Chapter 9 Minnow
Oh, The Trickery! . . .
Vic got my ass good. He knew that I was dick dizzy after sex. I never thought I would be the type of female to be dick dizzy. I guess it was alright to be that way for the right man.
With the way things had been since the unfortunate farm event, I understood why he wanted me to go to his support group with him. That didn’t mean that I wanted to go. He had gone every week since it happened.
Pop Carl’s heart attack scared the hell out of everyone. He was doing much better, but Ma Vicky still wanted to go upside Mrs. Cook’s head. She did at the hospital and one time at the diner. Pop told her to chill. He was the only person who could tame her.
I didn’t feel any kind of way about the lives that were lost. Some would say that I might be desensitized, but I didn’t feel as though I was.
I handled hostiles as I was trained to do so.
When I saw that boy Kevin in town, I knew that he would be a problem.
I just never imagined that it would show itself like it did.
The event did trigger a few nightmares and night sweats. I honestly thought that Vic would have asked me well before now to go to his support group meeting.
“I knew this was a damn trap. I got dickmatized.” I pointed my finger at him. “You got me good.”
This man still had his dick in me while he asked this favor. The unmitigated gall of him. He cupped my face, then pulled my lips to his. “I love you, baby. I just want you to come and see what it’s about. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to come back, love.”
I sighed. “When is the meeting? I might have something to do.”
He stared at me blankly. “Minnow, don’t play with me, love. It’s on Thursdays at 1900. You know I love you and appreciate you for coming with me. It means a lot to have you there with me, for me.”
It means a lot to have you there with me, for me. It never dawned on me to go with him to the meeting as a support to him. Yes, I didn’t want to go for me, but I could go for him. “I’ll be there. You didn’t have to trick me with the dick though.”
His head fell back with laughter at the same time that his dick hardened again inside of me. My pussy responded instantly. With a seductive tone, he said, “Allow me and my dick to apologize.”
Do You Feel Supported? . . .
The venue for the Veteran Support Group meeting did not disappoint.
It was in the community room of the community center.
It was cold. There were metal folding chairs, coffee, and an assortment of donuts, cookies, and cakes.
Now, had Vic told me that Mama Vicky made the cakes for these meetings, I might have been here sooner.
I sat next to Vic with my legs crossed and my attention on my plate of lemon pound cake. I looked around at the diverse group of people. “Sitting in a circle feels real therapy-ish,” I mumbled.
“You’ll be alright. It’s nothing more than a bunch of vets talking. Stop eating all that pound cake before my baby comes out with lemon on the brain,” he said with a smirk.
We hadn’t confirmed that I was pregnant, but he was convinced that I was. I didn’t know either way. “Whatever, Vic. It’s the lemon pound cake that’s keeping me here.”
The facilitator cleared his throat. Based on what Vic told me before we got here, he was a former Navy SEAL. “We have a few new faces, so I’ll quickly go over the rules. Keep it confidential and respectful. Share if you want to. Pass if you want to. I’m just happy that you’re here,” he said.
I half listened as we went around in a circle and everyone said whatever they wanted to say. I zoned back in when we got to Vic.
“I’m Victor. Army. Retired.” That was all that he said. I expected him to say more, but he didn’t.
Some of the others talked about their deployments, medals, wars, and stuff like that. Not Vic. It was all simple for him. I loved how humble he was.
The heat of everyone’s eyes on me made me feel uncomfortable. Oh, it’s my turn. I would take his lead. “Winters. Army. Medically retired.”
When Vic said it, it sounded different. It sounded honorable, but when I said it, it sounded small. I didn’t like that.
“It’s nice to meet you, Winters,” the facilitator said with a small smile. “What brings you here tonight?”
Now, he didn’t ask anyone else why they were here. He gets to me and he has questions. I peeked at Vic, who didn’t try to look at me. Oh, I had something for his ass later. I knew him well enough to know that he would be hands off to let me control the situation. My man was not overbearing.
“I’ve been having a little bit of a sleeping problem.” I kept it short and sweet. They didn’t need a bunch of details. I was sure they knew what that meant.
