Physical Therapy

All names, locations and references are fictional. The story may contain some mildly graphic descriptions of injuries and mention of death.

This a long read at 34k+ words, but felt it worked better as a single story than several smaller ones.

Physical Training is PT and every Marine will know what that means. The same could be said for Physical Therapy, especially for those that deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, depending on what types of therapy, the person helping could easily be described as a Physical Terrorist.

I met my wife while I was in Physical Therapy for the second time. Technically we had met while I was there the first time, but she wasn't willing to engage beyond the scope of our professional interaction.

Meeting Desiree.

She had a very formal, professional shell that I was able to break through with some humor. That's pretty much my personality, I use humor to break the ice with everyone. I remember the day she got assigned to be my Physical Therapist for the second time. She was looking at my chart as she walked over to me and looked at me and said, "You again?"

I smiled, "They said this was the only way I could see you again."

She said in a very matter of fact fashion, "I don't date patients."

"I'm lucky, I'm not just any patient, I'm a repeat patient."

She sort of laughed, "So Mr. Smith, what brings you back to me?"

"The obvious answer is your smile and the fact that you're beautiful. But your leadership said that it had to be business related so I found a way to come back to see you."

She laughed out loud at that. "Okay, okay. Physically, what brings you back?"

I pulled my shorts up slightly and watched her smile.

"Petty Officer, I'm not certain what you were hoping to see, but I was referring to the scars on my thighs."

"Wow. I was also checking out your shin. I see you have a plate on your tibia. How's that feeling?"

"I can put some weight on it now, but not my full weight and not for too long at a time. That I'm getting used to, however my quads are crazy tight. I'm guessing the shrapnel cut it pretty deep and maybe when they stitched me up, it wasn't quite aligned properly or something."

"Give me a few, I want to pull your full record and see what they did. Have a seat here, or if you want, head over to the table by the window. I'll be back shortly."

I went over and sat on the table and was really loving the feeling of the sun coming in.

"I checked your record and they had to remove some portions of some muscles in your legs due to the infections. Looks like you were in Germany for about four months as they fought to get them under control, wow. When they finally stitched you back up, there were some muscles that were a bit shorter than they used to be. That's an easy fix luckily. As you recall from your last visit, easy fixes don't mean pleasant or painless. We'll have to work on getting mobility back in your legs. You have some atrophy as well and we can work on that once you can load your weight back on both of your legs."

"I'm going to start with some Ultrasonic massage therapy on your upper legs to start to get them to loosen a bit and then we can start with some basic stretches and eventually progress towards building some muscle and getting your strength back. How's that sound? First, how's your right calf doing? I know we put a lot of work into that for you last time."

"The right calf is doing well, luckily. Especially now that it's now my good leg. All good, so long as you are my Therapist." I winked at her which made her smile.

She was a gorgeous woman. Dark skin and black hair, with a stunning figure, or it certainly seemed that way from what I could see in her uniform. As we got to know each other a bit more over the following weeks, I learned that her accent was from Puerto Rico. She had joined the Navy to get away from home. I shared that I had spent two years in college, but wasn't happy and needed other challenges, so I joined the Marine Corps.

During one of our appointments, she was using the Ultrasonic massage tool on my upper thighs and the inevitable happened, I got an erection. "Uh Petty Officer Gonzalez, do you have a towel that I can use?"

"Sure, why do you need a..., oh. I see."

I was trying my best to apologize, but she was understanding. "Tell you what, how about we do some stretches for now? If I give you a towel and you only have it around your waist, that will draw more attention and that could easily result in a reassignment of patient to therapist, okay? At least I got your right quad warmed up. Lay back and bring your feet up, bending your knees, keeping them together, okay."

"There, I'm sure you'll feel better knowing that you're not being so obvious, but of course, I'll not have the same view..."

I looked her in the eyes and I'm pretty sure I saw her face color change. She looked down and asked me to bring my feet even closer to my butt. I could feel my quads tighten up.

"How's that feeling?"

"Tight."

"Since you can't put too much weight on your left leg, we can start with some seated quad stretches for now. I'll also show you how you can do these while laying on your side using a resistance band as well."

"Thank you, especially for being understanding earlier. It wasn't intentional, I had sort of zoned out and well... I'm sorry."

"You're good. It happens occasionally, perhaps not as obvious as what I saw earlier, but it happens." She smiled at me and started to teach me a new set of stretches.

"Do they have you at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Pendleton?"

"Yep. I've already been counseled on the potential for a Med Board, but that's not really my plan at the moment."

"You've got two Purple Hearts, what are your plans? I'm hoping it's not a third one..."

I could sense some pain in her voice.

"Sure as hell not looking for a third one. I've had enough of the challenge and adventure of being a grunt. Once I've recovered enough to pass a PFT, I'll submit a request for reenlistment and a lateral move to a new MOS. I'm hoping for something that has more of a technical skill involved that might carry over to a life outside of the Marine Corps. How about you, what plans do you have?"

"Good for you! I've gotten most of my bachelors degree done. My goal is to get my Master's of Science in Nursing and join the Nurse Corps as an Officer."

"From Petty Officer to Ma'am, I love it... Ma'am."

She had a big grin. "Enough of that for now. I'll go get a resistance band for you to take back with you and we'll get your next appointment scheduled. If you're ready, go change and meet me back up by the front desk."

I had made it back up there when I saw her talking with one of the department doctors. They called me up and asked me about the plate in my left leg and suggested that I get an x-ray, so that they could confirm that it was healing as expected so that they could progress my therapy to start on some strength and stability training.

I agreed and Petty Officer Gonzalez asked me if I had gotten X-rays at Balboa before, I shook my head, "not here... yet." Both her and the Doctor got a laugh out of that and he suggested that she escort me to the X-ray lab.

I had thrown my crutches down as soon as I could bear some weight on my leg and while I hated the cane, I hated the crutches even more. I always felt really self conscious using either one, especially in uniform.

I could see her looking at me occasionally, I felt it was probably her duty to make sure I was able to make it and not hurt myself. She also noticed when I loaded my left leg a bit too much and winced from the pain.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yep, just put a bit too much weight on it. Still getting used to the cane."

"You're doing good. Of course, I can get you a wheelchair..."

"Didn't you have to take a Hippocratic oath or something, being mean to me can't be part of that.."

"For your information, that oath is for doctors... but we do have an oath of sorts that we take. Plus, I wasn't being too mean, just suggesting an alternative if you wanted it."

I smiled, "It all makes sense now. You're trying to get rid of me... I understand. I'm taking too long to get to the X-ray department..."

She looked at me. "My oath prevents me from smacking you right now, but let's just say that's what crossed my mind."

"If that keeps me coming back to see you, then I'm good with the beating."

I was almost giggling and it made her start as well. "Jack, I've requested that your next appointment is with me, and before you get any ideas, it's mostly related to continuity of care..."

I loved hearing her call me Jack. "Mostly... I'm guessing being a repeat customer has some bonuses, am I right?"

"Calm down Devil Dog. No bonuses for you!"

We were both laughing when we got to the X-ray department. "Corporal Smith, when you finish, please stop by Phys Therapy before you leave." She checked me in and explained that they should have a request pending for my X-rays.

They brought me back and asked if I had any shorts or needed a gown. I said I had shorts under my cammies and said I could change pretty quickly when they were ready. They gave me a few minutes to change and then came back in.

The X-ray tech was a young guy and he was looking at my leg and asked several questions. I explained that a piece of shrapnel had hit the tibia and took a wedge shaped chunk and that had caused a compound fracture and they decided to plate it to stabilize it when I was in Germany.

He said it seemed a bit premature to be in physical therapy until my leg healed. I pulled my shorts up a bit and showed him the scars across both legs. "Due to an infection, they removed some muscle and that left both quads and probably some other muscles a bit shorter. Phys Therapy has been helping me to stretch them back out and once I am able, I can start building muscle and strength."

I think he felt bad about how he had said that. When I got up on the table he asked about my right calf and the huge scar on it. "I got shot the first time I was in Iraq. Luckily, the bullet missed bone, but pretty much blew the calf off my leg. Just about the only thing that held it on was my Achilles tendon. That was a painful recovery compared to this one so far."

He surprised himself when he said in almost disbelief, "Damn." He started to apologize.

"You're good. I still feel that way when I see it as well. I think that my skin tone and the fact that there's some keloid scar tissue make it look a bit more gruesome than it actually is. The good news is that once I recovered, I was able to run a perfect PFT. I'll be able to do the same once I recover from this one as well. I'm just hoping that I don't need to get shot or blown up a third time, my luck is running out as the the injuries keep moving up my body."

We both laughed a little and he got my X-rays finished and said that they'd be sent to the requesting doctor. I shook his hand and thanked him and hobbled back to the Phys Therapy Dept.

Once I got there Petty Officer Gonzalez was at the front desk and she smiled when she saw me and asked me to have a seat. I sat there and watched her talking with the Doctor and the Lead Nurse. She then opened the door and pushed a wheelchair out. "Corporal Smith, since you were having some pain with your cane, we can use this to get you to your car for now. Okay?"

I stood and started to protest when she winked at me. "Okay, I'll take the wheelchair this time. Thank you."

She held it while I got seated and then put the foot rests down for me and pushed me over to the front desk. She reached over and grabbed the resistance band, and some documentation and handed them to me. She was pushing me down the hall and told me to look at the documentation. "It covers the stretches. Do them as much as you're comfortable with. Don't push it too hard, too soon. You don't want to tear those muscles or anything else, that would only set you back." I nodded as she continued. "You'll also see appointment cards with your next two appointments on them. Please be sure to give them to your chain of command to ensure that they give you the time needed."

I could tell that she's done this probably hundreds of times before. We got in the elevator and when we got in, she pushed the button for the lobby and then reached into her pocket and handed me another appointment card. This one read Desiree Gonzalez and had a number on it. "Jack, that's my personal number. I'm sure you understand that we can't really let anyone here know this, but I'd like to see you sometime and not in a therapist - patient way."

I turned to look up at her. "I'd love that as well, and I completely understand the need for discretion." I smiled, "So, I'm guessing this is why I'm getting wheeled around?"

She smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder. "You're a bad person Jack Smith." The elevator door opened and she quickly removed her hand and pushed me out in the lobby and then we went through the lobby and then out the front doors. I told her generally where my car was located and once we got there she helped me up and shook my hand, but held it and squeezed it a bit and then turned to get the wheelchair. "Don't forget to call me."

"I'll make sure that I call you. Thanks again for helping me today."

I quickly sent her a text and thanked her again. I left and went back to Camp Pendleton and started back on the daily grind of recovery. I couldn't help but think about Desiree. She was a gorgeous lady. Dark skin and beautiful eyes. It was hard to gauge her shape in her work uniform, but I'm certain that I'd love to see it regardless.

I had been doing all of the stretches and was starting to feel my quads loosen up a small bit. It left me aching for several days, but I kept at it. As sick as it may sound, the pain was refreshing. I controlled it for the most part and that helped me better know where actual pain from injury was separated from the pain of recovery. I would still go to the gym and do my best to keep my upper body strong and in shape. I hated seeing my lower body because of the atrophy that's happened in my legs.

I got more classes and counseling on the possibility of a Med Board discharge but my goal was to reenlist and lat move. That drove me pretty hard towards making a solid recovery.

I got a call one afternoon and Desiree asked me to meet her out in Oceanside at a small bar at around 7pm. I replied that I'd be there and promptly got cleaned up and ready. As I got there I sent her a text and she came out to meet me and to my surprise, she gave me a warm embrace and then kissed me.

I probably returned her kiss a bit too eagerly and had to restrain myself. When I broke the kiss I stepped back, and just stared at her. "You are beyond gorgeous. Sure you want to be seen with a guy with one of these?" as I held up my cane.

She smiled. "More than happy to be seen with you, Jack. Plus, it's my job to make sure you don't need to use that too much longer. Let's head inside and grab a drink and bite to eat."

I leaned over and kissed her lightly. "I'm pretty sure you are all I need to eat and be happy."

She clearly blushed. "You just might get the chance... let's head inside."

We sat there and had several drinks and got some sides from the bar menu and had lots of conversations about what brought us to the point in our lives where we met. It was a great date.

"I have a sensitive question Jack, your name is pretty white, but you're fairly dark skinned. If it's okay, can I ask..."

I started to laugh. "My father was adopted by a family in Iowa. I don't know too many details on his side of the family, other than that his adopted family look pretty much as the name implies. My mom is white as well and looks the part of Mrs. Smith. I think dad said that he felt that he may have some Hispanic heritage, but to my knowledge, he's never really done a DNA test that shows ancestry."

She smiled. "That makes more sense. I'm guessing you got some of your dad's looks. You are quite handsome by the way. I love you hazel eyes, especially with your skin tone. Why didn't you stay in college and graduate? I know you wanted to find new challenges, but from what you've said it seemed like it was going well."

"Thank you, I'm certain I've never had such an awesome compliment from such a gorgeous woman. As for college, It was going too well. I was the starting full back on the football team and my classes were pretty easy. I think if I had to nail it down, it was all a little too easy and that gave me too much time to find other distractions."

"So chasing the young ladies?"

I started to laugh, "Yeah, that's one reason. My life didn't seem to have purpose at that time. Playing football and chasing girls didn't certainly didn't give me a sense of purpose, so that's why I joined the Marine Corps. I felt that both the ladies I had met and myself as well, we were too young to potentially have a kid. I want to have kids with my wife, the lady I love."

She smiled. "I love that you feel that way. Fun question. How many kids would you want?"

"The easy answer is whatever my wife and I decide on. Of course I'd love to have at least a boy and girl, but I'd be happy regardless. I have two sisters and a brother and think that it's great to have brother's and sister's."

She squeezed my hand. "I had four brothers and two sisters. So I completely agree on how it's great to have siblings. I'm not sure I'm ready to have seven kids though." We both laughed quite hard at that.

We had finished our drinks and food quite a bit earlier in the evening and both of us had been drinking water while we talked about all sorts of things. We both sort of agreed that it was time to leave and as we were standing near my car, we were intertwined in a very passionate kiss. As we broke apart and caught our breaths, we both sort of chuckled.

"Desiree, I'd love nothing more than to go somewhere and spend an evening worshipping you, and while I want to do that, I'd also love to take this a bit slower. I'd really love to see where this leads and I'm hopeful you might feel that way as well."

She leaned in and kissed me. "I love everything you just said. Everything." She leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Waiting makes the fire burn hotter."

I was leaning against my car while we stood in an embrace. I think we mutually decided that we needed to get going. I'm sure she felt my erection. I know I felt the warmth of her body against mine. We broke our kiss and she was quick to remind me of my next appointment and quickly added that she expected to see me before then.

The next few months went really quickly. She had coordinated an appointment with a nutritionist that helped me create a plan that might speed up some aspects of my recovery. The initial goal was my left leg, I needed the bone to grow back under the plate and then I could start loading it more.

I had several more x-rays and it confirmed that the bone was starting to fill in under the plate and I was able to walk without my cane. Walk may be an overstatement, more like hobbled, but still I didn't have to use the cane. That single fact alone almost brought tears to my eyes. One barrier down. The next thing I didn't really expect was how self conscious I was about how small my legs had gotten. They looked like toothpicks to me.

I had been a solid 190-195 pounds and at five foot eleven, I thought I looked good. It also explained why I had been a full back in college. I was just built that way. Pretty sure all those summers helping my grandfather bail and stack hay was part of it. As he used to joke, "First a strong back, then a strong mind." I also spent a lot of time in church. I went, but things never clicked for me there. I saw too much hypocrisy and dishonesty and it started with the preacher and went down. I think my parents and grandparents saw it, but ignored it. I couldn't and that shaped my view of religion as a whole. Some aspects stuck with me as it seemed to relate to being a good person and that was my goal, at least to what I thought a good person should be.

When Desiree saw me walk in without a cane, she teared up a bit, but quickly regained her composure. She walked me through the stability exercises and also some strengthening exercises. I was enjoying the pain of muscle fatigue. I thought to myself that it probably sounded a little masochistic that I enjoyed it. To me being sore was a milestone of recovery. I was generally careful about pushing too hard and it only took one event to force me back into a more paced routine.

I had walked for two miles on the treadmill at the gym and it was so slow and boring that I wanted to try and jog a little. I started and managed maybe a quarter mile on the treadmill and as soon as I got off the treadmill and sat down, I felt an incredible amount of pain in my left leg. I was literally in tears from the pain and that got me a visit to the ER on base and some x-rays and of course some Motrin. At my next appointment with Desiree, I got scolded by her, the lead Nurse and the Doctor. While the X-rays didn't show conclusive proof, the Doctor seemed to think I had a micro-fracture near the plate in my left shin.

My dates with Desiree had become more frequent, but hadn't really progressed to the point of having sex and I was happy about that. We had however made it to the point of heavy petting and even having our hands in each other's pants, but never to the point of seeing one another naked. I wanted to kiss and explore her body, but I was happy we'd found some restraint.

It had been a little over seven months since I'd started my second run at rehab with Desiree and was really happy with my recovery. I'd managed to run a passing PFT, but it wasn't impressive at all. I maxed out pull ups and crunches, but the run was slow. Still a pass either way. I had also managed to shoot expert again on the range, so that was another small mark in my favor.

I had gotten an appointment with the Career Planner and explained what I wanted. He asked about my recovery and I told him what my most recent PFT results were. He confirmed what I knew about the run time. However he did say that he was impressed that I'd managed to run a first class PFT slightly over a year after the incident.

As we sat there we went over a list of potential MOS's that I might be eligible for, he seemed surprised at my ASVAB scores and asked me why I had been placed into the infantry. I told him that I wanted the challenge and had specifically requested infantry in order to have that experience.

He was thumbing through my Service Record Book. "Third award rifle expert, multiple Meritorious Masts, a Navy Marine Corps Achievement medal, a Good Conduct Medal, two purple hearts, a Bronze Star with a V, the list goes on. I guess you found the challenge you wanted."

