Only the Strong Survive

Chapter Fifteen

Nina pov

There was a surprise of breakfast in bed at ten the next morning. I slept with as many nightmares as usual, but I can't remember. Jack gave me his undivided attention. Everyone commented on me leaving, gave me hugs. It wasn't until three o'clock that I had sort of a clue of what was going on. Mom pulled up to the round about in her small car. I could smell her coming, but I was in the middle of kissing Jack, and I wasn't about to stop. So my mom walked in on us kissing on the couch, dad walked in to see mom and also saw. He just ignored us and offered mom a cup of coffee. I attempted to break away from Jack and go hug her, but she said "No no no, I don't want to intrude, I can wait." Jack just pulled me back to him and I sat on his lap. Mom and dad went into the kitchen. I heard a faint comment from dad. "How long do you plan on waiting? They've been at it all morning. Moving from room to room like they own the place."
I heard mom say through the door. "Come on Logan, they're just kids. Have some heart. Our daughter will be fighting in a war. And you will have no one to properly look after you. So you better be nice to Jack."
I could practically hear dad frown. Before this could become any worse, I whispered in Jack's ear. "Stay here. I'll be back." The last part I said as if I were in one of those movies.... Yeah.
I burst into the kitchen, and mom showered me in hugs. "Oh, my poor baby, I'm so sorry about the ship out date. And the wedding, I promise it will be perfect when you get back." I tried to calm her down. "It's ok mom. Really. I'm fine. Everything will be ok."
She nodded and I could feel the tears coming on. "You be so careful out there, ok?"
"Ok mom. You didn't have to drive all the way out here." She shook it off "I was due for a trip anyway." She and dad talked for a bit and I went back to Jack, who had laid on the couch. When I stepped in he said, " I think I'm too tall for this thing." Indeed his feet were off the edge. I curled up on top of him. "But I'm too short for you." He laughed. "No your not. Your perfect. Perfect hight, perfect face, perfect-" Jack was cut off with a yell from the kitchen. "Will you shut up? We all know how perfect my daughter is." Mom burst into laughter. I laughed, almost rolling off the couch. Jack held onto me. "That wasn't very nice. Are we just going to sit around all day? That's not like the Nina I know."
I chuckled slightly. "I'm tired."
"Come on, I'll even let you beat the crap out of me." For some reason I thought he was kidding. But he wasn't which was sweet. Jack dragged me down to my favorite danger room and stood me up in the middle while he fiddled with the settings. When he ran back to me he explained rather animated and excited. "So there's a new setting on this thing, they're going to start using for assessments. You put on this wristband," he said snapping a thick rubber bracelet into my wrist.
"And then it shows up over there on that wall. A whole bunch of statistics." I nodded. This sounded fun. First I looked at the wall as Jack snapped on his bracelet. Then I cut myself. The statistics and stay went crazy on the board, from nothing out of the ordinary to crazy. As my arm healed up the craziness diminished. "Cool. How did I not hear about this? Are they going to use this all the time?" I said turning to face Jack. "Yeah but-" he was cut off when I threw a punch at him. "Hey! I wasn't ready!"
I smiled softly. "The world doesn't wait for you, you should have learned that by now." I waited a few seconds so Jack could prepare himself. "Just don't hit my beautiful face, I need that."
I laughed. "For what? It's not like you could stare someone to death. I'm sure your pretty little face will recover."
Jack put his hands on his hips like one of those sassy teenage girls in movies. "I'll have you know, I could take you down with my hands tied behind my back."
I couldn't resist showing him up.
"I can take you down blind folded and tied up in any way you could imagine. Heck I could take you down with a stapler. I could take down a whole army with a stapler."
Jack laughed feebly. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Now come on, punch-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, I had decked him. "Dang woman, what can't you do?!?"
I unsheathed my claws. "Who are you calling woman, girly?"
Jack held his hands up. "I am sorry, my beautiful wife to be, I just meant very politely, is there anything you cannot do?"
I sheathed my claws. "For starters, I can't fly."
Jack stood up. "I know I said you could beat the crap out of me, but I didn't mean it literally. I would like to live."