“Cin, please. No Army talk in the presence of an Airman,” Gabriel said, using his pet name for Lena while rolling his eyes at me.
The entire table laughed.
“My bad,” Lena said, holding up her hands as she looked at me from across the table.
“As long as you don’t let it happen again,” I teased.
“Don’t listen to him,” Savannah interjected, glancing between Lena and me. “This guy has respect for all branches. So much so, he briefly contemplated being a fighter pilot in the Navy instead of the Air Force.”
“I didn’t know that,” Micah said, turning to me.
I shrugged. Few people knew that I’d considered going into the Navy. I’d still wanted to fly fighter jets, but some of the benefits of flying for the Navy appealed to me.
I’d talked with Savannah about the different options when we were together. One of the reasons I’d chosen the Air Force was because of the number of bases it had in this area of Texas, where we both had wanted to remain or retire.
In the end, I went with the right branch for me.
We all talked and laughed for the next hour while we ate. Micah then pulled out his huge, standing Connect Four game. It became a competition between Aiden and me against him and Lonzie.
Savannah and Jodi cheered for their families, while Gabe and Lena declared themselves Switzerland, cheering for both teams.
Later, Micah showed Gabe and me around the area where he and Jodi decided they would build an in-ground pool the following year. Lena, Savannah, and Jodi went off to the living room to discuss the details of Gabriel and Lena’s wedding that would happen next spring.
Jodi took a sleeping Lonzie with them while a drowsy Aiden tried his best to hang with the three of us. Eventually, he wandered into the house and fell asleep beside his mother.
As I entered the living room and found Aiden’s head propped on his mother’s lap as he slept, I ate my words. As it turned out, the kid didn’t have endless energy.
“So much for getting him to take a bath before bed tonight,” Savannah said when I came to sit next to them.
“That’ll be a losing battle,” I commented.
She chuckled. “Tell me something I don’t know.” She glanced down at him and stroked his hair. “He had a good day.” Her eyes met mine. “Thank you.” Her voice was low, loud enough for only me to hear.
It was a tiny, shared moment between the two of us, even though we were in a room full of the rest of my family.
“Hey Ace, weren’t you out west last month?” Gabriel asked, breaking our eye contact.
“For training.” I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I bet you had a visitor,” Micah added.
I grunted. “Hell, yeah. Chael and his crew showed up, per usual, without my telling him where the hell I was.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Savannah said.
“Chael?” Lena asked.
“He’s one of our cousins from out west,” Gabe told her. “You’ll meet him soon,” he said.
“Be careful when she does meet him.” Micah pointed at Gabriel. “That fucker damn near tried to steal my wife when he first met her.”
Jodi laughed out loud. “That’s hardly true. All I said was how fine that man is. And this guy,” she gestured to Micah with her thumb, “got all jealous and possessive.”
“I mean, you weren’t lying,” Savannah spoke up.
“What?” I demanded.
She peered at me with an innocent expression. “I’m sorry, babe, but your cousin is hot.”