We both sort of laughed. "I may have over achieved a bit. But it was worth every stitch and scar. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

We found out that the closest school that was accepting lat moves was the Engineer School at Camp Lejeune. I had asked for any MOS in the 1100 field that they'd accept me into. The Career Planner was honest with me and shared that they might not want to accept a Sergeant as a boot in an MOS, but that he knew of some strings he could pull once my reenlistment got approved. He went on to explain how boat spaces worked and how I'd be competing for one of those not just related to reenlistment, but also for the lat move.

I smiled, "Luckily I'm a Corporal, hopefully they'll be more receptive to that."

He started laughing. "You didn't hear this from me, but not for much longer. You'll be getting a call from the Company Gunny or First Sergeant soon, you're on the list for promotions next month. Congratulations Sergeant!"

"I think based on your record and the fact you've really set the bar for a first term Marine, I can push this through for you." In typical Marine Corps fashion, he closed with, "Don't fuck this up Marine, understood?"

"Aye, aye, Gunnery Sergeant Fields, understood." We both laughed. "Take care of yourself. I'll call you when I get some info."

I had held off on letting Desiree know until I had showed up for my last appointment. She noticed right away and I saw the gleam in her eyes. She reached out and felt the rank insignia on my collar and I felt she was proud of me.

As we walked through my final appointment and my carry over recovery plan, I shared that I had been approved for reenlistment and gotten my lat move approved and that I was headed to Camp Lejeune for my new MOS school. I was going to be an 1142, Engineer Equipment Electrical Systems Technician, or as everyone knew it a Generator Mechanic or more often, simply; Genny Mech.

I had reenlisted and all I was told was that I'd report to the Joint Reception Center at Camp Pendleton at the successful conclusion of my MOS school. So it seemed like I'd be headed back to Camp Pendleton after school, which was a relief.

I had made some plans since I was due to fly out the following week to attend my MOS school, so I had called Desiree and asked if she had any plans for the weekend. When she asked what I had planned, I shared that I'd gotten a hotel in Leucadia near the beach and that I would love it if she could spend it with me.

She almost screamed yes over the phone. I suggested that I could pick her up, but she said she'd meet me there. I texted her the address and suggested that she pack some swimwear so that we could head over to the beach and hang out. I was a nervous wreck. I had purchased a ring and had made plans at a small restaurant near the hotel for the proposal.

I was in the hotel parking lot when she showed up. We shared a kiss and I went and checked us in and got our room. It wasn't the biggest suite they had, but it was nice and had a patio that faced the ocean with a stunning view.

We went to dinner and it was perfect but I was filled with a crazy, nervous energy. We'd finished dinner when the waiter came out with something on a tray and pretended to drop it. When I bent over to help him, he handed me the ring and I kneeled down and proposed. She was in tears and did her best to say yes. The entire restaurant broke into applause and there was no shortage of people buying us drinks.

I left a large tip for the waiter for help in arranging things, which he initially refused, but I encouraged him to take it, suggesting he could buy some drinks for the staff. Our evening could not have been more perfect. We got back to our hotel room and were pretty much glued together. There was no mistaking where our evening was headed.

I had planned for everything and had a box of condoms, but I didn't plan on needing them right away, my goal was to explore every single inch of her. We spent the entire weekend with, in and on each other in pretty much every conceivable way and I can confidently say, waiting made that weekend even more special. I'm sure the proposal played a role as well, but still everything fell into place, no pun intended. One thing that will forever stick with me from that moment was how perfectly bubblegum pink her sex was and how it contrasted against her dark skin.

Shortly after I got back from my MOS school, we were married on base with a beautiful view of the ocean. She had a beautiful gown and had her friends as her bridesmaids. I was in my dress blues and had my best man who'd been with me most of my time in the Marine Corps. Both Desiree's and my parents were there as well. Some of our brothers and sister's couldn't make it, still it was a fun time overall. We spent our honeymoon in St. Croix.

We got settled pretty quickly and decided it would be easier if we lived off base and chose to live about halfway between Camp Pendleton and Balboa. Fortunately, I was stationed at Third AAV Battalion at Camp Del Mar at the time, which meant I was on the south side of the base right off the freeway. We got really lucky and were able to buy a house in Solana Beach.

Life seemed perfect. We were both generally up before dawn and headed towards our respective bases. We stayed really busy the first two years. Both with our service, but also with each other. We didn't really waste too much time and had our daughter within the first year of being married and our son followed about a year after that.

Between the kids, work and college, we had fallen into the trap of putting everything ahead of each other. We didn't really spend time with each other beyond taking care of the kids or obligations when we were a couple, such as the Navy Ball and the Marine Corps Ball or other unit events. It's like we had become actors that played the role of being a married couple.

We'd both gotten promoted. She'd gotten promoted to Petty Officer First Class and I was now a Staff Sergeant. Life and career seemed on track for both of us professionally. She finished her Masters, applied for and gotten accepted into the Navy Nurses Corp. I was extremely proud of her, but I think that she may have felt it was odd as a Naval Officer to be seen with an enlisted Marine. I feel that was why she eventually asked for a divorce. We had drifted apart as a couple. We weren't fighting, but we'd stopped being a couple and I think that made her decision easier.

The hardest part was that she just wanted out of the marriage and didn't want anything to do with the house and quickly signed a quit-claim on it and while she didn't come right out and say that she didn't want anything to do with our kids either, it was implied. That was soul crushing.

I was prepared to be their sole provider, but my heart ached for them losing their mother. As our divorce moved along, I had gotten some guidance from our Base legal team and followed their recommendations. Over all, it was quick, mostly painless and in some ways to my benefit. Mostly as it related to the house. Just how beneficial, I'd not understand until many years later.

I understood the strain my obligations to the Marine Corps would place on my new family structure and luckily my parents were more than willing to help where possible. The other benefit was the tightly knit fabric that is Marine Corps Families.

Days turned to weeks, weeks to months and months to years. The kids were growing up quickly and life was racing past. We'd spent several years in Iowa while I was on recruiting duty. In some ways that was easier for us as a family since we weren't too far from my childhood home and more importantly my family. My mom and dad along with my brother and sisters were more than helpful in watching the kids when needed, especially when I deployed and I would forever be in debt to them for that.

We had made it back to the West Coast and were back in our home. I was fortunate in that my unit's were very accommodating and I did my best to keep either obligation from impacting the other.

My final promotion comes with an unexpected surprise:

I just reenlisted for four years and had been selected for Master Gunnery Sergeant at just over twenty three years of service. Well ahead of most of my peers and I felt that my medals and combat experience had played a role in it. The date was set for my promotion and despite my objections, it was decided that it'd be in a Battalion formation. I felt bad for the junior Marines, just for a moment though. I'd stood in those same types of formations and changes of command when I was a younger guy, so they could handle it as well.

To my surprise, we had a Brigadier General in attendance. I thought that was quite odd and thought it could have been the Regimental Commander. As much as I tried, I couldn't get any info out of my normal contacts to see what was going on.

As the morning progressed Brigadier General Johansen was introduced and made a few brief comments to the battalion before he turned us back over to the Battalion Commander. I chuckled to myself thinking it had to have been the same guy I worked for as a young Marine. He had been my Platoon commander during my second tour in Iraq.

As we were called to attention, I was called to report to the CO. I smartly marched up there, reported, snapped a salute and once the CO returned it, stood at attention as I listened to the Adjutant read my promotion warrant. I had heard that same thing read hundreds of times throughout my career and it never seemed like it was meant for me, always another Marine that was getting promoted.

My kids were both in attendance as I was promoted and they had pinned my new rank on me. I saluted the CO and he promptly did an about face and turned the Battalion over to the General. I stood there as the CO moved around the left of the General with the Sergeant Major just behind him to his left. I saluted the General and as he returned my salute he smiled. "It's been a long time, Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith." I returned his smile and stood at attention as the Adjutant started to read the citation.

I felt a cold chill run up my spine. It sounded like my Bronze star citation, but it was slightly changed. The language was different, but the situation that got the award was the same, except, this time, it was to award me the Silver Star.

After General Johansen had attached my medal to my cammie blouse, he shook my hand. "You were only a Corporal when you got the original Bronze star. Every single Marine in your chain of command fought tooth and nail to have it be a Silver Star, but the Regimental Commander wouldn't have any part of junior NCO getting that award. We kept fighting for the upgrade. I'm not saying that I had the final push to get it upgraded, but I will say that I demanded to be the man that gave this to you."

He stepped back in front of me and I saluted him again and after he returned it, he put the Battalion at parade rest and asked the Adjutant for the microphone and he began to recount that day and that patrol. I felt cold and clammy, probably the closest I'd ever been to passing out in a formation, let alone in front of one. I still thought about that day and the Marines we lost that day and felt that I was fortunate to have only gotten another Purple Heart.

It was the first time that the citation had been read out loud in close to twenty years and it still shook me. I felt that I didn't deserve this any more than the Bronze Star as it did not change what happened to my friends.

As the General finished his speech, he brought the Battalion to attention and shook my hand one more time and said that I'd be sticking around to have a drink with him.

After the formation was released, the CO asked everyone to congratulate me for both my promotion and also my award. It seemed like hours as my kids stood next to me as literally every Marine and Sailor in the Battalion filed past and shook my hand and extended their congratulations.

I was left surrounded by my kids, the General, my Colonel, the Major that was my company commander as well as their senior enlisted Marines, my First Sergeant and Sergeant Major as well as the Sergeant Major that worked for the General. It was sort of awkward in that the General pretty much told them all to leave us alone as he asked me to walk around the grinder with him.

We talked about everything that happened that day, from the prep for the patrol, to the brief, crossing the demarc and up to the moment the IED went off and the subsequent ambush.

"Jack, how long were you in the hospital?"

"Around four months, Sir. Most of that was due to the infections in both of my legs. When I low crawled over to Johnson, both of my quads had been cut really deep by shrapnel and my left tibia had been pretty much shattered and left me with a compound fracture and I'm sure that crawling through the dirt didn't help out in that regard."

"Why Johnson?"

I had tears in my eyes. "He had been our SAW gunner and he'd been killed. My hope was the SAW was still good. When I checked him..."

The General put his arm around me. "You're good Jack, don't worry about it."

I did my best to compose myself. I was back in that moment and could feel the hair on my arm standing one end. "He was dead. I did a quick function check on the SAW and then turned it towards the buildings we were taking fire from and did my best to suppress them."

"Where was the Lieutenant?"

"I didn't know at that moment, but he was hiding behind a short earthen wall. My assumption was that he'd been injured or killed by the IED. Everything seemed to be happening at a thousand miles an hour, but also in slow motion. Our radio man saw that I was trying to get us out of the ambush and ran over to me and handed me the mic. I called for air support. The Corpsman was trying to get me to stop firing so he could check my legs. I kept asking for ammo for the SAW and kept firing until I ran out. Eventually we stopped receiving fire as air took out a few buildings for us. We lost six Marines, Sir. Six. I knew every one of them and this medal doesn't help them. "

"You're right Jack, it won't bring them back, but your actions that day saved the rest of the patrol and while you were the one that received the award, you can wear it with pride to honor those that didn't come back that day. You're a damn good Marine and a dad. We need to get back to your kids before your CO puts them to work."

We both laughed, "Hell if he can get them to work, he can have them." I got serious, " You know Sir, those two are the reason I'm still sane. They were my distraction from this side of my life and I've been able to turn it off around them most days. I'm pretty sure they never heard that citation out loud."

"Jack, I know you're a single father and while the Marine Corps may want to move you, I asked the monitor to leave you in the area. I know you're close to getting your Doctorate as well, and given what your degree is in, I've asked them to let you spend a tour at the Recruiting School at MCRD. You good with that?"

My eyes lit up. "Oh hell yes! Thank you Sir! I want to be in the area when my kids graduate from college and start their lives. Plus, I'm pretty happy in Southern California and while I'm not sure where I'll end up, I'd like to decide after this tour, instead of waiting to see where the Marine Corps sends me."

"Retirement time huh?"

"Yes Sir. It's time. Running PFTs and CFT's are killing me over time, very slowly and very painfully. I can't bring myself to take advantage of the time cut we get with age and have to make sure the young guys are on their toes."

We were laughing when his Sergeant Major came up to us. "Sir, I tried to get the Officer's club locked on for you. However, the Base Commander insisted that we meet him at the Ranch House at 1700, of course he'll be there and several others will be in attendance."

"Thanks Bill. Bill, this is Jack Smith. He was a young Corporal in my Platoon many, many years ago. Jack, this is Bill Guthrie, another great Marine. You two have lots in common and should share a beer."

Both of us answered at almost the same time, "I don't drink, Sir."

He started laughing. "You guys need to teach me how to do that... Jack, please change into your Charlies and meet us at the Ranch House. I already know you have at least one Charlie shirt with your new rank on it right?"

I was laughing, "Yes, Sir. You know it. I'll have to stop by the exchange and see if they have a ribbon to make sure I'm accurate."

As I saluted him one last time before he walked away, he returned my salute and gave me a strong embrace. "There's not many of us left from that day, Jack. We need to make sure we keep their memories alive." I could see the tears in his eyes when he turned to head towards their car.

Bill looked at me and said, "You deserved that medal Jack, that Regimental Commander was relieved of duty quite a few years after that incident. Your award was a part of why, but not the sole reason. He was an arrogant bastard and hated enlisted Marines. If an Officer farted and it didn't smell, they'd get a medal out of that guy."

We both laughed as I shook his hand. "Thanks Bill."

My kids were looking at me and I could tell they were probably tired of standing and maybe had some hunger and possibly dehydration.

"You guys ready?"

My daughter was the first to speak. "What the hell Dad?! You never told us about that!"

My son was staring at me with a shocked look. "Dad, I never really connected the dots between the scars on your legs and understood what had happened."

I laughed, "Now you know why they always shake me down at airport security. My left leg sets off all of their scanners."

They were both laughing, but still seemed like they were shocked.

"In all honesty, that day left scars that aren't visible. I was already messed up from my first tour and that's the scars on my right calf. But everything happens for a reason, even if we don't know what it is at that moment and I've got you guys!"

I hugged them and they took off as I went back to my office and put on my Charlies and went over to the Exchange and bought a Silver Star ribbon.

When I got to the Ranch House, I was greeted by the General's Aide and saluted him, which he returned, then shook my hand and invited me in. I had expected that my being there was a convenience that happened to coincide with another event that the CG had going on. I was wrong. General Johansen came over and started making the rounds to introduce me to everyone.

This was the single largest collection of Colonels and above I'd ever seen outside of a change of command ceremony. Each shook my hand and congratulated me. Some made some disparaging remarks about the Regimental Commander that had downgraded my award initially.

As a young Marine, all officer's, but especially General level officer's weren't humans. They were almost god-like to me. It took a while to finally realize that they were just normal people and while some may have thought of themselves as a higher class of human, that eventually got sorted out by those above even them.

As I was introduced to the Commanding General, he was very informal and shook my hand and asked me to come sit down with him and his wife. After I was introduced, she specifically asked me about being a single dad, which caught me off guard, but my guess was that they'd done some homework on me before this visit. I told her that it wasn't without challenges, but with the help of my family and the close knit community of my unit, we were doing well.

When she stood, we stood as well and she gave me a very warm, genuine congratulations and left the table. I sat back down when the CG did and we continued to discuss all sorts of things. Gen Johansen had come over and asked if he could sit with us and after some joking between him and the CG he sat down. Our conversations were all over the place until General Johansen brought up a very specific question and that was about the Lieutenant that had been on my patrol that day.

"Jack, when did you learn that the Lieutenant was hiding?"

I felt really uncomfortable with that question given that I was in fact surrounded by officers, but did my best to keep it professional. "Sir, the radio man told me after I'd called in Air and ran out of SAW ammo. After we stopped taking fire, I tried to stand and go find him, but couldn't really do either one. Eventually after we got everyone medivac'd, I had several of the remaining guys come up to me and we talked. I'll be honest, I was pretty much out of it due to the pain meds. But I do recall what they told me. I felt the same way. We all have been trained that it's the next man up if leaders get incapacitated and I think that at least I had been really naive to think that any person would react that way given the responsibility of having people in his charge. That day almost broke my trust in leadership. I'll be completely honest, I was pissed that he chose to protect himself over the well being of our team. As I've gotten older, I've forgiven him I guess you can say. At least I no longer blame him for some of that."

General Johansen looked at me and then at the CG. "That Lieutenant was court marshalled, eventually. He had been sheltered somewhat by the same Regimental Commander that downgraded your award."

The CG looked at General Johansen and then at me. "Jack, first and foremost, I'm sorry that happened to you. Of course you embodied true leadership by taking charge of the patrol and getting everyone out of that ambush. I'd love to sit here and tell you that what you experienced was a one off event, but we all know that'd be a lie. It happens to everyone, both enlisted and officers."

"Sir, it's just the nature of what we do. I think everyone's hope is that when called, we all stand up and take the mantle of leadership without even thinking about it. Part of why it's painful to witness events like that, is that from the very first moments a young person steps on the yellow footprints, the single most clearly focused message is that we all report to someone, and we'll be told what to do. I think we all know that's out the window if those in charge get incapacitated, but we're never taught how to handle someone that can't face the challenge."

"The issue I've seen over my time in the Marine Corps is that senior officers seem to be really hands off with some of the younger officers. I do realize that they could be getting addressed in a more private way, but when I see the same behavior occurring time and time again, yet they still get promoted, that's what kills me. To be completely honest, it's not just the Officers, it's happening with the Staff NCOs as well. I don't think the Marine Corps has a good way of helping steer those people back towards being trusted leaders. It feels like everyone's afraid of hurting someone's career, when in reality, if they had intervened sooner, it might have saved their career."

Both of the Generals sort of laughed when the CG said, "Jack, those are wise words, you should have been a Sergeant Major." Which caused me to laugh as well. "Jack, let's go over the bar. I owe you at least one drink. What are you having?"

