The Soldier Next Door

I could have sworn I just fainted; a big ass man like me has dropped like a little bundle to the floor. Did I just hear right? Did I just hear that Ana is pregnant? I think if I open my eyes, I will soon find out. But I am scared. Am I ready to be a father? Am I even the father type kind of man? I am so not prepared for this; then again, I am a soldier, I need to be ready for the most unexpected things.

I feel as Ana tugs at my shoulder, “Soldier, soldier, are you okay?”

Then Dr. Roberston joins her, trying to get me out of my stupid spell of darkness. “Ethan, can you hear me?”

As I slowly open my eyes and wait for it to adjust to the light, I see Anas staring worriedly at me. “Soldier don’t give a woman a heart attack so early in the morning!”

She starts shaking me furiously. I can hear the urgency in her voice as she calls out my name. “Soldier! Soldier!”

“Aahhh boo, I am awake; slow down on the shaking.”

“Don’t you ever do that again!”

“Hahaha, don’t give me such a big fright then.”

“Urgh, you are impossible. This is not funny. Did you hear what I said?”

I look at her with a wicked smile on my face. She is acting too serious to pick up that I am up to no good, “No, sorry boo, I did not hear what you said.”

“Then why did you faint?”

“Because you dragged me out of home before I could have breakfast.”

She folds her arms in a huf in front of her chest and cocks her head with a somewhat serious look on her face. “I did not drag you out of home; you the one that pulled me to the doctor. Now, did you hear what I said?”

“No, boo, you will have to repeat it again.”

“Soldier, I know you are messing with me. I said…”

“That you are pregnant.”

“So you did hear me?” She balls her hand in a tiny fist and punches me as hard as she can.

“Ouch, you can’t do that; you are hurting the baby.”

“Oh my god, I am going to have a problem with you.”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Okay, but seriously now. You are pregnant, for real pregnant?”

“Oh, soldier, I love how sweet you are. Yes, for real now, we are going to have a baby.”

I stay quiet for a while; a million questions race through my mind. I am going to be a father; I need to repeat that cause I still don’t think I heard it the second time around. At least I did not faint this time. I am really going to be a father.

“Soldier, say something.”

I do not answer her yet. What am I going to do? Can I do this? All my life, I have been dreaming about being a Marine; never once did I think about becoming a father. But then again, I never planned to come back home and fall in love either.

“Soldier, anything, say anything.”

“I think I can do this; in fact, I know I can do this. I want to do this; I want to be a father, and whom better to have a baby with than the woman that I love more than life itself.”

“Soldier!”

“Yes, boo?”

“Are you going to say something?”

“If you want to know if I am happy,” I reach out to lace my fingers in her hands and pull her closer.

“I think I will give you guys a minute,” Dr. Robertson turns to excuse himself.

“No, it is fine, doctor. Tell us what to do. What happens next?”

“Son, now you guys have a baby. This is not a mission; nothing will go as planned. As long as you keep this girl happy and healthy, then your baby is going to be just fine.”

“But Dr. Robertson,” Ana starts.

She does not even have to finish her sentence; I know exactly what she is thinking of. I see concern and worry is riddled in her eyes; I know that it is something that the doctor can not promise, but reassurance is something she sure does need. The doctor is quick to stop her, to ease any doubts that she might have.

“Ana, this is a new beginning, a new miracle in your life. Please do not let the past make you worry about now. Focus on what you have now and work towards your future. We take it every day as it comes. You are going to be fine.”

I wrap my big strong arms prospectively around her shoulders. Her face softly presses against my chest. She looks up at me for just one second underneath the lashes of her deep brown eyes.

“Soldier, why is your heart beating so fast?”

“Because I am happy, boo, I am happy and excited.”

“Are you really?”

“As much as I love you to infinity, that is how happy I am.”

She rests her head on my chest again, and I squeeze her a fraction harder this time. If she needs me to do this, I will wrap my arms around her every time the universe feels like it is crashing in.

We stay like that for a moment, letting the depth of the news sink in. In little than nine months, we are going to have a baby. I am finally going to have to grow up now. The boy iss a Marine that was broken is now a man.

After making our next appointments, we head on over to the coffee shop to catch a breath before we make it back home. And much to my very annoyance, dear old Maggie is there like she has been waiting for me. “Hey, Ethan, my boy. Are you not supposed to be in the army?”

“Maggie, it is the Marines. The Marines, not the army!”

She ignores me completely and carries on with what has caught her attention, “Is something wrong? I saw you at the doctor?”

“Nothing ever escapes your eyes. I swear you probably know when I go to the bathroom too.”

“What did you say about the bathroom? Yes, I know the ones here are very dirty. I have told Alice before.”

“Maggie, I think you have a ball of fur stuck in your ear.”

I feel Ana kick me under the table for being so nasty to Maggie.

“Oh, so you say there is something wrong with your ear. ”

“Urgh, Maggie, Remind me to keep my ba…”

Ana kicks me again.

“We just dedidec to come back home visit. We missed everyone and wanted to come to say hello.”

“Aaahhh, my boy, that is so nice; you two canaries are so sweet.”

“Canaries, seriously Maggie?”

“Man, you know those birds for love.”

“Love birds Maggie, lovebirds.”

“Yes, those, you two are like them. I think you must get married.”

The contents of my cup go flying over the table as I choke on my coffee. Ana chuckles and just smiles at me. Maggie, of course, has no idea what just happened.

“Well, I must get back to the flower shop. You must let me know what flowers you want; maybe I can do the flowers for your wedding.”

“Let us not get ahead of ourselves here. Trust me, Maggie, you will be the first one to know if we do.”

After Maggie leaves, we sit in complete silence for a while. Maggie has scratched a surface that is something that would have had to come up soon. I don’t know how to approach this, for I have only now found out that I am going to become a father, now I should consider becoming a husband too?

Everything is happening so soon. In the Marines, they teach you to be prepared for anything but never do the prepare you for this. To think we were going to deploy, and she was pregnant. She would be at the base while I would be off on a mission. How could I have not seen this?

“Boo, can I ask you something?”

“Yes, soldier.”

“How long have you known?”

I shyly stares down at her hands that are holding her cup tightly. She slowly take a sip of her coffee before she answers me, “I have had a feeling now for a week.”

“But how could you have let me deploy? How could you have deployed?”

“Because it is your dream soldier.”

“But who says having a family is not a dream too?”

“In all this time I have been with you, you have never mentioned it once.”

“Yes, you are right boo, I never had this planned, but since I met you, so many of my plans changed.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Not at all, please don’t ever think that I do.”

She stops me before I speak again. There is something clearly on her mind; I know she thinks I am not taking this seriously; how do I prove to her that I am?