Sonny stood from the sofa as he heard a knock on the door.
It was 9pm and he had fallen asleep, exhausted by the events of the past days. He picked up his phone from the coffee table and saw that he had three missed calls from Emily.
He headed for the door as another set of knocks arrived.
On the doorstep was Emily looking worried. The minute she saw him, he saw her give a sigh of relief and loosen up a bit.
"Are you OK? I was worried."
He opened the door further letting her come inside. Before he closed the door, he took her in for a long hug.
"If I wasn't, I am now."
He let her go and closed the door. She looked at him and gently touched his face. She didn't like seeing him like this.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you are OK. I was so worried."
"If it hadn't been for you telling Eric and me to get off that wall, when you did, I don't know what would have happened. You saved my life again."
He tilted his head to the side. "What guardian angel has sent you my way?" As he said those words he inevitably thought of his mother. Maybe she had been the one to put Emily on his path.
"I'm more than OK to save your life over and over again, if it secures the fact that you stay in my life."
"Do you believe in fate?" he asked her reluctantly.
"Why do you ask?"
"What were the odds that you'd be the Captain assigned to our Op in Bouet, that Eric would have me get in that Humvee with you? You could have not asked for a transfer b ack to VA Beach, and we would never have seen each other again."
He paused for a second as she listened attentively at what he was saying.
"If you go into your old locker, underneath your initials, you will see my initials. I etched them the first day I was part of Bravo team. It's also my locker."
"So yeah, do you believe in fate?"
She smiled upon hearing all the things he said. "I'd like to believe that part of what we do is our choice, that not everything is planned out for us. But I do believe that another part leads us to where we should be. Call it fate, destiny, karma, a red thread that connects people to one another, I too would like to think, that I've done something right in my life to get another chance at happiness and love."
He took her again in his arms and kissed her. Regardless of how sore he was, he led her to his bedroom and made love to her.
As both were starting to fall asleep in each other's arms, safe, her head gently placed on his chest, she placed a hand over his heart.
"I'm falling in love with you Sonny," she said.
She hadn't said it because she wanted to hear him say it back, it was simply because she had felt it was the right for her to tell him how she felt, even though she imagined he had an pretty good idea.
He had to admit that he was at a loss for words. In the past, he had made the mistake of answer once in a similar situation and it had backfired on him. He knew that girl had nothing to do with Emily, but he preferred it to be her moment and surprise her another day by telling her he felt exactly the same way.
