I sat on my cot of my bed, looking down at the letter in my hands and smiling from what I reading. I was on my cot in the ship that was taking me back home to see my family, in which that made my heart being more fragile since I knew that once I saw their faces, I would break down in tears and cry in joy and happiness. It's been four years since I saw my mother and father, along with Owen. Would they look the same? Would they have gone through turmoil since I talked to them last? But this letter that I got before I got on the ship, it told me all that I needed to know since it was my mother's handwriting and it made me smile just seeing it.
Marley,
We miss you so. I hope this letter gets to you just fine. The spring breeze is coming through the grass field here in Louisiana and it makes me think of you. I remember you as a child running through the tall grass, hiding from us though we could only see your red hair flying in the wind. Whenever I see the grass I think of you and how much you have grown.
I pray for you day and night, for God to protect you and bring you home soon. Your father is going wonderfully with his fishing, caught a large catch and brought in a good sum of money for the house with some updates. You would be proud of him since he's been working so hard to make the house look wonderful for your return home. I'm keeping busy at the hospital while you're away in Europe, though the rest of the nurses here are wondering how you are.
Owen is loving his schooling in Colorado, met a couple of other deaf students there and he made friends with them easily. He misses your terribly, sometimes it pains him to not know when you're coming home. But he's being a good help around the house when he comes home for the breaks from school. He even met someone at the school, her name is Jane. You would like her, Owen brought her home for Christmas break. She's a nice girl in his History class and he taught her Sign Language, and now they're together. I hope you get to meet her, you two would get along just fine.
I hope you're safe and away from harm, but I know you're doing a good work there with the men in the army. You're one of the strongest women that I have ever known, and I know you got that from me, not your father. But don't tell him that I said that, or else I won't hear the end of it. You are representing us proudly and without any fail.
Come home to us soon, we can't wait to see our beautiful face.
With all my love,
Mom
I smiled, folding the letter and placing it against my lips. This was some kind of glimmer of hope that I was having to head home. It was good to see the writing on my own mother, hearing her voice in my head as I read out the words on the paper. She was looking forward to seeing me again, having me see nor feel any kind of negativity or pain from her. I felt bad for not writing to be her the whole time I was in Europe, but there was no time for me to sit down and write to her and tell her all that I went through. She would be floored with all that I went through, wondering why I was still alive since I was close to dying so many times.
There was a knock at my door, having me look up from my letter and from my cot as I saw Joe there at the doorway, smiling at me. I grinned at him, signing Come In him and see him walk into my own living quarters.
"Watcha reading?" he asked me, pointing to the letter. I handed it to him, seeing him open it and look at the letter and I watched him with a small smile on my own face.
"My mom wrote to me, seeing if I was okay," I explained to him as he was reading the letter with his eyes, holding the paper delicately in his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees, "She can't wait to see me when I go home."
"I bet." He replied, looking over at me and then pointing to the paper with one of his skinny fingers, "Your mom has pretty handwriting."
"Well, she has to since she's a nurse, having to do paperwork for years." I explained in a light tone, hearing him chuckle as he watched me from next to me.
"So, does that mean you have nice handwriting too?" He asked me with a coy tone on him. I leaned in to kiss him, but stopping right against his lips and almost ghosting a kiss there. This was a distraction for him, since he was concentrating on my lips that were centimeters away from his as I took the letter from his hand within a swift moment.
"You'll have to wait a see." I whispered against his lips, pulling away from him and hearing him groan, both in annoyance and in the mental pain that I did not kiss him there on the cot. I just snickered next to him, folding the letter again and stuffing it in the envelope.
"Quit being a tease, will ya?" He asked me in almost a painful plea, but I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.
"Why not? It's clearly making me feel good." I replied back to him, seeing the big on his face get bigger as he face me on the cot, sitting Indian Style.
"I never took you as a tease." He countered with me though the grin never left his face. I then smiled back at him, sitting the same way in front of him as well as I folded my hands on my lap, watching him carefully as we were staring at each other.
"I didn't think you would hate it." I said back.
"You think I hate it?" He asked.
