Blood and Gypsy :P

Tyler had barely slept on his way back from Iraq, the flights had been long and most of those who had survived from his troop were passed out as they entered US air space. Every time he closed his eyes he kept getting reminded of their last week there and how they had lost a few great men in an IED attack. One thing dreaded him now, the fact that he was going to have to tell the families of the men who were lost. 2 of the 3 were unmarried and just younger boys who he would have to tell their parents of their sacrifice, but one of the three was a guy with a wife, and that was going to be the worst. Last time he came back from deployment there wasn't any thing he had to tell others, everyone had come home okay, but this time it had been different, and all because of a split second decision he made to go around a suspicious car and right into an IED.

He blamed himself for what happened, but he knew he had to make that decision otherwise it could have been even worse if there was a bomb in the car as well. He felt the fact that they were dropping in altitude so he closed his eyes and laid back in his seat trying to at least take a nap. He eventually was able to get about an hour of sleep as they landed in the military base and they were told they were home. Tyler stood and grabbed his bags as they taxi'd the runway to where they would get out and meet their families again. As they stopped all the men got their stuff and walked past Tyler patting him on the back knowing what he had to do and how horrible it was going to be.

Most of the men walked off the plane and too their respective families, a few heading to cars that were waiting, because they lived alone or because they were surprising their families. Tyler was one of the last off the plane walking out his rucksack slung over his shoulder as he wore just his desert tan short sleeve shirt and his military camouflage trousers. His eyes were glued to the ground, he didn't have family any more his father and mother had both been in the military, and he lost them both in one fell sweep. He had been living with his grandparents when he got the news, he was just 3, desert storm took both his parents away from him, his mother from a training accident, his father from a random rpg. It was his first real memory, the man all dressed up coming to his grandparents door to tell him the news. He didn't understand then what it meant for a long time, always asking for his parents, until his grandparents leveled with him. At the age of 17 his grandparents passed and Tyler finished high school before signing up with the army directly after that.

Now he was in the same situation, he was the man in the suit who had to tell the family that the person they loved more then anything wasn't going to be coming home. When the IED hit Tyler had been driving with the 3 who didn't make it in his truck, only because of the way the truck flipped had he survived unlike the others. Not to say he didn't have his marks, there was scabs on the left side of his face due to the shrapnel and a large gauze on his neck covering a nastier wound. He had only really escaped with bruises and scrapes, some how. It never left his mind how he had survived, but the other three hadn't, and what could he have done different to make everything okay again.

When he reached the end of the stairs and his feet hit the runway he looked up at the few people who were left, his face solemn and down as he carried his bag to the first family placing it down before shaking the fathers hand and telling them the bad news. He tried not to look at their faces, to see the sadness and sorrow that he was causing by telling them that their son hadn't made it home alive. He moved on quickly to the next family telling them the news, and having to explain what happened to their son in detail, since they didn't believe him. After a good 15 minutes with them he moved on taking a deep breath picking up his sack and looking around for the wife of the third man who was lost.

(( OOC: Art of my character here. Also... Mia is pronounced like Maya [M-eye-uh] ))

Mia was exhausted. Her day started at 0600 hours like it did everyday but this particular morning her son, Grant, decided that he didn't need to go to school today, stubbornly challenging his mother with his dark blue eyes. She had to be stern with him this morning until she resorted to telling him she'd take all of his toys away if he didn't behave. Then he went to school without hesitation. She hadn't told him his father was supposed to return today, she never did. It was always her fear that if she told him, the little boy would get his hopes up then one day his father wouldn't make it home. She never wanted to see that disappointment and sadness on his face, not while he was so young. The boy was only five; he wouldn't understand.

After she had dropped the little boy off at the school and watched his bouncing mess of blonde curls rush inside, Mia headed back to the base to her home to get ready. She still had an hour or so, so she used that time to get ready. She never dressed up like some other wives did. At the most she wore a nicer shirt and sparkly ballet flats. Rob never really liked it when she did dress up like that. He preferred her to stay simple. Of course Mia dressed up when they had date-nights, and the last time she really got dressed up had resulted with Grant. Mia shook her head. That had been about five years ago. A smile crossed her face for just a moment as she combed through her caramel blonde-brown hair that silkily flowed down to her lower back. She decided to wear it down today, tired of the ponytails she had been wearing recently.

