Chapter 14
14
CHERRY
Two months later…
“C’mon Cherry!” Jeremy whined from outside the bathroom like the world was falling apart around him. “We’re gonna be laaaate…”
“We’re not going to be late,” she quickly countered, looking at her reflection in the mirror once more and hesitating with a critical eye. When Evan left, she had brown wavy hair that went past her shoulder blades and had been thin, almost unhealthy, because it was expensive to eat a halfway decent meal, and now her hair was short, very short, and had a bit of uncontrollable curl to it on top that she never paid attention to – until now. Her clothes were a bit snugger, her face had softened, and her flat chest was now at least an A-cup in her cotton bra.
Whee .
Frowning, she shoved the Ziploc bag back into her bra in a panic, feeling completely uncomfortable with her appearance. Turning to the side, she looked at her profile and rolled her eyes. Yanking the pudding bag back out, she stared at it, and looked down at her chest.
Pudding… or no pudding?
Would Evan even notice or care?
“Cherryyyy!”
“I’m hurrying!” she retorted emphatically. “It takes time for girls to make themselves pretty before an event – and for some of us – it takes foreverrrr,” she exaggerated, mocking him.
“You’re beautiful, and you don’t have to do anything, Cherry.”
Cherry yanked open the door at his words – and Jeremy slapped his hands over his eyes with a shriek.
“My eyes!”
“There’s nothing to see, J-Dude. I’m wearing a sports bra, and I’ve seen people in much less at the beach. What do you mean, ‘I’m beautiful’? I’m just me – but with short hair.”
“You’re my mom…”
“Then don’t look at me like a guy. You’re my stepson, and I should have never cut off my hair. If a girl doesn’t have looks, then all she has to work with is her hair, brains, and her boobs. I’m currently missing four key items right now, so forgive me if I’m a little nervous.”
“Shut the door! Shut the door! I can’t believe you said ‘boobs’…”
Cherry chuckled and shut the door, hearing his avid sigh of relief followed by another knock.
“Can we go – please? I wanna see the carrier pull in, and we made our sign. Besides, the short hair was our thing, remember?”
“I remember,” she whispered, looking at her reflection again, then down at her sports bra once more… before pulling the Ziploc pouches of pudding out slowly. “If this is real, he’s going to have to get used to this anyhow, I suppose.”
“I love your hair, Cherry,” Jeremy volunteered from the hallway. “I think it’s pretty, and you’ve got a beautiful smile – THAT SHOULD BE ON THE PIER HOLDING OUR SIGNS.”
Chuckling at the exasperation in Jeremy’s voice, she smiled. Shrugging on a very patriotic, light, short-sleeved sweater, she let out a heavy sigh before opening the door. Jeremy slapped his hands over his eyes again before letting out an exclamation.
“Whew… at least you’re dressed.”
“Don’t repeat that to anyone else. I was dressed a minute ago.”
“Barely.”
“You couldn’t see anything if you tried.”
“I don’t wanna…”
“And I’m never going to show you either,” she retorted bluntly. “There are lines we don’t cross in this life, Tiger – and that is a big one. Trust me, if you ever see me in something skimpy, just know that it’s something I’d strut down the middle of the street in because it’s not embarrassing.”
“Says you…” he muttered with wide eyes, looking away.
“Says me,” she chuckled, pinching his chin and looking at him – only for him to yank his face away again, but this time she saw his excited smile. “Let’s go welcome your daddy home.”
“He’s going to be so excited.”
“I know – and that’s why I put the roast in the crockpot. So we can stay home, relax, and be together without having to leave to go get something. I think he’s going to want to kick off his shoes and hug his son until he can’t stand it anymore, which is never, by the way.”
Jeremy laughed easily and hugged her.
“I love you, Cherry.”
“I love you too, sweetie,” she said softly, smoothing his hair. “Let’s go scream and shout, waving our signs like insane people.”
They picked up their posterboard signs they’d made last week and curled them gently to keep them from getting messed up. She had made this long walk last night with Jeremy to burn off some energy and parked Evan’s car. She had parked it down by the airstrip, putting them a little bit closer so they didn’t have to walk as far to make their getaway during the rush of people today.
Was she supposed to park there? Noooo, but with all the ‘ Navy Pilot ’ stickers, the ‘ I’d rather be flying ,’ and ‘ Blue Angels ’ bumper stickers – surely they wouldn’t tow him… would they? She fully expected a parking violation – and for the car to be there today.
