Duty(32)

“If you mean is he still on my mind . . . yeah, he is. When his class graduated, the Army Times published the full list of graduates like they do every year. I'll admit I checked it out. He was an Honor Graduate,” I inform her, shrugging and taking another sip of my cooler. “He's an officer now, Petie. At the rates of promotion, he's most likely going to be promoted again pretty soon. He’s probably out there somewhere, looking like the next coming of Patton, and hasn't thought about me in years.”

“And you've never thought about telling him about Lance?” Petie asks. “No offense, but that's a little greedy to me. Does Lance even know who his father is?”

I shake my head. “Of course I’ve thought about it. And Lance is too young still. I don't need him talking to a classmate at daycare and suddenly, I've got JAG knocking on my door. But it doesn't matter, Petie. Like I said, I'm enlisted, a Non-Commissioned officer even now. He's an officer. What can I really do besides ruin the man’s career? And mine.”

“No offense, babe, but you're full of shit,” Petie says, sipping her drink. She says it in just the right way to not make me angry, a skill she's had our entire relationship. “Or maybe just the Army's full of shit. You want me to leave now?”

I laugh, shaking my head. “You have never, in the eighteen years we've known each other, been afraid to voice your opinion to me. It's what I love about you, and I don't want you to ever change. Just like you know I'm not always going to follow your advice.”

Petie finishes off her wine cooler and gets up, grinning. “Top you off?”

“No thanks, sweetie,” I tell her, looking at my half bottle. “But if you want, I'll give you a ride home after this. Enjoy all you want. A walk home would be nice, if it comes to that.”

Petie heads inside to grab another wine cooler. I watch her go, shaking my head in amusement. I missed her, and she is right. I do miss Aaron, and I think about him a lot. It's impossible not to when every night I hug Lance and put him to bed, it's Aaron's eyes looking back out at me.



“You're three days early,” the company clerk notes as I sign in. “What's up?”

“My son takes up a lot of time,” I say, looking around the company offices. “I didn't want to rush, and I figured I'd like to be able to take my time getting housing squared away.”

“Smart idea,” the clerk says. “A hint, talk to Tiffany at post housing. She's the general schedule civilian who really runs the shop. She'll hook you up right.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, signing my papers. “Anything else?”

“Hold on, CO might want to talk to you. Lemme see. He might just wait until you're on duty again. You might be on post, but you're still on leave for another few days,” the clerk says. “By the way, call me Beanie. All the others around here do.”

I nod, and he turns around, knocking on the office door on the other side of the room. He goes in, coming out a few seconds later. “Sergeant Morgan?”

I go over, and the Company Commander gets up, coming around his desk to size me up. He's tall, and I immediately notice with a bit of a twinge the West Point diploma on his wall. “Sergeant Morgan? Hi, Pete Lemmon. Nice to have you on board.”

He offers his hand, and I shake, unsure of what to do since I'm in civilian clothes. “Thanks, sir. Honestly, I don't know if I should salute or not.”

“Not in civvies. I'm more relaxed than that,” Captain Lemmon says. “I'll run you through that dog and pony show Monday morning after formation. We'll officially introduce you to everyone that morning, then get you processed in properly. I read your file. I know you've got some things to square away before then. If you need any help, give us a call.”

“Thank you, sir,” I reply, giving Beanie a thankful look. “Sergeant Beanie has already given me some good advice on housing.”

“All right. Good to meet you, and good luck getting settled in. I know we're a deployable unit, but I'll tell you the truth, Morgan. I run this company like a family. We look out for each other. Catch my drift?”

“Roger that, sir.”

“Good. Now, I've got some reports to catch up on, so I'll make my departure. Welcome to the company.”





Chapter 11





Aaron





The commissary is chilly, especially after the warm humidity outside, and to be honest, it's a bracing bit of relief. The platoon was out at the range today, and my undershirt is still sticking to my chest after sweating out on the line all day. It's not the high part of summer, but fall still comes late to Bragg.

Thankfully, the Regulators are in good shape. Nobody had to re-fire, and a lot of the platoon shot expertly. Forty-one soldiers up, forty-one down in fewer than three hours.

Unfortunately, range days mean late nights, as cleaning our rifles took nearly as much time as firing once we got back to the company area, since Captain Bradley wants them so clean that we could use the barrels as a straw if we wanted. Some of the young privates aren't quite as up to speed on how to scrub down a rifle efficiently, and it was nearly six thirty before the weapons room was locked up and I got to sign off on everything. Still, I have to give it to Captain Bradley. He was at his desk too, and when I handed him my report, he did say the Regulators did a good job.