Page 8 of The Gunnery Sergeant's Ready-Made Family

“Great Grandma?”

“No honey, Gran has to go home tomorrow, remember, we talked about this last night.”

“But I don’t want her to go, I want her to stay with me.” Ranger’s voice wobbled.

“I know, sweetie, I know.”

“Can Chase play with me while you work?”

“I’m sorry Ranger, I know it is hard, but Chase can’t stay with us forever, he has to go back to work as well.”

“I wish my Daddy was here.” Ranger sobbed against Stevie’s shoulder.

“I know, precious one, I know. I wish he was here too.” Chase wasn’t sure what was worse, witnessing Ranger crying and upset at the thought of having to move and having a stranger look after him with Stevie was at work, or seeing Ranger quiet and withdrawn, no longer responsive when the subject of moving came up. It was disturbing, for Stevie and Nikki as well as for Chase, to see Ranger so quiet and resigned.

Although Stevie had planned to leave the boys at home with Chase and take her grandmother to the airport herself, the following morning saw Ranger clinging to his great-grandmother, great big sobs wracking his tiny body. Stevie didn’t have the heart to leave Ranger in such a devastating state and instead scooped him up and buckled him into the car with them, leaving Finn with Chase. Finn had always been such a contented baby, perhaps it was due to losing his mother at four days old, but whatever the reason, he was perfectly happy to go from one set of arms to another, so unlike his big brother. Chase remembered when Ranger was born, those early days when he would try to outdo Stevie in getting Ranger to settle down or to smile, their friendly competition that belied how they are truly felt about each other, as close as family. Even then, Ranger had clearly preferred the four of them to anyone else, seeming unsettled whenever his status quo was disturbed. Chase sighed, he hoped Ranger would be okay, not just today with seeing his great-grandmother off, but going forward, there were so many changes that awaited him.

By the time that Chase had done a load of laundry and given the house a quick tidy up, Finn was no longer so happy. In fact, he was all but screeching, Chase’s eardrums throbbing from the sheer volume. He sliced a piece of watermelon into chunks and offered a piece to Finn, his eyes round with wonder at his first taste. It was comical to watch, and Chase quickly snapped a few pictures to show Stevie once she got home. The watermelon, and the custard that followed, predictably, got everywhere, even in places that Chase didn’t know Finn could even reach from his highchair, and it took Chase almost as much time to clean it up as it did to tidy the entire house beforehand. It wasn’t until after Chase had bathed Finn and placed him down for a nap that he heard the car pull up outside, going to meet Stevie and Ranger. Although there were tear streaks on his face, Ranger had stopped crying and was working his way through what would have to have been the largest doughnut that Chase had ever seen. Stevie just smiled and tossed Chase a bakery bag, peeking inside Chase grinned when he found a matching doughnut inside, she knew how much of a sweet tooth he was.

The next few days pass in a blur for Chase, a never-ending cycle of sleeping, cooking, feeding, housework, playing soldiers, running, sleeping, on and on and on. Ranger had been asking a lot of questions about his Daddy lately, and both Stevie and Chase had been trying to answer them as honestly as they could. Ranger spoke with his great-grandmother every day, and Stevie had finally accepted the inevitable and started to pack up their belongings, something that Chase found hard to deal with. Their days were mostly the same, once Finn and Ranger had finished breakfast, Chase would do the dishes while Stevie took the boys outside to play. Once Chase was finished he would join Stevie and the two of them would go through real estate rentals, looking at possibilities for Stevie and the boys. So far they had managed to find six places that they had arranged to look at later in the week, two of which looked very promising.

After lunch, Stevie and Chase would take the boys out somewhere, sometimes to the national park or to the playground, other times to the swimming pool or out for an ice cream sundae. Chase knew that Stevie was trying to help them all make lasting, happy memories before their time together was finished, and he appreciated her trying. Each night, Stevie and Chase would take it in turns to make dinner and get the boys ready for bed. As far as routines went, it was one that worked for them. After the boys were in bed, Stevie would sit at the dining room table and work remotely on her laptop, while Chase would watch television or read a book, or simply sit and comfortable silence with her. Tonight though, something was different, Chase sensed a restlessness in Stevie, something was on her mind.

“Is everything okay Stevie?” Chase broached the subject directly, having learnt long ago when it came to his sisters that it was best not to try and guess what was wrong but to ask outright.

