Disclaimer: I do not own Army Wives! But it would be awesome if I did ;)
Author's Note: Yay! A new chapter! Woo hoo go me! The next chapter's gonna be a follow up, it'll be of the actual date ok :)
LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVE&LOVEPrivate First Class Jeremy Sherwood nervously rung the Holden's doorbell that Friday night. At this time of year, the sky was always colored a dim indigo in South Carolina during the evenings and tonight was no exception. He was there at seven sharp to pick her up, just like he had promised earlier that week. Emmalin Holden, the girl he had feelings for, the girl who was too young for him, the girl who was currently his date.
Waiting patiently on the 'welcome' mat, he smoothed his lightly faded jeans and gray shirt anxiously. He had told Emmalin to dress strictly casual, no spending two hours on her hair tonight. Looking from the condo's porch down the driveway, he saw that the General was working late and Claudia Joy was parked near the curb. What was he supposed to say to the Army Wife? He was legally too old to be seeing her daughter after all.
Jeremy felt like he had been standing on the deck for days, though he knew it had been less than three minutes. His thoughts were racing and his heart was pounding. It felt as if a little bird were trapped in his ribcage and was trying to break it's way out of his chest. He was going to write that off as heartburn or some other medical issue though and not some emotional thing he didn't want to analysis. A girl had never had this kind of effect on him before, and truth be told it was scaring the hell out of him.
He looked up as he heard the door creak open, revealing Emmalin smiling at him. She looked nice in her blue jeans and tank top, with her long dark hair pulled back by a thick headband. Her soft lips brushed his cheek gently. The Army Private couldn't help but grin at her as the girl tugged him by the hand into her home.
"Mom wants to chat." Emmalin sighed, shaking her head. He could see how sorry she was through her eyes.
"I understand." He really did. If he had a daughter, he certainly wouldn't have let her go out with a guy like himself. A previously suicidal, former player, soldier who was no good for her.
"I don't." Emmalin laughed, leading the soldier into the living room. The Holden house was as clean as always, with it's light taupe walls and soft tan carpeting. Everything in this house was almost too perfect, too in place, in an alarming way. The way the house on 'To Catch A Predator' was always to perfect, if anyone offered him a glass of their infamous lemonade then he was bolting for the door!
"I'm too old for you…and I've never been your parent's favorite guy in the whole world." Jeremy smirked, running a hand over his short buzz cut.
Claudia Joy sat perched on the edge of the couch, her legs crossed neatly. She looked like one of the mother lions from one of those documentaries on the Discovery Channel, the ferocious mama that tears her baby's predator limb from limb. Grimacing he realized that Claudia Joy was the mama… and his ass was dinner.
"Sit down." Mrs. Holden ordered, using her 'don't-fuck-with-me' voice. Just from her tone, the teenagers knew she meant business. The normally sweet and pleasant FRG leader was glaring daggers at the soldier. Yeah, mama lion with rabies seemed like a pretty good analogy right about now.
Emmalin and Jeremy took seats on the sofa opposite the Army Wife, waiting quietly for Claudia Joy to say something. Emmalin loosely grabbed the nineteen year old's hand to comfort him. The seventeen year old was feeling more than a little guilty that he was going to be subjected to the worst side of her mother. No, she thought, victimized is a better word for it. Good thing Jeremy was already in counseling, he'd have a place to go after the night's assaults.
"Emmalin you should go change, you're going to the movies and you'll get cold if you wear that shirt." The woman suggest, smiling. She was clearly looking to get ride of the girl so that she could have some alone time with the soldier.
"Umm…" Emmalin hesitated, not wanting to leave her date prey.
"She's right. The movies are always cold." Jeremy insisted, giving Emmalin the okay. He'd have to go toe to toe with Claudia Joy sooner or later, might as well get it over with while the General was gone. He gently unthreaded their hands, instantly regretting his decision to let her go. Reluctantly, she walked up the stairs. Almost expecting wild safari noises to follow her.
The Army Wife watched Emmalin carefully until she disappeared at the top of the staircase before she turned to scowl at Jeremy. The nineteen year old's hands were sweating bucketsful, he internally sighed and wiped them on his blue jeans. Emmalin's mother looked like she was going to leap from the couch and beat the snot out of him. He wasn't scarred of her by any means, he was twice her size after all, but she made him nervous as hell.
"We need to talk." She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. Lines of tension could be seen through her shoulder and stiff silhouette, the Army Wife was usually so relaxed. This could not be the same woman who was his mother's best friend, that woman didn't look like she was going to deck him. But this one sure did.
"Okay." Jeremy said. The woman was right after all, they did have to talk. He'd take what ever she threw at him like a man and get it over with.
"I don't know what your intentions are but I swear if you hurt my daughter in any kind of way, so help me God, I'll kill you. I will make you wish you'd never left Iraq." Claudia Joy jumped right on the wagon. If looks could kill, then Private Sherwood would be six feet under. If he was a bit more of a masochist, he would've provoked her. Thank God, he wasn't currently suicidal, although death courtesy over-protective Army Wife was surely an interesting way to go.
"I'm not going to hurt her." The Army Man insisted. He wasn't going to back down, not to Emmalin's mother. Jeremy smoothed his shirt restlessly, fidgeting under Claudia Joy's harsh gaze. He hated when people stared at him, especially recently.
