Coming & Going

Ric left just before Stephanie's birthday to go to Ranger training. He didn't want to leave Stephanie, but he knew if he went he could provide better for Stephanie and their baby. So, he went. Stephanie's father was proud of Ric. Since Ric's father died when he was young, he looked up to Frank Plum. When Ric asked if he could marry Stephanie, Frank was very happy, but a little disappointed when he found out she was already pregnant.

Stephanie spent her 19th birthday crying in her room. Her mother told her not to worry that Ric loved her and would be back to make her his wife. She still wore the dog tags he gave her, they were her life support.

It was almost 2 more months until Stephanie heard from Ric. He wrote her a letter and told her that the training was very tough and tiring but he would be home around the middle of January. He told her he looked forward to seeing her and how he imagined how beautiful she looked with their baby growing inside. Stephanie wrote him back.

Ric was so tired when they got back to the bunk house. He sat down on his bed and almost didn't noticed a letter from Stephanie. As he opened it he noticed it looked like it had been opened and re-sealed. He read the letter and she told him that she had enclosed her most recent ultra sound pictures. She explained each one in detail and told him it was a boy, but where were the pictures. Ric was angry, someone had opened his mail and taken pictures of his unborn son. He accused everyone in the bunk house, no one knew anything about it. He was getting very angry. When Sgt. Balister, or Ball Buster as the guys often referred to him, came into the bunk house to see what the commotion was. Ric told him what the problem was.

"Look son, you need to focus on the training. You don't need anything clouding your mind. I wasn't going to give you the letter at all, but something told me I had too." Ric was shocked, Ball Buster had a heart, but he wanted to see the pictures just once.

"You are one of my best soliders Manoso. You work hard, you play hard and you fight hard. You are leader material, you show how determinded you are to become a Ranger. I don't want you to lose that focus."

"But, sir, Stephanie and that baby are my focus, I'm doing this for them. With out them, I would have given up before I even got started."

"Unselfish, you need to do it for yourself, nobody else. If you are going into combat, you need to be thinking about yourself and keeping yourself alive out there. No distractions, no worries, no other life than that of the job you are trained to do. You are an Army Ranger. You have the potential to become the standard that all other Ranger's will follow. I could see you in my shoes some day."

Ric stood there slightly stunned as Sgt. Balister walked away from him. He couldn't just not think about his Babe and their son. The thought of them was the only thing that got him through the past 3 months. He was going home in 2 weeks, he wasn't turning back now.

Stephanie sat in the rocking chair in her parents living room, looking out the front window at the snow falling. She would sit there for hours on end. Her son, growing in her womb, kicking and moving around inside her. She was waiting for her love to come home to her.

She didn't have to wait long, she sat down in the rocking chair with her cup of hot chocolate and 2 of her mom's homemade oatmeal cookies. She sat the cookies on her growing belly and took a sip of hot chocolate. She looked out the window as always and about passd out. Ric was walking up the walk dressed in his green camos and a duffle bag over his shoulder. She ran as fast as she could to the door. She opened the door and looked at him. He dropped his bag, ran the rest the way to the door and kissed her hard and passionately, his hands framing her face.

"God, I missed you, Babe", he said when he broke the kiss.

"I missed you, too, Ric", Stephanie said hugging him the best she could with her belly between them.

Ric reached down and touched her stomach. He felt the baby kick. He kneeled down kissed her stomach and whispered to his unborn son, "Daddy's home." The baby kicked again. Ric smiled and kissed Steph. He was home for 3 months before he left again in April. He couldn't have been happier than he was at that moment.

Ric and Steph got married in a small ceremony in in her parents backyard on March 1st and then baby Ricky was born on March 3rd. After the baby was born, Ric was able to get Stephanie and Ricky in base housing at Ft. Dix. His paychecks would be deposited into a bank account and all utlitlies for housing directly deducted from the account. Stephanie wouldn't have to worry about paying the bills. She got full military spouse benefits, now being an Army wife. She and Ricky could go to the doctor on base and had full medical benefits. Stephanie couldn't be happier, except if Ric was home with her.

