"Welcome home, Captain," Lance Corporal Bricker announced as she opened the door to the three-bedroom home.

Casey followed her in, carrying Alexandra who was still recovering from her plane ride and was snuggled into his shoulder. The entry held two doors on adjoining walls, the one they'd just entered through and the other lead to the garage. The living room was small, but serviceable, boasting a couch along the back wall, a recliner kiddy-corner to the couch, and a small oak coffee table in front of the couch. In the corner near the recliner was a small fireplace, and on the wall across from the couch, hung a decent sized flat-screen TV.

"The furnishing comes with the house but if you would prefer to have your own, you can return these to the department of housing." Bricker explained as she guided them through to the open concept kitchen and dining area. The fridge sat next to the archway leading into the space, and the counter ran along that same wall, broken only by the stove and over compo before continuing around the corner of the adjacent wall were a sink sat under a large window. The dishwasher was an under the counter model which sat below and to the right of the sink. There was also ample cabinet space overhead and cupboards under the counters and in the island. A set of three stools ran along one edge of the island counter and a square table sat in the living room set for four and boasted a seam indicating it could be expanded if needed. A sliding door led to the back yard and windows along the wall shared with the kitchen let in some natural light to the space.

Bricker guided them down the hall that came off the kitchen and led to the bedrooms, on one side of the hall was the master bedroom which held dark furniture and a large king-sized bed which was waiting to be made up. The doors to the ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet sat next to each other along one wall. Across the hall was a smaller bathroom with a tub/shower combo that was bracketed on either side by the other two bedrooms. Both of which were slightly smaller than the master and set up with lighter wood furniture and a twin bunk beds which was likewise waiting for the addition of sheets, comforters, and pillows.

"I don't know if you have what is needed, bedding wise, but there are a couple retail stores not far off base, if you don't want to go to the exchange, where you can purchase those items." Bricker advised. "I can give you directions, or you can ask at the club house, which we drove past when we entered this neighborhood. That is also where the pool and fitness center are in this community. Housing at Pendleton is basically set up like a series of privatized developments, each with their own clubhouse and leisure facilities. There is also the community center and a YMCA on base, several houses of worship if you practice any particular faith, locations of the closest commissary, all the information can be found at the club house of this community. Is there anything else you might be needing at the moment?"

Casey grunted in the negative as they made their way back to the living room where he sat his daughter down on the couch, "Just gotta get our things from your vehicle and wait on my car and personal effects to be delivered."

"Sounds good," Bricker nodded.

Casey and Bricker made quick work of unloading their few bags and brining in Alexandra's car seat, before he shook the enlisted officer's hand and thanked her for her assistance.

"I'm sure someone will be contacting you soon to establish your first shift on duty," Bricker advised, "Welcome to Pendleton Captain Casey." She smiled up at him before taking her leave.

Alexandra had fallen asleep on the couch, so John let her rest while he made quick work of unpacking their bags. He'd already put the carseat in the garage when it was brought in, to wait for his car to arrive. By the time he was returning to the living room, a knock sounded on the front door, taking a glance over his shoulder to see if his daughter was still asleep, he answered the door.

"Good day, Captain Casey," Sam Viggiano gave him a kind smile, "Just bringing you your keys, I took the liberty of parking your Crown Victoria in the driveway, I'll leave it up to you if you would like to move her into the garage or not."

"Thanks," John grunted, following Sam over to the car, making sure to shut the door behind him. He did a walk around the car, followed by Sam, to check its condition. "Looks good," John nodded reaching for his wallet.

"I appreciate the gesture," Sam held up his hand, "But I don't accept tips from members of the military, I do this service in thanks for all you do, so my shipping fee is all I'll ever accept from anyone in the military."

"Understood," John shook the man's hand and accepted his keys back. He watched as Sam walked back to his truck, did his walk around and jumped into the cab to head to his next job.

Once Sam's truck had turned the corner out of sight, John opened the garage and, hopping into his car, pulled the Crown Vic into the garage. Once he was sure she was all the way in, he closed the garage door again and rounded the car towards the entry to the house. Next to the door sat Alexandra's carseat, which he quickly installed into the back seat of his car. As he was entering the main house, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and checked the screen before answering.

"Hey mom," He smiled slightly.

" Hey Johnny, did you just get in?" Helen asked over the line.

"Yeah, we just got here. Alex is sleeping right now; the flight took a lot out of her. My car was just delivered, and we're just waiting on the rest of my stuff to get here. Once that's done, I'll load her up so we can hit up the commissary as well as the exchange to pick up some food as well as some stuff we need around the house."

" I thought you said the house would have furniture," Helen pointed out.

"Well yeah, the house is furnished for now, we just gotta get some sheets and such for the beds. My bed in the BOQ was a full, and here, I have a king and she's in a twin. They gave me a bunkbed, might eventually get her a single and give the bunks back to housing."

" You could just take down the second bunk and store it," Helen laughed, " Is the furniture really that bad, though?"

"Nah, it's fine, but I'm thinking I may just go out and get our own stuff anyhow, but now that I'm out of the BOQ, I feel like it should look like I actually live here, although my bonsais may help with that." He explained, "The spare bedroom also has bunks, so unless you're good with bunk beds, I think I'll replace them and turn it into a guest room for when you come to visit. Plus, I think it might be nice to make Alexandra's room her own space, make it more girly, less utilitarian."

" What do you mean by 'girly?'" Helen asked.

"I don't know, dolls, unicorns, all that sparkly shit girls like," John shrugged.

" I appreciate you getting rid of the bunkbeds in the spare, maybe try to find a normal queen bed for that one," Helen said, " But as far as the 'girly stuff' as you call it, maybe let Alexandra guide you on what she likes, or you can wait until I come in, and I can take her to decorate her room. Until then you can either take down the upper bunk and store it or replace it with a normal twin bed."

