Drawing Soldiers

Chapter One

 The drive wasn't as bad as I had thought, when they say if daddy calls she runs they weren't lying. The term daddy's girl has never defined anyone better than herself, he had called her that day and proceeded on telling her he was just 2 towns away and giving her an address hoping she had the time to drive out and see him before he had to fly back and as previously stated, being the daddy's girl that she is, she ran. Packed a bag, grabbed some of the cupcakes he loves so much and was on her way, 2 hours later and she was pulling up to a narrow dirt path leading to what looked to be a town of its own. She had received the call just after lunch and had made it to the place just in time for dinner if not an hour before. 

 The place looked well kept, loved, everyone she drove by had a smile plastered on their faces. more than half the people were wearing their colors and some looked to be ready to head out on a run.  She scanned the open field, her eyes taking in every face looking for the specific bald head and almost grey eyes. Eyes she dreamed about every night. Eyes that have introduced her to the most innocent of loves, her fathers eyes where passed down through generations all her sisters had them, cousins, aunts and uncles everyone on her fathers side. And when she looked in the mirror his eyes looked back. He always told them that he was always watching, that their eyes were his, and his were theirs when she was small she loved that idea, now not so much they only made her miss him more. 

She pulled her car into a spot in front of what looked to be a mansion and unfolded herself out from her vehicle. Not two seconds later and the door to the beautiful three story structure opened and out came her father and his brothers barreling their way towards her. 

 "I get fucking dibs, I created her!" her fathers voice sounded playful, deeper than she remembered but playful. his brothers and Kara where pushing and shoving each other while making sure he was the last to reach her. In a blur of browns and greens she was ingulfed by not one but multiple arms. strong arms, arms she found herself sleeping in, crying in and comforted by over the years. arms that welcomed her into the world one after the other. Arms she could describe and place to faces and names. Her dads extended family was also her extended family. If her dad was at one of her events so where they, if he came home from work so did they. They weren't just his, they were hers. Her family and boy had she missed them.

 "Looks like you lost again EZ, you should work on your time." Kara had taken up the spot in front of her a spot the men have willingly -or so they say- handed her but if you asked the single female of the brave group she fought and won it rightfully. "you know Stace maybe you should rethink on who your favorite is, he seems less enthusiastic then the rest of us to love you."

 "Its not my time I should be working on, its showing all of you that I'm not to be messed with." there was a bite to his words but also some admiration, love. he had always loved the fact that both his family had accepted each other and made sure to always include them in hers or her siblings milestones. "Ojos de mis ojos, deja verte." eyes of my eyes let me see you, it was a line all the men in our family used, a line she love to hear. A line that came with hands cupping her face and the smell of his after shave, with a smile that brought tears to her eyes it was a line she hoped to hear every day but only did every couple of months. "Estas bella. Tan grande, se te ve en los ojos, lo veo todo." so beautiful, so grown, it can be seen in your eyes, I see it all. that one was all his, that line he said every single time he saw her. he used to say she had the saddest eyes of them all, but now he says they have the talent to hold all of that she has lived and only he can see it in them.

 "Hola papa." she had missed him, it had been years since he last held her. Since THEY last held her, they spoke, emailed sent letters but had yet to hold each other. "Demustrame el mundo atravez de los tuyos." show me the world from your point of view. A line in which she asked him to show her to love what he did, who he was. To accept the person he was, to enjoy not only the good but also the bad. A line that kept growing in meaning. A cry of help, one he was yet to understand.

 "Come on guys, you know we cant understand what your sayin. But Stace you look beautiful, I missed you." Warren had been her best friend for years their parents joined around the same time and then he joined them, which meant they grew up together in a sense and the bond they had was unbreakable. He pulled her from her dads arms and enveloped her in his, nothing like feeling at home after years of being lost. "You bring some of them?" she nodded her head and let him guide her inside while everyone followed. "How have you been, still seeing her?" he knew how much their work messed with her head, he recommended her to a psychologist a while back and she found her self indulging in having some one to bare herself to. Some one to share her burdens. Everyone else thought she or "her" as he always referred to her doctor was a grilfriend, where they got that idea she would never truly know.