The good feelings that Alison had after Flint's brief visit eroded by the end of the week. It had been a particularly brutal evening. Marissa had her four-week checkup earlier that day, and it seemed like the shots she had received had made her extra irritable. It was two hours past the infant's usual bed time, and Alison had finally gotten her settled down enough to go to sleep.
Unfortunately, Marissa had fallen asleep in her arms. She rose slowly from the rocking chair and gently put Marissa down in her crib. Since she still hadn't mastered the knack of transferring the sleeping infant to her crib, she held her breath and took a step back. All Alison wanted was an hour of peace so she could finally finish her dinner that had long since gone cold.
But even that was too much to ask. As she took the couple of steps towards the changing table, Marissa let out a shriek. Feeling she had crossed the breaking point she grabbed a wadded-up diaper, threw it against the wall and yelled at her daughter, "Damn it, Marissa, I don't know what you want!"
The crying stopped instantly. Her heart pounding in her chest, Alison turned from the crib to the spot on the floor where the diaper landed. She chastised herself as she realized she had totally lost her temper against her month-old daughter.
Marissa's cries started again, but this time instead of the wailing she had been engaged in, it was more of a pitiful whimper. Alison went towards the crib, but before she picked up Marissa, she stopped herself. There was a part of her that didn't totally trust herself with her daughter.
She tried to tell herself that she probably wasn't the first woman to snap during new motherhood. She also rationalized that she felt much better after her outburst and that Marissa needed her. She picked the baby up and brought her to her shoulder. As soon as she did, Marissa let out a very audible belch, and then finally relaxed.
Alison waited a few moments and then put her back down in her crib. She could tell by her daughter's breathing that she was finally asleep. It was a thought that should have made her happy, but instead she burst into tears. Having lost her appetite, she decided to just go to bed.
She fell asleep instantly, and for the first time in weeks, woke on her own accord. But then she sat up in a panic. She looked at the clock, and jumped out of the bed when she saw it was after 5AM. Marissa had been asleep for nearly seven hours.
She ran to her daughter's room while her mind raced through various of horrific options as to why Marissa hadn't woke up. As she threw open the door, she said a quick prayer that everything was okay. Breathing heavy, and her heart pounding in her chest, she slowly approached the crib. She was terrified about what she might find, and she strained her ears for any kinds of signs of life.
Dawn was just breaking so there was only a slight glow in the room. Alison peered into the crib, and she could barely see the outline of Marissa lying there. She couldn't make out any movement, which panicked her further. She brought her hand down to Marissa's chest, and when she touched her she was rewarded with the most beautiful sob she had ever heard from her daughter.
She scooped her into her arms. "Oh, Marissa, sweetie, thank God. How would I ever have been able to tell Dash if you," she didn't finish the train of thought. Instead she brought her to the rocking chair and began to feed her.
Alison's heart was still pounding, and she thought back to the time a few months prior when she thought she was having a miscarriage. She had berated herself for taking her pregnancy for granted, and she had promised that she would never do that again. But here she was, guilty of the same sin. She had spent the last four weeks miserable, bemoaning her life and the hardships involved in raising an infant alone. She even said some horrible things to her the night before. She had never stopped to consider what a blessing Marissa was to her.
The room had started to brighten, so she could see her daughter more clearly. Alison played with one of the brown curls above her ears. "Baby girl, if you ended up with my hair genes you're going to be fighting with it for the rest of your life."
She continued to study Marissa's features. It was amazing that even with all the time Alison had spent with her, she never took the time to really look at and appreciate her. "I think you have my nose. When you were first born, I thought you looked just like your daddy. But now, I think, you might be starting to look more like me."
Alison's heart rate finally went back to normal. Now that she was calm she could appreciate more the long rest Marissa had granted her. She felt like a real person again, and she was loving every bit of the bonding session she was having with her daughter.
"So, do you want to talk about a nickname? We weren't very nice to you in that regard. Ris? Rissa? Mare?" Marissa pulled off and let out a cry that made Alison laugh. "I agree. That last one is pretty bad." She switched the infant to her other breast. "It's okay if you don't want a nickname. I never did. I hated Allie, and just between us girls, I hated Al too. But then your father started calling me that, and it grew on me."
Marissa once again stopped eating. She looked up at Alison and flashed her a quick smile. Alison grinned at her in return, and then felt an overwhelming wave of love wash over her. She brought Marissa over her shoulder to burp her and once that was accomplished she hugged her tight. With tears streaming down her face, she said, "I love you Marissa."
