1968

Chapter Thirty-Three: February 18th, 1969

Lorelei's point of view:

I watched as Flynn and Mihn sat at two single tables, talking to children about who their parents were and where they had been born. It was actually quite fascinating, seeing them talk and categorize these children so they could get as many as they could back to their parents. At the end of the day, it was decided that the American soldiers, along with Mihn as a peacemaker, would take them to Hanoi and safely take them to their parents.

Yet, there was one child that didn't have a home to go to. We had agreed that he would stay here. Xuân was his name, he was ten years old, lanky and tall for his age. He was deadpan and quite reserved, he didn't talk much at all and when he did it was to Mihn. He only spoke the most basic of English. I didn't know the kid very well at all, but I knew that he must have gone through some pretty heavy trauma to be the way he was at such a young age.

"Do all of them have places to go?" I asked Mihn as he finished up the day's work of classifying the children. His face turned to me as he sat in the chair and I sat before him.

"Not all of them have parents, but they have somewhere to go. Whether it be grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, older siblings. All of them have homes they were taken from. Save that little boy that's staying with us," Mihn said. I was happy to know all of them had some semblance of a home, but it broke my heart knowing Xuân had none of that, and it wasn't even a luxury. He had completely nothing, not even a person to get him through the day.

"I can't believe Flynn is aright with him staying here. I suppose he isn't as rough as I thought he was," I replied as he stood from his chair. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him.

"I managed to convince him. He's really a good commander and his heart is in the right place. For me, that's all we need right now. Despite that, there is something I'd like you to do for me," he replied. I nodded and listened even though I didn't understand how that related to Flynn.

"What's the matter?" I asked. He shook his head, signalling that whatever he had to tell me wasn't all that crucial. If he needed to bring it up this way then I assumed there was something.

"It's just that I think Flynn is a little too close to you. Maybe you could steer clear of him a bit more?" He asked. I found myself wondering where all of this came from. Did he really think that Flynn would step so far as to defy the constitution of our marriage? Not to mention, I would never be unfaithful to him, no matter who it was.

"He's my commander, how can I stay away from him? And I would never do that to you, you know that right?" I said to him. He nodded, still holding onto me.

"I know you can't avoid him completely when he's your commander. I trust you and I believe in you, which is why I'm not telling you more seriously. If you could just remain a little platonic, then I'd be happy," he replied. It annoyed me a little that he wanted me stay away from Flynn, but I nodded anyway. I knew that I had to respect his wishes as much as he respected mine.

•••

Jack's point of view:

Days passed and we had finally gotten most of the children back to their homes. We realized that these kids came from everywhere in this country, which meant the Guerrillas were everywhere as well. That was a pretty scary thought, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. If I could kill Hitler then I could handle some untrained soldiers. We just heard wind that they were attacking places by surprise again, and that they were drawing in close to us. This was why I never went to sleep without first loading all the guns that I could fit in that tent.

On February twenty-third, Hilda and I were asleep in our tent. It was hard for her and I share to share those damn single cots they gave us. She wanted to spend the night with me, so we pulled both of ours together and made some extra space. She was peacefully asleep in my arms, the smile still on her face even though she wasn't awake. My arms wrapped around her bare skin as I held her close to me. This was just like when we were younger, when her and I first shared a bed. The rush never seemed to leave my veins when I held her so close and personally.