𝚨𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝚮𝐄 𝚸𝐋𝚨𝚴𝐄𝐓𝚨𝐑𝐘 || THE FIRST CALL

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Jessica rushes inside of the front door, barging in on me and Tanu's game day. Jessica planned a girls day with her friends, Angelica and Sophie, but it turned into a girls night. She said she wouldn't be long, but that I needed to take care of the baby.

It's not like I was too busy with anything. Ever since retiring from the military, things have been way more peaceful than they were before my retirement. If only it was like this when I visited. I thought I was going to have more time off, and that Jessica also had some time to spend time with baby Aurora. Nope. It's almost like she decided to have a baby just so I could ruin my career. But I can't be too mad at Aurora for just living— it's not really her fault after all.

All I want from Jessica is for her to help me out, and spend some time as a family. It's always something different— to saying that she hates me to saying that she misses me the day later. Usually, it's just a cycle. It goes from hating to loving— and most of the times since Aurora joined is leaving me to the baby work. That's what I hate. We don't spend any time with each other anymore. It's always an excuse after another. 'Oh, babe! I need to go grocery shopping!' turns into simple grocery shopping to another girls night. Then there's always, 'It's not my fault that I got pregnant, I want to spend some time with my girls too!' that, I don't blame. She's right. It's not her fault that she got pregnant with Aurora and that she wants to spend some time with her girlfriends. But I also wanna spend time with Jessica as well, I don't wanna be a babysitter to Aurora.

It's nice spending some daughter-daddy time, but most of the time, it's almost like she's scamming me here. If Jessica doesn't learn to stay home for once, and not always go out, Aurora will see Jessica as no longer a parent— maybe just a lousy roommate. I wouldn't mind spending some time with my buddies as well that I haven't seen since I joined the military. When I came back, I was so excited to see them again so we could connect. Jessica puts a barrier between that, the barrier being her leaving, and that I have to babysit Aurora.

Tanu came over asking why haven't I been the same as I used to be. I always blame it on Jessica. She doesn't have to spend every living moment with her girlfriends. I even tried setting up a schedule for who can watch Aurora. She agreed, but never did it. I asked her about it when she came home at 11:56, she said it was because of her job. She didn't even work. Ever since I've been in the military, she's just been shopping and continuing to hang out. I can't even count the numerous times Jessica has spent my money on my card, saying it was 'accidental'. Jess immediately runs upstairs, not even shutting the front door, or even bothering to grab her keys out of the lock.

"I'm just saying man, Jessica can be real dramatic." Tanu eye rolls at the thought of my wife. Tanu stopped by to have a couple of drinks. I wanted to say no because I was on babysitting duty once more— but Aurora was pretty much asleep at the moment upstairs in her crib. I had some time to spend. I can probably deal with Jessica yelling at me for hanging out with somebody even though she's just the same with her ninety other girlfriends. The football game was on, at like 30 volume. Tanu is pretty deaf. He pops open a beer and begins chugging it. "Don't spill that, Jess will kill me." I remind him. Tanu doesn't say anything until he finishes the whole thing, dropping it on the coffee table. He wipes his mouth with his sweatshirt and looks over at me.

"Yeah, I know." which he doesn't. I sigh, beginning to cool myself and begin watching the game. It's Arizona vs Ohio. I haven't watched football in a while, so it's good to get a recap on everything. Right now, our state seems to be winning. Arizona. Tanu has been highlighting me on everything that's happened in the big game ever since I returned from the military. I swear, he literally is like your average football dad on a Sunday or Saturday with his beer. He even has the right voice for a football dad. Tanu isn't married or has any kids of his own like I do. He has a girlfriend, Stacy Johnson, but Tanu rarely speaks about her. I thought they broke up since I was in the military, but they're still dating, but they don't keep in contact anymore. I've asked before, but Tanu never can keep himself in a conversation without switching the topic. It's a red flag for me.

"What's with her anyway? I'm sure nothin' can be new." he asks, raising a eyebrow in question. He was right. Nothing was new about me and Jessica. "I'm sure she forgot something or what not." I reply back to him with a chuckle. Tanu also echoes with my laugh. He puts his arm over the end of our beige couch and turns his attention back to the television. I guess while there's still time to chat and hang with Tanu, I might as well have a beer myself. I grab a beer out the box, which is from a overrated —company that makes— I assume, beer. I pop it open and take a sip. It's delicious.

I've had this brand in the pantry for a while now, but never had a chance to have a sip like this. I continue drinking the beer with Tanu. Maybe we're both football dads after all. Our time laughing and jokin' comes to an end. My phone begins ringing, but I can't feel it anywhere inside of my pockets. Tanu helps me find it and finds it under the couch. He crouches down to pick it up before returning back to the couch to hand it to me. "Here, Milo." he tells me to get my attention. My panicking stops after I receive the phone, whipping him with my kind smile and nod before answering the call.

"Uh— hello? This is Milos." I say, standing up from the couch to go in the hallway so I can hear the person on the line better. "Milos? That be you?" that voice, it's sergeant. He's the guy that was rude to almost everybody in my military training. He only liked me for my good efforts. I smile quickly hearing his voice once more. "Hey Sergeant, what brings you callin'?" I ask curiously. "Ain't that nice to hear you once more!" he chuckles at the other side of the line. "Ah, Milos, I shouldn't be the one callin' ya about this, but I just— FIFTEEN PUSH-UPS STARTING NOW!" Sergeant yells, his voice fading slightly as he gets farther from the phone.

His voice becomes more clear after I hear a low sigh. "Ah, sorry 'bout that." he says. "That's okay, you can always call me another time if right now isn't good Sergeant." I say nicely. "No— no. My fault, Milos. Let me just get to the point. Calovih came here just this mornin' asking if one of my men would be suitable for their little expedition," Sergeant speaks as I raise a eyebrow curiously. Calovih were these nasa kind a wannabe's that were always searching for something in space that looked unusual. Usually, they would send the toughest to get a closer look on it— I can't remember the last time they asked the military for one of their expeditions.

"And you're calling me for?" I say. "Well I know you had to take care of your wife ever since you left the military— but you know none of my men can go into space like you could Milos." he responds. My eyes widen. He wants me to go into space? I've been scared of space since I was just a child— I never saw good in it. Going off into pitch black with only stars as your guidance, it didn't help me at all. "Are ya open, son?" he says. I'm silent for a good few minutes as I think about the causes this could do to myself. I would have to do weeks of training, which Jessica would not allow because I would have to watch Aurora for her while she goes out with her friends. I don't even know what Jessica would say to that. I'm not ready for space travels like the Calovih. I shake my head after Sergeant speaks up. "Milos?" he calls back. "I'll take it, Sergeant. I can take anything." I respond back to him.

It's almost like I could feel him smiling at the other end, proud of my answer. "I knew you would say that. Go get 'em tiger." he chuckles.