A/N - so ... I suck. A million apologies. For those of you who provided guidance and assistance during this story, and those who have read and/or reviewed, I am immensely grateful for your support! xoxo - tmtcltb
x
x
Chapter 27: St. Louis - September 2015
x
x
Caroline's smile died the instant that Teylor walked in the apartment door. He was expecting the reaction. After all, there was only one reason that he would be in his dress blues at one o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. Well, two, but Teylor was promoted to Petty Officer First Class only last month and the Navy didn't give away promotions like candy. So Caro knew that dress blues meant a meeting and a meeting with the higher-ups meant...
Caro swallowed visibly. "When do you leave?"
Teylor approached tentatively, uncertain of her reaction. In the six weeks after arriving in St. Louis, they had settled into a routine. Although the apartment was technically Rick's, the man had elected to bunk with Wolf since Maria and the boys were settled into the one assigned to Teylor and nobody wanted to displace them. A preview of married life, Teylor thought of the arrangement. Or, at least, married life between deployments. The kind where he came home to Caro every night and woke up next to her every morning.
"The James leaves Saturday."
Caro stepped forward, brushing a piece of lint off his shoulder, not meeting his eyes. "Do you know where you're headed?"
Ignoring the fact that he was going to be spending the next hour ironing wrinkles out of his uniform, Teylor tugged Caroline to him, waiting for her to relax enough to slide her arms around his waist. "We're headed south to Mexico, continuing along the coast of South America and around Cape Horn, before going west to Australia. Shackleton is on its way to Africa as we speak and the Hayward left Los Angeles last week. They're headed up the coast to Alaska, then over to Japan and down the coast of China. Plan is for everyone to meet in the middle. Probably around India."
"So six months?" Her voice was muffled against his jacket, but he thought he heard her sniff.
"Probably nine," he admitted. That time he definitely heard a sniff. "We should be in contact most of the time, though. Just an easy cruise. Hitting high population areas and spots that aren't easily accessible by air."
Caroline's arms tightened around him and she looked up, scowling. "If you even think about dying on me, I will drag you back from the gates of hell and then kill you myself. Am I clear?"
Teylor chuckled, reaching out to wipe away a tear from her cheek. "Cross my heart and all that. No dying."
Caro stepped back, although she left one hand resting on his chest. "Do you have to go back to the base today?"
"No, I'm off until we board." Teylor reluctantly released her, turning towards the bedroom. "Let me get changed and then we can..."
"Stop! Stay right there."
He paused, startled by the abrupt change in Caro's tone, but she already had her phone to her ear. "Maria? Yeah, it's me. What are you and the boys doing this afternoon?"
Teylor lounged against the kitchen counter as Caro made several more, very similar, calls. Finished, she turned back towards him. "Everyone will meet us at City Hall at four o'clock."
"For what?" He asked, although he suspected that the grin crossing his face was giving him away.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "To get married, of course. There is absolutely no way that I am letting you out of my sight again without having some kind of legal right to know where you are and what you're doing. Now stay here while I get changed."
Taking in Caro's ensemble - black jeans that made her ass look fantastic, a white flowing top, and gold sandals - Teylor raised an eyebrow. "You look pretty damn good right now."
"No, no, no." Caro was shaking her head. "Some formalities are important. At the very least, we need to look good for the pictures. In ten years, I'm not telling our kids that we got married in flip-flops."
And Teylor knew, without having to ask, that they were both thinking about the past. About friends who were gone. About in-laws who they would never meet. About Connecticut and Norfolk and everything in-between. About how the last time the Nathan James shipped out, the whole world changed.
Teylor checked his watch and began unbuttoning his jacket. Caro scowled. "What are you doing?"
"Ironing." Teylor opened the pantry, only noticing when he flipped the ironing board down that Caroline hadn't moved. He looked up, iron in hand, to see her watching him with an odd smile. He frowned. "What?"
"Nothing," Caro shook her head, heading towards the bedroom. At the door she hesitated, then turned, voice softening. "I'm going to miss you, Teylor."
He swallowed hard, memorizing the way she looked right now, in this moment. Something to remember on those lonely nights that were coming. "I'm going to miss you too."
As Caroline moved into the bedroom, Teylor began the familiar task of smoothing out every wrinkle from his jacket. Caroline was right about one thing. This was the time to make new memories and start new traditions. Not to erase the past or to replace all that was gone, but rather to built a new future. One that they would create together.
Starting today.