I think I am in a creative mood hahah I just could not stop to write today. I think this tenth chapter is going to be a big surprise. Actually, I'd like to introduce a character who's going to be a regular in the story and who's one of my favorite: Eugène Roe, that I esteem so much. From this point, the story will actually see more Easy men, mostly Roe and our Wild Bill...but I don't want to anticipate anything hahaha Just celebrate the tenth chapter with this big BOOOOOOOM.

(It contains some French expressions; you can find the translation below the story :) )

This time, the knock on his door didn't stand for a glad surprise. In his bathrobe, Dick opened the door to find a short but sturdy man, the one who ran the hotel grabbing a telegram in his hand.

''Good morning, sir. Is it you Captain Richard Winters from 101° Airborne division, 506° Regiment, second battalion ?'' the man managed to read in a very forced English.

Dick stood at the door, listening to the robust man reading something he probably didn't even understand.

''Yes, it's me.''

''This is for you, sir. And breakfast is going to be served in one hour. Sorry for disturbing, sir.'' The man gave Dick a sheepish smile, obviously understanding he was talking to a bigwig of the Army.

''Thank you.'' Dick closed the door, and made his way in. Bea was still sleeping: the blankets left most of her body uncovered. Dick chuckled with the telegram still in his hands; he looked at his wristwatch: it was 7.05 a.m. He realized that a telegram, brought directly to his hotel room at such hour could not definitely tell good news. He opened the small envelope.

''It seems like decided to upgrade and put on a bathrobe on this time, uh?'' Bea asked wryly, stretching her arms and letting out a loud yawn. Bea got up and reached Dick, taking the telegram off of his hands.

''What's that?''

''I'm afraid we're needed elsewhere. We've got to leave Paris as soon as we can.''

''Why?'' she asked, now inspecting carefully the telegram.

''It doesn't say but…I guess it's urgent.''

Bea was as disappointed as Dick was. Their love-journey had just started and already come to an end. They obviously knew they would've got back to their duties eventually, but there were a lot of things to do, and more to talk about.

''Hey…'' Dick whispered tenderly, taking her chin in his fingers ''we knew it was not forever…''

''I know…I just whished we had more time.'' Bea said pouting. Dick wrapped her waist with his arms to pull her close to him.

''Hey…what happened last night…it means a lot, to me.''

''Either to me, Dick'' she said desperately.

''So we have to behave like we did before: it's just a break, and a step forward our future, Bea. See it in this way, ok?'' Dick whispered tenderly to her.

''Ok'' she forced herself to say, and also to believe it. She knew it wasn't simply a step forward their future: a new mission involved new risks.

Bea collected her clothes, had a fast shower and was ready to go before Dick, who noticed she got ready in his room, and wondered if she had one.

''You know Bea, they're going to look for you too, to warn you about the news…shouldn't you go back to your room?''

''This is my room'' she winked. Dick understood that his lover, with his best friend's help, had devised everything perfectly. With no time for more questions, Dick got himself ready as well and they both went to the station.

On their way back to Mourlmelon le grand none of them said a word. Sometimes, their hands looked for each others, when they both thought nobody was looking, and tangled together and tight, just to break up when someone was around.

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Maybe Bea should've looked to those American soldiers who were leaving Bastogne and she should've felt fear for what was coming on; she just adjusted her rifle on her shoulder, looked for Lewis and leaded the way through the woods with a courage that she had never felt in his life. The cold was already freezing her bones, and she was sinking into the snow making walking hard to do, and her trousers wet. But she didn't care: when she turned back to check where the rest of the battalion was she found Dick's smile, giving her a knowing and tender look, which she returned with the warmest of her smiles. With Dick behind her with three hundred soldiers behind she felt safe. So no, she didn't care about the cold, about her wet clothes, and she didn't even care about what was coming on. Feeling safe in such scenario was a big deal, and she decided it was enough.

But her safety started to be at stake very soon. The second battalion was only in defense of the area, at least at the beginning, and so they found little resistance. The problem was the same they had in Holland: they could not cover all the area, so there were many gaps and the enemy could penetrate easily through their lines. But the worst had not come since the day they finished all the supplies: some of the soldiers managed to find a way to cook whatever they got, but food was never enough; moreover, they could not be supplied since the fog made it quite impossible. Without food and clothing, Bea started to foresee that this one had to be the hardest time they would've had throughout the war, and she didn't know how much it would've longed. She knew they could've been put in attack very soon, or later. This was also the time she cursed the day she entered into Intelligence: in fact, she had to check by herself the line at the darkest hours of the night, when the temperature lowered to very fucking freezing.

