The Songbird and the Soldier (15 page)

Chloe suggested Sam bring Dean along too. Sam called out the suggestion to Dean, well aware of the reception it was going to receive.

Dean pulled a pained expression. “I can’t,” he called back. “I’m allergic.”

“Heathen,” Sam scolded.

“But we haven’t seen you down there in ages, Sam. We miss you,” said Chloe.

Sam felt bad that she hadn’t been able to see Chloe in weeks, and asked about ‘Mr Dixie.’ Chloe told her that dream had ended, but also that there was a new man in her life and Sam listened attentively. Then she said something that threatened to rock Sam’s cosy world.

“Listen, Sam, you know Karl still writes to me every now and then?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I just thought you should know he said something about Andy being sent home injured.”

“No, that was Dean. Besides, Andy hasn’t written to me in ages. And Miller’s wife, Gina, would have told me if anything bad had happened. I think he just realised I was on to him.”

“Oh. You’re certain? It’s just that I was sure he said Andy. How is Dean anyway?”

Sam called across to Dean. “You haven’t heard anything about Andy being injured, have you?”

“No. Not a thing. Why?”

“Oh, no reason.” Sam told Chloe how Dean was getting on and then suggested she give Kate a ring and try to get her out of the house for a while.

On Thursday evening Sam had just finished getting changed when the doorbell rang and Humphrey began to bark. Sam hurried down the stairs, twisting her hair up into a clip and shooing Humphrey out of the way to get to the door. She greeted Dean and he stepped inside and kissed her. Humphrey growled. “Damn dog still hates me,” he said.

“Don’t take it personally. He’s like that with everyone.” Well, she thought, not quite everyone.

Dean took Sam out to a fancy restaurant and wined and dined her until late into the evening and then they got a cab back to Dean’s parents’ place. But before they arrived back at the house, Dean stopped the driver and told Sam to get out. Sam protested that she was wearing high heels, but Dean was not taking no for an answer. He walked with her to the edge of the park and they found a bench under a street lamp and sat down. He put his crutches down beside him and took her hands in his.

“Sam, you know you mean the world to me. My parents love you, more than they love me, I think. I know I’m about to go off and leave you again, but this time it will only be for a few weeks and I promise I’ll call this time. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I know-”

“Wait. I haven’t finished. What I’m trying to say is… I want you to marry me.”

Sam was stunned. “I… we’ve only been with each other a month or so.”

“I know it seems quick, but we were together before I left. We don’t have to get married straight away. It doesn’t matter how long we wait. I want you, Sam.”

Sam was speechless.

“The lads will be back in a few weeks. It would make me so proud if I could say you were mine when they got home.”

Sam’s brow twitched. “So this big rush is just to show off to your mates, is it?”

Dean looked annoyed. “That’s unfair, Sam. Maybe if you don’t feel the same way, you should tell me now.”

Sam filled with guilt. She had jumped on him full of suspicion and had hurt his feelings. “No. You know I do. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. You just surprised me, that’s all. What will our parents say?” she asked, stalling for time.

“I couldn’t care less. But maybe you don’t want to make a decision without talking to your mum and dad first?”

Of course she could make important decisions without speaking to her parents. “No,” she said.

“Okay, so what’s it to be, Sam?” His dazzling blue eyes gazed longingly into hers. “Will you marry me?”

Sam’s brain was screaming inside her head, trying to process what was going on. Was this what she wanted? Was she completely happy with Dean? A tiny corner inside her warned of danger, but it was drowned out by the innocent girl she still was deep down, who longed to be loved and to do the right thing. “Yes,” she said, before she even knew the words were out.

“Yes? You’ll marry me?”

Sam nodded, swept up in the moment. “Yes!” she said.

Dean wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her happily. He hugged her to him and then, from his pocket, he produced a ring. It was in an old box and he held it out with great awe. Sam took it and gingerly opened the lid. It was a thin gold band with a heart shaped ruby and a diamond on each side. Sam looked up at him. Dean took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. Amazingly it fitted. “It was my grandmother’s,” he said. Sam regarded the ring on her left hand. “If you don’t like it we can get another one,” he said.

