When Angels Fall

by Sherryl D. Hancock

  “Sky and I work for Los Angeles Fire Department’s Air Operations,” Jams told her.

  “They rescue people,” Sebastian put in, he’d been silent most of the morning, but he wanted to make sure that Benny’s parents understood that his sister saved people’s lives now.

  Jessie and Bill senior exchanged a look, knowing exactly why Sebastian had said what he had. They’d had a number of discussions about wanting to talk to Skyler Boche’ and also Daniel Laurent “Jams”. Bill senior wanted to leave things alone, but knew that it was eating his wife up inside, and not wanting her to suffer. He was also afraid of what he’d hear about his son if he let them tell them.

  Jessie nodded at Jams, smiling, “It sounds like its right up your alley,” she said.

  “Skyler does the piloting, but I help,” Jams said, grinning.

  “And you know the difference between a copilot and a duck, right?” Skyler asked from the doorway of the dining room.

  “Ducks can actually fly,” Jams answered, giving his partner a narrowed look and a wide grin.

  That had everyone chuckling. Skyler walked over, leaning down to kiss Devin. She looked around at everyone then.

  “Good morning,” she said to the group as she sat down in the chair next to Devin’s.

  Good mornings were murmured, even as Devin got up to fix Skyler some coffee. Skyler watched Devin getting her coffee, smiling fondly as she recognized that Devin was trying to smooth things over for her.

  Devin turned back to the table, handing Skyler her coffee with a wink.

  “Thanks,” Skyler said, nodding as she took a sip of the coffee.

  Jessie watched the exchange, thinking that the two women seemed to have an easy relationship. She had no way of knowing how uneasy things had been at times, at that moment, however, they seemed to really connect.

  Everyone sat for a while, chatting about this and that. Skyler stayed silent for the most part, only adding a comment here or there.

  “We were talking about Benny’s crush on you this morning,” Jams told Skyler.

  “Really?” Skyler asked, raising an eyebrow at her partner.

  Jams chuckled, nodding.

  “We thought he was sweet on you,” Jessie put in, “from the way he talked about you.”

  Skyler smiled softly, “Yeah, that was a tough one,” she said, then looking at Jessie she continued, “He brought me flowers one morning and that’s when I knew for sure that he liked me in that way. I felt so bad that I had to sit him down and explain to him that I was gay. He took it like a trooper,” she said, smiling, “and he told me that if I ever changed my mind, he wanted to be first in line.”

  That had everyone at the table laughing.

  “That’s my boy!” Bill senior said, smiling proudly.

  “He eventually told us that you were gay,” Jessie said, “but he never stopped talking about what a great pilot you were, and how lucky he felt getting to be part of your crew.”

  Skyler nodded, looking effected by what Jessie was saying. “I loved that kid,” she said simply. She looked at Benny’s parents then, and knew she needed to tell them the story.

  “We were on a mission,” she began, feeling Devin’s hand on her leg squeeze gently, Skyler covered Devin’s hand with hers, giving it a squeeze, “that day, we thought it was going to be quick. We just needed to get some intel on an area they were looking at… We never even saw the group that shot us down,” she said, her tone haunted. “They took out our tail rotor, I tried to control the crash, and we almost had it, but we got hit again, that’s when we went down, but we bounced,” she said, her look faraway, back in Iraq, “we bounced hard.” She said her tone of voice telling them that this was grave.

  She let out an audible breath, struggling to hold back the tears that wanted to come, but knowing she wouldn’t get through this if she let herself cry, “Radar was killed on impact,” she said, gritting her teeth to maintain her control, “Benny was hurt, bad, but he was alive.”

  “And you?” Jessie asked.

  Skyler took a deep breath, blowing it out, “I broke a couple of ribs, punctured a lung,” she said as if the injuries were minor, “Jams banged his head up pretty good.”