Flint watched the scene playing out in front of him with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. One thing he learned the past few years was that Joes didn't handle boredom well. His current situation was no exception. He turned his attention back to his task at hand while he hoped that Alpine, Bazooka and Footloose didn't cause any serious damage.
He had led a team earlier that morning that included the three Joes along with Airtight, Mutt and Junkyard to investigate reports of suspicious activity in an abandoned cabin in Upstate New York. Flint hadn't been pleased with the assignment, since he had requested time off to visit Alison and Marissa. It was the last couple of days before Alison returned to work and he had hoped to take advantage of the end of her time off. However, Anvil insisted that it was his turn in the rotation and he hadn't been in the field since the day of the blackout. The general then promised that he would be granted leave as soon as he returned.
They had arrived at the cabin in a pre-dawn hour, and had cleared the scene as the first hint of light shown in the sky. While it was obvious that the cabin had not been lived in in some time, it was being used as a storage facility for a number of interesting and potentially deadly equipment and gadgets.
Flint had doled out assignments. "Mutt, take Junkyard around the grounds to see if there's a hidden cache of weapons or other goodies outside. Airtight, I want you to run some quick tests on that collection of chemicals we found in the back room. The rest of us will start cataloguing all of the items in here until I call in the local authorities."
About ten minutes after they had started their tasks, Alpine, Bazooka and Footloose became distracted by an imposing piece of equipment stationed by the front door.
"What do you think it does?" Footloose asked.
Bazooka carefully opened an inner compartment and whistled when he saw what was inside. "It's full of spears."
Alpine leaned over and said, "It's a good thing it was broken or we would have ended up as Joe Shish-Ka-Bobs."
Bazooka tinkered away at the contraption for a few moments. "It's not broken. It was turned off." To prove his point, he waved his hand in front of the door until the machine activated. With a twang, one of the spears shot out of the machine and bounced off of the opposite wall.
Flint and the other two Joes gasped. Alpine pulled Bazooka back. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Bazooka walked over to where the fallen spear ended up at the floor. He then made a show of stabbing himself. "They are only plastic."
That caught Flint's attention. He went over to the contraption, and freed another spear from the inner workings. He confirmed that it was a hollow spear replica. "What the hell is going on in here?"
"That's the question I've been asking myself the last fifteen minutes," Airtight said as he entered the room. "I can't get a clear reading on any of these chemicals."
"Do you need to take it back to your lab at Joe HQ?" Flint asked.
"I will to double check my findings, but I don't think it's necessary. Every container here is labeled in a way to indicate that it holds a deadly chemical. But my analysis shows that either it is an extremely mild derivative, or it holds such a minute quantity of the dangerous components to make it non-toxic. You could drink all of these, and probably not even end up with an upset stomach."
"Let's not test that theory," Flint cautioned. He removed his beret to run his hand through his hair. It was a reflexive motion that helped sort his thoughts. "From what we're seeing is that everything in this cabin is an imitation of a dangerous object but is essentially harmless."
"It looks that way," Airtight said with a nod.
"Maybe somebody wants to get a really early start on a Halloween haunted house?" Alpine suggested.
Footloose called Flint over. "Check out the return address on this shipping crate."
"Arbco," Flint said once he read it. "Or Cobra spelled sideways."
Alpine joined Flint's side and shook his head. "So Cobra is now in the terrorist gag gift market?"
"I don't know what to make of this place." Flint said. He couldn't help but be reminded of the Cobra Fun House, he and most of the other Joes currently in the cabin had experienced. However, that had been far from harmless. He became lost in his memories of that mission. His fear for Lady Jaye once she had been knocked out by a robotic Cobra Commander, his narrow escape from the island, and their post-mission walk where they showed each other how grateful they were that they both survived the mission. All the thoughts made him miss his wife even more.
Mutt returned with Junkyard, bringing Flint back to the present. "It's all clear outside."
Flint nodded. "Okay. I think it's safe to call in the cops, since our job is done here. But I want the tech geeks to do some research into Arbco and who owns this place. Maybe that'll help us uncover the answers."
