3 - Secrets
I thought about how there are two types of secrets: the kind you want to keep in, and the kind you don’t dare let out. – Ally Carter
The group finally all made their way to the table and found places to sit. Helen watched as everyone seemed to pair off, Dean situated herself between JD and Cooper. The older man sat looking at her with a mix of longing and sadness, she turned to him and gave him a small smile of understanding.
Grabbing her phone, Helen sent a quick message to JD. Everything OK between you and Dean?
She never heard the chirp and assumed that JD had his phone on silent. After he looked at his lap for a moment, he smiled at his mom and then a message came in from him.
Dean reminds Coop of someone special he lost
Looking up from her phone, she brushed a tear away and gave her son a small nod and smile. The waitress came and took their drink orders. After a short discussion, a few appetizers were also ordered.
“How the hell are you going to be able to come back here in about a week and a half for the commitment ceremony?” Jaxon asked JD and Cooper.
Cooper laughed. “Everyone seems to think that the military works 24/7. But it’s just like a regular job. We work regular shifts, have time off, can even swap shifts.”
“There’s just a lot more paperwork involved.” JD smirked and Cooper groaned.
“Soooo, much paperwork.” Cooper agreed. “In triplicate.”
Both friends laughed and Reese grinned.
“Do they still do it in triplicate?” the Navy veteran asked.
“At least.” Coop replied. “But now it’s all on the computer and you just have to fill it out once and then submit to all the correct people and departments.”
“I remember back in the day when we had to do it in black ink and on carbon paper three to four pages thick. And don’t think of writing anything over any carbon paper.” Reese chuckled. “Can’t tell you how many times we got busted because someone didn’t check to see what was under their paper.”
The other two younger Navy men chuckled.
“Chief said something about when you guys were stationed in Germany.”
Reese chuckled and Dean’s eyes got wide.
“Shush.” Her uncle warned and she turned and buried her face in her husband’s chest. He held her to him as they both shook with laughter.
“This is probably something that I don’t want to know about.” Helen mused and all four agreed.
The waitress approached and began placing the appetizers on the tables. The stuffed mushrooms were some of Bunny’s favorites and she had insisted on them. But the instant that they were in front of her, she quickly pushed them away.
“Are you okay?” Jaxon asked as he took the plate from her.
“Is something wrong with the mushrooms?” The waitress asked as she placed the mozzarella sticks down.
Bunny was taking on a light green hue as she fought to keep her lunch in her stomach. Passing the mushrooms down the table, Jaxon began to rub her back in small, gentle circles.
“The smell…” she finally got out before she stood and rushed to the bathroom.
“That didn’t take you long.” Helen told her oldest son. “Go see to her.”
Jaxon nodded and followed his partner to the bathroom near the center of the floating building.
“Didn’t take long for what?” JD asked and Dean elbowed him in the ribs. Rubbing the spot on his ribs, he looked at his wife in confusion. “What?”
“Men just don’t get it.” Cheryl said shaking her head in disbelief as she looked at her younger cousin.
“Obviously.” Dean agreed dryly.
“I get it.” Neo told them. “I also get that since they haven’t said anything, they either didn’t have it confirmed, or didn’t want us to know yet.”
“Either way, we don’t need to be talking about them.” Reese ordered.
Helen gave a soft shutter as a shiver ran down her back. “Yes, sir.”
He swore softly before tipping her face up to his and gave her a light kiss. “Later, Kitten.”
“If you’re going to molest my mother, can it not be in front of me?” JD teased.
“It’s not molesting if she consents.” Cooper pointed out and got a death glare from his friend. Shrugging, he smiled. “Sorry, not sorry?”
Biting back her own laugh, Dean squeezed both their legs. “Behave you two.”
Grabbing her hand in his, Cooper looked at the woman between him and his friend. His vision blurred for a moment and then he reached up with a trembling hand and touched her cheek and then her hair. Dean didn’t look like his Tabby, there was no physical traits that were shared between the two women.
But that wasn’t what made him think of his late wife. It was the spirit and attitude that drew him to her. Tabby had bright red hair with slight curl, light olive skin and emerald, green eyes. Towards the end she wore wild colored wigs – Marge Simpson blue beehive, purple Ursula hair, green and black Billie Eilish and dramatic drag queen wigs. She was buried in her Merida wig because he had said she was brave.
Looking at the woman in front of him with her dark dirty blonde hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes, he saw the same spirit. The same creativity. The same desire for adventure.
Unable to help himself, he cupped Dean’s cheek. She smiled at him with understanding. A movement behind her caught his attention and Cooper looked at his friend, Dean’s husband.
“I’m sorry.” Cooper said as he stood up and walked away, towards the door leading to the deck.
“I’ll –“
“No.” Dean shook her head at her husband, cutting him off. “Let me talk to him.” She gave him a sad smile. “I know the weight of this kind of anniversary.”
Helen gave her a smile and small nod. Dean stood up and placed her napkin on the table and grabbed both of their drinks to follow the older man outside. After taking two steps, she turned back and kissed her husband.
“Want your regular?” he asked as he ran a knuckle down her leg below her shorts.
“Yes. What about…?”
JD chuckled. “As long as it doesn’t come out of a sealed plastic pouch, he’ll be happy with whatever I order him.”
She nodded and kissed him again. “One, four, three.”
“I love you, too.”
He watched her walk away and enjoyed the sway of her hips, the curve of her ass in the tight denim and the bounce of her tits as she turned and bumped her hip against the door. She caught his eyes on her and smiled at him just before she disappeared behind the pillar just outside the door. As he turned back to the table, he tried to discretely adjust himself.
Reese eyed him with a raised eyebrow. JD shrugged as he gave his stepdad an evil grin.
“How’s your kitten?”
“Your mother is just fine, you little prick.” Reese smirked at his youngest stepson. “Your friend okay?”
JD sobered and he nodded. “Yeah. He’s lost…” He sighed out a deep breath. “It’s not my story. I’m sorry…”
Cheryl reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Don’t ever apologize for keeping someone’s confidence. It says a lot about you and your character.”
He squeezed her hand back. “Thanks,… sis.”
Smiling, she nodded. “Anytime, bubs.”
“What the hell did we miss?” Jaxon asked as he and Bunny returned to the table.
“Jaxon.” Helen warned softly.
“Sorry, mom. But when I come back and see my brother’s wife outside with his friend, the only appropriate question is what the hell did we miss.”
The table turned almost as one and looked out the large window to where Dean stood in Coopers arms. He had his face buried in her neck and she was rubbing gentle strokes up and down his back. His body shook with the weight of his grief and JD swallowed hard as he watched them.
“Unfortunately,” JD finally said softly, “she understands what he’s feeling. She too has buried her family. The difference is that she had us through it all.”
Bunny placed a hand on JD’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “It was just a bit of a shock to see.”
Cheryl squeezed his hand before letting go and sitting back in her chair, ignoring her father. “No more than realizing you three are already expecting another little one.”
Jaxon and Bunny both blushed as they sat down in their seats. She recognized what the other woman was doing and willing accepted the attention to draw it away from JD and the couple outside.
“We weren’t expecting it to happen so fast.” Jaxon admitted.
“Are you ready?” the waitress asked from the end of the table. “Or do we need to wait?”