  Jessie nodded, having wanted to know that information. The Army hadn’t told her about Skyler or Jams injuries, only that two members of the crew had been killed, including her son. She’d seen that Skyler and Jams had been wearing bandages and such at the funeral, but her focus had been on Billy.

  “We hadn’t made it out of the helicopter, we barely had a chance to figure out that Radar was gone, and Billy was hurt, when they got to us. They shot me, they shot Jams twice.”

  “They?” Bill senior asked, his tone horrified, because he was pretty sure what she meant.

  Skyler nodded, “Insurgents,” she told him.

  Bill senior closed his eyes, taking that in, his son had been taken prisoner. Then he looked at Skyler, suddenly realizing what that probably had meant for a woman.

  Skyler saw the look in Bill senior’s eyes and swallowed convulsively nodding to him.

  “Oh God in Heaven…” Bill said, his voice a whisper.

  Jessie looked over at her husband, not having grasped what her husband had.

  “A woman in hostile custody,” Bill said, taking his wife’s hands in his, “isn’t exactly treated gently.”

  Jessie’s mouth dropped opened in horror as she looked over at Skyler with eyes the size of saucers, “Oh my lord…” she uttered.

  Skyler drew in a breath, blowing it out as she stared down at the table, “They’d tied Jams up, because he was semi-conscious, but Benny was out, and I tried to stay quiet, not to scream. But then he woke up, and I tried to tell him to stand down,” she said, her voice breaking on the last, her look was miserable as she lifted her eyes to them, tears sliding down her cheeks, “But he wouldn’t listen,” she shook her head slowly, “they stabbed him… before I could do anything…” her voice trailed off as she hesitated.

  “That’s when she let them have it,” Jams said, looking over at his partner, his lips twisted in remembered anger, “She grabbed the knife that the guy had used, and she used it to stab him in the throat, then she took out the other two before they could blink.” His tone of voice was proud, even as tears were in his eyes. “I didn’t even have time to help her.”

  “You were barely conscious, and tied up,” Skyler told him, her voice stronger in her need to support him.

  Jams nodded, accepting her statement.

  “I got over to Benny,” Skyler said, “he was still alive at that point, but I could see he wasn’t going to make it…” she said, shaking her head sadly. “I held his hand, I told him that I loved him, and that he was going to be okay…” her voice trailed off as she remembered the feeling as the life left Benny’s eyes.

  “She’s the one that got us all to the truck outside, and back to base,” Jams said.

  Jessie stared at Skyler through her tears, unable to believe what she’d heard. How did anyone handle so much?

  “I’m sorry,” Skyler said, her voice a whisper, “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”

  Jessie got out of her chair and walked over to where Skyler sat, taking Skyler’s head in her hands and looking her in the eye.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” she told Skyler, “our son loved you, and nothing would have stopped him from trying to save you from that fate.”

  “If I hadn’t been there…” Skyler said, “a damned woman in Iraq…”

  “You can’t do that to yourself,” Bill senior said, reaching over to clasp Skyler’s shoulder, “You were there like everyone else, and you were serving your country, just like my boy was.”

  Skyler nodded, tears still falling silently. Jessie hugged Skyler to her, her tears flowing as well.

  Devin watched the scene with tears streaming down her face, knowing what it was costing Skyler to relieve that time, but also knowing that it was what she needed to do. It made Devin sick to hear the
details of what had happened, but she wouldn’t have wanted Skyler to go through this without her.

  It was a while before everyone was done crying. Even Sebastian had sat quietly, listening to his sister’s story again, and feeling his insides tie into knots. At one point, Skyler reached over and took his hand, squeezing it. He grinned at his sister, nodding.

  “I think we all need a good ride,” Bill senior said finally.

  Everyone started to laugh.

  In the end, that’s what they did, took a good long ride around the ranch. That night they had dinner, and then Jessie and Bill walked them out to their car.

  Jessie hugged, Skyler, thanking her again for everything.

  Bill senior, gave Skyler a hug and then a hard look, “You have to let this go now,” he told her, “You have to let him go.”