And it was, she thought as they passed by, trudging along as the carrier was entering the basin. That was probably the only thing keeping Jeremy going right now. If he hadn’t seen the massive ship, he would have been whining about his feet hurting or walking so far – but this would be worth it. Seeing all the cars, all of the people driving around like crazy trying to get closer to ‘C’ pier where they were headed, and the excitement in the distance as the destroyer was offloading their crew…
Yeah, it would definitely be worth whatever parking ticket she got, she thought happily as a happy cheer split the air. The first sailors were disembarking from the destroyer nearby.
“Look, Jeremy,” she said, pointing. “The tugboats are going out to guide the carrier into position.”
“We’re gonna be late…”
“We’re going to get there with perfect timing. I promise.”
As the ship drew closer and closer, Cherry and Jeremy finally arrived at where the throng of families were waiting. There were so many people there, so many strollers, children, families. Some were already crying with excitement, others were waving frantically like they had spotted their sailor, and this had her laughing.
They all looked alike from a distance.
“Let’s stand over here,” Jeremy said, yanking her hand toward the fence. “There’s nobody over this way. and it will be easier for Daddy to notice us.”
“Jeremy, I don’t know if he…,” and the words faded as her eyes scanned across the ship, stopping immediately on one person. Tears sprang to her eyes as she recognized that confident stance and the way he held himself. Shoulders back, hands tucked behind him, chin up in this arrogant manner that seemed to make Evan larger than life. “I see your daddy, Jeremy.”
“Where?!”
Cherry knelt beside him, pointing up at the flight deck of the ship where a line of sailors in dress uniforms were waiting. “Do you see where the flags look like they nearly touch the ship over here? There, over by the jets, is…”
“I SEE MY DADDY!” Jeremy screamed excitedly – and promptly started crying. It was so hard for the little boy to be away from the only person he’d ever known. She couldn’t imagine the strength that her little man had deep down inside of him, because even six months ago he hadn’t cried like this. No, this was an overwhelming rush of relief that was uncontrollable – and she understood.
Cherry knelt, drawing Jeremy into her arms, and held him while he cried, only for him to turn away, pointing and telling everyone standing near them a few feet away that he spotted his father on the ship.
“Here,” she whispered, smoothing his hair and wiping his cheeks. “Look at me, J-Dude… look how proud your daddy is. Let’s show him how much you have grown and how beautiful these posters are – okay?”
They both uncurled their posters and held them up, waving them excitedly. Jeremy started dancing along, shaking his butt, and jumping up and down with his sign, and she saw Evan’s stance crack as he turned to the man next to him, pointing down at them. He turned slightly and held up a hand as if to say ‘hello’ before resuming his stance again.
A horn sounded, and she heard some announcement in the distance that seemed like a bunch of gibberish to her and then saw a man leave the ship. He ran down the gangplank like his life depended on it and met a woman below on the ground, picking her up and kissing her, and Cherry sighed with envy.
Now, that was sweet.
It also seemed to unlock something with all the sailors as they relaxed their stance and seemed to melt away from their positions, moving forward. A sea of uniforms began to come down the gangplank and immerse themselves into the crowd as a cheer split the air.
The sailors were home.
“Where’d my daddy go?” Jeremy said distractedly, looking around in almost a panic. “Is he stuck on the ship?”
“No. I’m sure he’s on his way here.”
“Should we go find him?”
“No, we should stay put. He’ll come to us. Just hold up your sign and…”
Her breath caught as she met Evan’s eyes over some of the heads of people around them. A wide smile split his face, and she immediately turned to Jeremy.
“He’s coming… look!”
“DADDY!” Jeremy shrieked and ran for Evan, who immediately scooped him up like he was a toddler and not a young boy. Jeremy’s arms wrapped around Evan’s neck as he stood still for a moment, burying his face against his son’s shoulder, hugging him.
It was so beautiful to see their bond, their reunion, that immediately Cherry’s eyes began to sting once more as tears threatened to spill over, only to see Evan look up at her. He walked toward her deliberately, not hesitating or moving his son out of the way, and leaned toward her awkwardly dropping a gentle kiss on her lips.
“Thank you,” Evan said hoarsely. “For everything.”
