"So, Joseph." My mother started as we were eating dinner that night. After Joe and I walked home from the Lake, our parents and Owen were already home and making dinner, asking Joe to join us since he just arrived this morning. I was now afraid that they were going to interrogate him more since he had already talked to my father. Both of my parents were just trying to be friendly with him, since they saw Joe as someone who was close to me and a good friend in the time of war. Owen was more amused about Joe and how he was with me since I told him so much about Joe. So we were sitting around the table together, eating another homemade meal of Gumbo that my mother made for the occasion. The house was lit in the cool night as a summer breeze flew through, taking the fog with it as the house was filled with warmth again.
"My daughter tells me you are from California." My mother started the conversation lightly as I took a tentative bite from my soup next to Joe, whom took a bite himself and was trying to get used to the spice of the gumbo. Owen was across from me, seeing the hesitance in my eyes as I looked at him. He winked at me, trying to make me feel better about the situation as my father was on my right and my mother was next to Joe at the head of the table.
"I am, ma'am. I was born in Michigan and I moved to San Francisco when I was very young." Joe explained to my mother as I felt the hot gumbo go down my throat and then having me reach for a drink of the tea we were having. I saw Owen waved at me with one hand, shrugging since he had no idea what Joe was saying. I translated for him, seeing him follow my fingers and hands as I went through the motions smoothly.
"And you also speak German?" My mother asked me aloud, her own fingers signing for Owen.
"I do," Joe replied with a grin on his face, "Both of my parents are Jewish and from Austria. But I was raised Catholic." Joe explained to her in his gentle polite tone, making me smile as I translated for Owen. The smile on my face showed from seeing that Joe was trying hard to please both of my parents.
"Well, with the fact you speak German, that probably came pretty handy when it came to being in the war." My father commented from next to me, having me watch him carefully now as he both said that and signed. Joe nodded his head, signing yes, having me see Owen grin from ear to ear from seeing Joe sign. Even my mom and dad were looking at him in surprise, Mom grinning slightly as my dad chuckled from his spot in his chair.
"And apparently Sign Language. I suspect my daughter had something to do with that." My mother said in a bright tone, having me feel a blush come over me from being placed on the spot next to Joe as he nodded his head with the cocky grin on his face.
"She taught all of our Company the basics, but I've been practicing." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders, signing the words taught and practice. I saw him then look over at Owen, who was then signing at him with a big grin on his face.
You're doing good. He signed to Joe, having me see him sign Thank you, I have your sister to thank for that. Owen smiled brightly then.
"A jack of all trades." My father commented aloud in a chuckle, having me playfully glare at him as I took another bite from my gumbo, somehow feeling a bit better then because I was holding down the food that was in my bowl. Joe took another bite from his own bowl, then drinking his tea before he wiped his mouth with the napkin and smiling at my parents.
"You know Marley told me all about your cooking and how it's the best," He commented to my mother, seeing her wave him off playfully, "And now I am fully convinced that it is the best."
"Why thank you, Joseph. But I hope you did not tell your own mother that." My mom replied back to him in a chuckle, having the rest of us at the table laugh with her as I took one more bite from the gumbo at the bowl because getting the same feeling in my stomach, the feeling of sickness.
"I didn't tell her a single thing. My mother is more prone to making pastries." Joe explained to her.
"Well then, she beat me with that. I can't bake a cake at all, it was not my forte. The last cake I baked fell flat and almost burned this whole house to the ground." My mother confessed to Joe with a smirk on her face.
"Oh, she bakes good cakes and other treats, and they are good." My father tried to reason with him, but my mom waved him off with her grin on her face. I tried to smile as well, but the sickness that I was feeling within my body was getting worse with every breath.
"I've been wanting to tell Marley this, but since you are here as well, you both might as well know, "My father started, having the both of us look over at him as I felt a cold sweat break over my forehead and my hand going to my stomach to pray that I would not be sick, not here and not now, "Your mother and I have been planning to go out to Colorado with Owen to see his college and the city he's living in. We've been planning this for months, and now that you're back….and it seems as though you are getting better…."
"You father is trying to say that we are going to have you stay here a while longer to get better." My mother finished for him, having me look from my mother to my father with big eyes. I wanted as well to see Owen and where he was living in College. But now they wanted me to stay here and get better? A part of me was sad since I felt as though I was being pushed to the side because of my crazy mind and how I was still trying to recover from what I went through.