"You dated my other daughter, and now you want to date Emmalin? What are your motives?" Claudia Joy's questions flowed, hitting him like a hailstorm. Neither of them flinching, it was a staring contest of doom but no one was willing to back down.
"I did. I do. I don't have any?" He'd fire them right back at her. Though the nineteen year old couldn't help but glance periodically at the stairs, praying for Emmalin to hurry up. Seriously, how long did it take to change a shirt?
"I hope you don't think you're getting laid tonight. Emmalin is a virgin and she's not going to put out for you just because you're a pretty boy. I swear if you touch my daughter…" Mrs. Holden growled, her teeth lightly grinding. She was being aggressive just as Michael had insisted when they discussed this little pre-date interview earlier that morning.
"I wont, I promise. I haven't even kissed her yet…and I'm not a pretty boy." That pretty boy comment struck a nerve with him. Was she calling him a sissy? He gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Fine…you're a pretty man. I'm not insulting you, you really are rather pretty…in the manly sort of way." CJ laughed, surprised that out of all the things she said that was the only thing that bothered the Army Private. She couldn't help but smile.
"Umm…thank you?" Jeremy wasn't quite sure how to respond to that comment. No man likes being called pretty, or at least he didn't. It made him sound girly.
"Why are you taking Emmalin out?" The woman asked, much friendlier now.
"I think Emmalin's the one taking me out. She deserves better and I know I'm no good for her. I already know, so you don't have to tell me." He'd set her straight right now.
"I'm not sure about that. Don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone would ever be good enough for my daughter but for some reason I sort of trust you." Claudia Joy smiled, looking more like the woman who frequented his home. Had some weird switch in her mind been turned off, did she just have some killer PMS moment? He was confused.
"Really? You call people you trust 'pretty boy' and threaten to kill them?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow at the woman sitting across from him. The normal politeness he normally reserved for the Military Wife was gone, manners could be damned. She had called done everything but physically assault him, and then she wanted to call him a pretty boy? Jeremy decided he sure as hell wouldn't wave a white flag to this woman.
"No, honey, you're just special. Michael made me promise to put the fear of God in you, too bad I'm not very good at it. I'm too friendly, if he asks you about this little chat, you tell him I played hard ball." Claudia Joy's gaze never wavered, she was sizing the Army Private up, not menacing though but analyzing. Emmalin found some redeeming quality in him, and if Claudia Joy squinted hard enough she could find a glimmer of hope too. She realized that despite his past mistake, he was morally straight laced and that thoroughly pleased her. Michael would be really disappointed if he found out his wife was so easy on the Army Private, she'd barely been able to keep a straight face through all her threats.
"I'm back, ready to go?" Emmalin smiled, now wearing a blue sequin blouse. The Army Brat glanced carefully between her mother and "almost boyfriend". She approached the couch and laced her finger's through the soldiers, motioning for him to get up. Emmalin could feel her mother's eyes on their entwined digits but she wouldn't let go. Jeremy stood up, towering over the petite Holden by almost a foot. She smiled at him kindly, genuinely sorry that he had to deal with her mother all by himself. Without a doubt in her mind, she knew her father had given her mother date questions to try out on the poor soldier.
"Here sweetie, I'll walk you to the door." Claudia Joy smiled, rising from the couch.
"Bye Mom." Emmalin said pulling the door open, Jeremy waiting patiently behind her. Claudia Joy pulled her daughter into a quick embrace.
"Call me if you need anything. I love you." She whispered against Emmalin's ear, too softly for Private Sherwood to hear. Emmalin nodded.
"Have fun!" Claudia Joy beamed, waving farewell before disappearing into the condo. She'd always had a tiny soft spot for her best friend's son, he was charming somehow. The Army Wife couldn't wait to tell Denise about her talk with Jeremy, his mother would get more than a few laughs out of it.
Emmalin smiled at Jeremy, biting her lip happily. She reached up on her tippy toes to brush her full rosy lips lightly against his, the soldier didn't kiss back as usual.
"Was it awful?" She laughed as they walked to his truck, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Well she didn't deck me. Called me a pretty boy though." He smirked, pulling the passenger door open for her.
"A pretty boy?" Emmalin giggled, sliding into the middle seat of the truck, buckling in. She could understand where her mother was coming from though. Jeremy had lovely features; dark eye lashes, pretty eyes and high cheekbones. She'd always thought of him as handsome or sexy but pretty was an adjective he could easily pull off too.
"She later changed it to 'pretty man'." He smirked, buckling in, his arm sliding around her. Emmalin curled into his chest as he pulled out from the curb.
"Well…you are kinda pretty. Err…in the manly way. Your mom's very pretty and you sorta get it from her." Pulling him by the collar of his gray t-shirt, she placed a trail of kisses across his cheek and forehead. He could feel her smiling against his skin gently, making him smile. Emmalin was contagious that way.
"Save it for the movie." He chuckled, stroking her hair. His eyes never left the illuminated stretch of road infront of him. He wasn't sure what would happen when he took her home, especially since General Holden would be back by then, but he figured she'd be worth the trouble.