My Dear Lieutenant

Chapter 1

     Today was the day. Mom was going to Zurich, Switzerland with a Navy captain to get some program that Dad invented. Which meant that it is also the day that a lieutenant would be coming to watch over us. Mom had explained it all to me about a week ago. The six of us kids could be in danger, so we needed to be protected.

     I was bouncing my youngest brother, Tyler, in my arms, trying to get him to calm down. He was in hysterics because my youngest sister, Lulu, upset him when she crossed her eyes. He always seemed to calm down when Mom bounced him, so I was trying it out. Just as my tactic was working, the doorbell rang, setting him off again. I sighed, knowing that this would take a while.

     I felt myself jump as Lulu screamed and slammed the front door shut. What was going on? She ran into the kitchen where Mom and I were, looking terrified.

     "There's a scary man at the door," she told us, pointing in the direction she had just come from. Knowing her definition of scary was much different than mine, I rolled my eyes and continued to bounce Tyler. Mom hoisted Peter, one of my other little brothers, onto her hip and went to the door, closely followed by Lulu.

     I heard Mom's voice as she spoke to someone. She called for all of us to say hello, leading me to believe that the Lieutenant was here. My suspicions were confirmed once I walked over to the bottom of the stairs where all of my other siblings were.

     I understood how he could come off as scary; he was probably about six foot tall, he had a very muscular build, and he was bald. He looked like a stereotypical goon from a bad action movie. His blank look didn't help any.

     In all honesty though, I thought he was pretty good looking.

     "You've already met Lulu," Mom said, pointing to her as she hid behind the stair railing, "This is Zoe," she motioned towards my unenthusiastic blond sister, "Seth," she nodded towards my bored looking brother, "Peter," she bounced him in his arms, "Where are the other two?"

     Standing behind her, I chuckled to myself, "Right here, Mom."

     She spun around and sighed in relief. "And this is Maeve and Tyler," she told him. I sent him a smile and held out my free hand to shake, but he only stared back blankly. I had a feeling that he wasn't used to being around so many children. With a nod, I lowered my hand. "Kids, this is Lieutenant Wolfe," Mom informed us, setting Peter down, "He's the man that will be staying with you while I'm away."

     Lulu murmured a hi, but Zoe and Seth didn't say a word. Our nanny, Helga, approached us from behind and took Tyler out of my arms.

     "Oh, this is Helga," Mom introduced her to Lieutenant Wolfe. She was very jumpy and nervous.

     "Ma'am," the Lieutenant responded, nodding his head in Helga's direction. His voice was deep and smooth. "Baby."

     Due to the lack of anything else to say, I turned to Helga and smiled, "That's a pretty dress."

     "Oh thank you," she replied with a strong Romanian accent, "I have date with butcher tonight; I want to look nice."

     As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Tyler vomited on her dress. I guess that was why he was crying earlier. Maybe I shouldn't have been bouncing him.

     Helga let out a scream and said something in Romanian, then turned and left with Tyler to clean the two of them up. Lieutenant Wolfe looked bewildered.

     After that, I went up to my room. I had an essay about PTSD to write for class on Tuesday, so needed to work on it. I was in my fourth year of university. I was going through for my Master's in Psychology.