The Grunt

by Nelson, Latrivia S.

  At first, she had shied away from the idea. After all, their relationship could have ended uneventfully and been just one more testament to her bad choices in men. But since she had fallen more in love with Brett, even though they had called off their half-ass engagement, she felt it was time to face her father and admit her feelings. Besides, she wasn’t a child anymore. And she didn’t owe her father anything. Still, there was a mounting hesitation.

  While she had never made her father happy, she always wanted to. And every time that she let him down, it hurt her deep in her heart. Whether it was about her not finishing school at Yale, moving in with a surfer, being robbed of all her money or changing her major excessively, she had never gone a year in her adult life without thoroughly disgusting him.

  Without asking, she knew that he would be in complete disapproval about Brett. Her father had always hoped that she would graduate from college, get a good job and become an officer’s wife. However, every man that he’d ever brought home for her to meet was impeccably flawed. Often boisterous, snobby and elitist, she had found out in the first private conversation with every suitor that her ideas about life did not sync with theirs. In fact, she had even gotten into a debate that led her to hang up on Captain America, the name she had given the guy that her father had brought to Thanksgiving dinner last year.

  Now, she was about to walk into her family’s house and tell her father that she had found someone. Only, Brett wasn’t wealthy. On top of that, not graduating from an Ivy League school, he had absolutely no college education, and he probably never would. He was a widower and a father to a child that wasn’t biologically his. He was raised on a farm by a poor family and he was die-hard, enlisted Marine. But he treated her like gold and made her feel important, which was more than any of the men that she had ever been with before had done.

  “You can do this, Courtney,” she said to herself as she stepped out of her truck. The sun shone down on her, giving her strength as she made her way up the stairs to the house. Turning the knob, she felt butterflies erupt in her stomach and nearly pick her up and lift her inside.

  “Hello,” she said as she heard Cameron giggle.

  “In here,” her mother called out.

  Taking off her shades, Courtney slowly walked through the house into the sunroom where her mother was sitting with Cameron watching television and cutting coupons.

  Mrs. Lawless looked up with a warm smile and put down her paper. “How was your date?” she asked as she motioned with her eyes that her father was in the far corner of the room in his chair.

  “It was great,” Courtney said, stepping down the steps in the room. Cameron jumped up from his seated position on the floor and ran to her to give her a big hug.

  “Where’s Daddy?” he asked as she pulled him up in his arms.

  “At home,” Courtney answered, kissing his cheek. “Did you have fun with Grandma Lawless?”

  “She said to just call her grandma,” Cameron corrected in a whisper.

  “Just grandma it is,” Courtney said, setting him down. “Boy, you’re getting heavy. In just a minute, you’ll be picking me up.” Turning around finally, she looked over at her father who sat in his favorite chair reading a book. “Hey, daddy.”

  “Hello, Courtney.” He put his book in his lap and pulled at his glasses. With his legs crossed and wearing a pair perfectly starched khakis and a polo, he looked even more formidable than in his uniform. He always had. “I want to talk to you,” he said, looking at Cameron. “Alone.”

  Courtney knew what that meant. She gave her mother a nod and then followed him out of the room to the kitchen, where she sat down at the table with David, who was using his laptop.

  “What’s up,” David said, stuffing a sandwich in his mouth.

  “Hey,” Courtney said, grabbing a cookie from the plate in the middle of the table.

  “I’ve noticed that you’ve acquired an entire family since you started working for this Marine,” Colonel Lawless said, without beating around the bush. He ran a glass of water in the sink and looked out the window at his backyard.

  “Well, I’m not just working for him anymore, Daddy. We’re seeing each other.” Courtney’s voice was calmer than it was when she usually spoke to him. Looking across at her brother, she pulled the cookie from her mouth. “He needs to talk to me alone, David. Take a hike.”

  “He can stay. His input will be relevant,” Colonel Lawless said, turning around. He looked at his daughter with concern. All he had ever wanted for her was the best. Now this? How could he manage to continue covering up her antics?

  “What could David possibly add to this conversation?” Courtney asked with a snarl. “All he wants to do is meddle.”

  “He’s his commanding officer,” the Colonel answered. “But I’m sure that you already know that.”

  “Yes, I know it.” Courtney sighed. “But why does that matter?”

  “Do you think that you’re in love? Is that it?” the Colonel asked. He walked over and sat at the head of the table across from both of his children like he had done their entire life.

  “I am in love,” Courtney confirmed. Her eyes were bright with conviction.

  “Courtney, he only needs a babysitter. Once he comes back from deployment, he’s going to get rid of you,” David said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Plus, he could only be doing this to stick it to Dad.”

