My Marine Man *Editing Time!*

Chapter 28: The Reminicing

Hello my dah-lings! Let me offer my humblest apologies for my lack of updates...I like to think I was too busy, but really, I was stalling. This is the second to last chapter in MMM, and I'm sad my lovelies. Really, truely sad that it's going to be over. This has been such a fun ride! Thank you for all your never ending support, it really means so much to me <3

When MMM is over (1 more chapter, plus a epilogue) I will be going back to do some major editing. The chapters will be longer, more in depth, and hopefully (overall) a whole lot better. I hope you will go back and read, I will keep a list of which chapters I've edited so you can stay tuned :)

Enjoy! Pretty please COMMENT and VOTE!





Chapter 27

Nathan's P.O.V.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," I say to Zoe as she stalks into the kitchen the next morning.
"Morning," she replies, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"How'd you sleep?" I ask, walking over to push some bed head out of her face and kiss her forehead.
"Ok, but I was thinking."
"Uh-oh, Zoe was thinking," I say jokingly, but she doesn't crack a smile. I sigh, "What were you thinking about babe?"
It really feels good to call her that again.
She pauses. "Oh, nothing, I guess it's not that important."
Her gaze sweeps over the counter, "What have you done in here?"
I glance quizically at her, obviously something's bothering Zoe but she doesn't seem to want to talk. So instead of pressing her, I simply respond, "I unpacked more than your one soup spoon so I could make you breakfast."
"Why, thank you, Major Serther!" she exclaims, happily surprised. "Did the Marines teach you this too?"
"Nope, you can thank my mama for this one."
"I'll make sure to remember," she says, scanning the countertops. "Whad'you make me?"
"Nathan's famous extra-healthy-protien-and-fiber-packed...muffins," I recite. "Breakfast fit for a Marine in training."
Zoe raises her eyebrows.
"What?" I say mock defensively. "Ok, ok, the name isn't that great but the taste will make up for it."
"I sure hope so," she mutters under her breath.
"I heard that," I respond, pointing an oven mit in her direction.
Pulling the muffins out of the oven, I see they're cooked and ready. Pouring coffee for both of us, I nudge the plate of muffins over to Zoe. She stares down at them.
"They're lumpy," she says cautiously, poking one with her finger.
"That's the fruit."
"Oh," she replies, not quite convinced.
"You don't trust my cooking?" I ask, giving her my best puppy dog face. I can see her softening slightly.
"Ok, I'll try it."
Zoe bravely smiles, and picks up the muffin. Closing her eyes, she sinks her teeth into my famous recipe. She chews. And swallows. And opens her eyes in surprise.
"They're actually not that bad!"
"Never fear, Chef Nate is here."
"More like always fear, Chef Nate is here."
"Ha. Ha."
"No seriously, they're actually kind of good!"
"I'm glad you like them," I respond, smiling genuinely.
We eat breakfast, talking and enjoying each other's company. I feel better than I have in months, it's so surreal to have Zoe back, and have everything the way it use to be. Yet as I think that, I realize we will never be the same. It's obvious Zoe's grow a lot in our time apart-she use to be so shy and dependent, but now she seems much more comfortable in her own skin. My mother would say she blossomed. Whatever happened, it's great to see. Also, I've been to Iraq for a second time. While I have some time off waiting for my base assignment, my anticipation, and worry, grows constantly. There's no saying where I'll be next.
"Nate?" Zoe's voice stirs me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
"Oh what?" I ask, walking over and putting my arms around her. I love the way we fit together, like two perfectly matched puzzle pieces. Her body relaxes, but anxiety still laces her voice.
"What am I going to do?"
"About what?" I mumble, my mind currently busy thinking about how soft her neck is underneath my lips.
She turns around suddenly to face me.
"About a job, about a future, about us!"
"Um..." I say, not quite sure how to answer. I haven't thought that far ahead. It was only yesterday when I was nervous whether she would take me back.
"I'm in Maryland," she says, like she's realizing this for the first time. "And you're in California!"
"I wish I could say that I could move out here, babe, but I'm getting my reassignment any day now."
"I have positively no idea what to do."
"Have you heard from anyone out here?"
"One, but they only have a part time position open. Everyone in the engineering field seems to prefer men over women. I heard about that kind of sterotyping when I was in college, but I didn't think it'd actually be the case!"
