Page 7 of The Gunnery Sergeant's Ready-Made Family

“Kyle gave up everything to return home to look after me until I graduated high school and had left for university, he didn’t even wait to be asked, he simply took leave from the Army and returned home indefinitely, to care for his angry, moody sister, and it is a debt I am determined to pay back by stepping up to care for his children now. It won’t be easy, I know that. Goodness, I don’t even know if we will all fit into my tiny studio apartment, we will most likely have to move.” Stevie sighed.

“Move?” Chase questioned, “What about Kyle’s house here?”

“We can’t stay here indefinitely Chase, you know that, this house belongs to the Army, not to Kyle and Amanda. Now that Kyle is gone, the house will be reassigned to another family, that is simply the way it is. I’ll find out more tomorrow, I have a meeting with the base housing officer.”

“I don’t like the thought of you having to move, not so soon.”

“I don’t want to uproot the boys Chase, but I have to be realistic.”

As much as Stevie would have preferred to keep things the way they were, and not make too many changes too quickly, she also knew that she had to be realistic, she would do no one any favours by burying her head in the sand and ignoring the situation that she had found herself in. It was these thoughts that kept swimming around and around in her head as she and Chase returned to the shopping centre to collect Ranger and her grandmother, Ranger gushing over the movie, and the pizza lunch that had followed. Stevie was happy that they had enjoyed such a carefree morning, and was determined that whatever happened in the future, Ranger always had days like these to look forward to.

Chapter Five

“Yes sir, I understand, I appreciate it, yes sir, I will do, thank you.” Chase ended the call, tossing his phone onto the sofa next to him.

“Good news?” Stevie asked from her spot across the room, where she was currently attempting to wrangle an uncooperative Ranger into a pair of gumboots while bouncing a wriggly Finn on her hip. Giving up, she stood and crossed to the portable playpen, setting Finn down amongst a range of crinkly, noisy toys, before returning to Ranger, where a few whispered words and a funny face had him slipping into his boots in record time.

“Yes, that was my commander, calling to let me know that my application for compassionate leave was approved. So, no more deployments, at least for now in any case.”

“Chase,” Stevie held his gaze, “are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in Chase’s voice, he knew that what he was doing now was more important than anything elsewhere.

“Now,” Chase crossed the room to pick up Ranger, flinging him over his shoulder upside down, earning a squeal of delight from the youngster, “I believe you have a housing meeting to get ready for. Go on,” he urged when Stevie remained still, “the boys and I will be fine, Finn and I are going to see if we can find Ranger, isn’t that right Finn?” Chase turned slowly, pretending to hunt for Ranger. “Ranger, are you here? Nope, not under the sofa cushion, hmm, maybe he’s behind the curtains?” Chase shot Stevie a conspiratorial wink as she smiled and left the room. Yes, this was the right thing to do, this is where he belonged right now, no matter what anyone else thought, this family was his responsibility now, and they would be fine, they had to be. By the time Stevie was ready to leave, Chase had managed to find Ranger quite a few times, the boy’s delighted giggles ringing out through the house.

Chase and Ranger stood on the front porch and waved Stevie and Nikki off, Stevie headed to the housing office, and Nikki to run some errands, Stevie promising to be back as soon as she could.

“Well then, little man, what would you like to do while we wait for your Aunt Stevie to get home? We could make some more cookies if you wanted to? Or maybe go to the park and have a swing? Or maybe watch a movie?”

“I want to play soldiers,” Ranger exclaimed, racing across the lounge room to the toy box in the corner, digging out his bucket of toy soldiers. Chase’s breath caught in his throat, his mind screaming, his veins suddenly cold. He wanted to say no, he wanted to take those toy soldiers and throw them in the rubbish, but instead, he made himself walk calmly across the room and help Ranger set up an impressive looking fort.

Chase wondered if this is how his mother felt when he had been little, begging for her to play wars with him. Had she seen it as innocent fun, as something that was inevitable with being the mother of a little boy, or had she been mortified, remembering the horrors of war from the stories told by her parents, the visions shown across television screens? Chase tried not to let his hands shake as he played with Ranger, tried not to let the little boy’s innocent fun trigger his locked away memories, and tried to be present for Ranger, who, God willing, would never understand the reality of playing soldiers. This is how Stevie found them when she returned from the housing office, seeing past Chase’s façade, concern shadowing her eyes as she asked Ranger to pack away and come to the table for lunch, having picked up some pasta and salad for them from town.

It wasn’t until later that night, once the children were both tucked up in bed fast asleep, that Chase had the chance to find out how Stevie’s meeting with the housing office had gone.

“We have three months to move out.” Stevie had informed him and Nikki, her words like a punch to the gut for Chase, who thought that they would have more time.

“What will you do?” It had been Nikki who asked the question, Chase too caught up in his own thoughts.

“I’m not sure yet Gran, but it will all work out, I am sure of it.” Chase had excused himself, begging for an early night, feigning tiredness from his day playing with the boys. The truth was, he couldn’t sit there and listen to the two women making plans to move the boys away from here, away from him, in such a short time.

Chase had started to have nightmares over Stevie and the boys, enduring the same dream each night when he fell asleep, where he sees them wandering cold and aimlessly on the streets at night, homeless and alone, waking in a cold sweat, heart pounding, sneaking around the house to check that everyone was still here, safe and asleep. Concerns about Stevie’s housing situation plagued his every thought. He knew that her apartment, a studio, was going to be too small for her and the boys to live in, let alone the fact that the boys knew absolutely no-one in the city, and with her working full time, she would need to hire a stranger to care for the boys during the day. It was less than ideal, but Chase wasn’t sure what other solution there was, certainly not one that he was willing to consider. He knew that Stevie and Nikki had faith that everything would work out, but lately he wasn’t so sure.

Chase worried endlessly about them, all of them, even Nikki, who certainly wasn’t getting any younger. What would happen when she returned to her own home? How often would she get to see the boys then? What if Stevie or Nikki fell ill? Who would help them? Just the thought of it left Chase sweaty and feeling ill. He knew the two women had discussed it, lately it seemed to be all that they discussed, he would often catch the ends of their conversations as he came and went, catching a snippet here and there. He could tell that Stevie and Nikki were both putting on a brave face, but that they would miss each other terribly once Nikki returned home, more so now that they were all each other had. Stevie had started slowly introducing the idea of moving house to Ranger, telling him stories of the adventures that they would have in the city, of the new parks and playgrounds that they would be able to explore, of the new diners that they would find.

The thought of moving seemed to unsettle Ranger, who wore a permanent frown each time the city was mentioned.

“But what about Mummy and Daddy? If we go to the city, how will we see them?”

“We can come back to visit them, anytime you want, I promise.”

“Every day?”

“Maybe not every day Ranger, remember, I need to go back to work soon.”

“Who will play with us?”

“Well,” Stevie had sat down on the floor with him, “I’m going to find a lovely lady, someone to come and look after you every day while I go to work.”

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