I know I skipped Maddy's age by a month or two...but I can because I'm the author! :P

The Good Life

It sounded odd to Drew's own ears when he said he was happy to be back in a place as chaotic as the ER at San Antonio Memorial Hospital on a weekend. Now honorably discharged from the military Drew Alister was a civilian for the first time in eight years. Despite having to remain in the closet to build the life and career he wanted, not mention get medical school paid for, joining the military was the way he met Rick Lincoln, the man he had loved for eight years, married to for almost two and the person Drew knew he would love for the rest of his life. Adjusting to civilian life wasn't as difficult as he was told it would be.

Maybe it was because Drew was without a doubt ready to live life for himself–with Rick and their daughter. Their eight-month-old daughter Maddy was the light of their lives.

Even if she was growing up way too fast.

She was crawling now and seldom stayed where one of her dads put her. And her biggest milestone, she said "da-da," followed by a big drooling smile—to both her parents that evening. Tears welled up in Drew's eyes and Rick swallowed hard. This wasn't a word neither thought he would hear directed at him, even when Claudia was pregnant. The notion had been so ingrained in each of their brains they hadn't thought about the future when Maddy started to talk. Luckily they hadn't told even any of their friends this. It would have created a great laugh.

They could hear Kenny say "what else would your daughter call you?"

"Well, look who's back!" Topher announced when Drew entered the locker room.

Everyone applauded.

Drew laughed. "So you all did miss me! Good to know."

Molly was the first to hug him.

"Well, I don't know 'bout the rest of 'em, I missed seeing pictures of Miss Maddy every night but since you have to come with that."

After he put on his scrubs, Drew did better than pictures. He showed the video of Maddy's first word, again.

"Must have been music to your ears. Both of you," Kenny said. "When was this?"

"Two hours ago," Drew grinned.

"And you're in here? I would have called in sick and celebrated."

"I'll save that for her first steps."

Along with crawling and now talking, Maddy Lincoln-Alister could pull herself up into a standing position while in her crib. The first two nights she was in her own room it was a bit rocky. She woke up more times than usual. After that she seemed to enjoy having her own space. And even if she couldn't see them, her dads could see her thanks to a video baby monitor. The monitor was more for them than Maddy. Watching her on the tiny screen before she settled to sleep her dads couldn't believe the positions she could put herself in. Any yoga instructor would be proud.

"Now I know why she likes havin' her own space," Drew had laughed.

The afternoon after the next Claudia came over to entertain her niece while Drew and Rick interviewed potential "date night" babysitters. After several background checks they had done on their own (and with the help of Rick's friends at the police department) and talking to the references given, the person they choose was a young woman named Paige who was working on her PhD in child development at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Maddy liked Paige and Paige didn't care that there "may or may not" be nanny cams in their house. She said that was their right, even if she did pass the "trust" test. They hadn't hired her to "look after a goldfish." They had the right to see how Maddy were being treated in their absence. The nanny cams weren't there yet but were going to be installed the following week. Claudia was babysitting tomorrow night for their "date night." They were going to a gathering at TC and Jordan's to celebrate Drew's military discharge.

Paige wouldn't have been her choice, Claudia had told Rick.

"Why?" He asked. "Cause she has bright red and purple streaks in her hair? Or is it the eyebrow ring? We told her and got it in writing that if Maddy pulls at it, it's her own fault. We weren't looking for Supernanny. That's very judgmental of you."

"Are you lookin' forward to your party?" Rick asked.

Drew was feeding Maddy a scrambled egg for dinner. It was her new favorite.

"Yeah but I'm sure by the end of the night I'm not going to remember a lot of it," he laughed. "But I'm looking forward to talking to Javi."

Javier Castro was going to be at the party tonight too. As Drew had suspected, he and Gina were splitting up. Javi had rented a home off the base so his sons could spend the nights when he saw them, rather than just a few hours at the park or the beach. He had even e-mailed Drew and asked him for "simple, child-friendly" recipes he could make for his sons when he saw them so they wouldn't be constantly eating take-out.

"I bet you want to find what happened with him and Gina," Rick replied.

"I can't say I don't. I mean if she just got tired of being the staff sergeant's wife or something else went on–on either side. Seemed like something was going on when we were in California."

Javi didn't stay at the party that night. It likely had something to do with all the happy couples and his own situation. He spilled everything to Drew and Rick though. Though she and their children saw Javi every weekend, whether he came home or they traveled out to visit him she had an on-going affair with a student at the community college where she worked as a receptionist.

Then she realized she was pregnant.

Gina wasn't sure if the baby she carried was her husband's or boyfriend's. Given how often she saw her boyfriend verus her husband, she believed it was the former's. She terminated the pregnancy–without telling him of her condition in the first place. Javi had come across the papers from the clinic when he visited. Gina told him everything then. At least she "had her own identity" with her boyfriend, not just the Staff Sergeant's wife. She had been seeing the guy for three months and didn't intend to stop. Yes, she had an abortion but she wasn't sure which man was the father. Her boyfriend, Lance didn't want a child and Javi was "never home anyway" so another child was out of the question for her.

Javi told the two men that Gina stated that he could see the boys as often he wanted, she would even bring Antonio and Carlos to him.

But their marriage was over.

Drew and Rick thought that was sad, however, unfortunately that was pretty common, especially for military families those days. Except for abortion bit. But a lot of people kept something like that a secret so it could be common as well. Javi didn't stay at the party long. Perhaps it was his mood and the fact he was surrounded by happy couples. Both men enjoyed the party and didn't come home until almost three in the morning. Neither drank as much as they had thought but a taxi home was still the best idea.

Less alcohol meant less pain in the morning.