"I can handle the trip, mom. I promise." I reassured her, though the sickness in my stomach made me sound a bit out of breath as I blinked a few times.
"And we are saying that you can't fille," my mother said to me in a soothing tone, seeing the pain in my eyes and the thought of betrayal, "But you still need to rest and get better before you can do something like this. And now you have Joe who can stay with you here." Joe's eyes went wide from the mere thought of my mother letting him stay here in the house with me.
"I don't want to overstay…I mean….I don't want to stay here unless you want me to." Joe tried to word out politely as I closed my eyes, my stomach was now about to revolt against me since my stomach too was trying to get back to normal.
"It's fine, Joe. You came out here from California and I am not going to have to turn back around to go home after one day here. I trust the both of you here." My mother reassured him as I opened my eyes again, breathing out slowly and feeling the sickness washing over me then. My brother saw this, eyeing me carefully and signing Are you okay? I shook my head, feeling it about to come up over my throat as I shot up from the table in a sudden bolt. Everyone looked at me with a concerned look as I moved away from them out of the room, not wanting to make a chaotic mess in front of them.
"Excuse me." I blurted out, bolting to the downstairs bathroom that was next to the study.
"Marley?" Joe called out, having me see that he too bolted up from his chair and was following me. I made it just in time in the bathroom, throwing myself against the toilet and emptying my stomach once again. As I did this, I felt more like a fool now, since my boyfriend and fiancé was trying to get to know my parents and his soon to be in-laws, and here I was spilling out my stomach and looking like a idiot. It must have looked terrible and sounded grotesque, since I was there for a while, trying to both breathe and not fall into my own vomit that was in the toilet. I thought I was alone, but I felt a hand on my back and a hand pushed back my short hair from getting messy. I knew those fingers, I remembered them. I sighed in defeat.
Joe.
"You're okay, Schatz." Joe said to me in a soothing manner, rubbing my back with an open palm as I was still dumping out my stomach into the toilet and was clutching the rim of the bowl with both shaky hands. This was beyond too much for me now, even in front of Joe I was still suffering though I thought I was getting better.
"There you go, take a deep breath, okay?" Joe asked me as he pulled me back gently with his hands on my arms, having me be done with my sickness and sit back on my legs since I was on my knees next to Joe. Joe flushed the toilet for me, then reaching over at the sink where the towel was hanging off of and grabbed it with one of his hands as the other was rubbing my back to help me. I was breathing in and out short breaths, as if I was going into labor and I was having a panic attack. I was having a panic attack since I just threw up in front of my parents, brother and fiancé and I felt like a fool. But I heard nothing of that manner from Joe, and as I calmed down, I looked over at Joe and I saw him smile at me as he handed me the towel.
"Here you go." he said to me, having me take it with my shaky fingers and wipe my face off, but I was still having shaky breaths and they were short. Joe kept rubbing my back, moving my hair that was sticking to my forehead and my neck from the sweat.
"I'm sorry." I said to him in a shaky tone, having me shake his head and just give me a loving smile.
"It's okay." he reassured me, the grin never leaving his face as he rubbed my back some more. I threw the towel on the floor next to us, trying to get my own breathing back to normal as I could hear the shuffling of feet behind us, having me realize that both of my parents and Owen were watching the whole thing happen. This made me feel worse since they were seeing me suffer in front of their very eyes.
"Just breathe in and out, okay? Come on, breathe with me." Joe said to me in a soothing manner, having me have another flashback of when he was trying to calm me down after I punched the drunken soldier who shot Grant. It was the same thing over again, my mind going crazy and Joe there trying to bring it back to where it was before. I felt him touch my face again with his hands, having me watch him breathe deeply in order to show me how to breathe. I mirrored him, closing my eyes and finding myself going back to normal again after a moment of breathing. I sighed in relief when my breathing was good again, looking over at Joe whom was still giving me a loving stare and grabbing both of my hands in his, having me feel the warmth and soothing skin that he had now.
"You see, Cheri, she's going to be fine with him." My father said behind us in the hallway, having me smile in relief that even though I looked like an idiot, I had support from my parents, Owen and Joe. This was only going to get better, I had to remind myself that over and over, since I had my better half back in my life.
