Shot Throught the Heart

seven

It wasn't too much longer after my visit to see dad that the funeral home emptied out and we could finally head out for the night. Rob got behind the wheel of the truck and drove us back to my mom's house. Mom and Peyton said that they were going to get some food with some of Peytons old military buddies before coming home. So needless to say I was a little bit surprised to walk into the house and find it full with my team.

            "What are you guys doing here?" I asked as I undid the buttons on my jacket.

            "Having dinner with you before we head back to the hotel for the night. After the burial tomorrow we are going back to Fort Benning to await our orders. We kind of have a feeling we are going to spun up soon so we want to be ready." Monica said as Rob greeted our friends.

            "I knew you were the right one to be promoted." I said and pulled Monica into a hug.

            When I pulled away from her, I went upstairs with Morgan and Rob to change out of my dress uniform and into some pajamas before going back downstairs. My rowdy crew of soldiers took up most of the living room couch and the floor with drinks and snacks. I went into the kitchen and pulled out some menus for some local takeout places. When we narrowed it down to pizza, I placed the order for a few different pies and joined my crew on the couch. It wasn't long before someone got me a beer and I finally felt a little bit of peace from all the stress of the day.

            About an hour later the doorbell rang and Rob jumped off the couch and brought all the pizza inside. Just as I was yelling at my unit to use plates the front door opened again and in walked mom and Peyton. When the door slammed shut behind them, everyone stopped fighting over which piece they wanted and pulled out various weapons they had on their body. Peyton quietly stepped in front of mom while I yelled at everyone to put everything down. It took a few painfully tense seconds before my order sunk into their brains and they all put away their weapons.

            "We're sorry ma'am, even at home, it's hard for us to relax." Monica said and I can tell she is still a bit keyed up about it.

            "How about we move this pizza party outside." I said to my unit and it took a second for everyone to get the message and pick up to move.

            Rob and Morgan moved everyone outside while I hung back for a few moments. After I heard the back door shut behind everyone I got up off the couch and turned to find mom still firmly behind Peyton. I noticed the way moms hand has a death grip on Peytons arm that's holding her in place.

            "Pey, it's okay, you can let me go now honey." Mom said gently into Peytons ear. The words calmed Peyton down right away and she let go of mom. Mom came around in front of her wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

            "Thank you for sending everyone outside. They are more then welcomed to stay but that will not happen again in my house." Mom said seriously.

            "You have my word, sometimes loud unexpected noises just trigger all of us and it's hard to help that flight or fight feeling, even at home. I'm going to join them outside. We have a lot of pizza and beers if you guys want some." I said and gave mom a kiss on cheek before walking out the backdoor.

            My unit was a bit on edge when I got outside. It took a while for us to get back into the relaxed feeling we all had when the pizza came. Lighting a fire in the fire pit and turning on the radio definitely helped put everyone back at ease. We watched the sunset from the deck and as the sky got darker Morgan settled into the space next to me on the patio couch. Most of the guys are running around the grass playing drunk soccer so nobody really noticed her sink into the space next to me.