BTW, are there any socks left in California? There were more pairs of socks in that box than I could possibly wear on this cruise, so Priest, Cameron, and Scott said to say thanks.
The jerky was amazing. I didn’t realize it came in so many varieties. Who knew there was a market for dried alligator, rattlesnake, and ostrich meat? I won’t even discuss some of the other varieties. That was just odd. It didn’t go to waste, though. We had a taste test in the NCO office trying to name the flavors. That was the funniest shit. I think some of the guys got it on video. I’ll have to ask.
Would you like to watch it? You might have to wait until I get to port. Fuck knows when that will be. If you don’t wanna watch it that’s fine. It probably seems stupid to everyone else, but contests and games are how we pass the time onboard.
Otherwise, it’s pretty boring on the ship. Other than the care package to end all care packages showing up and the jerky contest, it’s just been a lot of training. I’m so tired of following Cameron’s ass around deck. I know it’s muscle memory and what’s needed to make us a cohesive unit but damn, I’d like some leave time and to see something other than water in every direction.
I don’t have much time left on break before I have to get back, but again, thank you.
I think this is the part where I’m supposed to say something sweet and sappy. I think we both know I’m not that guy. I don’t think you are either. Although the letter you sent was edging into that AO. That’s area of operations for the non-military folk like yourself.
So… something sweet. I miss you. Is that strange? We knew one another for ten days before I shipped out. Oh well, if it is, so be it. I mean, who else would I be strangely sweet to besides my husband?
Now for the sappy something or other. I think about you constantly. Well, not really. I do have a fairly dangerous job. People do shoot at me on occasion, so I gotta focus when the time calls for it. I don’t wanna come home with any extra holes in my ass. But the minute the warrior powers down, be it a minute between training run-throughs or when everything is said and done for the day, you’re there. It’s strange. I seem to say that a lot about you. But it’s also reassuring to know, even when I’m floating around earth’s bathtub, that you’re with me. I never would’ve said deployments were lonely. Other than my dad, I don’t have anyone at home to miss, and dad and I, while we’re close, neither of us are good at staying in touch, so this has been… odd, I guess you could say.
Look at that. I didn’t call you strange. You should be proud. I’m expanding my vocabulary.
Take care, carinõ. Thanks again for the care package. I was the envy of the ship. Oh, btw, I didn’t know you could bake?
Hope to see you soon,
Papi ;)
I dashedtears from my cheeks at the sappiness, but I couldn’t get rid of the grin that stretched my face so much my cheeks hurt.
I hit reply and fell into my own vat of sappy bullshit. I couldn’t wait to see my man. In the meantime, I’d fill his email on the daily.
25
HAYDEN
I’d lain awake most of the night, staring up at the photos Declan sent of himself and also the couple he sent of the two of us. I’d taped them to the roof of my rack, above my head, with the tape he’d included in the box. A silent chuckle escaped. The man thought of everything when he put together that box.
It blew me away that he sent anything at all, but it was like he’d known just what I would want or need and stuffed it all in the box. I couldn’t believe… well, several things… one being that he’d managed to track down photos of our wedding. I didn’t remember posing for photos, but that wasn’t surprising. I didn’t remember getting married either, but if I had any doubts, they’d been wiped clean when I pulled the photocopy of our marriage license out of the box.
That got taped next to the pictures. We were well and truly legally bound. At night, when I lay twisted up in my rack, I traced my fingers over his name and signature as I looked at his beautiful smiling face. Most of the pictures were pretty much headshots, but there was one of him lounging by a pool, a drink in hand, flipping off the photographer with the other. His sunglasses sat on top of his head. His tanned chest bared to the waist. The light smattering of hair that started on his pecs narrowed before disappearing into swim trunks much like the ones he wore in Vegas. Those damn things had me sporting a semi that whole damn day. It wasn’t much different now. In the privacy of my bunk with the curtains pulled closed, that photo and the memories of us together fed the spank bank regularly.
This brought me to another thing I couldn’t believe. The vast difference he had made in my life in such a short amount of time. BD, previously known as Big Dick, but recently reclaimed to mean Before Declan…
Hmm. Maybe BD should stay Big Dick, and Declan should be named BDBD.
Ugh. No.
BD squared.
Before Declan’s Big Dick.
Yeah. That’s it.
The float was getting to me if I was talking to myself. Maybe I should blame that on Declan, too, because he swept through me like a platoon of Marines seizing control of a building. He left no stone unturned. He flipped everything on its head and left me changed. Vastly changed. I was the same person on the outside, but inside, everything was different, but yet not. I recognized myself still; all the pieces that made me me were still there, only they’d been rearranged into a different version of me.
A better version.
The thought flitted through my head, and I couldn’t help but agree. Yet, I couldn’t put my finger on what was different. I just knew something was, and it wasn’t a blatant lack of cock and ass I’d gotten this cruise. There were several guys onboard who liked dick, but unlike times past, I hadn’t indulged.
My alarm buzzed, and I sighed. Time to get up, and get shit packed. We were going home. I’d contemplated whether or not to tell Declan when we would be getting back to port but decided against it, despite how good it would be to have someone waiting as we came into port, manning the rails. I wanted to show him I’d chase him the way he had me.
I still can’t believe he did that. No one had ever put forth the effort he had, not only with tracking me down but with the box and everything inside. Then, there was the letter and the photos, not to mention our marriage license. He worked hard to show me he was in this, and that feeling was beyond description.