“Of course,” she replied nervously, not sure what she should say or do next – only to have Evan tug her forward into his arms, too. The three of them stood there, holding each other close and being bumped by several other excited families before she heard his soft laugh.
“Shall we go home? I feel like a ping pong ball.”
“Yes.”
“Cherry and I made these signs.”
“They’re perfect,” Evan praised Jeremy as he interrupted them, needing to be the focus of his father’s attention. She understood completely and didn’t blame him at all. Besides, that strange soft kiss wasn’t exactly what she expected from him; but then again, what did she expect? They were friends on paper, married on paper, but practically strangers in real life and thrown together by a desperate need.
A need that was no longer there, just like you suspected…
Nervously, she pulled back and fidgeted, pointing in the direction of the buildings in the distance.
“I parked your car over there so we wouldn’t be in this chaotic mess.”
“That was smart.”
“We did lots of cool things while you were gone,” Jeremy chimed in again as Evan set him down. The two held hands, and Cherry felt like a third wheel, turning to walk toward the car, only to feel someone grab her hand. Her eyes met Evan’s as he smiled tenderly at her.
“I love your haircut,” he breathed, his eyes darting over her face as if he was taking in all of the changes that had occurred in six months – and again, Jeremy interrupted.
“We got our haircut together each time. It was Cherry’s idea to get it cut first, but then it became our thing. We go to see Mr. Jerry at the barbershop, get our hair cut, get suckers, and then go shopping.”
“That sounds like a great plan,” Evan replied indulgently, turning to look at his son. “Maybe I can go see Mr. Jerry next time with you guys.”
“Yeah!”
Evan leaned toward her, whispering in her ear. “I missed you…” and her eyes shot up to meet his as she smiled tearfully.
“I missed you too.”
“I missed you the most-est, Daddy!” Jeremy volunteered, causing the two of them to chuckle as they shared a knowing look. The little boy was starved for his father’s attention, and they both knew it.
She nodded, almost silently acknowledging that she would take the back seat for a bit as he murmured ‘Thank you’ again – but didn’t let go of her hand. The trio walked to the car, Jeremy talking the entire time about anything and everything now that he had his favorite audience member back home.
It was nearly forty minutes before they got back to the house on base because traffic was so congested. Jeremy was still regaling his father about school, the projects they worked on, and how happy he was to see him… and Cherry remained quiet as Evan simply held her hand on the center console between them.
When they got to the house, Jeremy again took command of the situation. He sprung out of the car, opened Evan’s door, and dragged him toward the house, yelling ‘C’mon Cherry!’ haphazardly behind him. It was strange, feeling like an afterthought now, but Evan coming back had been at the center of both of their worlds, so maybe she created this by accident?
As she walked up to the house where the duo had already disappeared, she saw Evan standing at the doorway – waiting.
“You can go on inside,” she uttered nervously. “It’s your house. You don’t have to wait on me or…” Evan quickly reached out and scooped her up in his arms like it was nothing. Every fiber, every cell within her, sighed in awareness, and she nearly purred like a kitten.
“I’m home,” he whispered, not looking away from her. “And I plan on carrying my bride over the threshold since I neglected to do that six months ago.”
“Oh…”
“Hi,” he breathed.
“Hi,” she managed to strangle out, feeling the flare of attraction between them as he carried her in before setting her down on her feet. She stood there, holding his gaze, as Jeremy rushed between the two of them, holding up two new Transformers that she bought him for his birthday.
“Daddy, look! I got Prowl and Starscream.”
“I see that.”
“But you aren’t looking…”
“Oh, I’m definitely looking,” Evan whispered, and Cherry felt her face flush with awareness, looking away shyly from the longing in his eyes.
“I should go check on the roast,” she began, excusing herself, only to feel Evan touch her elbow.
“Don’t run,” he breathed. “Let me handle this – and then we’ll have all night to talk uninterrupted. Maybe we can have some hot tea together, split a beer, open a bottle of wine, whatever you need to relax.”
“I’d like that.”
“It’s four o’clock,” he began, checking his watch. “Gimme four hard hours wearing him out - please. We’ve waited six months to talk about things face to face. Can you give me four hours?”
There was such a raw candidness in his voice and a parental understanding they both shared that she couldn’t help but chuckle. They were going to have to make sure Jeremy was exhausted this evening, or there would be no peace to discuss things, possible changes, or their budding relationship – if there was one.
“Always,” she replied, nodding.