So What, I'm A Seal (Book 1)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I drove by the house twice before I finally pulled into the drive. I smirk when I see the old Ford pickup sitting under the shed. Getting out, I take a deep breath and slowly walk towards the door. Knocking several times, I turn around to take in my old stomping grounds. Nothing has changed, which didn’t really surprise me.

Hearing the door open, I slowly turn around and look into the green eyes of my mom. She’s gotten older, I tell myself as I take her in. Her once raven black hair now had salt and pepper running through it, but she still looked the same to me. Suddenly, I was kicking myself for never coming home. Sure, I wrote once and a while, and I’d call on their birthdays and special days like Thanksgiving, but I should have made it home.

“May I help you?” She asks me. I had to admit, having your own mother not recognize you, hurts. “Mom, it’s me.”

“Abriella? Is that you? Oh my goodness, it is. Silas, get out here! Ella’s home!” She yells as she wraps her arms around me, crushing me. I heard the hurried footsteps as my dad ran to the door. When he saw me, tears started running down his face making me feel worse. “Ella.” He whispers as he gives me a bear hug. “Daddy.”

He turns me loose and I step back. And that’s when both of them notice my missing arm. I knew the second they saw because their eyes grew bigger and my mom started crying. “Mom, it’s alright.” I say softly, not knowing what to do. They lead me to the living room and we all sit on the couch. “How did it happen darling?” 

“My team and I were on a mission. We didn’t know there was a sniper close by. I was helping out Spark Plug when I stepped in front of him. I didn’t know it until later, but I saved his life by doing that. We didn’t know I’d been hit until much later. I cleaned it the best I could, but by the time we got out, it was too late to save it. But the doctors were able to save the rest of my arm.

“They gave me an honorable discharge because you can’t do a Seal’s job with only one arm. My guys were upset, but they understand. It’s bound to happen to us all one day.”

“Who’s Spark Plug?” My mom asks clearly confused. Laughing, I quickly explain. “His real name is John Keith. He is driver of my, their team. Hence the nickname Spark Plug, and then there’s Powder and Flint, or Jason and Sam. They are the explosives experts. And finally I had Tech. His name’s Luke and his job was to keep communications was HQ open, figure out where we were things like that.”

Dad was about to say something when someone knocked on the door. She went to go see who it was and I went to go use the bathroom. I took my time because I didn’t want to see any of my old friends or any of my parents right now. After spending five minutes in there, I finally make my way back to the living room. When I stepped around the corner, I was surprised to see the sheriff standing with his back to me. Well, as I looked closer, I knew it wasn’t Adam Sands.

“Dad, I was in town when Brent Thanes stopped me and said that my sister was back. I didn’t believe him because I knew that you or mom would have called me. But when I got here, I saw a car I didn’t know sitting in the drive. Is Ella really home?” Dad nods and his eyes light up when he sees me. I smile and hold a finger over my lips.

“Where is she?” My brother demands. Dad shrugs and I heard a growl come from Jake. “You know, for an officer of the law, you should do a better job of knowing when someone’s walking up behind you.” I say softly, but just loud enough for him to hear. He spins around so fast I thought that he was going to trip on his big feet and fall. But somehow he managed to stay standing. “Ella, you’re home!” He yells as he steps towards me.

Suddenly he freezes, his face going pale. I sigh softly. “Jake, if you treat me like I’m a breakable doll, I swear I’ll have you begging for your life in ten seconds.” I threaten glaring at him. “Still think you can beat me little sis?”

“I know I can big bro.” I reply holding my arm open. He pulls me into a hug almost crushing a rib. “Can’t. Breath. Jake.”

“Oh, sorry sis.” He blushes and lets me go. I laugh and softly slap his shoulder. I look at my parents. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come home sooner. I guess I thought that y’all were still disappointed in me.” Mom starts tearing up and Dad looked like a fish out of water. “But I know now that I should have come home. I’ve missed y’all so much.”