"I might just take you up on your offer to decorate," John admitted, "When do you think you might make it out this way?"

" I figure by the time I finish packing and get the place listed, maybe as soon as next week?" Helen stated, "You think you survive until then?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll survive a week or so until you get here." John chuckled, when a beeping came over the line, "Hey mom, I gotta go, that's the company with my stuff."

" Alright John, I'll let you go," Helen said, " Hug and kiss that little girl of yours for me and tell her Nana will be there soon."

"I will mom," John agreed, "Love you."

" I love you too, both of you." Helen replied before disconnecting the call.

As it turned out, the movers wouldn't be there until the next day, giving John time to get the house somewhat in order before they arrived with the rest of his few belongings. As he hung up, he noticed Alexandra starting to stir on the couch.

"Hey Alex," He spoke softly, taking a set on the couch near his daughter's legs, careful to not sit on them. "How you doing, kid?"

Alex gave him a sleepy smile, she looked a little flushed and was a bit warm to the touch, but he'd noticed over the past week that was pretty normal for the girl when waking up.

"We gotta go get some stuff for our rooms and some things to eat," John explained, helping the girl to sit up and straightening out her pigtails, "So what do you say you and your old man go get some lunch and go do some shopping?"

"'Kay," Alexandra shrugged.

Before they left, like his mother had suggested, he made sure she tried to use the bathroom before they loaded up in the car. There was a soup and sandwich place not too far from where the exchange and commissary were located, so they went in. He ordered mac and cheese for his daughter and a soup and sandwich for himself along with drinks and went to go find a seat while they waited. Luckily, it wasn't long before one of the teenagers working that day brought over a tray with their food.

"Would you like a booster for your daughter, sir?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks," John nodded and began divvying up the food and utensils while the teenager retrieved the booster seat for Alexandra.

"Enjoy your lunch," She smiled and took her leave.

Once their meal was finished, they headed to the exchange first. Alexandra was mostly behaved as he made his way through the large department store in search of the things they would need for their home. He made sure they had a toaster and coffee maker for their kitchen as well as cook ware, dishes, glasses, and utensils. He even got a small set of plastic plates, bowls, cups and lids with straws attached, and utensils for Alexandra to use until he was confident that she was past the stage of accidental spills and could drink from a normal glass. He even picked up a booster seat for Alex to use until she was bigger.

He quickly picked out a set of light grey bedsheets for himself and a darker grey comforter for his bed and moved down the row to find twin sheets for Alexandra's bed when she heard her hooting and calling for him.

"What is it, Kid?" He asked.

"Daddy, Dora!" Alex cried out excitedly, pointing down the aisle towards sheets and blanket with a multitude of cartoonish characters on them. He had no idea what 'Dora' was but considered his mother's words from their earlier phone call and let Alexandra point out what it was she was wanting. As it turned out, Dora was a character from one of her favorite shows and starred a little girl with dark hair who wore a backpack and traveled around with some kind of monkey. She'd even convinced him to get her a throw pillow in the shape of the cartoon girl's head which she hugged the rest of the way through the store while he picked some more neutral sets of twin sheets to toss into their cart for days when the Dora-motif bedding was being washed.

While they were there, he ordered a basic queen bed frame with mattress and a wooden frame headboard that matched the dresser that was already in the room, and a couple sets of sheets. The bed would be delivered the next day, he would just take the top bunk down in his daughter's room and let his mom take her shopping for a new bed when the time came.

Once they had checked out of the exchange and loaded up the trunk of the car, they headed over to the commissary to pick up some of the basics, milk, cereal, coffee, sandwich fixings, snacks and a few things he could throw together to make a decent dinner. Due to the load in the trunk, the groceries had to go into the back seat with Alexandra.

John learned it was probably best to not keep groceries in the car next to his daughter because when they arrived back at the house, he found she'd been sneaking grapes out of the bag that had been on the seat next to her. Chuckling at himself, he quickly released Alexandra from her seat and took her inside, turning on the TV and flipping through the channels, surprised when he came across the Dora program his daughter had been talking to him about at the exchange. Seeing that Alex was occupied by the program, he unloaded the groceries and put them away before bringing in their purchases from the exchange.

He popped all the sheets in the wash while he made quick work of disconnecting and storing the upper bunk from Alexandra's room. By the time suppertime rolled around, the sheets had been dried and put on the beds, and the new appliances and kitchen ware had been cleaned and put in their proper place. He made up a quick dinner of pasta with tomato sauce and quickly plated it up, setting it at the table and calling his daughter to supper.

He hadn't counted on how much of a mess tomato sauce could be when a three-year-old was trying to eat it, even with the noodles chopped down enough to be scooped up with a spoon. As soon as supper was finished, Alex was put straight into the bath to be cleaned up.

With his daughter freshly bathed and in her pajamas, he read her a story, joined her for evening prayers and put her to bed with a kiss on her little forehead. He turned out the light but left the door open a crack in case she needed him and set to work cleaning up the kitchen from supper.

The next day was much of the same, they waited for the rest of their things to be delivered, John continued to put their house together in between playing with and feeding his daughter, they'd even spared time for a walk to the neighborhood park where she got to play to her heart's content and John made a mental note to look into putting a swing set at least in his back yard.


With the weekend over, the on-base daycare and preschool were now open. John and Alexandra went to meet the teachers and get familiar with the place. While Alexandra was allowed to go play with the other children, John sat at a too-small table filling out forms to be kept on file so that Alexandra could start attending daycare and eventually pre school while he was working.

As it turned out, he'd gotten everything taken care of in the nick of time, as John was advised he would be reporting for his new assignment the next day.