"Ginger ale if it's available."

"Smart man. I generally get one as well, without the cherry, so that it looks like a mixed drink. I stopped drinking many years ago."

We got our drinks and the CG asked me to accompany him around the room and introduced me to several Generals and Colonels I'd heard of but never met. It was great to get to put a face to the name so to speak and it was genuinely great to have some discussions with them. All were Marines with one exception, a Navy Captain. He was introduced to me as the Director of the Naval Hospital.

One person I got to meet was someone I recognized from UCSD. She was a Lieutenant Colonel on the CG's staff. Lieutenant Colonel Moreno. I had assumed it had to have been her married name, since she clearly had Asian features.

The CG introduced us. "Jack, this is Soo Moreno." He was quick to emphasize that it was Soo with two O's. "Soo, this is Jack Smith."

She reached for my hand. "I think I recognize you from some classes at UCSD. Are you graduating during the summer?"

"Yes Ma'am, I do recall seeing you in some of the classes. My hope is to graduate during the summer ceremony, provided I can successfully defend my thesis."

She laughed. "I'm certain, you'll do just fine based on some of the discussions we've had during our classes. I'm hoping I'll be joining you if I can defend my thesis as well."

"Ma'am, you don't have anything to worry about. I recall your discussions, you are very well spoken and knowledgeable."

"Call me Soo please. I need to go, but wanted to congratulate you on both your promotion, but also on finally getting the award you deserved. You may not realize it, but you are quite well known because of that day, not just here, but across the Marine Corps. You are a true professional. I'll see you in class."

I wandered back over to the bar and got another ginger ale and was engaged by several people both congratulating me and asking some questions about that day, luckily most were pretty general in nature.

I heard a commotion near the entrance and saw the Base commander head over and grab ahold of yet another general. This one was a Major General as well and was introduced to me as the Training and Education Command's Commanding General. He smiled and shook my hand and said that he'd seen my name on an inbound roster for the Recruiting School.

"Yes Sir, I'm looking forward to seeing how the school has changed."

"While I'm sure you'll get that opportunity, I'm also hopeful that you can make over to the Museum and sign up to share some of your experiences with the recruits. They need to see and hear from Marine's exactly like you."

"I hadn't thought about that aspect, but I'm certainly open to helping out anyway I can."

"You're a good man, Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith. If you'll excuse me, I need a drink, it's been a long day."

I laughed as he walked off. The funny thing I noticed when I scanned the room was that almost every General officer was over six feet tall and caucasian. That was true for the Colonels as well. The Lieutenant Colonels as well with Soo being the exception. I stood out like a sore thumb with my permi-tan as my daughter called it. At least my time was closing down. If all worked out, I'd have twenty six or twenty seven years in.

I hated social events and this one was no different. I took a deep breath and started to make my way around the room so that I could make a graceful exit. I found General Johansen and made it a point to thank him for all that he'd done for me over the years. He clearly had a few drinks and gave me a big embrace and slapped my back. "God dammit Jack, please! You've done more than most people in this room, I'm content to know that you've finally gotten what you rightfully deserved all those years ago. You're a good man. Please give my best wishes to your son and daughter. They're lucky to have you as their dad. Take care my friend."

He took me over to the CG and his wife and let them know I was headed out. They both stood and both gave me a warm greeting and congratulated me again. I walked around the room and was saying my goodbyes when I was introduced to a Colonel that had arrived a bit late. The first thing I noticed was that his skin tone was closer to mine than that of the other officers. As we were used to doing, I quickly scanned his ribbons in my peripheral vision. This guy was stacked. He obviously had several more ribbons than I did, but we shared two crucial ones. The Silver Star and Purple heart. He smiled at me and when he shook my hand he handed me a 5th Marine Regiment coin.

"Master Gunnery Sergeant, it looks like we've walked quite a few of the same miles. It's a pleasure to finally meet you! Seems your early days in Third Battalion, Fifth Marines were influential ones."

I smiled, "It does seem that way Sir, at least we're still walking. I'd never trade a minute of my time with Dark Horse for anything."

"No shit. I've seen you in the gym, hell you're lucky to be walking at all."

I laughed, "Sir, it didn't start off that easy, but we both know plenty of people that would kill to be able to stand and have this conversation with us."

"True. Congratulations on your promotion and of course getting the award you deserved. You're a good Marine."

I had made my way towards the door and just stepped out when I heard someone call my name. I had turned around when I saw Lieutenant Colonel Moreno. I saluted her and she returned it before saying, "Jack, I'll see you in class this week. I'm looking forward to being part of those discussions."

"Yes Ma'am. I'm looking forward to those discussions as well."

UCSD

We were both in the Communication Doctoral program. Both Soo and I had some overlap in classes due to our thesis'. I wasn't sure what to think about it, but I was looking forward to seeing Soo in the classes.

As usual, it was quite hot and humid during the summer, especially on campus, so I decided to wear some nice golf shorts and a polo. That was about as casual as I could bring myself to be in that environment, or any other short of being on the beach or in the gym.

I was walking from the parking garage to the first class of the night and heard a familiar voice, "Mind if I tag along?"

"Please, how are you doing this evening Ma'am?"

"Jack, I appreciate your professionalism, but please call me Soo."

I smiled, "How are you doing this evening Soo?"

"I'm doing good. I'm happy you're wearing shorts as well. I didn't want to be the only one sweating while sitting around."

"Same, at least one of our classrooms has some AC issues, and I hate the feeling of the sweat rolling down my back or my leg when I'm not moving. It drives me crazy and breaks my ability to concentrate."

"Great minds Jack, great minds! Literally the only thing more miserable is to be cold, wet and not moving."

I laughed. "One million percent. That is one condition that literally makes me angry, at least in the context of the Marine Corps. Just standing around in the rain, waiting as it feels like hypothermia slowly sinks into you." I started to rub my arms. "Just thinking about it triggers me."

She started laughing. "Sorry about that, but as you were describing it, I was getting triggered as well."

"So tell me Jack, you don't exactly look like a Jack Smith..."

It almost seemed like she had felt uncomfortable when she asked. "My father was adopted by the Smith family in Iowa. To my knowledge he's never done a DNA test to see what his ancestry might have been, but he's told me that he thought there may be some Hispanic heritage. That explains my perma-tan as my daughter calls it. "

She laughed a little. "I'm sorry Jack, my question probably seemed a bit too personal. Thank you for answering though. I can identify with that. I'm adopted as well. My dad was stationed in South Korea while he was in the Army and he and my mom couldn't have kids, so I was fortunate they chose me. I cannot imagine what my life might have been if I weren't adopted. They chose Soo-ah as my name. It sort of loosely means water. When they met me the first time I was stomping through some puddles and had gotten my dress all wet. So they chose to name me Soo-ah Moreno. Mom called me a water nymph because I love being in or near water."

"I love the water as well, have you been to Tide Beach Park? I live near it and it's where I go to get away from things. Granted there's plenty of people there, but it still manages to have a somewhat private feel with the cliffs behind the beach."

"I have! I agree, it does have a sort of cozy feel. It must be great living near the beach, I can't imagine what that must cost."

"I know what my neighbors house just sold for and I almost passed out. When we bought that house it was about a fifth of what it would sell for now. I almost sold it when my ex wife and I divorced. But I loved taking the kids to the beach and even getting over there alone sometimes was very therapeutic for me, so I kept it. It's turned into an unexpected investment."

"The CG tasked me with reviewing your MOL profile and getting some info to brief him and his wife prior to your visit at the Ranch House. I know that sounds a bit like an invasion of your privacy..."

I was laughing. "The Marine Corps has beaten that expectation out of me over the years. I was surprised when the CG's wife asked about being a single father, but had assumed what you just told me, that someone had done their homework. It made perfect sense to me."

"I can only imagine how hard it was to raise your kids and maintain the presence that Marine Corps requires along with all that comes with that."

"It's had its challenges over the years, I'm pretty sure my family was the key in keeping me level headed. My mom or dad would come and watch the kids when I was deployed. Mom kept telling me that the only reason they came was that we lived near the ocean. I'm pretty she was kidding, mostly..."

"Jack, this will be a bit personal, but are the kids Mom in their lives?"

"Not any more. She was the first couple of years after our divorce, but her presence sort of faded. Late birthday cards to not getting birthday cards. That was the single hardest part of the entire thing. I think the kids sort of felt like they were the reason she left and it's hard to explain that stuff when they're really young, so I promised to explain to them when they got older. I don't think it was any easier for them when I told them the truth, but it did make us a tighter team."

"I know it sounds like I'm prying, but why did she leave you guys?"

"The reason she gave was her career. She had gotten her Master's of Science in Nursing and joined the Navy Nurses Corps. That answer wasn't the easiest to swallow, but that in context with some things I observed helped to make it more palatable."

I had sensed that Soo might have wanted more info and wasn't sure how she'd take it, but felt the need to be honest. "She acted differently at professional events. She was an Officer, but I was an enlisted Marine and I could feel her change in those types of situations. So technically it was her career, but I felt that there was more to that decision. Either way, my only concern was for the kids and that's been my focus since."

"Damn, that's cold. I do see both sides, but there's no shortage of Officer/Enlisted marriages, after all love doesn't know what rank means. Plus leadership does a good job at keeping them separated professionally and that's even easier when it's across services. I'm sorry you had to experience that."

"I appreciate that, thank you. I guess we're an amalgamation of our experiences and those shape us as people, so all things considered, I feel like I'm most likely a better person and dad than I would have been had that not happened."

"That's such a great perspective. I'm sure you are as well. I heard you'll be headed to MCRD to the Recruiting School. Do you know when?"

"I'm not sure honestly. With my promotion, we're stacked pretty deep in Master Gunnery Sergeants at the Battalion, so hopefully, it'll be soon before I'm assigned to a random billet. I think the drive is close to the same distance, but the traffic may be a bit rougher headed into the Old Town area."

"It depends. I used to work on MCRD as a Personnel Officer and it wasn't too bad generally. It's always best to avoid the main gate and use what we used to refer to as the permanent personnel gate, especially during graduations. The main gate is a mess."

"That makes perfect sense. I'll keep that in mind, thanks. How many classes do you have tonight?"

"Three. The one we're going to and then a statistical analysis class and one in Advanced Writing Strategies."

"Ouch, only two for me tonight. You do have my curiosity piqued with the writing class. I'd love to hear more about it when you have some spare time."

"How about next week? I've only got two classes on Thursday, so we can grab a bite to eat or a drink and talk about it."

"That sounds great! Just a note, I don't drink, so I can be the DD if needed."

She started laughing, "The CG told me that you had shared some conversation over a ginger ale. I don't drink either. How about we grab a shake then?"

"That would be perfect. Ready for class tonight?"

"Yep, all good. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

We both laughed and walked into the classroom. The first thing that hit me was they had fixed the AC, it felt like it was about 60 degrees there. "Bad day to decide on shorts."

She laughed. "Yeah, I should have worn a sweater." I didn't really think much about it but as I let her go in front of me, I noticed her nipples were showing through her shirt.

I quickly pushed that thought out of my head and followed her and sat near her. She smiled at me and patted the desk next to her, so I got up and moved over.

"Jack, keep me in check if I wander off topic. I promise to help you if you need it. Deal?"

"Not that you need my help, but yes, deal! I'm sure I'll need your help more."

The class went quickly given its subject material and was very engaging. After class we walked out and said our goodbyes and headed off to our next class.

The next week went quickly. I was invited down to the Recruiting School by the Commanding Officer and he had gone over what my role would be. I would be spending some time on the block as an instructor, but would also have an advisory role as well. He did tell me that the TECOM CG had called and spoke to him and told him that I would be volunteering to speak to the Recruits at the Museum. I laughed pretty hard at that and explained that when I had met him, he specifically asked me to do that.

While that was exciting, I found myself even more wound up to meet Soo for a shake. We met in our classroom and she handed me a note. It had her cell number and personal email on it, so I returned the favor. "Jack, I'll text you after class and we can head over for a shake. I know of a great place and they have great burgers as well."

"Sounds good. I'm certainly looking forward to a shake and a burger sounds pretty good too."

"I'm buying so there is no need for modesty."

"Fair enough, I'll try not to bankrupt you then."

I was sitting in my truck when I got the text from Soo. "Meet me at Midway Classic Malt Shop" and followed that with a pin. I almost raced over there. It wasn't exactly near the campus so it took a bit to get there, but as soon as I pulled in I sent her a text saying I was there. I saw her near the front door and walked over as it was starting to lightly rain.

She smiled at me. "I should have a tab here. I used to come here almost every day when I worked at MCRD."

"Unless you only got one french fry, I don't see how you have come here that often and kept in shape. I'd easily blow a weigh-in if I did that."

"You say that, but I came close a few times. I had to wean myself off of this place. Now I only come here on special occasions."

"You know I have a few buddies that call me special, but I think their connotations wouldn't align with a special occasion though."

She looked at me with a sort of confused expression.

"Here's an example, 'Oh you're fucking special alright Smitty, very fucking special'."

Soo was laughing so hard she was barely able to stand. I started laughing as well. It had been a very long time since I'd laughed like that.

"Thanks Jack, I've not laughed that hard in years. I think you're special, but maybe not the same way your buddies do."

I held the door for her and we went in. As we sat there having our shakes and burgers we were talking about all sorts of things. It felt like a date, but I didn't want to mention that to her. Luckily, she did.

"Jack this has been the best date I've been on for what seems like forever. Thanks for all the laughs."

"I agree, this has been the highlight of probably a decade or more for me. Thank you."

As we got outside, I saw a puddle and jumped in it and turned and extended my hand. She started laughing, reached for my hand and jumped in the puddle with me, splashing me pretty good in the process. "Now that we're all wet, or at least I am, I would like to offer you a walk on the beach if you're up for it."

"Which beach?"

"If I may be so bold, I was thinking about Tide Beach if that's okay. We can park at my place and walk over."

"Sounds good. I'll follow you."

"Perfect, but in case we get separated in traffic, I'll send my address."

As I pulled up in my driveway, I saw Soo pull up in her SUV.

My daughter came out to greet me and saw Soo pull up. She smiled and winked at me. "Hey dad, how was class tonight?"

"Pretty good. Cassie, this is Soo, with two O's."

Soo laughed. "Hi Cassie, how are you?"

"I'm doing well. Please come in."

"Actually, Jack and I are going to walk on the beach for a bit, but I'd love to stop by a bit later and say hi, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, no problem. Have fun you two."

I smiled, "thanks Cass, see you in a bit."

We turned and started walking towards the beach and continued our conversations. When we got to the beach it was just a slow drizzle, but enough that we had most of the beach to ourselves and found a large rock to sit on.

"Soo, thank you so much for a wonderful day. It's hard to explain how comfortable I am around you, my gut tells me I should be nervous, but I'm not. I know that our rank may cause some issues, but I'd like to go out again sometime. I promise to not make things weird or unprofessional. Plus I owe you for our dinner."

"Jack, I feel like I should be the one thanking you. I've had more fun tonight than I've had in years. Just hanging out and talking. Thanks for making me feel comfortable around you, and yes, I'd really like to go out again. I know you're sort of talking around the Officer - Enlisted thing, but I think we'll be fine. We're not in the same command, plus, you'll be at MCRD pretty soon, so that will make things even easier. I know you're worried about how I might be perceived if I were seen with you, but honestly I'm more concerned about how you'd be perceived being seen with me."

I looked at her and tilted my head to the side. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Jack, I don't want people to think that you would feel, I don't even know how to say this, but subservient maybe to an officer, much less a female officer."

I sort of nodded, but was still confused. "I'm pretty sure, given the dynamics of what we do for a living, that it would be obvious that I was somewhat subservient to an officer regardless of gender. But I'm still a bit confused. I'd like to share something with you and it may seem crass, but when I call someone Sir or Ma'am, it's just a greeting or an acknowledgement of what you had mentioned. It infers that dynamic. However those words don't have meaning until I know the person. "

"Not crass at all. I think we all do that and for me at least, it's a coping mechanism. I've worked for some officers that... well, I'll go into too much detail, but they expected submission from a female subordinate."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I think that unfortunately happens to most women in the Marine Corps regardless of rank."

As we talked about our careers it had changed from a soothing drizzle to a slow steady rain. We both soaked and it was beginning to get cold.

"You know Soo, being cold and wet doesn't seem so bad when I'm with you."

She laughed and put her arms around me. "I agree Jack, based on the weather, I'm sure I should be miserable, but I feel just the opposite."

I got a text that sort of broke us out of our moment. "You might want to get that Jack..."

"It's Cassie. She said she noticed it was raining and put some water in the kettle for some tea or coffee for us."

"That's sweet of her. As much as I'd love to stay here with you, I'd love to get back and meet Cassie and your son if that's okay?"

"Absolutely, plus it'll give you a chance to warm up. Nate is in class and will be back later."

We had started our walk back to my house and I noticed that Soo was shivering, so I put my arm around her. "I'm not sure how much it'll help, but hopefully it'll help a little."

She stopped and smiled up at me. "It's helping, more than a little." She reached up and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

I sort of joked with her... "Who's warming who up now?"

She started laughing again as we started back towards the house. We had our arms around each other as we got up to the house. My daughter greeted us with two beach towels that were still warm from the dryer.

"I thought you guys might need these. Dry off what you can. Soo, if you want, I have some sweats you can change into."

"Thank you so much Cassie, I'd love that."

"Sure, come with me. Dad, once you've changed, I have the kettle ready for some tea or coffee for you guys."

"Thanks Cass, love you girlie."

"Love you dad."

I went into my room and once I had dried off, stripped down and changed into some sweats and headed back to the kitchen and started the kettle again.

I heard Cassie and Soo laughing as they came down the hallway. It was refreshing to see that it seemed like they were getting along.

Cassie looked at Soo and asked her to take everything out of her pockets so she could put her clothes in the dryer. After some polite discussion, Soo relented and handed Cassie her clothes.

