Merry Christmas
"Aunt Brooke, when is Uncle Stu coming home?" That simple question is like a knife through the heart. Each time Ben, Stu's brother's son, asks that, Brooke can only say, "he's protecting us".
It's been 7 months since Brooke and her husband Stu have touched; 7 months since he said 'I love you' to her; 7 months of worrying if he's going to come home alive. Each day gets harder as she prays a man in uniform doesn't come to her door with bad news. It's hard to explain to a 5 year old that their uncle is overseas fighting a war.
Some of the other army wives know what she is going through…except their husbands are home. When she goes to the airport to travel to the next destination her job takes her, her heart breaks as she sees soldiers meeting with loved ones, holding their crying wives and looking forward to their time together. Brooke hasn't felt that for months, not since Stu was home for 3 weeks before deploying a little over 7 months ago. The only thing she looks forward to is not opening her door to see someone from his platoon coming to inform her that he died valiantly. Although, she has been getting letters from him.
Brooke sighs as she gently places her most recent letter on the coffee table. That letter is over a month old, but it gives her hope that he will be coming home soon, and in one piece. She sighs again before getting up to bake. Tonight, Stu's family is coming over for Christmas Eve. Brooke only wishes that Stu could be home. There have been too many missed holidays and other important days. Hopefully he'll be home for their anniversary, but that's wishful thinking. As for now, she'll enjoy dinner and gift exchanges tonight with family.
"Merry Christmas, Aunt Brooke!" Ben shouts, launching himself at her legs.
"Merry Christmas, Ben," she responds with a smile. Seeing Ben and his younger sister Catherine brightens her week.
The little boy beams up at her before dragging her outside to see Martin getting Catherine out of her car seat. All the while, Ben is chattering about how he hopes Aunt Brooke made the double chocolate cake. It's his favorite.
"Hey, Ben, why don't you help mommy bring the presents inside?" Martin suggests, laughing at the small boy. Ben nods enthusiastically before running to the trunk to help Tina, his mom.
"Merry Christmas, Martin. It's good to see you and Tina again. Y'all never come over anymore," Brooke jokingly says as she takes Catherine from his arms.
He laughs at her question and says, "Sorry, it's just a fight to get theses two in the car. Trust me it's not easy." Neither hear Tina come from inside and join their conversation.
"It's not. Ben wants to be a big boy and sit in the front. We tell him no, he gets upset, and then doesn't want to go anywhere. It took us almost an hour to get him in the car. We bribed him with your cake." Tina shakes her head with a smile as she reminisces her son's antics.
"Hey, Tina. Merry Christmas. I can only imagine. He's so hyper at times. If you ever need me to watch them, I'll be happy to," Brooke offers as she makes faces at Catherine. The small child giggles happily as she reaches her chubby arms up at Brooke's face. Martin smiles and suggests that the three of them move inside.
"Good luck. You'll have to fight my mom for them." This statement from Martin makes everyone laugh. Everyone knows that Martin and Stu's mother Caroline loves kids, especially her grandkids. She expects each of her sons to have 5.
"I know, I know. Speaking of Caroline, are you're parents coming? If so, I've got to make another cake. Between Ben and Robert, one cake isn't going to suffice."
Ben interrupts the discussion by screaming, "Are Pop Pop and Maw Maw coming over?" He runs into the living room with a stern look on his face. "Pop Pop has to come! Christmas is for families! They are most definitely family!" Right on cue, a knock is heard and the front door opens. Ben lets out a shriek before running towards his grandparents.
Caroline picks him up and begins to shower him with kisses. Ben is giggling as he openly accepts this sign of affection. Robert shakes his head and chuckles as he walks past his wife and grandson to head towards his son and daughters-in-law. He greets Martin with a handshake and meets Tina and Brooke with big hugs. He holds Brooke arms length away and gives her a serious look. Brooke is worried because it's never a good idea to be on the bad side of an in-law.
"Brooke…" he trails off and stares her directly in the eye. He continues with the serious and stern look on his face, "…did you bake that cake of yours?" Brooke gives him a deadpan expression as a goofy smile breaks out on his face.
"Dad…" Martin says with a warning tone. Robert turns to his son and gives him a big smile. "You know I love that cake. Your mother can't reproduce it to save her life!" A smack is heard as Caroline slaps her husband upside the head.
"I heard that. I don't know what it is! I follow the recipe verbatim, but it never turns out how you make it. Anyway, let's get settled for a lovely dinner and then presents!" Ben lets out an excited giggle as he runs to the dining room table and immediately sits himself down. All the adults just look at him with confused expressions on their faces.
"C'mon! I want presents! I'm hoping to get Uncle Stu!" That simple statement is what gets everyone to sit down. Brooke has a sad smile on her face as Caroline pats her on the back. "He'll come home soon, hon. You just need to wait."
Excited giggles fill the house as Ben plays with his Maw Maw on the floor and Pop Pop tickles little Catherine. The remaining three adults are sitting on the couch talking about everything and nothing, until a serious conversation comes up.
"So, Brooke, have any other letters from Stu come?" Tina hesitantly asks. Everyone knows that this is a very touchy subject for all the Bennett's. It hurts to think about how their family member could be killed at any second.
