This is the final part of a 5-part series. Originally, I was going to end after part 4 but I felt this finished the story much better.
As always constructive comments are always welcome.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter twenty-four ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The couple had had little more than four weeks of domestic bliss together when Debbie came in from work on the Wednesday afternoon to find her boyfriend sitting on the sofa with their daughter. Abigail was contentedly sitting on Jack's lap while he read her a story from one of her books.
Immediately she entered the room she felt the tension in the air and knew exactly what was wrong.
"No. No. You can't go." She whispered, tears slowly starting to run down her cheeks as she stood and stared at Jack, "You aren't fit enough to go back yet. You can't go."
He sat his daughter on the couch and stood up, gazing back at her, shrugging, "We knew it would happen eventually. It's just a bit sooner than I thought."
"H... how... how long do we have?" she wrapped her arms about his neck, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed.
Jack stroked her hair, "Just forty-eight hours. I have to report back to the barracks by Saturday morning and we ship out on the Monday."
"Where to?" She said fearfully as she looked up into his eyes, "How... how long will you be... be away?"
"Back to Afghanistan and nine months as far as I know."
"No! It's not fair...what will I do?" he could feel his shirt growing wet with her tears as she clung desperately on to him.
"Why is mummy crying?" Abigail's small voice asked as she tugged at their legs.
Scooping his daughter up in his arms he held her as the pair of them tried to explain to an uncomprehending little girl that her daddy was going to have to go away.
"Why?" was all she said, not really understanding anything about what was happening.
The mood around the dinner table that evening was extremely subdued, each of them preoccupied with their own thoughts about Jack's recall to active service. They had both known that this day was going to come but now that it was here the reality was almost unbearable for the pair of them.
First thing the next morning Debbie called her office and explained she wasn't coming in to work taking Thursday and Friday as holiday leave.
She wanted to spend what remaining time she had with her boyfriend before he had to depart, leaving her alone for the best part of the upcoming year.
For the next two days the couple were together almost constantly; taking long walks, going to the café for coffee, having dinner out and generally trying to forget that Jack was going back overseas. It worked for a while and Debbie constantly had to remind herself that her happiness was about to come to an abrupt halt.
But as much as she wanted the time to never end, she knew it had to.
Constantly at the back of her mind was the question of how would she cope knowing that Jack was constantly in danger while he was away. It was a situation she had never properly considered herself being in and now she would be confronted with it on a daily basis.
It was Friday afternoon as they sat in the coffee shop waiting to pick up their daughter from nursery school and once again Debbie was lost in her contemplation of how she was going to cope with Jack overseas.
"Do you think we should break up while I'm away?" he asked her interrupting her thoughts.
"W... why?" Debbie looked at him in a state of alarm.
"Because it's unfair of me to ask you to wait all that time for me and because of all the stress it would put you through." He stared into his coffee as he spoke not daring to look up at her.
"Is... is that.... what you want?" she sniffled, starting to cry.
Hearing her sob, he grabbed her hand looking up and staring straight into her eyes, "No. I never want to let you go but if you were.... you know free... you could do whatever you wanted."
"You mean go on dates?"
Jack nodded looking thoroughly miserable.
"Listen to me Jack Maitland and listen good." Debbie wiped her eyes and squeezed her boyfriend's hand, "I didn't want anyone else for all those years we were apart and I don't want anyone else now."
"You're sure?" he queried nervously.
She grinned "Thank you for the offer but I'll stick with what I've got. I'm kind of keen on it."
He smiled back at her "I had to ask."
She didn't answer, simply drank the last of her cappuccino, "Let's go get Abi."
On the Friday evening Christine Randall made her excuses and went out to a friend's house leaving the couple alone, once they had put Abigail to bed. Fetching him a beer and herself a glass of wine Debbie settled down next to Jack on the sofa.
"Jack?" she looked up at him as he slipped his arm around her shoulders, "You know I love you, don't you?"
He grinned down at her, kissing the top of her head, "Yes, and I love you."
"Good." She said and paused for a moment before continuing, "Because there's something I need to tell you before you go away."
His expression changed and he started to worry, "Ok, this doesn't sound good."
She sat up and turned around to face him, biting her lower lip nervously, as she took hold of his hands.
"I... I don't know... it might be bad... it might be good." She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke.
"You've changed your mind? You want us to break up?" the anguish in his eyes brought a lump to her throat.
"Will you shut up about that. I don't want to break up with you, ever."
"Then whatever it is Deb's, we'll sort it out I promise. As long as we're together we'll be ok." Jack told her anxiously.
"Do you mean that?" Debbie gazed into his eyes, her own shining wetly.
"What is it Deb. You're really worrying me now."
She took a deep breath and stared straight into his penetrating grey eyes, "I'm pregnant!"
