Gun Gun Teddy Bear

She was sitting on the floor arranging her blocks. I flopped down in front of her and got a sloppy, berry-flavored smooch.

We started arranging her blocks. It's a game we play. She puts her blocks in an exact order and I mess them up, rearrange them in a crazy nonsense way. She gives me a mock angry scowl and puts them back.

Kimmi is just at that stage.

There's no harm in it, we're just having fun and she gets to practice her mad faces on me, knowing I won't be upset.

And knowing that I won't stop messing up her blocks.

We're like that for a long time. Hushed voices come from the kitchen and in the back of my mind I idly wonder how much Tina knows about Katie's struggle and how long Tina's husband will sit out there with his kids. I don't really care all that much.

They should just be thankful to be alive.

After a while hear two sets of steps to the door. One walking back from it. To Kimmi's doorway.

I give it as long as I can without pushing it. Then I look up at Katie. Her face is full of hard resolve. Absolute determination.

But that disappears almost immediately.

She falls to her knees right beside me and pulls my face to her chest.

Can't put anything over on Katie. Maybe it was my expression, the idiotic, block-game induced half-smile. More likely it was the tears streaming steadily down my face.

The rain increased against the windows, but it wasn't raindrops falling on me, it was her tears. I'd have stayed like that forever.

I felt Kimmi clamber up on to me, trying to see what was going on. We fell apart into a three way tickly fight that's the best thing that's happened to me in months. From Katie's expression, maybe the best thing in forever.

The three of us end up sleeping in Kimmi's room together. Crunched together on the floor, surrounded by a very organized wall of blocks.

The next day, I'm in the Colonel's office, telling him my decision. He's not happy, but he isn't particularly surprised either.

I explain the near-tragedy the night before. The Colonel's only response is "Good plan."

We'll be gone in a few weeks. Most of that will be spent out processing. The Sergeant Major pulled some strings and I'm being seconded to a counter terrorism training facility as a primary instructor and lesson plan writer. There'll be no trips, no travel for my last two years as a soldier.

No more "Gun. Gun. Teddy Bear."

Not for me.

There's one last Barbeque. The car is packed and we're driving out right afterwards. I wait until it's almost over. The new guy is on the grill, and he's damn good at cooking steaks perfectly to order.

I glance over at Katie. She's glowing and commiserating with the other wives. The longer term ones are looking at her with frank admiration, the new ones with puzzlement. The brown haired one must be the new guy's wife, Anne or something.

I walk to the grill.

"Damn good steak."

"Thanks," he grins, "It's a gift."

I pull a strip of meaningless cloth from my pocket. Palming it, I reach over and shake his hand, passing it to him.

He takes it and looks down at the blood red eyes.

"Wear it well, Monster."

"Thanks, Kurt. I can't imagine walking away from this."

I shake my head. "Had to leave." I gestured toward the strip in his palm. "I was turning into the real thing."

As we pull away I look in the rear view mirror and watch Kimmi playing with her new dark blue Teddy Bear.

Post Production Notes:

Not much to say here - an MP5SD is a silenced 9mm submachine gun used by spec ops all over the world.

Just in case: Yes, the new guy is Monster from the other stories and Anne is Ex.

Oh yeah one more thing...

Kimmi1990: You accepted the position as my Little Sister. In Public Comments. In Writing. I checked the Big Brother Handbook and gentle meta-teasing is allowed. I needed a name and a game for the little girl so...

If it helps, she's cute as a bug.