by Emily Snow
I flip him off. “Fuck you, man.” I laugh and toss the pillow I’m holding and walk proudly to my room naked.
Three Months Later…
“So what you’re saying is you suck at beer pong? You’re a pussy, you have sand in your vagina and you’re scared I’ll embarrass you.” Mac pokes at my stomach as she taunts me.
“What I’m saying is it’s a little too late for me to be playing beer pong. I have to be on the range at zero six hundred tomorrow. I don’t think showing up there still drunk is a good idea.” I chuckle while holding her up close to my body. I lean down to her ear, “But if you’re ready to go back to the apartment, I’d be more than happy to show up tired in the morning.”
Her eyes light up and she pulls back, slamming her ball down on the table. “I’m out,” she says, pulling me out the door behind her.
I’m on the range before the sun is up. I left her lying in my bed asleep. Meadows hands me a cup of coffee. “So are you gonna marry that girl or what?”
That comment startles me. “What?”
“Come on, man. You haven’t stayed alone in three months. She’s got more shit at your place than at hers.” He shrugs. “It’s the next step, man. How did you feel when you left her in bed this morning?” He holds up a finger. “A. Like you wanted to climb back in there and go to sleep?” A second finger. “B. Like you wanted to wake her up with your mouth on her pussy?” A third finger. “Or C. Like you couldn’t get out the door fast enough?”
“Have you lost it, man? We aren’t ready for that.”
He looks at me like I’m stupid. “So if tomorrow she said, ‘I think we should see other people’ then you saw her at the bowling alley doing the shit you guys do with some other grunt, what would you do?”
My mind races. What would I do if I saw her with another man? I’d fucking kill him. She’s mine. She fits me like a glove. I don’t know of another woman, ever, that I’ve liked spending this much time with outside of my sister.
Meadows pushes my shoulder. “You should take care of that shit.”
I nod at him. After we leave the range, I stop by the jewelry store at the PX. She’s not going to want anything big and she’s not going to want your usual diamond blah blah ring. I keep looking over the case. The sales girl smiles at me again. “Are you sure she wouldn’t like one of these?” she says, trying to shove rings in my face that are more than a month’s pay. No thanks. Mac would kick my ass for that.
I shake my head. “Is there somewhere I can find rings that aren’t so cookie cutter? I mean, come on. I know you wanna sell me a ring but as a woman, can’t you say you’d rather have something that’s one of a kind? Or at the very least something special?”
She smiles. “Okay, there is a place off post in Columbus.” She writes down the address to the little place and slides it over to me. “She’s a lucky girl.”
“Thanks.” Taking the scrap of paper, I jog to my truck.
Thirty minutes later, I’m walking in to a little store called Valencia Jewelers. An older woman greets me at the counter. “May I help you?”
“I’m looking for an engagement ring. Something that’s not your standard, see it everyday diamond.”
She smiles. “Oh I see, it’s truly someone special. Let’s look over here.” I follow her to a case of rings. I see your standard run-of-the-mill engagement rings, but I also see some rare looking rings.
One catches my eye and I point to it. “I want to see that one.” She takes the odd colored ring out and sits it on the counter. “I think that’s it.”
“Oh, this is beautiful. It’s called rose gold, with a 2 carat morganite stone and the band has almost a carat of diamonds. It takes a special girl to appreciate a ring like this one.” She smiles.
I hold the ring up and look closer at it. “I’ll take it.”
“I know that look. You’re serious. I’ll get it packaged up. She can come back by and get it sized once to give it to her. It’s included in the price.”
“Whoa, I didn’t even think about her finger size. Thank you,” I say quietly.
She reaches across and pats my hand. “I’ve been doing this for thirty years. After a while you learn to read people,” she says with a wink before she walks away.
I let out a deep breath. I’m doing this. I’m really doing this. I’ve met her parents. She’s met mine. It’s going to be okay. My dad thinks she’s awesome and a hell of a football fan. My mom is happy she can cook. Her dad is okay with me, but her mom loves me. I haven’t met her brother because he’s still deployed. Fuck, I need to slow my brain down.
