I never expected that when you are expecting a child that everything you do or you say becomes tenfold. Before, you only had yourself to look after, but now you have the lives of two others that you need to carry like crystal in your hands. I can honestly say that I never felt so scared and so excited at the same time. So when moments as these come and knock your breath away, it seems that you exactly know what to do, without even a question, you react.
So it is with pure terror that I look at Isabella. Now she is being very vague, so I truly do no know what to expect. What is the meaning? What is she saying? All I know it is best not to question her and do that very thing, and react. Though for now, for a brief moment, I am not going to panic.
Well, at least not yet.
So I turn to her slowly, "What do you mean something is wrong, boo?"
"Something is wrong; something does not feel right?"
And as I watch her place her hand on her belly, that horror t
…Matty POV…It seems that I am finding myself part of what will be Harrison's squad. Now I know that Clayton has the utmost respect for him, so I know that I am in safe hands.My mom nearly killed me when I told her about my intentions to join the Marines. Now she is truly not happy about my choice, but as with Clayton, she supports me. As for my father, well, the man is just happy that I don't sit around and faff around on a laptop the whole day anymore. I am not quite sure if he is happy about my choice, though, for I think he still has his mind set on one of his boys to become a damn Doctor.But needless to say, my mom was beyond devastated as her last son left home. But as for my father, he cannot be more happier, though he does believe that I am going to fail. But failure is not an option for me; I will show him that I can make something of my life as well. So it took me nearly a whole week to get the guts to enlist and then break the news to
…Denice POV…I have just lost both of my boys to the Marines. Now I know it is not something that I should feel sad about because the boys are doing something important. But most of all, they are doing something that they want. Yes, we all know that their father wanted them to become Doctors. Well, I am happy that they did not. What they do now also matters; they are making that difference.To say that I was not shocked to hear about Matty wanting to join the Marines will be a blatant lie. At first, I thought that the boy was joking, but when he started packing his bag, I knew that he was serious. Now again, it was the worst day of my life watching one of my boys leave. At least, I know that they will come home.Well, that is for Clayton; the boy just cannot keep himself out of trouble. But apparently, which he has not told me yet, for I heard it from Isabella, the man wants to go back and become something called a Raider. I can only think that it
Fate is what takes you down that road you ever so often avoid taking. Sometimes the slightest things change the directions of our lives, the merest breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite striking the earth. Lives have swiveled and changed direction on the strength of a chance remark.Sometimes the smallest turn in the wrong direction ends up being the biggest turn of your life. Sometimes you imagine that everything could have been different for you, that if only you had gone right one day when you chose to go left, you would be living a life you could never have anticipated. But at other times, you think there was no other way forward, that you were always bound to end up exactly where you have.I am a man who plans every step that he takes. I would like to see where I am going and how I am going to get there. Some say live life on a daily basis; I say there is no room for surprises and unexpected things. But lately, all my best-laid p
What's the Future? It's a blank sheet of paper, and we draw lines on it, but sometimes our hand is held, and the lines we draw aren't the lines we wanted.That is life, isn't it? Fate. Luck. Chance. A long series of what-if's that lead from one moment to the next, time never pausing for you to catch your breath, to make sense of the cards that have been handed to you. And all you can do is play your cards and hope for the best because, in the end, it all comes back to those three basics. Fate. Luck. Chance.But life is also a collection of moments, some good and some bad; they ultimately form the puzzle of your life. There is someone who has stood in the same dark place, that the very same puzzle as you. It's okay not to be okay sometimes. Sometimes, it's normal, healthy, and necessary to feel defeated, so you know what it's like to rise up another time.This, too, shall pass. This situation isn't your final destination. Where there's pain, there's also love. Wh
There are days when you think you don't believe anymore. When you think you have grown too old for miracles. When you have lost hope, and you have lost everything. You think all is lost, and all is dire and bleak. The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves until one day there are none. No hopes. Nothing remains.No.You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going. You need to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment and embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.Miracles are just second chances if you really think about it, second chances when all hope is lost.It has been a day, and there is absolutely no improvement with my dad. Funny enough, I have been talking to him, hoping
When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon, or you will be taught to fly.Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can't always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays just to have a little faith.There is a general air of surprise, and genuine satisfaction as my eyes fall on the man that is standing in the doorway. Without giving much care to rise to my feet safely, I walk around the bed to greet him."How the fuck?""I came about an hour ago, was with the old lady."Still not quite sure if my mind is playing tricks on me, I squeeze my eyes close, and as I slowly flutter them, one by one open, as true as the sun is shi
In life, there is only the present moment, the now. You can't measure time the way you measure the distance between two points. 'Time' doesn't pass. We have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; we're always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and about why we didn't act as we should have. Or else we think about the future, about what we're going to do tomorrow, what precautions we should take, what dangers await us around the next corner, how to avoid what we don't want and how to get what we have always dreamed of.It's being here now that's important. There's no past, and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it, and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.The biggest mistake we make is the one that most of us make; we do not live in the moment enough.