A woman in a camo hat across from me shook her head. “Those night sweats are a bitch. I own more sheets than I own panties.”
I chuckled unintentionally. “I can relate to that. Your mattress cover cost almost as much as the mattress.”
Everyone tittered. “Having dreams?” a guy with a prosthetic from his knee down asked from the other side of Vic.
“Um, you can say that, I guess.” I glanced at Vic who finally looked at me. He nodded like he knew my silent question to give me his silent permission. “Um, a little while back, something happened that kind of put me in the mindset of a mission, and it triggered a lot of stuff.”
The facilitator nodded. “Vic, is this the same thing that you told us about that started you coming back?” After he confirmed that it was, the facilitator nodded again. “I can only imagine what was going through your mind when that happened.”
“Yes, it’s different when you’re over there and have to protect your squad from hostiles. You don’t come home and think you’ll have to do it. Then for it to be unruly kids,” another one of the vets, who identified themselves as a Marine said.
I nodded. “Yeah, it is. Vic suggested—well, more like tricked, but that’s another topic—that I come.”
More titters. “Dawson, you shouldn’t trick your lady,” the facilitator said with a chuckle. “Winters, regardless of how you got here, we’re happy that you’re here. Let’s move on.”
He moved on to the next person. Vic leaned over toward me. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
No, it wasn’t. The conversations varied from fireworks during the holidays, scanning rooftops, spouses and romantic partners that didn’t understand how their actions could trigger, and an assortment of other things.
I just listened during most of the topics.
I did chime in during the scan conversation.
Before the farm thing, I scanned less than I did before I got to Plasters. I was back to it again.
By the end of the meeting, I felt better about my attendance. It wasn’t to say that I would be back, but I wasn’t completely opposed to it now.
A Little Time Later
The Joy of Staying Late . . .
I was pissed. I felt like my body gave up on me when I woke up this morning. That didn’t matter to me because work had to be done.
I got up, took my shower, got myself together, then went downstairs.
Vic enjoyed his cup of coffee like he always did.
I couldn’t even run with him this morning.
I slept through the alarm, and he let me.
This man watched me eat breakfast, had normal conversation with me, then had the audacity to ask me where I thought I was going when it was time to leave.
This man that I loved told me that I couldn’t go to work because I was sick. The nerve of him. When I bucked against his little directive, he called Mama Vicky to come sit with me.
She was over here in less than ten minutes with Pop Carl. I felt a little better, but I understood why he didn’t want me in the butcher shop. I offered to help on the farm, and that got a hell no.
“Lil girl, if you don’t fix your face. That boy ’bout to be home. I ain’t never seen a girl so bratty about her lil man,” Mama Vicky said. She rolled her eyes while she cut vegetables at the kitchen island.
My mouth dropped. “Mama! You think I’m bratty?”
She chuckled, put her knife down, then gazed at me.
“You are when it comes to my boy. There ain’t nothing wrong with that.
That means you feel safe with him so you can be soft.
Baby, when you first got here, you was so tough.
The world was on ya shoulders. You was a soldier in a battle against your own mind.
“Slowly, you trusted. Slowly, you opened up. Slowly, you let us love you. Now look at you . . . my soft, bratty daughter-in-law.” Her eyes matched the warmness of her smile.
It was such a fulfilling feeling to have people that loved you. I never thought that I would have a mother figure in my life. When we went on our horse rides, she poured into me so much in ways that I didn’t know I needed. “I never really thought about it like that.”
Vic did make me feel safe to be a person that I didn’t even know existed, a person that was hidden deep down that I never had a chance to let out. I damn sure didn’t feel safe to be soft when I was deployed. Even when I wasn’t deployed, I didn’t feel very safe.
In this chapter of my life, I could relax.
I knew that if I missed something, there would be someone right behind me to catch it.
Vic had me at a place where I didn’t have to do anything that I didn’t want to do.
I worked because I loved to work in the shop and on the farm.
He told me a while ago that I didn’t have to if I didn’t want to.