“Here you go, sweetie. I’ve got your ticket over here.”
Walking over to the register, I pay for the item that will lock in my future with the one woman who will always make me happy.
Six Months Later…
My mother fusses over my tie. “You look so handsome in your dress blues. I remember your father when he wore those Marine blues. Well, that’s how you and your sister got here.” She laughs, but I see her smile falter at the mention of my sister, Sassa.
I lean down and kiss her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”
She smiles. “Love you, too, baby boy.”
“Baby boy, how cute,” Meadows taunts.
“Shut up, ass.” That earns me a slap from my mother.
“Do not use that kind of language in the chapel, Sergio Mickel Nikolaev. You aren’t too old for me to switch your behind.” I hear Meadows chuckle. She spins and points her finger at him. “You, too, Christopher.” That shuts him up. She means business when she pulls out all three names and the last one being the original. Yes, Sassa and I learned that the hard way growing up.
We both just nod and mumble a “yes, ma’am.”
The door opens a few minutes later and Mac’s parents along with my dad and her brother walk in. Her mom, Nancy, covers her mouth with both hands and gives a small squeal. “Oh, you look so handsome.” She and Mom pull each other into a hug.
My dad grabs my shoulder. “You ready, son?”
I nod and then shake her brother, Lance’s, hand, followed by her father, Michael. Lance puts his arm around my shoulder. “Are you ready to deal with my sister twenty-four/seven? I’m going to go ahead and express my condolences, but I will tell you if you hurt her, I’ll kill you. I’m a SEAL, you know, so we’re better trained than you Army guys.”
I laugh. “Thanks. Remind me to bring my tanning lotion and bath robe for the spa the next time we visit you on the Navy base.”
He shakes his head. “Just jealous, man.”
My buddy, Phillips, sticks his head in the door. “You ready, man? They say it’s time.”
Meadows laughs. “Let me guess, Shannon.”
“Oh yeah, something about heels and pregnancy, she called you a bastard.” Everyone laughs as Phillips relays everything a very pregnant Shannon has said.
Michael slaps my back. “That’s my cue to go get the bride. Good luck, son. You’re going to need it.” Everyone scurries out of the room except Meadows.
He grins at me. “I’m glad you followed my advice on that. She is a good one. Have you guys talked about what you’re going to do when your orders send you to different places?”
I let out a big, unhappy breath. “We’ve filled out the DA4187 and some forms for married couples so we should always be stationed together, with the exception of deployments. But we’re both supposed to be here for at least another year and a half so we’ll cross that bridge later.”
Nodding his head in agreement, he says, “Okay, well let’s go.”
A few minutes later, I’m waiting at the end of an aisle for my woman to walk down it and my life to start.
I see Shannon’s petite, very pregnant frame walk through the door. Her dress swishes as she walks. Soon, Mac and her dad fill the doorway and my breath is hung in my throat. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. The smile on her face lights up the entire room for me. Meadows bumps me and whispers, “Breathe, brother. You aren’t any good to her i
f you pass out.”
The preacher chuckles as I finally let go of a breath.
Her dad puts her hand in mine. “She’s all yours. No returns.”
That gets a laugh from everyone close enough to hear.
The next fifteen minutes fly by and I say words I don’t even remember saying. I’m sure I got them right or someone would have stopped me.
Now, I’m kissing the woman who will be mine for the rest of my life. I mumble against her lips, “Damn, that feels good.”
“Same here, Sarge.” She giggles against my lips.
“You ready to break out that bikini in Destin, baby?” The honeymoon, this is the part of the wedding I’ve been waiting on.
“Oh yeah.” She sighs against me. “We just have to get through the reception first,” she reminds me and my spirit is crushed while she laughs at me.
Six Months Later…
As soon as I open the door to the apartment, I smell something wonderful. “Babe, what is that smell?”
