My Secret Alpha Step SEAL

by Paula Mabbel

  “What is it?” Abi asked him with a look of concern in her eyes. He looked unnerved and that was filling her with a sense of dread about the up and coming battle.

  “You don’t need to worry.” Gregory said with a warm smile, as he read the expression on her face. “When I last went into battle I had nothing to fight for and I lost. Today I am going into battle and I will win because I want to come back to you. I want to come back to you no matter what, do you understand that?” He asked her with a serious face.

  Abi nodded. “Aye.” She said with a hushed voice because she wasn’t sure what was about to come out of his mouth.

  “Abi, I love you. I loved you from the moment that I awoke from my long sleep and felt your tears wetting my feet.” He said with a small chuckle. “I want you to be my wife. I want to marry you when I return from the battle today and I want our wedding to be the celebration that everybody remembers, not the bloodshed.” He said with a smile.

  Abi opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. She was shocked. She could barely believe the words that were coming out his mouth. He was too good for her. He could have any girl in the highlands and yet, he was asking her to be his wife. It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t make it make sense, even though she was trying to.

  “You don’t have to answer me now.” Gregory said, as he pushed himself up onto his feet. “I will be back tonight and then you can give me your answer.” He said with a smile. “Remember though, I’m not demanding this of you. I want you to only accept if it is right by your heart, even if that means it isn’t the best for your clan.” He said and then he walked out of the tent and left Abi to her thoughts.

  ******

  The day was long and full of nerves. Abi could hear the cries from the battlefield, even though she had been forced to wait behind at the camp. She had paced for what had felt like hours, as she tried to pass the time before her clan returned with the news from the battle. She could feel herself growing more and more frustrated with every clash of metal that she heard piercing the silence that otherwise hung.

  She knew what she wanted to tell Gregory. She had known from the moment he had walked out of the tent. She had thought about going after him, but he had told her to wait until the day had ended and she had forced herself to be patient. Her face ached with worry, as she looked up into the sky and noticed that dusk was finally starting to settle.

  The noises from the battlefield had died away some time ago and she wondered whether it was over. She wondered whether her clan was making their way back or whether the battle had truly been lost. She kept her eyes on the horizon and her heart started to speed, when she started to see moving figures over the horizon.

  She counted her men as they returned back to their settlement. She could feel her smile getting bigger, as she realized that not one member of her clan had been lost. She spotted Gregory, as he walked passed her tent and she rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She breathed deeply and took in the strong smell of sweat and blood that was pouring off him. She didn’t care though. “I want to marry you.” She said quickly, before he even had a chance to greet her. “I want to marry you.” She repeated and she could feel her face beaming.

  “I love you.” Gregory said, as he realized what she was saying. “You’re really going to be my wife?” He asked her with surprise in his eyes.

  “Aye.” Abi said and then she went to find her father to tell him the good news, so that they could start the celebrations at once.

  *****

  THE END

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  Sisters Of Faith

  “Keep your sleeves rolled up, or they’ll hang in the filling!” Miriam snapped at her sister. Hannah sighed and shoved her sleeves up onto her arms further, leaving a streak of flour on both of her arms.

  “The trick is to get it as firm as you can, but still moldable. The more you roll it out, the better it is going to be. More flour now! Don’t you listen?” Miriam gave a loud sigh of exasperation, and turned her attention to the stove.

  “This would be a lot easier if you would help me instead of yelling at me,” Hannah muttered under her breath.

  “What did you say!?”

  “Is this good enough now, sister dear?” Hannah used her sweetest voice, although she was feeling quite frustrated with her older sister at this point. The two girls had been in the kitchen all morning, and both were equally ready to be done with the baking.

  “I suppose it will have to do. Set it in the icehouse for an hour to chill it really well, then we are going to form it in the pie plate and add the filling. And remember to let out the chickens!” Miriam called after her sister, who was already out the door with the pie dough in her pail.

  Hannah was happy to be out of the stuffy kitchen. She didn’t mind helping her sister with the baking. It had been her older sister’s duty to do all of the baking and cooking since their mother had passed on a few years before, but lately Hannah had been trying to give her sister a hand when she could.

  Miriam had a knack for baking, but Hannah did not. In fact, Miriam had a knack for everything the Amish women were supposed to know. She could cook and bake, sew and clean, and she knew her way around a barn raising as though she had been born to help.

  Hannah, on the other hand, was clumsy. She was impatient with sewing, and she never had the patience to let something bake for long enough. She was a dreamer, and often let her mind wander as she did her chores, more often than not resulting in bread that was burned on the edges but still doughy in the middle.

  The two sisters bickered about most things. Miriam was doing her best to turn her sister into a smaller version of herself, and Hannah was doing all she could to make her father proud of her, but found it difficult with her wandering spirit.

