After The Fall: A collection of Matt and Abby short stories

by Claudia Connor

  “I highly recommend it,” Matt said.

  “You can practice on McKinney’s, he’s got plenty.”

  “No one is practicing here,” Matt said firmly. “Professionals only. How’s everything going?” he asked after a beat. He loved his life, but he did think about the guys. Every day he thought of them. He didn’t always know where they were, and that was weird. Hard.

  “It’s good man,” Bob said, meeting Matt’s eyes as if to emphasize the statement.

  Before he could say more, there was a sound at Matt’s hip and the guys’ attention flew to the radio Matt had strapped there. Another frightening sound emitted from the monitor he had hooked up to Charlie’s room.

  “Shit, you got zombies locked up in here somewhere?”

  “Close. That would be Charlie, waking early from his nap.”

  There was that sound again, part grunt, part growl.

  “Do we need body armor?”

  “Wouldn't hurt,” Matt said, relieved when there was silence on the monitor. Then another, louder noise came from the kitchen. His family arriving home in a flurry of noise.

  The men followed him out of the nursery and down the hall and down the stairs.

  “Hey, babe,” Matt said, greeting his wife.

  “Hi.” Abby smiled at him as she dropped backpacks and dance bags on the kitchen table. Jack and Gracie rushed the guests.

  “You remember Daddy’s friends,” Matt said. “Bob and Doug.”

  “I just went to karate,” Jack said, looking up at the men.

  “Cool,” Bob said.

  “Jack,” Abby said, in a total mom voice. “Don’t forget your manners. Could you at least say ‘hi’ first?”

  “Sure.” Jack held out his little hand to shake with the men.

  “You got any moves?” Loogie asked.

  Jack needed no more prompting than that. He went into a kick spin, a simulated board break, and a downward chop. Before they’d finished their praise, Gracie dodged her brother, coming to stand in front of the men, then let out a wild roar.

  A white, fuzzy mask covered most of her face, her brown hair curled out at every angle around the paper plate edges. “March is a lion!” she announced and roared again.

  Annie stood close to him, melting into his side and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She gave her little sister a look that said there’d been an overload of roaring in the car, but no way would Annie say anything in front of visitors.

  “In like a lion, out like a lamb,” Abby explained when her daughter roared again. “How are you guys?” Abby came over and greeted the men with a hug and kiss on the cheek.

  “Good,” Bob said, standing a little straighter. “We’re good.”

  And sufficiently dazzled by his wife, Matt smiled. Abby’s smile was enough to make any man want to settle down. He wondered if Loogie had any serious prospects.

  Abby moved back into the kitchen just in time to save a full pitcher of lemonade Jack held precariously in his hands. “I hope you’re staying for dinner.”

  “No. Sorry. Wish we could.”

  “Me, too.” Abby gave Matt a look that said he should try to talk them into it. “Gracie, why don’t you put your mask on the refrigerator?”

  Loogie checked his watch. “We’ve really got to get back. It was good seeing you though.”

  They said their goodbyes to the kids and Matt passed the baby to Abby and walked his friends to the door.

  “You’re a lucky son of a bitch,” Bob said, slapping his back on the way out.

  “The luckiest. Be safe,” he told them, then watched them walk to his driveway and a shiny–new black Chevy Camaro. Loogie looked back and pointed, first to the sleek car, then to himself, raising a brow and smirking. Matt laughed, shook his head, then said a prayer for his friends.

  He definitely was a lucky son of a bitch, Matt thought later, sliding under the sheets next to his wife. All the babies were fed, bathed, and tucked safely in their beds. Now was his and Abby’s time.

  She settled into her sweet spot, cheek on his chest and one leg slung over his hips. “I’m sorry I missed visiting with the guys.”

  “Yeah. They didn’t have much time. I think it was more about the baby than me.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “I don’t know about sweet.” He slipped and slid his fingers through Abby’s hair slowly, letting the cool strands slide over the back of his hand. “I think Loogie might be looking into getting a glider for his den.”

