Claudia Joy answered the door when she heard a knock, "Colonel Richardson," she said.
"Mrs. Holden," Kat greeted, "I'm sorry to interrupt."
"You're not interrupting anything. Michael's at work and I don't really have any other plans today," said Claudia Joy moving aside to let Kat inside, " And I always love to see my Godson," she cooed at Connor.
Kat smiled at her son and then the smile fell, thinking about how much of their baby's first year of life Chris would miss. And that's when the tears started flowing again, "Um, Mrs. Holden can we talk?"
Claudia Joy saw the tears and gestured towards the couch, "Sit down," she said sympathetically. The both sat down on the couch and Kat sat Connor in her lap, "What's wrong Colonel?"
Kat sniffled and let Connor wrap his hand around her finger before speaking, "Chris is deploying next week."
"Oh," said Claudia Joy. She had been afraid Kat was feeling depression with this baby as well, "I'm so sorry Colonel."
Kat nodded but didn't say anything at first. She finally spoke softly, "Thank you."
"Do you want some coffee or tea?" asked Claudia Joy.
"Caffeine isn't good on my milk supply," said Kat.
"I have decaf," said Claudia Joy.
"Just some water would be good," admitted Kat. Claudia Joy nodded and went to get two bottles of water before returning, "Thank you," said Kat.
"You're welcome," said Claudia Joy, "So do you know how long Chris will be deployed?"
"Um, he doesn't know for sure but he thinks at least six months to a year," said Kat.
Claudia Joy knew why Kat was so upset, "And you're upset because he'll be missing a good chunk of Connor's first year."
Kat nodded, "He'll miss it all. His first steps, his first words, everything. And he won't ever be able to get that back."
Claudia Joy knew exactly how Kat felt. There were many times that Michael missed out on important events in Amanda's and Emmalin's lives, "I mean the common answer is that's the Army, or in your case the Air Force, but I know that isn't really a comforting phrase."
"I know," said Kat, "But it is the truth though. I just don't want what happened to me to happen to him." Claudia Joy stayed silent indicating for Kat to continue, "When Jordan was two, I was deployed to Kuwait to make sure there was still peace after the Gulf War. And I was there for two years. I missed so much of Jordan's early life. And now I'm afraid the same thing will happen to Chris. I mean face it, Connor will be our first and last baby together."
Claudia Joy smiled and rubbed Connor's head, "Well I'm assuming you now use…. You know."
"Yes," Kat chuckled lightly suddenly amused by it all, "Now that I know I can conceive without fertility treatments."
"Well, I'm always here if you need help with the baby or anything. And you have friends who care about you. And Jordan is still around too," said Claudia Joy.
Kat sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Thank you Mrs. Holden."
"Call me Claudia Joy please," she said.
"Okay," Kat nodded, "Call me Kat then." Connor started crying and fussing in Kat's arms. She tried soothing him but then looked up at Claudia Joy, "Um, I think he needs to nurse and when he's hungry, he won't stop crying. Is there a place I can nurse him here because I don't think he'll make it home."
"Um," Claudia Joy thought, "There's a chair in the guest bedroom upstairs." Kat nodded and headed towards the stairwell, "Kat?" Claudia Joy asked. Kat turned around to face her, "How have you been feeling?"
Kat sighed a little and said, "You know, other than the deployment, I think I'm okay."
Zach pulled up in front of his parents' house in Raleigh. He turned off the ignition and turned to Emmalin, "You ready Em?" he aksed taking her hand.
Emmalin nodded, "Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be." The young couple got out of the car and walked up to the front door.
Zach knocked and a few moments later, a young woman answered the door, "Hi Zach," she smiled hugging him, "And you must be Emmalin," she said.
Emmalin nodded, "Yes, you're Zach's sister Whitney right?"
Whitney nodded and moved aside to let them into the room, "Tyler is a baseball practice but Mom and Dad are in the kitchen," she told Zach.
"Okay," Zach said. Emmalin followed him to the kitchen where an older couple was preparing lunch, "Mom? Dad?"
They both turned around and smiled. The woman came over and hugged, "It's great to see you honey," she said and kissed her, "And you must be the girlfriend I've heard so much about," she said shaking Emmalin's hand, "Caroline Bates and my husband Zach."
"Emmalin Holden," Emmalin said.
"Zach has told us a lot about you," said Zach.
"Same Mr. Bates," said Emmalin.
There was another sound of a door opening and a younger boy came into the kitchen, "Hi Mom, Dad, Zach, where's Whitney?"
"Tyler, we have a guest," said Caroline.
Tyler turned around to face Emmalin, "Oh are you the girl Zach has the hots for?"
"Tyler," scolded Zach.
"Tyler, be nice to your brother's girlfriend," warned Caroline, "No go get changed so we can have lunch."
Tyler nodded and ran to his room. Whitney looked at Emmalin and said, "He's only ten."
"Ah," Emmalin chuckled.
"Well sit down Emmalin. We'd love to get to know you more," said Caroline. And the rest of the afternoon went fairly well.
Denise sat in the rocking chair rocking Molly to sleep. Molly was already two years old and would be three in August. She couldn't believe her little girl was growing up so fast. Blake and Tonya already admitted Julia's first four months of life had flown by and Denise warned them they'd blink and she'd be all grown up. She really needed to give herself her own advice. She remembered bringing Jeremy home from the hospital like it was yesterday.
"Welcome home Jeremy," Denise cooed to her newborn son after entering her house in Fort Carson. Her mother had followed behind her since Frank was deployed and Jeremy had arrived two months early.
"You have a wonderful mother baby boy," Margaret said, "and I know you're going to get all of the love in the world.
She missed Jeremy more than ever right now, possibly because it was just past his death anniversary. She couldn't believe her baby was gone. She finally settled Molly down and snuggled next to Frank in the living room before bedtime.
"Come on Nicholas, come to Mommy," Charlie cooed at her son. Nicholas was just starting to crawl though he still needed a lot of encouragement.
Nicole tossed his bear towards Charlie and said, "Maybe he'll chase after a toy." And sure enough, Nicholas was crawling up a storm to get to his teddy bear. The two mothers heard a knock at the door and Nicole went to answer the door. Who she found on the other side was shocking to her.
"Hi Niki," the girl said. Charlie looked over at the guest and scooped Nicholas up to join her wife.
Nicole finally gained the ability to speak, "Hi Cassie."