  Skyler grimaced sadly, thinking about her dream, but nodded.

  The sun was just setting in the sky, and the last ray of sunshine seemed to choose the perfect moment to shine down on them. Skyler smiled, thinking it was Benny telling her goodbye.

  Hugging Devin to her side, she smiled, and said, “Bye Benny,” in a whisper.

  When angels fall with broken wings, I can’t give up, I can’t give in. When all is lost and daylight ends, I’ll carry you, and we will live FOREVER…

  THE END

  Epilogue

  Devin woke Skyler up on Christmas Eve, Skyler’s birthday.

  “Always waking me up on my birthday,” Skyler said, grinning as she rubbed her eyes and sat up.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” Devin said.

  “Another trip to Vegas?” Skyler asked, grinning.

  “Nope,” Devin said, grinning.

  Walking over to the door, Devin opened the door, and in bounded a black and white husky pup. The puppy jumped up onto the bed, and straight into Skyler’s arms, licking her solicitously.

  “Oh, my God…” Skyler said, half laughing as she tried to stave off the puppy’s attention.

  Devin watched, grinning, “Sandy said you might be able to train the puppy to help with the PTSD,”

  Skyler nodded, even as she smiled at the dog’s antics. Reaching out she turned the tag around on the collar. It read, “Benny”. Skyler chuckled, as she looked back at Devin.

  “I thought cause of the blue eyes,” Devin said.

  “It’s perfect, thank you,” Skyler said, leaning in to kiss her softly on the lips.

  The rest of the morning and day was spent getting everything they needed to make Benny a permanent part of the family. Skyler had moved in with Devin two months before, and things had been going very smoothly. After the visit to Texas, Skyler had been more determined to get her life back on track. She had regular appointments with Sandy, and felt like she was making good progress, as did Sandy.

  They were eating dinner later that evening, when Skyler got a text.

  “Damn,” Skyler said, looking at her phone.

  “What?” Devin asked.

  “Gotta go in,” Skyler told her.

  “Okay,” Devin nodded.

  Skyler left the house a little while later, kissing Devin, and giving Benny a good head rub.

  Skyler didn’t get home until two o’clock in the morning. She showered and crawled into bed beside Devin, having to maneuver around a firmly ensconced Benny, who wagged his tail at her and licked her hand. Leaning over, she kissed Benny on the head, then moved to kiss Devin on the cheek before she settled down to sleep.

  The next morning, Christmas morning Devin woke to find that Skyler had come in sometime during the night. She figured it had been late. Getting out of bed she went about her morning, letting Benny out to go potty and feeding him, as well as making some breakfast for her and Skyler.

  It was noon before Skyler stirred, and even then, Devin found her lying in bed staring up at the ceiling.

  “Good morning,” Devin said from the doorway.

  She grinned at Benny who’d found his way back into the bedroom and now lay protectively next to Skyler. Benny issued a sound that sounded like “aroo!” at Devin.

  “And good morning again to you,” Devin said, talking to the dog.

  She moved to lie down next to Skyler, kissing her on the lips as she did.

  “So, how’d that go last night?” Devin asked.

  “Ugh,” Skyler said, rolling her eyes, “I didn’t get home till about two,” she said.

  “And how did it go?” Devin asked again.

  Skyler grinned at her, “Three people, mom and two kids, one was a baby.”

  “Wow!” Skyler said, “And they’re all okay?”

  “Yep, minor scratches and stuff, but good otherwise. Their car is totaled, but thank God for car seats and airbags, they did their jobs.”

  “And you did yours,” Devin put in.

  “Yes,” Skyler agreed.

  “How old was the baby?” Devin asked then.

  “The little one…” Skyler said, thinking, “I dunno, maybe a couple of months, it was tiny.”

  “They’re like that when they’re little,” Devin said with a grin.

  “Do tell…” Skyler said, narrowing her eyes at Devin.

