Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Captain Cooper and I stood in front of General Reed, who sat hunched over at his desk. He glared at the two of us, obviously not pleased with the news of the smuggler. It didn't help that our only lead on catching the smuggler was that they were somehow tied to some doctor that may or may not be a part of the MTC. "You idiots!" he growled, slamming his hands onto his desk. "How could you let this happen?"

Captain Cooper didn't flinch and instead responded, "It happened like the conception of a baby. We didn't plan for it but it just--"

"Do you think you're funny?" General Reed hollered. 

"No, sir," I cut in. "Please excuse Captain Cooper, he isn't quite adept with his tongue. We meant that it was a careless mistake and that we will solve it."

"Who else do you think will solve it, you moronic dunce?"

"Nobody, sir."

"Idiots," General Reed sighed. "Until you figure out who the culprit is, don't allow the MT to return to the motherland. You're both excused."

"Yes, sir!" We both saluted him before heading back to the humvee. As I climbed into the passenger side, i glared at Captain Cooper who absentmindedly started the car. "Why did you feel the need to mention the conception of babies?"

He glanced at me as he began to back out of headquarters, "I thought I was being poetic."

I stared at him, at a loss for words.

We drove for another half an hour in silence before Captain Cooper broke the silence, "So...Nurse Anderson, huh?"

"Yeah. We're dating," I smiled. "What about Private Morgan? She likes you."

"I thought your "relationship" with Nurse Anderson was simply being rejected constantly."

"Well, she finally came around. And don't dodge my question. What about Private Morgan?"

"She has feelings for me," he stated blandly. 

I looked over at him who sat at the wheel, his face stoic as ever. "And how do you feel about her?"

There was a pause in conversation where the only noises were those of the humvee. 

"I wish to marry her."

"Wait, what?" 

~oOo~

I climbed out of the humvee once we had finally reached base thoroughly shaken. What the hell? James Cooper and Ericka Morgan were not only sleeping together but planning to be married? Worse yet, Captain Cooper was sleeping with somebody and I wasn't. James Cooper, the awkward, socially...challenged moron (I still love him, after all, he is my best friend) was basically engaged. 

Ericka...Cooper? That didn't sound weird. It had a nice ring to it actually. But an Ericka Morgan-James Cooper child? I shivered at the thought.

Captain Cooper dropped his hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eye, "I appreciate your discretion, Sergeant."

I awkwardly nodded and pointed at a random place, "I ought to be helping out over--somewhere, sir."

I saluted him once and headed off to where I had pointed. This was a huge secret to keep--a gross secret, honestly.  

"Sergeant Whit!" I slowed down for Dr. Scott who rushed at me, out of breath. "Have you slept with Ella?"

I blinked, taking a step back from him. "What?"

"There's a bet some of the guys have made," he gestured to a group of men, mostly soldiers, who were watching. 

"Don't even bet on my sex life," I rolled my eyes. "Like, actually, please don't."

"Oh," he said, looking disappointed. "Well, now that we're men in relationships--"

"I thought you were single."

"--I'm basically in a relationship with Whitn--"

"Basically."

"--anyway, as I was saying: now that we're men in relationships--"

"Basically in relationships," I corrected.

"--men basically in relationships, we should go out to drink and talk about our women iss--"

"Basically women issues."

"--basically women issues."

"Can't drink when I'm deployed," I pat his shoulder. "Great talking to you, man."

"You too, dude!"

I walked away, scratching my head. This base had some interesting characters.

"Gabe!"

I recognized Ella's voice and continued walking, just to annoy her. She called at again, but I ignored her. I was expecting her to call again, but instead I heard footsteps quickly speeding up. Before I had time to register what was happening, she collided into me, her arms crossed against her chest. "Jesus!" I exclaimed.

"Don't ignore me!" she straightened herself up, glaring at me. She fixed her wild hair and smiled up at me. "Guess what."

"Your mood literally switched in under a secon--"

"I said "guess what!"" she exclaimed, frustrated.

"What?"

"Guess!"

"I swear to God, if you weren't so cute, I'd drop you in a second," I teased, rolling my eyes. She looked up at me, anticipating what I had to say. "Fine, fine. Last night, you found God and turned your back on your perverse ways?"

She rolled her eyes and raised her fist playfully. She smiled again, her eyes sparkling, "My brother Chris set a date for his wedding."

"Oh? When is it?"

"He said it was June 19. Do you want to be my plus one, boyfriend?"

"Oh," I pretended to have to think really hard. "Seven months is a huge commitment that I'm not sure if I should make."

"So that's a 'yes,'" she smiled, getting on her tiptoes to plant an awkward kiss on my chin. "Oops, I missed."

"Shortie," I ruffled her hair.

"I haven't washed my hair yet," she stated as I awkwardly withdrew my hand from her head.

~oOo~

The man in the grey suit stepped out from one of the black SUVs that had recklessly pulled up around him, leaving him surrounded. The doctor trembled while trying to appear cool and collected on the outside. Many more men, all dressed in black suits, stepped out as well. "Dr. Kamau," the man in the grey suit grinned, holding out both his hands, as if asking for a hug. In his left hand was a small pistol. "I believe you have a delivery for me. Oh, actually, I heard it was an explanation."

Dr. Kamau straightened up, lifting his chin, "Mr. Jamison, I do not have the materials you had asked for present."

"I have a hard time believing that, for a doctor, getting narcotics is all that difficult."

"To avoid suspicion, I tried to use a child--"

"Oh that wasn't very smart, was it Doctor?" He stepped closer, pressing his gun to Dr. Kamau's forehead. "It makes me wonder--what good is keeping that brain hole free?"

Dr. Kamau began to sweat profusely, panic settling in, "S-Sir, please give me another chance. I will bring you whatever you want."

The man smiled, "Doctor, do you promise?"

"Y-yes. I promise! I promise!"

"You have until the end of the month."

And with that, the men left, leaving Dr. Kamau shaken.