After sharing the choices, Soo wanted to try some Pomegranate Green tea that we had. So I got her a mug and brought the kettle over. "Cassie, what do you want?"

"Nothing for me, I'm studying in my room. You guys enjoy yourselves."

Soo looked at me and smiled. I shrugged my shoulders and made myself some tea as well. Cassie came out of the laundry room with a beach blanket.

"I put this in the dryer, you guys already used the towels, so you'll have to share" as she motioned for us to move our chairs closer to each other. Once we got close enough, she draped the warm beach blanket over us and sort of gave us both a hug and went to her room.

I looked at Soo and smiled. "She's not normally like this by the way, I'm not sure what's gotten into her."

Soo leaned in closely. "She's a good girl and she loves her dad. She pretty much told me that when we were talking earlier."

I'm pretty sure I was turning as red as I could manage. "Not sure what you ladies talked about, but I'll take that as a win."

We sat there huddled together drinking our tea.

"Soo, would you like to watch some tv. Sitting on the barstools is getting a bit uncomfortable for me."

"Sure, I'm just about done with my tea."

We got up and moved to the couch and turned the tv on. We couldn't really decide on anything in particular so it ended up on a home cooking channel. We were both still covered by the beach blanket and at least I had fallen asleep because we both jumped when the buzzer on the dryer went off.

My daughter was in the kitchen and told us to stay there, she'd get Soo's clothes from the dryer. "You guys were knocked out. I would joke and ask which one was snoring, but I knew it was dad."

We both laughed. I was rubbing my eyes looking at the time on the cable box, it was near midnight and I was starting to piece some things together. The first of which is that at least I had been out for several hours on the couch. The second, Cass had to have turned the dryer off earlier otherwise the buzzer would have woken me. Lastly, Nate had to have come home, but I didn't hear him, which is odd, because I was always awake at the slightest noise.

I stood up and stretched when I heard Soo mention the time with somewhat of a surprise in her voice. I leaned over and quietly whispered, "I think we've been set up. There's no way we could have slept through that buzzer earlier and certainly not with Nate coming home. Also, I didn't put them up to this."

She smiled at me. "Yep, set up, but for all the right reasons."

Nate had come out of his room and I introduced him to Soo when he spilled the beans. "Cass texted me and told me to use the back door since you guys were sleeping on the couch. I snuck in and saw you guys, and you looked knocked out."

Soo was clearly blushing. "Nice to meet you Nate. Yeah, we'd been pretty cold from earlier and I think the beach blanket being warm knocked me out."

Nate smiled at us and then showed us a pic he took of us. "Yeah, you guys were out cold, but cute nonetheless. Don't worry, I can delete the pic." I was concerned that the pic may have been awkward, but it actually looked pretty cute. Soo and I were laying there with our heads resting on one another and it looked like we both had a small smile.

Soo had blushed again. "No need to delete the picture, in fact I'd like a copy please, if that's okay?"

We all hung out in the kitchen chatted for a bit, before Soo excused herself. "Cassie, if it's okay, I'll wash the sweats and return them the next time I'm in the area."

"That works for me. If dad doesn't invite you over, I will." She winked at both of us and laughed.

I walked Soo out to her car. "Thank you for a great day. I know that for at least a couple of hours I was unconscious, so thank you for being understanding with me. It's hard to describe how awesome it felt having you next to me."

"Jack, I feel the same way. I love how your kids left us alone and let us rest, even if they did take a pic of us."

"I'm sorry about that, they're both acting pretty out of character. However in the interest of complete transparency, I've never brought anyone home before, so that might be part of it as well."

"Cassie told me that it was refreshing to have another woman in the house. She really cares for you and was happy to see you with someone. I think she worries about you."

"I worry about those two continuously. I know how hard it's been for them not having their mom and I did my best to help them with any questions they had. We're a pretty tight family because of that. Of course it was a bit more challenging with Cass. She was scared to death when she first got her period, luckily my sisters were able to help out with some of those questions."

"You did a great job Jack. Both of them seem like great people."

I pulled her in for a warm embrace. "I'd really love it if you could spend more time with us."

"I'd love that as well. As long as you guys are willing to have me over."

I started laughing. "Cass already said my decision wasn't needed in that, so I'm pretty sure they'll love having you over. I still owe you dinner, but I'd love to go to a nice restaurant before we invite you over for dinner. I know that sounds a bit odd, but rest assured, I'm just being a bit selfish and wanted to spend a bit more time alone with you."

She pulled me down and gave me a kiss. "I need to get going, I'll give you a call later. Thanks for a perfect evening Jack. I've loved our day."

"Me too. Be safe, I'll talk to you later." I leaned in and gave her a kiss and this one lingered and had a bit more passion in it.

I noticed that Soo had looked up towards the house and by the time I looked I just saw the blinds moving. "They were watching us..."

It was dark, but I could swear I saw Soo blush as she turned to get in her car.

As soon as I got back in the house, Cass and Nate were sitting at the counter and didn't wait. Cass started, "Dad... tell us about Soo."

I laughed. "Well, I met her on the day I got invited to have a drink with General Johansen. She's on the Base CG's staff. But I recognized her from some of my classes and never realized she was a Marine. She's in the same Doctoral program I am."

Nate was somewhat more somber with his tone. "Is she an officer dad?"

I felt like someone kicked me. I knew this was related to their mom.

"She is a Lieutenant Colonel, yes."

"Dad, Desiree was an officer..."

"I know Nate. Soo and I have discussed that. She wasn't happy that things happened that way either."

"Are you guys in a relationship?"

I sort of laughed. "We've not had that discussion yet. I'd like to think things are headed that way. Today was sort of unexpected, but it felt natural, even given some of the overt encouragement that we got."

Cass started laughing, "What, me, what are you suggesting?"

"Well first, I'm pretty sure you turned the dryer off when you noticed we were knocked out. You also let Nate know, so he could use the back door..."

"Okay, so you're pretty accurate with that dad, but still. You've not really brought anyone home before, so I was sort of excited to see where things would go."

"Dad, you've literally put us front and center since Desiree left. It was nice to see you with a lady, especially one as nice as Soo."

"First and foremost, I didn't want to put you guys in a position where you thought I was trying to get you a new mom. That will never be my intention, you guys will always be my first priority." We stood in a family hug for a few minutes. "Love you both, more than you realize."

Nate spoke first. "Dad, I don't think I've ever seen you so happy as I did when I took that picture of you guys."

Cass started laughing, "That's because you can't see where their hands are..."

That made me and Nate start laughing.

"So this is what it's like living with two adult kids in the house huh?"

"You know it!"

Nate broke the hug, "too much family time... Dad, can you invite Soo over for dinner with us some time? I'd really like to spend more time with her and get to know her."

"I did promise her that I'd invite her over once I talked it over with you guys, so yes, I am planning on it. But first I'd really like to take her to dinner somewhere nice and talk more. Now, it's time for bed. I got Battalion PT in the morning, so I need at least a few hours of sleep. Goodnight, I love you guys."

Friday flew by. PT was easy by most standards since it was more of a unit cohesion sort of event. I knew we'd probably be getting released early and that turned out to be true, except for me getting called to the Battalion Commander's office which seemed out of the ordinary, especially since they said PT attire was acceptable.

I got over there and the Sergeant Major was still in his PT gear, so I didn't feel out of place.

"Jack, you have a visitor..." I was trying to read his face and see where this was headed as he took me over to the CO's office.

"Sir, Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith is here."

"Send him in please..."

I went in and reported to the CO. "At ease Jack. You have a visitor."

I relaxed and looked around and noticed it was the Colonel from 5th Marines.

"Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith, it's great to see you again. We didn't really have the chance to introduce ourselves formally, I'm Mario Bianchi, the 5th Marines Regimental Commander."

"I know Sir. After we met, I checked the Regiments Website and read your bio there. We truly have walked some of the same miles."

He laughed. "Smart man. Soo was telling me that you're in her Doctoral program. You're a better man that I am. I almost lost my mind at the Presidio when I went there and that was just for a Master's Program."

"The reason I came over was to ask your CO to borrow you for a couple of Professional Military Education classes I'm planning for the Regiment. If things go well, we might get to have them for the Division, if the Division CG likes them. I'd like your help in discussing leadership challenges when leaders can't respond. I had some pretty good conversations with the Base CG and he specifically said that I should reach out to you."

"If it's okay with my CO, I'd be more than happy to help out any way I can."

My CO was quick to reply. "Jack, if you're good with it, we can send you to the Regiment, TAD. You know full well, we're tripping over Master Gunnery Sergeants at the moment. Plus you've got orders inbound to be staff at the Recruiting School, so until then, you can work with Mario."

We all laughed at that.

"Thank you Sir. I'm looking forward to it."

"Mario, we'll get Jack's orders ready to report the Monday following next week if that's okay?"

"Thank you both for helping me. Jack, just so you know. One of our focuses will be related to what you and the CG discussed. It's a delicate subject that needs to be addressed and I'm certain we can bring that to ground and get our message across."

"I understand Sir, I agree, it'll be a challenge, but I feel it is easily achieved."

He had a big smile. "Get some!"

I laughed. "Get some!"

"Jack, thanks again for volunteering to help out. I have to discuss some more things with Paul, so if you don't mind..."

As the Sergeant Major and I got back to his office. "Damn Jack, your reputation clearly precedes you. That's a pretty damn high honor to have Colonel Bianchi ask for you by name to help with leadership PME. That guy is the walking embodiment of leadership. If I may ask, what did you talk to the CG about?"

"In short, cowardice. I was asked by General Johansen what happened to our Lieutenant during the ambush and I shared that while I didn't know it at the time, I later found out that he was hiding behind a short earthen wall. I had thought the IED had taken him out. That led to some discussions with the CG as well."

"Damn, I can see why he said it might be a delicate subject."

"Yeah, we can't just tell young Marines to ignore those they think might not be up to the moment..."

We both started laughing. "Yeah, that would be a shit show bordering on a mutiny. Congrats again Jack. Have a great weekend. Stop by here Monday to see if we have your TAD orders ready. I'm sure you'll have a chance to do a turnover before you leave."

"Have a great weekend Sergeant Major."

"Damn it Jack, I told you that you can call me Doug."

I know, Sergeant Major" as I smiled and headed out.

I sent a text to Soo asking what she had planned for the weekend.

She was quick to reply. "No real plans, but I do need to return Cassie's sweats sometime... Got a few for a call?"

I had sent a thumbs up and almost immediately my phone rang.

"Hey Jack, how's your Friday going?"

I replied and shared my meeting with Col Bianchi earlier.

"Yep, the CG told me to reach out to him and broach that subject and relay your discussions to Mario and suggest that he invite you to participate."

"Personal question. Did you talk to Cassie and Nate about me coming over?"

"We did last night after you left. Nate was concerned that you were an officer, and based on what they knew about their mom, so that was a bit tender. I did share what you and I talked about and I did my best to relay your thoughts. He does want you to come over so that you can meet them and spend some time getting to know you."

"I'd love that Jack, I just don't want them to feel that I'm trying to come in and try to be someone they might not want."

"They know I'd never try to bring a person into their lives with the expectation of them being forced to accept that. Of course Cassie admitted that she sort of arranged some of our time together. She's a Psych Major, so I can't help but feel that there was a bit of manipulation in how she acted. I'm certain she'd never admit to anything other than setting the stage for our evening."

She sort of laughed. "I certainly felt that she was sort of setting things up. I feel better knowing that they are good with me being there. I enjoy spending time with you guys."

"I know you can't see the smile on my face right now, but my face is hurting from what you just said. I really enjoy spending time with you and of course I care about what my kids think and I appreciate that you consider that more than you know. I'd love to spend some time with you this weekend if you're up for it?"

"I'd love that as well. I have a few obligations early Saturday for the CG, but I'm free after that."

"Tell you what. I'll do some calling and see what I can find, and I'll let you know what I get arranged."

"Not going to tell me what you have planned?"

"Not yet... I'll get you up to speed once I see what I can get locked on."

"I see where Cassie gets it from..."

"Hey now... I didn't ask her to heat up on one small blanket for us... but I'm happy she did."

"Me too. I need to go, but I'd really love to see you this weekend and hopefully spend some time with Cassie and Nate as well."

"I'll let you know what I manage to get planned... I'm really, really looking forward to seeing you. Talk to you later."

Of course there were no openings for Saturday night anywhere near La Jolla which was unfortunate, I really was hoping for a nice view. I was still able to get a reservation at Juniper and Ivy, luckily.

I sent Soo a quick text, "8pm, Juniper and Ivy, it's semi-formal maybe. I'll wear a sports coat, of course I'm open to suggestions about attire since this is new to me."

She replied pretty quickly, "I'll meet you at your house around 7, I'll wear a nice dress."

I almost jumped out of my shoes when I heard my daughter ask if I had a hot date with Soo.

"Yes, we're going to a nice restaurant Saturday night. She did want to spend some time with you guys this weekend too. If I don't scare her away tomorrow night."

"Don't screw this up dad... not just for us, but also for you. I can tell you're developing some feelings for her, right?"

I sort of nervously laughed. "Yeah, I am and to be honest, while it has a fun, sort of exciting feeling, it's also making me nervous."

"Dad, that's called being in love." She had this incredibly huge grin. "I called it. I told Nate last night that I thought you're falling in love." She grabbed me and gave me a huge hug. "Love you dad, you deserve this."

I could have melted when she said that. "Thanks Cass. Soo's concerned that she'll be perceived as being introduced as your new mom and I think she's worried about that. I'm certain she'd happily accept any relationship with you guys, I just think she wants it to be more natural than any sort of implied role."

"She's a smart lady dad, but still she somehow chose you." She stuck her tongue out and ran over behind the kitchen island.

"I'll get you for that... but she did say that she felt you had set up some aspects of our evening."

"I just nudged some things along. No harm in that. Nate and I probably won't be home Saturday night, if you wanted to bring Soo over... so there wouldn't be any worries about awkward noises."

I stood there shaking my head.

Friday night was pretty slow for me. I am certain that I was making myself nervous about my date with Soo. Saturday morning, I went over to the beach and went for a run. Nothing too strenuous, just something to burn some of my nervous energy.

It was only a temporary fix. As the afternoon wore on, I found myself pacing around the house looking at various combinations of shirts and sport coats. I kept replaying what my daughter had said. It had been so long since I'd felt these sorts of emotions. I guess I could be falling in love with Soo, but it seemed really quick. That line of thinking only made me more nervous.

I was getting trapped in my head with all the questions and scenarios that I had been playing on a loop in my mind. I heard a car pull up and I jumped to see who it was. It was my son.

As he came in the front door, he just had an odd smile. "Cass let me know you're headed out with Soo tonight and that you've been acting like a school boy on his first date."

"Damn, you guys are ruthless."

"Maybe, but I'm also sure I never looked this bad when I started dating!"

"Too funny, maybe you were dating the wrong girls..."

He laughed out loud, "Fair, that could have been the case, but still, I'm pretty sure I still looked better than you do right now."

"I'm nervous as hell right now..."

"Cass nailed it, you're in love. Do you think she's the one dad?"

I just sort of slumped in my chair. "I want her to be the one, but I'm sort of out of practice at this stuff and don't want to push too hard and possibly drive her away."

He walked over to me and put his arm around me. "Dad, remember the advice you gave me. Don't add pressure to yourself or your date with your hopes of what might happen. Let it go where it will. Never do anything more than give it a gentle nudge. You guys looked really happy together on the couch the other night. You'll be good. You got this."

"Thanks buddy, I appreciate that."

I went to my room to take a shower and get ready for my evening and the obvious thing I saw was that my kids had laid out my clothes for the evening and even got some flowers for me to give to Soo. It brought a tear to my eyes seeing that. As much as I had been there for them while they were growing up, they were here for me now.

I got cleaned up and then dressed when I went out to the living room. Nate and Cass looked at me and smiled. "Which one of you guys got the flowers..."

Nate looked at Cass and she started to speak... "I may have sort of befriended her on Instagram and checked her social media for hints... Maybe."

We all started laughing. "Fair enough young lady. I'm certain she'll appreciate the effort almost as much as I do. Have I told you two that I love you?"

Cassie had a great big grin, "You did, but we need that sort of reinforcement... just saying." The doorbell startled us and Nate ran over to open it. From where I was standing I couldn't see who was at the door, but heard their exchange.

"You look great tonight Soo, please come in."

"Thank you Nate, I appreciate the compliment."

As she stepped in the doorway, I was stunned. She was wearing a long floral print dress and had on a very modest necklace. The dress had a split to about mid-thigh, very sexy, but still tasteful. I walked over to her and leaned down for a hug.

"You look stunning tonight!"

"You're quite handsome as well!"

Cass was on top of her match making game. She came over and put her arm around me and handed me the flowers. I felt like I was blushing when I gave them to Soo.

She looked at me with a big grin. "I love Lili's. Thank you so much, they're beautiful!"

Cass quickly followed with, "Not nearly as beautiful as you are! You guys look great together, right Nate?!"

He nodded with a big smile.

Cass looked at me and I swear it looked like she had a tear in her eyes. "Picture time guys... at least you'll be awake for this one." Which made us all laugh.

Soo was all smiles and was looking at the pictures with Cass. "You have to send me these, plus I'd love to take some together with you and Nate if you want."

"Dad, here..." as she quickly tossed her phone to me and she and Nate were immediately on either side of Soo.

I was looking at the image on the phone and felt a tightness in my chest. The two loves of my life were standing next to someone that I felt they were accepting into our family.

I took a few pictures and Cass noticed the tears in my eyes and she started crying and then Nate and then Soo. We were going to be a mess. I cleared my throat. "Soo and I need to take off, plus, with our collective allergies, we'll all look like raccoons pretty soon."

Everyone got a chuckle out of that as we headed outside. I opened the door to my truck and helped Soo in. "You look stunning tonight. Well, maybe more than usual tonight."

She smiled and leaned over and kissed me. "Thank you Jack. I think our day is off to a perfect start. I really love how accepting Nate and Cass have been."

