What You Want

by navycorpsman

She loves him, but she knows she's his mistress, despite being his wife. The Army has him and refuses to let go. For most of their marriage, he's been deployed, but now, there are two small kids involved.

4. AWOL And Memories

He looked at the young Soldier standing in front of him. He knew he should punish her for going AWOL, but there were times he thought about it. If he did, he thought, at least he'd have time with his family before being sent to the brig. He couldn't blame her. Shit. I'd do the same thing to see my children. He thought as he told her what to tell her unit.

He looked at her, acutely aware that she reminded him of his wife. The long blonde hair and soft features and that soft accent that gave her South Carolina upbringing away. Jennifer Evans captured his imagination when he went to Myrtle Beach the summer before leaving for West Point. He recalled that carousel and how they wanted to ride the same horse. He was a gentleman and let her ride it, but rode the one next to her and talked.

He knew he wanted to marry her before he knew her name.

By the time the carousel ride ended, she had taken up his offer for coffee. He laughed silently about that first meeting. He had just been accepted to West Point and she was getting ready to enter her senior year of high school. I could've gotten in a lot of shit over that these days. He smiled.

Before he left for West Point, he made one last visit to see her and meet her family. Her parents didn't scare him like he thought they might. He was surprised to find that they approved of him and didn't mind their 17-year-old daughter dating the 19 year old. He leaned back in his chair and relived her dad's 'interrogation' of him. He answered his intent was to marry her as soon as he could afford to and of course, after she graduated from high school and got into college. He had no intentions of doing otherwise.

But, now, he missed her and wondered if he had made the right choice by staying in the Army all these years. He'd missed the birth of his children and wouldn't recognize Courtney now if it wasn't for the pictures. He pulled out his wallet and looked at the picture of his son. He looks just like me, poor bastard. He laughed to himself. I miss you and your sister and your mommy and I'll be home soon.

A mortar round brought him back to the reality that he was in a war and didn't know when, if ever, he'd return.