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Rebecca

I t was his voice, but it couldn’t be.

She was laying on something hard and cold, yet a warm hand was touching her cheek. It was very different than the wind that was blowing her hair. She realized she was still on the beach.

Opening her eyes, she saw the ghost of Mitch.

“Hi Bex,” he said, and she wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. The man looked like Mitch, if Mitch had aged and lost a lot of weight. He held Emily in his arms and looked from her to Rebecca.

She was seeing a ghost. Maybe he was visiting her to see his daughter.

“Mitch…Mitch,” she said as she managed to sit up. He dropped his trekking pole then and kneeled painfully on the sand. A moment later, he kissed her.

She kissed him back, her hand cupping his face. He was real. She kissed him again and felt the familiar tightening in her gut.

“I don’t believe it,” she managed.

He was looking at Emily, but now he met her eyes. “I escaped four, maybe five days ago. It is all kind of a blur. One minute, I’d escaped and was in this small village, and then a group of American soldiers, Marines, were rescuing me. It was crazy.”

“You are dead,” she said.

“No, Bex, I’m alive. Everyone else, everyone who was with me…

they are dead. The other men from Donovan Security, I was told they didn’t survive.

From what I can tell, I came pretty close to joining them on the other side.

I was pulled out of the wreckage after the helicopter was shot down.

My leg was broken, so I was in a tent until it healed.

Then they put me in jail or some sort of cell.

I thought I’d die. I think they were planning to kill me, so I escaped when I could.

My leg got hurt…well, the other leg…but it will be okay, I’m okay. ”

“I…I must be dreaming,” she said as her fingers dug into the damp sand. “I love you. I missed you so much. You’re a ghost.”

“I might look like one, but I’m not a ghost. I’m here. I love you and this little baby, our little baby,” he said, looking at his daughter with a sweet look she had seen a few times before.

“ I must have hit my head…Am I dead?” Rebecca asked and reached for Mitch again. He kissed her, her body trembling violently.

“You crumpled, hit the sand with your butt first, then fell backward. I didn’t know if I should go for you or the stroller, but when the stroller started tipping, I grabbed it and then saw…. the baby…” his voice tapered off as he looked down at his daughter.

“Emily…I named her Emily…I…did I die?” she asked as she touched his arm, his shoulder, the side of his face. He felt solid under her touch, but she didn’t believe it.

“No, Bex, I think you are in shock. Remember the night I left, you mentioned that your period was late, and then you took the pregnancy test?” he said as he looked down at Emily.

“I think we conceived her…Emily… The afternoon we got married, when we spent the afternoon consummating our wedding in the bed with the red sheets.”

“I…I tell me more,” she said, still not believing the unbelievable. “I can’t believe it is you.”

“It is me,” he whispered as tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Tell me something only you would know,” she said as tears poured down her cheeks too.

He smiled kindly and kissed her. “I was the first man to make love to you. Remember, we drank some vodka and orange juice from the minibar at the Marriott because we were both nervous? But it was wonderful. We made love three times in that little hotel room with the view of Times Square, and each time was better than the time before. You had your first orgasm, and I felt so empowered because I’d been the one to give it to you.

I was a bit in awe of you, how wonderful you were.

You weren’t in any pain. You had found your passion.

We both had a little sheet burn, but it was nothing.

Then we found any place we could be alone for the next two weeks before I left for London.

It was the biggest mistake of my life leaving you then and leaving you for that last delivery to Iraq. ”

“Mitch, oh my God…Oh, Mitch.” She reached for him then, and he carefully placed the baby back in her stroller and reached for Rebecca. She started sobbing then as she clung to him.

Mitch said, “Hey, everything is going to be fine. I love you. Thoughts of you made me keep fighting. And I had to know if we had a boy or girl.”

“Emily is perfect. She looks like you.”

Mitch glanced at the baby and smiled, Rebecca, noticing how thin his face was, as he said, “Emily…I love Emily. Maybe she has my dimples, but she is both of us. Our love.”

Rebecca said, “I love her so much.”

Mitch sat on the sand next to her and wiped away a few tears of his own. “She is beautiful.”

“How…I don’t understand. How did you get here?” she asked.

