Page 1 of Love Finds Home

Prologue

Jonathan Cross

Five Years Ago, Somewhere in the desert

“Cross!”

I look up at my name being yelled across the hangar, barely able to hold my head up. Thirty-six hours awake will do that to a person.

“What is it, Allen?” I ask when he gets closer.

“Colonel wants you in his office. Said he got an emergency call.”

I’m up and moving before I realize it, all exhaustion gone, running on full adrenaline. I skid to a stop in front of my Captain’s door and take a deep breath. Sure, it’s an emergencycall, but it could have come at any time in the last week. During a mission, we aren’t notified of any communication from home. It doesn’t matter what the message is, they won’t relay anything to us that might derail our focus.

“Sit,” Colonel Frank Waters tells me when I push through the makeshift door. He’s in his early sixties and biding his time until the Army decides he’s too old and kicks him out.

“What’s going on, Sir?” I ask as I do what he commands.

“Got a notification from home. Seems you did something extra last time you were stateside.” He smirks at me.

Last time I was stateside was three months ago. Had a weekend in Georgia for some mandatory eval, but I was able to see Vanessa, my wife. We celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary that weekend.

“What happened?” I ask, ready to get this conversation going so I can call home if I need to.

“Seems your sperm decided to work, Captain. Your wife’s pregnant. Congratulations.”

His blunt delivery of the news takes a minute to sink in, and when it does, I’m still confused.

“I’m sorry, did you say Vanessa, my wife, is pregnant? With a baby?”

“Well, yes, that’s what one is usually pregnant with.”

I sit in stunned silence, unable to connect the dots in my head. I need to talk to Vanessa. I need to get home to see her. I need to be there when our child is born. A child? What the fuck? A child.

“Sir, what do I need to do? I need to get back home.”

“I can get your leave approved. But you know you have to make a decision now.”

“What kind of decision?”

“Are you staying in or getting out?”

“I just re-upped a little over a year ago. I have a while to go before I have to think about that one.”

“Cross, son, if you decide you need out, I’ll help you get it approved. Shit, you already have the maximum allotment of days built up, which is why you’re going to take leave now. And we can work on your separation, if that’s what you choose, immediately.”

“What would you do, Sir?” I ask. I need someone who’s been in this life longer than me to share.

“I stayed in. That’s what I chose. And I regret it almost every day. I love my job. My men and women. But I missed everything at home. I missed my kids growing up. Hell, I almost missed Delany’s wedding that year because our mission ran over. She had a replacement ready to walk her down the aisle because that wasn’t the first time I would have missed something big. My grandkids don’t know me.”

“Why stay in?”

“I’m old, and I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I got out. So I’ll stay until they throw me out on my ass with a ‘thanks for your service, now get the fuck out of here’ and maybe a plaque.” He laughs.

I try to laugh, but the laughs aren’t coming. “I want to go home, Sir. I don’t want to make any decisions until I do that.”

“I think that’s a good decision, Captain. Pack your things, and I’ll get you on the next flight out. Perks of being the old guy.” He winks at me.

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