Chapter 4 #2
“We’ve been assigned a room with bunks. Eight of them.
We’re only using six. We would be honored if you and Bowie bunked in with us for the rest of the trip to Norfolk.
It’ll probably take another six days or so, and it doesn’t sit well with me—or anyone else sitting at this table—that you have to carry your belongings around in that duffel bag just so they don’t get stolen.
I realize this is highly unusual, and I’ll need to get approval, but I promise that you and Bowie will be completely safe with us.
No one will lay a finger on you. And certainly no one will steal your things. ”
Pyro had always enjoyed working with Casper. He was a great leader, an amazing pilot, and a very good friend. And now he was showing that he was compassionate and sensitive on top of everything else.
“Uh…wow. Won’t your girlfriend think it’s weird that we’re in there with you and she isn’t? I mean, I’m assuming she isn’t.”
“Laryn’s hours are crazy, and it’s important to her that she’s with her crew while on the job. So she prefers to bunk in with them. And she will absolutely have no problem with you and Bowie staying in our room, especially once she hears why,” Casper said, looking Penny in the eye.
“There’s a women’s bathroom right down the hall, and I’m guessing the lines for showers won’t be as long as the ones you’re using now and sharing with all the evacuees,” Buck added.
“And while the bunks aren’t luxurious, I bet they’re a little better than the cots,” Obi-Wan said.
“Better?” Bowie breathed. She was holding her half-eaten Twix bar in one hand, getting melted chocolate all over her fingers, and moving her attention from one person to the next as they spoke. If he didn’t know better, Pyro might have thought she could actually see them.
“Mommy, did you hear that? The beds are better. I didn’t think that was possible because my cot is super comfortable!”
It hurt Pyro’s heart that the little girl thought the cot she was sleeping on was so cozy.
“I don’t know,” Penny said. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. I think we’re supposed to stay where we are.”
“There aren’t any guarantees that it’ll be allowed, but I’m going to make sure the colonel knows that you were stolen from,” Casper said. “You might have to speak to him in person, to let him know that you’d like to move, that we didn’t coerce you.”
“You’ll be safe with us,” Edge said gently. “You and your daughter. We give you our word as Night Stalkers.”
“I…thank you,” Penny said softly.
“Yay!” Bowie exclaimed with a huge smile on her face as she bounced in her seat.
Pyro wanted to add his reassurances along with his friends, but he found that he’d been holding his breath instead, hoping against hope that she’d say yes.
Why it was so important to him that both Penny and Bowie be in their bunk room, safe, he couldn’t say.
And now that she’d tentatively agreed, he felt his breath whooshing out in an audible exhale.
“You said…you said we were headed to Norfolk? And we should get there in a week or so?” Penny asked.
Casper frowned. “Yeah. Weren’t you told?”
Penny shrugged. “There was a meeting, but I couldn’t hear what was being said very well because we were late and I was in the back. The hangar isn’t great on acoustics, and a lot of people were mumbling and talking and complaining.”
“What’s acoustics?” Bowie asked.
“Don’t interrupt, baby. We’ll talk about it later, okay?”
“Sorry. Okay.”
Penny ran her hand over Bowie’s tangled dark hair and turned back to Casper. “I heard from others that we might be headed to the States, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get there.”
“Yeah, this ship’s been at sea for over six months, and they paused to let us fulfill our mission of the evacuations. Now it’s headed home to Norfolk.”
“I’m sure everyone onboard is excited to be going home after so long at sea,” Penny said.
“Mommy, Casper keeps saying a bad word,” Bowie whispered in a not-very-low tone. “Why is he allowed to say it but I can’t?”
Pyro did his best to hide his grin with his hand, but Penny saw it and rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Norfolk is the name of a city, honey. It’s spelled N-o-r-f-o-l-k. He isn’t saying that bad word.”
“But he is,” Bowie insisted. “And you said it too.”
Penny closed her eyes and sighed.
“Can I say it too then? Norfolk, Norfolk, Norfolk.”
“That’s enough, Bowie,” she said sternly.
“I’ve always said it like this, Nor-fick,” Pyro told the little girl.
“Nor-fick. I like that,” she declared. “We should all say it that way and not the naughty way.”
The little girl sounded so adamant that everyone around the table couldn’t help but grin.
“Nor-fick it is,” Casper said.