  Their father, Evan Miller, wanted nothing more than to raise two of the finest young women in the whole county. He wanted his daughters to be proper Amish girls, with good spirits and excellent skills, and a well-rounded education.

  He wanted to raise girls who knew they were to be at home minding the house and the children, and girls who would have made their mama proud. Hannah thought of her mother often. She had passed away when Hannah was only 11 and her sister 14, but her memory was still dear to their hearts, and not a day went by without them talking about her.

  “Mama could have made a pie crust with her eyes closed,” Hannah said to the hen that was at her feet as she closed the dough in the icehouse. She wished that her mother were there to help her learn all of these things. At 17 she had a lot of things on her mind, and it didn’t help that her sister was always pushing her to do more, and to do better.

  It wasn’t that her sister wanted her to do well, it was that Miriam wanted Hannah to be just like her. To like the things that she liked, and to do the things as she would do them. To never give a thought to anything but pies and quilts and babies.

  If Miriam has her way, she’ll be married with two children by next Christmas! Hannah rolled her eyes as she saw her sister through the window, busily washing the sink full of dishes.

  It wasn’t that Hannah didn’t want those things, too, it was just that she didn’t think she was going to get them. She wasn’t good at keeping house, and she wasn’t good at sewing. She wasn’t what the young Amish men were looking for in a wife.

  Suddenly, Hannah ducked behind the pile of wood that was by the door. She saw a car coming up the road, and she was pretty sure she knew who was driving it. It was uncommon to see cars in these parts, especially at this time of the day.

  They were pretty far into the Amish community, and all of the neighboring farms only had horses and buggies. Only s
omeone who was living in the world outside the community would drive a car, especially a car that was as fancy as that.

  The world outside the community wasn’t a good place, from what Hannah had heard. People out there did all kinds of things that went against their Amish beliefs, and they were happy to do it.

  Part of Hannah thought that the outside world sounded interesting, and even exciting in some ways. To be able to go from place to place without a horse, or to be able to talk to someone through a device that you held in your hand when they were all the way across the country… it all sounded so fascinating.

  But her father had warned her of all of the bad things that were out in the world: the corrupt behavior and the indecency, and things that he wouldn’t even speak of. He warned both of his daughters to stay away from the world and anyone who was taking part in it.

  Which included the boy who used to live on the farm next to theirs. He was a handsome young man, with sandy-colored hair and beautiful blue eyes. Both of the sisters thought that he was the most attractive human being they had ever seen.

  He had moved into town about six months before, out of the Amish community and into the outside world. There was talk that he was doing things to become a part of that world, but neither of the girls had been able to talk to him since he had moved. Their father had forbidden it.

  Hannah still had a suspicion that it was him coming up the road. He was likely coming to pay his parents a visit, and as much as Hannah wanted to see him, she knew that she shouldn’t let him see her, so she just watched from behind the wood pile to see if she recognized the driver as he drove past.

  She was right.

  It was Isaac Troyer.

  *****

  Word spread fast throughout the colony. Although the Amish were highly against gossip, the women talked to each other as they had their sewing meetings, and the current talk of the town tended to be what was on their minds.

  “They say that he has forsaken everything that he did, and that he is returning to his roots right here in the colony. Isaac’s parents are going to give him his grandfather’s old house, and I bet they are going to have a barn raising for him in the next month or two.”

  Mrs. Kurtz had most of the information, and she gladly shared it with all of the ladies who were gathered around in her living room. They were all there working on a large quilt, nine of them all together, for Mrs. Yoder, who was due to have her baby the following month.

  Miriam had gone to several of these quilt gatherings in the past, but this was the first one that Hannah had decided to attend. She now sat opposite Mrs. Kurtz on the floor and was trying hard to line up the bottom of the quilt with the rest of the patchwork.

  For the first time in her life, she wished that her sister would tell her more what to do. She was always bad at quilting, and gathered here with all of these women who did know what they were doing made her realize even more how much improvement she needed to do on her sewing.

  Miriam, however, was far too absorbed in the talk about Isaac Troyer to pay any attention to what her sister was doing. Miriam was the oldest unmarried young woman in the entire colony, and that fact alone made her wish for an attractive young man to appear on her doorstep.

  The old Troyer farm wasn’t far from where the girls lived with their father. If he were to move in there, they would be neighbors, and Miriam was sure she would find one reason or another to call upon the young Mr. Troyer…with her father’s permission, of course.

  “I just hope that his change is true and genuine, and that he is coming back to the colony for good. And leaving all of that filth behind him!”

  Old Mrs. Schrock was not impressed with Isaac, and she was certain he was going to bring horrible things back into the colony along with him.

  “I am sure he has changed for the better. After all, he didn’t have to come back. He did that all on his own.” Miriam spoke without thinking, and the older women stopped their sewing and looked over at her.

  She blushed, but their attention was suddenly drawn to Hannah as she cried out in pain.

