It Has to Be Fate

This is a story about a young Marine Corps pilot during the era between the Korean War and the Viet Nam War. Reading the previous parts will lead to a better understanding of the plot and the characters.

*

Micaiah McDermott sat beside his wife's bed holding his newborn daughter for the first time. He was overwhelmed with emotions. The feeling flashed from awe, to joy, to love, to amazement. He touched the tiny hand with his big finger. The tiny fingers grasped his finger and pulled it toward the little mouth. He looked in wonder at Melissa. She gently smiled and reached for the baby. "I think she is hungry." Mica grinned. Melissa opened her little bed jacket and pulled back the bodice of her gown revealing a swollen breast. She moved the child closer and pressed the erect nipple to the little mouth.

There was no hesitation on the part of her daughter who instantly put her lips around the nipple and began to suckle. Mica's wife smiled up at him, "Sirima is an 'eager eater', isn't she?"

"Yes my love, she is a beautiful Princess, just like her mother."

Melissa looked at the Navy Nurse in her white starched crisp uniform, "Can our parents come in now?"

The Nurse smiled, "I think that would be fine if you feel up to it?"

"I feel fine, I am ready to get up and go home."

The Nurse laughed, "Not yet Mrs. McDermott, the doctor has to release you first. I'll get your parents."

A few moments later the room seemed packed with relatives and well-wishers, a flash bulb went off occasionally as the news people had gotten word of the royal birth. Maryalice, Melissa's mother, held the baby beside Melissa for a shot of three generations of Princesses.

Mica's parents were staying with Melissa's parents who were living in the apartment over the garage next to Mica's house. The crowd thinned out and Dawn and Billy Marker visited for a few minutes. Dawn kissed Melissa and hugged her with tears in both their eyes. Dawn asked if there were anything she could do to help. Melissa smiled, "No, Honey, thank you, it is so sweet of you to offer, but I will be ok, you have your hands full with your own new baby. I should be helping you."

"Melissa McDermott, you were like an old mother hen when Willy was born. I don't know how I would have made it without you helping us. Let me know when you need me and I'll be there. You know that!"

Billy stood in the hall laughing as Mica coughed from the cigar he was trying to smoke, "Mica, buddy, you should have passed out chocolate cigars, you sure can't handle real ones."

"Yeah, if I had a misspent youth like you did, I would be alright. If I had been stupid enough to take some dried out plant leaves chop them up and stuff a paper tube full of them, stick the tube in my mouth and set the other end on fire, then suck the smoke down into my lungs you would think I was cool. Yeah! Real slick!"

"When you say it like that you make it sound pretty stupid."

"It is pretty damned stupid."

Three weeks later the four friends sat in the McDermott home after a lovely dinner. They were sipping a small frozen Crème de Menthe. Dawn looked at Melissa, "Honey, we are going to miss you guys a whole lot. I can't believe this is Mica's last couple of days as a Marine."

Melissa's eyes filled with tears, "We will miss you guys too. But even if we stayed in the Corps we couldn't hope to be stationed together very much."

Billy agreed, "Well, Dawn and I have made up our minds that when I have my twenty years in next year we will have to totally reaccess our plans. If I make bird Colonel by then it would be a good boost in my retirement. Another factor is that the next step up in grade is a very long and tough one. I'll be pushing 45 by then and it will be much harder to find another job."

Mica raised his hand, "Billy at the end of next year we will be ready to start operations at the fish farm, we will have the flash freezing plant ready to go soon after that. I have decided that it needs to be a separate operation because it is silly to have that machinery sitting idle while we wait for the next fish harvest. We have a good man researching the farmers here locally and within a hundred miles or so about growing vegetables for us. We will probably sell both under our Carolina Beauty Brand and under store brands. A lot of the farmers like knowing they have a good part of their crop sold before they plant it. Like our guy tells them, "Sell half of what you plan to grow at a fair price now and gamble with the other half. Depending on the weather and other things you could get either more or less for your crop next spring."

"We are also investigating an animal and fish feed plant. We envision our own hog farms giving us pork products to freeze and sell with the butchering waste being ground and mixed with vegetable waste like husks, hulls, branches, stems, and peelings into feed. Body waste from the hogs would be processed into methane gas to power all the plants.

