Page 18 of The Gunnery Sergeant's Ready-Made Family

“Chase?” Stevie sat down on the porch step overlooking the front yard, Chase busy tinkering with the truck. Stevie had forced herself to stop referring to it as Kyle’s truck, it was hers now, along with everything else her brother had owned, thinking about it as his kept Stevie in limbo, and only stopped her from moving on fully.

“Hmm?”

“Are you busy? Can you stop for a minute?”

“It’s only an oil change,” Chase stood up fully, stretching his arms over his head and rolling his shoulders, “nothing that can’t wait.” He turned to face her, walking across to join her on the step. “Is something wrong?”

“I think we need to make some changes.” Stevie gave him a brief smile, tension lining her face.

“Okay. What sort of changes? If this is about the bed again-”

“No,” Stevie was quick to assure him, having decided that she would never win that battle. “It’s about us, and Kyle, mostly.”

“Go on, I’m listening.”

“It’s just that we keep going on with our lives, doing the things that we used to do, and nothing changes. We are living in limbo, it’s as if we are waiting for Kyle to walk back in through that door, it isn’t healthy, not for us, and certainly not for the kids. Granted, this new house was a pretty big change, but nothing else changed, we stayed the same. This truck, for example, is still in Kyle’s name. It should be in yours now, we both know you use it more than me, I don’t like driving it. Legally Ranger and Finn are mine, but we are married now, Chase, the kids should be legally yours as well, what if something happened to me? You wouldn’t have any legal claim to them, or any jurisdiction to make decisions if I was out of town and one of them ended up in the hospital. What are we doing?”

“You want to make some changes?”

“Yes, I had a few ideas, I didn’t want to do anything before running it past you first.”

“You never need to seek my permission, Stevie, I hope you know that.”

“I do, but I wanted to discuss this with you first, to make sure that we were are on the page.”

“Okay, let’s hear your ideas.”

“I thought I could print out the forms from the Department of Motor Vehicles, and we could sign the truck into your name since you are the main driver. I’ve been thinking of getting myself a smaller car for running around town in, something like a Toyota Yaris or a Mitsubishi Colt.”

“Maybe we could go to a couple of car yards later today if you wanted to?”

“That would be great, I’ll see if Gran can watch the boys for a little while.” Stevie smiled at the thought, as if her gran would ever say no to time with Ranger and Finn, those two small boys having wrapped her firmly around their little fingers. “I also want to put all of Kyle’s items away in storage.”

“Storage?” Chase spoke slowly, as if he didn’t know what the word meant.

“I want to choose a few nice photos of Kyle and Amanda with the boys, one for the boy's room, and a couple for the lounge room, to have on display, and pack the rest away. The boys are too young right now to want to pour through their parents’ books or clothes, and we really need the space.”

“I know you are right, Stevie, it just sounds so...Cold. It won’t be easy, packing away their lives, we’ll do it together, tonight, once the boys are in bed.”

“Thank you. There are a couple more things...” Stevie trailed off.

“It would be my pleasure to adopt Finn and Ranger, Stevie. I’ve been thinking about it myself for a while now, but I wasn’t sure how you would feel about me suggesting it. I’ll call the lawyer on Monday and have them draw up the paperwork. We should also both update our wills now that we are married.” Stevie nodded, hating to think about either of them needing a will. “Now, since we are making changes, may I suggest we look into getting a dog?”

“A dog?” Stevie didn’t sound so sure.

“Sure, a boy needs a dog. They are loyal and faithful, protective, a great playmate, and owning a pet helps reduce stress and control emotions.”

“It’s not that I am against having a dog, I love dogs, it is just that Ranger is too young to be walking the dog or feeding it or cleaning up after it, and we both know who will be left to do all of that.”

“I’ll tell you what, while we are out today, let’s swing past the local animal shelter and see if they have any puppies. It doesn’t cost anything to go and look, and you can get an idea as to what breeds you like or don’t like.”

“Just looking?” Stevie smiled at Chase.

“I promise, I won’t bring a dog home today, not without your consent,” he smiled back. “Listen, there is something else I have been meaning to ask you. There is a Father’s Day event being held in the park on Sunday, I think we should take the boys.”

“A Father’s Day event? Chase, I don’t know, that sounds kind of mean.”

“Look, Finn and Ranger won’t be the only ones there missing their dad, this day is not about recognising who is there, but rather recognising all dads, wherever they are. The base puts this event on every year, I think it might be nice for Ranger, he might meet others in his position. We don’t need to reply, we can just show up, what do you say? Will you think about it?”

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