“Well, first, they flew me to Germany, to an American Military base, where I was put in the hospital. I don’t clearly remember that first day or two…

a blur. They had me on some drugs. There were a lot of conversations.

Then they told me I could go home. I called Alex.

He arranged it. He sent the plane to pick me up in Germany.

I landed about four hours ago. Alex was waiting on the tarmac in Portland.

He looked so shocked. It was so good to see him… to see you.”

“He didn’t tell me. Why wouldn’t he tell me?”

“I think he was scared I wasn’t real. He told me yesterday that you were at the beach, dealing with everything.

He drove me here. We talked until I fell asleep in the car.

I’m exhausted. I’m sorry I didn’t call you first, but I tried, and I couldn’t quite remember your number.

I blame the concussion. I had his number memorized because it has been the same for ten years.

I think I might have taken a few years off his life when he heard my voice.

He was completely silent for a full minute.

Then he came around. The shock wore off.

He’s coming back tomorrow with your Mom and Dad. ”

“He didn’t stay?” she asked.

“He knew we needed a little time to ourselves. By being on the beach, you messed up him getting to see our big reunion.”

“He didn’t tell me. I cannot believe he didn’t tell me,” she said incredulously. “Is he going to tell them before they come here tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so. What I did to him was a shock, and I have a feeling he doesn’t want to do that to anyone else. I think he is worried about killing one of your parents. I know this is a shock, but it is me.”

He leaned toward her, and they kissed. The way he kissed her was so familiar. She hadn’t forgotten it.

“How did you find me on the beach?” She asked as she touched him, her hands running lightly over his body. He couldn’t stop kissing her. He kissed her lips, her cheek and, finally, her neck before he answered.

“As we passed the bridge before turning down your drive, I saw you on the beach, so Alex let me off at the ramp. He was going to put my new luggage, purchased at the airport in Germany like I’ve done before with Heathrow, in your bedroom, and then he was going to leave, so I hope you want me to stay. ”

They heard a honk and looked up at the road. Alex was leaning out of his Porsche with binoculars up to his face and was waving. Even from that distance she could see his smile. They waved back, and then Alex drove away.

“Well, it looks like my ride has left. By the way, I have a new passport, courtesy of the U.S. government, but I’ve got to pay Alex back.

He called ahead to a couple of stores that were waiting for me.

I used his credit cards to pay for everything because I didn’t have any cards.

All my IDs, etc., they went down with the helicopter.

So, really, I hope it is okay if I stay. ”

“I…I…Are you kidding? Even if you are a ghost, I’m not letting you go. You’re my husband. I love you more than life itself. You’re never leaving us again,” she said as she put her arms around him and pulled him to her. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

“Are you okay? You are so thin.”

“I got checked out, even gave them blood at the hospital in Germany. Everything is normal. I need to gain forty or fifty pounds, but I’m okay.

They gave me a haircut and a shave, probably deloused me.

I don’t want to know. They even cleaned my teeth.

I also had a shower, several showers, which were heaven on Earth.

I don’t think you’d have recognized me a week ago. ”

Aside from the thin appearance, Mitch still had his smile. He looked so good to Rebecca that she still wasn’t sure she wasn’t seeing a figment of her imagination.

“I’d recognize you anywhere,” she said.

“I hope so, Bex. And I never want to eat curry again.”

“I don’t know how to make curry,” she said, her arms fitting loosely around him. “You’re here. You’re home. I’ll feed you. You’ll gain the weight.”

“Just stay close. Having you in my arms is all the fuel I need,” he said.

“What happened to your leg?” she asked.

“It is nothing. I’ll be fine in a few weeks. I just hurt it escaping. Well, I got shot, but it is minor. It is what they call a nick because it didn’t get the bone and was kind of on the edge, but they worried about infection because I was kind of dirty.”

Rebecca took in his comment, stifled a cry, and helped him to stand. They walked slowly back to the house, leaning on each other for support, the stroller out before them. It took them a long time because they walked slowly with their arms around each other.

Back at the house, Mitch sunk into her plush couch, and Rebecca placed Emily in his arms. Tears slid down his cheeks, which he unabashedly wiped away. He asked questions about every detail of Rebecca’s pregnancy and the birth of their baby.

“I just look at you, and my heart…You’re so thin,” she said as fresh tears started pooling in her eyes. “I’m worried about you.”