Page 11 of The Gunnery Sergeant's Ready-Made Family

Chapter Eight

Chase smiled, his eyes tracking Stevie as she moved across their backyard. The four of them had settled into their new house easily, Ranger had a few nights of nightmares, but thankfully they had now passed, and he was settled. Currently, Ranger was playing in his cubby house, he and Chase having painted and decorated it.

“How are those burgers coming?” Stevie appeared at his shoulder, nose wrinkling up at the smell of the cooking meat.

“Almost done,” Chase grinned. The barbecue had been a gift from Stevie, she had smiled shyly when she gave it to him, telling him that she thought all houses needed a barbecue. He couldn’t have agreed more. Tonight, they were breaking it in, while Chase grilled the burgers, Stevie had been busy making a green salad, devilled eggs, pasta salad, and her legendary chocolate mousse cake, a firm favourite with children and adults alike.

Chase flipped the burgers one last time while Stevie busied herself with setting the outdoor table, adding brightly coloured cups and a pitcher of lemonade to the mix.

“Come on Ranger, burgers are done,” Chase called out, Ranger poking his head out of the cubby house and waved, ducking back inside before running out of the door, headed for the table. Stevie scooped up Finn from the playpen on the grass where he was currently trying to stand up, and secured him in his highchair.

“It won’t be long now until we are all chasing after him as he learns to walk,” Chase joked.

“Don’t remind me,” Stevie shuddered. “As long as he actually walks, it might be okay, Ranger never walked, he learnt to stand and then run, there was no in-between.” They talked of mundane everyday things while they ate, there was a women’s group on base that Stevie thought she might join, a new park that Chase had seen that he thought they should take the boys to, and plans that they had for the house.

Stevie shooed away Chase’s offer of help, happily humming to herself as she cleared away the table. Chase watched as she came and went, marvelling at the fact that this woman was his wife. It still seemed surreal to him. Ranger went back to playing in his cubby house, as was their custom most evenings, he played until it was too dark to see, Stevie and Chase sitting on the back porch, watching him, chatting. Chase unstrapped Finn, and returned him to his play in the playpen, laughing at his antics. Stevie returned, passing him a coffee, and they sat together on the top step of the porch, watching the boys.

“So, I have some news,” Chase started, not sure how Stevie would react.

“Good news?”

“I think so, I hope you will too. I went and saw my commanding officer last week, and asked to be redeployed-”

“What?!” Stevie gasped.

“It isn’t what you think Stevie, I promise,” Chase smiled reassuringly at her. “I thought it would be best for all of us, if I went back to work in some capacity, that way we are not always under each other’s feet, we can grow our independence. I asked to be redeployed locally. He called me today to let me know that my request had been approved, you are looking at the newest Army sniper trainer. I start on Monday.”

“Chase, that’s fantastic! I’m so proud of you.”

“The hours are good, eight to four weekdays, with most weekends off. It means we’ll be able to get the boys into a bit of a routine, maybe get Ranger into organised sport if he is interested.” Chase and Stevie spent the rest of the evening making plans, daydreaming on behalf of the boys, thinking of all the wonderful things they would do together as a family.

The rest of Chase’s week passed in a happy blur. Chase took both of the boys with him on a trip to the local hardware store, loading up the truck with a flat pack wooden shed, windows, concrete, and a variety of tools, screws and nails.

“You making a cubby house Uncle Chase?” Ranger asked, helping Chase by carrying a packet of nails.

“Not quite Ranger, I’m going to build a shed in the backyard.”

“A shed?”

“I’m going to put it in the corner, near your cubby house, and we’ll keep the lawnmower in there, and some tools for fixing things around the house.”

“Oh.”

“Would you like to help me build it when we get home?”

“Yay!” Rangers excitement was infectious, and Chase couldn’t resist buying a few child sized tools for him to use, gloves, boots and goggles, and a child sized tool belt complete with his own set of tools.

When they returned home, Stevie set herself and Finn up on the back porch as Chase and Ranger laid out all of their purchases. Stevie gushed over all of their items, insisting on a photo of Ranger kitted out in his new gloves, boots, toolbelt and goggles, sending it off to her grandmother. Chase showed Ranger how to measure the panels needed for the walls, and how to level out the ground to pour the concrete on. It was with reluctance that Ranger finally agreed to stop for lunch, only coming to sit down once Chase had told him that they needed their strength to lay the concrete after lunch. True to his word, once lunch was finished, and Ranger had helped to clear the table, Ranger and Finn returned to their shed project. By the time night had started to fall, they had the shell of a shed erected, and both Ranger and Chase were excited to finish the following day.

It was Ranger who woke Chase the following morning, long before the sun had started to rise, dressed in mismatched shoes and ready to start finishing the shed. Chase had smiled and taken Ranger back to his room, finding him matching shoes and then taking him downstairs to the kitchen, where he made the little boy a stack of pancakes with fresh blueberries. It was here that Stevie found them, a happy Finn on her hip. She listened avidly as Ranger told her all about their plans for the day, smiling as Chase handed her a cup of coffee.

“Do you have plans for today?” He asked, smiling, stalling for a bit more time before taking Ranger out to the backyard, knowing that their new neighbours would not appreciate the noise of an over excited boy this early in the day.

“I do, I thought that I would take Finn down to the nursery. I want to get some planters and maybe some seedlings.”

“For the front yard?”

“No, I want to get some shrubs for the front yard, I was thinking of azaleas, maybe in pinks and peaches. Maybe some hanging baskets for along both of the porches, lots of colour, maybe some strawberries, and large pots for next to the stairs on the porches, maybe dwarf fruit trees. Oh, is that too much do you think?”

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