December 24, 1941 – US Recruiting and Induction Center, New York City, New York
"I'm just saying," I said, my mouth stuffed with food, "Germany's not going to last. Not against all of the Allied Powers together."
My oldest brother, Sam, sat across from me in our booth, stirring his split pea soup absentmindedly, a frown plastered on his face, deep in thought.
We were in a small diner that wasn't very well known across from the Recruitment Center, where I was doing medical examinations for enlistees. It was a bit past noon, and I was on my lunch break. Sam, the oldest one in our large family, was in town from Savannah for the week and we had decided to catch up. Jane was with us and had been sitting with us, but a couple of the men who had just come from the center came into the diner, and of course, the flirt had to go, well, flirt. When it came to men, my best friends were hopeless. Lydia was worse, but she was taking extra hours back in the center so she could take off Christmas tomorrow. I could hear Jane's high-pitched giggles from the whole way across the diner.
Samuel, the oldest of the six of us, pondered on my words as he shoveled a spoonful of soup into his mouth. "I dunno, AJ. Germany has Japan. We took a hard hit from Pearl Harbor a couple weeks ago. Dad still hasn't heard from West. Mom's getting worried."
West was the second oldest and Mom's favorite. It wasn't a secret. The entire family knew it. You'd think it'd be her only daughter (ahem, me), but no, it was Westley. He enlisted right out of high school and joined the Navy. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor when the bombing happened. Our entire family was worried sick. I was surprised, though, that Sam had talked to our parents. They hadn't been on good terms when he left and got married to some Southern belle down in Georgia that the family barely knew. I'd only even met Eileen once, at the wedding. Our parents hadn't been invited due to their lack of support.
"You've talked to them?" I asked, unable to hide the surprise that laced my tone as I scooped another bite of mashed potatoes into my mouth.
Sam shifted uncomfortably across our table. "Yeah. Only once, though. I stopped by the old place on my way into the city. Dad was happy to see me, but Mom...between not knowing West's whereabouts and with me just showing up, she was a bit overwhelmed. Yelled at me a bit for not inviting them to the wedding and whatnot. The gout, you know? Dad seemed alright, though. He wants me to bring up the kids next summer."
As I took a sip of my Coca-Cola, I could barely suppress the urge to let it spew from my mouth. I swallowed the fizzy drink roughly and glared at Sam. "Kids?! Plural?!"
A wide grin broke out across his face, his gray-green eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree.
"She's two months in as of yesterday. I was going to tell you in a more subtle way, but I'm shit at keeping secrets. Dougie's excited, even though he doesn't really understand. He's just excited because mommy and daddy are, I think. His birthday's next week," he added. "He'll be two."
I whistled. Time really had flown by. I remembered clear as day when I got the letter from Sam that Eileen was pregnant. I'd driven down for Douglas's birth with West and Henry. My two other older brothers, George and Charlie, hadn't been able to come with us, but sent Sam and Eileen their best. I was convinced Dougie liked me more than all of his uncles, and Sam had confided in me that that prediction was correct. He missed 'Auntie Addie' and asked about her a lot, according to Sam.
"We'll have to go shopping for him so you can take something back down to Savannah for him. Maybe tomorrow?" I suggested.
Sam nodded in agreement as he polished off the last of his soup. He ran a hand through his dark, curly hair, and said, "I don't have anything better to do. Maybe we can get a card and stop at Dad's afterwards. Let the family sign it. See if Westley's sent a letter yet." He paused. "Are the other rascals still here in New York then?"
"George is in the process of moving in with his fiancée in Queens and Charlie's still in grad school. I think he's in the student dorms." I grimaced at the mention of George's fiancée, but Sam didn't seem to notice.
My brother snorted and grinned at me as he stood up. "Bet that rubs him the wrong way. Charlie's baby sister is out of college, with a doctorate, no less, before he's even done with grad school."
I smirked and stood up as well, stretching a bit, cracking my neck. "We talked last week. He was a bit pricked by it, I could tell. Or he was annoyed that all of his friends were practically drooling all over me. Boys, men, whatever. They never change," I decided, wrinkling my nose.
"Oh, c'mon, Jay," said Sam as we walked over to the counter to pay for our meal. Well, as Sam paid for our meal. "You won't be saying that soon. Some gentleman will sweep you off your feet and I'll be threatening him with a shotgun in no time."
I scowled at my older brother and he gave me a cheeky smile as he handed the cashier a ten dollar bill to cover our payment. I folded my arms as the young girl dug Sam's change out of the register and looked around for my two friends, who were still idly chatting up the two men from the Recruitment Center. Jane caught my eye and I jerked my head towards the door and she nodded, understanding the message. Satisfied, I looked back at Sam. "Isn't the threatening up to Dad?"
