Nerd and the Marine (31 page)

She headed upstairs to find some quiet
and discovered that’s where the mothers with babies clustered. Each
held a baby to her breast, and Lainy made a mental note to edit
that section should there be something taped Mitch wouldn’t care to
see or know. Because, of course, the women were talking about baby
stuff, and she didn’t believe a Marine would appreciate hearing
about baby poop or spit up or nose mucus.

She found more ladies, these older, in
another room admiring a quilt her mother had purchased. The next
one held a group of college age kids talking about things Lainy
didn’t feel she could contribute anything to. They all waved to the
camera when they discovered the video would go to Uncles Mitch and
Ben.

“
Miss you,” many of them
said.

Lainy ran out to the garage to fetch
something for her mother and found more people. Mostly men in her
father’s age bracket and above, drooling over a vintage Thunderbird
her mother purchased for her dad for Christmas.

The day progressed much like
Thanksgiving, so Lainy didn’t record everything. Just those things
that would be new to Mitch. She didn’t want to overwhelm him and he
only had so much time before returning to the field
again.

New Year’s she recorded more good
footage of the family party and of sleepy children who’d declared
they’d stay awake until midnight. Few of them did. The only ones
who seemed alert were her college age nieces and nephews and the
teenagers. They all rang in the New Year and she plodded home to
bed. Bentley’s New Year’s ribbon as droopy as she.

She’d already sent both the
Thanksgiving and Christmas DVDs to Mitch. So, he’d have the
Thanksgiving one waiting when he returned to the base. She hoped
he’d have the Christmas one by now, too. She sent the video as soon
as possible, hoping he’d be able to view it before he’d have to
leave again.

Smiling, she thought he’d be back to
base soon, so she began checking her e-mail every day, several
times a day.

She should hear from him anytime
now.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Mitch opened the package, figuring
he’d find exactly what he did. He’d already sent Lainy a quick
e-mail telling her he’d arrived on base. No rockslides this time.
He had a few days leave again and looked forward to watching the
newest DVDs.

He was surprised to see the videos
came from Lainy and not her brother, and was especially heartened
he’d be a part of the Morrison family celebrations, if from afar.
He popped the Thanksgiving DVD in and munched on a cookie from the
newest stash. He had to make two trips, there’d been so many
packages awaiting him.

More toiletries, more treats, more
game cartridges, more pictures, and some clothing, all gift wrapped
in bright Christmas paper. The merry greetings from all the rellys
and the tons of cards warmed him. He felt like he was a part of the
Morrison family, and he liked the sensation.

He appreciated the cookies, as much as
he did the videos, especially when Lainy showed him all the food
preparations. He didn’t even have to taste the wonderful looking
creations to know they’d been delicious. He could tell by watching
the way everyone dug into the plentiful amounts of food.

He was a little disappointed no food
fights broke out. But laughed through Ed and Max’s
antics.

Ed had included two football videos
for him. When the rumors of his possession of the Thanksgiving
football game hit base, he had every football fan packed into his
quarters to watch. Most of them had missed the game altogether due
to various duties, but a few wanted to see the game a second time.
The Marines appreciated the Morrison men’s comments. Some of them
pithy, at best.

He tensed when Lainy came into view
and one of the guys wolf whistled, but Al beat him in commenting.
“Yo, boys, that’s Major Monahan’s woman, lay off,” Al used a far
more mild tone than he would have, but the statement proved
effective. The men quit their racy talk and Mitch didn’t have to
break any heads.

Later, when the Christmas video showed
up, they all congregated into his quarters again and he shared it
with them. He guessed they missed their families more than he’d
suspected.

The guys oohed and aahed over the
Christmas dinner so he passed his supply of Christmas cookies
around. The stash got sorely depleted, but he only had a few days
on base before he’d leave again and they’d be stale by the time he
returned anyway. Plus to see his fellow Marine’s faces light up at
the sight of something so simple made him feel good.

They howled at Ed’s antics with the
whoopee cushion. Who knew a man of his brilliance could so easily
entertain himself and his family?

“
Now, remember all, this is
the man responsible for our cameras and scopes,” Al said when the
laughter died down.

“
That guy with the farting
cushion is
the
Ed
Morrison?” one of the officers sputtered.

“
Oh yeah.” Mitch tried not
to laugh, but he wasn’t successful.

“
He’s a complete
fruitcake,” another man said and just then Ed nailed his mom with
the cushion. Which started off the hoots again.

Mitch didn’t know what this said about
men in general. This tendency to believe farting was the funniest
thing in the world. Not that he cared. These guys saw little to
laugh about, so if he could help by showing Lainy’s video, great.
So men were simple creatures, oh well.

They also thought
the
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
antics and adlibbing pretty funny, especially
since they all kind of knew Ed, as many a man had trusted his
equipment in the field. Lainy must have thought the movie antics
funny, too, because she ended up in the room several
times.

The men didn’t seem too impressed with
the women with babies or the quilt gathering. Some of the guys
perked up when Lainy popped into the room with the college aged
kids as there were several attractive young ladies seated around
the room. Mitch realized how young some of the men on base were.
Practically kids, and they’d missed their family
celebrations.

They all leaned forward when Lainy hit
the garage and they caught sight of the vintage T-bird. More oohs
and aahs went round the room. A big hit.

When the video ended, the guys
dispersed. Mitch called up his e-mail and started a letter to
Lainy. She’d given him the best gift of all.

