Welcome Home, Baby

It'd been almost a year since I last saw his smile.

How stupid was that? That the first thing that popped into my mind as I fidgeted in the waiting line, was how much I missed that smile of his.

The woman next to me hushed the baby in her arms gently as she rocked him back and forth, her smile unable to fade as we all stood at attention- our eyes glued on the entryway that our spouses were going to come through.

I swallowed nervously, and fidgeted with my white coat belt as I tried desperately to resist the urge to reach up and adjust the curls that I had finally perfected.

I tried to dress nice while keeping with my usual style- I had bought a brand new button up coat that emphasized my tiny waist, and under it was a black skirt and thin black tights that lead down into my comfortable flats.

But still… I couldn't help but feel under-dressed as I looked down self-consciously, and I wanted to slap myself for feeling this way. I was a beautiful woman and I knew it- I never lacked in self-confidence, and I knew from the glint in David's eyes that he saw me as his own personal goddess-

But I didn't want to disappoint him.

David had always preferred me bare faced, and so I was only wearing a light coat of foundation, and while I had put a little mouse in my hair to keep it from frizzing, I refused to burden his noise with that cloying smell of hairspray.

One of my curls had already escaped the various bobby pins and hair clips in my hair.

It was driving me crazy...

My breathing stuttered to a stop, and any feeling of annoyance I might have had immediately disappeared when I saw the first green uniform walk through the entryway.

Like the opening of a dam, soon dozens upon dozens of men were walking off of their plane and into the waiting room where we were. I scanned every face while ignoring the happy shouts and laughing children around me, standing on my toes as I tried to peer through the mess of bodies and find the face that I was looking for.

My David was an incredibly handsome man, though I suppose some would call it an unconventional handsome. He had always reminded me of a puppy dog, with his playful brown eyes and slightly chubby cheeks. His hair used to be in a permanent state of bedhead before he entered the military, because he never saw the point in styling it. I had thought it charming when we got married, because it made him look laid back and adorable.

And then there was that smile of his.

That smile that could lower the guard of any woman, with his chubby cheeks displaying those dangerous dimples, and making him look like an innocently mischievous little boy who knew you'd forgive him as long as he batted those big brown eyes at you.

That little rascal.

God I loved him.

But even as I scanned the crowd while standing beside all of the other military wives and girlfriends, I couldn't help but be shocked when my eyes finally found the man that I was looking for.

His jawline was sharper now, I noticed, and those chubby cheeks that I had always secretly adored were also gone. And he'd gotten bigger…

So much bigger.

He'd already been tall for his age, towering over my 4 foot 10 inch self ever since freshman year, but as I took in the changes in his body, I couldn't help but suspect that he was now nearly (if not over) 6 feet tall. And with his broadened shoulders and slimming military uniform, he seemed incredibly intimidating- nothing at all like the little puppy that I had married.

Was this really my David?

I blinked. Was this man- with his sharp brown eyes, military regulation hairstyle, built like a mountain and all tucked away in pristine military uniform, really the same boy who used to steal my math notes?

And then those piercing eyes landed on me, and the pure joy that lit them up softened their color into the same shade of chocolate brown that I remembered.

And those lips that had been scowling in a grim line tilted up, and exposed those cute little dimples that totally transformed his entire face.

His features were sharper now, more masculine, and those cheeks had lost almost all of his previous baby fat- but those mischievous little dimples were still there.

And just like that I was running.

I was running without giving any care to etiquette because my husband had come home from an actual WAR- last week he was dodging bullets and doing who knows what else, and now here he was.

He had come home to me.

He dropped his duffel bag without giving it a second look, and opened those dangerous arms of his to embrace me. He could have snapped me in half like a twig, but I didn't even register the fact that I could have been in danger- because I knew down to the very marrow of my bones, that David would never hurt me.

No.

His arms were made to cradle me, and those calloused hands were meant to caress me, and destroy anything that threatened our home- our family.

"DAVID!"

I launched myself at him like I was a miniature missile, and the sight of it must have been comical. Anyone who looked us must have felt that I was small enough to either be his younger sibling or his daughter.

They never would have guessed that I was his wife.

David caught me, and wrapped me up so tight that it was almost difficult to breathe- but I didn't mind at all. A string of tension in his body eased up as I buried my nose in his thick military shirt, and he buried his nose in my neck.

We breathed in the other's scent that had eluded us for so long, and felt our bodies finally relax for the first time in months.

My feet were dangling in the air like I was a child, but I didn't even register this fact because my arms around the neck of the man I loved, and his own were wrapped protectively around my waist.

He let out a shaky sigh, as if he was still processing the fact that I was in his arms again. I ran a soothing hand under his green cap to caress through his short brown hair, and choked back the sobs in my throat.

He was shaking under my hands in pure relief and happiness, and I smiled through the joyful tears that were running down my cheeks as I tried to keep my voice from sounding hoarse.

"Welcome home, baby."