The day Ric had to leave was hard for Steph and Ric both. He didn't know when he would be back, but he had a few specialized training courses he had to complete before he was sent into any combat zone.

He told her and showed her how much he loved her and how much he was in love with his son. He was a happy man and he knew he would miss both of them terribly. But, he had a job to do, a job that would take car of them. He knew as long as he worked the ones he loved with the deepest part of his soul would be taken care of.

Months went by without a word from Ric. Stephanie had made friends with the other wives that lived in the neighborhood who had been dealing with the same thing she was. There were a few older wives who consoled the younger ones because they had once been in their shoes.

Ricky was getting big and looked just like his father, except he had Stephanie's blue eyes. He was 5 months old and his hair had started to curl slightly which made her smile. He would sit on the floor , on his hands and knees and bounced back and forth. He was trying to crawl. She had purchased a video camera to tape everything Ric was missing. The night he sat up by himself on the floor she got all excited. Scrambling for the camera she got it and started taping. Ricky laughed and cooed into the camera. He was a very happy baby.

Two more months went by with no word. Ricky was now crawling around and getting into everything. She anxiuos checked the mail when the mail man put the envelopes in the box. She didn't recieve much mail so when she did she got excited. And there it was. A letter from her husband.

Babe,

Oh how I miss you and Ricky. I am sure he is getting big. I am sorry I haven't written before now, but I haven't had much time. I get up at 0430 and run, at 0530 we have breakfast, 0600 we have more intense training until 1200 when we have lunch. At 1230 we have class until 1500 and then PT until 1900. We eat then have some more training on night tactic until 2300. Babe, it's exshausting. I got some free time today to write you. Oh Happy belated birthday by the way, How does it feel to be 20?

I have made some friends, some who have been with me since Basic. You remember Lester don't you. Mr. Potty mouth, he is with me. My other buddies from Basic are Clarence Clemens, or Tank as we call him, the man is huge! Then there is Bobby, he tries to be funny, but ends up making a fool out of himself, remind me sometime to tell you about some of his pranks. My new friends are Ramon Delaney and Halton Fitch. We call them Hal and Ram for short. They are rather quiet. I think they don't have any family to go home to.

I only have like 30 minutes to write you so I need to start wrapping this up. I miss you Babe, I love you so much. Take care of Ricky. Give him a hug and kiss for me. Unfortunatley you can't write me back right now, but my next free time I get to make a call and I will call you, be by the phone between 1930 and 2030. I don't know what day, but be prepared for when I call.

I love you, Babe. I can't wait to hear your voice.

Love, Ric

Stephanie cried. Some tears because she missed Ric and some because she had heard from him. She slept a little better that night knowing he was ok.

The night her phone rang at 7:45 PM, she jumped to answer it. It had been 2 weeks since she got the letter saying he would call her and she had made sure she was home every night if he called.

"Hello"

"Babe!"

"Omigod! Ric, I miss you so much!"

"Oh I miss you, too, Babe. How's Ricky?"

"Hell on wheels. He is crawling everywhere getting into everything. Ricky say hi to daddy"

"Hey little man" Ric said to his son. Then he heard Ricky blabbing away in baby giberish and made out one word, "Da da"

"Holy cow! He said 'Da da'", Rics screamed into the phone.

Stephanie came back on the line, "Yeah we have been working on that, I show him your pictures and tell him stories about you."

Ric wiped a tear from his eye,"God, Babe. I wish I could be there."

"Me too, honey, me too." Stephanie started with tears of her own.

"Oh, don't cry Babe, Don't cry. I'll be home soon, I promise. My time is about up, there are other guys who need to call there families. I love you, Babe. I will see you soon, OK"

"Ok, I love you, too Ric."

"Bye"

"Bye" Stephanie said , Ric heard Ricky in the background," Da da, Da da" almost in a crying tone.

Ric hung up the phone and just broke down. Not in a visible cry, but he felt his heart breaking. He didn't know when he would be home. but he promised her it would be soon.

I apologize if this is a little angsty, but everything will be happy in the end. I promise, If I ever get to the end. -Hollie