"We are also going to need a research facility to find and develop new products. I have my eye on a great manager to run the whole damned thing. It will be a big tough job, my guy can handle it though."

"Yeah, this guy must be good, a lot of what you are talking about more of less experimental stuff, right?"

"Billy, the job rates a good salary and profit sharing. I know you can handle it though."

"ME?"

"Why not you?" Your pay will likely double with lot's more perks and a better future, and if you do the job correctly and don't piss anyone off, you will hardly ever get shot at."

"Hey, that is half the fun of being a Marine. But seriously, that job sounds great. Are you sure you won't need someone sooner?

"I think we can use someone part time, say a guy who can look over things for a few hours a week and be real familiar with everything before we really get cranked up. We will put you on a salary, say $1000 a month to start."

Billy grinned, "You have me sniffing at the bait now. One more little move by me and you are going to set the hook, right?"

"Yeah, I hope you won't put up too big a fight. I need you Billy, you are perfect for this job, you have all the tools to do it right. I'm good at some things but you are better at organization than I am."

Billy grinned, "I don't know anything I was better at except way back in flight training. You were damned near perfect at everything but shooting. You couldn't hit shit."

"You are right about that, I suppose you are going to have to embarrass me in front of my wife by telling the story of how I almost flunked out of flight training."

Melissa said, "Hey, I absolutely have to hear it now, what happened?"

"Well, in Flight Training in the Air-to Air Gunnery Program we flew the North American T-6/ SNJ trainer. It carried one thirty caliber machine gun with 100 rounds of ammo. You had four live firing flights, firing a total of 400 rounds. To pass the course you had to get 25 hits for the 400 shots. To make a long story short, Mica had only four hits after three flights. He was about to wash out of flight training. Mica was beside himself. He couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong. We were supposed to have our final firing flights on Friday but the weather was bad so they were postponed until Monday.

While we had a little free time, Mica went down to the ready room and was reviewing the little text we had. One of the instructors, a real old guy, he was an Enlisted Aviation Pilot, a very rare rating, he was the only one I have ever seen. He was a Chief Petty Officer, with Service stripes all the way up his sleeve.

Anyway, this guy never spoke to any of the student pilots outside the class room where he was one of the Ground School instructors. He walked up to Mica and said, "Lieutenant, You are about to bilge out of here, you know that don't you?"

Mica said, "Yes sir, that is why I am here trying to figure out what I am doing wrong."

The old guy grinned at him, "You know you are not supposed to call me 'Sir' don't you?"

"Yes Sir, it just feels right, I am respecting you, not your rank."

"OK Sonny, I don't know what you are doing wrong, but I will tell you how to get your hits on one condition."

"What is your condition, Sir?"

"Never tell anyone I told you this."

"Sir, you have a deal."

"OK" the old guy said. "Here is the way you do it. Fly your regular pursuit curve starting a little closer abeam and a bit further forward on the target sleeve. Pull your Gs in the turn as normal. Your starting position will put you closer to the sleeve, pull your lead on the sleeve, then go past where you used to start shooting. When you think you are going to hit the sleeve fire a quick burst and snap your wings level. Visualize it. Picture it in your mind over and over. Now tell me what happens when you roll level?"

"Well, the lift component making you turn will be directed upward. You should bounce upward instantly."

"Right over the sleeve!"

Billy grinned, "Mica thought about it all weekend. Monday the Pensacola weather was perfect. Mica fired three passes on the sleeve. After we landed we all hurried over to look at the sleeve. Mica's bullets were painted green that day. The sleeve was riddled with green paint marking Mica's hits. He scored 80 hits that day finishing first in the class.

"The old Chief Petty Officer walked up to Mica and snapped to attention, he gave Mica a sharp salute, smiled and walked away. Mica jumped to attention and returned the salute. So that is how Mica almost washed out of flight training."

Melissa squeezed his hand and said, "Were you really scared of hitting the sleeve with your plane?"

"You bet I was, I was amazed I was still flying after the first pass, I felt a little better on the second pass and on the last pass I waited a bit later to start shooting and was sure I would hit the sleeve when I rolled level. Somehow I missed it though! I was pretty sure I had done better but I wasn't positive."