"Do you?" I pressed him, seeing him shake his head slowly and slowly take my hands in his. He was holding my hands carefully, as he would always do when we were together having a nice moment together hidden from the rest of the men. But now it was different, now they knew about us and they had no ill feelings about it. So it made me wonder, really wonder.
"Do you mind the boys knowing about us?" I asked him in curiosity, having me see him give me a curious look. I had no idea where he was when it came to the others knowing, if he was afraid and not really liking it since the boys were now going to tease him left and right. I knew how Joe was when it came to teasing, his temper would get the better of him. Although he was getting better with it since we first met, it was still a hesitant thing to tread on.
"I don't mind, since I can give them all a fat lip if they say otherwise. But they don't, I don't think any of them would mind at all." Joe replied back to me, still holding my hands and seeing the hesitance in my own eyes, "Why do you ask? Are they already teasin' ya?" When he asked this, his voice was on the hint of annoyance, as if he was already trying to think of who was teasing me.
"No, no one is," I reassured him, seeing him still stare me and see something was off behind my stare, "I just don't want to be seen as…." I trailed off, not wanting to use a word against me that would make Joe angry with me for using it. Joe realized what I was saying, shaking his head with his smile back on his face and reaching up to touch my bangs in front of my eyes.
"No one thinks of you like that, Marley. We see you as one of us, part of this Company. Nothing like that at all," Joe explained to me, having me watch him as he was pushing my bangs away with his fingers so gently and with love and care, "Do you care if they know about us?"
"At this point, I'm kind of glad that we don't have to tiptoe around them in order to just hold hands," I explained to him as we were both holding hands again and smiling at each other, "It'll just be something I have to get used to. If they're gonna tease me, they're gonna act more like brothers."
"What a pretty picture in my head." Joe grumbled in front of me, having me grin from picturing it in my own head too: all of the Easy Company acting like younger brothers at Joe and I, teasing and calling each other love birds. It was something I both loved and hated: hated since I was never good with being the center of attention, and loved since that was how they loved me.
"But I'm just happy, none the less." I said to him, seeing him bring our joined hands to his lips and kissing the back of my hands in a loving manner.
"Me too, beyond happy," Joe explained, having me watch him from my spot as he held out joined hands against his chest, "And I know for a fact that my mother can't wait to meet you. She's already waiting on pins and needles."
"You told your mother about me?" I asked him in shock, seeing him scoff at me playfully.
"Of course I did. I had to tell her about the beautiful redhead from Louisiana that took my breath away." He explained to me in his sweet tone that made me glare at him since I knew he was teasing me with his words. He chuckled from seeing me glare at him.
"And she wants to meet me?" I asked him, still in disbelief that his own mother would want to meet me.
"Yeah, she does. She is convinced that you can bring me back from the road to hell that I am on." Joe replied, having me grin at him as I was still thinking about meeting his mother. I was scared, not thinking that I was pretty enough, or smart enough for her. Then again, this was Joe, of all people for me to fall for. Joe saw the hesitance in my eyes, squeezing my hands in his that were still against his chest.
"Hey." He called to me gently, snapping me back to reality as I looked at him. He leaned in, kissing my gently on the lips finally after me teasing him and the both of us being so close together. I smiled through the kiss, when he pulled away he showed a huge grin on his own face to have me see the warmth there and the constant joy that he was known for.
"She's gonna love you for you, okay? I love you for you, so that's what matters, okay?" He asked me, his voice was gentle now in my living area between the both of us. I smiled back at him, no longer living in the fear of meeting his family whom already knew about me. I nodded my head at him, the warmth between us was there again.
"Okay."
There was nothing but pure giddiness in our side of the mess hall of the ship as we were sailing back home to America. After receiving the news, we stayed the night in Germany and then early in the morning got back on the ship that would sail us home. We were no longer needed, as was the rest of the American Soldiers all over the world since there was no more war to fight. All of the Easy Company men were already planning on what they were going to do as soon as we touched soil: going out for drinks and even getting our hands on things we could of never afford before we went into the army. At this moment, we were about a couple of days away from reaching America, still on the high seas and just counting down the hours instead of days until we reach that good old soil again.
