"Bradley! Bradley! Look what just came in!" I was smiling, for our dear friend at base. His wife really did love him.
My husband came around the corner, smiling. "What, babe?"
"A letter came...for Emmett. You know, the guy we just got back?"
My husband smiled, "Of course! So what is his name?"
I looked over at the man on the couch, he was smiling. He was reading our lips. He pointed to himself. I smiled, saying slowly. "Is your name Emmett?"
He smiled, nodded his head, making his hand a fist, and flicked it twice. Signaling the little sign language that I knew to be "yes". I handed the letter to him, smiling, informing him that it was his wife that sent the letter.
He grimly smiled as he read the letter. Obviously something his wife said upset him. I waved my hand infront of his face so that he could see my lips move. He looked up.
"Is everything okay?"
He looked up at me with sad eyes, signing slowly. "I forgot it's been twenty years since I've seen my wife or my daughter...I didn't get to see my daughter grow into the wonderful woman that I hope she became." He looked down at the letter, "I didn't get to do many of the things that I always wished to do with her."
"It's been twenty years since you were deployed?"
He nodded, then decided to write on a scrap sheet of paper. "My daughter turned one on the day I left. Today is her birthday. It has been exactly twenty years. She's in college now. She's studying American Sign Language in college because of me. She's going to be an interpreter when she grows up."
"How did you get in the army?" By this point, I was completely engrossed in this man's story.
"I had to get a cochlear done. I didn't like it, but it was the only way I could get here."
"So you can hear me?"
"Very faintly."
I called for my husband and he came to my side. "Would you like to return home?"
He nodded his head excitedly.
I smiled, "this is my husband, Bradley, and he can take you home."
"Really?"
My husband smiled, "Yes, I can. When would you like to go home?"
"Can we leave now?" His blue eyes shimmered in his excitement.
Bradley stood up, "I have to make an important phone call. I'll be right back. Get ready."
I followed my husband, "Are you really taking him home tonight?"
He smiled, "Of course, Colin. I'm going to call his wife and the pilot." He picked up the phone, finding Mrs. Bledsoe's number from the files and dialed the number.
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RING.RING.RING.
RING.RING.RING.
"I'm coming. I'm coming." I sighed and picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hi, is this Mrs. Bay Bledsoe, Emmett Bledsoe's wife?"
"Yes, sir. This is Bay."
"My name is Bradley Morgan. Can you meet me tomorrow at nine in the morning at the local airport? I'm from the army. I knew your husband. I have a surprise for you. My husband, Colin, will be joining me. I know you have a daughter, could you bring her with you?"
I nodded my head, "Of course. I will be there, Mr. Morgan."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Next day, nine AM-Airport
"You ready, Emmett?" Colin asked.
"Of course. I can't wait to see them. Do they know?"
"No, but I bet they are hopeful."
Bradley walked off the plane to a woman with dark hair that Emmett identified as his wife, through his tears of happiness.
"Hi, Mrs. Bledsoe. We spoke on the phone yesterday. My name is Bradley Morgan. You ready to see your surprise?"
Emmett watched Bay nod her head, fear evident in her eyes. Bradley then waved his hand, signaling for him to get off the plane. He looked at Colin, waiting for him to get his camera ready and tell him to get off. Colin waved him forward.
Emmett turned around, slowly walking off of the plane. He was coming home. Finally after twenty years. His return was being recorded by a man he now proudly called his friend. He slowly walked to the door separating him from his wife and daughter, smiling. He walked off the ramp, smiling, hearing his wife cry out of happiness. He couldn't stand it anymore. He picked up speed. Before he knew what he was doing, he was running. He was running to the only woman he ever truly loved and their greatest masterpiece. He stopped in front of them. He was staring into his wife's eyes.
"I...just...want...you."
Bay cried and hugged her husband. "Forever and always, baby. Forever and always."