Melissa glanced at Billy, "How is his shooting now?"

"Oh! He is always the 'top gun' in the squadron."

Mica said, "You have to remember that the systems we used in the SNJs were primitive to say the least. We had iron sights for shooting. For bombing we used the split in the engine cowling where it was hinged for removal. We would line up the target with that crack in the cowling and fly over the target at 1000 feet, when the target disappeared under the nose of the plane we would count, one potato, two potato, three potato, pickle! When you said 'pickle' you pushed the bomb release. Actually it was very accurate if you figured the wind right. As with most things in aviation, proper planning made it work better."

Suddenly one of the two babies in sleeping in the nearby playpen whimpered then loudly expressed it's displeasure at not having a nice warm milk filled teat instantly available. The other baby joined in the chorus of displeasure. Melissa and Dawn hurried to pick up their babies and open their blouses and nursing bras to feed the babies. Things became quiet except for an occasional slurping noise or burp.

The conversation resumed and Billy asked if they were going to move to the Keys as soon as Mica's resignation was final. Mica answered that they were going down the next day to spend a week then would be back. They wanted to get Sirima established with a good pediatrician in Marathon and find an OB/GYN Doctor for Melissa.

The Twin Cessna was tied down out back of the garage now and the road/runway was paved but the pad for the hangar was not ready yet. Mica had erected a windsock by the tie down area. They were an official private airstrip now, duly licensed by the County, State and Federal authorities.

The steady flow of dump trucks was not as noisy as they had expected and little Sirima slept undisturbed by them. The little Princess was firmly in charge of the McDermott home now. She was a benevolent ruler who was adored by her subjects but she tolerated no waiting for the changing of dirty diapers or a delay in the arrival of her milk when she was hungry. She was a happy baby who smiled and laughed easily.

The trip to the Keys was uneventful and Sirima traveled well. Mary fell in love with her instantly and Melissa whispered to Mica that she wondered if she would ever get her baby back. Melissa and Mica were surprised to find that a door had been installed between the master bedroom and the bedroom now known as the nursery. There was a new crib, bassinet, and a nice rocker. The room was refinished in pink and white. Melissa was very happy with the changes she could now leave the door open between rooms. Mary said that it could be changed back later if they wanted.

Allison and David arrived shortly after they were settled in. Allison delighted in holding Sirima. She was delighted when the baby smiled and cooed at her. She examined each tiny finger and toe. She kept insisting David look at the child too.

Suddenly Melissa said, "Wait what is that on your finger, oh! It's a wedding ring! What did you guys do. You got married and didn't tell anyone."

David grinned, "We decided to just go ahead and do it. Neither one of us wanted a big wedding so we went to a Justice of the Peace and got hitched. See?" He held up his left hand and showed a gold band on the ring finger.

Mica asked, "Does anyone else know?"

Allison shook her head, "No you are the first. We didn't want a big deal about this, we happen to love each other very much and want to be together in every way for the rest of our lives. I married for money the first time and a lot of people ran me down for it. He knew I didn't love him and was alright with it. I was honest and straight with him and I never cheated on him. His ex-wife and their children put me through hell over the will. He was very appreciative of how I treated him. I was sweet and loving in public and even more so in private. I grew to be very fond of him and did my very best to please him, always. David knows everything. I think he is fine with it. I hope and pray he is. He knows that I now belong to him, 100 percent."

Mica held his hand out to David, "Congratulations, both of you. It is your life and you are both adults, follow your hearts and 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead', whatever that means."

David grinned, "I am not sure either, but I like the sentiment."

Melissa giggled and winked at her brother, "Well I guess I have to look for another manager for the club. I don't think any of my other brothers or ex-boyfriends can get away to do it."

"Whoa, Sis, we do not need any help, we can do it ourselves. We are enlarging Allison's old apartment and my old place is being redone into the "Princess Suite", it will be available for short term rentals when the Princess is not using it. We'll get top dollar for it too."

"David I think you like it here. Are you going to settle here?" laughed Melissa.

"I have settled here, this is my home now. Alli wants to look for a house for us. We don't think the Club would be the proper place to raise kids. You wouldn't consider selling this place would you?"