Nonetheless, the worst hadn't come yet.

It was one of those days, you know, when her stomach was literally devouring itself, when a man from company E came to the Battalion ''headquarter'' (just a tent) and brought three bowls, to her, Dick and Lewis. The soup was cold, and it stank, but both Lewis and Bea literally snatched them out of the soldier's hands and since Dick didn't want any, they took his bowl too.

The following day, both Bea and Lewis cursed the young cook.

''How are the things going here?'' Dick asked, just to receive Lewis Nixon almost throwing up on his shoes ''I think this is a ''not bad'' answer'' Dick said wryly but visibly worried.

Doc Roe took the temperature to Lewis and Bea and realized the problem was just a bad alimentation.

''Doc, what's the situation?'' Dick asked Eugène with his hands in his armpit.

''It's not so bad. It's not fever, their stomach is probably too delicate and they must've eaten something bad'' Roe said, obviously not worried about the two's health conditions, which was a signal they would've recovered soon.

''You guess?'' asked wryly an ill Lewis ''I was served with caviar in the previous months.''

''Here's what happens when Harvard and Yale folks decide to live as common folks'' Dick said playfully before to face the young Doc ''so…how much time will it take to them to recover?''

''Well…'' Eugène paused, just to give a quick look to Lewis and Bea ''Captain Laurenti is recovering fast. She hadn't thrown up so much during the latest hours. I guess two days, maximum three and she'll be ok. As far for Captain Nixon…he's not doing so fine. I guess it will take a week, sir.''

''But…it's just a sort of indigestion, right?''

''I'd call it gastroenteritis, sir, but it's nothing. Maybe Captain Nixon ate more than Captain Laurenti did, but he'll be alright. I'm going to check them regularly sir, so that you can do your job serenely.''

Dick was still visibly worried. He ran both his hands over his face, and restarted to tell Eugène how having his two Intelligence officers out of the game, even for the moment, was a big problem.

''Sir, I think I have a solution for that'' Eugène said, biting his lip blatantly concerned about something that Dick didn't know yet ''I made a check on the line this morning sir, to see how man were doing. Joseph Liebgott…well sir, he may suffer some fatigue.''

''Fatigue?''

''Yes sir…maybe you can have him here at the battalion for the intelligence…he speaks German, you could use some help.''

Obviously Dick preferred someone with more experience, but he had no other choices; moreover, he knew that a soldier feeling the fatigue could've put his own life and his fellows' at stake, so probably having Liebgott there was a good solution.

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As Eugène Roe had foreseen some days previously, Bea recovered faster than Lew. When three days had passed, Lewis was ready to get back to his job, and offered himself to do the night-check since Bea had been doing it during all the days Lewis could not do it.

It was 3 a.m and Lewis had just left their foxhole to make a check when her stomach started to burn and she bended over herself in pain. Fortunately, the new intelligence officer found himself on Bea's way and noticed she had something wrong.

''Is everything alright Captain?'' Liebgott asked.

''Liegott'' Bea managed to say, with gritted teeth ''call the Doc, fast!''

''Yes ma'am'' Liebgott answered, astonished at how Bea was visibly in pain and disappeared in the woods to look for Eugène. The moment Joe ran away, Bea threw up in her foxhole.

''Much better now.''

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Eugène asked Dick to call a jeep; he could not understand what was going on with Bea but he knew she needed real meds since her illness didn't stop. They headed to Bastogne and reached the aid station. There, Eugène met his new friend, Renè, a Belgian nurse with a sweet smile on her face, even though Eugène hadn't never seen her hands cleaned, always dirtied by blood.

''Hello Eugène. What brought you here?'' she said, smiling tenderly at him.

''Hello Renè. This is Captain Laurenti… she's ill. She… throws up, I think it's viral or something.''

''Oh… Captain, we're going to take care of you. Follow me.''

Bea followed the young nurse with Eugène by her side and reached for a room where she lay on a real bed, surrounded by wounded. Renè gave her some meds and told her to have a rest for a while.

