Tommy enlisted in the US Marine Corps in the middle of the Great War in 1915. The fighting man within him wouldn't sit still and wait out the bloodshed while other innocent men were gunned down.

Rose and Jack had tried to stop him. Tommy was a new immigrant. The draft was much less likely to find him than most men. He could still pass for an Irish citizen on holiday if need be.

Tommy wouldn't hear of it. He signed himself up on sunny day in June after newspaper upon newspaper filled with gory horror filled stories were tossed at his feet. No more would he sit back and watch this terror unfold. He was going to do something about it.

Of course Fabrizio wouldn't let him go off to fight alone. He enlisted as well, though he was much less enthusiastic about it. Fabri wasn't the fighter that Tommy had always been, but for his love, his destino, he would go anywhere and do anything.

Sending the boys off was tough for Jack and Rose. They had all grown so close, and now even after surviving the sinking, they weren't sure they would ever see one another again.

"Won't you reconsider, Tommy?" Rose sniffled, dabbing at her ready eyes with a handkerchief.

"Aw now don't cry on me, Rosie." Tommy pleaded with her, hugging her goodbye and kissing her cheek. "We'll both be home before ye' know it. Everything's gonna be just fine."

"That's right." Jack nodded in agreement, tightly embracing both of his best friends. "Gonna kick some German ass aren't ya boys?"

"Lots of it." Tommy nodded, squeezing Jack back then stepping back to smooth his uniform down.

"Fabri, keep him out of trouble." Rose told Fabrizio, hugging him tightly. "Please."

"I will. Don't a'worry, sweet Rosa." Fabrizio assured Rose before he and Tommy rode off, leaving behind the little cabin in Chippewa Falls and the family they'd only barely gotten to share a life with.

Rose wrote to them shortly after their departure, announcing that she was going to have a baby and that she and Jack had finished the addition to the house.

Her letters came quite often in the beginning, always brightening up a long, tiring day.

They wrote back to her when they could, Tommy doing the writing since Fabrizio's English could still use a bit of tweaking, but he always got in what he wanted to say as well.

Tommy wrote to Rose of France and all its beauty, telling her of all he saw that she'd enjoy about the land and it's people. For her sake, he never mentioned the battlefield in his letters. He didn't want her to worry, especially not in her current condition.

He did have some fairly exciting things to write though. From the very beginning Tommy began climbing the ranks of his battalion. From Private First Class to Corporal, to Staff Sergeant then to an officer position as a Captain!

By the beginning of the year 1918 Tommy had been promoted to Major, and he couldn't have been prouder.

Fabrizio hadn't climbed the ranking ladder as quickly as Tommy, as he was still stuck at Corporal, but he was happy for his love. Tommy was a brave, determined leader and he'd finally gotten the recognition that he most definitely deserved for it.

"How about a promotion Mr. a'Major?" Fabri asked Tommy one day as they strolled through the camp.

"The General decided those things, Boyo." Tommy chuckled, arms crossed behind his back and posture as straight as an arrow as he walked. He carried himself like a soldier. A damn fine soldier at that.

"Then you promote me some'awhere else." Fabri grinned at his lover. "Put me above you for a'once, eh?"

Of course they were still having sex. That hadn't stopped for a minute. Any time Tommy got to himself he'd sneak over to Fabri's tent and crawl beneath him, letting him take control for a little while.

It was nice to be able to let go of all his worries for a little while, and Fabri's loving gave him that little edge he needed to get through the remainder of the week. War was horribly tiresome, and Tommy was quickly growing quite weary. The fight within him was beginning to be tamed after witnessing the horrors of real, uncut battle.

Belleau Wood really hit him hard. Hundreds of his men lost right before him. It was gut wrenching, and he just couldn't stand it anymore.

Tommy blamed himself every time he lost a soldier. After all, he was supposed to be a leader, and what good was a leader if he couldn't protect his men.

Nevertheless, right before the wars end, Tommy was promoted for the final time to Colonel.

