“He was in basic training in the states, that’s hardly the same thing as being suck in another country.”
“We will get up at seven thirty. This way we have time to get ready. Can I do your hair?”
I nodded; I knew she would ask. Bri was the type that loved getting all dolled up for any type of occasion. Going to store? Needed an outfit for that. Going to dinner? It was game on. This? Major game on.
“Just wake me when you are done with the bathroom. I’ll take a quick shower and you can have it back.” John grumbled getting into bed.
I looked in the mirror the next morning. My dress went down to my ankles.
“You look perfect.” She smiled.
“Thanks, but do you think it’s too much?”
“Not at all. Let’s go. We told mom and dad we would meet them in the lobby.”
I nodded and followed her and John out of the room and down the stairs to the lobby.
“Wow,” my dad said.
“You look great,” my mother noted.
“Thanks. Ready?” I asked, trying to get the attention off me.
We headed to the post. It took us a little bit to get through the gates, but I assumed that was just because the graduation was today plus anyone who was actually stationed here still had their normal jobs to do.
We were directed to go to the ceremony field.
“This is pretty cool!” Bri exclaimed as we took our seats.
I nodded as I nervously took my seat. Seeing Travis again made my stomach jump.
Chapter Six
Travis
I stood next to Collins as we waited to go out.
“I’m going to do it today,” I whispered nervously.
“Do what today?” he questioned, giving me a look.
“Ask Elena. And tell her I love her.”
“Today like today?”
I nodded.
“Are you insane?”
“No why? It seems like the best time to ask. Plus who knows how long until I get stationed somewhere, I want her to come with me.”
He shook his head. “Well at least I get to witness this!” He laughed.
When the ceremony ended, Collins and I stood close. His wife ran over and jumped into his arms.
“I have missed you something fierce!” she exclaimed.
“Missed you too, love.”
Kate, this is Travis Brown.”
“Nice to finally meet you. Daniel here talked about you in some of his letters.”
“Nice to meet you too, ma’am.”
“Travis here is going to tell his girlfriend he loves her today.”
“Aww that’s sweet!”
“And he’s going to propose.” Daniel laughed.
“Oh.”
I smiled and turned my attention to the crowd. There she was, squeezing her way through people with her brother and sister right behind her. And her parents.
My heart stopped for a second.
“Shit…” I breathed.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“Her parents are here too.”
“Don’t worry, just keep your plan. If she loves you, she’ll say yes no matter what.”
I nodded and focused on Elena.
“Wow,” I said when she reached me.
She pulled me into a tight hug.
“You’re here,” she whispered in my ear.
“I’m here.” I pulled back. “And you brought your parents.”
She sheepishly smiled. “Yeah, they wanted to come.”
I nodded, “Wish I would have known that. I uh. I wanted to tell you something.”
She swallowed hard.
Before I could say anything, my grandparents walked up to me.
“I’m so proud of you!” my grandfather beamed, hugging me tight.
“Thanks granddad.” I turned my attention to my grandmother who was already crying.
“You look so much like your grandfather did when he was serving.”
We both laughed.
“Oh, I wanted to introduce you both to Elena.”
“So nice to meet you dear.” My grandmother sniffed.
“You too.” She smiled. She turned to me. “What did you want to say to me?”
“I love you,” I replied without even thinking.
A smile spread across her face, “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Thank goodness, I love you too!” she said as she pulled me into a kiss.
I pulled back, “There’s more.” I sucked a deep breath and looked over at Daniel who nodded toward me.
I looked back at her.
“I’ve wanted to tell you I love you since before I left, but you didn’t want me to say anything mushy. I’ve had some time to think during my time here, and I can’t do this without you. I know how you are about public displays.” I took her hands in mine, “Marry me? Come with me around the world and take an epic adventure with me.”
She bit her lower lip and a smile crept across her face as she nodded.
I pulled her tightly into me. Our lips connected.
My grandmother’s joyous cries were all I heard besides the cheers from Daniel and a few of the other men around us.
When I pulled back, I saw the sheer shock on her parent’s face.
“I’m sorry, I should have asked you first, I just didn’t want to wait.”
Elena turned around to face her parents.
“No,” her father said before storming off.
Her mother ran after him as Elena turned back to face me.
“They will come around.”
“Congrats man!” Daniel pulled me into a hug.
John and Bri both hugged us, congratulating us.
“Now what?” Elena asked me as we headed back to the parking lot.
“Now I come home with you. I have a couple weeks of hometown recruiting to do and then I’ll report to Fort Stewart.”
“So, we have to get married in two weeks?”
“Preferably. This way there is no issues with you and I living together.”
“Oh! Leave that to me. I’ll get you the perfect wedding.” Bri clapped.
