AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chandler rolled his eyes. He knew this story, but only because he’d been told about it. “I was two, Dad. No, I don’t remember it.”
“Well, I’ll sure never forget it. I thought I’d killed you. Your mom went to get her hair done, and I thought that when she came home, I was going to have to tell her I’d killed our kid. I panicked. I started shaking you upside down by your ankles, thinking it might make you cough the toy up. But nope. You just started giggling, like you thought it was fun, having me swing you around. I went into full-blown panic mode. Got you in the car and drove like a bat out of hell to the ER, where the doctors and nurses proceeded to laugh at me as they looked down your throat and gave me a bunch of laxatives to take home. Said you’d pass it in a couple days and if we didn’t see it come out the other end, to let them know.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Hardest conversation I’ve ever had to have with your mom.”
Chandler shook his head. “When you and Mom tell the story, you usually play it for laughs. I had no idea it was so upsetting for you.”
“A father’s vanity, kiddo. I always wanted you to think I knew what I was doing. I wanted you to look up to me.”
“I do,” Chandler answered. “I always have. I still remember Mom calming me down when I was upset about you going away for months at a time on deployment by telling me you were a hero and how that meant we had to share you because other people needed you too. She said when you were done saving the day, you’d come home to us.” He laughed. “Of course, me being four, I thought you were like Superman or something. I remember sneaking into your closet to search for your super suit and everything.”
“Huh.” His dad grinned. “She never told me that. I bet you were sure disappointed when you didn’t find anything in there.”
“But I did find something,” Chandler said. “I found your dress white uniform. I thought it was the coolest suit ever. And honestly, seeing it is what made me want to join the Navy and be a superhero too.”
His dad blinked at him, pulling Chandler into a hug. “God, son. You know how to get to a guy, don’t you?”
Chandler hugged his dad back, savoring the moment. He knew now how precious those times were and how close he’d come to losing them forever after his dad’s heart attack. They’d had to perform an emergency bypass surgery, and his dad had coded twice on the operating table. Chandler never wanted to let another day go by without letting his dad know how much he meant to him.
When his dad pulled away, they both took a moment to compose themselves. “Man, I wish I’d known that, Chan. It means a lot to me. But even heroes don’t always get it right, you know. The soldier swallowing incident was very far from being the only time I was an idiot in the father-husband department.” He stretched out his arms along the back of the bench, wincing slightly as the still healing scar from his bypass surgery pulled a bit. “Your mom and I worked through all the problems and arguments and misunderstandings. That’s the true heroism, you know—showing up every day and giving it everything you’ve got. Making a commitment and sticking to it, come what may. Life is always going to be full of supervillain-sized challenges to face, and sometimes those challenges will knock you on your ass. It’s part of life. The real test is how you recover from them, and how you get through them as a family. Together. If you want a future with Eden, you’re not going to get it by being perfect. You’ll get it by making the choice to try.”
With a sigh, Chandler relaxed back against the bench. “Yeah, maybe. But I screwed up pretty bad with her. I’m not sure she’ll forgive me.”
“I bet she’s a lot better at this stuff than you give her credit for. Most women are. It’s their world really, and we just live in it. Don’t write her off so quick.” His dad turned to look at him again, his expression earnest. “And don’t write yourself off, either. I know how hard it is to transition back to civilian life. I’ve been there. But the great thing about relationships, romantic and otherwise, is that they show you how much capacity you have to grow. And if you can get there and really trust your partner, you never have to go it alone. You can figure all this stuff out between the two of you. From what I’ve seen of you and Eden, you make a good team.”
A team.Those words resonated deeply with Chandler. He took them in a minute and realized it was true. The same sense of mutual understanding and comradery he’d had with his SEAL team was what he’d been looking for since he’d been home. And somehow, he’d found it with Eden without even noticing.
Chandler rubbed the center of his chest, over his heart, the spot where he was missing Eden the most. His dad was right. He wasn’t alone. He did have a team around him, supporting him, helping him find answers and figure out what to do next. He had his parents. He had the people at the security agency. He had them all. But most of all, he had Eden. Trusted Eden.
By the time they headed back home, Chandler felt lighter than he had in a while, even if he was still worried it was too late to fix things with Eden.