“I was just thinking,” Stevie sighed deeply, it sounded to Chase as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. “My job is...demanding. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else. Don’t get me wrong, that was my choice, it was how I liked it, it left no time for me to be lonely or to regret my decision not to have a relationship or a family.” Stevie paused, looking at Chase. He thought it sounded like a lonely way to live but wisely said nothing. “The thing is, now, that life that I carved out for myself is not compatible with children. Not at all, and I find myself wanting more. I don’t want a nanny to help Ranger with his breakfast, and I don’t want a nanny to have to give me a report each night on how the boys are or if there were any issues that I need to follow up on. That is not how I was raised, and it is not how Kyle and Amanda wanted their children raised either.”

“It’s okay to want something different Stevie, plans are allowed to change.”

Chase contemplated the woman in front of him. The Stevie that he knew as a teenager would never have wanted a lonely, solitary life. He honestly didn’t know how she had done it, completely cut herself off from relationships, it must have been so hard on her, losing both of her parents at the same time like that.

“I know that Chase, but I have to be realistic as well, my lack of savings are a huge issue, I can’t be out of work forever.”

“No, of course not.”

“For now, though, I have decided to take an extended leave of absence until further notice. I’ve also decided to give up the lease on my apartment, the agent called me today and has someone who can move in as soon as my stuff is removed, which will help with the costs for now.”

“It’s a solid plan, Stevie, I’ll go first thing tomorrow and get your items.” When Chase finally went to bed, it was a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Six

True to his word, by lunchtime the following day, Chase had returned from the city, Kyle’s truck loaded down with all of her worldly possessions. With a bit of maneuvering, Chase and Stevie managed to shift Kyles bed into the corner, and methodically stack all of Stevie’s possessions against the other wall. It made her feel as if she were sleeping in a storage locker, but for now, it would have to do. With her grandmother having returned home, there was a little bit more space in the house, Chase had now gone back to sleeping on the sofa, and Stevie had returned to Kyle’s room. Ranger thought it was a marvellous adventure, watching his Aunt Stevie stack all of her boxes, and begged to be allowed to look inside each one. Eventually, Ranger got his wish, Stevie happening upon a box of clothes, letting Ranger help her with hanging them all up, the little boy quick to pass her the coat hangers. He was so keen to help, to be a part of it all. Stevie hoped that he would be this keen when it came to them actually having to move into a new place of their own.

With her mind made up, Stevie started house hunting for real, no longer able to pretend that it wasn’t happening. She had less than three months to find a place for her and the boys, pay the deposit, pack everything up, and move. It was a daunting prospect. Having taken a longer leave of absence than she originally planned on, Stevie no longer had to worry about returning to the city immediately and started to look for houses closer to the base, hopeful that they might at least be able to remain in the same town for a little while longer.

“Chase, what about this one?” Stevie addressed the legs sticking out from beneath the kitchen sink, Chase having gone in search of Ranger’s missing soldier action figure who had gone down the tunnel of the garbage disposal and not returned. Thankfully the garbage disposal had been turned off at the time, Stevie shuddered to think what might have happened otherwise. “It’s three bedrooms, that would be nice,” she mused aloud.

“Three bedrooms, huh, that would be nice,” Chase agreed, his voice somewhat muffled.

“It’s here in town, available in two weeks, allows pets, not that we have one, but still, good to know, and it says they are looking for a long term lease. Sounds nice, I think we should...Rats! Never mind, it’s not a house, after all, it’s a duplex, no way do I want to share a yard and all that entails with a complete stranger.” Stevie sighed. How hard could it be to find a house, a proper stand-alone house, that would suit one woman and two small children?

“I’m heading into work today, I have some paperwork to sign, would you like me to ask around and see if anyone knows of anyone about to deploy who needs their house rented? If nothing else, maybe someone would appreciate a house sitter for their tour, might be okay as a short term solution?”

“Thanks, Chase, that would be great.”

While Chase was out Stevie took the boys for a walk down to the local playground, a fully fenced wonderland for the local base children. Originally a swamp, it had been reclaimed into a children’s park, and the trees had been left where they were, which provided dozens of very low slung, thick, swampy trees for the kids to climb over and under and through. It was an amazing place to see. Later on, other items had been added, swings and slippery dips, and even a wooden train to explore. Stevie parked the stroller near the baby swings, happily pushing a giggling Finn back and forth, Ranger scrambling across the trees, calling out for her to watch him, to look at this. It was a perfectly sunny day, with only the hint of a breeze, and Stevie took a moment to lift her face to the sun, eyes closed, thanking God for days like this. Once Finn started to grumble, Stevie took him across to the trees to watch his brother, eventually calling to Ranger that it was time to go. They walked back to the house slowly, Stevie stopping at a local store to treat them to an ice cream, not wanting their day to end.

They found Chase on the front porch when they got home, the expression on his face making Stevie’s heart skip, he had bad news for her, she just knew it.

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