The Soldier of Stars [1] - Band of Brothers

57 | paris

" She glows golden like a honeycomb, a ray of afternoon sunshine."

- Unknown

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Easy Company was falling into a nice routine, and the ability to sleep in beds which weren't a foxhole or a barn floor was a welcoming change. 

Hazel found herself humming Christmas songs daily; she couldn't wait to wake up and be in a warm little barrack with the rest of the guys from Easy, celebrating the year 1945, which would hopefully bring a quick end to the war. She prayed in the morning on most days, and then finally relished the feeling of not running around Holland. 

It was wonderful. 

The only downside was their new CO. 

Lieutenant Norman Dike. 

Lieutenant Dike was what could be conjured up as an excuse for a CO. The man seemed incompetent, forgetful, and the last thing it seemed he wanted to do was run a company of paratroopers. He forgot Hazel daily on practice runs, confused her for a male name, and then told her that she wasn't the sniper as she stood there with the Springfield in her grasp. Then he wouldn't listen to his Lieutenants and plenty of times Lipton tried to get through to him but he brushed him off, saying that he had everything under control. In conclusion, it was a mess, a big mess. They just hoped that by the time the war was over, they never stepped into the combat with him. 

November turned into December, and it grew colder with each night, but it also meant that the thought of Christmas 1944 was on many people's minds. The entire idea of it. Simply just being in a warm place this Christmas with friends, even in the middle of the war, would be comforting. The company continued doing drills, and some training, but they had more free time as they remained on stand down at the moment.

" Mama, Mama, can't you see?"

" Mama, Mama, can't you see?"

" What the Airborne's done to me."

" What the Airborne's done to me."

" Turn, about face. Forward march." The group went through multiple days in the freezing rain, getting used to their new CO Lieutenant Norman Dike, who was practically a mess, but a favorite from Regiment most likely. Catherine had been standing up near Peacock in the rain as the company marched back and forth in front of them, with only 65% strength, mostly being replacements. They were missing multiple people, and Catherine could see as Tab led the platoon on the outside, looking slightly frustrated. She could pick up on his little ticks by now, like when he was angry or pissed. They would be up most nights, checking on the men and women, and then reporting to Dike, who didn't care of seem to have a clue most of the time what the men were doing and that stressed them both out, even though they knew the company would be fine as long as the NCOs held it together the best they could.