She watched proudly as her little sis marched up to the statue and saluted. A few Marines rushed up to salute her as well, hoping they were her first, only to walk away disappointed when she only saluted them back in return.
Leticia walked back to her, and the two sisters hugged again.
“And how’s the househusband?” Liege asked.
“Oh, you know.”
“Uh, the ‘househusband’ can hear you,” Vic said from where he was standing, camming the two for posterity.
Four-year-old Lorna and two-year-old Max were hanging from him, ready to run to her.
“Oh, you know. He’s doing househusband things.” She lowered her voice and said, “And last night, wow, those things were pretty amazing.”
“Leti!” Liege said in mock astonishment, punching her shoulder.
“I can still hear you.”
Leticia turned to her children, knelt, and held out her arms. Both kids, who’d been strictly told that they had to leave mommy alone until after all the ceremonies, left their daddy and ran on little legs across the grass to hug her. Leticia swept them both up and Vic followed in a more leisurely pace. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he reached them.
“Househusband things?” he asked innocently, then turning away from his wife, said, “Liege, we’re glad you could make it.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Liege said, even if it had been a close thing.
She’d been stuck on Earth for the last three weeks, testifying before council committee after committee. She was proud of her billet, but that was one aspect that she really didn’t like. She’d had to tell the commandant himself that she was going to the commissioning, come hell or high water. He’d arranged for her to miss the next testimony, but she’d have to return once more to wrap things up.
“I’m hungry,” Lorna said from where she was perched on Leticia’s hip.
Vic took her and said, “We’re going to eat soon. Avó and Auntie Gladiola are getting the table now, so if you can wait just a little longer, sweetie?”
“Speaking of which, maybe we’d better get going?” he told his wife and sister-in-law.
Vic had matured into a fine husband and father. With his family wealth, he didn’t have to work, even when Leticia was corporal and sergeant, so the “househusband” label that Liege liked to tease him with was not that far off. Most of all, he was good for Leticia, and for that, Liege was eternally grateful.
Leticia had Vic. Avó had Gladiola. Liege wondered what her future held.
As if reading her thoughts, Leticia asked, “So, you’re still on for February?”
“Yeah, the 20th.”
“I’ve already put in for leave,” Leticia said. “Only five days, though.”
Leticia was assigned to 1/13, out on New Palestine, and new second looeys were not expected to take leave throughout their first assignment. But as they both knew, family came first.
“That is, if you still want to slum with us enlisted scum. I was thinking of asking Sergeant Major Papp if she wanted to fill in for you.”
“What? That’s not going to happen!”
“I don’t know, you being an officer and all now,” Liege said as she took Max’s hand and they all started to walk to the parking lot.
“OK, for my first official order as a second lieutenant in the United Federation Marine Corps, I order you to keep me as your bridesmaid.”
“Well, when you put it that way, aye-aye, ma’am!”
Leticia leaned over to give her another quick hug as they walked.
“Hard to imagine, my sister, the command master chief hospital corpsman for the Marines, and Warden, the Second Marine Division sergeant major, getting hitched.”
Liege just smiled. It was hard getting her mind wrapped around it as well. But when Warden proposed, seemingly out of the blue, she suddenly realized that they’d been working up to it for a long time, and it was the right thing to do.
It still scared the shit out of her.
Liege looked to where Vic had taken a knee to talk to his young children, catching him saying, “. . .and the tavern’s called the Globe and Laurel. It’s very famous. And mommy’s lieutenant class, they put up a box on the wall for their future. We’ll go see it. Isn’t that nice?”
“Do they have strawberry sandwiches?” Lorna asked. “I like strawberry sandwiches.”
“I know you do, sweetie, and we’ll see what we can do.”
Liege took a deep breath, as if she could smell Tarawa, smell Marine headquarters. Around her, new lieutenants were slowly scattering, families in tow. They were the new Corps, at least from as far as officers went. These men and women would lead the Corps in the future, long after she had retired. And Leticia was one of the new crop of leaders. Liege wasn’t done yet, but she was getting closer to when the uniform came off.
But not yet.
She gave Max’s hand a squeeze. Her sister had been an under-educated daughter of the favelas, and now she was a second lieutenant in the Marines and had a loving family. Her Avó’s mind had been gone, leaving him an empty shell, and now he was his old self and was married to a wonderful, if eccentric woman.
And Liege, she had joined the Navy to save her family. She had succeeded in that. But it hadn’t been the sacrifice she’d first considered it to be. It hadn’t been merely a stepping stone to learn a trade. It had become her very being. She was a Navy Corpsman, and that filled her with pride. And now, she was about to start a new chapter in her life as one-half of a married couple.
Only, the party girl had been an illusion that was left behind long ago, and Liege didn’t miss her.
A huge smile broke out over her face. Life didn’t get any better than this.
Thanks for reading Corpsman. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, I welcome a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other outlet.
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Other Books by Jonathan Brazee
Women of the United Federation Marine Corps
Gladiator
Sniper
Corpsman
The United Federation Marine Corps
Recruit
Sergeant
Lieutenant
Captain
Major
Lieutenant Colonel
Colonel
Commandant
Rebel
(Set in the UFMC universe)
The Return of the Marines Trilogy
The Few
The Proud
The Marines
The Al Anbar Chronicles: First Marine Expeditionary Force--Iraq
Prisoner of Fallujah
Combat Corpsman
Sniper
Werewolf of Marines
Werewolf of Marines: Semper Lycanus
Werewolf of Marines: Patria Lycanus
Werewolf of Marines: Pax Lycanus
To The Shores of Tripoli
Wererat
Darwin’s Quest: The Search for the Ultimate Survivor
Venus: A Paleolithic Short Story
Exercise for a Longer Life
Author Website
* * *
[1] Field Medical Training Course
[2] BRC: Boosted Regeneration Cancer, known as the “Brick.” Twenty percent of those who have undergone regen eventually develop the cancer.
[3] T/O: Table of Organization. “Being T/O” means that a unit has the full complement of personnel that it is supposed to have.
[4] PT: Physical Fitness
[5] MO: Medical Officer
[6] PAO: Public Affairs Officer
[7] NBC: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical
[8] LOD: Line of Departure
[9] Fuedo: Portuguese for “feud.”
[10] Brick: Boosted Regeneration Cancer, or BRC.
[11] QRF: Quick Reaction Force
[12] ROE: Rules of Engagement
[13] Crow: slang for the insignia of a Navy E-4 to E-9 due to the prominent eagle in it.
[14] RTC: Reconnaissance Training Course
[15] Tarnkappe: a sheet of fabric that channels light rays through the hollow threads, rendering whoever was wearing it almost invisible from a front aspect.
[16] MEB: Marine Expeditionary Brigade
[17] DZ: Drop Zone
[18] HEAT: High Explosive Anti-Tank
[19] Nine-Line: A set brief designed to call for air support.
[20] FSC: Fire Support Coordinator
[21] Fam-fire: Familiarization fire, a chance to fire a weapon a few times merely to become familiar with it.
[22] UAM: United Assembly of Man, the over-arching organization of humanity.
Table of Contents
Book 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
PART 2
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41