  “Really?”

  “He was also spouting off about wanting a couple of his own, but from the look on his face when I opened up her diaper, I think he’ll be waiting a while.”

  She laughed softly against him. “Got to be able to handle a diaper. Were they impressed with your skills?”

  “Amazed,” he said and smiled. “I’m still Master Chief.”

  “Yes, you are.” Abby pressed a kiss to his chest. “You miss them,” she added softly.

  “Some.” He tightened his hold, always needing her a little closer. “They’re shipping out soon.”

  He didn’t have to say it. She understood he would worry. Another, longer silence passed. It wasn’t filled with tension or fear, but soft touches and thoughtfulness. “Do you miss it?”

  When he didn’t answer right away she raised up, rested her chin on his chest. “It’s okay to say you do. You trained for it a good part of your life. You were good at it.”

  “I’m good at what I do now.” He brushed an open palm over her bottom, making her suck in a breath. He curled his other hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer for a slow, deep kiss. When he let her go, they were both breathing a little faster.

  “Our commander used to say something to us right before we went wheels up. He’d say, ‘tidy up your life, boys.’ Because you never knew what would happen. If you'd be back.”

  Matt smiled, feeling warm around his heart and hot in other places, staring into Abby’s eyes. He brushed back the hair falling over one side of her face, then cupped her cheek. “I like that I have a life to tidy now. I didn’t before, not much of one. None if I’m comparing.”

  Abby leaned over him, kissing his chin.

  “And if I do miss it, it’s so small in comparison to how much I miss you five minutes after I walk out the door in the morning, I don’t even notice it.” He held her beautiful face in both hands now. “I’m exactly where I belong, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Want me to show you?”

  With a grin, she shifted more fully on top of him, the little tank top she wore to bed riding up to reveal more skin. “Yes, Master Chief. I think you should.”

  Starting at her neck, he went to work. He’d never loved a job more.

  4

  The Hunt

  “Okay, team. Your mission, should you choose to accept it…” Matt paced the line, hands behind his back, and stared down the row of eager egg hunters lined up in his parents’ back yard. Each one held a plastic grocery bag—baskets were not for serious egg gatherers. He laid out the rules, reminded the hunters of the pre determined groups.

  The upper group consisted of Anthony, Annie, Jack,

  The middle group, Gracie, Lola,

  Louisa, Charlie

  All the children are still dressed as they’d been for church. The girls in spring colored dresses, the boys in khaki pants or shorts with pastel shirts. No changing into play clothes for this event. The mother’s had declared Easter Egg Hunting would commence as is for the sake of photographs.

  Annie, still pristine in her white Easter dress, stood at the ready, her eyes scanning the terrain. The late morning sun beamed through the mature oaks, casting shade over his mother’s prize azaleas. The same ones his five brothers and one sister had trampled in their battle for chocolate years ago. But on this mid April morning, they bloomed in royal mounds of purple, pink, and white.

  His gaze landed on Gracie and he smiled remembering her enthusiastic skip into church that morning. She wore a
white dress that hung nearly to her ankles

  The robin’s egg blue sash that he’d already retied five times since she’d put it on, hung loose again and a smudge of chocolate gave away the fact she’d sneaked a bite of her bunny. He wouldn’t call her out. She’d been stealthy enough to get past him, after all.

  That and his mom had already retold the story of how he and his brothers had hid under the back church pews devouring chocolate bunnies. Busted.

  “Look high, look low,” he went on, buying his wife more time as she tried once again to place the baby in the group for a picture. “Let no bush go unturned. No leaf, no flower—”

  “Hey! Look who’s here!” Matt’s mother called, as more people joined them outside.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Sarah said, ushering her children into the group. “We had to stop by my grandmother’s.”

  “No problem, sweetie.” Matt’s mom gave his sister-in-law a quick hug, then lifted her cheek for her son, Andrew’s, kiss.

  Jack, currently in a good natured shoving match with his cousin, squinted toward the line of women, trying to get a group picture before chaos reined.

