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And right now, I’m seriously wishing that she’s the one who wrote this letter to me because I’d claim her in a heartbeat.
The ringing on my laptop has me shoving the letter in my pocket as I hit answer. “Hey, Vivi.” I grin when I see her face. “How are you?”
“Good, Dad. Fall break is coming up; do you know if you’re going to be home?” Last week I didn’t have that answer for her.
“I do, and I am.” Her squeal is every bit as ear-piercing through a computer hook-up as it is in person.
“Oh, I’m so excited! I need to plan a party. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve hugged you.” Immediately, she grabs a notebook and pen and begins scribbling in it.
“It’s only been since June,” I correct her. Five months is one of my shortest deployments.
She gives me a look that screams I’m an idiot. “That’s forever.” I know better than to argue with her.
“Everything going okay there? School's good?” She nods as I talk. “Do you need money?” Her head finally lifts.
“You always ask that.”
“That’s part of my job. To make sure you’re taken care of.” Her eyes roll again. “Did you see Pop and Nan this weekend?” They had planned to head down south to Florida for a cruise but were going to stop and spend a week with her first.
“Yes. They made sure I have more than enough food, got me new clothes, and made me promise to find you a girl.” It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Dad, come on. You’re thirty-three and live alone. My friends say you’re hot. It’s time to have a life of your own.”
“Your friends?” I hedge with a laugh, half hoping Adalee is among them.
“Basically, all of them.”
“I have you. What more do I need?” I grin when she snorts out a laugh.
“Please, I’ve been away for two years now. I want to see you fall in love. And not lust. The big kind of love. The kind that is so consuming that you finally retire and stay home and have a dozen babies. It’s lonely being an only child, you know.”Shit, the guilt from this one.
“What do you know about lust?” I tease her, and she drops back on her bed with a laugh.
“More than you’d probably like. But that’s not the point.” I can see from the look in her eyes, she’s genuinely worried.
“I got a letter today….”
“From whom?” That piqued her interest.
“Not a damn clue.” It’s still perplexing to me.
A mischievous look causes her eyes to twinkle. “Well, do you think if you wrote her back, she’d get it before you got home?”
“How do you know it’s a she and not a he? And what are you thinking?”
She ignores the first question. “Inviteherto your welcome home party. Have her wear something specific, that way, you'll know who she is as soon as you see her.” Her excitement would be infectious to nearly anybody else.
“And if they’re a homicidal maniac?”
“You’re literally trained to kill.” She has a point.
“What if they don’t get it in time?”
“Write the letter, scan it to me, and I’ll mail it priority. She’ll have it in like a day. Two at the most.” This kid's got a solution for everything.
“Fine. What do I ask her to wear?”
She taps her chin with a finger, so much like her biological father. “I’ll think of something. You just write the letter.”
I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.
