Promised (The Promised Series)

me out of my quiet contemplation. Mr. Tatman is squeezing my shoulder tighter and pulling me with him as he tries to move through the sea of people who are now crashing with the sea of men and women in their army fatigues. I scan the sea of tan, gray and green clad soldiers trying to find the face that I’ve been longing to touch and kiss for nine long months. We continue to maneuver around the people who are now clinging to their loved ones, going deeper and deeper into the sea.
    Finally, I catch site of a pair of familiar golden brown eyes and I let go of months worth of tension that I’ve been holding in my body. That delicious grin that weakens my knees every time, crosses his face and I know he sees me. Mr. Tatman’s arm and the rest of the sea disappear as we run at each other. I throw my arms around his neck and he bends, linking his arms under my legs and around my neck, to scoop me up against his chest. I don’t give him a chance to say a word, mashing our lips together so I can enjoy the feel of his rough sun chapped ones against my much softer ones. I don’t want to move my mouth from his, but eventually, the need to breathe pulls us apart.
    “God, I’ve missed you beautiful.” He whispers as he scans my face. I know he’s trying to memorize every detail because I’m doing the same with his. He stands me back on my feet so he can continue his scan down my body.
    “Not as much as I missed you, husband.” I whisper, fighting back another round of tears. He stops his scan to lock his eyes with mine.
    “Did you keep my ring safe, wife?”
    I pull the necklace he gave me that first Christmas out from underneath my shirt. Both of our wedding bands and my engagement ring now lay snug against the charm on the fragile chain.
    “I kept it close to my heart the whole time.”
    He reaches out to finger the four little objects that have been symbols of our love. His hands slide up my neck and circles around to the back to unhook the chain. He slides his band off the chain into his hand and then transfers it to my palm. Holding out his left hand he asks. “Will you do me the honor?”
    I slip the ring onto his finger without a word and once it’s firmly in place, I pull his hand to my mouth and kiss the band.
    “Why aren’t you wearing yours?” He asks, eyeing the necklace he’s still holding in his other palm.
    “My fingers are too swollen for them to fit right now.” I explain, releasing his hand to drop my own to my very rounded, pregnant belly. His eyes flicker down and his grin widens even more. He unhooks his dog tags and transfers my wedding rings to their chain before placing the chain back around his neck. The he returns my chain to my neck.
    “I’ll keep them close to my heart until I can put them back on your finger.” He explains at my questioning look.
    Then dropping down on his knees, he leans in to kiss and touch my rounded belly that’s holding our unborn child.
    “Thanks for staying in there long enough for daddy to make it home, little one.”
    Linc – Ten Hours Later
    “Come on, Wyn. Focus on me. Deep breathe in.” I suck in a lung full of air. Then releasing it, I tell her. “Now, let it out slowly.”
    “Shut it.” She screams, gripping my hand hard. I watch as the contractions rip through her body, causing her to shake from head to toe. The nurse gave me a cool cloth, so I use it to wipe her sweat covered brow and then place my lips to her forehead for a quick kiss.
    “You’re doing so good, baby. The nurse said it won’t be much longer. Just hold on.” I whisper against her brown hair.
    Several hours earlier, I was basking in the feel of having my wife cuddled in my arms when I felt her body tense and a cry slipped from her lips. The tension left her body after several very long minutes and she rolled to face me with her explanation. “The baby’s coming. My water broke.”
    In my line of work, you have to be able to think and act quickly in deadly situations. Gun fire, bombs, hostage situations, I’ve handled them all, but none of them rattled me as much as those words coming out of Wyn’s lips. I didn’t move; hell, I couldn’t move. My body had chosen that moment to glue itself to our cotton sheets. What do I do now , I thought.
    Wyn leaned into me and kissed me firmly on the lips, then awkwardly rolled her rounded body out of bed so she was on her swollen feet. She eyed me from her position beside the bed and when I still hadn’t moved, she chuckled.