29 A Family Divided

Sometimes you have to take a leap and pray that you do not fall. For sometimes, the leap is so great that if you fall, you are going to fall hard. Falling is hard, but falling hard is even harder. So if you fall, you better pray you are falling onto something soft.

And something soft is what awaits me and tackles me to the ground. Isabella has me down on the grass, holding me as tight as she cans.

"Yes, yes, yes, soldier! A hundred times over, yes!"

"Damn boo, for a second there; I thought you were going to strangle me."

"Hahaha. I will wait until we are married before I kill you."

"Now that is something to look forward to. But can we take this inside? Our new neighbor is giving us a funny eye."

I pick her off her feet and carry her into the house. Once inside, I throw her over my shoulder and slap her on her ass

"Soldier, what are you doing? Put me down!"

"Practicing."

When we get to the room, I drop her body elegantly onto the bed and watch her disappear between the sheets. I lay down next to her, it is not long, and we fall asleep in each other's arms. The next morning I am awakened by a glorious smell coming from the kitchen. I throw on a pair of boxers and make my way over to her.

"Morning boo."

"Hey, soldier. Did I wake you?"

"Nah, I slept like an angel."

I wait while she goes to dish up for us before carrying on with what I want to speak about.

"So boo, the wedding date?"

"Damn, soldier, you are fast."

"Well, the thing kind of is, I want to get married before we deploy."

"But soldier that is in little over a week?"

"I know, boo. If we can get Katarina and my mom here tomorrow, then we can start planning."

"Soldier, when you said wife, I did not think wife so soon?"

"I know, boo, but I don't want to deploy without you having my ring on your finger."

"Why, soldier?"

"I want you to be taken care of if anything happens to me."

"Soldier, don't talk like that; nothing is going to happen to you."

I pull her chair a little closer to me. "I want you to be mine. Like this, just us, together. I want to make you my wife. I won't be happy if I go out there and we have not completely given us to each other."

"If we going to do this, then I guess we are going all the way."

"So what do you say about Saturday?"

"I guess Saturday I am getting married."

"Come, boo. It is time we phone my mom."

Isabella, who is beyond nervous, hands me the phone; with my trembling fingers, I start to dial my mom's number and let it ring. Not even six seconds later, and she answers it; I was so hoping she would take longer to at least give me some time to breathe.

"Hey, Clay."

"Hey, mom."

"How you kids doing? You settling in well?"

"Yes, everything is perfect; we can't wait to ship out."

"Yes, I am not looking forward to that part a bit. Still don't understand how you manage to set your heart on such a dangerous career."

"Mom, it is not a career; it is a passion. It is something I want to do. But this is not why we are phoning."

"Oh, is Isabella also there. Put her on speaker."

Isabella only looks at me and shakes her head. She has been happily sitting here just biting her nails. She hoped that she would not have to say a word because Matt made the mistake of telling her how mad my mom can get, and now she is beyond shit scared.

"Hey, Denice."

I chuckle at her, showing her that she should say mom, but somehow she does not seem to find it funny at all.

"Hey, Isabella. Is something the matter? Why do you guys sound so nervous?"

"Nothing is wrong, mom; there is something we need to tell you."

"Is Isabella is pregnant? Oh, please tell me Isabella is pregnant."

"Whoa, hold on there, let us not get ahead of ourselves here."

"That is such a pity. I would love to have a baby in the family. But then what do you need to tell me?"

"Mom, we..."

"Oh, hang on, your dad is here."

Oh, perfect; I was hoping to only hear about his opinion on being the perfect husband later when he got here. Guess they say the sooner, the better then, but my biggest fear is my mom; if she disapproves, it will devastate us both.

"So let's hear this news," my dad says as he sounds somewhat impatient. "Have you changed your mind? Are you coming back now?"

"No, dad, we are not going anywhere. But we were hoping that you guys will come here."

"Go there for what? You surely not expecting us to pack up and follow you around?"

"Hahaha. I am trying to run away, not trying to get you to follow me."

"That is not nice, Clay," my mom says. "You know how much we miss you when you are not around

"I know, mom, I am just messing around. The thing is, we want you to come here tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

Then I hear my dad abruptly interrupt my mom. "To Camp Pendleton?"

"Yes, and Matty too."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No, but something is going to happen."