She steps out of the kitchen with her hands on her hips. “Sergio, you better not be saying my Chicken Primavera smells. Your mom gave me the recipe.”
I laugh at how defensive she is. “I was saying it smells wonderful and please don’t tell my mom that. She’ll hit me with a wooden spoon.”
She saunters over to me. “I may just tell her that anyway.”
I reach and pop her on the ass. She laughs and runs back to the kitchen. I see more than just food for us when I follow her in. “Who’s coming for dinner?”
“Meadows, Shannon and Kale,” she replies.
“Oh, great. I know they haven’t been out much since Kale was born,” I say as I munch on a carrot.
“Yeah, I wanted to spend some time with them. You go get showered and dressed.” I grab another carrot and go to get ready.
A little while later, everyone shows up. I kiss Shannon on the cheek as she walks in, “You look beautiful, little momma.”
“Ugh. I don’t feel it, that’s for sure.”
We make a casual conversation over dinner. Shannon smiles, “So have you guys thought about when you’re going to start a family?”
Shannon laughs and I’m just sitting here. I’m sure I look like a cartoon character. Meadows shakes his head. “First off, do you want kids? I think my lovely wife forgets sometimes that not everyone wants kids.”
We both mumble something like “yeah, eventually.”
“Okay, well you have to think about schedules. I mean our lives move at a different pace than normal people. We start families earlier because separation can be frequent. I know Mac is going to be pretty much locked on a post, but you don’t know that. They could put her on a post somewhere that they need an admin overseas. You are going to be in and out all the time for missions after this school is over.” He shrugs. “It’s just something to think about. Our clocks don’t get to be like the rest of society.”
After we finish dinner and clean up, I’m waiting for Mac in bed. She crawls on the bed, snuggling up to my bare chest. “So what do you think about kids? I mean I guess we talked about everything else before we got married, but not that.”
“I know. I mean I know we want them, just when? But I also understand the point that he was making. Our lives do move at a crazy pace compared to other people. Your missions are very dangerous; mine, I could sustain a paper cut.”
I kiss her mouth. “Hey, you know you could end up somewhere that you’ll be used as more than an admin.”
She laughs. “I know, but your MOS is always going to take point. I know in my gut you’re going to have a deployment soon and all I can think about is what if you don’t come home? I have nothing from you. If I at least had your child, I’d have a part of you.”
I mull over what she’s saying in my head. She wants to always have a part of me. I want her to have that. “So, you wanna start now?” I say with a grin.
“Well, we can practice now, but I’m still on birth control.” I laugh at her, pulling the tank top over her head.
“Oh, we’ll practice,” I say as I reach down and clamp my mouth around her nipple, letting it go with a pop.
“You are way too sexy to be my husband,” she groans in my ear. Reaching down, she tries to shimmy her sleep pants off while I push my boxers down.
Sliding down her body, I run my finger up her wet core. “So wet for me.” I put my finger in my mouth. “So wet, and so good.” I spread her legs further as I lower my face to her pussy, licking and sucking until she screams my name and comes on my face.
“I need you inside of me, Sergio,” she pants.
Climbing up her body, I easily slide into her cum-soaked pussy. “Oh baby, your pussy is like Heaven.”
“Oh please, fuck me,” she cries.
I almost pull out and then slam back into her. “Oh yes,” she keeps crying out as I pound into her pussy. “God, Sergio, take me. Fuck me harder.”
Thirty minutes later, after we’ve both finished, I laugh and pat her on the ass. “Good practice.”
“Ha ha.”
I pull her close. “Throw your pills in the garbage.”
I feel her smile into my chest. “Okay.”
Six Months Later…
Packing my duffel bag, I smile at Mac. “I can’t believe when I get back, you’ll be like really pregnant and then not long after the baby is born, it’ll be time for a new duty station.”
She laughs. “I know. I’ll go from being six weeks and not showing to being a whale at close to thirty-two weeks. On the bright side, at least this is only six months and you’ll be back for the birth.”