He accidentally hit the button to
check e-mail and had to wait for it to download. He saw a message
from Lainy and clicked on it.

The date indicated she’d sent it right
after he’d left in October.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: I’m sorry you’re
going, again

Attachment

Hello Mitch,

Thank you for letting me
know you’re going again. I hate this. I know I tell you so every
time, but I really do despise when you have to leave. Not being in
touch is awful. The days have gone by fairly quickly and with the
kids in so many sports, we remain busy. It’s probably good I can
work from home since my time is spent in a lot of
bleachers.

I’m keeping warm. I dug
out all my extra blankets and sit on some, curl up in others. It
works. Some of the games I can actually take Bentley to, and he’s
quite popular. Which is good, since the squirrels are beginning to
disappear. There aren’t nearly as many to chase. The birds are
mostly gone and I haven’t seen a butterfly or lightning bug in
ages.

The sporting events are
good for him. The younger kids can romp and play with him, and if
they’re not, the older kids take him for walks. He’s so patient
with all of them.

You’re right about the
holiday season being upon us. It’s nearly Halloween now and the
kids are all excited about costumes. I’ll probably get roped into
helping with those. They like to light up so that’s my job. Their
moms’ make them and I add the extras. We don’t buy costumes. Rachel
has called three times already to coordinate times to get
together.

The kids will come home
with lots of bounty, I’m sure. Just the relatives alone... They
don’t have to go very far here for a bag full. They’re usually done
in an hour or so. I’m starting to stock up. Now if I can just keep
Bentley out of the supply... just kidding! He’s not the problem,
unfortunately! Chocolate is a weakness of mine.

Well, all for now. I want
to send a bunch of pictures, so I’ll try to keep this
short.

Please return
safely.

I miss you!

Your’s,

Lainy

Mitch reared back in his
seat. She had signed her e-mail the same way he’d signed his three
months ago.
Your’s
. A definitive sign of custody. Like she did want to belong to
him. Like she approved of his signing that way before he’d left the
last time. Like she trusted him with her heart.

They’d passed a major place in their
relationship, and Mitch started to whistle. And she’d shared her
holidays with him, like he mattered. The comments from her family
added to that feeling. He felt as though he mattered whenever he
had contact with her. No one had ever done that for him before.
Except for the Fandrichs, but this was different.

This was indicative of love between a
man and a woman. Something he didn’t know much about. His former
girlfriends had proven less than stellar, for sure. One had dated
his best friend while she dated him. Another had still been in love
with her ex-boyfriend, while the last had informed him that he
would marry her and they’d have twelve children. They’d only been
on their third date. Still, he was willing to try again if it meant
he could have Lainy.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Your videos
were...

Big hits!

Dear Lainy,

Thank you for the holiday
videos. The guys loved the football ones and they all stayed and
watched your Christmas one, too. Definitely another hit. They liked
the T-bird in your dad’s garage, of course. Nice
machine.

They also loved seeing Ed
in action. (Please don’t ask why men find flatulence funny, because
I can’t answer that question.) They all appreciated Ed’s unique
personality. He certainly seems like a character. Just imagine if
he’d been twins. So you see life can always be worse.

I appreciated the videos
on a more personal basis. Everyone assumed I’d have been there were
I not in Kuwait. I can’t even begin to describe how much that means
to me. They talked as though I will be there next year. Wow. I
thought after the Fandrichs died I’d be on my own again. I wish I
could better express how I feel, but I’m not very good at
it.

A heartfelt thank you for
thinking of me! I’m glad I could share your holiday.

I’m on base for a few
days, but I think we’re scheduled to leave shortly again. I have
some paperwork to catch up on, but since today is Saturday, I’m
taking today and tomorrow off. Just goofing off. I think it’ll take
the rest of today to wade through my e-mails alone. I’ve got a
bunch of them to answer from your family which is really nice.
Looks like a nice long one from Steve. I’ll be interested to hear
what he has to report.

Steve and Laurie sent more
game cartridges for my Game Boy, and Al already saw them. So I bet
I’ll be playing some games against him before the day is out. I’m
not as bad as I thought I’d be. Steve’s given me some excellent
tips, some of which Al doesn’t know. I’m not going to mention them
either - at least that knowledge gives me half a chance of winning
against him.

It’s still hot and sandy
here. I keep hoping things’ll cool off, but so far that’s not
happened. Maybe some at night.

I imagine you’re shoveling
snow by now? How many snow falls have you had so far? A white or
brown Christmas this year?

All for now. I’ll write
regularly until we leave.

Your’s,

Mitch

Chapter Thirty

Lainy watched Mitch’s letter open on
her computer and noticed immediately that he’d signed off again
with your’s. Deliberately. She’d been brave and signed hers that
way, too. But he wouldn’t have done that twice in a row
accidentally. Which indicated the sign off had been on
purpose.

Suddenly finding it hard to breathe,
she bounced up from her computer desk and began a brisk, energetic
pacing. The sky outside was a dismal gray and threatened snow, but
the world couldn’t be brighter.

Mitch had signed off
with,
Your’s
.
Their own little sign of commitment. It was a mere technicality
that your’s didn’t exist, but to them it did. Their own special
form of saying they thought they belonged together.

Her heart beating too fast, Lainy
couldn’t contain the smile that spread across her face. She nearly
tripped over Bentley and dropped to her knees to squeeze him and
held him tight for a moment. She wanted to squeeze his dad just
like this, but Bentley would suffice. For now.