To: lainy_monahan@gmail.com
From: kcgilmore@gilmoreproducts.net
Subject: General Emma and Admiral O’Riley
Hey Lainy!
Thanks for your last message. I miss you two so much! I’m very excited about this baby, as you know. You and Max both keep me informed. (Although his version isn’t nearly as technical as yours.)
Speaking of you and Max, I’ve asked him to give me the scoop on General Emma. Meaning, have you noticed any sort of... extra emotion she shows toward our good admiral? Because I’ve certainly seen something going on from my end. He’s pretty intense for information about her.
Max has proven less than reliable on the gossip end. He’s such a man. It’s incredible! I asked him to tell me anything he notices which was a ridiculous request on my part. Like he notices such things. “General Emma interested in Admiral O’Riley? What’s interest mean?”
Therefore, I thought I’d put forth my suspicions to you. Have you noticed any vibes from her? I really like him, and if she’s not feeling the same way, I want to know. He’s a good man and doesn’t deserve to be hurt. I really think he’s vulnerable where she’s concerned. (Which is disconcerting to see in one’s Commanding Officer.)
Does that sound strange? I’m sorry if it does. I just wanted to be on the same page with someone from home. I have things covered here, but I need a spy there. Max certainly hasn’t proven helpful. LOL
Oh, there goes the wounded call. Gotta go! Miss you!
Love,
KC
*****
KC tore into the package. They were into January now, well into the month, in fact, and her cookie supply had dwindled to stale crumbs. She’d been anticipating this box, and with relief, extracted a huge container of fresh smelling treats.
Sighing, she bit into a molasses cookie, and savored the first bite. Then worked at removing the rest of the contents with her free hand. She came up with DVDs. One read Morrison Holidays, and she saw the video was dated from this past holiday. The other simply read Max and Ryan.
Eagerly, she popped that one into her laptop, then while the video loaded, continued clearing out the carton. More cookies, more toiletries, these not gift-wrapped as those she had received before the holidays. And another stack of pictures.
Flipping through the pictures, she saw Lainy’s hand in the selection. All of them portraying Max and Ryan. Her hand stilled as she gazed at one that clearly depicted Ryan’s bath time. KC’s heart clenched as she thought longingly of the times she had bathed her son. Now, Max enjoyed the job.
By the expression on their beloved faces, they were enjoying those moments together. Ryan sat in the tub, with some of his favorite bath toys around him. KC noted a couple new ones and smiled.
What really riveted her though, was Max. Max clothed had begun to cause unfamiliar sensations to her nervous system. Max shirtless was enough to blow her nervous system. A sight to behold, indeed. The man was perfectly made.
In the picture, he sat by the tub, and his stomach definitely contained ridges she wanted to explore. Flat, with texture. KC liked texture. He rested one arm on the tub and with his biceps bent, revealed those nicely muscled arms she lusted after.
His shoulders gleamed with moisture, and she could detect droplets down his chest. A wonderfully contoured chest, with a perfect sprinkling of hair. Max had the most masculine chest she had ever had the privilege of viewing. He really had been holding out on her and she wasn’t happy about that.
He must have removed his glasses, which was probably wise, knowing Ryan as she did. Her son liked to splash. Max would be blinded by the water if he kept his glasses on. Lainy had caught him in profile, and Ryan head on, so she could see her son’s blue eyes, but not Max’s. She wished she could see Max’s eyes again without his glasses.
Of course, this picture with his naked torso did plenty for her. Maybe too much. The man was definitely gorgeous. And she’d never noticed. Now, thousands of miles away, she couldn’t do anything about her new Max fetish. Could that be why she had suddenly acquired this awareness of him?
Because she couldn’t do anything about it?
KC pondered that question. Would she immediately revert back to old habits when she returned home? But that didn’t ring true. These strange yearnings began before she left home. Remembering that first morning at Max’s house calmed her.
She had certainly been aware of him then. As a man. Not as her best friend and business partner. Had she begun to think about him as a different sort of partner even then? Gulping, KC knew the answer to that question without additional thinking or effort involved.
Yes. Max Morrison had taken on the role of a far more important partner than strictly business. When had he become her mate?
Not able to answer that question, KC turned to the video. Anything to keep her mind off her newest musings.
She watched as Max’s house came into view. The camerawoman took them around the side of the house and showed the backyard. How she wanted to romp in that yard with Max and Ryan. With Spuds nipping at their heels.
Winter had taken a death toll on the flowers she knew normally resided there. The trees were bare, and reached to a weak sun. Color came from the healthy ivy growing up the fence and trellis and the scattering of evergreens.
KC lost interest in the vegetation when she caught sight of Max and Ryan. They were walking from the house to the barn, and KC stared. Grinning she shook her head as she noticed something interesting.
Working with Max for a year, she knew his walk. He had a languid, laid back sort of stroll. She enjoyed how his hips easily rolled, yet there was a tightly leashed power there, as well. Never having noticed that before, KC wondered how she missed the evidence.
What stole her attention the most, however, was the small boy bobbing along behind Max. A little man who perfectly mimicked Max’s walk. Placing a hand over her mouth, KC felt her smile. She pressed her lips between her teeth as she gazed at the pair.
