Chapter One~ Newcomer

"Don't worry about a thing, Mrs. Plummer. I'll make sure the kids are as safe as possible. Scout's Honor." Lieutenant Shane Wolfe stated as he was walking his old buddy's widow to the door.

"Thank you again, for doing this, Shane. I know it's not exactly a typical job for a S.E.A.L."

"Like I said, don't worry about it."

"Oh, before I go, I should probably mention Sergeant McGraff coming in. I haven't told the kids yet, but don't be surprised if you hear a very large amount of screaming in a few hours." She was making sure she had everything at the same time as talking, so it was a bit harder for him to understand what she was saying, but he got the gist of it. Another G.I. Joe coming in to help take care of the kids…just what he needed, some regular idiot guy coming in and getting in the way.

"I'll make sure the situation is seen to." Shane informed her right before she walked out of the door to go catch her flight.

With that out of the way, time for boot camp to start up.

A few hours later.

Shane was out back, looking over the grounds to make sure the perimeter was secure, when he heard a loud bang and shouts of the children. He ran inside only to hear Red One (Zoe) yell.

"Clara's here!"

There was mass confusion surrounding the new figure at the door, and Shane couldn't get a good look at the guy.

"HEY! Cadets, fall in!" he shouted over the hysteria that was building at the doorway. Immediately, they backed off.

In the entryway, stood not some string-bean of a Joe cowering at the sound of his voice like he thought, but a G.I. Jane standing tall and raising an eyebrow at him. She was obviously unfazed by his tone. She wore the standard Army outfit: green shirt tucked into loose camo pants and tan combats laced up tight, her hair in a military bun, but with a few wayward strands flopping into her eyes.

"I don't believe we've had the honor of being introduced, Mr…" she had a slight southern accent.

"Lt. Shane Wolfe, ma'am." He stretched out his arm, offering his hand, which she took in a strong grasp. Not strong like a man's, but strong enough to instill that she wasn't the type of person to back down.

"Lt. Wolfe, I'm Sgt. Clarissa McGraff, David's best friend since grade school. As you probably heard from the kids though, most people just call me Clara. It's nice to meet you Lieutenant."

"You too, Sgt. But, I must admit…I wasn't exactly expecting…well, what I mean is, the way Mrs. Plummer made it sound…"

Clara just chuckled. "It's alright, Lt. I understand if you thought I was supposed to be a guy…I actually get that a lot. When people hear about me, for some reason, they think I'm just a regular Joe. Holly was probably in a rush to go when she told you though, so I'm not surprised if she forgot to mention it." Then she turned to the kids, "So, anyone wanna show Auntie Clara where she'll be sleepin'?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the children were on her, Red Three (Lulu) tugging at her hand.

"You can sleep in my room, Auntie Clara."

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Lulu. But I'm pretty sure you'd just get tired of my snorin'," she made a snoring sound that made them all break out in laughter.

"C'mon, Clara," Red One (Zoe) took charge, "the spare guest bedroom's up here."

"Spare?" Clara turned and looked over at Shane, "I didn't know we were gonna be havin' company."

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's just the babysitter," he heard the oldest girl whisper. Then they turned and disappeared up the stairs, the other kids following close behind.

Shane rubbed his hand over his face, "This is gonna be a lotta work."