Page 52 of Soaring and Saucy

“Tell me you didn’t do that to Memphis and Orion?”

“Uh yeah, of course, I did,” he retorted, grinning, before he winked at her. “We’ve got a thing in our squadron when someone gets married or finds out they are going to be a daddy, we kind of… well, ‘rough’ them up playfully. Some of the guys called it the ‘bump and grind party’ – but I call it ‘playing’ because ‘bump and grind’ sounds like our Friday night, princess… and that is not something I want to be associating with a bunch of my buddies.”

“Ha!” she exclaimed. “One night does not give us a nickname.”

“We’re gonna fix all of that sooner rather than later,” he smiled, and Stephanie rolled her eyes, refusing to comment as curiosity got to her.

“What did they do when you told them about our Peanut?”

“I’m actually about to go take my licks with the boys,” he grinned proudly. “I haven’t gotten a chance to because of the duty roster, the law office, and get a few things handled to get my wife out here by my side.”

“Uh-huh,” she drawled skeptically. “Keeping us your dirty secret?”

“Heck no! I’m proud that you can put up with me.”

“It is a skill that deserves a shining tribute.”

“No kidding – you get a gold star, princess. Gold star!”

And then she yawned uncontrollably, and he smiled in response.

“Go get some rest and tell my Peanut ‘hello’ for me,” he insisted. “I will text you some photos tomorrow before I call so that we can talk.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“Sweet dreams, princess.”

“You too… husband.”

He looked around nervously and blew her a kiss again, making her smile in awareness as she happily did the same.

Hanging up the phone, she got up from the couch and padded barefoot back to her bedroom. Changing into her nightgown, she went to brush her teeth in the bathroom, only to hear a ding from her phone as she finished, spitting in the sink. Rinsing her mouth, she heard two other dings and turned worriedly, spitting once more and then rinsing the basin. Walking back to her room, she picked up her phone and burst out laughing.

See?

Super proud of my wife and my baby, Peanut!

And attached were several photos of him being practically attacked by six guys in a very small room that was lined with bunks surrounding them. Lance was there in the middle, laughing wildly. His head was thrown back. and he had one palm directly on one man’s face, while the other was planted in the middle of a guy’s chest.

One man was hanging from a railing on one bunk, with his boot on the opposite side bunk, nearly sitting astride Lance’s shoulder. The others looked like they were dancing up on him. To top it all off, there was a guy on his back, hanging his arm around Lance’s neck, obviously howling the way his lips were pursed.

She could only imagine the rambunctiousness that was happening right now – especially after seeing the group of friends partying together. It was like they thrived in being wild and having fun to combat the stress and strain of their jobs, and she understood.

I love this so much. Thank you for sharing this with me.

Thank you for being a part of my world, princess.

She sighed happily, lying down to get some sleep.

The next day, Stephanie was about to go back inside from her lunch break when her phone began to ding wildly. Pictures and text messages were coming through, almost in a rapid-fire motion.

So when you walk in, you see the kitchen, living room – and those two doors back there are our bedrooms.

We’ll be right next to the baby.

The unit we’d be renting overlooks a fenced pond that has turtles and egrets that come here – nooooo alligators!

There’s a park directly beside our building for Peanut.

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