Chapter 11 One Of Those Mistakes
Hammersley steered out of port on time all crew accounted for. Mike stood on the bridge with his wireless headset.
"Yes Sir can you give us an approximate time frame for this patrol?" asked Mike as he paced around the bridge.
"Not yet Mike I have no idea how long the clean up is going to take, you have SAS and the Air Force helping so it shouldn't take long" replied Marshall as he sat down in his chair.
"Well Sir can you do me a favour?" asked Mike.
"Yes sure Mike and if you want me to check up on Kate I will" replied Marshall he knew him to well.
"Yes Sir you read my mind, just make sure she's okay Adria's only been home for two weeks" replied Mike as he sat down in his chair.
"Mike she's like a daughter to me and I will look after her while your out you know that" replied Marshall looking at a photo of Alexia and Adria, those were the grandkids he never had.
"Thanks Sir I appreciate it" replied Mike.
"Now Mike you should reach blue tunnel point in 8 hours or so, when you dock unload the medical and food supplies and then you can start the clean up but all in all you should only be there maximum two days, a day and a half if your lucky" replied Marshall.
"Okay Sir got it I'll keep you informed if anything changes" replied Mike hanging up the phone.
"Two days maximum Nav" said Mike as Nav and the other crew nodded in reply, two days and they could make there way home, and return to there shore leave.
The next three days went by slowly as they came with the final hours of their journey home to port. Kate stood waiting on the wharf as Hammersley came in Mike was standing on the quarter deck with his binoculars as Kate was signing to him. He smiled when he read her message as he replied.
"What is he doing" asked 2Dads as he looked out at Mike.
"Signing you idiot" replied Bomber as she sat at the helm.
"Huh what" replied 2Dads confused.
"Signing as in you know deaf people, communicating" replied Bomber it took him a few seconds realise what she meant; he walked off feeling like an idiot.
Buffer walked onto Hammersley and headed up to the bridge to surprise Bomber, even when she was at the helm she never saw him approach the ship. Buffer slowly walked up the steps seeing Nav on the bridge as well as Charge he signalled for them to be quiet as he snuck up beside Bomber placing a kiss on her cheek.
"Surprise" said Buffer as he took her hand. Hammersley was now anchored in port and Bomber stood down from the helm and into Buffer's arms.
"When did you come onboard I didn't even see you" replied Bomber as she hugged him for the second time in less than a minute.
"Well that was the point I didn't want you to see me" replied Buffer as he led Bomber down the stairs and off the bridge.
"You have a shore leave to get back to and so do I, get your stuff I have a surprise" replied Buffer as he waited for outside her cabin, always a gentlemen.
Mike walked off Hammersley ready to go home to Kate and his two daughters, as he met Kate on the wharf, picking her up in his arms, they had been married for over two years and still it felt like they had only been married for a few weeks. There love was still blossoming.
"Marshall came round on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday you didn't tell him to keep an eye on me did you?" asked Kate as she got into the car.
"I may have mentioned it, sorry" replied Mike.
"I said I would be fine" replied Kate as she started the car. Leaving it that Mike sat in silence on the drive home.
Bomber and Buffer laid on the couch their dinner reservation completely forgotten, Buffer's surprise also forgotten about as they were lost in each other. Neither moved from the hold they had on each other. Falling asleep on the couch, they awoke the next morning on the floor with a blanket draped over them neither knowing when they had grabbed it or where it came from.
"One week of shore leave" said Kate as she raced around the kitchen getting breakfast ready as Mike looked on.
"Yeah promised by Marshall, and after he dragged us out for the clean up I think he feels sorry" replied Mike as he turned his attention to Alexia who was playing on the floor.
"Yeah well three days of chaos" replied Kate; glad to have Mike home where he belonged.
"You know I was thinking about asking Marshall about a shore posting I mean I'm up for promotion again and there is only so many times I can turn it down before it starts to look bad you know" replied Mike taking his coffee as he sat down on the couch.
"Mike I don't want you to give up Hammersley" replied Kate.
"I know you don't but sooner or later I will have to, the kids are growing up and I don't want to be stuck out at sea, while I miss some of the most important things in there lives, they only do it once" replied Mike.
"How many times have we had this talk Mike seriously?" asked Kate.
"Pardon?" replied Mike as he followed Kate onto the deck that over looked the ocean.
"Honestly Mike how many times are we going to do this, dance around truth before it slaps us in the face" replied Kate frustrated, "this is exactly what we did before we were together, we danced around avoiding our feelings and it was only when I got shot you realised you couldn't live without me, this is the same you cant live without the Hammersley and you don't want to give it up, and I understand that but there is a point when you will have to, I don't want my kids growing up without a father, I want you to be there for when they play sports or for plays, everything a family does Mike, that cant happen when your out on a jolly jaunt across the ocean" added Kate.
"I'm going to check on Adria" replied Mike as he walked off into the house.
"You run away from everything Mike, when everything gets to hard you run and you can't run away from this" replied Kate.
"I'm not running away I'm walking away Kate" replied Mike as he walked down the hallway.