“We need to work on mom and dad first.” Elena sighed.
“They are just shocked, that’s all.” John waved.
We got back to the hotel and Travis dropped his stuff in the room.
“I’ll be right back,” she said as she walked back out of the room.
I sat down at the table with John.
“So, marrying my sister, huh?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah…”
“You didn’t think this through. It’s not too late you know.”
I laughed. “Oh but it is. I love her.”
“Oh well then shit, I’m sorry.”
I laughed.
Elena came back a few minutes later looking mentally exhausted.
“What happened?” I asked, rising from my chair.
“They want to have dinner with you.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I tried to get you out of it.”
“Well aren’t you going too?” I asked. My throat was dry.
She shook her head. “Sorry, they specifically said just you.” She took a step closer to me.
“Just breathe. Be yourself. Don’t back down. You’ll be fine. Order light, eat quick and you will be out of there in no time.”
I sighed, this is not what I wanted to do tonight. Going to dinner with her parents scared me more than going to Iraq.
Elena and I spent the afternoon picking out a ring. There were a few ring shops nearby and I didn’t want her to have to wait for a ring.
“You ready for dinner?” she questioned when we got back to the hotel.
“Not really, but I don’t really have a choice now do I?”
She shook her head.
“Oh, and my grandparents want to have us over for dinner when we get back.”
She nodded. “Okay. You better head down to the restaurant.”
I kissed her goodbye and headed out of th
e room and down to the hotel restaurant.
“Can I help you?” the hostess questioned as I stood in front of the desk looking around.
“Oh um, yes I’m meeting a couple here.”
“He’s with us,” Elena’s father said from behind me.
I slowly turned my body to face them.
“Good evening,” I managed to get out.
“Travis,” he replied. I followed them to the table and sat down on the opposite side. It was awkward. The last family dinner I had with them I told them I was enlisting in the army. This time, I had just proposed to their daughter. I couldn’t imagine what the next dinner announcement will be.
We ordered and they didn’t waste any time.
“So, you are going to marry Elena?” Vince asked.
I nodded, swallowing air. “Yes sir.”
“Have you even thought this through?” Mary whined.
“Yes, I had about five months to think about it. Five months to come up with the idea and five minutes to realize that she’s the one person I want to spend forever with.”
“But what kind of life can you give her in the military? Aren’t you going to be shipped away for most of your marriage?” Vince questioned, taking a sip of his water.
“No. Yes I will get deployed, but that doesn’t mean that I will spend most of our marriage away from her. She will get to travel, meet new people and experience a life that not everyone is a part of.”
“Do you think she’s ready for that? Ready to leave her family?” Vince questioned, his voice rising.
I shook my head, “She didn’t tell you?”
“Tell us what?” Mary asked.
“I’m stationed at Fort Stewart. She doesn’t even have to move out if she doesn’t want to, but I’d like her to live with me on post.”
“Fort Stewart is about an hour from us, isn’t it Vince?”
He nodded. “But what happens when you leave there? Then you are moving her away from her family.”
“Eventually yes, we will move, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t come back and visit you guys anytime she wants. She isn’t going to be a prisoner.”
Vince shook his head, “I just can’t approve this unless I know that my daughter will be well taken care of and I’m not seeing how you being deployed will be taking care of her.”
I sighed, “She will always have a roof over her head. She will have insurance; she will always have the chance to do whatever she wants to do. And most importantly, she will be loved. She will be well taken care of.”
Vince gave me a look; he knew I was right.
Chapter Seven
Elena
“Will you please sit down,” Bri cried as I paced the hotel room.
“I just hate that I’m not there. I should have gone downstairs and spied on them somehow.” I sighed, flopping down into the chair by the desk.
“And risk getting caught by mom and dad, are you insane?” John questioned.
He had a point. If they caught me spying it would have been an entirely different situation.
Travis walked through the door moments later and like a magnet, I was standing in front of him.
“Well?” I asked.
“They aren’t fully onboard with the marriage, but they aren’t against it either.”
My body slightly relaxed. I could live with that for now.
“So, what it horrible?” Bri questioned.
He tilted his head back and forth. “Yes and no. At first, they were really against the fact that Elena wouldn’t be taken care of, but I won them over. And it definitely helps that my first duty station just happens to be about an hour away from where you all live. I think that really helped our case here.”
I clapped. “So we are getting married then?”
“We are getting married.” He smiled, wrapping his arm around my body.
“Perfect! I need color suggestions.”
Travis leaned back and looked at me, “That’s all you darlin’.”
“We’ll do the guy thing like leave all the planning to you ladies.” John laughed.
***
Our wedding was fast approaching. We flew home the next day after his ceremony and that week had dinner with his grandparents. They were beyond thrilled to be gaining a granddaughter.