A few hours later, Flint had finished his turnover report with the chief of police. He radioed Lift-Ticket for a pick-up once he was done, and the Joes made their way to the LZ. A short time later the Tomahawk landed. Flint took the front passenger seat and Lift-Ticket turned to him with a frown on his face. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my bird's temporarily grounded. While doing the pre-flight check I noticed one of the coolant pumps was running in the red. It's okay for short trips, but I don't trust it to get us back to HQ. And of course, since it's Friday afternoon, and the Army being too cheap to pay for Saturday delivery, the replacement is not going to arrive until Monday morning. I already ran this by Duke and Anvil, and basically, we all have a weekend pass to spend in Albany."
Flint cursed out loud. But then he realized he still had been granted his time off. As long as he could find a way to and from DC, he might still be able to salvage his weekend with Alison and Marissa. From the back of the Tomahawk, the Joes began to make requests on where they wanted to be dropped off, until Lift-Ticket waved his hands in frustration. "I'm not a taxi service, especially with a wounded bird. I need to take her to Sarasota Springs to wait on a repair. On the way there, I can make a stop at the Albany airport, but that's it."
It worked out perfectly for Flint. Once Lift-Ticket landed on the tarmac at the Albany airport, he jumped off along with Alpine, Bazooka, Airtight and Footloose. "Mutt, are you coming?" Alpine asked.
"Nah," he replied as he rubbed Junkyard's head. "With Junk here, it'll be easier to stay on base."
They walked over to the main entrance of the airport. "I'm going to check out flights to DC," Flint admitted.
"Give Alison and the baby a kiss from me," Alpine said. He looked towards Bazooka and Airtight. "We're going to take a bus into downtown."
"Okay, just stay out of trouble," Flint cautioned. Once the three left, Flint noticed Footloose was checking out the departing flights as well. "Going home?" Flint asked.
"Not home-home, but thinking about hitting up my second home," Footloose said. "I'm wondering if I have enough time to catch some waves in Malibu."
Flint made a command decision. "Do it. I'll tell Anvil and Duke that I okayed you to take a few days of leave. Head back to HQ before the end of the week."
Footloose's face broke into a huge grin. "Aw, man that's awesome. Thank you."
Flint booked the next flight to DC. Once he was at the gate, he called Alison to tell her he was coming into town. "I'll take a cab once I get to the airport," he said.
"We can come pick you up if it's not too late. What time do you land?"
After Flint told her she paused. "Wow, that's an awfully quick flight from Phoenix."
"Actually, I'm a little more local. I'll tell you about it later."
"Okay. See you soon."
Flint then called HQ. Luckily, Duke and Anvil were in a meeting, so he did a brief recap with Breaker regarding the mission summary, and the Joes' plans for the weekend. He then turned off his phone before he boarded the plane.
It was a quick and uneventful flight. After he landed, he turned his phone back on. He listened to a very irate message from Duke as he made his way outside. Duke ended the tirade by telling him to call as soon as he was back on the ground. He debated doing so, but then he saw Alison's car pull up.
Alison gave him a kiss as he got into the car. "So how did you finally manage to escape? The way you were talking yesterday, I didn't hold out a lot of hope that you were going to be able to come home."
"Let's just say I'm taking advantage of a weekend pass. I'm sure they'll be hell to pay when I get back on Monday, but I'll deal with it then. I don't care. I missed my girls too much." Flint turned around and maneuvered himself to give Marissa a kiss on her head.
"And we missed you," Alison said. "You'll be happy to know that I had my six-week post-partum checkup. I've been clear to resume all normal activities."
That got Flint's attention. "All activities?"
"Yep," Alison said with a grin. "All of them." She emphasized her point by running her hand up his leg. Flint was now very happy that he blew Duke off.
However, the payback came sooner than expected. As they were pulling up in front of their house, Flint's phone rang. It was Duke again, whose mood hadn't improved in the previous few hours. "The last time I checked, Washington DC wasn't a suburb of Albany."
Flint moved the phone away from his ear and turned towards Alison. "I'm sorry, I have to deal with this. I'll be done as soon as I can."
"Okay, I'll put her to bed," Alison said. She then kissed him long and hard that sent shock waves to his groin. He briefly thought about "accidentally" hanging up, consequences be damned, but he figured that would probably send Duke into an aneurism.
Instead he took a deep breath and returned to the conversation. "I was told I could take time when the mission was done. Once I was granted leave I figured it wouldn't matter if I spent the weekend twiddling my thumbs in Sarasota Springs, or using it to visit my family. We don't normally ask for itineraries when we hand out weekend passes." Flint countered.
