Page 4 of The Gunnery Sergeant's Ready-Made Family

“Stevie?”

“Out the back Chase.” He found them sitting on the deck drinking coffee, Ranger busy racing around the yard on his scooter, Finn gurgling from his spot on the rug on the floor, taking it all in.

“Chase, sit, sit,” Stevie’s grandmother ushered him into a chair, “I’ll grab you a plate.”

“Nikki, please, don’t go to any trouble on my account...” his words trailed off, Nikki having already left.

“Honestly,” Stevie gave a low chuckle, “why do you ever bother arguing with Gran? You know she always gets her way.”

“That she does.” Chase conceded. He had many a fond memory of days spent in the company of Kyle and Stevie, and their grandmother Nikki. She was small in stature, but her essence, her personality, was formidable. No one could ever fool her, somehow she always knew exactly what was going on, she was astute, and she was always one step ahead, always letting you think you had made a choice when all along she had been guiding, steering you towards the best outcome for you. Stevie was a lot like her grandmother, fearless. He wondered if she knew, if anyone had ever told her?

“Gran offered to stay here with Finn and Ranger today Chase, which I think is for the best.” Chase nodded thoughtfully at Stevie’s words.

“Stevie, if she would like to go with you, you know I can stay with the boys.”

“I know Chase, thank you, it’s just that I think I’m going to need you with me today.” Stevie sighed. “Besides, Gran doesn’t want to come today, she thinks it will be too much for her.” Chase thought that it was going to be too much for any of them, but didn’t voice those worries.

“I meant what I said the other day Stevie, I’m here until you no longer need me, end of story.” Nikki returned then, carrying a plate loaded down with enough food to feed Chase for a week, brushing away his protests and pacing it in front of him. Knowing there was no point in arguing, Chase dug in, helped by Stevie who nabbed the bacon off his plate with a conspiratorial wink. He was surprised that she had remembered that he didn’t like bacon, not even Kyle had known that about Chase.

Chase didn’t linger over breakfast, he and Stevie had an appointment with Chaplain Barnes and he would not be the reason that they were late. The silence on the drive over to the church was deafening, both he and Stevie lost in their own thoughts. Parking, Chase walked around and opened Stevie’s door for her, ignoring the way his hand shook with stress. Once inside the chapel, Chase and Stevie were shown straight through to the chaplain’s office, a light-filled, roomy space housing overstuffed armchairs, a coffee table, a desk that had seen better days, and an abundance of potted plants in varying stages of life.

“Chase, Stevie, please, come in, sit down, would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?” The chaplain greeted them warmly.

Once they were settled and the chaplain had led them in prayer, Chase was pleased to see that the chaplain got right to the point for their visit, he wasn’t one for dwelling or stretching out the meeting, which was a nice change from what Chase had been used to while deployed.

“Did Kyle ever talk to either of you about what type of funeral he wanted?”

“I know that is encouraged before personnel deploy,” Stevie started, “but honestly, neither of us were ready to have that conversation, not so closely after the death of Amanda, and I think, on some level, Kyle simply didn’t think it was an option, leaving his children orphans.”

“I understand, really I do. Is there anything you can remember from your conversations before he married Amanda, or maybe while he was planning her funeral, that would give us an indication of what he would or would not like his own service to be?”

“I don’t know, I can’t, I just...” Stevie burst into tears, fleeing the room. Chase jumped up and called after her, making a move to follow her, before being stopped short by the chaplain.

“My receptionist will have followed her, she won’t be alone Chase, I assure you.” Chase merely gave a grunt in reply and sat back down. “How long do you intend to stay at Kyle’s house Chase? When do you redeploy?”

“I’m not sure I will,” the words were out before Chase had a chance to think them through, the chaplain raising his eyebrows. “I mean, I might transfer to a position on the base, it might be easier for the boys.”

“Finn and Ranger?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, have you been named their guardian?”

“No, Kyle’s last will and testament won’t be read until after his funeral, but Stevie and I both know that he has named her sole legal guardian of the boys.”

“I see. Forgive me Chase, but why then does it matter where you are stationed? Are you and Stevie involved?”

“What?! No!” Chase shook his head vehemently. “She’s Kyle’s sister, and even if that didn’t make her automatically off-limits, there is no way I would ever put her through the truth of Kyle’s death, or the pain of it happening again, besides, we have been friends for almost two decades, she is practically another sister to me.” It wasn’t until the words had left his mouth that Chase realised they were a lie, the shock of the realisation momentarily stealing his breath.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried or presumed, occupational hazard I’m afraid,” the chaplain smiled broadly at him. “So then, why does it matter where you are stationed?”

“I made a promise to Kyle, years ago, on our first deployment, that should anything ever happen to him, I would take care of Stevie in his place. Later on, I added Amanda and the boys to the list. My promise hasn’t changed. Kyle and I were closer than blood, our families used to joke that we were really meant to be twins but there was a glitch in the system and we ended up in different homes. As far as I am concerned, Stevie, Finn, and Ranger are my family now, my responsibility. Kyle would have done nothing less for my family if the situation had been reversed.”

“For how long are you expecting to put your career on hold for Chase?”

“Until they no longer need me.”

“It isn’t unusual, for those left behind to feel a certain sense of guilt, a need to make things right, to control what situations they can.”

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