Extra Epilogue
COURTNEY
“ I never thought I’d ever say this, but I really wish Len became a firefighter.” I sniffled and leaned deeper against Pax’s side, watching as our eldest—who’d insisted on shortening his name when he started high school—marched in formation with the rest of his division.
It had been a long two months since he left for boot camp, and even from where we watched in the stands, I could see he’d changed so much.
Which was saying a lot since he’d already been in great shape before he left.
It was something my big brother had made sure of since Len was determined to score high enough on his qualifying physical to qualify for Naval Special Warfare.
Having a former Navy SEAL prepare his training routine was an advantage my son hadn’t turned down, and it had served him well because his recruiter told him he scored in the top one percent of recruits, the final step in securing the Special Operations contract he wanted.
I loved that my children had a great relationship with my brother, his wife, and their kids. Not only did they grow up with all of their hounds of hellfire cousins, but Arlen and I made sure our children spent time with each other, even though there was almost an entire country between our homes.
Pax squeezed my shoulder and brushed a kiss against my temple. “Running into a burning building is a hell of a lot less scary than having him ship off halfway across the world to do shit we’ll never be able to know about.”
“It sure is,” I agreed, finally understanding how hard it had been for our parents when Arlen enlisted. Sending my baby boy off to boot camp had been one of the most difficult things I’d ever done, and I knew it would only get harder after he made it through all of his training to become a SEAL.
Although I’d done all of this many years ago with Arlen, it hit differently as a mother than a sister. Along with Pax, Arlen had been my rock throughout the whole process. That was why he and his wife sat on my other side for the Pass-In-Review.
Even with Arlen being a former SEAL, we couldn’t get enough tickets for the whole family with so many divisions graduating.
So the rest of my children, as well as my nieces and nephews, were at the hotel with our Hounds of Hellfire family, waiting to celebrate Len’s achievement once the graduation ceremony was over.
“Our boy knows how to handle himself,“ he reminded me.
“I know.“ I sighed. “It’s just that no matter how big and strong and skilled he gets, he will always be my baby.”
Len grew up differently than most of the other recruits he’d been at boot camp with.
Between his dad, my brother, and all the guys in the club, he had learned a lot about guns, knives, computers, self-defense, and a ton of other unusual skills—like rappelling off a building.
I knew that he could handle himself better than probably every other kid there, but it only offered so much comfort to this worried mom.
“I get that.“
I tilted my head back to flash him a soft smile. “I know you do.”
Pax had been struggling with how grown up our girls were lately.
Potentially going off to war was different than them dating boys, but there was no convincing him of that.
Vanessa, Gentry, and Corrie wrapped him around their little fingers from the moment they were born.
He’d given them just about everything they ever wanted, as long as it didn’t put them at risk.
Right up until Vanessa got asked out by a boy the first time and wanted to go… with Gentry not too far behind her.
Pax lost his mind over the idea of his baby girls going anywhere with boys he didn’t know and hadn’t wanted to be reasonable about it, no matter how much they’d begged.
Luckily for Vanessa and Gentry, Len had offered to do double dates so he’d be there keeping an eye on his baby sisters.
That’d settled Pax down enough to agree, much to the girls’ chagrin, because they knew their big brother would scare their dates almost as much as their dad.
But even with how protective Len was of them, they were as sad to see him leave for boot camp as we were.
The same was true for Corrie and Isiah—and all the other Hounds of Hellfire kids they’d grown up with.
Which was why there were fifty people waiting at the hotel to celebrate this moment with Len.
“You holding it together, sis?” Arlen asked.
I hadn’t realized the tears I’d been trying to hold back were streaming down my cheeks until I turned toward him to nod, and my sister-in-law stretched her arm over his lap to pat my knee. I’d been thrilled when my big brother finally fell head over heels in love and built a family of his own.
“Barely.”
Arlen bumped his broad shoulder against mine. “Len is doing great. By the time he’s deployed, he’ll have a fuck ton of skills and a team behind him who’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he’s safe.”
I took comfort from his reassurance. If anyone was in a position to know how well Len had done during boot camp, it was my brother.
Several times over the past two months, he’d used his connections to check in on my son’s progress and given me more of an update than the little Len had shared with us during his scheduled phone call periods.
“I know, but it’s hard to see him as a future SEAL when he’s my baby. ”
“You did good, sis. Mom and Dad would’ve been so damn proud.”
There was no holding back the tears after that. Or when Lynn came over and gave me a hug. It wasn’t until we piled into the rental SUV to head over to the hotel for the party that I finally got myself under control. Just in time for the festivities.