Page 35 of Almost There
Landon rolled his eyes as he turned to scan the closed off houses and pine trees on the hill. Cpl. Bailey and LCpl. Launce fell into step behind him, their practiced training making them synchronize as one. Cpl. Hemming suddenly stopped and the men almost crashed into him as he cleared the dip from his lip and took a swig from the canteen to wash out his mouth.
“Someone said the most beautiful woman in the world lives here,” the corporal belted out the words so loud they echoed down the mountain as he continued walking forward. Landon and the other Marines turned to sweep the perimeter; their eyes wide when they looked back to Hemming.
The purple door swung open and a mess of little blond-haired girls came tumbling out, all knees and elbows, with the oldest girl no more than five leading the pack and her younger sister screaming, “Daddy!” The barefoot toddlers followed after them, unsure of the stranger in their yard, but not wanting to be left behind.
“And someone told me you were supposed to be back over a week ago.” The adult version of the blond-haired girls stood in the doorway with an extended belly stretching the seams of her sundress.
“What’s that?” Cpl. Hemming clutched the two older girls to his side as his gaze zeroed in on his wife’s midsection.
“It was supposed to be a surprise.” The woman leaned against the doorway and crossed her arms. “If you’d have told me you were coming, I’d have pulled out the signs.”
“We’re not supposed to tell you, Daddy.” The middle child pressed a finger to her lips.
“We put glitter on the signs,” the oldest chimed in, staring up at her father with adoring bright blue eyes.
Cpl. Hemming recovered from the shock, leaving Landon and the Marines to deal with it for him, as he rushed to his wife’s side.
“Do we know the gender yet?” he asked breathlessly as he pulled her into his arms. She stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. Hemming blinked, taking a step back with his hand over his heart. “Are you serious?”
His wife nodded and he dropped to his knees to kiss her belly. Landon waited with his eyebrows raised. They’d come all this way together, and as anxious as he was to speed things up, now he was fully invested in the outcome. The Marines around him waited in silence for the apocalyptic gender announcement.
“Are you going to tell us what it is?” Sgt. Sierra called out from his position behind the machine gun.
Cpl. Hemming beamed with pride, holding his wife’s hand within his. “We’re having another girl.”
The men broke into good-natured cheers of congratulations which sent the kids in the yard scampering back to their mother’s legs. Landon chuckled softly, shaking his head. Good for you, man.
“Alright my girls, it’s time to go. Let’s grab your bags.” Cpl. Hemming ushered them inside.
Landon headed back to the AAV to talk with Gunny while they waited.
“Five daughters. I don’t envy him.” GySgt. Fuimaono leaned back against the seat with his massive arms folded over his chest.
“They’re cute though.” Landon smiled. “Thank God they got their mother’s face.” GySgt. Fuimaono chuckled.
“Yeah, but five kids under five in this,” Sgt. Sierra waved his arm through the open hatch as he poked his head down inside the vehicle to butt into the conversation, “that’s a lot to freaking handle.” The weight of his words hung heavy in the stifling air.
“We’ll get them back to base and figure out what to do from there,” GySgt. Fuimaono tried to sound reassuring, but Landon was starting to believe that not even the military had any clue what was coming next. It’d been radio silent this whole mission. By now, he’d expected the commanding officer or even Chief Elyse to be in contact demanding an explanation for what was taking so long. The silence meant there was too much to deal with. A couple of runaway vehicles and some rouge service members weren’t even on their radar. And that was really bad.
“About that.” Landon rubbed the back of his neck, hoping GySgt. Fuimaono wasn’t going to be difficult. “It’s just you and me left, Gunny. Once we get on the other side of that hill, we’ll drop straight down into Escondido. The duty van will be full when we get your fiancé. Tessa and my kids won’t mind riding in the AAV, but it’s a long stretch to drag all of your families out to my house. I’m thinking it’s probably best if I find a way to get to Temecula on my own.”
“No way are you going on your own, Doc,” Sgt. Sierra said. “Why don’t you just send Sgt. Brittany to escort the duty van back to base now and the three of us can go get Gunny’s girl and Tessa and the kids?”
“We stick together,” GySgt. Fuimaono growled. “What if something happens to that van and they get overrun?”
“No disrespect, Gunny, but we aren’t out here dealing with any other armored vehicles or RPGs. They’ll be okay heading back the way we came as long as they stay off the freeway.” Sgt. Sierra shrugged under the gunnery sergeant’s heated glare. “I did say no disrespect.”
“He has a point.” Landon sighed. “If you’re worried about a potential attack on the van then the longer we keep driving it around, the longer we have to weigh the risk.”
“And escorting it back to base to drop them off just to come all this way again doubles the mission time. I say we just go for it. I’m anxious to get this over with,” Sgt. Sierra added.
GySgt. Fuimaono was silent and brooding as he closed his eyes and whispered a prayer. Landon touched the side of his ring as he waited for the man’s orders. He knew Gunny was fighting his own battle, weighing the need to get his fiancé and his duty to protect the Marines. It was a constant struggle trying to balance the scales and now it was amped up on hyperdrive because the sun had gone and messed everything up.
The Samoan warrior opened his eyes and there was a deep sense of clarity within them. “Go get me Sgt. Bailey. Once the kids are loaded up and strapped in, we’ll send them on their way back to base.”