"I know. And that's the only reason I didn't consider reporting you as AWOL." Duke sighed. "Flint, I appreciate the desire to spend time with Alison and Marissa. But between the disappearing act you pulled a couple of weeks ago, and now this, you're skating on thin ice. You're lucky Anvil isn't aware of these stunts, but you can't expect me to keep covering for you."
It was a familiar argument that Flint didn't want to rehash. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
Duke exhaled sharply. "I doubt that. And you better make sure you are back in Sarasota Springs by the time Lift-Ticket is ready to return."
Flint figured the conversation was over, but Duke continued. "Look, I wasn't calling just to bust your balls. Anvil wanted a turnover report, even if it was only a verbal one done over the phone. I'd like to get it done tonight, if you could take some time out of your busy schedule."
Flint looked down the hallway where he could hear the sounds of Alison in the nursery. He wanted to help her, but he knew that he also needed to appease Duke. He grabbed a pen and a pad of paper, and then sat at the dining room table. He took notes while he recapped and discussed the mission with Duke.
He hung up the phone when they were done, and was surprised to see that nearly an hour had passed. Finally free, he raced into the bedroom where he found that Alison was already asleep. He made some noise in the hopes that she would wake up, but she appeared to be deep asleep. Sighing, he too decided to go to bed. It had been a very early morning for him, and he was tired. Flint consoled himself by thinking that he could survive one more sexless night. Plus now he had time to plan out a romantic morning for her. He would start by surprising her with breakfast in bed.
However, it quickly became clear to him that his plans were not going to come to fruition. Life with an infant definitely put a crimp on any romance. Marissa cried at 1:30 AM and even though Flint wasn't fully awake he volunteered to give her a bottle.
"Not yet, sometimes she goes back to sleep on her own," Alison advised.
Marissa did stop for a few minutes, but then her cries began again in earnest. Alison nodded, and Flint got up to feed her. Once he was done, he crawled back into bed. He had just fallen asleep when he heard the cries from the infant again.
"My turn," Alison said sleepily. She returned fifteen minutes later. "Unfortunately, you didn't put her diaper on tight enough. She was soaked."
"I'm sorry," Flint said.
"It's not your fault. She's between sizes so it happens a lot," Alison said. Flint pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you earlier. I should have warned you that once I hit the bed, I'm usually asleep within seconds."
"It's okay," Flint said as he nuzzled her neck. He briefly considered taking advantage of the fact that both were awake, but Alison's snores put an end to that idea.
Flint fell asleep again and the next wake-up call seemed to come only a few minutes later. But when he rolled over he saw that three hours had passed and despite the fact he was still tired, it was officially morning. "I thought you said she sleeps through the night now," he said grumpily.
"Actually, I said she slept through a night. This is typical."
"Do you want me to give her another bottle?"
"No, I want to nurse her. Can you bring her to me?"
Flint did as he was told. When she was done, Alison went to get up, but he told her to lay in bed, and he would take care of changing Marissa. This time he double-checked the diaper. Marissa looked happy and content, but he wasn't sure what to do with her. He took her back to the bedroom where Alison had dozed off again. Not wanting to wake her, he took the baby into the living room. He placed the baby in her mini lounge chair. She seemed happy with the choice. He turned the TV on low, put on a news station and then laid on the couch. He kept his eye on Marissa who was kicking and entertaining herself until he fell asleep.
He was awoken a short time later by a kiss from Alison. "Thanks for staying with her. I needed that extra little bit of sleep."
Flint felt like he could still use another few hours, but he got up. "I'll make breakfast."
"No, that's okay, I got it. Although you may need to relieve me when she wants hers."
Once all three had eaten, Alison asked him to watch Marissa while she got into the shower. He did for a little while until the idea of his wife naked in the shower became too much to ignore. Marissa was starting to doze off, so he put her in the crib. He then stripped down, and joined Alison in the shower.
Her reaction was not exactly what he was expecting. "Dash, where's Marissa?"
"She's fine. She's sleeping in her crib," he said. He leaned in and started to kiss her on her neck.
Alison pulled away. "Did you bring the monitor in at least?"
"No. I thought she'd be okay for a few minutes. I'd figured you do the same thing when you're here alone."
"Actually, I've always brought her in the bathroom to hang out in her chair while I shower. I don't like the idea of her alone out there when I can't hear her."
Flint was shocked by that revelation. "Wow, I had no idea."
"I'm sorry, I know what you want, and believe me I want it too. But I can't do it like this when I'm afraid Marissa is screaming her head off in the next room."