“Mommy, will I be able to go to school when we get to Nor-fick? Or will they not want me there because I’m too hard to teach?”
“What the hell?” Buck muttered.
Of course, Bowie heard him. “That’s a bad word too. You shouldn’t say it,” she informed him.
Penny opened her mouth to respond to her daughter, but Pyro beat her to it.
He couldn’t stand the thought of Bowie thinking she wasn’t good enough to be in school.
“You’re not hard to teach. You’re the smartest little girl I know.
” He wasn’t going to tell her that she was the only little girl he knew.
“How many other people do you know who could navigate this ship without being able to see? Not me.”
“Me either,” Obi-Wan chimed in. The others all added their agreements.
“Why would you think people wouldn’t want you in school?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Oddly, instead of being candid, as she’d been around him so far, Bowie looked toward her mom.
Penny sighed. “The people in the village we lived in were uncomfortable around her because she can’t see. The teachers all thought it would be too hard to teach her. That it would take too much time away from the other kids.”
“Put your hands over your ears, Bowie. Right now, please,” Pyro ordered.
To his surprise, the little girl immediately complied.
As soon as her ears were covered, Pyro said in a low, angry tone, “That’s bullshit.”
“It is. But I didn’t have any other recourse. I did my best with her when I got home from work, but as you can see, she’s very social and misses playing with other kids. She’s comfortable around adults, but she’s wary around kids now, because the ones in the village weren’t very nice to her.”
“I can’t imagine anyone being mean to Bowie. She’s awesome,” Chaos said.
“Can I listen yet?” Bowie asked in a too-loud voice.
In response, Penny lowered her daughter’s arms. “We’ll find you the perfect school, sweetheart. You’ll go every day and get so smart, you’ll leave your mom in the dust.”
“Will the kids…will they like me?” Bowie asked. “I mean, even though I can’t see?”
“They’re going to love you,” Casper told her earnestly. “How could they not? You’re cute, and nice, and you’re the best share-er I’ve ever met.”
“I am. Mommy taught me that it’s better to be kind than mean.”
“She’s very smart,” Edge agreed.
“She’s the smartest person in the world, and I want to be just like her when I grow up.”
“Hey, Bowie. You want a tour of the ship? I’d be honored to take you around,” Casper said.
“Yes!” she said without hesitation.
“I’d like to replace the things that were stolen,” Pyro said, seeing a chance to get Penny alone, so he could reassure her if she had any concerns about moving into their bunk room. “And maybe get you both some new shoes. I would’ve gotten them before, but I didn’t know your sizes.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she said softly.
“I know I don’t. But I want to.”
“I’ll take good care of Bowie,” Casper said.
She stared at the other man for a long time before giving him a small nod.
“Mommy? Can I go?”
“Yes. But you hold on to his hand at all times. And don’t backtalk. And do whatever he tells you to do. He knows this ship much better than we do, and if he thinks something is dangerous, you should believe him. Okay?”
“Okay! Can we go now?”
Casper chuckled. “Sure. You want to meet my girlfriend, Laryn? I’m sure she’d love to meet you.”
“Hang on a sec, Bowie, let me clean off your hands. I’m sure Casper doesn’t want you holding on to him with that melted chocolate all over you.” Penny cleaned off her daughter’s fingers with a napkin. “Okay, all done.”
Bowie was out of her chair in a heartbeat. But instead of walking around the table toward Casper, she pushed her way between Pyro and her mom and threw her arms around him. “Thanks, Kylo-Pyro,” she said against his chest.
Pyro embraced the child without hesitation. “For what, Bowie-Bear?”
“For the shoes. And the chocolate. And for making my mommy feel safe. Her voice is different now than it was before. I can hear it when she talks to you. So thank you!”
Pyro’s throat grew tight. “You’re welcome.” He glanced up at Penny and saw such an immense look of love on her face as she stared at her daughter, it felt like he was seeing a personal moment he had no business witnessing.
“Where do you want to meet back up with us?” Penny asked Casper.
Bowie moved to hug her mom, then made her way around the table toward Casper.
“How about back at our bunk room?”
“I can take your belongings there now,” Edge said. “So you don’t have to carry it around.”
Casper winked at Penny. “And I’ll take Bowie with me when I talk to the colonel. He won’t be able to resist her.”
Everyone kind of chuckled at that.