I glanced over my shoulder at Pop Carl, who was in the middle of a documentary that had his full attention. That man was serious about his documentaries. He was a quiet soul, but a firecracker all at the same time.
The alarm alert went off to let us know that the front door was opened. My man is home. When I heard Mama Vicky giggle, I glanced at her. She just shook her head with an arched brow. There was no need to ask what she thought. I wasn’t a mind reader, but I knew.
His footsteps were light, almost inaudible. My smile was as wide as the River when he came around the corner. He came straight to me where I sat at the island. His body leaned down so that he could wrap his arms around me. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey. How was work?” I kissed his lips. In a whisper, I said, “I missed you all day.”
He stood to his full height. “Hey, Mama and Pops. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
Mama Vicky waved him off. “You better speak to your rib first. You see ya daddy over there ain’t worried about you.”
We looked at Pop who was still stuck on his documentary. Mama called out to him. He glanced our way. “Hey, boy.”
He couldn’t be bothered. Vic and I laughed at his unbothered ass. Vic grabbed my hand. “Come with me, love.”
I followed him to our bedroom. He closed the door after we were in the room. When he turned to face me, I wrapped my arms around his waist. “You wanna take a shower together?”
He gave me that ‘I could have whatever I liked’ look. “We can certainly do that. First, I want you to take this though.”
He lifted a bag that I didn’t realize he had in his hand.
See, it was things like that. When I was around him, it was like I didn’t feel the need to be hypervigilant anymore.
The old me would have scanned him when he walked in from head to toe, and I would have seen the bag.
When he walked in today, all I saw was his face and smile.
“What is that?” I took the bag from him to pull out the contents. A pregnancy test. “I’m not surprised. Let’s see if that forty-two-year-old sperm still works.”
I turned to run off. I wasn’t fast enough, which made me burst into laughter when he caught me and threw me over his tall ass shoulders. He smacked my ass. “Yeah, we’re about to see.”
He put me down once I was in the bathroom.
I wasn’t shy around him, so I didn’t care that he stayed in the bathroom while I took the test. It didn’t take a very long time since I had to pee anyway.
I set the test on a disposable towel on the counter, and Vic set the timer before we went into the bedroom.
“So, what are you going to do when I make you a baby daddy, Dawson?” I asked him with a smirk.
His arm went around my waist, and he pulled me into his side where we sat on the bed. His other hand dug into his pocket. “I’m too old to be anyone’s baby daddy. I’ll be your husband though, Winters. Are you going to let me change that Winters to Dawson and be my forever?”
He moved his arm from around me so that he could open the ring box.
My eyes widened. It was the most beautiful marquise-shaped diamond buds set in vine-like metalwork that wound toward a center stone.
He knew that I liked white gold. I wasn’t sure if it was white gold or platinum. My words were caught in my throat.
“Baby, you gonna answer?” Vic’s voice brought me out of my daze.
My eyelids blinked rapidly. “Yes! Yes! I want to be your wife.”
He took the ring out of the box, then slid it on my finger. “We can have any kind of wedding you want. I want you to have whatever your heart desires.”
“Can we just have us on the farm with our family? I just want the people I love and the people who love us,” I told him.
I had no family. It was just the Dawsons.
When I was in the military, I wasn’t the friendliest person.
I didn’t attach myself to people. It was a trauma response from foster care.
My move to Plasters was the first time that I allowed myself to truly be loved.
It was the first time that it got late and I stayed.
The alarm went off. Vic and I both got up to see the result. I got to the counter first. He stepped behind me, then engulfed me in his arms. His lips went to my neck, then my ear. “That forty-two-year-old sperm got up in there and made it happen.”
He smacked my ass. He walked out of the bathroom, then out of the room. I heard him yell to his parents that I said yes and that I was pregnant. Pop abandoned his documentary for that news.
My life had changed so much in a little over a year.
I still had my issues that I dealt with, but thanks to Vic, I didn’t have to deal with them alone.
I had love to surround me in the times that it got dark.
In the times that it seemed too late to stay.
All I had to do was commit to the strength to stay.