A/N: I read an article in the Times awhile back about a sergeant who did this for his son who was born while he was on tour and I thought it was really wonderful and touching and it inspired me to write this story. I do not know how anything works in the army so I put zero guarantee on the correctness of the things I'm saying. But, hopefully it'll be enough to make the story believable. I sincerely hope I don't offend anyone with misconceptions I may have. Anyways, on with the show!
I fell into my cot in exhaustion after a long day of patrols in the hot Aghanistan desert. I'd been working the turret all day and subsequently hadn't had a chance to hide from the sun until now. To top it all off I had actually had to lay down some fire on an enemy patrol and, no matter how many times I do it, it still leaves me feeling rattled.
Needing some sort of comfort, I reached under her cot and pulled out the box in which I keep all my writings and family memorabilia. Slipping off the lid, I can't help but smile widely despite the day I've had at the photo of Brittany and I's first born son, Hunter.
"Some patrol that was," my roommate Private Katie Sheppard, who had been manning the other humvee on the patrols turret, huffed as she entered their tent and began stripping off her heavy gear for the day.
"I hate the fucking turret," I grunted in agreement without looking up from the picture of Hunter in Brittany's arms. Katie turned around and smiled when she saw me holding the picture as if it were the baby himself.
"Let me guess, Hunter?" Katie asked, knowing all to well the answer.
"I can't wait to meet him," I said, finally looking up. "I hate that I wasn't there when he was born but I'm so ready to leave this hell hole and be a mom."
"I can't imagine being out here knowing a child of mine I'd never met was at home," Katie said empathetically.
"Well unless Chase suddenly developed female anatomy I don't see that happening," I joked and Katie laughed.
"You make a good point Lopez. I still miss my little lady though," Katie said with a sigh before her face brightened considerably. "Oh! I almost forgot, Sergeant Michaels said that we both get twenty minute Skype slots tomorrow!"
"Shit, finally!" I said, my face breaking into a cheek splitting smile. I've been driving Michaels up the wall about scheduling time for a video chat ever since Hunter was born. Tomorrow would be the first time I would see Hunter outside of a photograph.
"Right?" Katie agreed enthusiastically. "It was Lily's birthday last week and I haven't gotten to talk to her yet so she'll be really excited."
"How old is she now? Seven right?" I asked.
"Yep! Seven," Katie said dreamily as she plopped onto her own cot next to mine. "Video calls will be pretty great incentive to get through that damn mission tomorrow."
"Aw crap I forgot about that," I groaned. "I may hate the turret but I really hate foot patrols."
"Do you like anything here?" Katie teased and I can't help but laugh.
"Not a fucking chance."
"That makes two of us," Katie agreed. "Money sucks, Lopez."
"Preach," Isighed in agreement.
When Katie and I had been assigned as roommates when we arrived for our eighteen month tour six months ago, we quickly found that they were both here for the same reason: money. Brittany and I had been doing okay in our New York apartment for quite a while. Brittany had gotten a job as a dancer on Broadway with a little help from Rachel Berry. But, when we decided to try for a baby she had taken time off without pay, leaving me as the sole bread winner. I had come out of school with a Law degree at a pretty bad time when no one was really hiring, so I'd had to settle for a job as an intern for some corporate lawyers. However, they turned out to be quite corrupt and a huge scandal at the firm had left everyone out of work and ruined names. None of the was my fault, I hadn't been involved, let alone aware something was happening, but my name still got brought down with everyone else.
That had all happened when Brittany was two months pregnant. We were running out of the little savings we had and I was having a hell of a hard time finding work. Brittany had been given an easy desk job at a dance studio she had studied at before for the time being but it simply wasn't enough. So, in a moment of desperation to provide for my family, I enlisted in the Army. Brittany was three months pregnant when I left for bootcamp in Fort Lauderdale. After a month there, I was shipped directly to Afghanistan and have been here ever since.
I always immediately send every scrap of money I'm given to Brittany, who was doing well know that they had the Army checks coming in and a little extra from the few hours that Brittany could put in at the studio. My plan now is to finish this tour, alive, and go home and try to mend my sullied name in the law community. As a veteran, I'm hoping that people would be more responsive to me and give me another chance. More importantly, I want to be there to help with Hunter so Brittany could get back to dancing on stage.
Katie's story turned out to be fairly similar to mine in the sense that her family was tight on money. Her husband, Chase, had been a soldier himself but refused to go back after being the only survivor of an IED encounter on his last tour. After being laid off at her desk job, Katie, despite Chase's protests, had decided that it was her turn to take a tour of duty.
We both absolutely hate what we're doing. We hate being away from our families, we hate what we're fighting for,we hate the hot desert, we hate having to kill people, and we hate having to grovel to higher ranking officers. But, at least we met each other through it all. Having someone who understands in the cot next to you really does make all the difference in the world.