Nerd and the Marine (15 page)

I should be on base when
Ben comes. I haven't heard of any other projects that will need my
team. Of course, there's always the possibility we'll be called
up.

I'm looking forward to his
visit. What can you tell me about him so I'll look semi-informed? I
know he's a Morrison and your cousin, but is there anything else I
should know? Any likes or dislikes? Hot topics or buttons I should
be aware of? Being a Navy SEAL, I know there are military issues
I’ll let be. But anything else you can think of would be
helpful.

My friend Al watched the
first two videos with me. I’m not allowed to watch the other two
without him, or so he claims. He got a big kick out of you
detouring the herd into your brother’s closet. And, like me, he’s
never had grandparents. At least not any he remembers, so they
piqued his interest. He wonders if they’ll adopt him? I
told him I doubted this since they’ve already got more relatives
than they can keep track of. But, he remains hopeful.

I also wanted to mention
that soon I’ll start leaving on longer assignments. The current
project will keep me out of communication for up to ninety days at
a time. I don’t like it, but understand this is my job.

I’m one of the few with
the experience for this assignment. I hope you’ll continue to send
me pictures from time to time, but understand months will pass
before I can reply.

I hate that there’s an
ocean between us, as I’ve never hugged an earth bound angel before.
Do you mind if I hug you when I return to the states? (I should
probably ask these things beforehand, right?)

Seems like years before
I’ll return, rather than months. The project will be intense and
seemingly endless. Of course, there’s relief that I won’t need to
be here for the project completion. By then they should pull
someone else with more knowledge for the latter part. My skills are
utilized now, but later I’ll probably just be in the way. Thank
goodness.

Since I’ll be gone soon,
I’d better watch those last two videos. Oh, and I’ll try to keep
the bakers informed of my schedule. There’s no sense in them
sending cookies I won’t be here to enjoy. I can give them a general
name if they’d like to still send to the base. I know their
contributions will be much appreciated.

As has everything we’ve
been sent. There’s very little provision as there are many of us.
Such things as toiletries and condiments and entertainment are all
rather lacking. We do without because we have to. I’m extremely
grateful to your rellys for sending me necessities. I’ve shared
some of them, so now guys without family have toiletries and
such.

A huge thank you to all
your family. And to you, too. I met up with a few others whose pets
are in the homes of your relatives. They’re receiving packages,
too, and are quite appreciative of all you’re doing.

One man, whose wife is Air
Force and also deployed here, has children. Fortunately, his and
her parents are happily sharing their children, but had no place
for their pets. Both parents had to move out of retirement
communities so they could even care for the children. Your family
is now housing their pets. So, although they can't be together,
they are both grateful for those at home.

I had it pretty easy. You
took Bentley. Some of these guys weren’t so lucky and their pets
are gone. Either on to other families or destroyed. That’s the
hardest thing ever. They don’t know what happened. Some of them
don’t want to know, but they’re still here, working just as hard,
fighting for the same thing I am.

I had to share my cookies
with them. I shared everything, because they have nothing. One guy
broke down on me. (How in the world do you comfort a two hundred
and forty pound Marine?) Anyway, I was happy to help him. After all
you and your family have done for me, it at least gave me something
I could do to help.

All for now, as Al just
came in. Thank you for yours, and I hope you are completely better.
Do you have your voice back now? I hope you enjoy the lake
time.

Yours,

Mitch – I like the sign
you got for Bentley. He seems to like it too, indicates his status
as the squirrel chaser.

With a sigh, Mitch sent the e-mail and
wished anew that he could give her the message in person. Yet, he
was a Marine, he reminded himself so he wouldn’t give into these
negative thoughts. Marines got the job done – done well, and the
first time. He’d joined this branch and felt he finally belonged
here. For the first time ever he belonged to something. He had
brothers here.

That’s why he’d joined, for the
camaraderie. The Marine Corps had offered him more than he felt
he’d given in return. And now, the Morrison family did the same.
Somewhere along the line, fate must have made a decree that he’d
finally be blessed.

*****

Lainy logged onto her e-mail and
watched her messages download. When she scrolled down and found one
from Mitch, she clicked and her heart spurted. Reading through, she
nearly lost her heart right through her chest cavity.

He wanted to hug
her.
Her
. Lainy
Morrison. Nerd extraordinaire. Tears trailed down her face and she
kept sniffing. How she wanted that hug right now.
In person
.

More tears fell when she read further
about all their military personnel didn’t have. Simple things like
soap, deodorant, and shaving cream and ketchup and mustard packets.
Things Americans took for granted. Yet there were many Americans
now who no longer saw those items as anything other than
privileges. Who did without because they couldn’t obtain those
simple necessities.

Lainy cut and pasted some of Mitch’s
e-mail and sent the message on to many of her relatives. She
understood he hadn’t asked for anything, but explained how things
were over there and expressed his gratitude. How would anyone know
unless the men and women there told their loved ones? While maybe
not a loved one of Mitch’s, she did have his dog. And he wanted to
hug her.

Clinging to that little line, Lainy
wrote him a response. Wanting that hug now and later. Something he
could and apparently wanted to offer her. Something she needed. The
tears continued to roll, as she realized she wouldn’t have contact
with him for periods of up to ninety days. Three whole months of no
communication with Mitch.

She also wouldn’t have contact with
him if her hacker slipped around her firewall and sent her own
virus back to her system. Lainy had to continue updating her
defenses. And she needed to tweak the system so the hacker, who
appeared to be using a different computer every time, which was why
she couldn’t locate him, wouldn’t be able to wreck her equipment.
She was disturbed by this attack. Her hacking attempts had proved
futile, which made her mad.