“No, no; I love it. It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Back at the Fletcher household that night, all was well with the world. Dean’s father congratulated them both and went to fetch some champagne. His mother was crying happy tears. She said she had known they were right for each other when she met Sam in the hospital at the beginning of the summer. After several more drinks, Dean reluctantly called Sam a cab and waved goodbye as she rode home, glowing with happiness, back to her little house and her loyal dog, Humphrey.

The following night they broke the news to her mum and dad. The reception it got at her house could only be described as ‘strained’. It was embarrassing for Sam to let Dean see the reserve her parents felt toward their happy announcement. Her mum asked her to help her get the drinks and Sam walked into the kitchen behind her mother, aware that she was about to be grilled.

“But you’ve got to admit, Sam, it is all a bit quick. It’s not like you to rush things that are as important as this. It’s not like choosing a pair of shoes. This is forever.”

“I know, I know; but it means so much to Dean to be with me when his regiment come home and I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“Forget about his disappointment, love, you need to be absolutely certain this is what you want too. Is it, Sam? It seems like only a few weeks ago you were head over heels over that other guy… Andy. What happened there? You never did say.”

Sam shrugged. “He wasn’t the guy I thought he was. Anyway, he stopped writing when I called him out on it.”

“Called him on what?”

“Oh, you don’t want to know. Anyway, it’s all over now and I’m back with Dean and I’m happy.”

“Are you? Are you really, Sam?”

Sam hesitated and then nodded solemnly. “Yes,”

Sam’s mum looked at her thoughtfully. “Well I have to admit he’s a charming lad.” She smiled and hugged her daughter. “Well if you’re certain? Come on. Let’s get in there before they die of thirst.”

Back with the men, Sam’s mum asked if they had given any thought to a date. “What about Christmas?” Sam said looking up at Dean.

Dean almost choked on his drink.

“You can’t organise a wedding in that space of time,” her mother said.

“It doesn’t have to be that soon,” Dean assured her.

“Next summer, then?”

“Dean took a deep breath and let it out. “Er… yep… okay.”

They made a toast to the following summer and it was settled. Mr and Mrs Litton asked for a closer look at the ring and heard from Dean about its history, after which the tension seemed to ease a lot.

Within the month, Dean was back from his rehab and walking without crutches. He still had exercises to do each day and a bit of a limp, but he was looking a lot happier.

The regiment returned and Kate was buzzing with excitement and looking forward to introducing her bump to its dad. Sam had mixed emotions about their return and felt unable to accompany Kate to the reunion, just in case she bumped into Andy. Dean was, however, happiest in the thick of it. He spent a good deal of time with his mates and had an appointment with the army doctor with a view to re-joining his group. He even moved back into quarters as soon as he was able.

A party was arranged, to welcome home all the men and women who had been on tour, and Dean was eager to show Sam off. Kate was going to go along for a bit, but she needed too much sleep at her stage of pregnancy to stay out too late, so Sam arranged to meet her there. Sam was a little anxious, but realised it was a good opportunity to get to know some of the other wives ahead of time, so that when she officially became one of them she would have some friends already. She just hoped meeting Tina and Helen again wouldn’t be too awkward.

The night arrived and Sam’s dad dropped her off at the entrance to the barracks, where Dean was waiting for her. Sam had spent half the afternoon making sure she was looking her best for Dean that night and she was anxious to make a good first impression.

“Wow, you certainly scrub up well,” he said and Sam was pleased. “Come on. I want to show you off.”

Sam followed Dean into the building and they arrived at the Mess, which was already humming with music and chatter. The room was rectangular, with a bar along the short end beside the door. In the far corner were tables set out with piles of plates and cutlery, but no food as yet. The lighting was dim and the room was already quite full.