Sam shrugged. "Well, yeah, traditionally, but you also have four older brothers who aren't going to like the first guy you go steady with no matter what you say. And Henry probably isn't going to care, but just for kicks, I'll include him in the mix. Besides," said Sam as he pocketed his change with a quick thank you to the girl manning the register, "are you tryin' to tell me there was no special guy back at Harvard?"
Sam held the door for us as we stepped into the crisp winter night, the wind blowing softly, instantly chilling my ears. I subconsciously wrapped my arms tighter around my chest, trying to savor the warmth left from the inside of the diner. I shook my head a little as I spoke. "Nope," I said softly. "Nothin' like that. I had a few guy friends, but none of them met the standards, y'know?"
"I'm starting to think your standards are a bit unrealistic, Jay," laughed Sam as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
I shrugged a bit and pushed a dark curl behind my ear. "Maybe," I admitted. "But at least I'm not settling."
Sam wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a side-hug. I nuzzled up to my brother, letting his body heat mingle with mine, heating me back up just in the slightest. His hand rubbed up and down my arm, creating a bit of friction in an effort to warm me up. "And don't you dare even think about settling for less than what you deserve, Adelyn Juliet," he muttered in my ear.
I smiled and didn't bother to respond as we crossed through the crosswalk back towards the Recruitment Center. We stopped at the door and I opened it before I turned to Sam, who had his eyes narrowed as he looked inside the building.
"How long until your shift is over?" he asked.
"About an hour or two. I'm letting Jane take the rest of it to get some extra hours to help pay off nursing school," I said.
"What about Lydia?"
"Paid for. Her parents are rich, you know," I pointed out. I shivered a bit as a chill swept through the cold afternoon air.
Sam nodded. "Alright. I'll pick you up at three? George wanted me to stop by the apartment and meet...uh, what was her name?"
"Sally," I supplied, making a face at the mention of her.
Sam laughed at my expression. "Oh, she can't be that bad, Jay."
"You haven't met her. Or eaten her cooking. Absolute rubbish. George is going to have to learn how to cook," I said, wrinkling my nose at the thought. "He'll burn the apartment down!"
"He will not. Besides, I'm sure Sally's cooking isn't that terrible."
"She burned spaghetti. How, Sam? How the hell do you burn spaghetti?!" I demanded, arms flailing to prove my point.
"Hey, whoa, language, there, spitfire!" said Sam between laughs as he tried to hold down my arms. "Alright, alright, I see your point. That's pretty bad."
By that time, I heard my name called by a feminine voice that was extremely familiar. I turned and saw Lydia, whose normally perfect blonde curls were all frazzled out of place. She was breathing a bit more heavily than usual, proving that, yeah, we all could probably use a bit of exercise. Her white hat was backwards, I assumed, with the red cross in the back and her left shoe was untied. "AJ! Hurry up, we've got more and more pouring in by the second!"
I looked out the door, to where Sam was standing. No one was trying to get in. I looked back at Lydia, an eyebrow raised slightly, a snarky comment on the edge of my tongue.
"Don't even say anything," she snapped, giving me a warning glare. "Just help me!"
I laughed a bit. "Alright, coming!" I looked back at Sam and gave him a warm smile before hugging him for a moment. "See you in two hours. Maybe pick up some dinner for George's so we don't have to eat Sally's cooking?" I said, gripping my brother's arms, giving him my best pair of puppy dog eyes.
Sam rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll grab some takeout. Sound good?"
"Sounds great," I said enthusiastically and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, Sam!"
"Bye, Jay," he said, ruffling my hair a bit before he left.
I yelped in indignation as I tried to fix the perfect curls that he'd ruined, and then turned and rushed back to the nurse's changing room where Lydia was waiting for me. "What have we got?" I asked, as I stripped off my winter coat leaving me in my nurse's uniform. I grabbed my hat from my locker and put it on my head before reaching out and fixing Lydia's as she spoke and handed me my clipboard.
"Doctor Paris has all these men for you. They've already been cleared and are in their rooms. Or, section of the room. Whatever, the curtains are there, you know the drill. Finish up these ones and then you're done."
I nodded, my eyes scanning down the names. There were about twenty-three, twenty-four all together and it wouldn't be too much of a challenge to bang out all of them in the two hours I had. I pulled a pen out my locker and looked at Lydia, giving her my trademark smirk. "Let's get to work."
