Dr. August. [TMAD series.]

"It doesn't get any easier..."

As Dr. August arrived home, he seen Numra sitting in the living room with no lights or tv on. Dr. August scrunched his eyebrows at her, then shut the door with his foot.

"You're home early." Dr. August said in a confused tone.

"I have to pack." Numra sighed. "Pack for the army..."

"Why?" Dr. August giggled. "You don't leave until next month."

"Actually, I don't." Numra said as she slowly turned to him. "We leave on Wednesday."

Dr. August paused. He mouth dropped open as he set everything down and walked over into the living room to sit next to her.

"W-what do you mean?" Dr. August stuttered.

"The commander changed the date to Wednesday because he was checked out by the head chief of the navy and he declared us ready to go." Numra said, staring blankly off at the wall. "We leave in 2 days."

Dr. August's heart immediately started to race. These next 48 hours would be the last time he would see her in 4 years. It wasn't like she was going away for a few days. He wouldn't be able to see her until he turned 29. He covered his mouth and glanced at the wall with her, staring off in a daze and pure shock.

"Wow. This is so............sudden..." Dr. August said, glancing off into space. "Have you told Christina?"

"No. She's in her room." Numra said, tearing up. "Can you tell her for me please? I don't think that I can."

"Of course." Dr. August said, sighing and quickly standing up. "I'll go tell her now, I guess."

Dr. August slowly walked into Christina's room, glancing at her lay frontwards on her bed while doing her homework. She looked up at him, then ignored him while continuing to do her work. He shut the door and grabbed her small pink furry stool, pulling it up to her bed and taking a deep breath.

"Look Christina, I need to talk to you about something serious." Dr. August said. "It's about your mother."

"About how you don't treat her right?" Christina said, continuing to do her work. "You're so mean to her."

Dr. August actually agreed with her. He looked off to the left, then looked back at Christina.

"Actually, you're right. I don't treat your mother right. I'm always accusing her of doing all of these things and doing wrong, when in reality she's only trying to help me. And for that, I apologize." Dr. August said in a serious tone. "But, that doesn't mean that I don't love her. I love your mother to death and I sometimes say things out of spite, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. Understand?"

Christina slowly looked up at him, giving him a bland but saddened look.

"Yeah." Christina mumbled.

"And the same thing goes for you, Chrissy. If you ever feel like you need to talk to me about something, then talk to me." Dr. August continued. "But no cursing, alright? It's rude and it's disrespectful to curse at your parents or any adult."

"I just thought that it was okay because I see you doing it all of the time." Christina said.

"Well then i'll stop, because it actually isn't okay." Dr. August said in a serious tone. "It's okay to express anger, but it's not okay to use cuss words. Alright?"

"Yeah....."

Dr. August sighed again, then kept his eyes on Christina.

"But what I really wanted to talk to you about was your mother." Dr. August said. "I have some......some shocking news."

"Yes?"

"Your mom is leaving for the army a little earlier than we expected." Dr. August said.

"She is?" Christina gasped as she lifted up and gave him a serious look. "How early?"

"2 days, sweety." Dr. August responded.

Christina's mouth opened wider as those words slipped out of his mouth. Tears formed in her eyes as she kept her mouth in the same position, unable to register it.

"W-why?" Christina gasped. "I......why does she want to leave earlier?"

"It wasn't her choice, sweety." Dr. August said. "It was up to her school."

As Christina shook her head and wiped her eyes, Dr. August grabbed both of her hands and cracked a small smile.

"Yesterday, you mentioned that you wanted to go back to Iraq." Dr. August said, unable to hold back tears himself. "Did you still want to go back and stay with your mother and other relatives?"

"If I can?" Christina cheered, sitting all the way up.

"Well, i'll let you decide yourself. I'll let you stay wherever you want to keep you happy." Dr. August said in a shaky and hurt tone. "If you want to stay with me, you can. If you want to leave with your mother, I will buy a ticket for you to fly to Iraq. But you have to let me know before tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." Christina nodded.

Dr. August tucked his lips in and stood up out of her stool. He slowly walked out of her room, smiled at her, then shut her door. Christina could tell that Dr. August was hurt by her wanting to leave him, but she really wanted to go with her mother. However, seeing her dad hurt really was eating her alive. She didn't want him to be alone, but she also wanted to be somewhere with her mother.

Dr. August on the other hand, was crying silently in his room. Numra was leaving, but now his daughter didn't want to stay with him either. All he could think about was begging her to stay, but he was going to let her decide herself. Overall, he was afraid of the outcome and her answer.