I was just enjoying the moment with the guys, Joe and I sitting next to each other and hearing their stories on what they were venturing off to do. It was already night time on the ship, and the other companies that were with us in the ship were already gone to bed and we were the last to stay up. Even though we still had food on our plates, none of us were eating because we were simply excited to just be away from the war.
"An actual American burger, that's the first thing I'm getting my hands on!" Luz said aloud in a gleeful tone across from me, having the whole table laugh and agree with him as he went on, "And then, while eating my burger and having a ice cold beer to wash it down, I'm gonna watch a John Wayne movie!"
"You would!" Frank commented to him, "I bet you fifty bucks that Luz would marry the guy if he wanted to." Bull shook his head with his grin on his face from the comment, as I was giggling in my spot, since it sounded like something that Luz would do.
"Are you suggesting that I am some kind of fruit, sir?" Luz asked him with his own John Wayne accent , the rest of us giggling in laughter as he made the John Wayne face as well, a smirk on his smile and his eyes looking more like a movie star then before.
"I'm sure gonna miss your accents there, Luz." I reminded him, seeing him wink at me as he was still laughing from his own antics. He then leaned over to me, having me see the twinkle in his eye that he would use every once in awhile when he was ready to get himself in trouble and have fun with it.
"Then let's go off together, you and me. Forget the lanky Jew on your left there." He teased with a more flirty accent on his lips, Joe eyeing him and having me see him about to give him a snarky reply back as Luz looked over at me with his grin never leaving his face.
"Oh, I don't think that would be wise on my part, Luz. You of all people should know why I can't say yes." I reminded him, seeing him instantly look down at my left hand, seeing the brass ring. I just grinned at him, knowing that he was there with Joe when it came to getting the ring for me. He just smiled at me widely, seeing my playful side though I stayed back with Joe who slung an arm over me and pulled me closer to him slightly. I leaned into him as the other men kept talking about what they were going to do next, having me look over to the very front of the mess hall and see Buck walk over there, his tin can in hand and his signature smile on his face to show off his bright blue eyes.
"Easy Company!" He called out, having all of us stop our talking and look over at him as he was right in front of us, as if he was making a huge speech for all of us to drink in.
"Before we even get off this God forsaken boat and head back to our shitty lives, compared to the lives we had for the past few years," Buck started, hearing the men cheer with him when he called out lives at home shitty, "I think we should have a good moment of recognition for the fair few in this Company that have risen above and beyond when it came to surviving this Goddamn war." The men agreed with him, having me smile with Joe's arm still next around my shoulders.
"First, I wanna call out the infamous George Luz, "He started as we all watched him get up from his spot and stand at his spot at the table, the rest of us cheering with him and slapping him on the shoulder, "For making us laugh in times when we just wanted to throw the towel in. Not to mention knowing how to do a great accent of Major Horton to get Sobel in trouble." We all snickered from the thought. Luz was looking rather shy and out of his own element then when the incident with Sobel was mentioned. But he smiled none the less, his hands in his pockets and looking like a shy boy in front of a group of girls.
"Thank you for the laughs and the light-hearted jokes that made our days a bit brighter and less of a pain, George Luz!" We all raised our own tin cans to him, the men cheering for him once more as he looked over at me with his big grin on his face. I winked back at him, giving him a taste of his own medicine as he sat back down on the bench.
"Next one on my list to embarrass: Denver the Bull Randleman." Buck went on, all of us chanting "Bull!" over and over until he reluctantly got up from his spot. He looked like a giant from his position at the stool when Buck continued, "If there is one man in our Company that can literally survive any kind of hell given to him, and still have a smirk on his face and a nice cigar, it's this man right here." We all smiled and nodded in agreement as Bull only smiled from his spot, reaching down to grab his own cigar from the table top and placing it in his mouth as an act of defiance. It made me smile so big from seeing him do this as Buck kept talking and raising his own tin can in his hand.
"To the infamous Bull that never knows the meaning of defeat when it comes to battle: To Bull!" He honored Bull, the rest of us doing the same as Bull only shook his head with a big grin on his face. Once he sat back down, we all took another drink from our tin cans as Buck took in a deep breath from the front of the mess hall.
