The roar of jet engines cut through his thoughts. He rushed to the edge of the hangar, searching the sky. "I can't see them."
Kota's voice was calm. "They'll circle once."
Soon, the planes appeared, lumbering giants descending onto the runway. The engines whined down, ramps lowered, and the troops emerged, all in uniform. Brutus scanned the crowd, his heart pounding, searching for one face.
Then he saw her.
Chris Morgan pointed to the third aircraft. Brutus looked, his heart bursting in his chest as he saw Linda shake out her hair, the long, black tresses flowing down her shoulders before she pulled it back into a ponytail to tuck inside her uniform top.
"Go on, man. It's okay."
"Linda!" Brutus called, running onto the tarmac.
Linda stopped, shocked before dropping her bag and running to him. He caught her, swinging her around in the air before kissing her.
He could hear a couple of whistles, and a few good natured cat calls from some of the troops passing them.
"You don't kiss me that way when I come back, Brutal!" Takeshi Satomura joked as he walked by. "Not cool, bro!"
There was more laughter, but Brutus didn't care. He had Linda in his arms again, and that was all that mattered at the moment. "I missed you."
Linda hummed happily, not letting go of him. "I can see that."
"Having you practically torn out of my arms isn't a good feeling," Brutus said. "I'm sorry if I sound unenlightened, but?—"
"I'm pregnant," she said softly, not knowing the type of response that she was going to get. "I wasn't sure, so when we stopped in Japan to refuel and swap out air crews, I took another test. They confirmed it for me."
"You're pregnant."
Linda nodded worriedly. "I know we didn't plan it, and I swear that I was taking my birth control pills, but they don't always work and …”
It was Brutus's turn to cut off Linda as he reached out, pulling her in for another deep kiss. Lifting her up, he held her close, tears of joy trickling from his eyes and soaking into her uniform collar. He held her until he was certain she wasn't a figment of his imagination, that she was real, and she was his.
"Congratulations," Lieutenant Parker said as he approached. Brutus set Linda down and laughed, shaking Parker's hand. "I'm sure you want to go celebrate your good news, but we've got to get back to the company area and check in some gear, do a final formation before I can release her to you."
"Can I help?" Brutus asked. "I know I'm just a civilian, but there's something I can do, right?"
"Sorry, but not this time," Parker said. "But if you wait back at the company area, I promise that as soon as we can, we're going to release everyone and you'll be able to take Castellanos home."
Linda cupped Brutus's face, kissing him sweetly. "Don't worry. I'm safe, I'm healthy, and it's just unloading equipment. These idiots won't even let me carry my own body armor right now. I love you, and I'll see you in a few hours."
Brutus nodded, but insisted on carrying Linda's bag to the waiting van. After it pulled away, he turned to see Chris Morgan standing there, smiling gently.
"You knew. You and Major Kota knew."
"Linda told her platoon leader and the XO, and they were duty bound to tell Major Kirk. Of course it worked its way up the chain," Morgan said amiably. "Why do you think Major Kota suggested you come here to the airfield?"
"Huh," Brutus admitted, chuckling. "Pretty devious for a man of the cloth."
Morgan shrugged. "Just taking after my boss. After all... if you look at it one way, your prayer was answered. Linda's not going to be in harm's way any longer."
Brutus stopped, blinking. "Huh... how about that?" He started walking towards his truck, Morgan keeping up with him. "You do Sunday services, Padre?"
"Sorry, not personally," Morgan said. "There isn't a big enough active element on Fort Pickett to call for it. But if you're interested, we can talk sometime. Give me a call."
"I just might."
* * *
