The Fire Girl: A One Chicago Fanfiction

Chapter 18: Friendsgiving Part 1

I held the picture frame in my hands, smiling down at the picture it held. It was me and my big brother, Ryan. He joined the Marines when I was 16, and everything was great. He was able to come home to see me graduate from college with my associates degree and helped me make the decision to go through the medical training to be a paramedic.

The day I got the results that I passed, I was ecstatic. I called Ryan for the first time in two weeks, but there was no answer so I figured he was busy. Around dinner time that night there was knock on the door...

***

I opened the door to see two Marine soldiers standing there, and one of them was holding a neatly folded flag on there hands. My heart plummeted as I realized why they were there.

"Ms. Evans, I regret to inform you that Sergeant Ryan Evans-"

"No."

"Sergeant Evans went missing 12 days ago and after an extensive search, we were unable to locate him. We are to assume your brother has been killed in action, be he has been officially declared missing in action. I'm very sorry for your loss."

Behind them stood James, Ryan's best friend. The two soldiers moved out of the way so James could reach me. I let out a strangled cry as I collapsed into James'  arms, sobbing. My big brother, my rock, was gone. They soldiers carefully set the flag down before leaving. James and I stayed there for about 45 minutes before we got up.

"W-What happened?" I stuttered as we walked into the kitchen.

"We were deployed in Afghanistan and a tanker blew up. Smoke filled the area and I was knocked back. Once I got back up, I looked for Ryan but he was gone. I think they took him but we scouted the area for days on end and he never turned up. Eventually we had to move on," he explained as more tears rolled down my cheeks, "Corin, I'm so sorry. It was my job to protect him and-"

"No James, it's not your fault. I just...I can't believe he's really gone. I'm never going to hear his infectious laugh or enjoy the feeling of being wrapped in his arms whenever I'm upset. He was my rock J... he was all I had left and-and he's gone."

"Hey, you have me. I'm not going anywhere. That's a promise I made to Ryan. We're going to be okay."

"I don't think I'll ever be okay."

***

"Hey babe. Everything alright?" Kelly asked as he walked into our bedroom.

"Yeah...yeah I'm just reminiscing," I sighed, plopping down on the bed, "You know, he would have been the best uncle. Our friend had kids and he was always so good with them. He's always say how he never wanted a guy to touch me, but he couldn't wait to be an uncle one day. And now he is one and he isn't here to see it."

"I know baby. But just think, he's watching over us just like Shay is. He knows he's an uncle and he's watching over the kids."

"You're right," I smiled, wiping the few tears that gathered in my eyes, "Now it's time to make some thanksgiving dinner."

Kelly cocked his head, but at this point he was used to this. I always was a person who pushed down my feelings and put up the tough exterior. It was something I did my entire life, so it's a hard habit to break.

Kelly pressed a kiss to my forehead before the two of us headed downstairs. Ember was napping, so now was the perfect opportunity to start dinner.

***

Every couple minutes people kept arriving. Kelly was greeting everyone with a bubbly Ember in his arms while I finished up things in the kitchen. Sylvie, Matt, Stella, Cruz, and the Boden family came along with Kim, Hailey, Jay, Will, Nat, and Owen. I had to bust out the big dining room table to tonight.