Tag: fiction

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This an ongoing story that I’m posting over the next several hours. Though I have an idea what I want to write, it’s not written – so this story will be rough, really rough, but I thrive on this impromptu stuff so … there you go. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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Lisa’s burp broke the awkward silence. Alecia giggled self-consciously. “I’m sorry.”

Again, Margie waved her concern aside. “She’s a baby, what do you expect? Wouldn’t it be great if we could all burp like that and not worry about what people thought?”

Alecia sputtered an unintelligible response between chuckles.

“May I?” Margie asked while holding her hands out to indicate she would like to hold Lisa.

“Oh, of course.” Alecia gently handed her daughter over to her mother-in-law. “She’s been in an exceptionally good mood today. I think she knows her daddy is coming home.”

Margie rubbed her nose against Lisa’s and laughed. “I’m sure you’re right. This little girl is as sharp as a tack.”

Alecia nodded her agreement and unconsciously rubbed her arms – they felt so empty without her baby.

The women sat in companionable silence for long moments. An occasional announcement would sound over the intercom, and other than the normal airport activities, their corner was quiet. Alecia sighed. She wasn’t sure her mother-in-law wanted to talk about it, but figuring if she were in her shoes, she would want someone to spill her guts to, she spoke up.

“I … I thought Vince was in remission?”

Margie turned Lisa around so that she sat on her lap and kept her occupied by wiggling her fingers so the baby could try and catch them. “He was. But he started getting worse … so I took him …” she hiccupped, tossed her head and continued on in a stronger voice, “so I took him back to his doctor and … well …” It wasn’t necessary to finish, Alecia understood.

“I’m so, so, sorry, Margie.”

“Yes well …” again, she trailed off.

A few more moments passed, the sound of Lisa’s happy cooing, sounding somehow wrong given their conversation.

“Do … Carter and Pierce know what’s going on?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Margie sighed and began to bounce Lisa on her knee when the baby start fidgeting. “They, uh, don’t know about any of this.”

Alecia turned to look at her in surprise. “What?”

Margie kissed her granddaughter’s head before turning pleading eyes to her. “Please Alecia, don’t say anything to Carter. I … I’ll tell them when the time is right. I just didn’t want to burden them while they were over there. I was afraid …” she swallowed again before continuing, “I was afraid if they knew what was going on with their father they would be reckless, make a mistake ….”

Alecia blinked back tears and nodded. Though she thought Carter had every right to know about his father’s declining health, she certainly appreciated Margie’s reasoning.

Lisa pulled one of her grandmother’s fingers into her mouth and began knowing enthusiastically. Margie laughed.

“I think she’s getting a tooth.”

Alecia nodded and aimed a sad smile at her daughter. “Yes. I think I felt a bump on her upper gums the other day.”

Margie ran her finger under the baby’s upper lip and nodded. “I think you’re right.”

Alecia bent over to rummage through the diaper bag once again. She was searching for Lisa’s teething ring when her mother-in-law asked, “Have you heard from Jessie?”

Jessie. Alecia’s sister-in-law and married to Carter’s brother, Pierce. She had tried to like the girl, but she was wild, loud and spontaneous, everything Alecia wasn’t. “Actually …” she began when her cell phone rang.

“Who could be calling me right now?” Alecia muttered as she looked at her cell phone display. Her face lost several shades of color as she shot a glance at Margie. “It’s Carter!”

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Want to know what’s going on? Visit this page.

This an ongoing story that I’m posting over the next several hours. Though I have an idea what I want to write, it’s not written – so this story will be rough, really rough, but I thrive on this impromptu stuff so … there you go. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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“So there you are,” an attractive woman, her light brown hair perfectly lacquered in place, her dusty pink lipstick professionally applied, her light denim jacket and khaki slacks wrinkle-free, sat down beside her.

Alecia suddenly felt grubby and rumpled. She’d had a chance to take a rare shower and comb her hair, she hadn’t had time to actually fix it, so her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Though her clothes were clean, they looked like she had left them in the dryer too long and then just grabbed them in a hurry to dress.

Which is exactly what happened, actually.

“Hello Margie,” Alecia said with a warm smile and leaned in close so the woman could give her a soft kiss on the cheek. “Have a seat. I think we still have a while to wait until Carter’s plane gets here.”

Alecia’s mother-in-law sat down beside her and wiggled her fingers at the baby. “Hello sugar pie.” Lisa kicked so hard at the sight of her grandma that the bottle slipped from her mouth. A small amount of milk worked it’s way out from between her lips and dribbled down her chin.

“Oopsie,” Alecia said and leaned to rip a cloth out of the side of the diaper bag. She swiftly cleaned off the baby’s chin before offering the bottle to Lisa once more.

“You’re getting quite good at juggling several things at once,” Margie said with a smile.

“No thanks to you.”

