MIA:

I sent a letter back to Michael right away..you know, after the drama with Randa settled. After I got over the fact that she was being so...so...such a deraisonnable chienne. Sorry, when I get upset like this I start resorting to French.

Michael,

Thank goodness I heard from you! We got word about the accident, but nothing about you! We were so worried about your safety. I know you have suffered a major loss, but at least we still have the rest of you…

I've been missing you more than I'd like to let on. There are things around here that I want you to know, but your mother won't allow me to tell you. Well, she doesn't read letters, right?

We are going to be parents! I'm five months along, almost six months now. Your mother has been of the greatest help to me. Bringing me to the physician's office and getting me vitamins and whatnot. Michael, no matter how much help she's been, I'd rather have you here to help me.

I'm terrified of giving birth. What if the baby isn't healthy? What shall I do then? I mean, I have yet to start showing, is that healthy? Michael, please write back to give me encouragement! I need you!

I started taking correspondence courses so I wouldn't be showing in school. I'll graduate faster this way. Your father has been teaching me my geometry course. He is just as patient as you have always been. He's even warming up to the idea that we are married and are having a baby together.

Lilly says hello. I know she misses you, but would never admit to it. Being your sister and all.

When do you suppose you will be coming home? They can't possibly need you over in dreary old England if you are injured, right?

Listen to me going on like this…a poor victim when you are the one bed bound. I am counting the days until you are back in our bed, holding me and our baby.

-Write back soon,

Your loving Wife Mia

I didn't mention Kevin or Randa because I was sure he already knew. If he wasn't going to say a word, I would not either. He was probably too upset.

"Nothing?" I asked, it was the end of May with no letter back.

"Nope," Lilly replied. "I'm sure he's very busy over there, rehabilitating his legs and everything."

She didn't know I had told him about the baby. "I suppose…."

But I laid in bed wondering. Maybe he didn't want the baby? I probably scared him off. I've heard of things like this before. The man goes over seas and never returns to his wifeand children. He had left a girl that was in her prime. Now I just felt like a whale. I rubbed my belly. I was scared of what my body had become. I was just a carrier for this…this child. I still had until August to carry it around. I stared at it and stuck out my tongue. He probably hated me now because I was making him face the grown up world of fatherhood.

I mean, we've only been married since December. December right? He left in January. We haven't even really had a chance to be alone.

God, please let him get leave soon.

I hardly left the apartment any more. But it was turning warmer out so Lilly and I started taking walks every evening after dinner. "Maybe he.." I said, trying to think of an excuse for his lack of writing.

"Mia, the man just lost three fingers practically. I'm sure his little friend Hannah won't be giving him all her time so she can write for him."

I shrugged. "I suppose you have a point-"

"Oh my God!" Jill's voice squealed from in front of us. We hadn't been paying attention.

"Oh, hi Jill," Lilly said, trying to be polite.

"You are pregnant! That's too funny!" she said, hardly able to stand with her laughter.

I sighed. "Insanely hilarious. Good bye Jilly."

"Wait, is Michael the father or-"

"Or is Josh?" Lilly replied. "She wouldn't touch your boyfriend. Although I'm sure he has been sneaking around behind your back with other girls."

Jill stood there, open mouthed.

"Bye, bye now Jilly," Lill said wiggling her fingers.

MICHAEL:

Why the hell isn't she writing back to me?

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked late one Sunday night.

"Mia….I dunno, you've seen me and Hannah in here writing almost every day. Why hasn't Mia written back to me?"

Arthur smirked. "Think about it. Think about each and every time you and Hannah are in here writing."

So I laid back and thought of just the previous day, the freshest in my mind.

"I hope she'll write back," I said as we settled down to write yet another letter.

"I'm sure. Your face is healing quite well," Hannah said, touching my cheek.

I shrugged, "I guess. I just hope it'll look okay for when I see Mia."

"Just how serious are you two?" she asked, taking some paper out.

"Well, we are married so…"

"But is it even legal? I mean, if she's only sixteen…"

"Of course it is. In New York at least."

"What is it that you see in her anyways?" she asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

I shook my head, "She's amazing. My reason for living really."

She dropped the pen she wrote with and bent over with great effort to pick it up. "I'm so clumsy."

"Mia is too. I took her ice skating for the first time this winter. She kept falling down."

She sighed. "Let's get to this letter already."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

Arthur shook his head. "She is interested in you. She likes you…as you American's would say, she thinks you are the bees knees."

"I can't say I've heard of that phrase. But how do you figure she likes me?"

"She sits on your bed, only comes in here when you are alone-"

"She doesn't want me to be lonely," I argued.

He rolled his eyes again. "Oh please Michael. Get real."

