This thought had been on my mind for a day or so, and I was struggling to write anything else. I am finishing up a couple of my other stories so it was a good time to start a new one.

Past Mistakes

Chapter 1

"Mike; the move to Miami would have been good for us. For the kids. We could have afforded to send them to private school. I was looking at houses online. I found a five bedroom, three and a half bath with a pool. The money would have been so much better and you would have been home every night! Do you not realize how much the kids and I need you at home? How much we miss you?" Christine lectured her husband, who had just turned down a very lucrative job at a security firm and volunteered for another deployment.

"And after this cruise; I might make Captain. You know I've always wanted to be a Captain." Mike argued.

"No, first you wanted to be a cop. Then you wanted to be a detective. Then you wanted to be in the Navy. Then it was that you wanted to be an officer. You climbed that ladder, but you also have three kids and a wife at home." Christine pointed out.

"You knew the drill when I joined up. You knew the plan. Remember; you're twenty year plan?" Mike questioned. Christine was a planner. Mike was not. It was one of their issues.

"I do. We wanted to be settled by the time Katie was in high school, so she was in the same school for all the games, proms, and all that. We wanted to buy our forever home somewhere, and be together in one place." Christine said.

"I wouldn't have as much retirement and would have to get a job." Mike said sourly.

"You've kept your commission up as a cop. We could go anywhere. I would transfer my real estate license and start working full-time. It wouldn't all be on you." Christine remarked as she folded the towels. The kids were at school, so they could talk freely about Mike's latest deployment.

"That was never part of the deal. The deal was that you not work while the kids were at home." Mike argued.

"No, it was that once Lucas went to kindergarten, I would start working as long as I could keep the evenings free. Real estate and interior design allows for that. You sound so chauvinistic!" Christine told him. And the argument was on.

Post Season 5-Christine

Christine shuddered at the memory. Things had been said that day that could never be unsaid. She had threatened to divorce Mike while he was gone. She had told him that she going to take the kids and go to Miami and make her own life. He could have the damn Navy.

His deployment got moved up and there hadn't been time to make up. They had both been too proud. They made a show of affection the morning he left so the kids thought all was fine, but Katie had been all too aware that her dad had spent the past two nights sleeping on the couch and that Christine hadn't bothered to do any of the shopping for his 'treats' to take on deployment. She wasn't fooled.

Mike left and within weeks, the world went to hell. Lucas died pretty quickly into the pandemic, and for a while, Christine barely could care for herself, let alone keep herself and the girls safe. Had it not been for very level-headed Katie; she wouldn't have. In time, Hannah's child-like joy become more contagious then the virus. Katie's strength and Hannah's joy had carried Christine through a lot more than the virus.

She hid them out after the safe-zone at Deer Park was compromised. Because of Mike being second-in-command on the James, Christine was sought out by some very unsavory characters, and eventually she trusted the wrong people. Croft and finally Shaw. Shaw hid her and the girls out, to use as leverage against Mike, but her henchmen were crazy and Christine did what she had to do to save her daughters' innocence. She had been brutally raped and beaten. After Shaw was killed, her people scattered, and Christine was able to get her and the girls to safety. And the baby she was carrying.

Not knowing how to find Mike and knowing she had told him she would go to Miami, she settled herself and the girls there. Real estate was a hot commodity and Christine quickly was able to get a job selling it. She had little option but to have the baby that belonged to her rapist, and to keep the little girl. Like Hannah, Emma was a total joy. Thankfully, she looked more like Christine and so she didn't have to look into the face of her rapist on a daily basis. It took her some time, but she bonded with and grew to love Emma. She only wished that Mike had been Emma's father, but there was no doubt about her paternity.

Christine had built a business selling real estate, designing homes and working with the many displaced people. There was a large Navy presence in Miami, and Christine considered asking after Mike, but she was scared to trust anyone and she was also scared of his reaction to Emma. She could never expect him to raise a child that wasn't his. That had never been part of their plan.

So, she raised her kids, built her business and recovered. The girls were doing wonderfully and they doted on Emma, especially when the reality of her situation caught up with Christine and she couldn't face the little girl. Christine would never admit it but she missed Mike. She missed the security he provided her. The comfort. The humor.