“I don’t know what to say,” Penny said.
“Say thank you!” Bowie exclaimed cheerfully.
Penny smiled. “Thank you,” she dutifully recited.
“Can we go now? Please please please?”
“Use your manners, Bowie,” her mom warned. “Be on your best behavior. I’ll be getting a full report from Casper when you return from your tour.”
“I’ll be good, Mommy. Promise.”
Everyone stood—and Pyro was suddenly nervous to be alone with Penny.
He realized he’d only been around her when Bowie was there too.
But he was nervous in a good way. He had questions, things he’d been dying to talk to her about but not with Bowie around, because he didn’t want to say something little ears shouldn’t hear. And Bowie’s ears heard everything.
“Bye, Mommy!”
“Bye, sweetheart. Have fun.”
Bowie skipped at Casper’s side, her little hand in his as he led them out of the mess hall.
“I’m gonna head out too, unless you need help?” Obi-Wan asked.
“I’ve got it, thanks,” Pyro said.
After dropping off their empty trays, everyone headed out of the mess hall and went their own ways. And then Pyro was alone with Penny for the first time. They stood in the hallway, staring at each other for a long moment.
“It feels weird to not have Bowie at my side. I mean, she’s super independent but, as you can imagine, the last couple of weeks have been stressful and we haven’t spent any time away from each other,” Penny said after a moment.
“She’s in good hands with Casper. It’ll give him practice for when his own child, or children, are born.”
“He’s having more than one?”
“Maybe. He’s a twin, and they run in his family.”
“Oh, that’s fun!”
“And stressful. He and Laryn are still trying to figure out childcare and what to do about their jobs when the baby is born,” Pyro admitted. He gestured down the hall, indicating that they should walk and talk.
She nodded and stepped in the direction he indicated as she said, “Oh, yeah, that would be hard, since she’s deployed at the same time you guys are.”
“Exactly. Anyway, Casper will tire Bowie out, so she’ll hopefully sleep well tonight.”
“She’s a great sleeper anyway, thank goodness. Always has been. But yeah, she’s been cooped up for a while. And she really likes all of you. I can tell in her voice. And she wouldn’t offer up her precious Twix bar to just anyone.”
“She’s a good kid. You’re obviously an amazing mom, Penny.”
“Thanks. It hasn’t been easy, and half the time I have no idea what I’m doing.
I just know I want her childhood to be the polar opposite of what mine was.
Sometimes I think I’m failing miserably.
But then she goes and does something so sweet, like with the candy bar, and I think I have to be doing something right. ”
It was a good opening to ask some of the questions Pyro had rolling around in his brain, after hearing some of the things she’d said. “I want to ask something, but I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.”
She stopped in the hall and looked up at him. “I’m not easily offended, Pyro. Ask.”
He so wanted to jump right in, but decided she needed some background first. Pyro wasn’t even sure why he was bringing this up.
It wasn’t as if it made any difference in the grand scheme of things.
He wouldn’t treat her any differently, but his curiosity had always been one of his biggest flaws…
at least, that’s what all his foster parents had told him.
“Want to go sit in the library and talk? They have some private rooms people use for video calls with their loved ones back home. They’ve got comfortable chairs, and we can go there and chat. If you wanted. But if not, that’s okay too.”
“I’d love that. To just sit and relax for a moment. Thanks.”
He had a brief reprieve to think of the best way to broach the topics he’d wanted to discuss without Bowie overhearing.
His brain was working overtime, and he had a strong compulsion to help this woman and her child…
if she’d let him. He understood pride, but he hoped she’d accept his help, if only for Bowie’s sake.
He steered Penny toward the library, hoping against hope they’d find one of the private rooms open.
He was looking forward to getting to know the woman at his side a little better.
Doing so would either deepen the connection he already felt with her, and hopefully make her feel the same.
Or he’d realize he was simply feeling responsible for her because she’d been in his chopper during the evacuation.
The latter was doubtful, because there were lots of people he’d rescued, both in Gabon and in his past. And he’d never felt such an instant attraction toward any of them. Hadn’t ever bought them clothing and treats from the commissary. Hadn’t wanted to introduce them to his friends.
Hadn’t desperately hoped he’d get to see them again, once they arrived back in the States.
Penny Burns was different, and he wanted to know everything about her. He could only hope she felt even a tenth of the same.