SPARKS

Chapter Six

"Good morning, Joey," she cooed to her son.

He looked up at her, bleary brown eyes clearing as soon as they landed on her. He clutched at his dinosaur, then got up. Lucky jumped onto his bed and licked him. Joey giggled. "Hi, Mom."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

She swooped Joey up in her arms, changed his diaper, had him try to go to the bathroom, and then made him some French toast. He ate well, as he always did. She asked him what he was going to do today at pre-school.

"I'm going to...to do puzzles, and draw, and uhm... color and play."

"That sounds fun!"

"And then snack time! I love snacks!"

Hazel kissed his soft forehead, running her hands through his dark hair as she did so. He was looking more and more like his father everyday. While Joey had her and her mother's brown eyes, he had Quade's dark hair and blunt nose. He was the spitting image of his father when he smiled. There was no mistaking it.

Her heart jumped every time she saw it.

As soon as he was finished, she put their dishes in the sink and made sure they both had everything they needed for today. He had his backpack, and she had her lunch, all she really needed for today. Hazel buckled him into his car seat and drove him to his pre-school. Ladies' Aid greeted them both warmly.

This was always the hard part.

Hazel knelt down to hug her son. "I love you, sweetie. Have a good day."

She could see his eyes tear up. The sight almost broke her heart, but she knew he would be okay. He always had so much fun as soon as he started playing.

"I luh-love you, Mom."

"Shh...baby, you'll have a great day. You'll have so much fun! And then you and I can go take Lucky to the park! How does that sound?"

"Ok-k-kay," he sniffled, but then he wiped his nose with his little hand, and put on a shaky smile. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She kissed him one more time, and then went to the VA.

***

Hazel looked out the window as Mike drove to the gates. Their equipment rattled in the back as they passed over a speed bump. They pulled up to the gates, handed over their hospital I.D.s to the guards, and then drove to the Fitness Center where'd they'd be conducting fitness evaluations today.

Parris Island. Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

She had a love-hate relationship with this place. This was one of her favorite parts of the job. Everything was so structured here. Even now, what looked like new recruits were doing drills in a neat, orderly fashion. She'd never get over how well-coordinated they all were. It was amazing how in sync everybody was. There was an order to everything, and it was strictly followed.

It was always a little intimidating, though. Some of the people she met here were just, flat-out intimidating. She had no military experience whatsoever, but here she was having them perform tests and instructing them on how to do certain exercises.

The part she hated and loved at the same time was that it gave her hope, especially today. This was one of the biggest recruit depots. And where there were recruit depots, there needed to be drill instructors. A specific senior drill instructor crossed her mind.

He would have arrived home two months ago. She hadn't gotten a call. Silas had some time ago, but he'd been asleep when the call had come. Quade had just left a message saying he should be home soon but hadn't called back since.