Flint nodded. "Okay, I'll wait for you out in the bedroom." He dried off, and climbed into their bed. He spent the next few minutes praying that Marissa would continue to sleep. He was rewarded, and when Alison finished her shower and climbed into bed with him, Marissa was still quiet. Flint decided to not waste any more time.
Once it was over, with a post-orgasmic grin on his face, Flint asked. "How was it?"
"It was okay," Alison answered.
He was a little surprised at her honesty. "Just okay?" he asked. He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten such a mediocre review.
She gave him a kiss. "Don't get me wrong, it was nice being able to connect with you in this way again, but the fireworks just weren't there. I think it's going to take me a while to get back to normal."
Flint couldn't help but feel disappointed. But he shook the feeling off. "What do you want to do today?"
Alison stood up and got dressed. "It's supposed to be beautiful out. How about we take Marissa on her first tour of the monuments?"
They had a nice day together. It took a while to get Marissa ready, and all of her items packed, but they finally got out the door close to noon time. As he pushed Marissa's stroller around the National Mall, and chatted with Alison, Flint smiled as he realized he was having a 'normal' afternoon. They stopped for a late lunch at an outdoor café and then headed back to the house. Flint drove back, lost in thought, and he realized he hadn't given a second thought to Duke and HQ.
But what was continuing to nag him was Alison's response to their morning's lovemaking. Deep down he knew it was normal, and he had watched enough stand-up comics and sitcoms to know that sex after kids was never the same. But he had still been naïve enough to think they would buck the odds.
Plus he had always prided himself on being a considerate lover, so the act that she admitted to getting very little enjoyment out of that morning's act was eating at him. She had been so busy and dedicated to raising Marissa the last few weeks, that she deserved a few minutes of pleasure. So he was determined to try again to see if he achieved a better result the second time around.
But once again, the reality of life with a newborn reared its ugly head. Marissa's colic didn't seem to be as bad as his last visit, but it still took what felt like an extraordinary amount of work to get the three of them fed, and Marissa bathed, dressed and ready for bed.
Flint put his arm around Alison after they closed the door to the nursery. "Do you want a glass of wine?"
She nodded. "I'll take a half a glass. Unless you're offering to handle the first feeding again."
"I can do that," Flint said with a smile and a kiss.
"Okay. Then make it a full glass."
Flint opened a new bottle and then poured two glasses. They clinked them together as they took a seat on the couch. Alison settled against his chest and he wrapped his arm around her. "Are you ready to go back to work?" Flint asked.
"I think so. It's funny that a month ago I was counting down the minutes until I could return. Now? I'm more conflicted. I feel like I finally got into a rhythm here and I know I'm going to miss her during the day. So whenever I do get excited about returning to work, I feel guilty."
"Believe me, I know the feeling."
"I am looking to get back in touch with the real world. I feel like I've been living in a bubble. Speaking of that, you never told me where you were yesterday."
The last thing Flint wanted to do was to start talking about the Joes and Cobra and the events of the last few weeks. However, he knew not answering the question would only rouse her curiosity further so her kept to a simple answer. "Just outside of Albany. It was nothing really exciting though. Just a fact-finding mission that yielded little facts."
Alison nodded as she tried to stifle a yawn. Flint noticed their glasses were nearly empty, so he decided to attempt a second round of love-making.
However, Alison quickly put a stop to his plans. "Dash, don't take this the wrong way, but I'd rather be hooked up to one of Cobra Commander's torture devices than have sex right now."
That definitely put a halt on his libido. "I don't think there's a right way to take that statement."
"I know, I'm sorry, that was mean. It's just that I'm exhausted and a little bit sore from this morning."
Now Flint felt even worse. "I'm sorry. And I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. I'm just trying to make up for my performance this morning."
"What are you talking about? There was nothing wrong with what happened."
"But you said you didn't enjoy it."
"That's not true. I may not have had a mind-blowing orgasm, but I loved being able to experience that with you again. And I liked making you happy."
"That's the point, I want to do the same for you. You've done so much for Marissa, all on your own, that I wanted to give you a few minutes of pleasure."
"Dash, the world's greatest lover could have come in here with a suitcase full of special toys, and I still wouldn't have had a different reaction. And that's okay for me right now. Maybe once Marissa is older and she isn't so needy, I'll feel differently."
As the two rose from the couch to go to bed, Flint hoped that would be the case.