  Andrew slapped hands with each of his brothers then glanced at the kids. “Like herding ants. I assume the eggs are hidden.”

  “Yep. Mom stuffed them, we hid them.”

  “Sorry I missed it.”

  “Stick them in the picture,” his mom said, which elected much groaning and whining.

  “Can we go yet?” Gracie asked.

  “Come on, Uncle Matt! Let’s go!”

  Matt laid a hand on his young nephew’s head. “Easy. A soldier never rushes in without all the intel.”

  “What’s the intel?” Jack asked, then laughed and dodged his grass throwing cousin.

  “Everybody look this way. One more second.” Beth knelt in front of the kids with her camera. “Anthony, hold your sister for me.”

  Anthony sighed with all the exasperation of a boy being held back from candy by a drooling baby. But he did as his mother asked.

  “Daddy, when are we going to have the water gun fight?” Jack asked.

  “After lunch, bud.”

  “Now, everybody smile and we’ll get this done,” Beth said, stepping back to take another picture.

  “But you’re sposed to play Barbies after wunch.”

  Matt smiled at his four year old daughter, Gracie, and her big baby browns up at him. “We will, Bug. Now look at Aunt Beth. And I’m setting it up,” Matt said before his brothers could comment. “I said I’d help with the set up. It’s not as easy as it looks,” he added when they snickered. “Lots of pieces and— just shut up.”

  “Louisa, look this way.”

  Abby, Lizzie, and his mom and dad all stood behind Beth clapping and waving to get all eyes turned in one direction.

  “Okay…Got it!”

  Beth straightened and Matt plucked Mary up before she got trampled. He turned her in his arms so she could see the action. “Okay. Ready… go!”

  The older kids took off, grabbing eggs waist level and higher, as those were the rules set for the over three hunters. They looked high and low, under and over. Jack and his six year old cousin, zigged and zagged with no clear plan. Annie followed a carefully laid out route. She’d gotten five before the boys had three. He couldn’t help but be proud.

  “Look at them go.” Mr. McKinney senior chuckled to himself beside him.

  “Better than Halloween,” Tony said. “Less walking, more chocolate.”

  “Nothing’s better than Halloween,” Andrew said.

  “You only say that because you were obsessed with being a super hero,” Matt said with a smirk.

  “Like you weren’t.”

  Abby exchanged a smiled with Beth, Sarah, and Meg who’d married into the McKinney family as she had. It never failed that the adult McKinney kids fell back into their childhood when they were all together.

  “Daddy!” Gracie held up a pink egg and he smiled at seeing her so elated.

  He looked over at Gracie. Hearing her call out Daddy made his heart squeeze. Her curls were longer now and bounced around her shoulders, the white bow struggled to hold back a section from her face.

  “I got…” She leaned her nose close to her bag, oblivious to her cousins picking up more eggs while she counted the ones she already had. “I got five!”

  “Good job, Bug.”

  Abby moved to stand next to Matt, offering to take the baby when she tugged on his sunglasses. Mary declined. Abby inwardly sighed and kissed Mary’s cheek then her husband’s. There was something so hot about a man holding a baby, even if that man and baby were hers.

  She sighed again over Mary’s first Easter. She and Matt’s first Easter together. He worked so hard to make everything extra special, knowing she barely remembered holidays before her parents had died. There certainly weren’t any happy Easter Basket stories from her years in the foster system.

  But she had family now. Her own, with Matt and the kids, and then the entire McKinney clan. She had sisters, brothers, a mother and father. Grandparents, even. Overwhelmed with joy, she tried to swallow past the lump that formed in her throat.

  The same thing had happened in church earlier, sitting next to Matt, a sleeping Mary in his arms and Charlie in his lap. Annie had sat squeezed between them since she still refused to go to Children’s Church. If given a choice, she always chose to stay with her daddy. Matt worried that she still feared he would leave. Abby thought it was just because she loved him so much.