  “He didn’t even know that I was the daughter of his colonel until after I took the job,” Courtney defended. “And after he found out, he wanted to let me go. He didn’t want any trouble.”

  “But he didn’t let you go, did he?” the Colonel asked.

  “No. I insisted. Plus, he needed me,” Courtney answered honestly.

  “So you’ll admit that this relationship is about convenience,” the colonel said flatly.

  “It started out as one. We both needed something from each other,” Courtney said with her nostrils flaring. “But we fell in love.”

  “Don’t be so naïve,” the colonel said, reaching his hand out to touch his daughter. He looked down at her little hand and felt a swell in his heart. She was so beautiful, so precious. All he wanted to do was protect her. “I love you. Your brother and mother love you. This boy is seeing you because he needs someone to watch his son. He can’t deploy if he doesn’t. I’ve read his file. He’s going up in the Corps. Having this child now will only slow him down. This is about his career, Courtney. He is using you.”

  Tears ran down her face. Why couldn’t he see what she saw? “No, it’s not about his career anymore. He loves me, Daddy. I know it.” Her voice cracked.

  “Then why hasn’t he come over here yet? I’ve seen Cameron more than I’ve ever seen him. Why hasn’t he come here to introduce himself, to let me know that he loves you? Instead, he keeps you over there like a kept woman. Why would he do that if he wasn’t using you?”

  Courtney couldn’t answer that. She wiped the tears and looked over at her brother, who was moved by her tears but unmoved by the very idea of Brett Black. “I don’t know. I’m sure he was afraid of how it would look…just like me.”

  “You make sacrifices for love. You stick your neck out for the woman that you love. You don’t hide behind her skirt,” the colonel explained. Reaching for a napkin, he passed it to her. His voice was softer now that he realized that he was getting through to her. Moving a strand of hair from her face, he touched her chin. “I’ve decided that you can stay here until you finish school, and I’ll even pay your tuition, if you let this boy and his son go. Cameron is a good boy. I can see why you fell for them, but I have to think of you now. You’re my child.”

  Courtney was flabbergasted. Her eyes were wild with pain. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, I love him. And I’m not leaving them.”

  “Courtney, take this. It’s a good offer,” David pleaded. “Plus, we deploy in December. Are you going to stop your entire life to raise his kid while he’s gone?”

  “Yes,” Courtney answered. �
��I love Cameron, and he needs me. Brett needs me. How many times do I have to say it?”

  “What about you?” the colonel asked. “What do you need? I never saw you as the barefoot and pregnant type. That is about all he can offer you. And he probably plans to do so without marrying you. He’s going to ruin your life.”

  “It’s not like that. We connect on a different level. He makes me happy. He makes me feel important.”

  The Colonel cringed. “A man shouldn’t make you feel important. You should do that on your own.”

  Pushing away from the table, she stood up and walked over to the counter. Turning away from them, she clasped her shaking hands together. “All I’ve ever wanted in this world was to make you happy, Daddy. I wanted to live up to the standards that you set out for us. And it was painful when David could always rise to the occasion, and you could always count on me not to.” She wiped her face again. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I really am. For all the times that I let you down, I am so very sorry. But I love Brett.” She turned around to face him. “And I’m not giving him up.”

  “That’s quite enough, Jeffery,” Mrs. Lawless said, stepping quietly into the kitchen. Looking over at her husband, she gave a deathly admonishing look that made him sit up straight in his chair. “And David, who are you to talk about relationships? You’ve put the Marine Corps first since before your little testicles dropped. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t get a wife until your father issued you one.”

  David’s eyes narrowed on his sister, who cracked a smile even in her tears.

  “There is someone here to see you,” Mrs. Lawless said, walking up to her daughter. “He’s in living room.”

  Courtney’s eyes grew bright with confusion. “Brett?”

  Mrs. Lawless shook her head. “Yes. He called me on my cell and asked for directions to our house.” She looked over at her husband. “I expect you gentlemen to give them the privacy that they need to talk.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” David answered as he looked over at his father.

  The colonel, however, did not speak a word.

  ***

  Sitting alone in the living room on the end of the couch, Brett waited for Courtney. Never in his life had he been so uncomfortable, so nervous. His commanding officer and battalion commander were in the next room, probably tearing his girlfriend a new one, and here he was in the living room, unannounced and unwelcomed. Still, he knew what he was doing was right. And there was an urgency in him that wouldn’t let him wait a second longer.

  Courtney rounded the corner with red, puffy eyes and went straight to him with open arms. She had never been so happy as to see his face. He stood up to receive her, giving her a big hug. Electricity exploded between the two as they touched. He could feel the need and vulnerability oozing from her as he held her in his tight embrace. It made him want to hold her forever.