I gave her a quick kiss and closed her door and got in. "More accepting than you realize. Those two have kept me somewhat normal today. I swear I was about to have a nervous breakdown earlier." I reached over and squeezed her hand. "Soo, I've not felt like this in years. They called it earlier when they said I looked like a high school boy on his first date. I literally feel that way."

She smiled and squeezed my hand. "I am scared to death right now. I'm not sure why we are feeling this way at our ages, but I'm pretty sure that I know what it is."

"I think I know too. My daughter told me that I was acting like I was falling in love. Plus Nate said that we both looked like we were in love on the couch, when he took that picture."

She pulled on my hand and when I leaned over she grabbed my head and kissed me passionately while crying. "Yep, that's the feeling. I know that we're still learning about each other and I want... I'm not sure what I want honestly. One thing for sure, I don't want to ruin what we have right now. I'm so afraid of doing something to make you guys not accept me."

I kissed her lightly. "I'm pretty sure right now the kids would choose you over me, so I think you're safe. Plus, I'm doing my best to maintain some level of composure... We still have dinner."

"What did you think when you took the pictures of us?"

I immediately had tears in my eyes and took a deep breath. "I saw the two loves of my life and it seemed like they were welcoming another member to our family. As badly as I want you to be part of my family, their acceptance is huge to me."

She kissed me again. "Their acceptance is huge to me too. I never want to cause issues with them. I don't want to be a replacement mom to them, but I would love to be in their lives in whatever way they accept me."

"I did share that with Cass, and she understood immediately and I think it made her feel better about you being with us." I took a deep breath. "Ready for dinner?"

She smiled as we drove away. Dinner was phenomenal. The food was incredible, the discussions and laughs were just as perfect.

"Jack, I'd like to go somewhere so we can walk around and talk some more."

"Private or public?"

"Both actually. How about University Towne Center, it has some shops, plus it has some quieter areas as well."

"Sounds good to me. As long as you're with me, I'm fine."

"That's something I'd like to talk about, you actually quite fine Jack."

I looked over at her and saw her blush. "Your new shade doesn't match your dress... we may have to change one or the other. Soo, I'm going to overstate the obvious with that being you are a truly gorgeous woman. I love every minute we spend together. I want to say something and I'm hoping it doesn't get broken in my explanation. When we fell asleep on the couch, that was easily the highlight of over a decade for me. Just having you next to me."

"There weren't any expectations and I can't really describe how having you next to me made me feel. I'm a bit old fashioned I suppose in that I'm not really wanting to rush towards sex. I think spending time with each other and doing things like holding hands are quite intimate. Of course, I love kissing you and that's another layer of intimacy."

"So, you've not thought about sex..."

"Hey now... I said I'm old fashioned, not a priest."

We both started laughing. "Soo, I'm a pig. I see you and my mind automatically thinks all bad thoughts..."

She put her fingers on my lips. "I think of them as well, Jack, and I don't think they're that bad necessarily. I know our relationship will continue to grow and evolve as we learn more about each other and explore one another. I really love the fact that you want to take things slow. It's refreshing to meet a guy and experience that. It's one of the reasons I haven't dated too much since my divorce."

"I didn't realize you'd been married. While I'm certain there had to have been some issues for that break to happen, I'm happy that it allowed us to meet."

"Divorces are never easy, even if they appear to be on the outside. Lots of pain gets pushed down so that we can put on a brave face and continue our lives. I am still in awe of your ability to raise Cass and Nate and remain sane."

I laughed. "Sane you say... Some people use drugs or alcohol as a form of escapism. I used the Marine Corps to escape from some of the stress of being a single dad and also used my time with Cass and Nate to escape from the Marine Corps. Lucky for me, I was able to keep those two separate most of the time."

Soo put her arms around me and pulled me down for a kiss. It was beyond words. When we finally broke our kiss we just stared at each other and slowly caught our breath. "You know, I could really get used to this... I love having you in my arms and the way you kiss... wow! I don't have words other than, more please."

She giggled. "That was pretty damn incredible on my side as well."

I put my hands on her hips and leaned in for another kiss. It was perfect. I kissed her jaw line and then her neck and felt her hands on my back, pulling me tightly against her. She kissed me again and the passion was having an effect on me. I could feel my erection pressing into her flat stomach.

We broke our kiss again, "Jack, I'm pretty sure I know where this is headed and as much as I want that, I want to take this slow as well. For now, how about we head over to UTC and grab a coffee and talk some more. We'll have a chance to take care of this later." She reached down and squeezed my cock while smiling at me.

I opened the truck door for her and held her hand as she climbed in. She pulled me close and wrapped her legs around me, kissing me. I whispered in her ear, "Ma'am, your actions are clouding my judgement... and yes, I am thinking all of the bad thoughts, not the least of which is worshiping every single inch of you." I squeezed her butt and gave her a little peck on the lips and closed her door.

I extended my hand which she held. "So Jack, any girlfriends I need to know about?"

"Just one." I noticed she was looking at me and smiling.

"Besides me?"

"Yep, just one."

"Oh really, do I know her?"

"You're holding hands with her right now. She's an old hand at helping me out, so to speak."

Soo looked at me and then at my hand and started laughing like crazy. She had tears in her eyes and was having trouble catching her breath. "I guess I wasn't expecting that answer, Jack. Just so you know, I can be quite jealous, so she'll have to stop her duties. I'm pretty sure we can work out some sort of replacement activities to take your mind off of her."

"Well, I'll have to extend the same offer, to replace any boyfriend or BOB you may have."

"Bob?"

"Battery operated boyfriend... buzzzzzzzz..."

She turned red and squeezed my hand. "Wasn't expecting that either. I'm sure we can work out some complementary help for one another."

We walked around the mall for several hours, holding hands and talking about our future both as individuals, but also as a couple.

Every time we found a quiet area, we'd stop and kiss. Soo started to look around and laughed. "I think we've closed them down."

I checked my watch, "Yeah, it's probably closing time here. If you're content to settle for me, I'd love to invite you back to the house. Maybe even spend the night and before you answer, I have no expectations beyond having you in my arms, well that and maybe a few more kisses. I just can't seem to get enough of your kisses."

"Settle for you?"

I started laughing, "it was a poor reference to a song called Closing Time, by Semisonic. Tell you what, I'll play it for you when we get to the truck. The chorus goes something like, 'I know who I want to take me home.'"

She smiled at me, "I'd love that Jack. Do you think Cass and Nate will be okay with me coming over?"

"Oh yeah, Cass even suggested that they could be out of the house in the event there were any embarrassing noises, as she phrased it."

Soo had a shocked look and began to laugh.

"I know I call them my kids, but both are old enough to buy alcohol, although just barely."

"Yeah, I guess they are sort of adults, huh?"

"You know you never answered my question. Out of courtesy, I'll ask one more time. Would you like to spend the night with me, without any expectations?"

"You mentioned something about kisses earlier, any expectations for those?"

"Nope, only hopes of getting to share them with you, but not required."

"We might be able to arrange a few of those... Jack, I'm really nervous. I don't want to make things weird for you and them."

"Soo, my offer is simply that, an offer. I'd never want to put you in a position where you weren't comfortable."

"Let's head back and see if they're home."

I gave her a light kiss and squeezed her hand. "Also we still need to listen to Closing Time."

As we drove back to my house, I played the song and Soo was quick to say that she'd heard it probably hundreds of times but never knew the name.

We pulled in the driveway and it certainly looked like the kids were gone. As we got in the house, I was checking to see if they were in their rooms when Soo started laughing. I walked back in there to see what was so funny.

"Cass and Nate left us a note. You need to read this."

"Dear Dad and Soo, Nate and I are at our friends, so you guys have the house to yourself. Have as much fun and make as much noise as you guys need to in order to celebrate. We'll be back in the morning. Let me know if you want us to pick you up anything for breakfast. Love Cass and Nate."

I started to laugh... "See, I told you! That girl is playing matchmaker!"

Soo reached up and gave me a passionate kiss. "Please walk me to my car. It's dark outside, and I'd like company."

My heart sank, but I offered my arm to her and we walked out to her car. We stopped and she turned to me and kissed me again and smiled. "Not that this was a test, I just needed to grab my overnight bag."

"You do know that you are an evil woman, right? That was very damn cruel. While the kisses may be optional, I'm pretty sure there's at least some fairly aggressive tickling in your future."

"You better not. One of us may get hurt, or pee'd on."

I was almost laughing uncontrollably. "Ma'am, are you offering me a choice?"

She hit me in the ribs with enough force to catch me off guard. I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up and started to tickle her. "Remember if you scream, the neighbors will come out and then you'll have to go home."

I can't be entirely sure what happened, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, I was on my back and she was looking down at me with a big grin. "I get the feeling that you didn't tell your entire origin story, right?"

She straddled me in the driveway. "Correct. I'm a third degree Black Belt in Hapkido. My dad made me study when I was little and I kept at it though college and even while I've been in the Marine Corps. It's a great way to keep in shape and keep big men from tickling me."

I had a huge grin. "Gocha. I'm quite durable, so I am prepared to take a beating to tickle you. While I do love this position, the neighbors may worry if they see us doing this in the driveway."

I think we both got startled when the light on the security camera turned on. Then we heard the unmistakable voice of Cassie. "Guys, you have the house to yourself, but if the driveway works, go for it."

Soo was immediately on her feet straightening out her dress and reached out to help me up. I started laughing, "I'm not sure I fully appreciate her comedic timing at this particular moment, or just want to spank her."

"I heard that! If you try, I'll ask Soo to kick your butt!"

"While it may seem obvious now, we have Ring cameras..."

"Now you tell me. Any in the house?"

I was laughing and barely able to stand. "Not unless you need something recorded."

She was still bright red and poked me in the ribs hard enough to make me move away from her.

"Hey now, we're barely boyfriend/girlfriend and you're already abusing me." She started to protest when I grabbed her again and squeezed her pretty hard, picking her up and started to tickle her. We had moved to the grass in the front yard. I'm sure my neighbors would have lost their minds knowing we were wrestling around at near midnight in semi formal clothes. I put her down and she looked at me and hiked her dress up a little and I was completely distracted when she reached out and put her foot on my shoulder before pulling it quickly away.

"No fair, you clearly lifted your dress to distract me. I want a do over! Cute panties though."

"You're lucky I wore panties!"

I started laughing. "Wait a minute, how am I lucky with that statement... I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy that view even more!"

"You wouldn't have known when I kicked you in the head and knocked you out. That's how."

She was smiling at me, but was still in a sort of combat stance. "Still... I'm pretty sure I'd be happy with that as my last image."

She started laughing. "Come on, we need to find my bag. I think I threw it, just before you grabbed me and then I threw you."

"Yeah you did... You have to teach me that... I may have a need to use it in the near future."

We collected her bag and headed up to the front door when I stopped her and pointed to the camera. She smiled and waved at it when I leaned over and gave her a kiss and whispered in her ear. "It's important that the kids always see us make up after a fight."

"I agree. Plus I don't want to be angry with you."

I opened the door and before she could walk in, I picked her up and carried her in. "Just getting some practice in..." She smiled and kissed me.

"Any other practice you need tonight..."

I didn't put her down until we were in the bedroom. I turned the light on and sat her down. I think we were both confused.

There were rose petals everywhere and with candles and a lighter on the dresser.

"You'll have to trust me on this one and believe that this is not how I keep my bedroom. Pretty sure Cass..." I started laughing and pointed to the dresser.

Soo was almost in shock. Cass had written on the mirror, "Have fun you two! Check the nightstand."

I looked over at the nightstand and there was a box of condoms. " I swear I did not put her up to this..."

"Uh huh, I'm sure. I don't think you'll need those tonight though." She gave me a very passionate kiss. "I'm pretty sweaty from the walk and of course kicking your butt earlier. Can I take a shower?"

"Of course, make yourself at home."

"Maybe I should have been a bit more clear, can I take a shower with you?"

I started to take my shirt off. "I was clear, please make yourself at home."

She smiled and came over and kissed me again and started to unbutton my shirt. I tossed it over near the bed as she turned around and asked me to unzip her dress. I put my arms around her and kissed her neck. "Soo, I'm honest, I have no expectations, but I'm really enjoying the moment. If I ever do something that you don't like, please let me know and I'll stop immediately, okay?"

"Uh huh, same." I ran my hands up the front of her dress over her breasts and then down her back and grabbed her very firm ass and then unzipped her dress as I kissed her neck.

"Damn woman. You are sexy as hell." She turned her head and kissed me and then turned around to face me, stepping out of her dress. I could see the outline of her abs. She probably had B cup breasts with dark areolas and large nipples, and they fit her frame perfectly. She was a very fit, sexy woman.

"Yet you are standing there with your strong chest... just looking at me in my panties. Seems almost unfair..."

She smiled at me. "Jack, you're overdressed for our shower, may I help you out of those pants?"

"Yes please."

She put her hands inside the waistband and pulled me close and kissed me again. I felt her hands move to unbuckle my belt, then opened the button of my pants and unzipped me and slid my pants off. I saw our reflection in the mirror and it was very erotic with my dark body next to her perfectly white body.

"You know Soo, while we could shower like this, I think it'd be better if we showered the old fashioned way."

She giggled and put her fingers in my underwear and just pulled them down. "Damn Jack, this is much better than it felt earlier."

I let out a small gasp as she wrapped her hand around my cock. "Ma'am, it seems you're overdressed. May I?"

She looked up at me and nodded. I kneeled down and kissed her sexy breasts and put my hands on her firm little ass and gently squeezed and pulled her cheeks apart before moving my hands to her hips and hooked my thumbs in her panties and pulled them down a little and then kissed where they had been. I pulled them down a bit more and kissed a bit lower.

"Jack..."

I continued my slow progress until they fell to the floor. I looked up at her and she put her hands on my head. She was cleanly shaven, or maybe waxed, but perfect nonetheless. I gently sucked on the sexy folds just above her clit. She pulled my head firmly on to her as I began to lick every where I could reach. She was beginning to thrust her hips against my face. I grabbed her ass cheeks and opened her legs as much as I could while kneeling in front of her and began to suck on her clit. It was nice sized and there was no missing it.

I felt her nails dig in my scalp as she screamed and started to convulse. I held her tightly as it felt like her legs buckled. She had started to regain her composure and grabbed me by the ears and pulled me up.

"Damn it Jack, I really needed that." As we kissed, she was stroking my cock.

I gently bit her lower lip. "I could tell... I hope you're ready, I plan on eating you alive tonight."

I felt a shiver roll though her body. I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom and turned the light on. Both of us were adjusting to how bright it was when we both started laughing again as there were rose petals in the bathroom as well.

As we got in the shower, Soo kept her eyes and her hands on my cock. "Jack, I really like this. I mean, really, really like this." She looked up at me with the cutest smile.

"He's delicate, so be gentle with him."

She started laughing. "Feels far too hard to be delicate, but I'll do my best to not get carried away. Can I be honest about something?" I nodded. "I wasn't expecting him to have a pink head given your body color, but I really like him so far."

"It's to make him easier to find in the dark..."

She started laughing and kissed me. "Hard to miss this thing..."

"You say that now. Wait till it's always poking you in the back or other places when you don't want it to."

"Just so you know Jack, it may be quite a while before I tire of having this poking me, regardless of where."

"Challenge accepted."

We finished our shower and out of habit I reached for my towel, only to find it was gone. Cassie had left us the same beach blanket she'd given us before. "Cass set us up again... looks like we'll have to share this."

Soo looked at the blanket and smiled. "Yeah, she's a smart girl for sure. You know we'll always remember these little things she's doing. Little anchors being set, one by one. I'm not sure she realized how much I've fallen for you guys."

I draped the blanket over us and we began to dry off. Soo reached for my hand and led me back to the bedroom and climbed on the bed. She had a perfect heart shaped butt.

She laid down and patted the bed next to her. I climbed in and gave her a kiss. She pushed me onto my back and threw a leg over me and straddled me. I could feel her heat and wetness on my cock.

She leaned down and kissed me. "I owe you one from earlier, and I'll repay you for that, but right now I really need this."

As she pushed back and I slid into her, I gasped into her mouth. I had my hands on her hips and held her down on my cock as we kissed more. She sat up and started rocking back and forth. I reached up and was kneading her nipples. She was getting louder and more aggressive as she had started bouncing pretty hard and I was timing my thrusts to meet her.

She stopped moving and began to shake. She was squeezing my chest with her hands enough that my focus changed to her hands.

She collapsed down on my chest and was whimpering. "Fuck Jack... I don't remember the last time I've cum that hard." She let out a little squeal and I felt her squeeze my cock.

"I was just laying here, you did all the work... which I thoroughly enjoyed by the way."

She giggled and raised up and let me slip out of her as she began to kiss her way down my chest. She would stop and gently tug on my nipples with her teeth. She had her hand on my cock, slowly stroking me as she kept kissing lower.

She took my breath away as she took me in her mouth. I sat up and she sat up and looked at me. "Everything okay?"

I sort of laughed as I caught my breath. "Far better than okay. I'm quite out of practice as well."

She giggled and pushed me back down and started to suck me again with a new intensity. I was starting to almost grunt. "God damn Soo, fuck... that feels so good." I think she picked up her pace when I said that.

"Soo, I'm not going to last much longer..." She slowed down slightly, but had intensified her technique to slowly stroke me while continuing to suck. "Soo, I'm.... oh fuck!"

She was pulling me deeper into her mouth as I was came. I reached down and grabbed her head and tried to pull her off my cock and it felt like she was pushing harder on my cock.

I was squirming around since I was getting really sensitive and she finally stopped and sat up. "Think we're even for earlier?" She had an incredible smile.

"Not even close. That was an attempted murder, but goddamn it felt so incredible..."

I pulled her up and kissed her and could taste my cum as we explored each other's mouth. "More of your superheroine origin story you left out? The ability to submit men in a multitude of ways."

She sat up on me and started laughing. "I like the way that sounds, far better than sucking the life out of them!"