''Did you check her regularly ?''

''Yes, I did.''

''And do you feel good?'' Renè asked him worried.

''Yes, yes I do Renè'' he answered, trying to reassure the young nurse. Renè smiled back at him and gave a fast look to the Captain.

''I don't think it's viral. If it were, you should be ill as well.''

'' Do you have any idea of what she has?''

''I don't know, Gène. I gave her some meds to stop the illness, but if I don't know what she exactly has I can't really do nothing at all.''

Now Eugène was looking at his Captain, visibly worried ''and what do you suggest to do?''

''Here, around, there's a real medic. He doesn't come very often but I guess today he's going to make a check. We can use his help. Are you in a hurry?''

Eugène checked his wristwatch and realized two hours had passed since they got there ''actually…they may need my help back at the battalion…I think I should go. Can you take care of her? I'll try to be back as soon as I can.''

''Yes, of course Eugène.'' She answered, smiling tenderly at him and putting her hand on his shoulder. Eugène smiled back at her, noticed that her hands were still dirty as always, but he didn't care; he took Renè's hand in his and kissed it gently.

''ok, I'm going. Take care of her, and of you.''

''That I do.''

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It was late night when Eugène came back to Bastogne. Captain Winters gave him the permission to go back anyway since everyone at the battalion was concerned about Bea's conditions. Eugène could not understand what was going on. Renè was right: it could not be something viral since he had spent the last previous days always next to Bea and he was good. Then, she felt ill sporadically. Eugène was an expert in all the kind of wounds, but he was not prepared to such a thing and hoped the medic did know what was happening to his Captain. When he reached the aid station and the room where Bea was, he found her quite good, eating some chocolate.

''Eugène!'' he heard a female voice calling his name before he could talk to Bea.

''Renè! Has the doctor seen her yet?''

Renè looked turned up her nose and made a worried look.

''Yes, he has.''

''Bad news?''

''No, Eugène. She's doing fine, she's alright. The medic prescribed her some meds that will stop her nauseas.''

''Fantastic!'' Eugène exclaimed enthusiastic, but calmed down when he noticed that René was not as happy as he was ''René? What's wrong?''

Renè looked at him, still worried and swallowed hard ''Listen, Gène. Doctor Luarée visited her while she was asleep. I told him about the nausea and he checked her temperature. Then…he made some others checks. He said she's pregnant, Gène. Those meds he prescribed will stop the typical pregnancy nauseas.''

Roe had his mouth and eyes wide opened and could not believe to her words.

''Is he sure?''

''Yes, he is Gène…He checked. She's pregnant. Thirteen days.''

Eugène looked at Bea's direction. She noticed and smiled at him and while the chocolate bar still in her hand she made him sing to join her.

''Did you tell her?''

''No. I wanted to tell you first. I don't know how it does work in Army, in such situation, but I don't think your superiors are going to give her their compliments.''

''Neither I think'' Gène looked back at Bea, still enjoying her chocolate ''ok, I'm gonna tell her. Excuse me.'' Roe reached for Bea and sat on a chair next her bed.

''Hey Roe! You know what? I'm feeling great! Let's go back, I guess Captain Nixon is going to be mad at me for jumping my night check.''

''Uhm, don't worry about him. You stay here, ok?'' Eugène said, trying to reassure her, but his tone made her know that something was wrong.

''Doc, what's wrong? Tell me !''

''Captain…''

''I got a tremendous disease, didn't I?'' she answered all worried.

''No, absolutely not Captain'' Roe said ''you're right, you're fine. The doctor that visited you prescribed you some meds that will stop your nauseas.''

''Oh…well, that's good. But why do you look so…concerned?''

Roe swallowed hard and took Bea's hand in his.

''Do you mind if I call you Bea?''

''No I don't'' she answered curtly ''now tell me what's wrong, Eugène. That's an order.''

''Bea…you're pregnant.''

Bea opened her mouth wide brought her hand to it in incredulity; the leant her back against the pillow of the bed.

''It can't be. The doctor must be wrong.''

''No…he's not.''

Bea ran both her hands over her face and then look up to the ceiling.

''Bea…I'm not going to tell anyone, but you must leave the Army. It's not safe here, for you and for your baby.''

