Marathon

1

Chapter 1

It was 8 o'clock in the morning on a crisp December Saturday. As I was getting ready to go for my morning run, a long black car pulled into my drive way, cop cars not far behind it. I threw open the door and watched as the men stepped out of the car. I felt my heart drop and the goosebumps form as watched the men get closer, my body slowly getting weaker and weaker. 

"Mrs. Carlin Pennington Wyatt, I regret to inform you that husband First Sergeant Griffin Wyatt died the 14th of  December." The man read from his sheet and I just closed my eyes and let the tears fall out. 

"I'm very sorry for your loss Mrs. Wyatt" The priest placed his hand on my shoulder and I nodded, letting everything process. 

---

I walked up to the front door of my sister's large Boston home that housed her, her husband, her baby boy and their large yet loving dog and knocked on the door. I placed the keys to my white Volkswagen Tiguan in my black Long Champ bag as I waited for my sister to open the door. As I stared at my feet, the door flew out and my overly enthusiastic sister stood there screaming. 

"CARLIN!" She smiled, and I looked up only to have her throw her arms around me. 

"Hey!" I laughed, hugging her tightly. 

"How are you doing?" She gulped and I nodded. 

"I'm alright!" I smiled softly, stepping back to look at her. "How are you?" I looked into her soft eyes and she nodded. 

"I couldn't be better!" She smiled. "Come in! Brock is beyond happy that you're here! You understand baseball and like it a hell of a lot more than I do!" She smirked, as I walked inside, laughing. 

"I don't know! You got really into baseball after you married Brock!" I smiled, placing my black Ray-Ban Aviators on the top of my head. 

"Yeah, well after he married me he fell in love with someone else!" She sighed, and I raised an eyebrow. 

"He's cheating on you?" I gulped and she laughed, nodding her head. 

"Yeah, with one of the rookies! They're bromance can be more romantic than our marriage!" She smirked, leading me into the living room were Griff, her baby boy, was in his play pen with some toys. "This little guy is the only thing that brings him home!" She smirked, picking Griff up. 

"He's so sweet!" I smiled, grabbing his tiny hand with my fingers. 

"Griffin Wyatt!" She gulped looking at me and I smiled softly, looking up at her. "Are you sure you're okay?" She grabbed my hand and I nodded. 

"I promise!" I smiled, squeezing her hand. "Griffin and gorgeous! He's going to be the cutest guy when he grows up!" I smirked and Lakyn laughed. 

"Just like her Uncle Griffy! He's gonna get all the girls in the playground!" She laughed, rocking him back and forth. "I'm sorry Brock's not home yet! Every Friday night is date night!" She sighed and I laughed. 

"What do you guys do?" I smiled, placing my bag down on the glass table against the wall, placing my sunglasses on top of it. 

"I stay home and play with Griff and Tank and he goes to dinner with this guy named Andrew!" She sighed, sitting down on  little blanket, placing Griff in front of her. "I like your shirt, where'd you get it?" She gestured to my navy blue flowy off the should top and I laughed slightly, shaking my head. 

"Your closet!" I smiled and she glared at me. 

"When?" She hissed. 

"Back in high school! When you went to college you left it at home and I stole it!" I smirked, looking down at my shirt then back at her. "These are your jeans too!" I smiled, looking down at the ripped white jeans. 

"You're such a brat!" She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Who's home?!" She gasped, looking at Griff who had wide eyes. "Is daddy home?!" She smiled and I looked at her. 

"Are you talking to the kid or the dog?" I laughed as the dog frantically got up and started running towards the door. Lakyn just rolled her eyes and grabbed Griff's hands. 

"Auntie Carl is so funny!" She giggle and Griff laughed slightly as the front door opened. "Guess who's home!" She gasped and Griff made a few gurgling noises. "Yeah! Dada's home!" She smiled as Brock walked in the room. 

"If I'm gargle are you farts?" He pointed to me and I laughed, nodding my head. 

"I'll take the farts!" I smiled as he walked over, hugging me tightly. 

"How are you kiddo?" He mumbled and I took a deep breath. 

"I'm eerily alright..." I gulped. 

"I'm happy you're here... Lakyn and I were worried about you kid! You're too young to go through this and we didn't want you going through this alone!" He sighed and I nodded. 

"Thanks!" I mumbled into his shoulder. 

"Listen, if you ever need anyone to talk to other than Lakyn, I'm here for you kiddo! I love you like my own sister!" He stepped back, placing his hands on my shoulders and I nodded. 

"Thanks!" I smiled. 

"Before I go upstairs with Andrew, what the hell are you doing with your hair? Is it in a bun or is it down?" He laughed and I rolled my eyes, hitting his chest. 

"Brock, that's the new trend!" Lakyn laughed and he shook his head, walking towards the hallway. 

"It looks like you got sidetracked while doing your hair!" He smirked. 

"Aren't you going to introduce Carlin to Andrew?" Lakyn hissed and Brock just stopped in his tracks. 

"Why don't you introduce them?" He smirked and Lakyn stood up with Griffin. 

"He's not my boyfriend!" She glared at Brock. 

"Hey Lakey!" A loud voice laughed, walking into the living room. 

"Hey Andrew!" She smiled. "Was my husband on his best behavior today?" She sighed and the boy with long dark hair laughed, nodding his head. 

"As always!" He smiled brightly. "I don't think we've met!" He gulped, looking over at me, his smile slowly fading. 

"I'm Carlin, Lakyn's sister!" I sighed, sticking out my hand. 

"Andrew, Brock's teammate!" He smirked, shaking my hand. 

"And future husband!" Lakyn cleared his throat. 

"Jealous?" Brock laughed and Lakyn laughed as Andrew and I stood there looking into each other eyes. It felt like eternities had passed. "Um, I don't want to interrupt but Andrew, we have an important game of 8-ball waiting for us, so, um, hurry up!" Brock cleared his throat. 

"It was nice to meet you!" Andrew gulped and I nodded, smiling softly. 

"You too!" I sighed, as he followed Brock.