"Clearly it's one of your many talents... Pretty sure we'll be quite competitive with each other."

"I'm good with competition, but right now, I just needed to get some of those things out of the way. It's been years for me, Jack. I feel it's been quite a long time for you as well, at least given the volume, it seemed that way."

I laughed, "You're correct, quite a few years for me as well. I just wish I would have known it'd be this perfect. It might have made the wait easier... but I didn't know you then." I brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her. "It may be obvious, and maybe it's not the right time to say this, but I want to. I love you Soo, and I think I have felt this way since our first date at the Malt shop."

She had tears in her eyes. "Me too Jack. I can't really explain the connection I felt with you. I admired you professionally, but when I met you at the Ranch house, I wasn't really prepared for how much of a professional you were, but you were also very humble and just so down to earth and approachable. You know as well as I do that there's no shortage of people that are living out a role that they feel they have to fit into, but you were so genuine. That day at the Ranch House though."

"That day stood out to me as well. I recognized you from our classes, but when I saw Moreno on your nametape, my heart sort of sunk. I had assumed that was your married name. I was happy when we were having our burgers and you had referred to that being a date... I'm not sure I would have had the courage to ask you out on a date. You are a stunningly beautiful woman Soo, but with you being an officer, the first thought that you'd never want anything to do with me."

"Why would you feel that way Jack?"

"I think we've all had the fraternization speeches, regardless of rank..."

"I thought that was probably the reason, based on our conversations, especially when you shared what had happened before. So I thought I'd nudge things along by asking you to have a shake with me. Quite possibly the best decision of my life... I love you Jack."

I kissed her deeply and while I wanted her in my arms, I had other more pressing needs. I gently rolled her off and got on top of her and kissed her neck. "I want to make love to you..."

She wrapped her legs around my waist and kissed me. "I want that too Jack..."

As we made love, words cannot describe how perfect it was and our orgasms seemed just as intense as before, but felt more intimate. After we had finished, we talked for several more hours about all sorts of things and finally fell asleep. I was laying there with my arm around her, sleeping soundly when we got startled.

"Seems like all of my hard work paid off... so happy for you guys."

I swear it sounded like Soo stifled a scream. Luckily we were covered, but it didn't really change the feeling of getting caught.

"First, I need to learn to lock my door... but thank you for all of the less than subtle hints."

Cassie had this huge grin, "I'm not sure what you're talking about dad, it was pretty subtle..."

I reached over and picked up the box of condoms... "Subtle?"

She started laughing. "Okay, well, maybe not that part... I'm guessing you guys didn't need them?"

I heard Soo giggle which made Cassie laugh even more. "Girlie, please close the door so that we can get dressed."

"You might want to clean up too guys, it smells like sex in here."

"Out!"

She laughed and closed the door. "So, did you think you were signing up for all of this?"

She kissed me and rolled over on her back. "No, but I think I secretly hoped for it."

I kissed her and bent down and sucked her sexy tits and she pushed me away. "Quit it, if we're not out there soon, they'll know what we were doing."

"Cass said the room smells like sex, so I'm pretty sure they already know..."

She poked me in the ribs and jumped up and ran into the bathroom and closed the door.

This was the first time I'd seen her naked during the day and I was impressed. She was truly a hard body. As I lay there recounting our evening, I knew that she was a bit assertive in bed, but felt that could have been for several reasons, being a Marine Officer and Black Belt could easily be a big part of it, but I was still good with how things had gone so far..

I heard the shower turn off and she opened the door with a towel wrapped around her body.

"Damn you are a sexy woman, you know that?"

"Maybe, but hearing you say it means more than you know."

I flipped the sheet back and laid there. "You know, I could show my appreciation right now if you wanted..."

She turned bright red. "Damn it Jack, the kids are right down the hall."

I jumped up and grabbed her and kissed neck. "You sure... "

She started laughing. "Damn it Jack. Get your ass cleaned up. I'll let you get dirty later."

"Really, later? Such a tease!" She smacked me on the ass hard enough to leave a handprint and I almost screamed. When I stepped away she looked down and her entire expression changed. In fact she looked even more pale than normal.

"You okay sexy?"

She had some tears. "Yeah, I just noticed your scars... I'm sorry."

I pulled her close. "You're good, well, more than that, you're the love of my life. I'm still kicking, perhaps not as high as you, but still kicking."

"Are you okay Jack?"

"Okay? I'm here with you. I still run perfect PFTs for people half my age. Okay enough I suppose."

She laughed. "You ass, I mean do you hurt?"

I started laughing with her. "Yes, my ass hurts from where you hit me. As far as the other areas, yeah, aches and pains, but I'm still fortunate to be here, at this exact moment with you, so the aches and pains are pretty far down on my list of concerns."

She gave me a passionate kiss and I pulled her towel off and threw it on the bed and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around me. I kissed her deeply. "Good morning sexy... I love you."

She had some tears in her eyes. "I love you too, sexy. Put me down and go get cleaned up."

I put her down and gently slapped her ass. "You have a hard sexy ass woman... remind me later and I'll add that to the list of things I need to worship later."

She had a gleam in her eye. "Later, such a tease!"

I pushed her face down on the bed and spread her ass cheeks and licked from her sexy hole up to her ass and laid down on top of her and kissed her shoulder. She made this deep guttural sound.

"God damn it Jack!"

I kissed her on the back of her neck and saw goosebumps on her arm. I smiled and thought that I'd be busy later. I leaned over and kissed her arms, to let her know that I noticed. "I will worship every single centimeter of your sexy little body and when you're completely exhausted, I'll worship your sexy mind. No stone left unturned."

She turned her head to the side. "I can feel your cock pressing on my ass... I'm holding you to your word, every single centimeter... Go take a shower before that thing slides into something."

I stood up, "You win this time, but if I'm walking around with a hardon later, I'm blaming you."

She laughed and stood up and kissed me. "I'll be out with Cass and Nate, come join us when you're finished."

I watched as she bent over and got her bag.

I softly whistled. She stood up and smiled.

"Thanks for the show, sexy, now I'll be hard all day long."

I got cleaned up and went to join everyone in the living room.

"Dad, I splurged and got some gourmet donuts for us. We've been sampling all of them, so cut off a piece and try the ones you want."

Soo was looking at me with a huge smile, sitting between Nate and Cass. "Try the Monte Cristo, it's surprisingly good. I'm pretty sure some of these have enough sugar to cause me to pass out."

Cass had a big shit eating grin. "Dad will take care of you if you pass out." Then she leaned over and whispered something to Soo. I couldn't hear what it was but Nate heard it too and started laughing. Soo on the other hand, was bright red.

"Guess you guys aren't going to share the inside joke?"

Nate turned red, which was saying something given his skin tone, Soo was already red and Cass started to speak when Soo put her hand on her arm.

I noticed and just smiled as I ate a piece of a donut and was caught off guard. " Wow, the Monte Cristo is really good. The saltiness of the ham really shines through the sweetness, I would never have thought to try that..."

Nate gave me a serious look, "Dad, you need to try the Graceland, before we have to fight over it."

Soo started to laugh, "Yeah that one had me worried. Peanut butter, banana and bacon, with donuts as the bread. But Nate's right, there might be a fight over that one pretty soon."

Nate started laughing, "From the Ring video, I think Soo wins unless we gang up on her."

Soo was red again. I laughed. "I'm not sure we're enough to take her. I've never been thrown so effortlessly in my life."

Cass, ever the smart ass, was quick to add, "From the video, it certainly looked like head over heels..." and then said something under her breath while looking at her plate.

Soo put her arm around her and squeezed her.

We sat there and had lots of fun conversations as we finished what would be our brunch.

Nate was smiling. "I've watched that video several times and because of the quality, I couldn't see what happened. One frame was Dad holding you and the next he was on his back in the driveway."

I started laughing, "It was that quick. I was trying to tickle her and as soon as her feet touched the ground mine left it. I was quite impressed after the shock wore off. Did Soo tell you guys she's a Third Degree Black Belt in Hapkido? I'm pretty sure I needed to know that before I tried to tickle her. Luckily I'm quite persistent and durable, so I'll get that tickle one of these days."

They were all laughing, and Cass was joking with me, "Good luck on that one dad. I don't see that happening unless she wants to be tickled. So, speaking of that, how was your evening guys?"

Soo was looking me in the eyes as I watched her color change.

I started to laugh. "I'll never kiss and tell. What do you guys have planned for the day?"

Nate spoke up, "Dad, can we hang out together with Soo?"

"I'd love that as well, but we need to leave that up to our guest."

Soo put her arms around them. "I'd love that as well. What do you guys want to do?"

"How about we head over to the beach and just hang out and maybe grab something to eat later? That'll give us a chance to get to know each other. How's that sound?"

The rest of the day was a blur. There were many conversations and some touched on some delicate subjects. One of the more painful discussions was brought up by Nate when he specifically asked if I had told Soo about Desiree.

"Your dad did tell me about that. I'm sorry that happened to you guys. I know it must have been hard for you. He also mentioned some of what he felt were some of the factors around her leaving."

"Yeah, dad sort of felt it might have had something to do with her being an officer. What do you think about that?"

That one felt like a gut punch to me. I was about to change the subject when Soo answered him.

"Yes, he shared that with me also and we've also had some discussions about that since he and I are in that position as well. I don't feel that it's a problem for us, as your dad and I are in different chains of command. It'll be even easier once he transfers to MCRD. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'll not let that impact you guys."

"I'd like to say this, and forgive me if I break up a bit, but I want to thank both you Nate and you Cassie for being so accepting of me. I know that you guys are a tight family, and it may have felt like I was an outsider. I never want to cause issues with you guys or to have you feel that I'm trying to come in and change things. I didn't want you guys to feel that I was trying to come in and be your new mom. Of course I'd love spending time with all of you..." I could see the tears in her eyes.

"Bring it in guys, family hug time." We stood there for a few moments, with all of us hugging Soo.

I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes. "The allergies are bad this time of the year..." Everyone started to laugh. "If Soo wants, I'd love it if she spends more time with us. Like she mentioned, I don't think you guys wanted another mom right now, but I'm sure she'll fit in well with us. Of course it'll take her a while to get used to our crazy family."

Everyone started to laugh. "Dad, you're the crazy one! Nate and are the normal ones."

"I'm not so sure about that... rose petals and condoms are pretty clear indicators of at least some levels of crazy."

Cassie looked at me and stuck her tongue out. "Those were nudges, and nowhere near crazy."

"Okay, maybe not full crazy, but way too forward perhaps?"

"Maybe... still it was a team effort. I was not going to go to the store and buy a box of condoms, so I asked Nate to."

"There was no ask in that demand... Still, all for the right reasons. I'm happy you guys. Soo, I have another question, how did you become a Black Belt?"

She laughed a little. "I was adopted and my mom and dad were painfully aware of how I'd be treated while growing up with them, especially in Korea. I was most likely the result of an unplanned event between a lady of the evening and a soldier. Because of that, I'd always be looked down upon by Koreans as a half breed. Dad knew that and felt I'd need to be able to defend myself, so he put me in the classes. I enjoyed them and continued to pursue it in college and even in the Marine Corps. I studied, competed and got promoted up through the different belts, until I got to where I am. I'm sure I could study more and progress more, and I think that's sort of an expected thing, but for now, I'm content to stay at this level."

"Grandpa was adopted as well. But we don't know too much about him other than he's the single darkest guy in our family photos."

"Yeah Dad hated pictures for that reason. He was harassed while he was growing up in a small all-white town in Iowa. He eventually made a name for himself as a tough, hard working, honest man and that eased some of it. I know he's never really talked about it much, but when he and mom started dating, there was some outrage. Fortunately, they overcame those challenges. Some people will always be ignorant and close minded, I've not got much time for people like that, especially when it comes to you guys."

We had walked up and down the beach and I sort of followed behind them as Soo had the kids on either side of her while they were talking. There was no shortage of personal questions. Soo handled them with grace.

They stopped and turned around. "Dad, Nate and I headed back to the house. We'll see you guys later." They each hugged Soo and then me.

As they walked away, Soo put her arms around me and squeezed which I returned. "So, how did the interrogation go?"

She laughed. "Far better than I expected. You raised some great kids Jack. Some of the questions touched on some tender subjects, but they were really understanding. I know we'll get a chance to learn more about each other as things move forward, but I feel like I've got a head start. I was really worried how they'd accept me if at all."

"I've never seen them so interested in meeting and knowing someone in my life. I think they really like you. I'm sure some of their questions may have been to feel out your sincerity, or maybe commitment to be part of the family. Hope that makes sense. They want to know what your intent is."

"Yeah, I felt some of that. I also felt a lot in them wanting to protect you. You know it, but they love you a lot and they want to make sure that I don't hurt you, or them."

I kissed her forehead. "I'm pretty sure I was protecting them too. That's one of the reasons I was really reluctant to ask you out. I've done my best to be honest with them as they've grown up and it may have forced them to grow up sooner than their friends, but I still tried to let them have childhoods."

"You did a great job Jack. I'm pretty sure I'm falling for them too."

"Now you've seen the entirety of the Smith pre-made family and had at least one test drive. Any thoughts?"

She had this huge grin, "Test drive huh?"

"Yeah, and a taste test as well, I guess you could say."

She poked me in the ribs and started laughing. I picked her up and kissed her. "You know, we're probably not a normal family. Think you can hang with us?"

"Oh yeah, you know it." She gave me a very long passionate kiss. "Jack, what you have in your family is so much how I had hoped my family would have been. I forget that I'm in the Marine Corps when I'm around you guys..." She had tears welling up in her eyes.

"You will always be welcome here with us. Always."

We kissed again and was interrupted when Cass called. "Dad, you need to get home now."

I'm pretty sure Soo saw my expression change and she didn't even ask what it was, she took off her flip flops and we started to run back down the beach. We were almost sprinting back to the house. When we got there, I saw a different car in the driveway and a lady on the front porch.

As Soo and I got closer, I saw that it was Desiree with a slightly younger guy standing next to her talking to Cass and Nate. As we walked past them up to the front porch, Nate and Cass stood on either side of us.

"Jack, I was talking with Cassie and Nate. They've grown so much."

"They have. Cass, Nate, could you guys wait for me in the house for a few minutes please?" No questions from either one, they went into the house. I knew they'd be near the door, probably listening.

"Hi Desiree, what brings you here today?"

"I've gotten stationed at Camp Pendleton at the Naval Hospital and thought I'd stop by to see my kids."

"I can appreciate that Desiree, but they lost their mom many, many years ago when she stopped calling, or sending them cards. They are adults now, but I think it's hard to just expect them to start back up like nothing had happened. So in that vein, If you leave your number, I'll share it with them and leave any contact up to them."

"I want to talk to my kids."

"Again, their mom abandoned them, if they want to meet her, that's up to them, but it will never be forced on them. Understand."

The guy she was with moved towards me pretty quickly, "Come on buddy, she just wants to say hi to her kids."

"Sir, you are on private property. Please never move towards me or my family like that again. You'll not like the outcome. In fact, Desiree I'm asking you to leave your number and please leave.

He looked me up and down and sort of spat, "I'm not scared of some Marine..."

Soo had moved next to me. "First and foremost, Jack is not just some Marine. More importantly, he raised Cass and Nate as a single parent for most of the last twenty years. So, I'd ask you both to take his offer, leave your number and we'll ensure that they have the opportunity to decide what they want."

"Fuck you, you dirty Asian bitch I'll kick your ass..."

I can't really describe what happened, but I recall hearing screaming and being choked as I was dragged off of him.

I later realized that Soo had been the one choking me. One of the kids had called 911. I was still filled with rage as they were trying to leave when the police stopped them, before they came over and started talking to us and asked what happened.

We each gave them our statements, to include Cass and Nate showing the Ring video as well as one he took with his phone. I had explained who Desiree was along with the fact that her friend had threatened Soo, while on my front porch, so I had protected her. The police officer was a good guy. He was explaining what their processes are and what Desiree and her friend had told them after he told them that because they had been asked to leave and to stay would be trespassing. The guy I punched had said he wanted to file charges against me for assault.

After everyone left. Nate and Cass ran over to me and hugged me, both had tears in their eyes. I was crying with them. "I'm sorry you guys had to deal with that. You didn't deserve to be treated that way."

Cass looked up at me and then to Soo and extended her arms. Soo literally ran over to us and we all cried. Soo looked up at me and then to the kids, "I love all of you guys. I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

Nate was the first to speak. "The funny thing was that Cass and I were just talking about you being part of our family and how great it would be to have a mom, then Desiree showed up, almost expecting that she could just come back into our lives like nothing had happened."

Cass was quick to add her thoughts. "She seemed confused. I'm not sure what's going on. It seemed fake to me. I have this weird feeling she was put up to coming here by that guy. Both of them left me with an icky feeling."

I was still probably riding the adrenaline. "Not exactly the ideal Sunday we started with, but how about we get cleaned up and head out for some dinner. You guys decide, okay?"

Cass smiled, "Nope, Soo, as the newest member of the Smith family gets to decide."

Soo almost started crying again. "Give me a few to get cleaned up and hopefully get composed and I'll figure out a nice place for us." She reached for Nate and Cass and hugged them tightly. "Thank you both for accepting me into your family. It means more to me than you realize."

Soo and I went to the bedroom and just sat on the bed. "I'm sorry Soo. I know that the police report will possibly make the blotter and you may have to answer some pretty difficult questions."

"I'm good Jack. At most, I was verbally assaulted and trust me when I say that's not the first time I've heard that phrase. There are ignorant people all over the world."

"Soo, you know damn well what I mean..."

"Jack, if you're referring to the fact that a Lieutenant Colonel was at the house of a Master Gunnery Sergeant and the cops came. I can answer those questions all day long. No one knows exactly how much I love you right now, nor do they need to know. Plus, we're both single, so there's no infidelity. The single worst possible outcome is that they force me to retire. I don't think they want to deal with that publicity, honestly. So I don't feel you have anything to worry about in that regard, okay."