''leaving the army? Are you fucking crazy, Gène? Do you know how much I worked hard to be where I am? Do you know how many sacrifices I made?'' Bea yelled at him in anger.

''Bea you can't…''

''No discussions ! I'm staying!''

Roe felt something tipping at his shoulder.

''Gène? Can I have a word with you?'' Renè asked.

Roe breathed harshly and got up from the chair ''Sure''.

Renè brought him into another room so that Bea could not hear.

''I know it's none of my business but… your friend can't leave the Army unless she tells why and she'll be in trouble if she does. So… since she wants to stay, let her do it. If pregnancy goes as it should, she can be around for five months at least. ''

''René, she can't be in the cold, freezing her ass, with no food and in serious danger doing her job! D'you understand it?''

''That I do, Gène. But we'll find a solution. Listen: she's not going to get away anyway. I know this feeling. I would do the same. She wants to be useful for the cause, Roe, as you do. She has the right to do her job.''

Eugène knew Captain Laurenti was well-known to be stubborn and that his words would've got her only more upset.

''what do you suggest to do?''

''I'm going to look for some bread and all the food I can provide. I'll seek for some blankets as well. If she feels bad, you'll take her here and we'll call the doctor, ok?''

''And what will it happen when we're going away? Or worst, when we're going to attack?''

''One day at a time, Gène.''

Roe knew he had no other choices. He got back to Bea and explained to her how they would've acted. She was visibly concerned and just listened to Eugène nodding at his every word.

''Bea… you can still leave and…''

''No discussions, I told you.''

''Don't you wanna…you know, warn the father at least?''

''No, I don't'' she answered sharply.

''But you know who the father is, don't you?'' Roe asked almost sheepishly.

Bea froze at the question. Of course she knew who the father was. She felt a ping in her heart since she knew she could not tell him.

''That I do, Gène.''

Eugène waited in silence, thinking that she was going to tell him the father's name, but the name didn't come and so he decided to give her some time to rest in a real mattress prior to heading back to the battlefield, where she would've spent all her pregnancy.

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When she woke up, it was early morning. She found Eugène sleeping on a ruined sofa with his friend, the nurse who took care of her while he was away. Deciding he needed to rest as well, she went out for a walk after taking her pill. It was not as freezing as it was in the woods. The town itself was very suggestive. Bea had lived in Italy during her childhood and then moved to California, so she hadn't really got the chance to enjoy snow and being in the woods, with nothing good in her stomach and wet clothes made snow a torture. But now she was fine and could enjoy it completely. She took some in her hands and figured how soft it was. Walking through the streets she could definitely tell that once the town was even better since most of the buildings were destroyed and it looked like everyone living in Bastogne left but the medics and the nurses. All the stores had planks blocking the entrances, most of the shop windows broken into pieces. Actually, she was starting to feel like she was walking in a haunted town when she jumped into a little book shop, and she could not help herself to get in, as she was moved by a magic power or attraction. When she opened the door, a small bell rang and instantly an old and thin as a stick man appeared behind the counter.

''Vous désirez quelque chose, madame?''

''Uhm, no no, monsieur uhm… Je regarde seulement'' Bea managed to say in what she thought her better French. The shelves were full of old dusty books, which made them even more appealing to her. She hadn't read for a while. She was glad to notice there were all her favorite authors: from Svevo to Lorca, from Shakespeare to Joyce, and so on. There were also some philosophy books: Plato, Schopenheur, Feuerbach…she could not believe her eyes. Then, one of them caught her attention: ''Thus spoke Zarathustra'' by Friedrich Nietzsche. She tenderly smiled, remembering a time when she had explained to Dick the principles of the German philosophe; it seemed like a lifetime ago, when things were easier, normal and… she put her hand on her belly: Dick Winter's baby was growing in her and weirdly, she didn't feel so confused and frustrated as she was when Eugène gave her the bad (or good) news.

''Combien coute-il, monsieur?''

''Trois francs, madame'' the old librarian said, smiling at her. She looked for the money in her pocket and gave it to the man.

''Merci beaucoup, madame''

''Pas de quoi, monsieur, bonne journée.''****** She greeted and got back from the little bookstore. Christmas was coming, and she already had the perfect present for Captain Winters.

Do you need something?

Uhm, no, I'm just having a look

How much this?

Three francs

Thank you very much

Not at all, have a good day