I on the other hand, I was a nervous wreck. I was getting married before I even graduated college.
Travis was busy throughout the day with the recruiter. Going to high schools, the mall, anywhere they could recruit someone.
“Are you sure you want to marry me?” I asked over the phone to Travis that night.
“Of course I do. Tomorrow I’ll be waiting at the end of the aisle for you. I’ll be the one in the monkey suit, smiling.”
I giggled, “Okay. Well I’ll be the woman in white.”
“I love you,” He whispered before hanging up.
I set the phone down on my charger and got comfortable in bed. Tonight, was my last night as a legally single woman. Tomorrow I started a life that I never expected to be in.
***
I stood in my old bedroom of my parent’s house.
“Wow…” my mother gasped as she walked into the room.
“No. No crying yet,” Bri begged as she put the finishing touches on my make-up.
“You look beautiful honey.” My mother cried.
Bri threw her hands up in the air, shaking her head as she walked around me. I felt her stick the veil into my hair.
“All finished,” she said as she turned me to face the mirror.
“You look beautiful.”
I smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you so much.”
“Anytime. But I hope this is the only time.” She laughed, kissing my cheek.
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” she said as she skipped out of the room.
My mother turned to me. “I promise, I’ll make this quick. I know your wedding day came faster than we expected and we didn’t expect having in it the backyard. But I can see how happy you are. How excited you both are for your future together. Just remember to never go to bed angry, and always make time for each other. Even if it’s just a phone call for a bit.”
I nodded, holding back the tears. Everything about this terrified me.
“Let’s go, the guys are waiting.” She cried, wiping her tears and hugging me tight.
It was starting to sink in that I was actually going through with this.
My dad, standing at the bottom of the stairs, made that feeling official. He smiled brightly seeing me come down the stairs.
“Sweetheart…” he whispered.
“Hi daddy.”
That got him.
My mother kissed his cheek before walking around us and out back where a lot of our friends, and some family, waited patiently.
“Ready?” my dad asked.
I nodded, “Don’t let me fall.”
“Never. I’ll always catch you, tootsie.”
That made my tears start. I loved the nickname my father had for me.
We began down the aisle after Bri. My dad’s grasp on me was tight.
When I looked up, Travis stood at the end. Beaming. Suddenly I felt calmer, more relaxed.
My father kissed my cheek, and slowly released my hand to Travis.
“Sir.”
My father nodded and took his seat next to my mother.
Travis’s hand linked with mine as we turned to Pastor Cain.
“Congratulations!” Cora said, walking up to me as I stood off toward the house away from a lot of the crowd.
“Thanks.”
“He seems really happy, you know,” Cora noted, looking back at Travis.
“I am too.” I smiled at the man laughing with my brother across the yard.
“You know, I thought he was nuts when he said he was getting married.”
I laughed. “I thought he was nuts when he asked.”
“You two really do make a cute couple. I hear he’s going to be stationed in Fort Stewar
t?”
I nodded.
“Cool, so you both will still be close enough to visit.”
“Yeah. My parents are super thrilled too.” I laughed.
“Attention!” My mother yelled tapping her fork to her glass.
I stepped away from the house and over to Travis.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone for coming out on such short notice to celebrate these two.” She beamed and looked directly at us.
“We know you two don’t have time to have a huge honeymoon, so your father and I booked you two in a suite in Savannah by the river. It’s a golf course and spa resort for the weekend.”
I sucked in a breath and held back the tears.
“It’s too much,” Travis whispered in my ear.
I turned to him. “I know, but it’s how they do things.”
He nodded and thanked my parents.
Everyone started to go back to what they were doing before.
My mom walked over and pulled me into a hug.
“Why don’t you two get out of here. We can handle the clean up and saying goodbye to the guests.”
“Thanks mom.” I cried. Part of me felt like I was leaving them behind. Like this new chapter in my life wouldn’t include them.
I turned around and Bri stood behind me with our bags.
“Have a great weekend!” she winked.
“Everyone! The happy couple is heading out!”
“Don’t forget to throw your flowers!” Bri giggled as she handed them to me and Travis and John loaded up our bags in the trunk of my car.
I stopped and turned around, tossing the flowers over my head behind me.
I slowly turned to see Cora holding them, blushing.
“Bye!” I yelled. I got into the car with Travis and we were off.
For the first time all day I was able to relax. My body rested into the seat as I took Travis’s hand.
“So now what?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well now that we are married, how does this work for your military career?”
“We don’t have to talk about this tonight.”
“I know, but I want to.”
“Well now I apply for us to get on post housing. Until then, we’ll figure it out. Worst case scenario, you stay at your parents for a bit until we get straight.”
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