Prince:
"Mumma!" Mariah, your three-year-old daughter with Jacob cried late last night. "Mumma! Mumma!"
You walked into her room and saw her crying her eyes out on her Winnie The Pooh rug. "Hey, baby. What's wrong?"
You asked sleepily.
"Daddy."
"What about him?" you cradled her soothingly.
"He need to come home."
"I know, baby. He'll be home in two weeks-"
"Daddy come home now!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Mariah Teresa Perez," you spoke sternly. "get your life."
"No!"
You groaned as she kept screaming for your husband, as if he'll hear her in Iran. "You wanna call him?"
She immediately stopped. "Yesh."
You grabbed your phone from next to you. Dialing the number, you silently prayed that he would answer the phone so you could get some sleep.
"Hello?" the love of your life answered.
Mariah snatched the phone from your grasp and put it on speaker. "Daddy!"
"Hi honey!" he said happily. "How are you?"
"Good! Mumma and me got ice cweam!"
"Yeah? Did you save me some?"
"Nope. It's in my tummy." she giggled. "It was yummy too."
"Where is Mommy?"
"Here." she handed the phone back.
"Hey Daddy." you said in a more seductive tone.
"Hey, baby."
"She was screaming for you a few minutes ago."
"Yeah, I heard- I mean I figured you were calling because of that."
You paused. "You heard her crying for you? Wait. Are you here?"
"Daddy's here? Yay!"
"Hey. Hush." you scolded. "Are you home?"
"N-No, I-I'm not home."
"Liar."
"Damnit." he groaned. "Yeah, come outside."
**
Ray:
"Let's go, Mommy!" Rylan, your son, yelled in excitment as you got your "Welcome Home Daddy" sign from the trunk of your Escalade. "What if they call him and we're not there?"
"It doesn't start for another thirty minutes." you said quietly. You were scared; what if you assumed that he was coming home, and he never does? What if his name doesn't get called in recognition, or what if that feeling every wife gets when she sees her husband doesn't come?
You held Rylan's hand as you walked up to the base from the parking lot. His mom and siblings stood alongside you as you waited for him, and you get excited as soon as you see a familiar smile. "Mommy, I can't see!" Rylan whines.
You picked the four-year-old up so thayt he can spot his Daddy, when the recognition ceremony started with the National Anthem, and the General saluted all his troops. "Good morning," he said into the microphone. "I'm very pleased to be back in America, as the rest of us are." everyone chuckled and cheered. "But we are here to not only acknowlege the ones thay came back, but the ones that couldn't and didn't. Here to do this, Private Rayan Lopez."
