Chapter 3: The Moment of Truth

Arriving at the dock of the bay was probably the scariest thing ever, not only was I scared to death, but I also get sea sick. So Mom, Dad, and miserable nauseous me went to stand on the dock with all the other Navy wives, husbands, mothers, and girlfriends. I felt so out of place there, everyone else looked happy to see their Navy man or woman, and I was the only one who was absolutely dreading it. I knew I was giving myself an ulcer worrying about this, but as the gigantic ship pulled into the dock, and they all started stepping off, I suddenly fell in love with him all over again. And I also stopped worrying for five seconds, and just smiled, he looked so important and handsome.

When he stepped off the boat, Mom and Dad waved at him so he knew where to go, and I was just still, I couldn't move, this was the moment of truth. He walked over to us, and of course, kissed me. I was so happy to see him, and so sad all at once, is that even possible? Anyway, then Mom hugged him, and before he could get to Dad, Dad was sending off like death rays, so shaking his hand was substantial. Even I was afraid to go near him. Brad put his arm around me, and I got chills, this was it, I had to tell him. Mom eyed me like, 'it's now or never,' I took in a breath, and said, "Brad, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, of course," he said

"Alone," I continued. Clueless Mom and Dad stood still, so I took his hand, and we walked along the dock.

"So….what did you need to talk about?"

"Well, uh….I um…." I paused, then looked at the ground, then back at him, "I'm…."

He wasn't going to say something like, 'You're….' like Mom and Dad, he just continued to look at me, waiting for me to finish. Finally, I pressed my lips together, and said, "I'm….I…I'm," I paused again, this was not easy, then I finally bit the bullet, and said, "Pregnant," I quickly shut my eyes, and looked at the ground. But he didn't flip out, jump in the bay, or even look slightly mad, all he did was laugh lightly at my reaction, and say, "Really?"

I looked at him, and said, "Yeah,"

He put his arms around my waist, and pulled me toward him, "How long have you known?" he said now embracing me, I obviously welcomed the embrace, and the calm tone in his voice, and said, "Not long,"

"Hm…" He said, "Well, are you keeping it?" I pulled myself back, and looked at him, "Well, that depends…"

"On…" There, now he pulled a Mom and Dad.

"On whether or not you're….staying with me,"

"Dana," he said it partially laughing, like I had just said something so incredibly lame, then he said, "I'll never leave you. This is our baby," He paused and stared at me, "It is ours, right?"

"Yes!" I said

He and I laughed, and for the first time in the past few weeks, I didn't feel nauseous, at all. He put his arm around me again, and we walked back to Mom and Dad. "So, do you know what it is yet?"

"No, it hasn't been long enough, I wish we did though, so we didn't have to call it 'it,'" I answered

"Yeah, I don't like that either. How have you been feeling?"

"Aside from the gut wrenching nausea, and the having to worry constantly if I was going to have to do this alone, fine."

He sighed and turned to me, "Seriously? You thought I would leave you?"

"Yes, well, it's my Dad's fault, he thought you'd have more important plans for the future and you couldn't waste it on me, and my bad decision,"

"Dana, your dad should really consult me before he suddenly knows what I'm going to say. You're my future, and it wasn't just your decision, it was ours and it wasn't bad, your dad was just upset, that's not easy for him to understand, but I bet Keely does?"

"Yeah, she does,"

"See? It's Mom's, they understand things so much better than Dad's do, I don't know what that is,"

I just laughed, I missed having him around so much, other than Mom and Dad, he was only person who could make me feel better about anything that was bothering me.

When we got back to Mom and Dad, Dad was sending the death rays again, so he and I talked to Mom.