"Um, well, do your grandparents have any take on this?"
She giggles. "They'd probably kill both of us if they found out we're back together." Then Zoe gets more serious. "Which brings the issue up of how to tell them..."
"Do you think that job at Stitely is still open?" I say, quickly changing topics. Frankly, her grandparents still scare the heck out of me.
"I'm not going to go begging for it, I already turned it down."
"But isn't it worth a try, since nothing is working out here?"
"I suppose..."
"I mean, that is if you want to move back. I'm not going to pressure you into anything, we'll always be able to work something out. You know that, right?" I ask, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, thanks Nate," Zoe smiles. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt, I mean, there's nothing to lose."
"Think about it, Zoe. Something will work out."
She lets out a sigh, then smiles up at me.
"Ya know what?"
"What?" I respond, smiling back.
"I think I love you."
"I know I love you."
She scrunches her nose adorably, looking quite pleased.
"You know when I fell in love with you?"
She shakes her head, smiling softly and contently in my arms.
"When I ran into you. I was so scared you were hurt, or angry, or something. And very pleasantly surprised when the thing I ran into happened to be very cute."
"I ran into you," Zoe says, running her finger absentmindedly over my lower lip.
"No, you didn't."
"Yes I did!" she exclaims, laughing. "But did you really fall for me then?"
"Maybe not in love, but I definately could not wait until I saw you next. Then you weren't on the trail the next few mornings, and I was pretty discouraged."
"I told you I was sick, not trying to avoid you!" Zoe says laughing.
"Excuses, excuses," I tease. "Do you remember when we went to that street fair?"
"How could I forget? You dared me to enter a hotdog eating contest."
"But you accepted the dare," I point out.
"What was I suppose to do?"
"You could of declined..."
"Yeah, right," she interjects, laughing.
"Anyways, you were such a good sport about it, laughing, joking with the other contestants..."
"Which were all old guys," she adds.
"Yeah, they were pretty old," I say, laughing at the memory. "Anyways, you just embraced the opportunity, and had so much fun through it all."
"It was actually a good time. I'm glad you dared me, but only after I had taken the Peptobismol to calm down my stomach full of hotdogs."
She giggles, and cracks a wicked grin. "Do you remember when we went grocery shopping pretending we were Russian?"
"Oh gosh, I almost forgot about that!" I laugh.
"We walked around the store in those ridiculous thick accents asking where the borsch was!"
We howl with laughter at the memories. Zoe starts to cry, she's laughing so hard, and I get a cramp in my side. When we finally start to settle down, I say,
"But I can't really pinpoint an exact time that I fell in love with you. It was gradual, I guess. But I can tell you something."
Zoe looks up into my eyes.
"And that's that when I came home from Iraq, it felt as is a part of me were missing. The homecoming didn't feel complete without you, and it didn't feel nearly as good. That's when it really sunk in. All the damage that I did over one stupid Skype. And that's when I realized that I can't live without you, Zoe. I can't."
Tears are falling down her cheeks, and she's clinging to my shirt. I gently kiss them away, amd then she looks up at me.
"You know when I forgave you, Nate?"
I shake my head, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"Two days ago. I happened to be unpacking a box when I found an old family Bible."
"Really?"
"Yup. It flipped open to a page where my mom had written."
"Your mom?"
She nods happily, tears still glistening in her eyes. "Anyways, the verse really spoke to me and I felt like she was trying to tell me something. And then you arrived the next day, and..." she trails off. Zoe looks up at me with those huge emerald eyes that first caught my attention. They're searching my face intently. She continues on, softly but confidently.
"And that was when I decided that I couldn't live without you, either."
Just as I'm leaning down to kiss her, the doorbell rings. We both groan. Then I start to laugh. This is so us.
"We'll never be able to live normal lives, will we, Zoe?"
"No way. It'd just be too boring," she replies, winking at me before answering the door.
I'm just about to walk into the living room when something stops me.
"Surprise, darling!"
I hear Zoe gasp. I can hardly believe it myself.
"Your grandfather wanted to call ahead, but I knew you'd like a surprise better. We decided to come down today, because you're only an hour away and it's just beautiful out and you must be kind of lonely here, and there weren't any meetings scheduled for today. Oh, retirment is so wonderfully busy, isn't it darling?"
