We Come Alive 3

First Goodbye

Early Monday morning before the sun had even come up, Clover was fixing her bun on her head as she waited by the front door of their apartment. She was staring down at Dante's bags that were sitting waiting for him to carry them out. On the other side of the door was Rocco, Julio's dog. He hadn't moved since Julio left for his deployment late last night.

Clover went over to him and kneeled down so she could pet him. Rocco was waiting for Julio to come home, knowing he'd usually come home after five hours at most. It had been beyond five hours and Rocco was still waiting patiently for his best friend to come home.

Clover's attention was taken away from Rocco and over to Dante who was walking out of the back hallway. He was holding his phone in his hands and was just prepared to leave, but knowing it was going to be hard. He grabbed his bags off the ground and unlocked the door so they could walk out. Dante held the door open for her and even planted a kiss on her head as she walked past.

"Keon and my parents are downstairs." Dante said, following his girlfriend downstairs.

Clover didn't say anything as she walked outside and used her foot to hold the door open for Dante since his arms were full. When they got outside, they saw Keon sitting on the hood of the car while the boys' parents were arguing in the car.

"Hey, baby brother." Keon laughed, walking over to Dante and hugging him. "You're grown now, huh?"

Dante just chuckled as he handed his brother his bags. "I've always been grown. I'm not a baby."

"I'll still throw you like I did when we were kids." Keon playfully threatened. "How you doing, Clover?"

Clover smiled softly as she looked at him. "I'm good. How are you?"

"Tired." Keon admitted. "It's literally 4:30 in the morning. I'm ready to drop this boy off and get home to sleep."

Dante just rolled his eyes as he went over to the car to get in and greet his parents who were still arguing in the front seat.

~

Half an hour later, Clover was sitting behind the passenger's seat with her head laid on Dante's shoulder who was sitting in the middle of her and Keon. She woke up at the occasional bump or the banters between the boys' parents, which is what woke her up this time.

"I told you to make a left turn, April. You never listen." Their father, Joseph, huffed.

April, their mother, scoffed. "Oh yeah? Like the time you were suppose to take Dante to his college interview his junior year and you were 20 minutes late! He didn't get into the college!"

"Dante didn't even go to college! None of the boys even finished college!" Joseph fought back. "Keon flunked out his sophomore year and Tyrell dropped out after orientation!"

The three young adults laughed in the backseat at their bickering. Dante turned his older brother, the middle brother of what was suppose to be three boys. Even though Keon was only four years older than Dante, he was always someone who was just wiser than him and taught him right from wrong.

"Tyrell would be so proud of you." Keon spoke. "He'd love who you turned out to be. I'm proud of you."

Dante smiled softly as tears fought to come from his hazel eyes and down his tan cheeks hearing about his eldest brother. "You think so?"

Keon nodded as he nudge Dante with his elbow. "Yeah. I think so. I know so. You're a good kid, Dante. I couldn't imagine a better baby brother than you."

"I'm not a baby anymore." Dante laughed, wiping his tears away.

"I don't care how big and bad you'd become, you'll always be my little brother." Keon smiled. "Like when you were five as tried to fight me. Remember what I did to you?"

Dante laughed at the memory and laid his head back. "You threw me over the couch. Than when I tried to attack you on the bunk beds, you pushed me off. Luckily there were bean bags were there and I didn't crack my skull."

Keon smiled proudly. "I wasn't going to let you die. Maybe break a few bones, but not die. That's a story I'll tell at your wedding." His hazel eyes shifted from his younger brother over to Clover sleeping on Dante's shoulder. They were holding hands and she was out like a light.

"How'd you get Laura to marry you?" Dante asked, looking down at Clover.

Keon shrugged. "To this day I have no idea. But I can tell that Clover ain't leaving you anytime soon. Just come back home safe and we won't have a problem."

Dante looked down at Clover and nodded his head. "I'll come home fine."

~

45 minutes later, the family arrived to the airport. They walked Dante through the entire airport until he had to go through security. They stopped right before he had to go through security and started saying their goodbyes.

Instantly, the boys' mom broke down into tears and hugged her youngest son. Dante assured her that he was going to be okay before trying to let her go, but she had a death grip on him.

"Ma, I'll be back in a week. I'm not going to be gone for long." Dante smiled. He kissed her cheek before forcing her to let go.

Dante turned his dad and gave him a hug. "Do what you gotta do out there." His dad Joseph told him. "Work hard, but stay safe."

"Of course. Like you always said, Lucha de guerreros duro." Dante recalled. Since his father was a quarter black, half Puerto Rican, and mixed also with Italian and Brazilian, the boys were fluent in Spanish as well as English learning both as they grew older.
(Warriors fight hard.)

Joseph chuckled as he put his hand on the back of Dante's neck. "Lucha de guerreros duro."

Dante turned towards his brother and gave him a quick hug. They had already been saying their goodbyes their entire car ride, so they didn't have to a very long moment together. Only a hug that lasted a few seconds. When Dante pulled away, he saw Clover standing behind Keon looking at him softly.

"Come here baby girl." Dante smiled. Clover walked over to him and the two engulfed the other in a hug.

"I love you." Clover spoke into the crook of his neck. When the two pulled away, Dante kissed her cheek than her forehead and than her lips

"I love you, too. Tell the boys I'm trusting them to not let you do anything stupid that'll make you end up dead." He joked.

Clover laughed and playfully rolled her eyes. They did their handshake before kissing one last time and saying goodbye. She felt Keon wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her into his side as Dante walked off. Clover sighed as she watched Dante start to go through security. When Dante turned around and saw Clover looking at him, he waved to her with a bright smile. They both had their dream and it was the job of the other to be there for when their dreams came true.