He sounded funny saying that. With his accent and all. "She knows I care only for Mia."

"I could have sworn I saw your name on an envelope a few weeks ago. I wouldn't trust Hannah to write to your Mia anymore."

I played with my wedding band, and he started staring at it. "Wait…Can I see your ring for a second?" he asked.

I made a face, "Sorry, I don't wanna take it off."

He nodded. "You know, I was thinking about going to New York…you know, after all this."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I got family over there. Maybe I'll find myself an American wife."

I laughed, "I think you'll have better luck in Europe."

"Oh?"

"Most American girls are getting the idea to go to college now. They want to wait for marriage. Plus, after the war there is going to be a lot of changes…"

"What's it like over there?" he asked finally. "I mean, here there's always problems. But over there….is it safe?"

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. "I mean, I wouldn't be afraid to be there. I'd rather be there than here. I had a normal life…I went out with my friends. There's this diner we are going to go to after all this…I had a job in that diner. They had the best burgers there. And a soda fountain."

"I never had one. My parents were strict about what we could eat."

"I'll bring you to the diner when we go to New York."

He smirked, "I think you'll have other things on your mind."

I turned red. Yes I sometimes thought of Mia like that, but I hated talking about it. "I can't wait to see her," I admitted. "Just to even hold her….to know that this is all over will be the biggest relief."

"I wish I was like you…that I could just settle down and have no worries."

"What worries do you have?" I asked.

"Well…my family business has gone bust kind of because of all this. It was always expected I would take over, ya know? I've trained my whole life for it. Now…Now I have no idea what to do. No one to plan anything for me."

"My dad wanted me to go to Harvard, like him. To be a doctor like him."

"So we have more in common than we thought," he said with a half smile. That smile….where the hell had I seen it before?

"Well, my sister found an American man to marry, I'm sure I can find an American woman," he replied.

There was something in the way he mentioned his sister that made me stare at him. "You said your sister was fifteen. That's awfully young..."

"Well…no. I did not. I have an older sister," he replied. I'd spent enough time with him to tell he was lying. "Well, we had a minor falling out before I left. She didn't want me joining up and I did anyways."

"I have a little sister. She's sixteen. Not much like most girls her age. She wants to go to college and become a doctor like our father. Sometimes I think he wishes she were the son instead of me."

"Psychotherapist, right?" he asked.

I made a face, "Have I told this story before?"

"Right. Yes, well, you said your father was a doctor, a psychologist or whatever. I can't say I believe in that too much."

"He's actually really bright. I'm glad Mia has him around to help her deal with my being gone. I'm sure the two of them talk about this a great deal."

I saw Hannah peek her head in the room, but upon seeing Arthur she popped back out. "She definitely wants you. You wouldn't think of maybe having a fling while you were over-"

"No Arthur. No way. I made my vows. And I'll make them again in front of our families. I would never do something like that to Mia. Besides, Hannah is my friend. Just my friend."

I was able to get myself a job in late May. In the mornings I would go to physical therapy and was learning how to write with my left hand. Then I would go to the mail room in the afternoon for two hours before going back to therapy for my legs.

The job was easy enough. I would sit in the room and sort the mail from out going, and ingoing. The in goings each had their own baskets according to their floor.

"M-Michael, what are you doing here?" Hannah asked after seeing me in the mail room.

I laughed, "What's it look like? I'm doing something to keep me busy. Keep my mind going."

"But the mail room?" she asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. Plus, I won't have to bug you about my letters anymore."

She smiled weakly, yes. Right. Well, I need the mail for section forty two."

I handed her the pile and she went on her way. She was acting kind of odd, and I told Arthur about this. "I bet she's been hiding the letters," he replied. "Or not sending yours out!"

"Do you think she'd do something so sneaky?" I asked, trying to shave with one hand.

He stood behind me. "Wouldn't you do that if Mia was in your position?"

I looked at him in the mirror. "What?"
"If Mia was writing to another man. And you could control whether or not he got the letters. Or if she'd get his. Think about it. She probably figures if you don't get the letters you'll eventually forget about Mia. And that Mia will do the same to you. She'll find someone in New York to fall in love with. You'll fall in love with Hannah. She's been plotting this since day one I bet….wait, that's right…"

"What?" I asked.

"When you were in a coma…I went to see you. I mean, I wanted to check on the guy I helped out of the ship….yeah, she was singing to you. I heard her and another nurse talking about you…how could I forget about this?"

I gave up my shaving attempts and let him finish my face off. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. She was talking about how you are so handsome. Plus, being an American is a plus around here. People think that any American is a big hero or something."

I sensed some disgust there. "We'll have to wait and see I suppose."