"I don't deserve this." He sighed, staring in disgust at his rank insignias in the mirror of the extra large tent he shared with a few other officers.

"Destino, Sii orgoglioso, you are a great'a leader!" Fabrizio assured him, rubbing his tense shoulders gently, as they were alone for the moment and weren't expected to hide their love.

"I could've been better." Tommy frowned at his reflection. "Could've saved a hell of a lot more of those boys, that's for sure."

"War is bloody, Amore." Fabrizio told him with a shrug. "Not'a everybody can go home."

"Even so, I just..." Fabrizio quieted him with a soft kiss on the lips, that quickly turned into a rough love making session on Tommy's bed.

Their luck didn't last long after. Fabrizio was badly wounded by a rouge German soldier not long after Belleau Wood had ended.

With a bullet in his left side the medics took him back to Paris where he could receive medical treatment.

Tommy tried to go with him, begged his superiors to let him stay with Fabri, but he was given strict orders to stay with his unit.

The last time he heard from Fabrizio before the war ended was in early October. The hospital in Paris had managed to save his life, but due to his injuries he was being discharged early and sent back overseas to America, leaving Tommy behind on the battlefield.

Rose wrote when Fabri arrived back home again, telling Tommy he was worried and wanted to know he was going to lay low and keep himself safe until wars end.

Tommy promised this of course, in his letter back, but it was one he could not keep. War was a bloody game, and he had to either play or be taken out.

But Tommy was a warrior, and a great one. The odds were certainly in his favor.

The Great War ended in November 11th of 1918, and Colonel Thomas A. Ryan was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps to return home to his family in Chippewa Falls.

He was greeted with Fabrizio's loving embrace upon riding up to the house, followed by the others.

"Oh Tommy! It's been so long!" Rose cried wth joy, kissing him several times over and sobbing into his shoulder.

"I missed ye' all so much." He told his family, hugging each tightly, and fighting to keep the tears in his own eyes back.

Rose and Mrs. Cartmell made a feast to celebrate Tommy's return, and afterwards Jack got out his father's old fiddle and played some upbeat dancing tunes for them all.

Tommy took Cora up into his arms and spun her around while she giggled with glee.

Fabrizio watched with a smile, elated to have his destino back home safe and sound once more. There was nothing that could make him happier. Or so he thought anyway.

...

"Oh! Fabri..." Tommy moaned, letting Fabrizio kiss down his neck as he drifted through the pleasurable glowing aftershocks of his orgasm.

"You like?" Fabrizio whispered, rolling off of him, and pulling him near to feel his warmth against his skin.

"You've learned some new tricks, Love." Tommy smiled, eyes shut and face wearing a look of utter ecstasy. "It's only been a few months. Where'd ye' find a teacher?"

"Jus' my hand." Fabri replied with a chuckle, making Tommy laugh too.

"I love you..." Tommy whispered to him then, looking deep into his lover's eyes before Fabrizio leaned in to kiss him passionately.

"Ti amo, Angelo mio." He replied nuzzling Tommy's face.

"Wanna know somethin' else, Fabri?" Tommy whispered to him while Fabri pressed a gentle kiss to his nose.

"Si, Destino." The Italian replied softly, continuing to tenderly kiss his face and neck.

"Yer not gonna believe it, love." Tommy smiled. "I went to the old saw bones in camp before comin' home, ye' remember him right? Old McFlannagan? Well he gave me a lookin' over since I'd been feelin' a little poorly of a mornin'."

"Uh huh." Fabrizio hummed, nuzzling up against Tommy's face again.

"Fabri, ye' won't believe. He told me I'm gonna have a baby." Tommy whispered.

Fabrizio's eyes came wide open and he stared at Tommy, not knowing what to say.

"We musta conceived right before ye' left." Tommy told him. "I'm ten weeks along. We're gonna be parents."

Fabrizio was stunned, to shocked for words, so he just leaned down and gave Tommy another lovingly kiss, nuzzling him after and whispering words of love in his native tongue.

Their worst days were behind them now, and their new future was only just beginning.

TBC