Corpsman and the Nerd (23 page)

Laughing out loud felt good. He hadn’t
done so in a while. Well, not since this morning when he and Ryan
had played with the toy car they found in the cereal box. They had
a blast seeing how far it went. With and without Spuds help.
Unfortunately, he lost track of time and they’d nearly been late.
As it was, he breezed into work on time. Barely. Yet, Max hadn’t
felt too guilty. He’d never get these years back with Ryan.
Therefore, he intended to make the most of the time they
had.

He had no intention of being a
dead-beat dad. Since the kid already had one of those. Greg Gilmore
had never come back from wherever he flitted to see his son. Not
once, as far as Max knew. Thinking about Ryan, Max couldn’t imagine
not wanting to share in that precious little life.

Having so many siblings, he’d seen the
joy kids brought into their parent’s lives, but he never
experienced that joy personally. Now, now because KC chose to share
her son with him, he could do so.

Ah, there goes the call
for us to man our stations. There are either complete lulls with
little to do here, or it’s so busy we can’t catch up to ourselves.
Work has picked up again. It’s sad. We’re fast approaching
Christmas and the fighting has increased, not decreased.

I miss and love
you,

KC

P.S. How are Rocky’s
puppies?

Chapter 29

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject:re:Thanksgiving
Video!

Attachment

Dear KC,

Thanks for your email. I
really appreciated your thoughts on Ryan. I do feel like his dad. I
always have. From the moment I met him, I’ve loved Ryan. How I came
to feel like this, I don’t know. Those feelings have been there
from the very beginning.

The older he gets, the
more he’ll need a dad. Why not me? I’m enjoying this time with him
so much. We found a toy car in the cereal box this morning.
Needless to say, I was nearly late for work! And to be honest, I
wasn’t too concerned.

Not only because I own
part of the company, but because I don’t want to waste any of this
time with Ryan. We’re not going to get these years back. If I can
share them with him, and then with you, since you can’t be with
him, I will – it’s my privilege. I’ve also initiated with Human
Resources (quietly) that any parent who comes in late is to have
some grace time. These years are too important. And so
precious!

Someday he’ll be a
teenager who’ll think we’re stupid and he’ll be embarrassed to be
around us. So, I suppose we’d better savor these years. (To give
her credit, Destiny and most of my nieces and nephews haven’t been
too bad.) Ed’s kids will likely be embarrassed around him, but
that’s to be expected.

I’m grateful you’re
willing to share your son with me. I love this time I have with
him. And all the other times you’ve given us. One thing I should
make perfectly clear, KC, and I know you know this, but I think it
should be said. I value and love you as much as I love your son.
You know that, but I suppose it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of
these things.

We’re busy here with
Christmas preparations. I think I’ve even finished all my shopping.
(Thanks for your suggestions. I think I bought everything you
suggested. Ryan will be opening everything from both of us, so
you’ll be here in spirit.)

Shopping proved hard with
an active five-year-old, but Lainy and Mitch very kindly kept him
one Saturday for me, and Mom and Dad another. So, I’m finished,
finally. As usual, I had a great time in the toy store. It may look
like he’s spoiled this year (which is unlike other years, of
course! ) but remember, some of these toys were chosen
with me in mind.

Ryan’s grown too. We had
to buy him new shoes and some new pants. We’ll probably have to
find him some shirts soon. I’m amazed. Laurie said growth spurts
are normal and gave me a huge bag of clothes and shoes. Then Melly
found out, and gave me some, as did Rachel.

So, Ryan’s good for
clothing and shoes right now. I think I labeled everything
according to who gave us what, that way we’ll be able to give them
back when he goes through another growth spurt. (Lainy assured me
this is what parents do. Normally this is the mom’s job, but since
you’re in Kuwait, I’ve got to take care of this aspect.)
Okay.

All for now, as I need to
go get the kid. We’re actually eating at home tonight. This is the
first time in a long time. Lainy and Mitch are coming over. We’re
having lasagna. Ryan said he was hungry for it, and so am I, so we
used your recipe and I think it’ll be good. Hopefully Lainy can eat
some of it too. Just in case, we stocked up on extra bread,
something she can keep down. And crackers. Ryan wanted animal
crackers the other day and I think she’ll do okay with them. If we
left her any.

Miss and love
you,

Max and Ryan – the lasagna
chefs

P.S. We sent a picture of
Rocky’s puppies now that they’re a little older. We visit them
regularly.

KC laughed as she read to the bottom
of Max’s email. She sorely wished she could have been there to see
the two lasagna chefs making their dinner creation. Even to be a
fly on the wall would have been humorous. Having experienced Ryan’s
“helping” tendencies first hand and knowing exactly what Max was up
against would only make the situation that much funnier. And she
didn’t think Max was a confident cook.

His line where he told her he loved
her pierced her heart. He was right, she did know that, but was
touched that he thought to write her. How a man so sweet would want
a place in her life, she didn’t know.

She selected the option to write an
email.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: To the Lasagna
Chefs

Dear Max and
Ryan,

I must admit to being
humored by the thought of you and Ryan in the kitchen. Together.
Trying to put lasagna together. I do hope Lainy and Mitch
appreciate your efforts!

I certainly would!

I’m glad you enjoy being
Ryan’s dad. I’d never thought about him needing one so much, but
more and more I am feeling like he needs not just a male in his
life, but a stable man.

You’re perfect for the
job. (The benefits are priceless, by the way.) Thank you for
feeling the way you do. I know we don’t get to choose this type of
thing but I’m glad all the same for your willingness. And I’m
grateful for your love. I love you too. Both of you are more
important to me than anyone else.