I kissed her. "I know you don't need me to defend you, but I can't really describe the rage I felt when that guy threatened you. I'm sorry about that."

She sort of laughed when she started crying. "Jack, in my forty two years, you are the only man that ever defended me like that. I don't have words to describe how that made me feel."

"Ma'am I'll gladly defend your honor... but I may want to do some very naughty things to you..."

"Maybe I want to do some to you too, you studly man you..."

I laid back on the bed and Soo straddled me. "You know, I'm going to wear you out later, right?"

I chuckled, "Here we go again... Later you say?" I rolled her off of me and got on top of her and kissed her. "Tease..."

She started giggling and I slid down her body and used my teeth to drag across her crotch. She let out a squeal that surprised both of us.

"Get off me, we need to take a shower, pretty sure we'll have to clean each other very thoroughly."

I smiled. "Maybe even vigorously..."

"Maybe, as long as we're quiet."

"Challenge accepted."

We stripped our clothes off and got into the shower. I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around me as we kissed. I pressed her against the shower wall and it could only be described as fucking. She was giving as good as she was getting and there was aggression in what we were doing. I think we were burning off some of the adrenaline from earlier. We came together, literally screaming into each other's mouths. I have no idea how loud we actually were. We sat down in the shower just staring at each other, when a small smile started in the corner of her mouth. "That was pretty vigorous Jack... also really god damn incredible. Holy hell. I'll sleep well tonight."

"Me too, but I still owe you one complete body worship... every centimeter."

She started laughing. "Excellent memory. I'll remind you if you forget."

I stood up and reached for her hand. She was stroking my cock. "That was pretty damn impressive Jack. How many more of those do you have in you?"

I was laughing with her. "I sense a competition in my future, so I'll just say, I have as many of those in me as you can handle, how's that?"

We were both laughing pretty hard when we heard a knock on the bathroom door. "You guys almost done? Nate and I are starving."

I started laughing, "Mental note, lock the bedroom door... and for the record Soo and I were starving too."

Cass was just being a pain... "Ewww, Dad? What do you mean 'were', OMG..."

Soo was changing colors. "I swear that girl is trying to catch us..."

I shook my head. "You signed up for this Ma'am, just remember that."

We laughed and rinsed off. She was bent over rinsing her legs off when I leaned over and kissed her back. "You are an incredibly sexy woman... have I mentioned that I love you?"

She stood up. "Yeah, you did, but I may need to hear all of that, really often."

"Hey now, I didn't realize you were high maintenance..."

I stuck my tongue out and she literally jumped on me and kissed me. "I'll get you for that remark, mister. Now let go of me so we can get dried off."

I had my hands on the shower wall. "Who's holding who..."

She slid off of me, smiling as she slid down and licked my cock. "Jack, later..." She took my cock in her mouth and closed her eyes and kept sliding me in and out of her mouth and then stood up. "Yes, that was a tease. Let's get dried off."

I opened the shower door for her and smiled. "Soo, I love seeing you naked and could get really used to it. We may need to adjust our living arrangements to spend more time together." I winked at her as we got dressed.

We walked out to the kitchen and both Cass and Nate looked like they were blushing. I laughed. "You guys ready?"

Cass and Nate started laughing. "I'm surprised you guys can still walk after all of those awkward noises..."

I started laughing and Soo turned bright red again and started laughing. "It's going to take me some time to get used to this dynamic. How does C-Level sound, it's down on Harbor Island?"

We all looked at each other and started moving towards the door,

Dinner was good, but the dynamic of seeing my family together made my chest swell with pride. Both kids were engaged with Soo and the conversations were flowing. After we finished, we walked along the sidewalk down to Tom Ham's Lighthouse and back.

Back at the house, it was a bit awkward when Cass asked Soo if she was staying, even jokingly suggesting that she could turn up her radio to drown out any noises. As badly as I wanted Soo to stay, I understood that she needed to get back to her place and get ready for Monday Morning.

After she left, the kids and I talked about lots of things, not the least of which was Soo being part of our lives. They talked briefly about Desiree, but just in saying that they weren't ready to reestablish a relationship with her at the moment. Or as Cassie said, until she understood her motives.

Monday morning, I ran PT with the company and after PT, I spoke with the Company First Sergeant and explained what had happened in the event it hit the blotter. I had just changed when the Sergeant Major called me and told me to report to the Battalion Commander in my Charlies.

I was thinking to myself, this was how my career ends. For punching some punk in the head after he insulted the woman I love. For some reason, the trade seemed even.

As I got to the Sergeant Major's office I quickly explained what happened, then he took me over to the CO's office and stuck his head in. "Sir, Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith is here." "Jack, go report."

I took a deep breath and reported to him. He put me at ease and proceeded to ask about the incident from Sunday. I recounted what had happened and left out names.

"Jack, do you realize the guy you punched was a Naval Officer?"

"No Sir. At no time did he mention that before he moved quickly towards the lady I was with while making a racial slur."

"Who was the lady?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Moreno."

"Soo?"

"Yes sir."

"What did he say to her?"

"Would you like to see the video's sir?"

"Please."

"May I grab my phone from the Sergeant Major's office?"

"I got it." He then asked the Sergeant Major to grab it for me.

I opened the Ring App and showed the video to him and then offered to share the one my son took.

"In my opinion, you did the right thing Jack. We'll get a hold of the Regimental CO and let him and his Sergeant Major know what's going on. Please head over to the Sergeant Major's office. We'll let you know once we've had a chance to brief leadership."

I came back to attention and after thanking the CO, did an about face and left his office.

I had been in the Sergeant Major's office for about half an hour before both he and CO came in.

"We're headed to the CG's office. The Regimental CO will meet us there, make sure you have your phone with you."

We got to the CG's Building and I greeted the Regimental CO with a salute. He returned my salute and laughed, "How's your Monday going Master Guns?"

I laughed, "I've had better Sir."

We got into the HQ building and I was nervous as hell as I waited while my Battalion commander and the Regimental CO briefed the CG. My Sergeant Major came out and asked me to report the CG. I did so and he put me at ease and immediately stood up and shook my hand.

"Good to see you again Jack. I understand you punched a Naval Officer, how did that come about?"

I relayed the events to him. He was sitting on the edge of his desk with his arms crossed smiling at me.

He had a big smile. "You do know that Soo could have easily kicked that guy's ass, right?"

"Yes Sir, but at that moment, it didn't really cross my mind."

"May I see the videos, Jack?"

I showed him both videos. "Who was the lady standing next to him?"

"The mother of my children and my ex-wife sir."

"When's the last time she came to see the kids?"

"About seventeen years ago, Sir. She had faded out of their lives after the divorce, until yesterday. I had asked her to leave her number and I'd give it to Cassie and Nate and leave the decision up to them. That's when the guy, who I now understand to be a Naval Officer, moved somewhat aggressively towards Lieutenant Colonel Moreno after making the racial slur."

"Do you have any idea why she'd come back and try to insert herself back into the kids' lives?"

"My daughter thought she seemed off while talking to them, like she had been almost put up to making contact. She said that Desiree and the gentleman gave her an icky vibe as she put it. I've been going through several things and the only thing that comes to mind is the house. The value has gone up about six fold since Desiree and I bought it. It's probably worth a bit over one million in the current market."

"Does she have any legal rights to the house?"

"No Sir, she had signed a quit-claim deed and that was part of our divorce agreements. I didn't ask for child support as we had agreed that she'd be part of the kids' lives."

He stood up and said he wanted to speak to me alone. After everyone left his office, he smiled at me and asked me to sit down.

"Jack, Soo called me this morning and let me know what happened. She also said you guys were a couple. First and foremost, congratulations to both of you. Soo's a great Officer and lady and you're a great Marine and gentleman. She's on the base side and you're in MLG, so you're good in that regard, plus with you transferring to the Recruit Depot soon, that'll be one less worry. She also told me that you're concerned about how this is perceived. The fact that you're that aware of that perception, tells me that you guys will be just fine."

"I'm going to call the Captain at the Naval Hospital, please don't say anything until I ask you, okay?"

I nodded as he called. I sat there listening to his conversation. He asked if the Captain had the Lieutenant Commander's with him and he had said he did. He asked if he could speak to them and the Captain put them on speaker phone. The guy I had punched was Lieutenant Commander Bailey, he was a Doctor at the hospital. He told the CG that he was going to press charges against me for assault.

I could sense a change in the CG's tone as he spoke. "Lieutenant Commander Gonzalez, when was the last time you saw your kids?"

"It's been about a year Sir, I just got back stateside and came over to see them."

"Okay, thank you. Lieutenant Commander Bailey, why did Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith punch you?"

"I don't know Sir. He became really aggressive and I was trying to protect Desiree."

I could feel the rage starting to rise in me again. I would love to have that guy in the room with me right now, I'd destroy him.

I think the CG sensed me and raised his hand indicating for me to relax as he spoke to them.

"First thank you both for giving me your side of the events. If you don't mind, I'd like to speak to the Captain privately for a moment."

The Captain asked them to leave his office.

The CG spoke, "Jim we have a bit of an issue. It seems that both of your Officer's lied. Before you get up in arms about that. I'll share that I've seen in the video footage from Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith's home as well as one that his son took while things unfolded. First, it wasn't an unprovoked attack. Bailey had made a racial slur towards a guest of Jack's as he moved quickly towards her. Jack was polite with both of them until that moment. As for Gonzalez. She hasn't seen her kids in more than fifteen years. There's more to this story that only your two officers know. If Bailey wants to press charges, I'm good with that as is Jack. I can assure you that once those videos are played in court, it'll look really damn bad, not just for them, but for the Navy. Jim, I'm not saying this as a threat, but you know damn well, this will look bad."

"Yes Sir. Give me a few, I'll call them back in along with the Command Master Chief. Please stay on the line, I'll put you on speaker phone."

We sat there quietly as the Captain remained calm and asked them some very pointed questions.

"Lieutenant Commander Bailey, you said that it was an unprovoked attack?"

"Yes Sir. Completely."

"So you didn't do, or say anything to him or anyone else, that could have caused him to respond that way?"

"No Sir, you know how those damn Marines are..."

"Thank you. Lieutenant Command Gonzalez, you said that you'd last seen your kids about a year ago?"

"Yes Sir."

"You were still in Roda, Spain at that time, right?"

"Yes Sir, I came back to spend some time with them while I was on leave."

"Thank you. What if I were to tell both of you that you've been caught in a lie?"

They had both started talking when the Captain told them to be quiet.

"One of the greatest assets of a Naval Officer is integrity. Lieutenant Commander Bailey, you were caught on video making racial slurs to someone, a guest of Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith. Lieutenant Commander Gonzalez, I have it on very good authority that you've not seen your kids in more than fifteen years."

It was deadly quiet. "Command Master Chief, please escort the Lieutenant Commanders out of my office. They are not to leave the building."

It was deathly quiet when the CG spoke. "Thanks Jim, I know that wasn't easy and I'll ask Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith to come see you and share the videos.

Thank you again for your professionalism, I truly appreciate it. Stop by the Ranch House after work, we can talk more. Just let me know when you want Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith over there. I will ask one more person to accompany him."

"Thank you Sir. It's hard to hear this, especially with senior Officers. I'd like to see Master Gunnery Sergeant Smith as soon as possible, along with the other person you had mentioned. Thank you again Sir."

The CG hung up the phone and quickly called another number. I immediately recognized the person that answered. "Soo, could you please come by my office. I need you to pick up Jack and go see Captain Johnson at the Naval Hospital. He needs to speak to both of you, also, don't worry, I told Jack already. Congrats you two."

As he hung up the phone, he smiled at me. "It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that those two will get what's coming to them. Feel free to share what your daughter told you about them as well as the house if he asks about a possible motive. You're a good man and I'll be damned if I allow them to take you down."

I stood up and snapped to attention and thanked him for his help.

He laughed, "You're good Jack, please head out and let the Regimental CO and your Battalion CO know I want to speak with them."

He stood and shook my hand. "You and Soo make a power couple by the way. I'd hate to cross paths with either of you at the wrong time. Don't be surprised if I ask for details of your meeting with Jim, okay."

I left his office and let my CO's know that the CG wanted to speak to them. I was sitting and chatting with the Sergeant's Major when Lieutenant Colonel Moreno showed up. We all stood and greeted her. The Base Sergeant Major escorted her to the CG's office.

The Sergeant's Major was just staring at me smiling when she came out of the CG's office and asked me to come with her.

We got in her car and she said, "Happy Monday Sexy!"

I started laughing. "I'll settle for wishing you a Happy Monday for now, but I'd love to wish your sex a happy Monday later..."

"Later, such a tease!"

We were both laughing. "Jack, I let the CG know that we're a couple."

"I know, he told me."

"He's a good guy Jack. One of the best I've worked for. He's hard with his expectations, but very reasonable, and a professional beyond reproach."

"I could sense that and would not want to be on the wrong side of him. I almost lost it when he congratulated us. He said we make a great power couple. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I damn sure take it as a compliment with you as my partner."

We got to the Naval Hospital and were escorted up to the Captain's Office. The Lieutenant Commanders were sitting outside his office and their eyes got wide when we walked in. I was feeling pretty damn good about the fact that the Lieutenant Commander looked pretty rough from the few times I hit him. The Command Master Chief knocked on his door and let him know we were there. He came out and invited us in.

"Jack, it's great to see you again, given the circumstances. Lieutenant Colonel Moreno, it's great to see you again as well. Jack, the CG said you had some videos to share with me. May I see them please?"

I opened my phone and showed him both videos. It almost appeared that he was changing colors as he watched them.

"God damn it. I've never seen such a poor representation of a Naval Officer in my entire life, and my Dad was a career Naval Officer and he had some idiots that worked for him. First, I'm sorry you and your family had to experience that. Secondly, Jack, you did the right thing and I would have done the same had I been in your shoes. You asked him to be respectful and he went over the top. Finally, Soo, I don't really have words for what he said. Rest assured that this will be addressed and you have my promise on that one."

"Jack, do you have any idea why they came by yesterday?"

"The only thing that comes to mind is the house. When Desiree and I bought it, we paid a bit over 200 thousand. Now I guess it's worth over a million."

"Does she have any rights to that house?"

"No sir, as part of our divorce decree she signed a quit-claim deed. I never asked for child support as we had decided that she'd remain in the kids' lives, but that faded over the course of a couple of years."

"How old are your kids?"

"Cassie is twenty two and Nate is twenty one. They're exceptionally bright kids."

"I'm certain you've been a stellar role model for them Jack. Thank you both for coming by. I need to contact my chain of command and discuss some things regarding those two. I'm happy the CG called me and explained some things to me. I think as leaders we have to trust what our subordinates tell us, but we still need to be open minded enough to accept outside evidence. I'll let the CG know if I need to speak to you guys about this in the future. My guess is that both will be relieved at a minimum, and possibly court-martialed."

We shook his hand and walked out. He asked the Lieutenant Commanders to come into his office. As Desiree walked by, she looked at Soo and I. "I'm so sorry..."

I looked at the Command Master Chief and it hit me. "Master Chief, were you a Corpsman in 3rd Battalion 5th Marines about twenty years ago?"

His eyes lit up. "Yes... right calf?"

I gave him a big hug. "Thanks man! I owe you quite a lot for your help that day."

He was smiling, "How the hell did you get tied up in this mess?"

"I met Lieutenant Commander Gonzalez while I was in Physical Therapy when she was a Petty Officer."

He nodded knowingly. "Stay in touch. I'd like to talk to you again."

Soo and I drove back to the CG's office and relayed our conversation with Captain Johnson. He was pretty busy, so after we'd briefed him, he excused himself to head to a meeting.

The Sergeant Major had left and had just sent me a text to that effect. I looked at Soo, "Ma'am could I trouble you for a ride back to the Battalion, my ride left me."

She started laughing, "I suppose, if I have to?"

"I can make a call and get one of my Marines to come pick me up..."

She glared at me. "I've got you Master Guns, let's go."

As we were driving, she used her car to send a text to who I guessed was her Deputy saying that she'd be late getting back to the office, and then looked at me and suggested I do the same. I smiled and sent the text.

As we left the base, I glanced over to her. "Am I being abducted? If so, I've got some requests... or maybe demands."

She started laughing, "Tell me about the demands before I address the abduction."

"Well for starters if I'm being abducted, I definitely want to be sexually assaulted by you please."

She was laughing hard. "Yes you are being abducted for the explicit purpose of sexual assault, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it, almost as much as I will."

"Ma'am, have I mentioned how you make the Charlie uniform sexy? We'll have to be gentle getting it off of you, so we don't damage it... the uniform that is."

We pulled up to a condo in Oceanside. "It's not much, but it's mine and by that, I mean it's paid for. I bought it many years ago when I was Captain."

"Beautiful and smart, a deadly combination..."

We got into her house and it was pretty sparsely decorated, sort of in a Scandinavian design sense. Very light and airy.

She opened a door to what I thought might have been a bedroom but it was her office. It was filled with Marine Corps stuff, but also lots of pictures and large wall hangings of her different Hapkido uniforms that seemed to show her belt progressions. Lots of trophies and medals from various competitions.

"Damn woman, this is impressive! I need to spend more time here to absorb it all." I turned to look at her and kissed her. "But for now, I'd really like to spend some time in you."

She giggled and took my hand and led me to her bedroom.

We watched each other as we undressed and hung our uniforms up, we were standing there completely naked staring at each other. She smiled at me and reached for my hand and led me to her bed. She crawled up on it and while on her hands and knees shook her ass at me.

I kneeled down on the floor and pulled her back towards the edge of the bed and licked up the back of her leg and kissed her ass cheeks. "I know we don't have a lot of time, but I really need to taste you..."

I placed my mouth over her pussy and she made this deep moan that almost sounded like a growl. I would suck her pussy and lick her cute ass, stopping to push my tongue in. She was squirming around and was getting wetter by the second. "Jack, you need to fuck me... you can eat me later."

