Persons having sex in this fictional story are all over 18 years old.
"Honey, that was Commander Sullivan on the phone. My unit's been activated and we move out in two weeks." my wife told me barely holding back her sobs.
My wife Mandy and I were both dreading that call and we weren't exactly sure how to handle it when it came.
We'd been married for four years and Amanda was almost through with her six year hitch in the Navy Reserves. She was an ER nurse so she would either be assigned onboard a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf or at an evac hospital somewhere in the Middle East.
We met in college at a party and after one date we both knew we'd found our one. After about a month together we started taking about marriage. We were soulmates, couldn't get enough of each other and wanted to get married asap. Four months later we were married. We both agreed that it was the easiest and best decision we'd ever made.
At the time of Mandy's activation our two children were three year old Rick and his little sister one year old Olivia. Neither one of them would understand why or where their mother had gone. I was going to be the only parent in their lives for the next twelve months. I wouldn't be without help however as both sets of grandparents were always more than happy to do what they could for their grand kids.
I knew that the kids and I would be okay on our own. My concern was my wife. She might not be in a combat zone but she would be very near one and anything could happen. Her safety was my central concern but, undiscussed between us, was the issue of Mandy's fidelity while she was out of country. The awful thought of someone being with my wife was always lurking in the dark recesses of my mind. Here at home I had no worries about her faithfulness but being overseas in a war zone is a whole different world.
Mandy's unit flew out on a Saturday two weeks after the phone call from her Commander. The goodbye was heartbreaking for all the families involved. Both her parents and mine were there to see her off. Her mother was really struggling to keep her composure. Ricky was crying for his mommy and I was still in shock that it was all happening. My wife tried to be brave in front of her fellow shipmates but there were tears shed from every person, male and female, when that gate closed and the plane taxied away.
After I got the kids loaded back in the car at the airport I looked in the rear view mirror at them and thought 'It's just us for a while now'. I would be a single dad for the next year, like it or not.
Ever since I'd met Mandy I had no interest in being with any other woman. She was my wife and my soulmate and she'd told me the same was true for her. But twelve months of being in close quarters with buff, hormone driven young males, thousands of miles from home in a stress filled evironment wasn't conducive to remaining faithful.
In every marriage one partner has a more active sex drive than the other. As long as the two drives are similar there are no issues but they are rarely exactly equal. Mandy has the stronger libido in our marriage. Being married for four years and having sex two or three times a week like Mandy and I did would be hard to quit cold turkey for both of us.
Amanda was stationed onboard a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf. She rotated out to an Evac station every other month so, she was in harms way much more than either of us wanted. She and I called, Skyped, wrote and communicated every way possible for the first four months.
After those four months the letters stopped coming. Soon after that the Skyping became too difficult due to a lack of computer availability. The calls still came once or twice a week and the kids loved hearing from their mom but, I no longer got to see my Amanda's face.
The questions haunted me every day. Did Mandy become involved with someone? Three people from her unit had been killed so far and the stress over there had to be tremendous. Could I blame her for seeking comfort so far from home in that environment? Every night I laid in bed wished that I could be the one to hold her and protect her. Eight more months of this was going to age me and, I was sure, her as well.
I resigned myself to accept that she was with someone over there. War is hell and if my Mandy could make it back home and continue our loving marriage I would accept that. I just wanted my wife back. We could go to counseling if need be to move forward together.
'In sickness and in health, for better or worse' is what I'd promised her and if Amanda needed someone over there to help her make it back home to her husband and children then who was I to hold that against her. I'd never been in a war zone. I couldn't know how hard it was.
That was my mindset for the rest of her tour. I treated her phone calls as lifelines to our love. I never told her that I'd understand if she needed someone to get her though it. We both cried alot on those calls. Me because I missed her and what I believed she was giving to another and her because she just wanted to be home with her family.
Her plane landed after the year was up and it seemed like half the town was there to welcome her unit back home. I was waiting anxiously for her to disembark but she must've been in the back of the plane because 100 people came off the plane and still no Mandy.
Some of the sailors from her unit shook my hand and told me it was great to meet me. When the pilots and flight attendants came off the plane I began to wonder if Mandy had missed the flight. As that was going through my mind her some people in her unit lined up and made an aisle for a woman getting off the plane.
The woman was Amanda. She was crying as she walked past and accepted a kiss on her cheeks from each person in line. I was clueless as to what was happening. When she finally got to the end of the aisle where I was at, one of her female comrades presented her hand to me stating "Sir, we return your bride back to you unscathed." After that statement the other sailors around erupted in applause.
Mandy jumped in my arms and kissed me over and over telling me she loved me. The kids were hanging on each of her legs crying for their mommy. She picked both of them up giving them the same treatment she gave me.
Tears were rolling down Amanda's cheeks all the way home. Were they tears of happiness or tears of regret? She sure looked happy and she clung to my arm the whole way there but my mind was in termoil imagining her with another man.
Mandy knows me. Even after a year apart, she knew what was going on in my mind. She kissed me at several traffic lights and told me she loved me. She leaned into the back seat and kissed both her babies at some of the stops and told them she loved them. They both giggled at Mommy. She was so silly.
The kids wanted time with their mom and I left them all on the floor in the living room while I went and made food for everyone. Peanut butter and jelly was the sandwich of choice for little kids and sailors who'd been overseas for a year. All of them made sounds of joy as they munched on their feast.
With all of the excitement the kids were worn out and ready for bed. They both wanted their mom to tuck them in so I went and started unpacking Amanda's sea bag in our bedroom.
Mandy came in and asked what the hell I was doing. I told her I was helping her unpack.
"No, Mr. Thompson! Get your clothes off pronto! You haven't seen your wife in a year and you're doing chores instead of getting ready to fuck her?" Mandy jokingly said.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, as I was." I said as I quickly removed my clothes and then helped my wife remove hers.
If she'd had any cock over there it didn't show because she went after mine like a rabid wolf. My dick was down her throat in less that three seconds and she was making the same sound her and the kids were making when eating their sandwiches.