  “Oh, my God. Are you alright?” he asked, moving her chin up to see her face better. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m fine now,” she said, holding him tighter. “What are you doing here?” She tried to muster a smile, even in her sadness. “Did you come to get Cameron?”

  “I’m here for you,” he said softly. “I need to talk to you about something, and it couldn’t wait.”

  “Okay,” Courtney said clueless to his intentions. She only hoped that he did not come here to break up with her. She would never live it down.

  Brett took her hand and led her back to the couch. As they sat down, he wiped her face again and smiled. “This isn’t about awesome seats to a concert. This isn’t about cooking and cleaning or watching my son.” He bit his lip and concentrated. There was no way that he was going to mess this up with his fumbling. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “You know, the first time that I asked you, I messed it up. That’s why I took it back. I knew that you deserved more than that. I don’t even know why I came to you like that before. It was stupid. But I’ll be damned if I let you slip out of my hands. I’ve never been happier in my entire life, Cort. And if you give me a chance, you’ll never be happier.” Pulling the box from his pocket, he got down on one knee in front of her and opened it.

  “Will you please marry me?”

  The breath leaped from Courtney as she looked at the princess cut diamond in the black box propped up in his hand as an offering. Her eyes gleamed with happiness and relief. The ring was beautiful and she could tell by the cut and clarity that it was expensive, but she would have taken a gold band right now. All she wanted in the world was to be his wife.

  “Don’t answer that…yet,” a voice interrupted from behind them.

  They turned to see Colonel Lawless at the door. He had been eavesdropping and seemed not to shy about it. With his hands shoved into his pockets, he stepped into the room. “Hey, it’s my house. My rules.”

  Brett stood up immediately. “Sir,” he said, almost locking his feet to attention.

  “Daddy…” Courtney pleaded.

  The colonel put up his hand to quiet her. “Brett, it seems you’ve got my only daughter all wrapped up in you, son. And not just you…your son too.”

  “Yes, sir,” Brett answered.

  “But as her father, you have to understand my concern. That’s why I need you to know - before you finish proposing and she finishes giving you an answer - that regardless of how I have behaved in the past, Courtney means everything to me and this family. She’s a special woman, and I don’t think that there is anyone in the world like her.”

  “She means everything to me and my family as well sir,” Brett answered seriously. “Permission to speak very frankly sir?”

  The colonel smirked. “We’re not on the base. Speak as freely and frankly as you need to. Now is the time.”

  Brett relaxed his shoulders and walked up to the colonel. “I’m not a hopeless romantic. I’m not fool-hearty or desperate. And I’m no user. I’ve been to war with you, sir, several times. I’ve put my life on the line for this country and served you well. I know what you’re thinking. I’m not good enough for her. And maybe you’re right about that. But it doesn’t overshadow the fact that I love, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it. I’ll take care of her, make her happy and I’ll never leave her.”

  “You know that’s a promise that you can’t make in your line of work,” the colonel corrected.

  “Something will have to take me away, just like it would have to take you away, but you’d never willingly go and neither will I.” Brett clenched his jaw. “Give me a chance, sir. I love Courtney. I want her to be my wife.”

  “So I have heard all day,” he said, hearing Mrs. Lawless’ footsteps behind him. He looked over at his daughter, who sat quietly on the edge of the couch. “She’s absolutely amazing, you know. She sees the world not as it is but as it should be. Her heart is made of pure gold, and I don’t want it damaged any more than it already has been.”

  “I understand, sir. And I listened to what Captain Lawless said to me about making her an honest woman, and I’m trying to do that right now…the right way,” Brett explained.

  Courtney stood up. “Yes, Brett, I’ll marry you,” she said, unable to wait on her father’s blessing.

  Brett turned and looked at her, then turned back to Colonel Lawless. “With your permission, sir.” He waited.

  The colonel couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Permission granted,” he said, nodding. “You treat her right. As a matter of fact, you treat her better than right, you treat her perfect.”

  “Yes, sir, I will,” Brett said, turning back to Courtney.

  She ran quickly up to him and hugged him again before he slipped the ring on her finger. Looking down at it, she wiped the tears from her face and shook her head. “I love you so much.” Her eyes found his again before he bent to kiss her lips.

  “I love you, too,” Brett whispered into her ear. “I always will.”

  The colonel was moved by the sight and even reminded of when he first fell in love with Mrs. Lawless. He turned to see
Diane in the corner with tears in her own eyes as she held on to Cameron. She nodded to him proudly. He smirked to himself, knowing he had done the right thing finally by his daughter. “Well, now that that is done, why don’t you two join us for dinner,” he said, turning around to give them a moment alone. “Once you’re finished kissing and everything that is.”

  Courtney released her lips from Brett and laughed a little. “Yes, sir.”

  Epilogue