Her grandmother is talking a mile a minute. Some things never change, I guess. Staying hidden in the kitchen, I wonder what to do.
"Um, Amma?" Zoe asks timidly. "I've actually got some company today. I'm sorry but..."
"Oh that's ok, ma cherie, we'd love to meet them!"
She's added a new endearing term to her vocabulary, it seems.
"But Amma..."
"Where is your guest? This place certainly doesn't look ready for company. Oh well, that's anothe reason Father and I came down, right Father?"
"Yes, Delores. But Zoe, we didn't mean to intrude. If this isn't a good time..."
"But Father, we drove all this way!"
"No, no, it's fine," Zoe says quickly. "So, um, actually my guest is..."
But it's too late. Mrs Michaels has found her way into the kitchen while Zoe was talking, and is staring at me, like it's a bad dream. For her, it probably is.
Smiling, I reach my hand out to shake her's. "Pleasure to see you again, Mrs Michaels."
"Zoe," she says, as calmly as she can, "Nathan is here?"
"Yes, Amma."
She looks down at my hand like it's garbage or something. I try hard to disguise my growing amusment, this woman is too hilarious.
"Nathan," she says primly. "I trust you are well?"
It takes everything in me not to burst out laughing. "I'm great Mrs Michaels. And you?"
"I could be better, if you weren't in this kitchen."
"Delores..."
"Amma..."
Mr Michaels and Zoe say at the same time. He gives me a shady smile, letting me know that, for the moment, he's on our side.
"How about we talk about this rationally?" he suggests.
We all agree, some more reluctantly than others, and move over to the couch.
"So, explain," Mrs Michaels commands bluntly once we're all settled.
Zoe takes the reins, and starts the story from the beginning. My hand rests on her leg, hopefully giving her my support. She summarizes Iraq, the breakup, the meeting before she left, the Bible verse, the forgiveness.
"I forgave him, and we forgave each other, so I think it's reasonable to ask that you forgive us too," she concludes.
Zoe's grandparents look at each other.
"I believe both of you, and forgive you too," Mr Michaels starts out.
Mrs Michaels starts to cry. "Oh my darlings, that is one love story! Father's and mine is so boring. But I forgive you both, my dears!"
Zoe lets out a sigh of relief, and start to cry too. Mr Michaels' eyes meet with mine, and we shake our heads,
What's wrong with these emotional women?
Smiling, I stand up to shake his hand.
"Glad you're back, son," he says.
"Me too, sir, me too."
"Oh Nathan darling I'm sorry I was so rude earlier!" exclaims Mrs Michaels. "But I really was quite put out with you, but that's all the past now!"
I shake my head out of amusement and assure her it's fine, I understand. She nearly suffocates me in a hug.
The celebration is interrupted when Zoe's phone rings.
"Hello? Yes, um, oh I'm sorry. Well, I guess might consider it...thank you for giving me a call...I'll see what I can do. Someone has to keep them in line, huh? Yeah, thanks again...ok, I will...now stop it! Bye now."
She turns around, a huge smile on her face.
"So, that was Brian...and he was begging me to come back! I didn't even have to beg him!"
"That's great, Zo!" I exclaim, and kiss her cheek. I'm still a little uncomfortable around her grandparents.
"What are you going to do, though?" her grandfather asks.
"I don't know, it's just good to know I have options open!"
"Very true," he agrees. "How long until your next base is assigned, Nate?"
"I should be getting the letter any day now, sir."
"Do you have the senority to list your preferences?"
"I can, but it hasn't done much in the past."
The phone rings again.
"My, isn't Zoe the belle of the ball this afternoon!" exclaims her grandmother.
We're talking amongst ourselves when Zoe lets out a little squeal.
"Thank you, Mr McMann! I will be in touch with you very soon."
We all look to her in anticipation.
"I just got another job offer...out here!"
Zoe is really excited, and I'm happy for her. I truely am. But deep down inside, I know that this will make her want to stay here even more, where her family and roots are. I know I'm being incredibly selfish, but I was hoping she'd decide to move back to California. Either way, we'll make it work. We have to.

I hope  that was worth waiting for :)

Shoutout to @hannahmsharp4 for following me, thank you dah-ling! <3 I will get the rest of my new followers in later chapters, either in "The Way He Planned It" or the last two updates for MMM, I promise :)

I love you all, thank you so much for over 15,000 reads and your patient waiting! :) <3

-Michelle

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