A Soldier's Wish
The airport is crowded with people either getting off or getting on a plane heading to whichever destination they seeked. Many were businsess men and some were families getting off to head into the sites and sounds of the country I was stationed at. Some, like me, were wearing army uniforms and were heading to their gates to reach home, just as I was about to do.
But, none of these people I really paid attention to. All of my focus was on the picture I held in my hand and the two smiling faces looking back at me.
One of the faces I knew very well, having lived with her for 5 years. My wife Sarah, smiling up at the camera with the biggest smile I ever saw on any one person. Her blonde hair framed her face and her blue eyes shimmered with the happiness she was feeling at the time of the photo being taken.
In her arms, was the face of my new baby girl, Annabelle. She looks so much like her mother, yet she has my nose and my eyes. She had little bits of blonde hair coming in and her green eyes were opened and curious, wondering what this little trinket she was looking at was. Her mouth was smiling in that toothless way babies could manage and I can tell you nothing else could have looked sweeter.
This picture was taken 2 months after she was born, she's now 6 months old and I have yet to see her or my wife since she was born. And now, I'm finally going home and the one thing I have been wishing for while I was gone I can finally achieve, to hear my baby girl laugh.
Looking up from the picture, I see that my plane has arrived finally and I pick up my dufflebag and head over to the gate. The regular procedure is taken and I am finally in my seat, ready to head back home for the first time in the past year and a half.
The excitement and anxiousness I feel blocks out the sounds of the other passengers boarding and throwing their luggage up into the compartments or hushing crying infants and young children talking animatedly to their mothers or fathers.
My focus stays in its own little world the whole trip there. I only refocus when I see a young woman with her, by the looks of it, 4 month old baby wrapped in her arms. The infant looks just like her, with black hair and what appears to be brown eyes, though it's hard to tell from where I sit 2 rows back.
The baby is smiling and cooing, showing how pleased she is at being picked up by her mother and the attention she is receiving.
Turning my focus away from the infant and her mother, I think about how my life has been for the past year or so. I have lived in the middle of the sand and wind, with no scenery at all to keep me occupied. The men and women I served with were the only reason why I never went insane in the middle of the blinding heat.
They all kept me going, telling me about their lives, what they planned to do after the military was out, about their families and how they couldn't wait to see them. They became my second family in a way and I am grateful to them for it. I know I will see them soon, but for now, I am going to enjoy my time away from the heat and the sand and be with my family.
Hours after we took off, we finally made it home. I was so eager to get off this flying tube that I was almost bouncing out of my seat. I knew I was smiling like an idiot but I didn't care. I was finally home, or at least, closer than I was before.
After getting my baggage and proceeding out of the gate, I began heading towards where my wife said she would be along with the rest of my family. My mother, father, sister, and my little brother would all be there to greet me, and that was all fine and well, but who I really wanted to see was my baby girl.
Looking around, I saw no one I knew and I began to panic. What if they weren't in this section and I was in the wrong spot, or maybe they decided not to come at all, or maybe-
My thoughts were cut off when I was suddenly tackle hugged by my wife. Her face was covered with tears and I knew I was shedding some as well. After catching up with her, I looked around and tried to spot the others, and that's when I saw her.
There, in my mother's arms, was the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. She looked just like the picture of her, only more real. She had that same curious look in her eyes but the smile was absent until her mother came and picked her up.
She came back over to me and handed me my little girl. We looked at each other for the longest time, and I felt the stares of others on me and her, not only my family's curious gaze was there, but I cared nothing for them. Only the little bundle in my arms.
It was then, that I got to hold her, touch her, see her, hear her. She was everything and more than what I imagined her to be.
And just when I thought she couldn't get even more beautiful, she made the most beautiful sound in the world. And I knew my wish had come true.
She laughed.