It was as if he was living in a dream…

He never expected this… not in a million years…

His men had conspired together to get him something special… and, he had a feeling that they would do this to him.  All of the times he got his chance to get out of Afghanistan, he deferred it to a more deserving ‘younger’ soldier with a new wife or new baby at home.  He had neither…

His kids weren’t really ‘babies’ anymore per se, and he had been with his significant other for more than 10 years now, unmarried and loving it.  Though he missed his family desperately, he knew that they would understand why he didn’t come home.  But, he had reminders of them everywhere.  Photos of his kids and his lover were strategically placed in his ‘office’ for him to see… most were over a year old, yet he didn’t care.  Just seeing their smiling faces was all he needed.  Every so often, he’d get a video feed from his lover back home, and it was like magic. 

As he woke up at 0500 morning, he took in a deep breath and looked at his surroundings.  Every morning for the past year, he awoke to camouflage green and khaki everything; he smelled the dull scent of gunpowder and smoke; and, the person sleeping next to him in the next cot was his second-in-command.  This time tomorrow, he would be in a bedroom with the smell of coffee, sawdust and musk in his nose, and the warm body next to him sleeping would be the one of his lover, his partner, his heart…

Standing there next to his cot in his military-issue green boxers, he stretched out, feeling every bone in his body creak and pop.  He was getting old… he knew it, his first sergeant knew it, even his lover knew it… maybe it was time to leave the Corps behind, to leave it behind for good.  He had filled out paperwork a month earlier for a status change, but had yet to hear back from anyone.  All he had received was the word that he was going back to the states on leave, but the time was undetermined at that point.

His kids were still growing up, and he wanted to be there for them, especially his youngest, Ryan.  He was overseas, when he found out that Tony was pregnant with him.  He was overseas, when he was born.  And, he was overseas, when he turned one.  He had seen him off & on, when he skyped with Tony, but it wasn’t the same.  The last time he was home for a while, Ryan wouldn’t even come near him.  It was as if his son didn’t know who he was… and, it was true… he really didn’t know his papa at all.  Thinking of that, a non-tough Marine moment happened:  tears welled up in his eyes, and a lone tear fell down his cheek.  He wiped it away before putting on his khaki military-issued tee shirt.

After getting fully dressed in desert camouflage uniform & boots and placing on his cover, he grabbed his packed duffel bag and moved out of his tent to a flurry of sirs and salutes from younger, noncom officers that were walking past him.  He strode up to a military green jeep, where a young soldier, a Lance Corporal Christian ‘C.C.’ Cormier, stood, awaiting his arrival.  The young man saluted the higher ranking staff noncom officer, before speaking up, “Sir… I’m here to take you to the airport…” “Thank you, Lance Corporal…” the older man replied, setting his bag in the backseat of the vehicle, before moving into the passenger seat.   He had said all of his farewells the night before… he didn’t like emotional goodbyes, at least not with his follow soldiers… 

XxxxxxXxxxxxX

When Gibbs reached the airfield at 0645, a C-130 was awaiting his arrival.  After retrieving his duffel bag from the jeep, he saluted LCPL Cormier and made his way over to the staff of the aircraft. One of the soldiers saluted him and handed him a sealed manila envelope with a white label that read his name:  ‘Master Gunnery Sergeant L.J. Gibbs’.  Finding a seat in the back of the plane, he sat the packet next to him, not wanting to see the ‘verdict’ within.  Hearing the planes’ large engines fired up, he strapped himself in, making sure that he was secured in his seat.  As the plane took off and made its way to the correct altitude, Gibbs opened up the manila envelope and pulled out a file also with his name on it.  Opening the folder, he read the paperwork slowly and had no reaction to it.  He already knew what it said before he even opened it:  “GRANTED”. Placing the folder back into the manila covering by his side, he settled in for the 6 hour flight to Italy.

XxxxxxXxxxxxX

After a mandatory stop in Italy to pick up a group of soldiers and gain more fuel, the C-130 took off again at 1415 on its way to its destination:  NAS Oceana.  Gibbs took it upon himself to get in some sleep between Italy and the U.S., since it would take almost 9 hours to get there.  He knew that when the plane landed in Virginia, it would be around 2330 hours (or 11:30pm).  He could sleep through anything, including loud talking, especially coming from the 6 Army soldiers around him (all of them young and going back to the states), who were too excited to get any sleep themselves. Four hours into the flight, one of the soldiers accidently nudged him, waking him abruptly.  He looked over at the young soldier, who was a mere PFC, and glared sleepily, wondering why he was roused early.  The poor kid looked back at him in shock and only responded nervously with “I am so sorry, sir… I didn’t mean to nudge you, sir… I’ll shut up now, sir… please go back to sleep, sir… I’m so sorry, sir…” As the young soldier turned around with his back to Gibbs, all the old Marine could do was smile.  He was gonna miss making the new soldiers scared on their first day, but he wasn’t going to miss the long times away from his family.  He couldn’t wait to see them… he couldn’t wait to tell them his news… he just couldn’t wait.  Closing his eyes again, he drifted off to sleep, thinking off his lover, their four children, and the happy life they were now going to have together for once..

To Be Continued??