"This next one goes to two people actually," Buck explained, having us all watch him and have me confused as to who he was talking about when he looked more serious than he did before with Luz and Bull, "These two are the reasons why we are still alive and kicking today. If it wasn't for them running towards the bullets, taking their own share of bloodshed and wounds, some of us would not be there today and going home. I don't think we could have had a better team than the two we had these past four years: Eugene Roe and Marley La Noux." I was quiet from what I heard, since Buck called me out in front of the whole Company and the rest of the men were cheering so loud that I would think that the rest of the men would hear in the ship. Doc and I, sitting side by side, looked at each other to see if we were going to stand up. But then I felt Joe squeeze my shoulder, the cheering from the other men was continuing on as I looked at him, seeing him smile and nod his head at me to stand up. Doc and I reluctantly stood up, side by side and having me see the sea of eyes on the both of us with grins and clapping.
I was never one to be in the limelight, not like this. From what I saw next to me, Doc was completely out of his comfort zone and not longer feeling safe and sane since he too was being praised in front of the whole Company. But for me, hearing people cheer for me and show me their own appreciation for how I was protecting them in the battles, it was something I was still trying to get used to. I hated getting this kind of attention, it seemed too much and not right.
"These two are the heart of this Company, whether they like to admit to or not," Buck said in such a light tone that I wanted to blush in front of all the men, "They stuck by us and protected us from dying at the hands of the enemy, and they are the bravest in the Company since they are the ones running to the danger than away from it. I can firmly say, with all my heart, that these two are the true heroes in the Company." Buck ended on such a sincere tone, having me smile widely at him and see Doc do the same. I wasn't going to cry in front of the men, though I could feel the tears about to come over me. But I was so still from hearing him say that to everyone, and not even show any kind of joke in his tone since he did that to Luz and Bull.
"So let's give them a proper salute, boys." Buck called to all the man, having me see them all stare at me the both of us now with sincere smiles and warm eyes, "To Doc and Red: the real heroes in this Company who asked for nothing in return but our loyalty. And they have it, to the very end and beyond. Red and Doc!" He ended, having me see all of the men slowly salute the both of us, showing the seriousness of the situation as we were frozen there, standing in the sea of men that were giving us respect. I didn't deserve this, not in my own eyes. But they saw me as worthy enough for a salute, since I have done so much for them as did Doc. We did nothing at first, just watching in pure awe and not knowing what to do with my own hands. I even looked down at Joe, who was smiling at me with a loving smile that was only meant for me, saluting me from his spot and showing me that he too thought of me as worthwhile.
It all seemed like a dream, a bad dream that I was going to wake up from: All of Easy Company saluting me in silence and showing me respect. Doc took my shaky hand in his, having me finally look over at him and see him smile at me, showing me that he too was giving me the respect that the boys were giving. I wanted to show him the respect he deserved as well since he seemed like he deserved it more than me. He was the true doctor between us, having me pale in comparison.
"You guys are all ridiculous," I said aloud to the group of men who lowered their arms finally after holding them up for awhile. They all grinned, hearing my voice crack from my emotions coming over me, but I tried to hold it in for the sake of the men not wanting to see a weeping woman in front of them all, "But I wouldn't trade any other group of men for the likes of ya'll." They all beamed at me, having me see that they knew it was true. Not one person in this Company was on my bad side, not at this point.
"And we would't trade any other woman for you, Red." Luz replied back to me in a warm tone and a big grin on his face, having me then hear the rest of the men cheer for me as the mess hall was filled with joy again. I just smiled, amongst the sea of man and still holding onto my best friend's hand for dear life. Doc hugged me then, having me hold him close with both arms around him and feeling his love pour into my own.
"I wouldn't trade anyone else for you." Doc whispered in my ear amongst the cheering of the men, having me press my head against his. This was beyond enough for me, at the end of all things, to hear that the men wanted me and no one else next to them as their fellow comrade and soldier in the war. This was what I was looking for, from the first day that I came to the army. I was searching for acceptance.
And I found it.