Kate stepped back out onto the deck and sat down on the couch draping the blanket over her legs, after all the years Mike and Kate had been together now, Kate thought he had stopped running or walking away as he put it, but, after there heated discussion, she was proved wrong. Not wanting to think Kate left a note on the kitchen table.
Gone out for a while I need to think
Kate
No kisses or hugs, Kate left as she walked down the pavement that lead to the road, taking a walk on the beach wanting to clear her head, as it did the opposite, dredging up memories of the past certain events, that were best forgotten. Walking further down the beach Kate came to a stop, far enough away from the house and out of eye sight from Mike; she sat thinking, letting her mind wander. She understood why he didn't want to leave Hammersley, but he had a family to think of, which was more important than a boat. Kate didn't want to see Hammersley go to a commander that didn't want to be at sea or didn't care much for the crew, the Hammersley crew were one big family, if it took time to get the right person fine but until then Kate wanted Mike to see where she was coming from, something he wasn't doing.
Mike walked back into the kitchen spotting the note Kate had written, as he read her words he felt guilty, as soon as he realised it was too late, every time he realised it was too late, other times he got there just in time but now he was late. Thinking to himself it was best to leave her cool down, let her think and when she came back if she did, they could talk.
Kate sat on the white beach hearing footsteps behind her, subconsciously thinking it was Mike, she responded to the footsteps.
"Mike just leave me alone I don't want to hear it" said Kate.
"Well if I was Mike I would leave you alone but I'm not Mike am I" replied Marshall as he sat down beside Kate. "What's wrong" asked Marshall as he put his hand on her arm.
"He's being his old self and is running away that's what's wrong" replied Kate as she looked over at Marshall.
"What has he done or what have you said to make him run" asked Marshall.
"I said one week of shore leave, he said what he thought you felt giving Hammersley a week off" replied Kate.
"And what did he say I felt" replied Marshall. "He said you felt sorry for us, which I took it as if it was about us and the kids, three days of chaos and he brings up the one thing that puts me on edge, promotion" replied Kate, Marshall sat in silence as he listened to Kate which was all she needed right now was someone to listen to her and Mike sure as hell wasn't doing that, which he should have.
"He can only turn down promotion so many times before it looks bad, and so he said he was going to ask you about a shore posting, if he had a shore posting he would be with the kids and me, and he wouldn't miss out on all the important things toddlers and babies do as they grow up, I don't want him to miss any of that but at the same time I don't want him to give up Hammersley, and I know I cant have it both ways" replied Kate.
"I'm sensing a but here Kate" replied Marshall as a slight smile was present on Kate's face for a second.
"But it's the same as before, years ago, when I got shot then and only then he realised he couldn't live without me and didn't want to lose me, after years of running he stopped and for once made the right decision, for years we danced around our emotions, and yet now he has gone and done the one thing that he knows he cant do, he has run away. I want him us to be a family and I know this is the navy you go where your told and you learn to like it but he, we, have a family now and he has responsibilities" replied Kate.
Defying what he had thought earlier Mike phoned Nav and ET. "Nav I need a favour can you and ET watch the kids I need to do something and it's really, really important" asked Mike.
"Yeah sure Mike anything will be there in two minutes we are in the area" replied Nav.
"Thanks guys" replied Mike as he hung up the phone, his mind was already at work, for possible places Kate could have gone, most likely the beach.
In two minutes and forty-five seconds Nav and ET were there, and once Nav and ET were in the house he was out of it running down onto the beach, scanning for his blonde wife. His run had slowed to a fast walk as he spotted a male and a female talking, more precisely Marshall and Kate speaking.
Mike slowly walked up to Kate hearing the sadness and frustration in her voice he responded. "I've stopped running" said Mike as he sat down beside her.
"I thought you were walking Mike" replied Kate.
"Kate stop" replied Marshall, it was more like an order than it was a suggestion.
"Sorry" replied Kate as she stood up.
"It's not an easy decision to make Kate and you know that" replied Mike.
'I'll leave you two to talk right now I have some grandkids to see" said Marshall as he walked in the direction to Mike and Kate's place.
"I know its not Mike but you have to see it from my point of view as much as I'm trying to see it from yours" replied Kate.
"See this is why were so stubborn, we but heads over everything, we both at some point have to compromise, I know I'm going to have to leave Hammersley at some point" replied Mike.
"Yes but when is what I need to know, I can't do everything on my own, having a one month old baby and an almost three year old is tiring, I need a break every now and then" replied Kate.
"I know you do, but I don't want to miss out on anything and I understand you're exhausted, you need an extra pair of hands especially when the boy arrives" replied Mike breaking the thin ice that still remained.
"I told you before Mike" replied Kate as a tiny grin passed across her face, "See this is what I'm talking about Mike little things like this, this is what I miss when your away" added Kate.
"Look Kate this isn't easy give me two months to find a replacement" asked Mike.
"One month" replied Kate.
"Month and a half" replied Mike as he tried to bargain.
"Fine six weeks, but then your on shore" replied Kate.
"Okay" replied Mike as he wrapped his arms around her, he placed a kiss on her forehead.