Page 114 of Forever Fickle

I understand and feel for you – but I will defer to Jace’s judgement on this one. He knows his friends and coworkers… and if they are decent, then I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem, so perhaps this is telling? I cannot answer for him but wish you the best. I can’t wait to see you soon.

Love,

Karen

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Karen quickly hit send– and composed a second email to Jace…

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My beloved,

I am so happy to hear from you and can’t tell you what your emails do for me. I see your name in my inbox and feel like you are beside me, being my rock, my support, my friend… and hope you understand what a comfort it is to me to have you in my world – despite the fact that you are stuck on the opposite side of the planet.

I truly feel for those lonely people that have no one…

Maybe for Christmas, I should send care packages to the guys that don’t have anyone to write them or have any family? I can’t imagine being alone out there with zero support. It must be heartbreaking – and I hope you know I will always have your back, just like your brothers in the Air Force. Everyone I’ve met has this bond and you are a special group of guys…

Speaking of lonely – I invited Jana to come down for Christmas. She’s been having a tough time, I think. She can’t visit because she is working overtime, so I hope that she has something to look forward to for the holiday.

Maybe I will reach out to Lindsey or Jim to do something special for her?

I plan on spending Christmas at my parents’ house annoying my siblings to the best of my ability… ha ha ha! Sometimes it’s the small victories, isn’t it? I mean, when you can gift them something they aren’t expecting – it makes you the hero, and there is such a prideful gloating that comes with it.

I got Chase a Star Wars Lego set that is Johnny’s favorite character, Boba Fett’s helmet. Chase likes the Jedi much more than the bounty hunters or sith… so it's practically like giving my nephew the gift – yet it was super cool of me to make it Lego because that is what my brother adores. They can do it together and it’s a bonding experience.

See? Super Sibling, right there!

I got my parents some gift cards for several restaurants and mailed your parents the same – from both of us naturally.

My sister Emily… she’s so quiet sometimes, so it’s hard to shop for her. I wish she would open up more. I got her some dishes for her new place, so I hope she likes them.

I miss you so much, darling. I’m trying to stay busy working on our wedding plans and slowly getting everything together. I’ve got a few more things to nail down before we can make some set-in-stone plans.

Keep writing, because your letters truly pick me up and make me feel alive.

Love Always,

Karen

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Karen was chewingon the end of a pencil, working down the list of things to do for the wedding/vow renewal for them. She was honestly a little peeved that the church was so far out on scheduling that it was staggering. She had no idea that they only did weddings there on Saturdays… and they were already out to October!

They might as well renew their vows on their actual wedding date in November at this rate – and while it was nearly a year away? It was kind of fitting too…

A fall wedding around Thanksgiving wasn’t quite what she imagined, but it would be lovely. She could put little glints of gold in along with the light blue to make it festive, yet their own.

It would also help make the time pass faster, because if their renewal was nearly a year out, Jace would be home almost eight months after that.

… And her list seemed pretty daunting.

Everything was taking so long to plan and Karen quickly realized that there was no such thing as a quick wedding unless you eloped or went to the justice of the peace like they had done.

The wedding invitations alone would take almost two months to be printed and shipped. The flowers, the bows for the pews, and any arrangements… she and Jana were going to make them, but that meant having everything here and waiting when Jana flew in beforehand.

Yes, this was stressful and time consuming.

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