_
Little had I known that it'd take me every second of those two hours to finish up. It wasn't a hard job, per-se, but when the hopeful soon-to-be soldiers would never shut up about saving countless lives and being world renowned heroes, it got a tad old. I didn't understand their excitement. I understood the urge to help my country in its time of need, but I didn't get why so many men wanted to go off to war.
My Uncle James had died in World War I and that had hit Dad hard. He hadn't been married so we received his belongings. Dad read through his journal that he kept the night that James's things had been returned to us. After reading it, he refused to let the rest of us even touch it, much less see it. It was why he had been so adamant on not letting West join the military. Whatever had been in that book had been awful enough for Dad to not be willing to send any of us off to help our country. Despite having not seen Dad since what happened to West, I knew he probably blamed himself.
And yet, here I was, amidst hundreds of men, chattering excitedly about killing Nazis and saving lives. I didn't have the heart to tell them that it wasn't that simple or that easy. Sure, it was tempting at times when they got on my nerves, but I was pretty sure that wouldn't be the best morale booster. And if the United States needed anything, especially after Pearl Harbor, it was a morale boost.
So I did my job as the rest of the nurses did. With a smile, listening to the soldiers as they rambled, whether from nerves or just to boast, but we didn't shoot them down. I even put up with their God forsaken flirting, which was really grating on me. I'd always stood by the statement that men are pigs and now that I was an army nurse, that opinion definitely wasn't going to change any time soon. My patience was wearing thin with the really hoggish men and I was bound to start snarking off at any given moment.
I was on my second to last man when my patience snapped for the night.
"Well, you're looking all good, Mr. Kelley," I said with a forced smile. Dave Kelley hadn't been a particularly bad one, compared to some others in the past two hours. He had to just be twenty years old, his round face bright and straw colored hair too floppy for my liking. His eyes lit up when I gave him my assessment.
"So I'm clear then?" he asked, eyes wide.
I nodded, my fake smile sliding off my face as I looked at the next name on my list, checking off Kelley's name. "I'll walk you out," I said without looking up.
I walked the young man to the waiting area, where he turned to me, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "So, uh, Ms. Frost—"
I looked up and smiled sweetly, "Dave?"
"Yeah?" he asked, his eyes meeting mine for a moment before diverting elsewhere.
I already knew what was coming. The question I'd already gotten countless times that night. The dreadful Will you see me off or Will I see you again? "I think we both know what I'm going to say."
Mr. Kelley hung his head slightly. "Yeah, I figured. Thank you, though, Ms. Frost."
"Of course, Mr. Kelley. Have a nice night."
"You as well, ma'am," he said before he turned and left, stepping into the cold, wintery air of New York City.
I checked my clipboard for my next patient. "Frank Jackson!" I called.
Heads all swiveled towards me as I called out the name. The waiting room stank of sweat and testosterone and I sincerely hoped this Frank would show his face sometime soon. I didn't like the way that all the men were staring at me like I was a fresh grilled piece of meat. It wasn't only demeaning, but it was just plain embarrassing.
Just then, I saw a young man, no more than twenty-five, lunge forward, still pulling up his pants as he hopped towards me. He was handsome, with blond hair and chocolate brown eyes that were inviting. He tugged on his white shirt as he reached me, just narrowly covering his mildly defined stomach and chest muscles. He was definitely one of the more attractive men I'd seen in the Recruiting Center today. That was usually ruined though, as soon as they opened their mouth, and I'd learned to not be too hopeful. Not only was it a bad idea, but it was against a nurse's code of conduct to get too close to a patient or a soldier. A rule I wholeheartedly agreed with.
"Frank Jackson, Ms..." Frank left the sentence hang as he extended a hand.
"Frost. Nurse Frost," I said, giving his hand a firm shake. I turned, gesturing back in the room I'd just been in. "We'll be in room twelve, if you could just—"
I broke off as I watched two men begin to leave. One was much taller than the other, with dark hair, but I hadn't gotten a good enough look at his face. The other couldn't have been taller than me. He was very thin, extremely thin, so much so that it looked dangerous for his health. His hair was short and blond and I got a glimpse of his defeated face before he turned to head for the door. The taller man's arm was wrapped around his shoulders and he was leaning down slightly so he could speak in the smaller man's ear. Something shiny caught my eye, and I glanced toward the seats where the two men had been previously occupying. There was a golden cross necklace there, bunched up.
I looked at my patient, Frank, and smiled apologetically. "A moment please?"
He nodded at me and smiled, his teeth a brilliant white, almost blinding me. "Of course. Do what you have to, ma'am."
I was a bit taken aback by the young man's manners, but I shook my head, making my way to the chair, picking up the necklace. "Excuse me!" I called out. "Sirs! Excuse me!"