"Mica, do you want to go back to North Carolina, the weather is freezing rain, sleet and wet snow with temperatures in the high twenties for tonight and tomorrow."

Mica looked up from where he was playing with the baby, "We are here in jeans and T-shirts with all the sliding glass doors open looking at all the stars reflected off the glassy smooth waters of the Gulf and you are asking if I would rather be up there kneeling in slush putting on snow chains. I'll need a few days to think about that, and yeah, are you going with me?"

"Hell no, Sirima and I will be up when the weather is back in the upper seventies."

Mica pouted, "Boy she sure ----Oh! Forget it."

Melissa quickly turned to Mica, "Honey, I was teasing, you know that where you go, your wife and daughter go too. That is how it will always be."

"How do you guys like your new plane now that you have had it a while?"

Mica said, "Now I can answer that one! We both like it very much. We have to figure out an oxygen mask for Sirima so we can cruise at higher altitudes where we have better speed and range. We can make it from here to North Carolina non-stop in about five hours, the same trip takes two days hard driving in a car with lots of stops including an overnight stop."

Serima started getting cranky and Mica looked at Melissa. Melissa walked to the rocking chair and Mica carried Sirima to her. Melissa put a small light blanket over her shoulder and opened her blouse and nursing bra cup and fed the baby. Allison walked over and said, "Can I watch?"

Melissa smiled, "Sure." She pulled the blanket off and Allison knelt beside the chair and watched the baby nurse. An expression of awe was on her face as she watched. She looked up at Melissa, "That is so beautiful, I have never seen this before. God, my hormones feel like they are working overtime, this is such an intense feeling every nerve in my body is tingling." She looked around at David, I know I am ovulating, take me home to bed. NOW!"

Melissa laughed, "Mica, please tell David how to do it, Honey, the poor boy has never been married before."

David chuckled, "For all these years I was only interested in keeping the girls from getting pregnant, now I have to shift gears and try just the opposite."

"Well David, we both know it is a tough job, but someone has to do it. Right?"

Melissa laughed, "I surely do not remember begging you for your help. As a matter of fact you dragged me to bed most of the time."

"Yes, and I still do every chance I get, which is not very often these days."

Melissa smiled softly at him, "I know Sweetie, only a couple more weeks. It is hard for me too!"

Mica grinned, "Yes it is!"

"Oh! I should have said it is hard on me too!"

Mica just grinned. "I love it when you talk dirty to me."

Melissa blushed, "Sweetie, I miss it as much as you do. Just be patient. I thought I was keeping you happy."

"You are, I was only teasing."

David looked at Allison, "What are they talking about?"

Allison shook her head. "MEN! Honey, after childbirth a woman can't have intercourse for six to eight weeks."

"Oh! That sucks!"

Mica laughed, "You have that right brother."

"Yes, but sometimes he gets a little behind--- with things."

Allison giggled, "What things, or do you mean his thing."

"We will just say I don't let him go without. I make sure he gets enough at home, so he doesn't have to get it elsewhere."

Mica grinned, "Honey, I never get that hungry. If I can't get yours I don't want any---food that is."

"Mica, Sweetie, I love you with all my heart, but sometime when you do not have access to steak you might be tempted to grab a burger. I don't want that to happen. So I try to keep you satisfied, not to mention that it satisfies me too!"

Allison smiled, "You two are so cute together, I hope we will be that way, you listen to each other and the love and respect shows."

'Lissa smiled. "Thank you, I don't think we consciously try, but the true feelings we have for each other are easy to see because we are both proud that the feelings are mutual and genuine."

They made plans to meet the following night at the club. They were told to tell the Maitre de that the Royal table was reserved for them.

Mary was delighted to babysit for them she insisted that it was part of her job and said she would be insulted if she were offered more money. She said, "Believe me it will be worth more than money to me to tell my lady friends I act as the Royal Princess's Nanny when necessary. They will all turn green with envy! I have to confess something to you."

"What is that Mary?"

"Well I am so proud of being part of your family staff I took the liberty of going to the library in Key West and researched Ceylon a little bit. I found a picture of the Ceylon Flag and the Ceylon symbol or crest. The flag is sort of ugly but the crest is nice.