When Joe and I stepped off of the train, the breezy warmth of San Francisco welcomed us. Joe stared around, taking in the scenery. Then he looked back at me, that smug look on his face. I met his eyes and found myself smiling. Joe grabbed my hand and started to pull me away from the train.
San Francisco was so much more than I thought it was going to be. Besides my family home in Alabama, the only other places I had seen were New York City for a few short days, and then wherever Easy was sent to in England and Europe. I breathed in the air tinged with salt from the ocean.
Joe and I didn't start for our new home right away; instead we chose to wander around the immediate area surrounding the train station. Everything from the buildings to the people walking past us made me want to stop and take in everything around us. "Di, you realize that we have a house and neighborhood for you to check out?" Joe asked, laughing shortly at my wide-eyed gaze. I quickly followed him back to where my stuff was waiting to be loaded into a taxi.
The driver of the taxi nodded politely to me and Joe, but I did notice him eyeing down my ear stump and the thick scar on Joe's neck. We got into the taxi and Joe gave the man the address. We were driving for a few minutes-me staring out of the window trying to take in all of the sights, Joe watching me with amusement on his face-when our driver spoke up. "You were both apart of the military, right?"
Joe and I both snapped to a sort of attention. The driver was glancing at us using his rear-view mirror, his green eyes fairly curious. "Sorry if I sound rude. You both have the look of people who have come back. I wasn't able to go and fight-I've got a bad heart."
I blinked at the man's eyes and glanced over at Joe. "We were over in Europe." I said. "Easy Company, second battalion of the five-hundred-and-sixth parachute infantry of the hundred and first airborne division," I told him Easy's official title with an undisguised hint of pride. Joe looked down at me from over his nose, smirking at me. Seeing that smirk made me want to kiss it off his face.
The driver smiled broadly at my obvious pride in Easy. "I remember hearing about the airborne. No offense, but I thought y'all were crazy for jumping outta planes."
"We were crazy," I said, thinking back to Luz, whose personality seemed to only channel crazy. The taxi slowed to a stop and I looked out of the window, not realizing that we had reached our new neighborhood.
"Well, crazy or not, I sure am thankful for what you both did over there." The driver said, smiling at the pair of us. Joe and I said goodbye before getting my suitcase from the trunk. And I finally got the first real look at my new home.
Like most houses in our neighborhood, was stuck in between two other houses ( a light blue one and a white one). It was a two-story with a sort of beige paint. A front porch looked like it hadn't been swept-I highly doubted that Joe took the time to clean up the outside before I got here. A wide set of stairs led up to the porch, and those too looked dusty and had leaves on them from the nearby tree. There was a tiny garden area in front of that porch, overgrown with weeds.
Joe returned to my side after he paid and the driver (I learned later that he also gave the man a hefty tip). "It's not much, but it's a start, right?"
If I didn't know any better, I would've sworn that I could hear a hint of nervousness in his voice when he asked if it was good enough. I turned to him and got up on my tiptoes to kiss him. Joe didn't even hesitate before kissing me back. When I finally broke it off, I ran my hands down the length of his toned arms.
"I think it's amazing, Joe." I said quietly. Joe smiled broadly at me, showing me all of his teeth.
"Then let's stop wasting time and get in there," Joe said, jerking his head towards the steps. He was indicating for me to lead the way. I smirked at him and started up the porch steps. Joe picked up my suitcase and followed close behind me. When I reached the front door, Joe handed me the key.
I turned the key and opened the door for the first time.
I fell in love with the house the moment I laid eyes on it. When I entered through the door, I found myself in a living room. Somehow Joe had gotten us a couch with a coffee table, side table, and a bookshelf over by another door. A radio stood against the wall, where we'd be able to listen to the news and the stories that would air every day. There was a staircase leading to the second floor and the door on the other side of the room led to the kitchen, I assumed.
Joe was watching me like a hawk, tracking my movements and facial expressions to see how I liked the new house. When I finally looked back at him, my happiness shining on my face, Joe's tense facial expression finally relaxed as he smiled.
"It's a three bedroom," Joe said. "That includes the master. Two baths, and we got a yard in the back-that's pretty small but we could do something with it..."
"Joseph Liebgott," I cut him off. "The house is amazing. This neighborhood is gorgeous. You couldn't have picked a better home." I stepped up to him and kissed him again. Joe leaned down to kiss me more, setting my suitcase on the ground and kicking the door closed with his foot. His hands are immediately on my hips, squeezing the skin there and pulling me closer.
I smirked, our mouths still connected. Joe broke off for a minute to kiss my jaw and neck. He started walking forward, forcing me to move backwards. My hands started to undo his belt buckle instinctively. Joe responded by beginning to unbutton my blouse. The back of my legs hit the couch and I fell back; Joe was quickly on top of me, smirking and laughing quietly to himself.
"Oh shut up," I growled softly at him. Joe's eyes flashed and he got that mischievous grin on his face. He leaned up and took off his shirt with one final movement and came back down to me.
Later that afternoon, there was a knock on our front door. I had just come down the stairs, finally finished with looking around my new house. The master bedroom already had a big bed in it, and the other two bedrooms were currently empty due to the fact that we still weren't sure what to do with them. There was the idea of having a child to fill one room, but Joe and I weren't even married yet. We wanted to live our life together for a while before we started a real family together.
Joe answered the door and I spotted a woman with platinum blond hair that had been curled and pinned up. She had red lipstick on and her dress was tailored in a way that showed off her hips. From my vantage point, I saw her just barely inspect Joe before smiling broadly at him.
"Ma'am," Joe greeted her politely.
"Hello there," She replied. "My name's June Calvert-I live right next door in the white house." She stuck out her white-gloved hand for him to shake, which Joe did although he did it tentatively. "I just stopped by to welcome you and your wife to the neighborhood." She finally spotted me standing close by. "Oh, hello!"
I moved forward to greet our new neighbor. Joe side stepped to make room for me. "I'm Diana," I said. I shook June's hand and she instantly saw the ring on my hand.
"Oh my goodness!" June exclaimed. "May I?" I nodded, finding myself smiling at her infectious upbeat personality. June took hold of my hand and held it up to get a closer look at the ring. "My, my; if only my Duncan got me a ring like this!" She showed off her own wedding ring, smaller compared to the one Joe got for me. "When did you get married?" June asked.
"We actually just got engaged," I corrected her. A breeze from outside shifted my hair, slightly uncovering my wounded ear. June's bright eyes quickly saw and her smile faltered just a bit. Joe stiffened from where he stood, looking between the pair of us. June recovered her smile.
"When's the date?" She asked. "Duncan and I had our's earlier this year-in summer. Oh, it was lovely!"
I had expected her to bring up my scarred ear, or at least the thick scar on my throat that I never bothered to try and cover up. But she didn't-June Calvert just smiled at me as if I wasn't missing most of my ear and didn't have a giant scar on my neck. I blinked at her and found myself liking this woman more than I had before.