Right now, she’d reply to Mitch’s
e-mail. This was something that made her happy.

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: I hate that
you’re going

Attachment

Hello Mitch,

I cried when I read you’ll
be out of contact for up to ninety days. I really didn’t want to
read that. I hate it already. I’ve come to love our e-mails, and
yes, I agree, they’re not nearly as nice as seeing you in person
would be, but they’re better than nothing.

You may hug me as often as
you’d like, by the way. Anytime, anyplace.

I sent parts of your
e-mail on to family and friends, not because I felt you were asking
for anything, but rather because I know this is something we can do
to help. Most Americans want to help, but don’t know how. Unless
you folks tell us, we don’t know.

The bakers will be quite
disappointed you’ll be off the base for long periods of time, but I
can warn you now you’ll be bombarded with requests for those men’s
names who don’t have family. I seriously wouldn’t be surprised if
they try to track down all these men’s pets, too. Some may be gone
already, but if they can find those animals, and they will (have
you ever tried to control a hurricane or tornado? One of my aunts,
Aunt Emma, is a complete force of nature!) She’ll
find those animals and keep them herself for as long as necessary,
you watch. ☺

Please do send the names
of all the men you shared your supplies with. You’ve received so
much because we know you. Now the ladies will have even more people
to help. There are community drives here often for natural disaster
relief, and I’m sorry, but I think what you’re experiencing is
similar. There is much upheaval in your life and if we can ease
that, we will.

Some of them will bake,
while others will stockpile supplies. Actually, the natural
disaster, my Aunt Emma, you can’t walk in her house, because of all
the boxes. People generously donate things and she buys
smartly.

She might even apply for
grants, I’m not sure. And, of course, with 800 relatives, she taps
ALL of us. Without compunction. Aunt Emma should be a
recruiter or something, because she’s definitely persistent and
persuasive and gets what she wants. Her cause is helped by the fact
most of us want to help. Granddad is nearly as bad. Well, both
Granddad’s. One was a Marine, the other Navy. So, they help
her.

I really hate the idea of
you going off for months on end. (I know I already said this,
but...) It stinks! Quite badly. Sort of like Bentley yesterday when
he rolled in a dead fish and then ran into a skunk. Which has legs,
and should have run, but didn’t, of course. It was not pleasant. We
cleaned out the local grocer of all tomato juice and tomatoes.
Bentley didn’t know what the ruckus was all about. (He still
doesn’t.)

He’s not certain he likes
being the only dog in the area smelling of human shampoo, (which my
vet cousin recommended, since she claims tomato products don’t
work, and they didn’t) but alas, it does beat dead fish and skunk
topped with tomato sauce. Ugghhh. Turns my stomach even
now.

We all ended up having to
take turns bathing him. No one person could stand the stench for
long. Fortunately, he managed to locate the fish and the skunk
alone, so no other dogs were affected. Max found the fish and took
care of it, and the skunk, well, we’re hoping Bentley learned his
lesson. Black and white animals that look like cats,
AREN’T.

It’s been fun. Oh, and my
granddad, the Marine, opened a root beer almost as soon as we
arrived. He’d forgotten Bentley’s little fetish and he and Bentley
went into the lake. So, yes, Bentley’s already thrown one of my
male relatives in. Granddad doesn’t seem to mind, though. He still
spoils Bentley, thank goodness.

I did stock up on more
root beer, and will be spraying any brothers who don’t willingly
take one, so no worries there. All for now, as I want to build
another computer like the one I sent you.

Yours,

Lainy

P.S. All I can tell you
about Ben is he's a Morrison. That's pretty much all you need to
know. He's incredibly laid back and smart. I think you'll like
him.

Lainy sent the e-mail and wished she
could have that hug now. But she didn't want just one, she wanted a
hundred. Thousand. Maybe she'd feel she'd received enough then, but
probably not, either.

She stared at the computer, wanting to
hold Mitch for just a moment, and when her eyes went bleary, pushed
herself away to go back to something she could do. Her electronics.
Except they weren't working as well now at distracting her as they
had in the past.

There really was no sense in punishing
herself over something she couldn't alter. She wanted to feel
Mitch's arms around her. She wanted to be pressed close against
him. Before those physical needs had turned her off, but Mitch was
different. He wouldn’t make her feel disgusting after an encounter
with him. Lainy bit her lip. Right?

She wanted to believe she’d find what
her family had. With Mitch. Wanted to believe a relationship would
be better with him.

At least she'd never experienced those
sensations with him, so she didn't know what she missed. What if
they had dated or been married before he left? What if she knew his
scent and how he smiled? Her heart broke for all those women and
men whose spouses or significant others were overseas in the
military. She didn't know whether to be thankful for not knowing or
upset. How could she miss something she'd never experienced? Yet,
she did.

Chapter Seventeen

Mitch finally selected
the
Lainy As Commando
video and popped the DVD into his computer. He'd received
another box of cookies today, which was good, since his supply had
been sorely depleted. The carton contained more toiletries which
were also nearing empty on his end.

He sat back on his bed after popping
some popcorn and watched as the video started with a wooded shot.
The trees were brilliant with green foliage while a near carpet of
ferns in the undergrowth completed the wooded landscape. He
detected action and watched the stealthy movements of civilians
trying to be tricky. Al snorted beside him and Mitch grinned. Then
he ate some popcorn and tried to keep the bag out of Al’s
reach.