FlyAway *24*

-24-

    Crystal stared at him in complete shock. She couldn’t think straight. All she wanted in the world was to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly, kiss him softly, and show him that she loved him. But… she didn’t want to be married without her parents’ blessing, and she was scared of what Matt would do. She wanted someone in her family to be there so she didn’t feel alone, and she knew that there was no one who would approve of her keeping a marriage from her parents; not even Kyle and Nat would be alright with that, even if it was for love.
    “Aaron… I love you-”
    “I love you, too, Crystal,” he replied, immediately. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “We’re going to make everything work, I promise, and-”
    “No, hon… I… I love you, but I can’t marry you. Not now. Not like this. Matt…”
    “Fuck what Matt thinks!” Aaron roared, stomping away from her. “He won’t do anything! You don’t have to tell him, Crystal! The only people who have to know are you, me, Zach, Kye, and the military. Then you and I won’t have to worry about being separated ever again.”
    She glanced helplessly to Zach, who sat on the couch stiffly, with Kye on his lap. He bounced her up and down and began to shake his head, slowly, his eyes locked on the ground. His jaw was clenched tightly.
    “Aaron… sweetheart… I would love to marry you. I would. But not now.”
    “Please, Crystal! I need you. Kye needs you. What happens when I go to Iraq? Kye can’t stay here by herself; she needs a mommy.”
    “Kyle and Natalie are a family. You can sign over custody to them and they can take care of her. Baby, I love you, but I want my mom to let me use her wedding dress. I want my dad to give me away. I want Vanna to be my maid of honor. Or Zach, if he agrees to wear the dress. I want you to have your friends there with you, and a big, beautiful reception. Ethan’s son can be the ring bearer. Kye can be the flower girl. A wonderful wedding, in a big church back in Jersey. Home. I want Emily to be there. She’s your great aunt, isn’t she? She should be there for you. Your family. My family. Our friends. I want it to be perfect. I don’t want to just… go to a drive-in church in a crummy city with nobody there. I want people to know, okay?” She cupped his face in her hands and watched his eyes. “I want my parents to know that I love you. I want them to be there when we get married.”
    “And I want all that, too, Crystal! We can have a big wedding after I get back and after we explain everything to your parents! I just… I love you and I want to know that we’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”
    “Maybe Chris is right, Aaron,” Zach said, quietly. He was playing with Kye’s teddy bear, making it dance and causing her to giggle. “Maybe you should just wait. I mean… If Kye stays with Kyle and Nat, then you can talk to Chris when you talk to Kye. I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
    “I don’t even have the orders yet and you’re acting like I’m leaving.”
    “You said it yourself. You have to go back to Florida soon. Your training here is complete.” Zach stood and patted Kye on the head. He walked over to Chris and put a hand on her shoulder, never breaking eye contact with Aaron. “Maybe both of you should just think more deeply about this. Come on, we have to get you back to Kyle’s. I’m sure your parents have something planned.”
    “They want to have breakfast with you two,” Aaron muttered, darkly.
    Chris frowned and took his hand. “Aaron, if I had a wedding dress and a few girls in matching outfits, we’d go get married right this second. I don’t need rings, I don’t need a cake or a car with ‘Just Married’ written on it… I just want my family there. I want a proper wedding.” She kissed his cheek and the back of his hand, and then sighed heavily. “I’ll come back later and we’ll talk about it.”
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    Aaron sat on the bed, heavily, and put his face in his hands. Kye climbed up beside him and laid her head on his shoulder, humming softly to herself. He reached around and hugged her, pulling her into his lap so that he could tickle her.
    As he watched his daughter giggle and struggle away so that she could jump on his bed, he thought about what Zach and Chris had said. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe they should wait. But, dammit, he wanted to marry her! He wanted to wake up every morning to see her beautiful face.
    He shook his head and heard his phone ringing. Kye leapt off of the bed and scrambled over to answer it before he could.
    “Hello, this is Kye!” Her face took on a puzzled expression. “Um, you mean Daddy? Oh, yeah! He’s right here. You wanna talk to him? I dunno, he’s being the tickle monster right now. Maybe he’s too scary to talk to. Well, you sound like a tough guy. I bet you could take the tickle monster. Okay, here he is.” She handed him the phone and smiled, her dark blue eyes shining with mischief. “He says his name is the Cap’n, like Cap’n Crunch!”
    “Alright, sweetheart… Why don’t you go get dressed, and Daddy will take you to breakfast in a bit, okay?”
    “Okay!” She bolted into her room and he shook his head before putting the receiver up to his ear.
    “Hello?”
    “Ah, is this the tickle monster?” The voice was familiar, and slightly mocking.
    “Hello, Captain Duffins, sir.”
    “Oh, please, tickle monster… call me Duffy. Cute kid you’ve got. Did she really call me Captain Crunch?”
    “Ah, she does love the Cap’n.” Aaron smiled fondly. “What’s going on, Duff?”
    “Well, it’s not so good, Daws. I, uh… I tried as hard as I could to keep you on leave. I know you and your kid just got put back together.”
    “What are you saying, Captain?”
    “The orders are in, Aaron. You leave the Florida base for Iraq at 0600 tomorrow. I’m sorry. Do you have someone who can take care of her?”
    “I… I can find someone… How… Uh… How am I getting back to Florida?”
    “A plane has been ordered by the U.S. Military. It leaves at three from the private air field in Sacramento.”
    “That’s… hardly enough time to find someone to take care of Kye!”
    “I tried as hard as I could, Aaron. I really did. But there’s nothing I can do. My hands are tied.”
    “I… I understand, Duff. Thanks for trying. I’ll… I’ll report at 0500.”
    “I’ll see you there, Lieutenant.”
    The phone line went dead, and Aaron didn’t bother dropping it back into the cradle. This was it. He was leaving and he knew he might not ever see his beloved Crystal again. Right after he’d found her, he was losing her again. He’d get Kyle to care for Kye… and hopefully, he could give Crystal the goodbye she deserved.