Page 23 of Eight Years (The Trident Trilogy 1)

Chapter Thirteen

Outer Banks, North Carolina

2005

One of the first things Mack learned in basic training was how to remain calm in the chaos of war. He had been in hundreds of full-out firefights over the years, and had always immediately felt calm when the bullets started flying. Apparently, that strategy didn’t apply to Parents’ Night at Millie’s grade school. He had never felt more stressed out in his life.

Because of his schedule, this was the first parent/teacher night he had been able to attend with Millie. She hadn’t let go of his hand since they got out of the car. Her face beamed with pride every time she introduced him to someone. Mack, on the other hand, was overwhelmed with the scene. There were kids running wildly everywhere, parents yelling at them to stop, and teachers trying desperately to be heard above the din.

“How you doing there, Mack?” Carol said. Mack turned around to find Millie’s friend’s mom standing behind them. Her eyebrows were raised and her lips pursed. She knew how loud noises triggered him.

“Is it always like this?” Mack asked as he tried to smile.

“It will calm down in a few minutes when the tours and teachers’ meetings start. The kids will all go down to the cafeteria for pizza,” Carol said, patting his arm.

Millie instinctively hugged Mack. She could sense when he was becoming tense. It rarely happened, but sometimes when a car backfired or a balloon popped, he jumped. She didn’t know why. She just guessed he didn’t like loud noises. And, she knew that fireworks with him on the Fourth of July were completely out of the question. It’s just something she had come to accept.

Thankfully for Mack, all the kids finally started filing out to the cafeteria. Millie gave him one more squeeze, and then skipped away with Chloe. Mack spent so much time alone with Millie when he visited. It was weird for him to see her as this confident, independent socialite. It made him proud and scared all at the same time.

Mack showed up fifteen minutes early for his scheduled appointment with Millie’s teacher, and ended up having to wait thirty minutes because she was running behind. On time is late.These people would never make it in the military, Mack thought as he stood impatiently against the lockers.

Finally, the teacher’s door opened, and a woman who looked like she was barely old enough to be out of school herself greeted him.

“Mr. Marsh? I’m Millie’s teacher, Miss Dunning,” she said, shaking his hand.

Mack followed her in, and took the chair by her desk. He didn’t know why he was so nervous.

“The first thing I’m going to tell you about Millie is that she’s one of my favorite students ever,” she started. “And, you might think that’s something I say to everyone, but I don’t. Millie is special, so whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”

Mack felt a surge of relief go through him like someone had just told him the results of a test for a life-threatening disease had come back negative.

“Thank you.” Mack couldn’t think of anything more to say. He felt oddly uncomfortable discussing Millie with someone. They had been in their own little cocoon for years, and now, he was just realizing she had an entire life outside of him.

“Specifically, I can tell you her language skills are off the charts,” Miss Dunning continued.

“Yeah, she’s quite the talker,” Mack said, laughing.

“Well, yes, she is that, too. I was going to bring that up later, but what I’m talking about right now is foreign language. We teach all the kids Spanish here, and she excels at it. She’s proficient way beyond her age group.”

“She must get that from her mother,” Mack said.

“Did her mom speak another language? Millie never talks about her.”

Mack didn’t know why he had mentioned her mom. He never mentioned her to anyone, including Millie.

“Yeah, she spoke several languages,” he said shortly, hoping to move on to another subject.

Miss Dunning seemed to get the hint. She told him about Millie’s impressive skills in math and writing, and that Millie needed to work a bit harder on science.

“Millie’s also really athletic. Do you ever think about signing her up for organized sports?”

Mack hadn’t really thought of that at all. She still seemed like a little kid to him. He knew she could swim and run faster than just about any kid he’d seen at this age, but he’d never thought about sports for her. He’d been so consumed with hiding her, he hadn’t considered that maybe it was time to let her start experiencing normal group activities.

“I’ve never talked to her about that. I’ll ask her,” Mack said, a little bit embarrassed for not thinking about this sooner.

“Well, again, Millie is amazing. She’s sweet, inclusive, smart, funny. Everyone loves her, so congratulations to you for raising such a lovely human,” Miss Dunning said. “We are required to tell you about any concerns, so I will tell you that some of her teachers think she’s not serious enough, but really I just think they mean she’s a chatterbox.”

Mack tried not to smile, but failed. “Yeah, she’s got a lot to say. All the time. Do you want me to talk to her about it?”

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