"I got a letter from Luz and Bull." I said aloud as I was at the living room couch, three after my parents and Owen left for Colorado. They caught the train early the morning after my dinner fiasco and I was left alone at the house with Joe, whom I would think would want to run to the hills with the thought of being alone with me in the house and no one to watch us. He wanted to so badly have my parents approve of him, and this was already too much of a scandal for him. That surprised me, since I saw him as a cocky frat boy because of his personality. But he had a kinder heart, and a good head on his shoulder when it came to me and my dignity. He never wanted my dignity to he shot to hell, bless his heart. My mom convinced him to stay with me, to not only keep an eye on me but to also make sure he has a place to stay since he only had his one bag and no hotel room. She was too kind to him, treating him also like a son.
Joe was helping me out with the housework while my parents were away, being such a good husband in training in my eyes. I took him out to New Orleans in the day time, looking at random pubs that I knew and liked and even got him some more local foods that made him happy since he was used to the war food and the food of the bay. I was still trying to get my own stomach back on track, and Joe has been nothing but helpful with that. When it came to sleeping, he took my brother's bed, not wanting to push it when it came to sleeping in the same bed with me. We both wanted to, beyond any doubt, but he didn't want to push it. One of these days it was going to come to a head when it came to the two of us in the same bed.
I held both of the letters in my hand, seeing the distinct differences in the handwriting of both of the men and smiling to read the news that were happening. Joe walked in front the kitchen with two cups of coffee, sitting next to me on the couch as he placed the mugs down on the coffee table. He looked at the letters in my hands with a cocked eyebrow, smirking as I saw he was looking at the letter from Luz.
"All be damned," He said aloud in a grin and light tone, "He did get a job as a furniture mover. What a little scabber that guy is."
"He likes it, apparently. Luz wants me to come out and visit him in Rhode Island, and to meet the girl he met out there named Delvina." I explained to him, hearing him chuckle next to me.
"Hopefully she knows what she's getting herself into." Joe commented in a snarky comment, having me give him a playful glare and shoved him with my shoulder on the couch.
"I'm still seeing what I am getting myself into." I countered with him, seeing him watch me with his grin and lean in to kiss me on the cheek. I grinned from his antic, seeing them be more comfortable with our antics with each other.
"Don't be cheeky." I warned him, feeling him smile against my cheek then pulling away and then pointing to the other letter from Bull.
"What's going on with Bull then?" He asked, grabbing his mug and taking a long sip as I placed Luz's letter down and held Bull's letter in both of my hands.
"He's back to work on his farm with his family, making plans to start his earth moving business that he talked about with his dad. He too wants me to come out and see his farm, out there in freaking Arkansas." I explained to him as I read through the letter again.
"So this means you're going to have to go out to Rhode Island and Arkansas." Joe stated aloud as I handed him the letter, seeing him read it with his eyes and his smirk never leaving his face.
"I guess so." I replied back to him, seeing him now look over at me.
"Does this mean we can go on a road trip?" He asked me as I took a sip from my own mug of coffee, raising an eyebrow at him from that question.
"You wanna come with me?" I asked him, seeing him shrug his shoulders with the smirk still on his face and his eyes filled with optimism.
"Why not. You said so yourself you've always wanted to go and travel, and plus I don't wanna run back to my old job that quickly." He explained, having me smile from hearing his case.
"Driving cabs? Oh, come on, that's exciting." I said back in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh har har, way to be nice about it Marley. But in all seriousness, this would be good for you to get better: seeing the rest of the boys." Joe explained in more of a serious tone, tapping his finger against Bull's letter. He had a good point: if I wanted to get better I needed to go and find my brothers and talk to them about what I was going through. Joe was really helping out with me, there was no argument there. But it was still a nice relief to know that I had to go out and find my brothers around America. I nodded my head, seeing him grin at me with his coffee mug in hand and looking rather handsome for me.
"Sounds like a good plan to me."
The next couple of nights were a bit rough for both Joe and I. We both were trying to get through the nightmares that were haunting us as we went to sleep. I thought my own demons were bad, but Joe was too suffering. But he was trying to be more optimistic for me to help me get better. It was clearly seen on his face when he woke up in the mornings, the bags under his eyes and how he would blink slowly. He was too stubborn to show his own suffering, and I wanted to break that from him.
I could hear him wake up screaming from Owen's room, having me bolt over to the room and shoot the door open. He would sit up in the bed, head in his hands and shaking with sobs escaping out of him, shaking his head back and forth as I walked over to him in a brisk pace. I would engulf him in my arms, feeling shake in my embrace as I would rock him back and forth, trying to get the nightmares out of his head.