Isabella goes and punches me on the leg showing me to get out with it. But me, I like dragging it out until the suspense is nearly killing them. Hopefully, by the time I tell them, they will be so irritated that they have no energy left to be mad, and mad is exactly what my dad gets.

"Can you get it out? You know how it frustrates me when you are so damn slow."

"Well, I asked Isabella to marry me."

"You what?"

I listen as my mom slap my dad, and as he goes quiet, she continues to speak. "Oh my god, Clayton. This is wonderful. It is even better than being pregnant. But why must we be there tomorrow, though?"

"We are getting married on Saturday."

And if I was not shocked by my dad's reaction before, I am by what he says next. "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, Dad, I want us to get married before I deploy."

"It is insane; you only met each other the other day."

Now, this is something I did not expect at all. I was preparing myself to convince my mom that it is not rushed and that we know what we are doing. But instead, it is my dad that seems to disapprove. I do not need their blessing, but I would love their support.

"Marriage is not a thing to play with," he continues to show his utter disgust at our decision. "You can't just walk out when it does not work for you."

"I know that, dad; I would not be asking Isabella if I know it would not work."

"You are young; you are only twenty-five; you still have your whole life ahead of you. Why would you want to get tied down at such a young age?"

"Richard," my mom interrupts him. "Clayton knows what he is doing. You know that he will not make decisions like this lightly."

"Well, it is obvious he does not know how to make decisions. First, it was the Marine Corps that I have learned to live with, but now getting married so soon? This is ridiculous."

I can hear what sounds like a chair in the kitchen being kicked out and my father walking off. A few moments later, my mom finally speaks to us again.

"I am sorry, Clay; I think he is just in a bad mood today."

"Mom, it is fine; we thought that you would be upset."

"I am so happy for you guys. After everything you both have gone through, you deserve a bit of happiness."

"Now tomorrow, mom, Isabella needs some help to plan the wedding so quickly. We were hoping you guys would be able to come tomorrow?"

"Of course, I will. It is the first one of my boys to get married. It has to be perfect for you both. I will let you know the moment we leave."

"Thank you, mom."

"Don't worry, I will speak to your dad."

"I think it is going to take a lot of talking, but I appreciate if you can."

"Sure, see you two tomorrow."

After I drop the call, we can only but stare at each other. There is a deep sadness in her eyes; she is trying very hard to hide her tears. It only takes one second longer, and they come streaming down her face like a raging river bursting its banks.

I slowly pull her closer into my warm embrace. I wrap my big strong protective arms around her frail body. In an instant, the world around us melts away. I squeeze her even harder, not wanting the moment to end.

"Soldier, your dad is never going to be happy if you marry me."

"Boo, you are marrying me, not my family, especially not my father. All that matters is my opinion. He will come around; I think he is just in shock."

"I hope you are right; I hate to be the one that breaks your family apart."

"You are not breaking anything apart; if anything, you are fixing a broken man."

"But you are not broken, soldier."

"I was boo until I met you."

I clasp her face between my hands and stare beyond those beautiful big brown eyes. "I love you."Isabella

With every breath and wink, I move my lips closer to hers until I finally feel her skin touching mine. Her lips are softly trembling as she tries to whisper.

"I love you too, soldier."

"What do you say we go back to bed? I don't feel like facing the day after that call."

"I am right behind you."

As we get back under the covers, we cuddle back into each other's arms, and that is where we stay until the next morning

Then all of a sudden, there is one hell of a banging at our door. Of course, misses sleepyhead refuses to get up for it. I very reluctantly go to check who it is and give them a fair piece of my mind.

"Who the hell..."

"Hello, bro!"

"What?.... Why?... Were you guys not supposed to let me know when you leave?"

And from behind him, Katarina pops her head. "Denice could not wait anymore and dragged us all out of bed."

And past them come, my mom. "What? It is not every day that I get to see my boy get married."

I watch as my mom excitedly starts to look around. I know who she is looking for. She is looking forward to this wedding; I hope Isabella can see that my family will fall in love with her just like I did.

"Where is Isabella?"

"Hey, Denice."

Isabella comes walking up to my mom and surprisingly gives her one big warm hug. The smile on my mom's face confirms for me that my mom has already accepted her as part of the family. But we are missing one member here

"Where is dad?"