Ryan walked like Max. In this most precious video, Lainy had amazingly captured a little boy mimicking his dad. Tears welled in her eyes as KC watched.
Her son had exhibited Max characteristics in the past, but now she couldn’t wait to get home and see them in person. How many more would he have? Would she see Max regularly in him? This video offered further proof that a child didn’t need to be born of a parent to act like Mom or Dad.
The video also provided evidence that a man could love a little boy he hadn’t had any part in creating. Because Max loved Ryan. His actions so easily proved that theory. KC had no doubts on that fact. Their little boy. Ryan was theirs.
Even if Max wasn’t the man she married, he was still Ryan’s dad. He deserved partial custody regardless of the outcome of their relationship. Ryan needed Max, and she wondered if maybe Max needed Ryan. She knew she needed her son in her life. And right now, she’d be hard pressed to deny she needed Max as much.
*****
Max downloaded his mail and listened for any rustlings from Ryan’s room. He only just got the little guy to bed and hoped he stayed there. Ryan hadn’t wanted to sleep ever since the snow started falling so heavily outside. Max couldn’t fault his son for his enthusiasm. He had been just like Ryan at five.
His mother had threatened, bribed, coerced, and sweet-talked him as a kid too. Snow was the most important thing in a boy’s life. Well, Spuds was pretty important too, but right now, all Ryan cared about was the snow on the ground he couldn’t play in.
Max had finally resorted to distracting him with a story, and he finally fell asleep. Now, holding his breath, Max hoped his kid would stay asleep. Ideally – the entire night. Since he had no burning desire to be outside building a snowman or engaging in a snowball fight at any time of the night.
He saw an email from KC and became easily distracted, himself. Must be a male trait.
To: maxmorrison@gilmoreproducts.net
From: kcgilmore@gilmoreproducts.net
Subject: A new video
Hello Max and Ryan,
Did you know the two of you walk alike? My newest video from Lainy certainly showed as much. Like father, like son comes to mind. I was most amused.
Max stared at the first paragraph. No matter how often she reminded him of her thoughts on Ryan being his son, he still loved her reassurance. KC seemed to have no doubts, no qualms, no problems with this. Ryan was hers, but he was also his, Max Morrison’s too. Amazing. He returned to her email.
We continue to be busy. More and more wounded are coming in. Plus, our lab is fairly reliable, <grin> so I’m racing to keep up with the ensuing work. We’ve lost a few more men, and I hate when they die.
I suppose somewhere in my mind I realized we’d see death before I came. I didn’t deal with those thoughts then, which could explain why I’m having such difficulty with them now. Of course, death is never easy. Nor should it be. But the Grim Reaper has seen some victories.
Janine, even through the excitement of finding Ben, is a top notch doctor. She’s amazing to watch. I’ve yet to see her flustered on the job. She’s so ladylike and together. (Most of us are quite envious of her.) We can have bombs exploding around us and she only raises her voice slightly so everyone can hear her rapping out orders. Then keeps working, as though we’re in some fancy hospital.
He wished he could understand what she was going through, yet Max really had no basis. Watching it on a TV show wasn’t the same as experiencing it. But he did feel her pain. Seeing these men die would take a toll on anyone, much less a nurturing, giving woman. Wishing he could help, he kept reading.
I on the other hand, tend to spaz. (No comments from you, Max Michael Morrison!)
Max laughed out loud. Yes, KC did tend to spaz when things went awry. And inevitably, they did. She usually ran to him, and he worked to calm her down.
A privilege.
But she was too far away for that arrangement now. Who was taking care of her? Ah, her friend, Janine. Max didn’t know if he felt good or bad about KC’s roommate being the friend to whom she ran. He wanted sole running rights. He continued reading.
To be fair, my fatality rate is decent too. Fortunately, the veteran doctors talk to us and share their secrets. Janine has worked in a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, which has given her excellent combat wound knowledge. She finally admitted this the other day, so we know why she’s so good. Apparently, the streets there are still pretty tough, and the patients coming in for treatment appear to have been in a combative situation, rather than normal living conditions. Very sad.
Looks like I should be home at the very end of April. Only three and a half months more! We’re at Jan. 20th now, so really, a little more than three months. I can handle that! Mitch did warn me in a recent email that I’ll probably feel colder than the rest of you when I get home.
Why? You ask. Well, evidently, since our bodies have acclimated to the extreme heat here, they’ll likewise have to adjust to the less extreme weather at home. He mentioned a man who left for a funeral and wore a sweatshirt for a few days because although it was 80 degrees at home, he left 127 degrees in Kuwait.
There goes the signal that we’ve got more wounded coming in. I need to end this.
Miss you!
Love you,
KC
P.S. Any news on the Bent Rock Foundation? We haven’t heard anything lately, and thought General Emma intended to auction off the puppies after the holidays?
Max stared at the end of her email and wished for more. He wanted to keep reading, because then they shared a connection. Rereading her note helped, minimally.
When he finished for the second time, he pushed away from the desk after shutting his computer down. Ryan had stayed asleep so far, but who knew when or if he’d awaken with snow on his mind.
Wearily, Max rolled his shoulders. He needed the next three months to hurry past. Sleep might help. At this point, he would take anything to speed up the remaining months. Three months.
How in the world would he manage?