Page 8 of Forever Flirting

“Sir?”

“Did you think that you were untouchable here – or that you couldn’t be found? Surely you are not that dumb? I thought you were my ace pilot here… and I am disgusted at this moronic stunt!”

Alex froze, staring straight ahead and realizing that he was in trouble for something… only he didn’t know what it was.

“Begging your pardon, sir? What did I do?”

“You are an officer, Wilcox! You are supposed to be representing the best and brightest that we have here…”

“Sir?” Alex said calmly, swallowing nervously. “What am I being accused of?”

“You are behind on your child support payments?”

Alex’s eyes bulged out of his head as he stood there, shocked and unmoving.

“Sir, I am not aware of having a child, much less child support payments that are owed,” Alex began… and froze as everything began to click in his head, counting the months backwards and thinking when he could have gotten some girl pregnant.

He was extremely careful during his time at the Academy- and there was only the one instance when he was in Dallas on route to another duty station that…

Alex cursed under his breath and fell back against the door, before righting himself and standing tall once again.

“Sir,” Alex said hoarsely, looking his commander in the face and feeling terrified. At the Academy, being a parent or married was grounds for immediate dismissal. You couldn’t have ties or obligations while you were a student… but he wasn’t a student anymore.

What did this mean now for him?

“Sir, I swear I didn’t know. I mean, she never contacted me, and it was a one-time thing. A-Am I in trouble? Am I losing my c-commission?”

“No, but they are garnishing your wages and the notification came through to command. I just got yanked into my boss’s office to explain this letter! It’s embarrassing to your commander and yourself, because we push for integrity in all our pilots.”

“I’m fine with the garnishment…”

“You don’t get a choice, Wilcox!”his commander roared angrily, interrupting him.

“I don’t know how to be a father… sir,” Alex said hoarsely, looking at him again – and there must have been something in his expression, because his commander was no longer yelling at him.

“You are going to learnnow, Maestro,” he told him bluntly.

Alex swallowed, remaining silent.

“Get a hold of the woman, find out what is going on, and put your kid on your insurance. Marry her or do whatever you need to do, but you represent the United States Air Force and are an officer – and we take care of our obligations. Duty, Maestro… dang it!DUTY,” his commander said firmly, shoving the paper against Alex’s chest.

“Fix this – am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and Maestro?” his commander said, looking at him. “Keep it in your pants, son - seriously. If you are looking for cheap, easy, or low-class… you are in the wrong field. Have a little self-respect and aim higher than some floozy you barely know… and a bit of advice? You might verify that you are indeed the father, too. It’s not the first time someone’s been accused, only to find out they aren’t the parent.”

“Thank you, sir.”

His commander left him there, holding two sheets of paper.

Alex took several deep breaths before opening it and reading. Sure enough, the first one was notification that his pay was being garnished for back child support. Her name was listed on the paper, along with the Texas Department of Child Support Services, a case number, and his son’s birthdate.

He had a three-month-old boy – and the mother had named him Caleb.

Caleb Alexander Wilcox.

“Oh gosh…” Alex whispered, seconds before he opened the second paper that he’d been handed. He was now being given new orders… a duty assignment to Afghanistan.

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