Dean whisked Sam around, introducing her to all his mates and showing off her ring to their partners and although completely out of her comfort zone, Sam did her best to get along with everyone she met. But as the evening wore on, she began to feel unfriendly gazes staring in on her. She spotted Tina and Helen and excused herself to wander over and see them, but the greeting she got was not the one she had hoped for. In fact her reception was distinctly cool, from Tina more so than Helen. Sam tried her hardest to be jolly and fun, but in the end she just came out and asked them what it was that she had done to offend them. Tina wandered off to get another drink and Sam turned her worried expression on Helen. Helen said she’d better talk to Tina and the pair of them stood there in silence until Tina walked back over towards them.

“Sandy’s just arrived, Helen, better late than never. I’m going to go and say hello. You coming?”

Helen looked briefly at Sam. “Wait, Teen. Sam wants to know why we’re pissed off with her.”

Tina turned her searing gaze on Sam and thought for a moment. “Okay, Miss ‘I’ve got a sparkly new ring’, tell me this: how many times have you been to visit Andy since he got home?”

Sam couldn’t believe it. Was that all that this was about? She had come here with another man. Really? Sam looked from one to the other. “But we’re not together any more. Why would I?” The two women were unmoved. Sam looked around to see if she could spot him. “For heaven’s sake, they’ve only been home a couple of weeks.” She looked round again.

Tina and Helen looked at each other and then back at Sam. “What? You’re not serious. You think he’ll be here?” Tina said.

Sam was confused. Surely Andy wouldn’t let the thought of bumping into her stop him from coming, would he?

“She does.” Helen looked serious. She looked back at Tina and then again at Sam. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Sam asked, worry starting to grip her.

“He was injured back in the summer, Sam. He was flown home to Birmingham… July, I think.”

Sam felt her heart freeze.

Helen quickly guided her to a chair to sit down. “Nobody told you?”

Sam shook her head.

“Not even Romeo? I would have thought they’d have been in there at about the same time.”

Sam looked up. “What…?”

Tina pulled up a chair beside her. “It was an IED. He was with Miller when it went off.”

She shook her head. “What…?”

“It’s pretty bad, I’m afraid. He’s lost his right leg below the knee, and an injury to the right arm, but it’s the infection they’ve been battling with. The poor guy’s been in and out of a coma for weeks.”

Sam’s body began to shake. “But he said that someone called Gina would call me if anything happened.”

Tina looked at Helen. “Gina?” Helen put her hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Gina is Miller’s wife. Miller didn’t make it. I guess she had enough on her plate. I’m sorry.”

Sam was in a living nightmare. Tina sat down too. “Shit, so you thought he’d just stopped writing to you? Fuck. Didn’t you hear it on the news?”

Sam shook her head. “I went to pieces on him when he was home on R and R. He made me promise not to listen to any of it while he was gone. That’s why he arranged for Gina to let me know if anything happened.”

“I’ll get you another drink,” Tina said.

Whispers began to spread around the room and Dean looked over. Tina noticed and said quickly to Sam, “He’s still in the hospital if you want to go and see him. Heads up, here comes trouble.”

Dean crouched down in front of Sam. “What’s up, Sam? People are beginning to think you’re up the duff.”

Sam looked at him.

“You’re not, are you?”

She painted on a brave face. “No. I’m just feeling a little unwell, that’s all. I think I should go home.”

Dean looked at first relieved and then crestfallen.

“It’s okay; you stay. I’ll get a taxi back. You have a good time. I’ll be fine.”

On the way out, Sam passed Kate and Spike on her brief trip out to the party. Kate was on cloud nine showing off her very own engagement ring, but she was quickly subdued when she saw Sam looking so pale. Sam congratulated her and said she would be fine but agreed to let Kate call her in the morning to make sure she was okay and they hugged and parted company, Kate, with huge smile and sparkly ring went forward into the jolly throng, and Sam outward into oblivion.

They met up the next morning at the old park near Kate’s place. Sam had a proper look at the ring. She admired it from several angles and then she told Kate her news. Kate seemed surprisingly glad at hearing such bad news, but she explained she now understood why Sam had been getting so much bad press on Facebook lately.

“I’ve what?”

“For once I didn’t like to say anything and I knew you weren’t into all that, so I thought what you didn’t know wouldn’t hurt you. I’m sorry.”

Sam thought about it for a minute. “I’ve got to go to him, Kate.”