A FEW DAYS LATER, I woke up with her in my arms. Her head was tucked under my chin and she was curled up in front of me, leg thrown over my thighs and hair strewn across my pillow.

I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me. I needed the connection that only she was able to provide. The movement startled her and her eyes shot open and she gasped. When she realized it was me, her body relaxed and she gave me a sleepy smile.

“Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s early. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay.” She snuggled closer and kissed my jaw line. “This is nice. What do we have planned today?”

“Well, I figured we could stop by my mom’s on the way back to San Diego, say hi. I haven’t called her since I got back and she would probably want to know her baby boy has gotten himself married to a beautiful woman, and has a son.”

She jerked backwards. “You haven’t called your mom since you’ve been back? Patrick Walsh how could you!” She paused, then her eyes widened and she rolled out of bed. “Oh, my God, I have to get dressed.”

I grabbed for her, but she pulled away and started babbling to herself as she sorted through her things. “Baby, come on. She’s not going to care what you look like, I promise.”

“Says you. Of course, she’s going to care what I look like. I can’t meet your mom for the first time looking like a mess.”

She grabbed a pile of things and headed toward the bathroom, but I jumped out of bed and stopped her. “All she will see are the same things I see when I look at you. Someone who is strong, loyal, and kind. I don’t want you to freak out about this. Trust me; she will think you’re the best woman on Earth.”

Tears filled her eyes and I crushed her to my chest. “Please, don’t worry,” I told her. “She’s going to love you. You look beautiful in anything.”

Later, we pulled up to my childhood home. It looked the same, and even though it was a dump, it was home to me. My mom had scraped and saved all her money to buy this place so I could have a permanent home.

My mom ran out the door, her hair with a few more gray streaks than the last time I saw her. “Pat, I’m so happy you’re home. Is this your new girlfriend?”

When I called to tell her I was coming by, I’d simply told her I was bringing someone special. I owed it to my mom to tell her in person. “Mom, this is Annie. Annie Walsh. And our son, Gabriel.”

My mom clutched my arm. Her eyes immediately darted to Annie’s left ring finger and then to her belly. “You eloped and didn’t tell me? Pat, how could you?”

“Sorry, Mom. I proposed last week and we got married that day. I wanted to do it before I deployed again and we were in Nevada. We’ll have a big wedding later.”

My mom and I had always been close. She knew my views on marriage and that I would never ever enter into it lightly. I’d been raised to respect women. Even if I had veered off course. “I’m a grandmother?” She knelt down and hugged Gabriel. “Is there another baby on the way?”

“Jesus, Mom. No. She’s not pregnant.” At least I didn’t think she was. We hadn’t been using protection and we’d been making love every chance we could.

Annie stood by my side. Her own parents were so icy. I figured she didn’t even know what to say to my mom.

“Well, come inside.” My mom hugged Annie. “Welcome to the family. I always wanted a daughter and a grandson.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. Walsh.”

“Please, Annie, call me Tracy. Or better yet Mom, if you feel comfortable. I have to get to know the woman who tamed my son. Gabriel, do you like trains?”

We went inside and sat on the sofa. My mom found one of my old train sets and set it out for Gabriel. She had prepared all my favorites: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, zucchini boats, and chocolate chip cookies. All from scratch.

Annie went into the bathroom to freshen up, Gabriel was watching television, and my mom pulled me inside the kitchen.

“Patrick Joseph Walsh, she is the Annie Hamilton, isn’t she? The girl from all the news stories who ran away from her family?”

I could never lie to my mom. “Yes. But that story was a cover up by her parents. She was kidnapped and forced into sex slavery. Gabriel is her child by the man who’d kidnapped her.”

Her mouth dropped. “Are you serious? I never believed the story on the news. There’d been sightings of her, even pictures on some escort website.” My mom lived for true crime stories, people who vanished without a trace, unsolved mysteries. She probably knew more about Annie’s disappearance than I did. “Pat, were you the one who saved her?”

“Yes.”

I don’t know how most moms would react to finding out their son had married a former prostitute, even if the girl had been kidnapped. But my mom wasn’t most moms.

“I’m proud of you, son. You’re a great man.”

I winced. I’d left out the part that I’d hired Annie in the brothel. My mom didn’t need the details. She’d be disgusted by me.

“As a woman, I’m even prouder of the fact you can love her and look beyond her past. Not many men would be able to do that and treat her with respect. And love another man’s child.” Her eyes looked pained. I knew she always felt guilty, that it was somehow her fault that I never had a dad. “She’s lovely and so is my grandson. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Annie emerged and sat down on the sofa. My mom brought out old photo albums and decided to embarrass the shit out of me.

“Here’s Pat with his favorite teddy bear.”

Annie loved the old pictures. I just sat back and watched her bond with my mom. If I’d taken the reward money her dad offered, I could’ve bought my mom a new house. I wished I could take care of her, maybe even move her down to San Diego so she could be close to Annie and Gabriel when I was gone.

“So what was Pat like as a kid?” Annie asked, with a gleam in her eye.

“Pat was very sweet and sensitive. Very attached to me. Loved trains and dogs. Always tried to protect me.”

“So, pretty much exactly how he is now.”

I laughed. “I’m hardly sweet.”

“You are, too. And super romantic. He remembers everything I say. Then he stores it in his brain and when I’m not expecting it—bam! All my dreams come true.”

My mom was eating this up. I rarely had the chance to spend quality time with her anymore, so I think getting a glimpse into my adult life was fascinating to her.

After humiliating me a bit more, Mom finally put the albums away. We put Gabriel to sleep.

“Well, Annie,” Mom said, “it’s been a pleasure. Please, you’re welcome in my home anytime. When Pat deploys, I hope you’ll come up here and visit me. I want to get to know my daughter-in-law and my grandson.”

“I’d love that.”

They hugged, then my mom turned to me.

“I love you, Patrick. I’m so proud of you.”

“Love you, too.”

Annie and I went to my childhood room and snuggled up in bed. My Little League awards were still on the shelves, a cheesy poster of a topless Britney Spears wearing nothing but white cotton panties trimmed with pink lace hung on the wall. Exactly as I had remembered.

Annie glanced around the room. Probably wondering why my room was stuck in a time warp and hers had been turned into a museum. “I love your mom. She’s so different from mine. Sweet and warm.”

This was my opportunity. I had to tell her. But I couldn’t. She seemed so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

“She’s your family now. And she means it—when I’m gone, if you get lonely, fly up here. She’ll take care of you and Gabriel. I need you to promise me you’ll come see her.”

“Of course, I will.” She kissed me. We lay there a while in the dark. “Pat, I’m worried about telling my parents we eloped. You’re coming with me, right?”

Damn straight. She wasn’t setting foot in that house without me. And if my talk with her father went as I expected it would, I doubted she’d ever see them again. “You can count on it.”

She drifted to sleep in my arms. Before I met Annie, my only goal in life was to survive and protect my fellow men. But now, my attention was split. I felt torn by my desire to protect her and loyalty to my Team. Maybe this is why I’d always felt the Navy didn’t want the SEALs to have wives or families, despite what they said about the importance of a support system. Because, if I had to choose between my Team and Annie, without a doubt I’d choose her.