“Yeah, I just hoped to be here for everything. Now by the time I get back, it’ll be almost over. I feel like I’m going to miss everything.” I feel her arm around my waist.
“It’s okay. We’ll do Skype and you’ll see everything. I’ll Facetime you at the gender ultrasound appointment. It’ll be fine, like you haven’t missed anything but the hot flashes and mood swings,” she comforts.
I pull her in and hug her. “I know; this is my job. We didn’t know this deployment was coming or else we would’ve planned better. It’s like Meadows said though, our lives just move at a different pace.”
She kisses my chest. “That’s right. Now let’s get this shit packed up. I need you to help me clean out the spare room so I can set it up as the nursery later.”
I kiss the top of her head. “That I can do.”
For the next three hours, she packs up stuff and I carry it to the locations she gives me. We joke, we laugh, we talk sports. “I’m telling you, Alabama is going to take the National title again this year.”
“Bullshit,” I tell her. “Georgia is looking pretty tough this year.”
“Care to put your money where your mouth is?” she says with her head tilted.
“Sure, I’ve got a hundred on Georgia.”
She nods. “Okay, well what if neither of them get there?”
I shrug. “Highest in the poll wins, but at a half rate. So fifty for the highest team, a c-note for the national champ.”
“Deal.”
Later, we’re lying naked in bed and she throws her leg over mine. “What time do you have to be there in the morning?”
“Zero-eight.”
She straddles my lap. “So, do you wanna sleep?” She leans down and nibbles my ear. “Or play?”
“Play, baby. I’ll have a fourteen-hour flight to sleep on, but what will feel like a lifetime without your pussy.”
She sinks down on my already stiff cock. “Mmm.”
“You know, we’ve always had an active sex life, but since you’ve gotten pregnant, it’s went crazy.”
She moans as she rocks on my lap. “Are you complaining? Plus, I’m like barely pregnant so I don’t think you can blame the hormones.”
I grab her ass to pull her in harder. “Fuck no. Just enjoying it.”
As she rides my dick, her tits bounce around. Even though she’s not that far along, her boobs are rounder.
She’s always had nice tits but boom, overnight they became porn star boobs. You can’t see much from the rest of her body, or I can’t anyway. She says her pants are tight, but I wouldn’t know. She goes a little faster, she’s enjoying being in control for once and I’m enjoying the show. “That’s it, baby, ride my dick with your wet pussy.”
“Oh god!” she cries out.
“Who do you belong to, Mac?” I groan.
“Only you, Sergio, only you,” she says right before she screams and we both come.
“I love you, baby,” I whisper into her hair after she’s collapsed on my chest.
“I love you, too.”
Almost Ten Weeks Later…
I hear the phone sound on my computer that alerts me of a Skype call coming in. I hit the button to answer. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey.” She looks tired.
“How’s it going? You look really tired.”
“Yeah, I just had a doctor’s appointment today and I had to go to the commissary. You know what that’s like on the first of the month.” She yawns.
“How was the doctor’s appointment?” I ask.
“Great! Everything is as it should be. Hold on a sec.” She shuffles something around. “Here are the latest ultrasound pictures.” She holds them up to the screen.
I laugh. “Okay, I have no clue what that is.”
About that time, Meadows bursts in. “It’s a baby, you dipshit.” He points to the screen. “See, there’s his little body and head. That’s the sack. Not his nut sack.”
“We don’t know that it’s a boy,” she declares. “That’s the next ultrasound in four or five weeks.”
Meadows and I both grumble about only having boys.
I hear Mac laughing and that’s the greatest sound on Earth. “Meadows, what if I had been on here naked for my husband?”
“You forget that time I walked up on you two going at it in the truck at the bowling alley. I’ve seen it all. Doesn’t faze me. Shannon is all the woman I see. You keeping an eye on my girl, Mac?”
“Yes. She’s doing great. You talk to her every day and I’m going to watch Kale for you guys to have a private Skype call tomorrow,” she says with a grin.