Living Again
Chapter 6
"Thanks for talking to her, Anita. I know that it is a bit out of your scope." Mike said as he walked Lieutenant General Anita Dufine into his house.
"No problem. If one of my Marines is doing this to a woman, I need to know so I can put a stop to it." Anita commented.
"I would say Trevor Parker is not worth being called a Marine." Mike remarked sourly.
"So, they never married?" Anita asked.
"No, fortunately. But she is very concerned about child custody. However, he didn't put himself on Tucker's birth certificate and the nurse didn't put him on Ella's. Of course; Molly can't read them, but I've confirmed." Mike commented. They had just stepped up on the porch, but Anita caught his arm before he opened the door.
"Mike; what are you doing? I get wanting to help someone. Wanting to have someone to share this big house with. Someone to cook, clean and decorate, but that girl…aren't you worried that she will get the wrong idea?" Anita asked.
"A little. She already thinks the only reason I'm doing all this is to sleep with her." Mike remarked.
"Are you? Has it crossed your mind?" Anita asked.
"I…it did before I knew everything that had happened to her. Now, I just want to protect her and those kids." Mike admitted. It made him feel pretty sleazy.
"Mike…its been a lot of years since Christine died. You are entitled to happiness. Everyone else around you has attained it. You deserve it. Just make sure you find the right person, because a lot of women would love the media attention, but forget to love you. I just don't want you to fall for the wrong person." Anita said.
"I get it." Mike answered before opening his front door and letting Anita in. "Okay, Molly; this is General Anita Dufine, the woman I told you about. Anita, this is Molly Johnson. Molly; I'll mind the kids. You can talk to Anita in the formal living room if you'd like." Mike said as he picked Ella up and took Tucker's hand.
"I have coffee and homemade donuts set up in there." Molly said.
"Perfect." Anita said. She followed Molly into the living room and Mike led Tucker to the couch.
"Who is that lady?" Tucker asked, obviously worried about his mom.
"A friend of mine." Mike answered. He focused on the toy that Tucker was playing with and swallowed away a bit of emotion. It was a dinosaur toy and reminded him of Lucas.
"She wears an outfit like my dad." Tucker remarked. Mike could hear the fear in his voice.
"Tucker; just because someone is in a uniform like your dad wore, doesn't mean they are the same as him. I can promise; General Dufine won't hurt your mom. It wasn't so long ago that I wore a uniform like that too." Mike said.
"Did you ever hurt a girl like my dad did?" Tucker asked.
"No, son. Men should never do what your dad did." Mike said. Tucker nodded in agreement.
"I don't want to ever be like that." Tucker remarked.
"And you get to make that choice. Now; it looks like your mom left us some donuts. Want one and some milk?" Mike asked.
"Oh, yeah!" Tucker said. Mike smiled at him, stood up, and put Ella in her bassinet before fixing a plate of donuts and two glasses of milk. Tucker settled into his booster seat and Mike helped him with his straw and the donut.
Mike had to wonder what was happening between Molly and Anita, but there was little he could do. He did need to think about what Anita said. Was he only helping Molly out of loneliness? Or was there an attraction there? Or was he only trying to fill empty hours and replace Christine?
His marriage had been flawed but he loved his wife with all his heart. Had things been normal when he got home from the Arctic, he and Christine were going to start counseling. They had separated for a bit before he left, but were back together but struggling at the time of his deployment. They had wanted to give their marriage another shot. They both still loved the other, and knew the kids did better with them together.
The 'could be's' and 'what if's' always bothered Mike, but he couldn't help what Christine had gone through. He could ensure that Molly and her kids never knew fear, poverty, or abuse again. A crazy idea began forming in his mind. He could marry Molly and adopt Tucker and Ella. That would protect them from Trevor and it could be a marriage of convenience. There didn't have to be any emotion involved…other than the fact that he cared deeply for Tucker and Ella. And he would also have to communicate to Molly that he didn't expect sex.