Brooke sighs and places her drink down on the coffee table. "No. The last one was from over a month ago. That worries me severely. But I mean, you know the saying 'no news is good news'. It's just… I wish I knew if he was okay. I'm so worried that it hurts sometimes. I know it's not good for myself, but I can't help it." Martin gently pats her knee in a comforting gesture. Tina gives her a sad smile, which Brooke returns half-heartedly.
"I'm sure he's fine. You know how stubborn he is. He won't go down without a fight. Besides, he'd miss your wonderful cake!" Robert playfully interjects. That seems to break the serious atmosphere. Everyone laughs until the doorbell rings. That makes everyone stop everything, even Ben stopped playing with his toys. It's Christmas Eve at 7 o' clock at night. What could anyone possibly need?
Brooke gets up hesitantly to answer the door. She looks back at her family before the opening the door. Her heart stops, and her breath hitches in her throat. Her worse fear is coming true. A man in uniform is standing on her front porch. He takes the hat off his head and holds it to his chest. A serious looks is on his face; that alone scares her more than his presence.
"Are you Mrs. Bennett? Stu's wife?" A mute nod. "I'm Colonel Lewis, a friend of Stu's. We have something for you." Brooke misses the small smile on his face as he turns to face the walkway to the house. Tears start to fall down her cheeks steadily as different scenarios roll through her head. Are they going to bring her his body? His belongings? His ashes?
Along the sidewalk, men are lined up. They split to the left of the sidewalk and to the right. They turn to face each other. The farther they go from the house, the harder it is to see their faces. This is the case as one of them steps out of line and stands in the middle of the two lines. The man begins to walk up towards Brooke and Colonel Lewis. When he comes into view, Brooke lets out a strangled cry. She all but throws herself at the man in a tight hug. The very tall man returns the hug just as tight.
There are cheers and whistles around them as they embrace, but they don't care. Brooke looks up into the eyes that she missed for 7 months. A smile is on his handsome face as he leans down and gives her a chaste kiss. "Miss me, love?"
"What do you think?" She throws herself back up into his arms as he swings her around. Stu sets her down and gently holds her face. The two gaze into each others eyes, enjoying the moment…until a little ball of energy throws itself at the two, screaming, "UNCLE STU!"
Stu catches his nephew and begins to swing the enthusiastic 5 year old. "Hey, buddy. Did you miss me?" The young boy gives his uncle a look before snippily responding, "What do you think? You left me without saying goodbye! You left Aunt Brooke sad! How could you?" The men surrounding him stifle their laughter at the young boy's antics. Stu's eyes soften as he lets out a soft laugh.
"I had to leave. I have to keep you and Aunt Brooke safe. Do you want Aunt Brooke hurt? I know I don't. I needed to go and protect her." Ben's glare softens before throwing his arms around Stu's neck.
Colonel Lewis breaks the sweet moment by saying, "Well, Sergeant Bennett. We got you home safely. Merry Christmas." With that being said, Colonel Lewis pats Stu on the back before leaving with his mean, each of them giving a departing message to Stu.
"Thanks guys. Merry Christmas!" he shouts to those leaving. The rest of the family decided to come outside to see what all of the commotion was about. Caroline shouts in joy as she sees her baby home and in one piece. Stu places Ben on the ground as he prepares to get the biggest hug of his life.
"Stu! My baby! You're home! We've missed you!" Caroline starts sobbing as much as Brooke. Robert gently pries his wife away from their son. Stu stares at his father who has tears in his eyes.
"Dad…" Robert yanks Stu into his arms as they share a hug. Tina admires the moment, but notices the sleepy child hanging onto Brooke's dress.
"I really hate to break this reunion, but can we please go back inside? It's cold and someone needs to go to sleep." Stu and Robert laugh as they part. Tina grabs Ben and everyone starts to walk inside except Martin, Stu, and Brooke. Stu and Martin share a quick hug.
"It's good to see to see you, bro. We've missed you. You can't leave us until after New Year's. I won't let you. I don't think I could deal with another mental breakdown from your wife. It's hurting my phone bill." Martin puts his younger brother in a headlock and ruffles his messy curls. Stu shoves Martin away and gives him the marine look.
"Oh shut it. Just go back inside. Just so you know, I am home indefinitely, but I know I'm not leaving until after January 1st. And because you said that about my wife, we're going to be staying at your house and eating all of your food." Martin groans as he heads inside. Stu can eat more than Martin, Tina, Brooke, and Ben combined. Brooke is about to head inside, but a hand on her arm stops her. Stu turns her around and brings her in for another kiss. He rests his forehead against hers and holds hers in a tight embrace.
"I love you Brooke Bennett. And I won't be leaving you for sometime. You're stuck with me." Brooke just gives him a teary smile and responds, "I wouldn't have it any another way. Merry Christmas, Stu Bennett."
A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks for reading this. This is originally a story for club at school. I decided to upload it here and share Stuart Bennett with everyone! Shout out to TWOTLS! Thank you for editing this! I officially dub you my editor! Please Read and Review! Stu would love you forever!