A World Caving In

Losing Time

The sounds of tires rubbing on the gravel as the sun awakens from its nap. the sound of the mailbox's creaky door being opened then shut closed. All could be heard as the meat sizzles on the hot pan. While the truck drives away, a curious Jean quickly turns off the stove then goes outside to grab mail while Mace hangs their clothes. In her arms, cradled gently, is a drowsy baby Ares. Jean opens the door, letting some of the morning glow come in.

"Jean darling, did we get something?" Mace says as she enters the house. "Nah, just the usual, some bills, insurance, and promotions here and there," Jean says as he shifts through the letters, "Yeah I don't think there's anything new." He says with a relieved sigh escaping from his body. Mace, being the thorough person she is, decides to take a second look.

"Jean, can you give me those letters for a second?" "Sure, there's nothing interesting in there though." as she grabs the mail from him and shuffles through them, one particular letter piqued her interest, "I don't think you want to miss this letter." "Which letter are you talking about?" Mace hands him a letter with a big red wax seal on it. Jean leans in closer to take a look at the symbol etched on the seal, a worried look present on his face. His body stiffens up as he finally has a clear view of it, the military's symbol, the general's seal to be exact.

During her time in the military, Mace rarely did paperwork, especially ones from the higher ups. As such, she had never truly seen what it looked like, only glimpses of it while waiting in Jean's office. "It's from the general, you might not want to see it." Jean glances away, unable to tell Mace the situation. "Just tell me, Jean. We're partners in crime, teammates, lovers, remember?" "I don't want you to go through this, let's just run away together, we can be happy, we can be a family-" Mace suddenly interrupts him "Just, just tell me, Jean. I'm ready for whatever it is, we're in this together aren't we?" Her voice filled with desperation, tears forming in her eyes. Oh how Jean couldn't stand the sight of her like this. He wanted to, he really wanted to, but at what cost? Their family life? This peaceful life of theirs? "Here, take it. Read it aloud for me, would you?" Jean hastily opens the letter and shoves it at her.

"Fine," Mace reads aloud the letter, her facial expression changing slowly as she makes her way to the end of it. As the last few words came muttering out of her mouth, silence fell over the room. After a few minutes of utter silence, Jean mustered the courage to speak up "Don't worry, darling. If we're together, we can conquer anything, right?" "Yeah, of course," Mace replied, her face contradicting her words. The air felt tense, no one dared to say a word. A few more pondering led Mace to a thought, "But what about Ares? We can't just leave him. What kind of parents would we be if we left our first born's first birthday? Monsters?" Her calm facade she had always put on was finally breaking down as the tears came rushing in. "We can't just do that Jean! We can't just leave him! We're not going to abandon him, never in a million years would I let that happen."

Helpless. That's what he felt. Heart filled with rage at the thought of leaving his baby boy. But what could he do? His hands were tied, like a wingless bird in its cold lifeless cage, desperate to be free. "As much as we want to, what can we do? His orders are absolute. If only, if only we hadn't met in that situation. How foolish we were back then, weren't we?" Jean contemplated, slowly spiraling to insanity at the realization. "What choice do we even have anymore? We swore an oath to defend this country when we joined." A distressed Mace collapses to the ground, unable to come to terms with her current situation. "How many days do we have left?" "Two weeks" Two weeks, that was it. Two weeks to spend their time together as one. Two weeks to live life to the fullest. Two weeks to say goodbye.

They will be shipped off to Iraq, staying there for a year. The army has lost quite a few manpower and will be recruiting more soldiers in the coming year. But still, a year without their little boy is quite a long time, even the thought of it brings pain to their already bruised souls. "He's going to be staying with my parents up north, our little boy will be just fine." Jean tightly embraces Mace, caressing her hair gently. "How often will we be able to do this again?" Mace thought to herself, how often would they be able to meet? "No, Mace, stop thinking of that. Stop thinking of what's to come, it's just you and him right now. Let's enjoy the moment while it lasts."