  “So, what about that?” Devin asked then.

  “What about what?” Skyler asked, surprised by the change in direction.

  “Babies,” Devin said.

  “What about babies?” Skyler asked, looking befuddled.

  Devin dropped her eyes from Skyler’s for a moment, picking at the sheet, “Did you ever want a baby?” she asked, her tone falsely light.

  Skyler moved her head, to get under Devin’s eyes, “A baby?” Skyler repeated.

  “Yeah,” Devin said, looking at her again, “I mean, did you ever think about having kids.”

  Skyler looked pensive for a long minute, then looked back at Devin, “How would that kind of thing go?” she asked.

  It was Devin’s turn to be taken aback, she’d expected a yes or no answer. She shrugged, going back to picking at the sheet and not looking at Skyler, “Well, using artificial insemination…” she began.

  “Babe, I know how lesbians have babies,” Skyler said, her grin wry, “I meant in our case.”

  Devin pressed her lips together, Skyler could see that she was nervous about the topic.

  “I was thinking that I’d be the one to get pregnant,” Devin said. “You wouldn’t have to, or anything… and I was thinking that maybe we could get Sebastian to donate sperm, so the baby would have your DNA too…” her voice trailed off as she realized she was getting ahead of herself. Skyler hadn’t even said she’d ever wanted kids.

  Looking at Skyler again, she could see the skeptical look on Skyler’s face.

  “I don’t know babe….” Skyler said, sounding doubtful, “I mean… I’m kinda traditional when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

  “Traditional?” Devin repeated her look shocked.

  “Yeah,” Skyler said, her look apologetic.

  “Like a mom and a dad, traditional?” Devin asked then, her voice reflecting her amazement over Skyler’s response.

  Skyler didn’t answer, just shrugging in response.

  There was a long moment, where Devin searched desperately for something to say, even as she’d begun to wonder if she knew Skyler as well as she thought she did.

  “Maybe,” Skyler said then, as she stretched, sliding her hand under her pillow, “if you wore this,” she said, pulling her hand out of the pillow and holding up a ring between her thumb and forefinger, “I could get behind the idea.”

  Devin stared at the ring, her mouth open in shock, looking at Skyler she saw the grin and the sparkle in her light blue green eyes. Then she narrowed her eyes at Skyler.

  “Are you asking me something?” she said, her tone heated.

  Skyler started to chuckle at the look on Devin’s face, “Yes,” she said, smiling now, “Devin, will you marry me?”

  Devin blew her breath out, giving Skyler a scathing look, “I should say no, just to get back at
you.”

  Skyler started to put the ring away, but Devin grabbed it, “But I’m saying yes!” she said then, laughing as Skyler moved to put it on her finger.

  Devin looked at the ring for a long moment; it wasn’t a traditional ring at all. It was channel set with emerald baguettes with one large marquise cut emerald in the center.

  “Not exactly a traditional ring,” Devin commented.

  “You’re not really a traditional girl,” Skyler answered.

  “Were you planning on giving this to me all along?” Devin asked.

  “Yeah,” Skyler said.

  “But you let me think that you thought I was crazy?”

  “Hey, I didn’t know we were going to be having a baby conversation this morning,” Skyler said, holding up her hand defensively.

  “True,” Devin said, looking down at the ring, then looking at Skyler, “but do you want a baby?”

  “With you?” Skyler asked.

  “Yeah,” Devin said, smiling softly.

  “Abso-freakin-lutely!” Skyler replied, grinning as she leaned in to kiss Devin deeply.

  Benny added his two cents, by nuzzling between the two of them, and licking them both excitedly on the face.

  The world was right again, and it was a wonderful day.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Sherryl D. Hancock lives in Sacramento, California. While this is her second published novel, “When Love Wins” was her first, she has been writing since she was a teenager. Including this work of fiction she has written 11 other lesbian romance stories. These stories as well as her earlier works are in the process of being published. In that body of works are 12 stories including one series.