The two stopped and turned to look at me as the taller one was opening the door. I made eye contact with him and couldn't help the little hitch in my throat. He was definitely the most attractive man to ever grace this floor, I decided. His dark hair was slicked back and his razor sharp jawline was clean shaven. A lazy grin had spread across his face when he saw me and my hopes were instantly dashed. I knew that lazy grin. That was the lazy grin of a man that never got denied, never got turned down. He had probably never heard a woman say no to him in his life. If he tried anything, he was about to get a wakeup call, no matter how good-looking he was.
Instead of looking at the decidedly handsome man, I diverted my eyes to his companion. He stood at my height of five-feet-four-inches, at my eye's level. His mousy blond hair was also styled carefully, but not with nearly as much gel. His face was narrow and his thin frame rattled with every breath he took. As I got closer, I noted the slight wheeze on his inhale. Asthma, I decided, and if that wasn't what had gotten him denied, it could have been a million other things. The poor guy looked downright sickly.
"Excuse me, but I believe one of you dropped this at your seat," I said kindly, holding the golden chain out to the shorter man.
His eyes grew wide and a bony hand flew to his neck, where the necklace was not. He met my gaze, relief spreading across his features, a grateful smile tugging at his lips. "Thank you, ma'am. I think you just, uh, you just saved me from a heart attack later."
I laughed a bit and winked. "That your girl's?"
The small man blushed heavily, spreading from his neck right up to the tips of his cheekbones.
"Uh, no, my mom's actually. She passed away a little over five years ago."
The smile instantly vanished from my face. "I'm sorry to hear that," I said seriously. "That must be awful."
"Aw, shucks, it ain't so bad." A look of horror began to spread across his face when he seemed to register what he said. "I-I mean, it was terrible at first. I missed her a lot. Still do. But I mean I have Buck here and he takes care of me, y'know?" he said hastily as he hit the taller man on the chest.
I let my eyes travel back to the other man for the first time since I began talking to the small man, who I decided that I liked. There was something about him that was friendly, something you didn't see with a lot of men. Or something I didn't usually see with a lot of men. The other man raised an eyebrow, his lazy grin never faltering. "So, darlin'," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels, "you come here often?"
The small man looked at his companion in utter terror. "Buck!" he groaned, "We've talked about this!"
"What, Steve?" the tall man—Buck—said adamantly. "I'm just tryin' to have some fun." He looked back at me. "Well?"
I rolled my eyes at his horrid attempt at a pickup line. Seriously, that was a weak attempt if I'd ever heard one, given that I was dressed head to toe in my army nurse uniform and holding a clipboard. Was he really that stupid? "Well," I said slowly, "I do work here. So, yes, I'm here quite often."
My dry humor didn't seem to faze Buck and the lazy grin that was becoming very irritating very quickly was starting to get on my nerves. He swung his hand out to me. "James Barnes. But you, doll," he said as he winked at me, "Can call me Bucky." He ruffled the smaller man's mousy blond hair. "And this here is Steve."
Steve, who had been chuckling in apparent awe at my flippant reaction to Bucky—No, James'—flirting, squawked as his taller companion mussed up his hair. "Hey! I can take care of myself just fine." Once he'd smoothed down his hair, he offered me a small wave and an apologetic smile. "Steve Rogers."
"Right," I said, fixing my eyes on Steve, not wanting to give James the satisfaction of my attention. "It was fantastic to meet you boys, but I really must get back to work."
I turned to go, but James's voice called out, "Hey, wait!"
I looked over my shoulder as I came to a stop. "Yes?"
"Usually when someone introduces themselves, darlin', you do them the favor of responding in kind," he said, the lazy smile taunting me, and seeming to begin to look dangerously arrogant in my eyes.
"Well, you are usually correct in that assessment, Mr. Barnes," I said sweetly, "but only when it's your business. Which my name happens to be none of yours. Good day to you both."
I began walking back to Frank, well aware of my hips sashaying confidently, taunting James. I could hear Steve as he laughed loudly behind me and his chuckle got quieter as the door opened and the two men left, James, I figured, dragging Steve behind him.
Frank raised an eyebrow at me, an impressed grin gracing his well-defined features. "Remind me to not get on your bad side," he chuckled.
"Well, it's not hard," I said, "just don't be an arrogant ass."
Frank snorted. "Noted. After you, Ms. Frost?" He extended an arm back to my examination room.
I curtsied just to entertain the man and I guess myself a tad. "Why, thank you Mr. Jackson. Right this way." And I led Frank off to the exam room.
