Tom isn’t able to be home with us for our first holidays, but he sent packages and Skypes with us Christmas morning. Even though he would rather be home with us, he gets a kick out of watching Mason and me open the gifts he sent.

Then Mason and I get to watch him open the present I sent. I’ll never forget the expression on his face when he holds up the positive pregnancy test stick. He is so happy he is in tears.

Over the months, that is how we keep in touch. He is able to watch the gender reveal and is overjoyed when he finds out we are having a baby girl. He calls as often as he can and worries about us each day. He decides to accept an early retirement and promises that as soon as the red tape is dealt with, he will be home, hopefully by the time the baby is born.

Because my due date is approaching, and I will need to take maternity leave, we decide to hold the second annual Friends of the Library dinner and auction the last weekend in August. Again, the whole town is here to celebrate, except for one important person, Tom.

The paperwork is taking longer than expected, and now he may not even make it home for the baby’s birth. I try not to be sad, but as I touch my very swollen tummy, thoughts of him not being home to see our child born is all I can think of. Anytime we talk, I try to keep my sadness from him and be strong. With my hands on my stomach, I sit and watch people have a good time as I twist my wedding ring back and forth.

Mike has Holly on the dance floor, being careful not to spin her too much. She is just about over the nausea and safely into her second trimester. She has been worried, but her doctor said both she and the baby are just fine. We are all excited to find out tomorrow if it’s a boy or a girl.

Watching couples together makes me miss Tom more. All I want to do right now is go home and call my husband. I hope this auction is over soon. I’m exhausted, sad and lonely, and just want to go home.

“Before we announce the winners of the auction tonight, we have one last surprise,” the mayor announces from the stage.

“Who’s getting hitched now?” someone yells from the crowd.

“Sorry, folks, no weddings this time, but I would like to have Mrs. Olivia Sullivan join me up onstage, please.”

As the crowd starts applauding, I look at the mayor like he is nuts. I told him I was too tired to run this tonight. He promised me, he would take care of it. Mike gives me a hand up as I waddle toward the stage, ready to kill our mayor.

“You can stop right there, Olivia, I wouldn’t want you to fall,” he says as I get to the front of the stage near the steps. “Folks, Mason, and Olivia, please join me in welcoming home our local hero Lt. Colonel Thomas Sullivan.” He once again leads the applause.

I’m in shock as Tom steps from behind the stage curtain and walks slowly down the steps to join me. He’s in his full-dress uniform and as handsome as the first night I met him. I barely make it to the steps before I start crying for joy. He’s home! He’s finally home.

“Daddy!” Mason runs up and hugs us as Tom picks him up in his arms, giving him a hug and kiss before setting him back down.

Tom takes my hands and kisses them before kneeling down to kiss and reverently touch my stomach. The crowd continues to cheer as he stands and faces me at attention.

“Retired Lt. Colonel Thomas Sullivan reporting for duty as your husband,” he says before taking me in his arms.