When Fire Meets Coffee

Epilogue II

"I know. The twins always tell their friends to call me that. They say it because they're proud and that I deserve to be respected in my rank."

"They are the sweetest things though."

"What about me, Auntie Chloe?" Link pouts.

"You too, kiddo." she chuckles.

Link is happy with that and she goes back to talking between Sergeant and Selene.

Link was promoted, again, to Cadet Sergeant Major. Her next rank will be Cadet RSM, which stands for Really Scary Monster.

I'm only joking. It actually stands for Regimental Sergeant Major. But Link can be very scary. She's a very good leader though.

I watch as Chelsea starts to speak with Selene's parents, Erin and Jae, and I watch as the three women converse about women stuff. Harry and Emily talk between themselves and if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Emily likes Harry back. But who am I to know? Harley and Sammy laugh with each other and I hope that their friendship will last a long time, because they're both turning into really good people.

"Captain, are you alright?" Sergeant asks.

"Yes, I'm fine." I smile at my daughters best friend. She's also a really good Cadet. Her uniform is always on point and she never misses a deadline and is very punctual. She's a good instructor and I hope she carries on in her career because she, as well as Link, excel in the Cadet Force.

"You just seem quiet, is all." she nods. Link looks at me too, studying my face.

"Mama's usually quite quiet at dinner time." Link tells her.

"Yeah, and it drives me nuts. It always makes me think she's not okay." Chelsea adds.

Truth is, I'm quiet because eating reminds me of Michael Turner. The low-life firefighter who was always on my ass about my eating. I see him around quite a lot, even after I pretty much had sacked him for bullying and harassment because it turns out I wasn't the only one he was taking food from. Which is not cool.

But everytime I see him, I can hear the names and observations he made.

Fatty.

You're growing out a bit.

You eat too much.

You don't need to eat all of that.

I bet you are hungry, look at the size of you.

Woah, calm down.

You eat like a pig.

God, you're the size of an elephant.

Stop eating so much.

Aren't you gonna share?

You're so greedy.

Oh my god, you're so fat.

Overweight.

Obese.

You might get diabetes if you keep eating like that.

Careful, you might get CVD.

Watch your blood pressure, fatty.

I think you should go on a diet.

Fat.

Pig.

Chunky.

Look at those rolls.

Chubby.