Chapter Six
Alyse
I’m sitting in the office and realize that I never emailed Kaden back. I quickly pull up my email and click on the last message I received from him. It’s pretty clear that he’s given up on me, and I fight to keep away the tears. I glance over at a sleeping K.C. and think that I need to reach out. I can’t keep this from him. Even if a relationship never comes out of this, I owe it to that sweet little baby to know his father. I just pray that my intuition of Kaden being a good man is true.
I start the email and find that my hands are shaking as I try to type:
Kaden,
I’m so sorry that’s it’s taken me so long to respond. Your emails went into my spam folder and I’ve just discovered them. I hope you are okay and everything is going well with your tour. I just want you to know that I have not stopped thinking of you since that night. I’m usually not that type of girl. I don’t do one-night stands. But I felt a connection that I cannot deny. Please stay safe and I hope to hear from you soon.
Thinking of you,
Alyse
I hit the send button and sit and stare at the computer screen as if he’s going to instantly respond. I shake my head and continue on with taking care of some bills.
Kat walks in a few minutes later and shoos me and K.C. out the door. She’s been a Godsend. I don’t know what I’d do without her help.
“If any emails come in from Kaden, can you text me right away? I’ll be checking, but K.C has a checkup later this afternoon and…oh listen to me. I feel like a teenager again,” I say, bouncing on my toes.
“I’ll let you know, I promise,” Kat says, laughing.
At K.C.’s appointment the pediatrician comments on how he’s off the charts in both weight and height. He didn’t flinch or cry when he got his boosters. I was a little concerned with that response, but the pediatrician said he’s seen it before and not to be concerned. He shows emotions, mostly happy ones, so as long as that continues, everything looks good.
I check my phone for emails once I have K.C. buckled into his car seat. There’s nothing new, and I can’t help but to feel disappointed.
♦♦♦
Every day K.C. gets bigger and sweeter. At six months, he’s already rolling and trying to pull himself up. His laughter is infectious. He gives me a workout every time I pick him up. Weighing in at twenty pounds, he’s already in twelve-month-old size clothes. He’s clapping and waving and even blows kisses. I swear I heard him tell Kat and Britany bye the other night. I can see Kaden in him every day. From what I remember, he has his strong jaw line. His eyes though, they are a mixture of both of ours. A unique mix of brown and green that everyone comments on how striking they are.
I still have not received anything back from Kaden. I’ve sent a few more just simple “how are you doing” emails, just in case mine are going into his spam folder, too. I try not to think anything bad happened to him.
I’m making my usual subs and dancing along with the music coming through the speakers. I bought one of those bouncers that hook up to the doorway. K.C. is laughing and bouncing right along with me. I hear the ding of the door and glance over my shoulder. Each time it happens, I pray that it’s Kaden. Although I know his tour isn’t quite up yet, I can’t help but hope. Of course, it’s not him, but to my surprise I see the smiling face of Rigs.
“Hey there! It’s been a while. How are you doing?” I call out.
“I’m good. I’m in town visiting Bryce. I told you I’d stop back in the next time I’m in town. Holy shit! Look at your little man. Hey there, buddy!” Rigs says over the counter to K.C.
“Ba, Ba, Ba,” K.C. squeals out ending with slobbery bubbles.
“He is adorable, Alyse. Have you gotten anymore emails from the father? Sorry, you don’t need to answer that,” Rigs says.
“It’s okay. I haven’t received any more. I have been sending emails to him, though. I’m getting worried. His email address is the generic af.gov one. I’m assuming the first part is nickname. You had me thinking after the last time you were in here. It has my mind wondering if that’s what it is, how the hell he got it, and what it means. I mean Spanks167 is pretty weird,” I say, laughing.
“Wait… what? Did you say Spanks?” Rig says with a serious look on his face.
“Um…yeah…why?” I say, stopping my motions of making the subs and turning completely around.
“What are the fucking chances? Sorry,” Rigs says, looking over at K.C. “I totally see it now. This is freaking unbelievable, Alyse. I told you. Fate.”
I see his face break out in a huge smile. “What are you saying, Rigs? I’m freaking out a little right now,” I say unable to stop the matching smile form on my face.
“Big guy, bald. Talks a lot about random weird stuff?” he says while digging his cell phone out of his pocket. He brings up his photos and starts scrolling through them. He stops on one and turns his phone around.
“That’s him. Oh my God. That’s Kaden,” I say, grabbing his phone and enlarging the picture of Kaden with a group of guys who all have their arms around each other.
“Kaden McIntyre. He was in my unit, Alyse. It was the 167th,” I hear him say.
“McIntyre. Hear that K.C.? Your daddy’s name is Kaden McIntyre,” I say, laughing as tears start streaming down my face.
K.C. let’s out a happy squeal and starts clapping his hands. It makes me laugh even harder and cry even harder.
“Those are happy tears, right?” Rigs asks.
“I can’t believe this. Is this even real? I mean what are the chances? Do you have any more pictures of him? Can you forward this to me? Please?” I almost beg.
“I think I have a few more. Type in your contact information and I’ll send them to you. It’s fate, Alyse. I told you, it’s fate,” Rig says, smiling.
I quickly type in my cell phone number into his contacts and ask him to send me the picture. I hear the ding of my cell phone and rush over to get it from behind the register. Pulling up the picture again, I make a copy and then enlarge and crop the one so it’s only him. Taking my phone over to K.C., I bend down and hold the phone in front of him showing him his daddy.
“That’s daddy, K.C. See your daddy?” I say.
“Da,” K.C. says, clapping his hands.
“Oh my God. Did you hear that? He said Da,” I exclaim.
“Well, let me tell you a little something. That dad of his is pretty much a genius. No lie. He has a photographic memory. He’s a bit socially awkward, but really a great guy. Always reading a book and constantly spouting off useless facts. He was closest to Bryce, but we all were pretty close. I considered him one of my brothers. I want to tell Bryce, but I’m kind of thinking I want to do this as a surprise. Plus, I don’t want to be negative here, but we have no idea how things will turn out, now do we?”
“No, we don’t. I want to be optimistic, but I need to be realistic. He will be coming back to being a father. That’s not something to be taken lightly. I have no idea how to even go about telling him. I don’t want to do it through email, but do I just show up and yell ‘surprise?’” I ask.
“I can’t tell you what to do. As a man, I don’t know if I would appreciate having something like this just sprung on me, but I would want to know. This situation is different, though. I’ll be there for you. I still have some military contacts. I’m assuming that he’s based out of Virginia. I’ll see if that’s true, and I’ll do some leg work to try to track him down for you. Keep emailing him. Hopefully he’ll email back, and you can get some more information from him,” Rigs says with enthusiasm.
“Just knowing his name is more than I thought I’d get. To have you just waltz into my deli and know him, it’s really incredible, Rigs. I’m feeling overwhelmed and just incredibly happy right now,” I say.
“It’s fate,” Rigs simply says.
“Fate. It has to be,” I reply.
That night I received a few more picture text from Rigs. I couldn’t stop staring at them. I finally have pictures. I think about him and how he doesn’t have any of me. So, I pick out a few of my favorite selfies and bring up my email.
Kaden,
You won’t believe what happened today. There was a man who had come into the deli a few months ago. He bought a sub, lol. We struck up a conversation and he promised to visit again when he was in town. Well, he showed up today to grab a few more subs, and somehow, we ended up talking about you. You won’t believe this. He knows you. You were in the same unit before. His nickname is Rigs. He sent me some pictures of you. I then realized that you don’t have any of me. So, I’m attaching a few.
I hope you are well. I hope to hear from you soon.
Thinking of you,
Alyse.