  Charlie snagged a plastic purple egg nestled in a clump of daffodils. He cracked it open, pulled out the tiny chocolate bunny inside. She smiled, watching him intently pick off the foil and stuff the chocolate into his little mouth even as he moved on in search of more.

  Annie made a quick snatch and grab from the crook of a tree branch inches above her head.

  “Did you see that?” Matt said to Tony who’d joined them. “I can’t believe she could reach that one.” But Annie was growing. He’d have to come to terms with that.

  Jack and his cousin plowed through a white azalea, diving for a bright blue egg stuck between the flowers.

  “Ouch,” Beth said.

  Tony laughed. “They’re okay.”

  “I was talking about your mom’s shrubs.”

  Tony and Matt both shrugged. “They’ve seen worse,” Matt said.

  As the finding slowed, each of the kids came over with their bags to count their eggs. Some had candy, others pennies and dimes. And each child had one special egg with their name on it, nearly three times bigger than all the rest that held candy and a small toy. Their version of the golden egg, except everyone got one.

  Parents followed kids around with cameras, encouragement, and subtle hints for the ones struggling. After every egg had been found, the adults sat in lawn chairs or on quilts Matt’s mom had spread out.

  “Is it too early to start talking about the beach?” Meg asked. “I already know two weeks we can’t go.”

  “No,” Beth said. “If we have any hope of getting us all there at the same time, it’s never too early. It might be easier if we each wrote down the weeks we can do it. See if we get lucky and find one that matches up.”

  “Good idea.”

  Matt didn’t miss the quick flash of sadness on his mother’s face. None of them forgot that two brothers were not there. His brother Stephen was going through a tough time and, Matt suspected, had made sure he was out of town and unavailable this weekend. Then there was JT, his youngest brother, who was in a rehab facility after losing his leg in a car accident.

  He squeezed his mom’s shoulder. Matt wondered if his own absence at family holidays all those years he’d served as a Navy SEAL had brought the same sad look to his mother’s eyes. He figured it had, and was sorry for it. Now that he had children of his own, he couldn’t imagine the weight of constant worry.

  “Hey, nice job with the candle this morning, Anthony.” Matt ruffled his nephew’s head as he passed and th
e boy grinned. Anthony’d had a bit of a stumble and narrowly missed clocking the other alter server on her head with the brass candle topped rod.

  “Remember when you set Lizzie’s hair on fire?” Tony asked Matt.

  Abby’s eyes went wide. “Matt!”

  “I didn’t set it on fire.”

  His sister swung around to face him. “You absolutely did.”

  “I didn’t set it on fire,” he said again to his wife while his brothers laughed. “I might have singed it. And you’re the one who went the wrong way,” he told his sister.

  “Mom.” Lizzie turned to her mother.

  “You were all angelic alter servers.”

  The family laughed, especially Matt’s dad. “That’s not what your mother said at the time. Believe me.”

  His mother smiled. “Well, that’s what I remember.”

  As his family continued sharing Easter stories, Matt looked across the yard where his children ran laughing around daffodils and new spring grass. He noticed Abby doing the same thing, her expression mirroring what he felt.

  Love. Gratitude. Awe.

  He tugged her a few steps from the group and slipped his arm around her waist. He pulled her close, kissed her head, then her lips.

  “What was that for?”

  “Do I need a reason?”

  Abby smiled up at him. “No.”

  “Good. I plan to do a lot more later. Happy Easter, baby.”

  “Happy Easter.”

  5

  The Grateful Football

  “Dad, Star Wars is on tonight. Can we watch it?”

  Matt looked down at his son perched on the bathroom counter, watching him shave. Jack’s eyes followed his every movement. “Can’t do it tonight, Bud.” And Jack knew this. Knew he was taking the girls out for Daddy/Daughter Date Night. “Us guys are going to the baseball game tomorrow. Remember?”

  “Yeah.” Jack frowned.

  “Here.” Matt dabbed a bit of shaving cream on Jack’s chin, making him laugh. “Spread that around and you can practice with your finger.”