"It's only a dream, love." I reassured him over and over into his sweat soaked hair, feeling him hold me close in a vise grip and not letting me go until his cries were no long run his system. He would go back to sleep, and I would wait and watch him, making sure that he was fine and safe. For so long my father would do the same for me, watch me and take care of me. And now Joe, as much as he tried to take care of me and have me no lift a finger, needed someone to take care of him and protect him from his own demons.
But I would have my own nights of terror.
I was running again, going through the town of Carentan and hearing someone call out for a medic. They sounded desperate, and I was running through the small town and dodging the fallen buildings and glass that was surrounding me. The sounds were still real, the way I was running felt real, and the way I was breathing through my running even felt real. I could see the debris flying around me, hear the gunshots and feel the wind against my face as I was running for dear life. But as I got to the center of the square of Carentan, I came to a halt and stopped where I was, frozen to see something in front of me that made me almost scream.
A bloody Grant with his head caked in blood and part of his head blown off.
He was standing there in front of me, looking right at me and then reaching out one hand towards me as if he wanted me to take his hand. I heard him open his mouth and call my name, but it was no his voice that came out of his mouth at all. I was shocked to hear Joe's voice, of all the voices that would haunt me, call out my name from Grant's mouth. My heartbeat was then heard fifty times louder, having me slam my eyes shut and pray that I would wake up. I said it over and over again: wake up, wake up!
But when I opened my eyes, I was back in New Orleans, but in the of my house and in the middle of the field that was there. I was wearing my nightgown, my hair framing my face and blowing in the wind as I was in the darkness outside my house. I could hear the grasshoppers and the fireflies in he distance, the soft wind in the grass and I could feel the dirt under my feet. How did I get out here? Was I sleepwalking? I was frozen in my spot, my arms in a rigid position and my legs were stiff and stern on the ground. I blinked a few times, to make sure that I knew where I was.
"Marley?" I heard Joe's voice, and I looked behind me. He was standing a good twenty feet away from me, wearing his boxers and a gray shirt, his bed hair and his concerned eyes were there. He had his hands out in front of me, as if to calm me down or as if he was trying to communicate with a horse. I had no clue, but to see him watch me with fear made me slowly breathe out finally, though my legs and feet were frozen in where they were.
"What happened?" I asked him aloud in a confused tone, seeing him walk over to me and his eyes never leaving my face.
"You woke up and bolted out of your room, throwing your door open and I heard it bang against the wall. You ran like a bat out of hell," he explained slowly, having me watch him as he was walking over to me carefully and at a slow pace as if he didn't want to spook me. I tried to remember how I got out here, but I didn't. I could only picture myself back at the battle and hear the voices and noises there, "Marley, you were sleepwalking."
"I was dreaming about Carentan," I started, seeing him reach out and take my hand in his, lacing our fingers together as he pulled me over to him gently, "I could hear someone screaming for a medic."
"You're gonna be okay, sweetheart." Joe reassured me, still listening but trying to love on me as he carefully picked me up in his arms, my hands were around his neck as he carried me bridal style back to my house carefully and with ease. He had no struggle in carrying me since I was still underweight and struggling to eat. I might have felt like a feather in his lanky arms, though I knew he and strength from the army.
"Grant was there…with his head blown off and he was trying to reach out to me." I kept going with my rambling as Joe walked me into the house and up the stairs, having me blink against his chest.
"What else happened? Tell me," Joe said to me as he got me back into my room and over into my bed. I looked, seeing the sheets in my bed were thrown clear off and tangled up, "Come on, Marley. What else was there?"
"Just the buildings falling around me, I could feel the glass scratch at me….it was so real…" I murmured as he placed me back on the bed gently, my head back on the pillow and he was about to move away from me when I clutched his hand tightly in my own. I held him there, looking over my shoulder at him and seeing him kneeling on the bed and looking down at me with the concern in his eyes and face.
"Stay with me, please." I pleaded with him in a broken tone. Joe nodded his head, melting down and being behind me, wrapping his arm around me while pulling the covers over the both of us. I didn't care anymore if we were in the same bed, we both needed to just hold each other again to get over the fact that sleep was now our worst enemy.
"I love you, and it's gonna be okay." Joe whispered to me as we both were silent in my bed again. We fell asleep holding each other, hearing the sounds of the night and our breathing evening out again. This was getting to the point where we needed to get out of this house and find the rest of Easy Company to see where they were when it came to recovering.
We had to find our brothers again.
