Page 1 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
1
AUSTIN
My name isAustin Ezekiel Moore, and I’m the guy mothers warn their daughters to stay away from.
No, notthatguy. I mean, I’m not going to like... destroy worlds and shred reputations. I’m not a danger to anyone but myself.
Well. Danger being a somewhat relative term, I suppose.
In terms of like physical danger, yeah, anyone’s daughter is going to be fine with me. Hell, I’ll probably protect them with my life if I can.
However.
Emotionally, I guess there’s some merit to the warning. I’m not exactly a safe bet, in terms of feelings.
I’m not trying to be a jerk. It’s just that I’m not built for relationships. I’m the guy with itchy feet, who doesn’t want to stay anywhere for long.
Even with my daughter (who luckily inherited the itchy foot gene from me) I don’t necessarily have a permanent home. We live in a modified camper van for now, and it’s as good a home as any.
Speaking of the sweetest devil in the world... I hear rustling, a sure sign that my child is emerging. Sure enough, Julia sticks her tousled head out of the van and asks, “Daddy?”
“Hey baby. I’m here,” I call to her.
“Okay,” she says sleepily.
“Let me let Ark out, and then I’ll come for cuddles,” I call to her.
“Okay Daddy,” she says. I hear the van shift, and know she’s gone back to bed for a minute.
I let my dog, Ark-Ark, named for the prolific sound of his voice, out of my van to do his business, and then I step out behind him. I watch as Ark promptly marks all four wheels of the van, before making a deposit in the sand.
“Good boy, Ark,” I say. “That’s my good dog. Oh, yeah, you’re a super-dooper good boy!”
He very much is. Dog ownership is about as consistent as I’m going to get. Well, that was the extent of my consistent tendencies, anyway. Before I got full custody of Julia.
I climb back into the camper van. I pull Julia close, breathing in her little kid smell.
“I love you Daddy,” she whispers.
“Love you too. Morning, baby,” I respond.
She blinks, looking up at me, and her eyes widen with shock for just a second.
She’s done that every morning since I’ve gotten custody of her, like she can’t believe that I’m real. Every time, it kills me.
I can’t blame her for that disbelief. While I had been busy rescuing people, guarding diplomats, clearing out insurgents, and generally trying to make the world a safer place for civilians, my estranged wife had died.
You see, my wife’s quack doctor had loaded her up with so many pills, a couple of them interacted and had put her into cardiac arrest.
After almost a year of wrangling with authorities to prove that I was stable enough to take care of my kid, I finally have full and final custody.
She is the one shining moment in my life. I love her more than Ark, and that’s saying a lot because that dog is my best buddy.
Fortunately, he’s my designated ESA, and he’s adopted Julia as his pup. We’re a tight unit, the three of us.
It’s a better unit than I ever could have asked for back in the military.
“Dad?”
