Carrying the Torch

Chapter 6

"What! No. Luke, no. You can't. Why now? Why ever? No!"

"I tried to tell them that this couldn't be a worse time and he said they need me now. I'm sorry. I tried."

"Now? When is now?"

"The end of the month."

"The end of the month! That's a week away. For how long?"

"That's the part I'm worried about. Nine months."

"What! Our wedding is in three months! Oh no. Luke." I burry my head in his neck, tears spilling out of my eyes.

"Look," he says pulling back. "Its gonna be okay. We can... we can FaceTime or something. We'll talk to Father I don't know. But we will get married on April ninth. That's a promise. Okay?" He wipes my tears with his thumbs.

"I'm moving in here than so I can spend as much time with you as possible. I can take a week off."

"You don't have to-"

"I'm doing it. I'll call the secretary in the morning."

I don't know if I can take this. I don't know what we're going to do. This might be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And he won't be here for our wedding...

))

There's a knock on the front door. "It's him. Father is here. Okay. Here we go." I turn to get the door but Luke grabs my wrist and turns me to face him.

We took the kids to mom and dad's so we could have Father over. We are picking them up in the morning, along with all my stuff.

"Are you okay to talk about this already?" He asks.

No. "Yes." He wraps his arms around my waist and presses his lips to mine.

Together we walk to answer the door. "Father. Hi. Thanks for coming over on such short notice," I say.

"No problem. You said it was important and you'd feed me so I couldn't say no."

I try to laugh at it but it's hard. "So you wanna eat right now?" Luke asks.

"Sure. That's okay with me."

He sits down at the table and Luke and I carry over the Alfredo, pasta and breadsticks. The table is already set, the glasses filled, and we say a quick prayer and start eating.

We exchange polite conversation during the meal (it's amazing) and clean up before heading to the living room.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase," Luke says. "So as you know, our wedding is on April ninth, about three months away. I got a call the other day, I'm being deployed... for nine months. There's nothing I can do about it. We were wondering..." he trails off.

"We can't change the date. Is there any rule that says they have to be in the same country? Like is it possible that we set up a FaceTime?"

Father thinks for a minute before answering. "You know. I don't think there is a rule... it's gonna be a little difficult, but I think we get it set up. You are done with counseling and you should be fine. As long as you two are okay with it."

This may be a hard time for me, but that is the reassurance I need for now.

))

"Goodnight, babe. I love you, so, so much. Sleep well."

"I love you too," I reply.

"What if I just changed my mind and I don't wanna sleep. It's only ten."

"What exactly are you getting at here?"

"Can we make out for a while?"

I giggle at him. His is so respectful about it. "Please," I say.

He gently presses his lips to mine, pulling me tight against him. I kiss his lips bringing my hand to his cheek. The kiss becomes more heated and he pulls me on top of him. "You are the most beautiful thing on this planet, the only thing worth looking at," he whispers against my lips. I smile as he kisses me again. He kisses me with such passion, like there is no tomorrow.

I pull back and rest my forehead against his. He smiles at me and I smile back. I'm going to miss that smile of his.

"Can we watch a movie?" I ask.

"I don't care. What movie?"

"You love Iron Man 2, that sound good?"

He grabs the remote from his nightstand and turns on Netflix, searching for the movie. As it loads, I snuggle up against him. I lay my head on his chest and wrap my arms around his waist. He pulls me as close to him as possible and wraps his arm around me. I pull our comforter up. I feel him kiss my head.

"I love you," I say.

"I love you too."

This moment is perfect. I wish I could stay in it forever.

))

"Morning mom. Hey dad." I hug both of them. Dylan runs up to means hugs my legs.

"Aum!"

"Hi Dylan. Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa last night?"

"Yeah! Gwandpa gave me icecweam last night. Shhh. Don't tell Gwandma." He whispers.

"Of course he did." I laugh. "I'm gonna go pack my stuff. I'll be up... maybe soon. I don't know."

I walk up to my room, Luke following. When we get in my room, he shuts the door behind us and grabs my wrist, turning me around. He pulls me against him, wrapping his arms around the my waist. I stare up into his eyes. He is about five inches taller than me.

He leans down to kiss me. I wrap my arms around his neck to pull him closer to me.

"Stop distracting me. We have work to do," he jokes.

"Fold my clothes in my dresser. I'll get bathroom stuff and everything you don't do."

I walk to the bathroom to get all of my thing from out of the drawers.

My chapters are getting shorter. I'm sorry. I hope you love it so far and I hope you love the rest of it too.

Thanks for all the support. You are all amazing people.

-k