"I like the sound of that." Logan pulled her closer. "No phones. No missions. No deployments looming. Just two weeks of being together."
"Exactly."
They went to bed early, both exhausted from travel and emotion and six weeks of separation. Logan held Mara close, listening to her breathe, feeling the steady beat of her heart against his chest. This was what he'd thought about during the long nights in Afghanistan. This moment. This peace. This woman who understood him in ways no one else ever had.
"I love you," he said into the darkness.
"I love you too." Mara's fingers laced through his. "Thank you for coming home to me."
"Always will. Long as you'll have me."
"That's a long time."
"Good. I'm planning on it being a long time."
Mara shifted to look at him, even though they could barely see each other in the dark cabin. "Are we really doing this? Building something permanent? Despite the distance and the danger and everything that makes this complicated?"
"Yeah. We are." Logan's voice was certain. "I know it's not easy. I know there are going to be more deployments and more operations and more times when we can't be together. But I also know that what we have is worth fighting for. Worth the complications."
"I think so too." Mara kissed him softly. "I spent so many years thinking I couldn't have this. Thinking that the work meant I had to be alone. That letting someone in would make me weak or distracted or vulnerable." She paused. "But you don't make me weak. You make me stronger. Because I have something worth coming home to. Something beyond the mission."
"Same." Logan brushed hair back from her face. "You've changed me, Mara. Made me better. Made me want things I didn't think I could have."
"Like what?"
"Like a future that doesn't just revolve around deployments. Like someone to share my life with. Like maybe someday a family." He felt her tense slightly. "Not now. Not soon. But someday. When we're ready."
Mara was quiet for a long moment. "I never thought I could have that. A family. A normal life. The work always seemed incompatible with it."
"Maybe it is. Maybe we'll never have normal. But we can have something that's ours. Something real." Logan's hand found hers in the darkness. "We don't have to figure it all out tonight. We've got time."
"Time," Mara repeated. "Yeah. We've got time."
She settled back against him and within minutes her breathing had evened out into sleep. Logan stayed awake a while longer, thinking about the future. About what their life might look like in a year, in five years, in ten. About the possibility of something more permanent than stolen weekends and long-distance calls.
It wouldn't be easy. Their careers would always demand sacrifice. There would be more deployments, more operations, more times when they couldn't be together. But they'd figured out how to make it work so far. They'd keep figuring it out.
Because some things were worth the effort. Some people were worth the complications.
Mara was worth it. They were worth it
And that was enough.
The next morning, Logan woke to sunlight streaming through the cabin windows and the smell of coffee. Mara was in the small kitchen area, moving quietly, trying not to wake him. He watched her for a moment, memorizing the scene. The way the light caught her hair. The relaxed set of her shoulders. The small smile on her face as she poured two cups of coffee.
"Morning," he said.
She turned, smile widening. "Morning. Thought I'd let you sleep. You looked peaceful."
"First real sleep in six weeks." Logan sat up, stretching. "What's the plan for today?"
"No plan. That's the point." Mara brought him coffee and sat on the edge of the bed. "We've got two days here before we leave for the Caribbean. I figured we'd just exist. Maybe take the boat out on the bayou. Maybe sit on the porch. Maybe not leave this bed."
"I vote for that last option."
"I thought you might." Mara set her coffee down and crawled into his lap. "We've got time. We've got privacy. We've got absolutely nowhere we need to be."
Logan pulled her close and kissed her thoroughly. "Then let's not waste it."
