The Soldier Next Door

I am sitting with my back against the door, just having read a note that Ana left.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“If you are reading this, it means I am not here.”

Well, ya that I can damn well see.

And what else I can damn well do, is not breathe.

So I crumple up the note and toss it into the bin. My heart is ripped away in shatters as I burst into tears. But then behind me, I hear a loud…

BANG.

…as someone is kicking at the door. Well, I hope that they have a good reason for banging around here at this time in the morning.

So as I take my time to go to answer the door, the banging only but becomes more persistently. Now I have no idea if I should be crying or be mad at the present moment. With one last wipe from the sleeve of my shirt, I dry the tears that are still threatening to come.

Then, slowly but utterly angry, I fling the door open.

“What do you…Huh? Why are…?” my words only but mumble as I try to make sense of what just happened.

“Well, are you going to help me or at least let me in?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ugh, soldier! Get out the damn way; these bags are heavy.” But then she cocks her head and looks at my very puffy eyes, “Why are you crying?”

“Boo, I thought you left?”

“Yes, to get coffee and pancakes. Did you not get my note?”

“Yes, but I did not read all of it.”

“I knew that I should not have written the first part. The part you did not read said, ‘We ran out of coffee. I am going to the shop.”

“Oh, next time, I will read the…”

“No, next time you get the coffee.”

With a soft chuckle, I take the bags from her and place them on the kitchen counter.

“Come here,” I pull her closer. “Please don’t scare me like that.”

“Soldier, I promise you I will never leave you. But…”

“Why is there a but? What did I do wrong now?”

She bursts out in a fit of laughter as she squeezes me extra harder for comfort, “There is something that we need to talk about.” Then she pauses for a brief moment, “And yes, it is sort of something that you have done wrong.”

“Do we have to talk about it now,” I slightly tilt my head to the side, trying to give her my best version of my puppy eyes. “Can we not have breakfast first.”

“Hahaha, and here is thought that you were going to ask for sex first.”

“Well, I could always change the terms?”

Next, I feel a gentle tuck at my hair; she pulls my head to the side and rubs his soft lips against the back of my neck; it sends tiny ripples against my spine. She takes my chin and turns my face to meet her eyes. My body melts into her as I look deep into her brown eyes.

She presses her soft lips against my warm skin. She knots her fists in my shirt, pulling me harder into her. I groan softly, low in my throat. Then her arms circle me, gathering me against her. When she finally kisses me, when she finally takes my mouth, everything goes oddly quiet, like the moment of silence between lightning and thunder.

I step forward and pin her against the kitchen counter. She splays her hand against my chest, intending to push me away, but instead, she leaves it there.

Then with nothing but the greatest smile on her face, she softly whispers. “You…”

“Ssshhh, boo…” placing a finger on her sweet lips, preventing her from saying yet another word.

My hand trembles as I take it to her cheek. I lean in a little closer, our foreheads now gently touching. I cannot fight against the thoughts that are going through my mind. She is flooding my senses in every possible way.

I stare into her deep brown eyes; I cup her cheek, which is now slowly turning red. This woman that has so much power over men is like jelly in my hands. I smile at her before I slowly lean into her. My hand is shaking slightly. The sound of my heart is beating so loud I cannot concentrate at all. It feels like I am going to explode. I so desperately want to claim those lips.

The moment our lips touch, the world vanishes in an instant. Her lips are softer than I ever imagined, and she tastes even sweeter than heaven. My lips are firm against hers, but the kiss remains soft, gentle, and slow. We hold it for a few seconds before our lips begin to move in perfect sync. My eyes fall close, and all I can feel is her. Her warmth, her touch, her being.

My only desire is to touch her, to move my hands over the smooth curves of her body and feel her perfect softness. Overwhelming passion has taken over my entire body. I move my hand from her cheek to the back of her head, my fingers tangling in her long, dark brown hair, lightly pulling her into me, adding more pressure to our lips, deepening the kiss.

She is inflicting sensations I have never known I was capable of feeling. The kiss is getting deeper, deeper than all the galaxies in the universe. Her velvety lips are imprinting themselves like a footprint in the snow.

Then just as I rise to the peak of my arousal, she smiles at me and pulls away, “That is the only sex that you are getting.”

“But boo…”

“No. Now get your ass into the lounge so that we can talk before your Marine buddies come and drag you away.”

Well, the way she says ‘Marine buddies’ makes me think that I am leaning in the direction that this might be why she wants to talk, and that is why she is upset with me. Yet, she does not really look upset, for she would normally just give me the cold shoulder, let alone a steamy kiss.

Maybe she should be pregnant more often.

Ya, scrap that one from your head.

So after grabbing us both a plate of pancakes, and of course, the honey that she will be using an absurd amount of, I make my way over to the lounge. I don’t know what to expect, but I sure am preparing myself for the worst.

Carefully seating myself at least more than one arm’s length away from her, I look at her intently as I shove one after the other pancake into my mouth. Well, at this rate, I might just choke myself to death.

But yet, she casually continues to eat her honey with some hints of pancake, not showing much of a care in the world. Happily avoiding the tense moment that I am experiencing, she carries on to make small talk about baby clothes that she has seen and wanted to get my opinion on.

So, that is her then getting up to fetch her phone, while in the back of my mind, all I am shouting is “What the fuck?”

Pulling back to my senses, she takes a much closer seat next to me while she flips through the pictures that she has taken of the baby clothes.

“So, what do you think, soldier.”

Ya, all I saw was blue; it did not pay any attention to anything else that she was trying to show me. She might have even shown me a girl’s pink little dresses, and I would not have known.

But yet, “I like it, they are nice, boo. Do you want to go get them later?”

She only but smiles at me, and I know that it is almost just about to come. But first,

“Are you going to be fit and ready to deploy,” she waves over to my leg that, according to the Doctor, has been healing great. “Are you going to be fine with your leg?”

“The Doctor said by the time we do the first deployment; I will be fine. And we are already training, so I should be more than ready.”

Now, do I ask her why? Is she leaning to a point here or just making some more casual conversation?

Well, then she moves even closer to me, and I know, this is it.

Now I am going to know.

“Soldier,” she starts off sweet and slow, “I am not going to have anyone here to help me with the baby. Yes, I know there is Ray’s wife, but I would love to have family around.”

“Boo, you know my mom can’t travel yet with my dad. She can come later, but not straight after the birth.”

“Yes, soldier.” There appears a sneaky smile on her face, and god, I know now that I am not going to like this. But let us hear it…

BANG.

“I am going to ask my mother.”