Margie waved her words aside and settled back into her seat. She took a moment to look out across the crowded room before saying, “There are a lot of people here, today.”

“That’s what I thought, too. I’m guessing there are a lot of military personnel coming home today.”

Margie continued to look straight ahead, but Alecia knew she was being watched, nonetheless. “So, are you nervous?”

She knew what she was talking about. Not so much the fact that she hadn’t seen her husband in ten months, she was more excited than nervous about seeing him, but she was nervous about presenting him with his daughter for the first time. How would Lisa react? Would she shy away from him because he was a stranger? Even though that was a real possibility, Alecia’s heart twisted at the thought that that might hurt her husband’s feelings.

Picturing that scene in her mind, she didn’t trust herself to speak without releasing a sob, so she simply nodded in response.

Margie patted her on the knee. “He is going to be so excited to see you two, Alecia.”

Alecia smiled and took the now empty bottle from Lisa’s mouth. She wiped her daughter’s face clean before tossing the cloth over her shoulder and lifting Lisa for a burp. “Where’s Vince?”

Margie’s smile faded and she reached out a hand to stroke her granddaughter’s fist.
“This is … not a good day for him.”

“I’m so sorry,” Alecia said while continuing to lightly pat Lisa’s back. “What have the doctors said?”

“It’s,” Margie paused, visibly swallowed and regained control of her emotions before continuing, “It’s just a matter of time.”

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So, the winner of this book?

A Year of Absence: Six women’s stories of courage, hope and love by Jessica Redmond

Carolyn!!! Congratulations!!

Two people left comments for this book:

Carolyn and Alessandra. Thank you ladies!!

I know this is moving fast – sorry about that!! But that’s how a blog-a-thon works. I hope you can keep up with me! I’m having a BLAST trying to keep my head above water and I’m writing this story as I go along, so WHEW! It’s been quite a challenge! And just think, I have another 18 hours to go!!

Stay with me … you’ll have a chance to win another book shortly!

Want to know what’s going on? Visit this page.

This is the beginning of an ongoing story that I plan on posting over the next several hours. Though I have an idea what I want to write, it’s not written – so this story will be rough, really rough, but I thrive on this impromptu stuff so … there you go. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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Alecia could feel, rather than see, her baby girl tensing from the sudden, and unexpected noise and activity of the airport. They were from a small town, so their airport was smaller than most, but it seemed overly crowded to Alecia. Though she had only been to the airport a half dozen times in her life, it had never been this busy.

She muttered a smattering of apologizes as she navigated the stroller through the throng of people. It wasn’t until they had found a series of seats, all arranged in a half circle by a large window overlooking the drop-off area, did she relax her hold on the baby carrier.

“Whew,” she exhaled as she plopped down on the hard, cushioned seat. “There are a lot of people here today,” she said while dragging the diaper bag off the stroller. “I’m betting there are a lot of military people coming home today.” She pushed the diaper bag under her feet and swept a hand across her moist forehead. “What do you think, Lisa?”

The baby began waving her arms and kicking her feet at the sound of her name.

Alecia laughed and settled back in her seat. She continued to gaze at her beautiful daughter, the love she had for this little being, the creature that her and her husband had made, (she still hadn’t quite come to terms with that fact), caused her eyes to twinkle and her face to soften.

“You’ll be a good girl for mommy, right?” She nervously chewed on her lower lip. The plane was scheduled to land in two hours. She glanced at her watch and then lifted her gaze to look out of the window. Her in-laws were supposed to meet her in twenty minutes. She hoped her baby girl would behave herself until grandma got there.

“Excuse me,” a tall, thin man with a long thick scar running across his right cheek addressed her.

Alecia stiffened and pasted on a polite smile. “Yes?”

“Are these seats taken?”

He gestured to the seats on either side of her. “Actually,” she cleared her throat. “I’m expecting my in-laws to be here any minute, so I need a few of them.” She offered a smile to soften the rejection.

“Oh, okay. I understand,” he responded and glanced down at the baby. “She’s adorable.”

Lisa blinked up at the strange man.

“Thank you,” Alecia said and sat up a little straighter. Lisa was a beautiful baby. She had thick, soft hair the color of a raven’s wing and dark blue eyes that sparkled like jewels in her round face. The baby offered a smile at the stranger, a dimple, just to the left of her moist mouth deepened.

“Ah, she’s going to be a heart breaker.”

Alecia chuckled and nodded. “I’m afraid you’re right about that.”

The stranger nodded politely and moved down several seats to settle slowly into a chair.

Alecia studied the man from under her lashes. She was curious to know if this man had served in the military. Had he received that scar in service? Was his body stiff from combat? Her thoughts turned to her own husband and she wondered if Carter’s scars would be visible, or merely buried deep inside.

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A Year of Absence: Six women’s stories of courage, hope and love by Jessica Redmond

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