Staff Feature: Laurie Ingram Sibley
Corporal Aaron Glenn shifted on his bunk and pulled a worn picture out of his shirt pocket. His bride gazed back at him, her smile reflecting six years of the joy of being married to your best friend. It wasn’t always easy—his career with the United States Marines had already moved them three times and he was on the tail end of his second nine-month deployment. But Erin—the guys never failed to rag him about marrying a woman with his same name—was supportive. They were both military brats. She’d understood what she was signing up for when she said yes.
Erin had been the first person he’d met at church youth group when his family arrived in town. It’d been love at first sight for him, but he kept things casual for three whole months. Until Erin cornered him after school with her hands on her hips. “Aren’t you ever going to ask me out?” They’d been together ever since.
Their wedding day had been magical. They’d honeymooned on a romantic island that he’d return to in a heartbeat. And the routine of married life had never seemed like drudgery. Even pushing a cart through Walmart or washing dishes was fun when you could interlace fingers with your wife or smack her cute butt on the way past.
He rubbed his thumb over photo-Erin’s cheek, heaving a sigh. The love he felt for her was deep and enduring, but lately, the dynamics of their relationship had been changing. He’d be back home in a little over 48 hours, and he didn’t know quite what to expect.
He slid Erin’s picture behind a second photo. Here was the source of his nervous anticipation. Olivia, the new lady in his life. He lived for the times he could check his email to see if new pictures of her had arrived. They hadn’t yet met in person, but he’d memorized her features. Her big blue eyes seemed to stare straight into his soul.
Liv, as he thought of her, consumed his thoughts these days. And while he felt guilty for being more excited to hold her in his arms than to kiss his wife, he couldn’t deny his feelings.
“That your girl?” Chad asked, passing by Aaron’s bunk on the way to his own.
“Yeah.” Aaron tilted Liv’s picture toward him.
Chad let out a whistle. “She sure is a beauty.”
“You boys staring at Olivia again?” His chief entered the room and Aaron started to stuff the pictures back into his pocket.
The superior officer held out his hand. Aaron reluctantly passed the photos over.
Chief studied Erin’s face. “You’re a lucky man, you know that?” He flipped back to Liv’s picture and waved it at Aaron. “This’ll throw a wrench in the fairy tale.”
And even though Aaron had just been thinking the same thing, he stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. He was a Marine, trained to improvise, adapt, and overcome obstacles.
Chad tapped his chest with his right hand. “Semper fi.”
The Marine motto. Always faithful.
* * *
The charter bus pulled into the base parking lot with a loud screech of air brakes that scraped against Aaron’s already frayed nerves. He stood with the rest of his unit, grabbing his rucksack. Restlessness radiated off the men, and through the windows, he could see the gathered family members surge closer.
The men in the bus jostled each other in their hurry to disembark. Aaron filed down the aisle with them, back straight, shoulders square. Inside, though, his stomach lurched. Erin was somewhere in that crowd, waiting faithfully for him. And he was about to lay eyes on real-life Liv for the very first time.
The crowd shifted as families waved and held up handwritten welcome home signs, rising on tiptoes and craning their necks as they searched for their Marines. And then he saw Erin, standing a little apart from the mob, her eyes locked on him.
He walked faster, dodging embracing couples and bouncing children. Erin beamed, hanging back, waiting for him to come to her. He caught sight of Liv, but kept his gaze on Erin, his eyes tracing the line of her jaw, the curve of her cheek. She looked tired and there was a new softness to her body. She radiated joy and expectation even as a tear sprang loose.
He dropped his bag and reached for her. His hands slid along the smooth skin of her face, rubbing the tear away.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
He kissed her carefully, tenderly. “I’m here now. I’m all yours.”
“Well,” she said. “Not quite all mine anymore. I guess I’ll be sharing you with Olivia.”
Aaron swallowed hard, longing and fear battling in his gut. “Erin—”
“I know you’ve memorized her pictures. But let me officially introduce you.” She lifted the bundle in her arms. “Meet your daughter, Olivia Ruth Glenn.”
Aaron looked down into those big blue eyes he couldn’t get enough of. A week of pictures hadn’t prepared him for the live-action version. He watched, fascinated, as her rosebud lips pursed, then stretched in a yawn.
“Here. Hold out your arms.”
“Oh. I, uh . . .”
Erin cocked an eyebrow at him. “If you’re brave enough to run into battle, you can handle holding a newborn.” Like an expert, she transferred the baby to the crook of his left arm.
“You’re the brave one.” He dragged his gaze from Liv and back to the mother of his child. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when she was born.”
Erin shrugged one shoulder. “It was hard not having you in the room. But FaceTime is better than nothing. And it’s kind of Olivia’s fault for coming early.”
He pulled Erin close with his free arm, smiling down at his two girls. Love at first sight had struck again.
He bent his head and kissed Liv’s petal-soft forehead. “Semper fi,” he whispered.
Erin grinned. “Oorah.”
Keep up with her escapades at http://www.lauriesibley.com/newsletter. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, or her website.
Spark Flash Fiction 