I have learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment, and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next.Why did I not learn to treat everything like it was the last time? My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future. The truth is that unless you let go unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.It hurts to let go. Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold on to something or someone, the more it wants to getaway. You feel like some kind of criminal for having felt, for having wanted. For having wanted to be wanted. It confuses you because you think that your feelings were wrong, and it makes you feel so small because it's so hard to keep it inside when you let it out and it doesn't come back. You're left so alone
"Dear Clayton…I know that if you are reading this, it must have taken you days to get to that decision. I really do not blame you for hating me as much as you are hating me right now. And if it has taken you the time that I think it must have, then I know that you are somewhere near Baghdad and that you will be heading off into the unknown.Now I know that no part of you are going to believe this, but I really wish you good luck and for your safe return. Braydon needs you more than ever, for god knows he does not need his mother, not after the stunt that she has pulled.But if you give me just five minutes, then I want to tell you what and however stupid it might be, but I need for you to understand why I had to walk away and perhaps that you will understand. But before I lay my misery upon you, I want to say that I really did not intend for any of this to happen. I did not want to leave you or Braydon, but I had to; I had to give you two boys a better f
"I told you to stop phoning me, Clayton."With nothing but a huff, I clench the phone tighter, and without trying to sound too annoyed, I speak once again, "But, I just wanted…""No buts, Clayton. You have phoned six times already, and it is only 10:00 am. Do you not have something better to do?""Not at this very pressing moment. So please can I…?""No, I said no. You are not waking him up again just to say hello.""But mom, come on…""I said no!"With the vibration of her voice still ringing in my ear, my mom drops what would be the fifth call I have made unnecessary down in my ear. The phone finds its way very firmly to the other side of the ops tent, only but barely missing the head of Galland."Hey! What the fuck, man? Do you want to kill me?"I only but grunt at him as I catch the returning phone, "My mom does not want me to speak to Braydon.""Well, perhaps because you have phoned her l
07:30I have just watched two Humvees from our group swerve off the road and crash as they attempted to avoid the incoming fire from the enemy. Galland is desperately trying to make contact to confirm if all is alive.Right now, everything looks bleak as we are surrounded by more enemy than what we can handle.But as I look past Clark to the other side of the road, I can see a truck that has been crushed by one of the enemy's tanks. There I can sadly say, if they were not fast enough to get out and avoid enemy fire as well, then they are all gone.There seems by the radio that does come in and from what we can see between the chaos around us, only three remaining vehicles.We are sitting ducks.And this pond is far too big for us to navigate around in.Is this how it is going to end for this small group of Marines?Were we, in fact, too arrogant and too at ease when we set on this mission?This is not how I w
As I slowly flutter open my eyes, I can hear the distinct sound of chatter of excited Marines outside of my tent. Today is the day; for the past few days, we have been building up to this moment. These are the days that all Marines train and most definitely live for.It is the 23rd of March.04:45I have chosen to sleep in just for fifteen minutes. Just the fifteen minutes that I need to get my head into the game. Harrison has begged me not to go out with the squad this morning, but he knows that it is futile to even argue.This will be my last deployment for a while, and god knows I want to make it count. That means sitting on the sidelines and listening to the action coming through on radio is definitely not an option. I want, when I tell my son why I was not there in the early stages of his life, I want to tell him that I was out there making a difference. I need to do this not only for me but for him.Though, definitely not for his