As I stood up, she had moved towards the center of the bed, but remained on her hands and knees. I moved behind her and started to rub my cock along her sex. This woman was always wet. I placed my cock between her sexy pussy lips and watched as she pushed backwards. I loved the site of sliding in to her.

She would grunt and push back against me with every stroke. We were sweating from our activities and I could tell and feel that Soo had several really good orgasms.

"I'm close, sexy... " It was like she became possessed and was almost screaming and pushing back hard. I had started to cum and she leaned forward and when she pushed back my cock slipped out and slid over her ass. I shot several long ropes on her back and left a puddle on her sexy ass.

I was holding her hips while my body was twitching. "God damn woman..." She slipped forward and laid down on her belly. I laid down next to her and kissed her neck. She turned her head to the side and was just looking at me smiling.

"What the hell Jack? How is that every time we have sex, it's the best I've ever had, every single time."

I sort of laughed while catching my breath. "Add mind reader to your substantial list of talents. I was literally thinking the exact same thing. Holy hell Soo, that was fucking incredible."

She giggled, "It was incredible fucking as well..." She climbed up on my back and kissed my neck.

"I hate the idea of having to go back to work... I'd much rather stay here with you... of course we'd probably need an IV by the time we were done."

I was laughing... "I know a Master Chief that could help us out..."

She had started to rub her pussy on my hips. I could feel her nipples on my back. I turned my head to the side. "You know if you keep that up, we'll make another mess."

"Uh huh... hold on..." I could tell from her voice that she was focused. Then she pretty much collapsed down on my back. She had put her arms under me and was squeezing me.

I could feel the tremors roll though her body. She kissed me on my shoulder and lightly bit me. "Fuck Jack... I could really get used to days like this. Did I mention that I love you?"

I laughed, "You're just saying that because you were rubbing your perfectly cute little pussy on my ass. I love you too."

She sat up on the back of my legs and slapped my ass. "It is pretty cute... and so is your ass."

She leaned down and licked my ass which caught me off guard, but made me moan.

She stood up and reached out to help me up. "Hurry up, that mess you left on my back is about to start dripping off of me and we need to get cleaned up."

I stood up and asked her to turn around and I kneeled down and licked between her sexy ass cheeks up her back and turned her around and kissed her. She was sucking the cum off of my tongue.

"Jack, don't you ever do that again... unless we have a few hours to handle things."

We couldn't keep our hands off of each other during our shower. "Soo, I'd really like to call in sick... pretty sure it's withdrawal symptoms.... I need you in my life, and in my mouth. I love you sexy... and I love your sex as well. You're perfect!"

She smiled and stepped out of the shower and handed me a towel. We got dried off and then watched each other as we put our uniforms on and then helped the other straighten things out.

"Ma'am, if I may be so bold, you are absolutely stunning."

"Thank you. You're quite studly in your uniform... almost as much as you are without it. I hate to say it, but we need to go, but lunch today is without comparison, it's been perfect with the only exception of being too short."

I made a fake gasp, "Wait what?! What were you referring to as too short?"

She started laughing hysterically... "I'm pretty sure the only thing that's too short today is our time together. Anything else you might have been referring to is nothing but perfect in my opinion."

We stopped by her kitchen and she grabbed two sports drinks and handed me one. "Luckily we didn't need an IV this time."

I smiled at her, "this time..."

She dropped me off at the Battalion and I let the Sergeant Major know I was back. He just smiled at me. "Nice catch Jack."

I set Soo a text and thanked her for a deliciously prepared lunch that left me wanting more.

She replied with a couple of devil emojis.

The following weeks were nothing short of extraordinary. I had worked with Colonel Bianchi on his leadership PMEs. I'd spent a lot of time on stage taking questions from the Marine's in attendance. One of the more memorable times was when Colonel Bianchi had everyone in the PME form up on the Grinder and had us fold our cammie blouses and palace our cover on them. We did a quick daily seven and then went for what I would call a very spirited, but short run. The intent there was to show that we could be asked to perform with what we had at hand without being given time to prepare. Some people get trapped in their head with the idea that everything needs to be perfect in order to perform.

I was fortunate in that I got to use some of my Communication's skills in the PME. I shared quite a few things I'd learned during my time in Toast Masters as well as some things I'd learned in my doctoral classes with the other panelists and I felt that everyone, myself included, learned something.

I had started my tour at the Recruiter School and spent the first couple of weeks in training to prepare me to be on the block as an instructor. Both Soo and I had successfully defended our respective thesis' and it was getting close to graduation. I was almost giddy to be done with college. I had asked for a week of leave around graduation because I knew that my parents were coming, conveniently, Cassie was graduating from SDSU that same week. Soo's parents were also coming in and we were planning a big family introduction and celebration.

Her dad had retired as an Army Command Sergeant Major and had spent a considerable portion of his career in Korea. Her mom was a short Filipino lady. She was a lot of fun. Her personality more than made up for her size. After spending some time with them it was easy to see where Soo got some of her personality traits.

During one of our evenings together as a family, Soo's mom was talking with her, my mom and my sisters, and came straight out and asked me if I was taking care of her in bed. Both Soo and I turned as red as we could have. Her mom then went on to grab my bicep while telling me that Soo was quite durable. I smiled, nodded and winked at Soo and said, "Noted... me too."

That got me a quick punch in the ribs and with Soo's small hands and the fact that she knew how to punch, almost always hurt. I made a quick exit and invited Soo's dad out onto the patio to speak with him. We walked around the yard and talked about lots of things, not the least of which was our service. I stopped and looked at him. "Sir, I'd like your blessings to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

He smiled at me and gave me a hug and slapped my back. "Jack, she's a grown woman and will make up her own mind, but I am truly honored that you asked me. Of course you have my blessings. Tell me, young man, when do you plan on asking her?"

"Probably sometime while we are all together as a family, but certainly before you guys leave."

"You got this, Jack. She loves you. I can see it in her eyes, plus she's been talking with her mom and some of that gets relayed back to me."

I think we both started laughing as I shook my head, "Women..."

I had rented a tent and some tables for the barbecue in the backyard. My mom and dad were there, along with my two sisters. Soo's mom and dad were there and of course Cassie and Nate were with us.

I saw Cass staring at me and whispering something to Nate.. They were both smiling as they walked over to me while I was at the grill. Cass asked me, "You're going to do it, aren't you?"

"I am, but I need to make sure you guys are good with it..."

They looked at each other and gave me a hug. They both said it about the same time, "Don't screw this up dad!"

I leaned in and whispered, "I need you guys to go in my room and grab the ring. It's in the closet, in the pocket of my gray sports coat. After we've all finished eating, I'll ask for you guys to come help me. "

Soo came over and asked what we were doing. "I was asking them to make sure we have enough drinks in the coolers and to restock if needed."

She smiled at us. "Thanks guys!" My daughter started giggling as Soo walked back over to speak to her mom.

The kids checked the coolers and went in the house and were back outside pretty quickly. I called everyone over and asked them to dig in. It was a pretty good meal and I managed to eat a little bit even as nervous as I had been. Everyone had finished eating and was talking with each other when I asked Cassie and Nate to come join me. They stood next to me when I asked for everyone's attention.

"First and foremost, we'd like to thank everyone for being here with us to help us celebrate, from mom and dad, to my sisters. I know my brother Mark couldn't make it, but he's with us in spirit. Mr. and Mrs. Moreno, it's been an honor to meet both of you and spend time with you guys. It's pretty easy to see where Soo gets some of her personality traits. Of all of those traits, the most impressive might be Soo's patience in dealing with what I guess you could say is my..." I turned to look at Nate and Cassie, "somewhat eccentric family. We've been pretty tight for quite a while, and we're still changing and growing. Speaking of growing... Soo?"

I extended my hand, as she stood, I kneeled down. "Soo, thank you for being part of our family. You've made each of us a better person. I'd like to ask you both to be part of our family and also for your hand in marriage."

Nate handed me the ring and I looked up at her. "Soo, will you marry me?"

She had started to cry and said yes. I put the ring on her finger as she leaned down to kiss me.

"A million times yes. I love you Jack. Cassie, Nate, I love you guys too."

As Soo and I stood, both Cassie and Nate grabbed us and hugged us and pretty soon everyone was hugging us. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

My dad and Soo's dad were having a beer and each of them toasted us, with Soo's dad giving what I could only call a Sergeant Major's speech as he commended me for asking for his blessings. Soo's mom got pretty loud. "Oh I don't know about all of that, Jack never asked for my blessings... We may have to call this off..."

Soo had this shocked look on her face as her mom started to smile... the entire place broke into hysterical laughter. I was pretty sure Soo was about to have some words with her mom.

My dad called me over to stand next to him and gave a short speech. He was in tears before he even started. "Jack, first and foremost, congratulations. You're truly a good man and you've done right by your family, especially for Cassie and Nate. Soo, you are an incredible woman and from what I can tell, you are Jack's match in every way. I think you guys will make an awesome couple, and you are always welcome in our family. Our family is pretty special, and as you've probably seen, special is the polite way of putting it."

Everyone started laughing. "Soo, Mr. and Mrs. Moreno, welcome to the Smith family."

Soo's mom was first to say, "call us Bill and May, we're family after all."

The night was a blur with everyone laughing and talking. There was even a fairly competitive corn hole game that left me and Soo as the last one's standing. Literally everyone was cheering for Soo to beat me.

I looked around and laughed, "Wow and I thought you guys were family, what the hell?"

Soo was laughing with everyone else. "You know Jack, you can forfeit now, and step down honorably, or accept the ass whipping that's coming."

I smiled at her. "Some one's getting an ass whipping tonight and there will be no forfeiting. I didn't start this game expecting a participation trophy... I will win!"

She laughed. "What trophy did you expect to get?"

Everyone got quiet and looked at me. "A trophy wife of course!"

Everyone was laughing with some boo's being thrown my way. Cassie asked, "What trophy does Soo get when she kicks your butt, again?"

I started laughing, "Again... wow, you guys too? As for Soo's trophy, if she were to win, and that's a really big if, I'm guessing I could be a trophy husband." I stood there and made several bodybuilding poses which had Soo in tears, because I clearly wasn't a bodybuilder.

"If I have to settle for that trophy, I guess it's okay..."

I made a few more poses and winked at her, "I'm much better than just okay..."

We played a few more rounds and every time I'd throw, someone would make a noise or throw something in front of me, or accidently bump into me. It was pretty obvious, I would not win. As the final game closed, there was no shortage of cheers for Soo as course Cassie asked for me to present the trophy to the winner.

I walked over to her and and she reached for my hand, I picked her up and ran over the corner of the yard and put her down and kissed her.

"Soo, I love you with all of my heart. I have no concerns about when we get married, just knowing that you accept me and the kids means the world to me."

She kissed me several times and gave me several pecks on the cheek. She had tears in her eyes. "Jack, I love you too. I love Cass and Nate for accepting me into your family and that means everything to me. I'm not worried about a date at the moment either, I just want to be here for you guys any way I can."

I picked her up again and she wrapped her legs around me and squeezed. "You make a pretty sexy trophy husband, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

I let go of her and did a few more poses while she was still hanging off of me. "You know it woman! You make one incredibly sexy trophy wife, but you knew that as well, didn't you?"

She kissed me deeply. "Yep!"

I put her down and she looked at me. "Jack, today has been perfect and this is how I'd always dreamed my family would be. I don't really have words to describe how this makes me feel..."

We stood there for quite a while in each other's arms just talking. We both heard Cassie at the same time. "The last time they were like this, it was in the driveway and I'm pretty sure they broke some furniture in dad's bedroom later that night."

Soo turned bright red. I started to laugh. "Just so you know, no backsies, you said yes and that's that."

She started laughing and walked over to Cassie and put her arm around her and squeezed and then started to tickle her. It was funny as hell as Cassie was trying to get away. I already knew how that was going to work out when Nate ran over and grabbed Soo and pretty soon she had them both on the ground tickling them. I went over and sat in a chair near them and just laughed.

Cassie was almost out of breath and so was Nate. "You know guys, you could always apologize and forfeit. I'm pretty sure Soo's going to win this too."

They were all laughing as both Cass and Nate yelled "Forfeit!"

Several weeks later, both Soo and I as well as Cassie and Nate were called as witnesses in each of the Lieutenant Commander's respective court marshals.

The videos were shown in each of the court marshals and it did come out in testimony that Desiree had been coerced into coming over to the house by Bailey with the intent of getting me in trouble, and forcing me to turn the house over.

As painful as it was to sit in those two trials, it was refreshing to see the truth come out. Bailey got busted and dishonorably discharged. Desiree was busted down to Lieutenant and forced to retire. Nate and Cass were offered to have a Military Restraining Order be placed on Desiree, but they declined.

The next three years flew by. Soo and I decided to get married after I retired. I was pretty insistent on that, to help her career. She wasn't happy with it, but eventually agreed. We had a beautiful ceremony in La Jolla. My brother and both of my sister's were there along with our parents. Soo had asked Cassie to be her maid of honor and I had Nate as my best man.

We had quite a few guests and everyone shared lots of laughs and a few tears. Soo and I spent our honeymoon in Hawaii at the Turtle Bay Ritz-Carlton in a bungalow with an ocean view. Those two weeks were memorable beyond comparison.

During our time there, we had stopped in to see one of her friends that worked on Camp Smith at Marine Forces Pacific. They'd been Naval Academy classmates and he was quick to ask her if she'd seen the recent selection message.

She looked at me and then went back to her friend. "No, why?"

"Congrats Soo, you've been selected for Colonel. Looks like you're headed to MarForPac. Hope you guys like Hawaii..."

Soo had sort of nervously laughed and said that we were loving it so far. We talked with him for a while before he had to excuse himself for a meeting. As we were leaving I could feel the nervousness in her. I squeezed her hand, "Are you doing okay?"

"No, not really. Jack, we've just got married. Plus what will Cassie and Nate think?"

"Tell you what, we still have a few days left. How about a nice dinner tonight and we can celebrate, just the two of us."

"What are we celebrating?"

I kissed her. "You know damn well. Regardless of what you decide, you've hit a milestone in your career that many will never see. That's what we'll celebrate, well that and the fact that you've got one drop dead sexy trophy husband..."

She started laughing. "I knew I married you for a reason, I guess trophy husband is part of that. Of course you always seem to say the right things too."

I smiled at her and winked..."Pretty sure the sex is pretty good too, right?"

She stood there smiling. "Come on now woman, don't leave me hanging..."

She burst out in laughter. "It is pretty good." She pulled me down and kissed me. "In fact, the best I've ever had..."

She looked at me. "Tell you what, sexy. We can have dinner and celebrate, but I don't want to talk about this until we get home. Okay?"

"You've got it, but I want to say some things really quickly and I'll be done. Both Cassie and Nate have moved out. Cassie is engaged and Nate is headed that way with his girlfriend. I say that because I'm feeling that you want them to be okay with this."

She pulled me to her. "I don't want them to think I'm abandoning them..."

"I'm certain that given the fact that you feel that way, means they'd be more than okay with it. Plus, they'd probably stay with us when they came over..."

She started to laugh. "Jack, I'm not getting any younger, I'm 45 and with a tour as a Colonel, I'd end up being at least 48 before I retire."

"And... "

"What are you talking about now...?"

"And still the sexiest woman I know, regardless of age."

"I love hearing that. "

"The truth? That's easy... Should I also mention how perfectly you taste, and how we fit together like puzzle pieces?"

She was laughing and had started to blush.

"Mrs. Smith, you're changing colors. Just imagine me as your arm candy when you attend formal gatherings... Showing me off as your trophy husband."

She kept giggling as I was posing for her.

"I know I keep teasing you about being your trophy husband, but in reality, you are the only one I hope to impress, every single day."

She kissed me. "You are quite impressive, hubby, in many, many ways. We're still on our honeymoon and feel that we should probably head back to our bungalow and consummate our beautiful marriage again... and again..."

Preparing for Hawaii

Soo had gotten promoted and had asked me to pin her new rank during the ceremony. The Base Commanding General was the promotion officer. When I was pinning her rank on I couldn't help but have some fun. "So the eagle's wings are parallel to the deck, right?" I put the insignia on properly, but was enjoying seeing Soo get a bit stressed out by my joke.

Soo was turning red, but the CG got a laugh out of it, and played along. "It's been a while since I've worn these, I forgot, so let me make mine parallel to the deck as well." He stepped back in front of her and before he started to have her recite her oath, he smiled and said. "Your eagles are properly aligned Colonel. We were having a bit of fun. Congratulations."

I congratulated her and thanked the CG and walked over and stood at the side of the formation next to Nate and Cassie. After the CG released the formation, we went and stood next to Soo as she was greeted and congratulated by those in attendance. Her mom and dad couldn't make it, but I had spoken with the Public Affairs Marines and asked for copies of the photos for her parents.

Later that evening we went out to dinner as a family. Cass had her finance and Nate had his girlfriend. Soo was nervous as could be, but decided to let the kids know that we were headed to Hawaii for a few years.

Nate was first to ask, "Does that mean we'll have a place to stay when we come visit you guys?"

Soo was laughing. "You guys will always have a place to stay with us, always."

Cass was tearing up and Soo leaned over and hugged her. "Will you be here when I get married?"

"Guaranteed, I wouldn't miss that for anything."

Our date to leave sort of snuck up on it. There was no shortage of meetings and appointments to get our household moved. We decided to only bring Soo's SUV with the idea that we'd get another small car to drive around the island so that each of us had transportation.

She had found out that there was a change in her assigned duty station, instead of working at Camp Smith, she was headed to be the Base Commander at the Kaneohe Air Station. I felt she hit her stride in that position, it wasn't without difficulties, but I felt she handled them with professionalism and grace. I still volunteered to help out as one might expect a more traditional spouse to do and found it really rewarding.

While the kids did come visit us, the time that Soo and I spent in Hawaii was a perfect final tour before we settled into our lives after the Marine Corps.