out wrong. Vincent grinned slyly.
"Oh, you bet I will."
"Keep it in your pants, kid. C'mon, Rabbit, you promised me a motorcycle ride." Drew climbed back into the passenger seat through the window and buckled herself in. Duke sat next to her, started the engine, threw the truck into reverse and backed far enough so that he could turn around and head for home.