Days seem to be moving faster than we have anticipated, with the imminent mission lying around the corner. We will be moving out tomorrow just before the crack of dawn as we will make our way up to Baghdad. Now to say that I am shit scared for what might happen is clearly evident in the pacing I have done in the past half hour. Much to Harrison's annoyance, he has sent me out of the ops tent to find something else to keep my mind occupied.I am fucking scared that I am not going to make this one home this time. I have come so close to death these past two missions that I am now asking myself what the fuck am I doing here. My son needs me, and I am here in the middle of goddamn no man's desert going off my head.My mom has even told me to stop phoning her more than four times a day, for I am driving her right there insane with my constant checking on Braydon. I never knew that there would come a day that I would rather be anywhere else than the place I used to love bein
It is early morning on a rather miserable Thursday that we are heading towards camp south of Nasiriya on this 20th March. To say that we are anxious and rather unsettled would be a blatant lie. We are nearing the end of what will be the major of our attempt to take over the forces in the City.I have been looking forward to this mission for a great number of days, but since the departure of Isabella, there is no other place that I would rather be than home at this present moment.We have been told this should be a quick in and out and should not last beyond two weeks, but we are preparing ourselves for a month as things never seem to go as planned when it comes to the forces in this Country.But I am set to get this mission over as fast as I possibly can with as few casualties as we had in Fallujah. My only true mission is that little bundle of smiles that is waiting for me when I get back home. This will, but I am not going to say that rather adaman
I remember the day when I was about to leave the Hospital when my dad just woke up from that horrible nightmare that he was facing. That day when we all knew that our love and faith had been tested. A time that we will never forget that should have taught us all a valuable lesson.Now, if I can recall almost exactly, I told myself that the next years would be difficult for me. I would stumble. I would fall. There would be heartbreak and failure. I would pick myself back up and start again. That there would be more heartbreak to follow.Well, if I now remember back to that day, I wish I could have kicked my own ass for predicting my future in such a bleak way.Yes.That night, that was the last time that I saw Isabella walk away, for the next morning when I went to go wake her after she had a very much-needed rest, I only but found the bed cold and empty, nearly like she had never been in it at all.So it has been a week.A week since Isabell
If my mind thought it was deceiving it, my eyes are telling me that I surely am not.Isabella has just arrived on our doorstep again. Why she has not entered the room, that I do not know. There is a slight hesitation about her which I am sure anyone would feel after what we have been through these past few days. I will not question her, for right now, I do not know what her intention is, and I damn well do not want another argument either.So it is with a tiny jolt of energy back into my bones that I can barely stop myself from smiling. As my eyes leave hers, I find the only thing that really matters in this world. Yes, I know that I need to say that Isabella is along there somewhere. But right now, I am reluctant to open myself to that possibility again.Yet, I do have to admit, "You have no idea I am happy to see you and Braydon." I pause for a brief moment as I rush over and place a tiny peck on the little man's forehead, then I continue again, "Isabella&hell
…Isabella POV…To say that I have not hit a new depth of stupidity in these past few days would be a total understatement. From bursting into Harrison's home and attacking Galland's girlfriend to taking Clayton's child away from him and sacking up in some small hotel room. That can easily be described as the most insane thing that any woman can set her mind to, regardless of which world it is that she finds herself in.Now, should I want to try and find the most logical answer for doing any of them, I cannot come to one single one.Why do I hate Clayton so much?Even more important…why is my Bipolar back with such a great force?Why do I want to hurt Clayton so bad?Well, I guess there is only the truth that needs to be told.And as I try to bear the pain that is consuming my body, try to make sense of this fucking crazy that is brewing inside of me.I've run out of reasons to run away from Clayton. I've tr