  “I pricked myself again! I am so tired of this horrible project!” Hannah held up her finger to her lips, and all of the women gasped. Mrs. Schrock clicked her tongue at Hannah disapprovingly.

  Miriam felt even more embarrassed over the actions of her sister than she did over Isaac, and she didn’t know whether to scold her or show her how to do it properly.

  “Mind that you don’t stain the quilt,” she said, loud enough for the older women to hear. Hannah gave her sister a look, then excused herself.

  She wrapped a bandage around her finger and walked outside. It was a warm afternoon and the birds were all singing in the trees, and Hannah smiled. She didn’t know what to make of the chatter of the older women. They seemed to be against Isaac’s return, but Hannah couldn’t figure out why.

  I should think that they would be happy that he is back. At least I know Miriam is. Now I can stop listening to her whine that there isn’t a handsome young man nearby.

  If only I were older…or better at keeping house…then perhaps I—

  Hannah shook her head before her mind could wander off further. She had always loved Isaac, but deep down inside she knew that he was going to pick her sister long before he would ever pick her.

  And why wouldn’t he? she thought. Miriam is beautiful, and she is a great cook and can keep house and do everything just as well as Mama did.

  Hannah put her hands on the gate and looked out across the fields. She liked to think of a day when she would be the one who a husband would want, but she just couldn’t see that happening.

  “Hannah! Hannah, where are you?” Miriam’s voice called out to her, and Hannah hesitated.

  Her first inclination was to head out of the gate and start for home, but she knew that the older women would not approve of that. She sighed and gave her finger a final squeeze. It had stopped bleeding and didn’t hurt so much now.

  “I guess I can go back and try again,” Hannah moped, but then she tightened the bun that was in her hair and went back inside the house.

  *****

  “I don’t care what you think about him, I want you to stay away from him!” Evan Miller took another drink of his tea, and gave his older daughter a stern look. Miriam looked frustrated, but she wasn’t about to argue with her father.

  Hannah tried to stay out of it, and instead focused on her porridge. If there was one thing that she was good at, it was making porridge, but she still felt bad for her sister.

  “Father, are you going to see Mr. Troyer about it? He will be expecting you, after all.”

  Hannah was amazed at her sister for pursuing the conversation further, but she silently admired her for approaching it in a different light. Of course, with their father being an elder in the church he would go to Isaac’s father and talk to him about Isaac’s return into the community, but it was an act that he didn’t seem too fond of doing.

  Evan knew that both of his daughters had always been fond of Isaac, but he had hoped that, when Isaac had left the community for the world outside, his girls would move on from their infatuation with him and stick with the community.

  “Never mind my visit. I am going to tend to that when I tend to that!” Evan snapped at Miriam. She looked hurt and excused herself to go out and tend to the chickens.

  “She doesn’t mean anything by it, Father. You know that she respects your wishes.” Hannah served her father a bowl of the porridge, with a light drizzle of cream over the top.

  “I know, but I worry about her…and you. You girls deserve someone who is going to take care of you, and someone who honors God…and our Amish ways. Isaac Troyer was out in the world for a long time. I don’t know what he learned or what he is bringing back in here with him, and until I know for sure, I want you both to keep away from him.”

  Her father used a gentler tone with her, as he always had. There was a connection between Hannah and her father that Miriam and her father lacked. It wa
s as though the clumsiness that Hannah had inherited had transferred into a connection between the two of them that was endearing.

  Evan finished his breakfast and kissed his daughter on the forehead before he headed out the door. The Yodel’s were having a barn raising today, and her father was going to be head of the building.

  All of the Amish community came together for these barn raisings, all of the men working together to build the entire barn in just a day. It was a fascinating event for Hannah; she always wondered how they were able to put so much together in such a short amount of time, even if there were a lot of men working.

  Of course a lot of the women and children were going to be there, too, making enough food for everyone and helping Mrs. Yodel out in her house. Mr. Yodel had run into some hard times the summer before, and when his barn caught fire over the winter, they were faced with near starvation.

  The community had pulled together to help them make it through the tough winter, and now that it was high summer it was time to help them build their barn again before the next winter struck.

  Hannah thought about going, but she wasn’t sure if her sister was going to go. It was almost certain that Isaac would be there. If he had truly returned to the community, then it was expected that he would come together with them to make this happen.

  With the tension that had arisen between Miriam and her father, it would be very awkward if Isaac were to try to talk to Miriam, which he almost certainly would given their prior friendship.

  I guess I can go even if Miriam doesn’t. After all, he was always her friend more than mine, and it might be easier to help out without Miriam there to tell me everything I am doing wrong.

  Hannah hurried to finish the dishes, then she tied her cloak around her shoulders. She was going to wear the navy blue one that went so well with her blue dress, and she didn’t care if Miriam said that it was too much blue in one outfit.