Page 167 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

She smiled at his lopsided salute and toothy grin.

When the computer dinged with the Skype notification, everyone waited with bated breath.

She could have cried when David’s face filled the screen; she felt such intense love, but the boy’s shouts and whoops distracted her enough she was able to keep her composure.

“Shhhh… let Daddy speak.”

The boys settled down, but bounced as they smiled and waved.

“Hello Fahertys! How is everyone? You boys look like you’ve grown three feet since I’ve been gone!”

The boys took turns sharing about frogs, and tests, and other painstakingly descriptive details of early boyhood. David responded in shock and awe, and pride, to everything. Tori wondered if there’d be any time at the end for her to speak with David one-on-one.

But she needn’t have feared. David always took care of her.

“Okay fellows, it’s Mama’s turn now. I love you so much! Joel and Jesse, you two set up the cd player. Gid, you be a big boy and go right to bed, okay?”

The three boys waved and blew kisses and “yes sirred” as they ran up the stairs to their room.

Tori set Isaac on the floor with some toys, he’d be crawling any day, but for now she was grateful he would stay where she put him.

“How are you doing, T? I can’t express how much I miss you.”

She smiled and touched the screen. “I’m good. How are you? Any idea when you can come home?”

He grinned. “Well, I might have a little confession to make.”

Her heart beat faster.

“We got news a few days ago that we should be flying out within the week.”

She let out a small squeal. “Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

He laughed. “I wanted to see your face when I told you. I knew it would get me through the last few days until I can hold you in my arms again.”

She blushed. “Well, that’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”

He nodded. “Me too. Now, are you really doing okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, sir, nothing to report.” Her stomach flipped at her ‘slight’ falsehood, but she kept her face calm and gave him a confident smile.

His eyes squinted slightly, but he said nothing. “Okay, if you say so. Oh crap, my time’s up, hun. I need to go. But I love you and will see you soon.”

“I love you too!” She blew kisses at the screen until it went black.

Days. She would see her husband in days. She couldn’t wait.

Chapter Two

David stepped off the plane and breathed a sigh of relief. It was always an amazing feeling to come home. Even though he wasn’t generally in the thick of it, anytime a soldier was deployed there were risks. He couldn’t wait to hold Tori and the boys. Scanning the crowd, he let out a whoop of delight when he spied his crew.

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” a gaggle of little hands and legs hit him full force and clung on. He lifted all three of them into his arms and kissed their sweaty heads, relishing their energetic voices welcoming him home.

As always, Tori was more reserved, but her eyes shone with adoration and, when he pulled her to himself, her body sagged in relief. He knew she bore a lot when he was away, and it was a relief to hand some of the responsibility back to him. He kissed her hard and then gazed into her eyes. Something was off. She looked haggard. Sick. Her shirt was baggy, making him wonder if she’d been losing weight.

“Babe, wha-” Before he could continue, other members of their close-knit community were welcoming him back, and his boys were talking a mile a minute. Later, he promised himself. Later, when they had some time alone, he would dig into what was going on with his wife.

After a perfect dinner of meatloaf, roasted asparagus, and homemade mashed potatoes, he sent the boys into the backyard with popsicles and sat down on the couch, pulling Tori into his lap.

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