Thanks for being Ryan’s
“mom” right now too. He does go through those growth spurts from
time to time, so thanks for providing him with clothes. The mom
network you tapped, your family – is my favorite one. I’ve given
boxes of clothes to them for their kids. It’s wonderful because as
I gave away perfectly good clothes that Ryan had outgrown long ago,
your sisters gave me sorely needed clothes, also in perfect
condition. “Gently used,” Laurie calls them.


So, you’ve managed to
experience a phenomenon most men know nothing about. If you’re so
inclined, just box up his too small clothes and give them to the
sister(s) most likely to need that size of boy’s clothing. Laurie,
Zara, and Melly come to mind. I think Rachel’s kids are too big,
Melissa’s and Dory’s are too small. You’ll have to gauge that
though. Melissa’s kids may be getting close, so keep her in
mind.

I’ve got more
DVDs
to watch, but
haven’t had time. (I’d rather bug you.)

Count yourself lucky we’re
thousands of miles apart, since I’m feeling spunky tonight. Also
tired and a bit giddy from another fourteen hour day in 120 degree
weather. We’re all feeling it.

We thought the days would
get easier, but it’s getting busy again. I don’t know why. All I do
know is we’re tired and sandy, and tired and hot, and hungry, and
did I say tired? I’m afraid I’ll start getting sloppy, and some of
the other doctors have expressed the same fear. Admiral O’Riley has
thrown his weight around some and we should have more staff
shortly.

How I pray that happens!
Thank goodness that, like General Emma, he’s a force to be reckoned
with!

Thinking of you fellows,
wishing I could be there with you!

I love and miss you, so
much,

KC

P.S. I printed out the
picture of Rocky’s puppies and posted it, and didn’t that picture
multiply! Someone took it down and copied the photo, and now it’s
not only all over the compound here, I overheard Rocky and her
puppies can also be seen on neighboring compounds and bases
too!

Chapter 30

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Happy
Christmas

Happy Christmas to you
KC,

Wondering, hoping, your
days are getting easier. I wish we could use the phones, but
understand your reservations. Lainy is working on the problem, but
she’s also busy with this problematic client and being pregnant and
a wife.

She says she’d never trade
being married for singlehood again, but she’s noticed she has a lot
less free time. And once this kid comes... Well,
you’re a mother. So, she doesn’t have much time to devote to the
many miscellaneous projects she used to.

Ryan and I will be going
to my folks soon. I’m letting him sleep now. He’s going to have a
full day as it is, much less considering the day is Christmas. So,
I figure I’ll let him sleep as long as he can. (All the presents
are already at Mom’s house. Keeps us all honest that way.)

You’ll be happy to know,
Ryan and I baked cookies last night. We’re sending you some
tomorrow. The rest we’ll eat today. We spent the evening with the
parents, and Mom was crazy busy with everything, and Ryan wanted to
bake cookies, so we took over that job.

Mitch helped. We looked
like a bunch of ghosts when we were done. Did you know Mitch can
toss a single cup of flour and coat an entire person? I haven’t
been able to figure out how he does it, but I imagine it has
something to do with his military training. He’s improving
drastically in the food/water fight arena. We’re proud of
him.

Lainy cleaned up after us
and decreed we are never allowed to bake cookies again, but Ryan
talked her out of it. I’m not sure how, but he managed. Mitch
pulling her into a closet for a few minutes might have helped too.
She was as covered in flour as him, so I wonder what they were
doing? (eye roll) Ryan kept asking me to explain, but I was
laughing too hard. Dad ended up having to do the deed. I’m not sure
Ryan understood anyway, but...

Well, he’s awake now, and
more full of energy than I’ve ever seen him in the morning. He’s
asked for cookies for breakfast, but my mom made me promise we’d
have oatmeal. I’m thinking compromise is good. That way once we
finish the nasty oatmeal, (how in the world am I supposed to feed
our kid this when I don’t like it myself?) we’ll have cookies. I
think it’s a fair trade off. Goodness knows I’ve got to have some
incentive to eat oatmeal. (As Ryan would say – ewww!)

I’d better wrap this up,
as we need breakfast and then we’ll dress and hurry over to Granme
and Granpy’s house. Ryan’s bouncing off the walls already, so maybe
I’ll reconsider the cookie thing, but probably not.

I did save a few presents
for him to open here before we go over to Mom and Dad’s. We opened
a few of them last night and plan to finish the rest this morning.
Mostly just stocking stuffers.

I didn’t buy him any
candy, since we have lots of tins of cookies and I know Rachel and
Treeny made at least ten pumpkin rolls. Laurie, Melly, and Zara
have been baking pies all week. Melissa and Lainy have been making
cookies and cakes and I don’t know about the in-laws. But there’s
sure to be too much sugar.

Lainy promised to video
tape the day for you, but I’ll probably do it. She’s too easily
distracted these days. (Mitch is like her shadow, or she’s like
his, we haven’t been able to figure which.) So, I’m thinking Ryan
and I’ll man the camcorder.

We miss and love
you,

Max and Ryan - who plan to
eat lots of cookies. (Who’ve already eaten lots of cookies. <
big grin>)

*****

KC read Max’s newest email with a
smile on her face and an ache in her heart. She’d be sharing in
their joy today if she was home. They wouldn’t have eaten cookies
for breakfast if she had been there. The image of Max’s and Ryan’s
most beguiling expressions reared up in her mind. Well, maybe they
would have....

Since she wasn’t home, she wouldn’t
get a vote in the amount of treats they ate before the actual
fat-fest even started. Instead she’d already made her rounds and
spent some time in the lab. And she could expect more of the same
later.