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THIRTY-ONE

GAGE

Saturday:

The backyard is a madhouse of kids screaming and wives chatting while the five of us huddle around the grill arguing over how the meat’s cooking.

Victor takes a pull from his beer and nudges me and I follow his eyes to our wives with the kids in the little kiddie pool we set up this morning.

“You did good at pulling that one,” he smirks and waves over to his wife.

“And you didn’t with Rebecca?” Watching Ale dip Zoe’s toes in the water and Zoe trying to launch herself into the pool has me cracking up.

“Oh, I totally did. I wholeheartedly believe I don’t deserve that woman. Yet she keeps giving me babies. It’s gotta be Stockholm syndrome, right?” His body shakes with laughter as Rebecca stares at him, looking over at me to clue her in.

My face twists in a wide, cringy grin, and I shake my head, mouthing, “He’s nuts.

” She laughs and Ale looks over to see what’s going on and when her eyes find mine, nothing else in the world matters.

God, she’s so fucking beautiful. I honestly can’t believe she is upright right now with how sick she was this morning.

From five in the morning to just before the Moraleses came over, she was hovering over the toilet, dry heaving.

But my girl is pushing through like a mother fucking champ.

I swear she will never not amaze me.

“So,” Jackson interrupts my daydreaming about my wife. “How is she handling the deployment prep? Was she with you when you came home from the last mission?”

I turn around and flip the steaks and hot dogs, then grab my water.

“Yeah, she was here with Zoe, and she helped me get back on my feet. We weren’t together then, but it wasn’t long after that we got together.

” I take a drink and set the bottle back down.

“Ale’s doing better than I expected. I’m just worried she’ll feel alone. ”

“She’ll have Rebecca and the kids.” Victor adds.

“I’m sure our wives would step up too,” McCormick motions to his and Jackson’s wives. “Brook’s wife, too. Where the fuck is he? I thought he said he’d be here like forty-five minutes ago.”

“He’s probably parked out front, fucking her in the backseat.” Jackson chuckles. “Married for a year and they still fuck like rabbits.”

I turn away and silently laugh. If only they knew.

Once Ale was feeling better and Victor had texted that the family was on their way, I bent her over the arm of the couch and made her scream my name. Twice. Tilting my head to the side, I stare at her legs. Does she still have my cum on her thighs?

“What are you staring at, Gage?” Jackson asks.

“My wife.”

My fucking wife.

We all sit around the big folding table in the backyard, the older kids at the end talking amongst themselves and the little kids at the head with us.

I clear my throat and everyone gets quiet, staring at me.

“Thank you guys for coming and giving up some of your last Saturday with your families to be here. I just wanted a little normalcy for us before going back out there. That and to bring the families together and hopefully you ladies can all lean on each other while we’re gone. ”

Ale rubs a hand down my back and stands up.

“I want to say thank you for making me feel welcome. I was so worried that with our situation and how everything happened, people would judge us and me specifically. But you have shown me otherwise.” She sits back down, looking down at her plate and I take her hand in mine, bringing it to my lips for a kiss.

“Alright, enough with the heavy emotional stuff!” Victor cuts in. “Let’s eat and enjoy the rest of the night!”

“Rah!” all the guys cheer in unison.

This is my family.

These men are my brothers.

We fight together, and we die together.