An unsettling feeling appeared as Mia went to grab her keys off of the table by the front door. What if he isn't coming back this time? No. No. He'll be there. Don't worry. But... what if he- what if he didn't make it? How will you tell Grant? I don't know. I've never thought that far ahead. She thought, wrinkling her brow as her slightly bloodshot aqua blue eyes darted back and forth. Mia had always prepared herself for the off-chance Rob never returned. She had decided that when she had married him at the age of 18. She had decided that she wouldn't let that news hit her like a train. She shrugged off the feeling and headed out. She wasn't going to take the car, just walk, but she did lock the door behind her just in case.

The walk would give her time to clear her head. She didn't want to be there with a head full of worry and stress. No. She wanted to be at peace. The fresh air would give her the opportunity to achieve that peace. A few people waved to her as she passed and she waved back with a soft, friendly smile. Within a matter of minutes she was where she needed to be, standing with the other families of soldiers who were to return. There was an anxious tension in the air and Mia always hated that.

Her eyes watched as the soldiers re-united with their families, taking a few moments to just embrace each other before leaving. As each family began to leave, that unsettling feeling came back as her eyes searched for her husband. No. No. He's got to be back. He has to. No. Then she saw a man walk over to one family, their faces sinking. Then the man moved to another family. He spent 15 minutes with them, but to Mia it felt like forever because she had a feeling he was looking for her next.

She just watched him as he looked around. Her chest feeling as if it were going to collapse in on itself. She took a deep, shaky breath before silently walking up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder. She had seen him before, never talked to him though. She regretted that this would be their first conversation. "He's not coming back is he?" She asked, sounding a little lost. She was hurt, but she wouldn't actually believe it until she heard it from someone else.

Tyler was looking around the tarmac and it wasn't until he felt a small tap on his shoulder that his heart sunk, knowing who it had to of been. He heard her words before turned around and placed his bag on the ground still not looking her in the eyes as he tried to find the right words to tell her what happened. Tyler finally brought his eyes up to meet the lady's he had seen her many times before when he talked to Rob or sent him home after their last deployment. Also Rob had talked about her all the time while they were deployed, he would never stop describing her in every little detail and then suddenly Tyler remembered the son that Rob talked about and a sick feeling hit his stomach. He sat there and stared for a moment at Mia as he thought of the words and also of Rob and everything Rob had said about her. Tyler took a deep breath and reached down into his pocket, the faint clinking of metal on metal coming from his pocket as he clinched his fist over Rob's dog tags.

As he brought out the dog tags he looked straight at Mia and sighed slightly his eyes beat red from the flight and holding back tears and stress. "Mia.. right?" he said not really asking since he knew her name already, but more out of formality. "Hello I'm Lieutenant Tyler Wilson... I believe these are for you." he said taking her hand with his free one and facing it palm up. He brought his hand down and opened it placing the dog tags in her hands before closing her hands around them and taking a slightly step back and saluting her briefly. He brought his hand down and sighed, "I regret to inform you that your Husband Robert.. did not make it back from active duty." he said his voice rigid, but broken as he said the normal words he was supposed to say if some one passed away. "I'm sorry...." he whispered as he dropped his face and head down, "He was one of the best men i have ever known." he said softly his voice just above a whisper.

Tyler couldn't bring himself to look at Mia, he had already watched 2 families faces as they learned they sons had died, but now he couldn't look at the wife who found out her husband had perished in the line of duty. "I understand you have a son.. i know this has to be hard.. " he said looking past Mia towards the parking lot, "Is there anything i can do." he whispered as he remembered the man in the suit coming to tell him what had happened to his parents. Tyler finally brought his face to look at Mia dreading it and trying his hardest to hold back his feelings, knowing this was the hardest thing for her and probably her worst nightmare coming true.

Mia slowly opened her hand to look at the dog tags. She had seen them a million times before, but now they just seemed... strange. Her thumb tenderly ran over them as a heavy sigh escaped her lips. They were still warm from being in Lieutenant Wilson's pocket. Her mind was consumed by a whirlwind of thoughts as she just continued to look at the dog tags. How do I tell Grant? How will he handle this? He's only five. Will he even remember his dad? She thought before returning her eyes to Lieutenant Wilson. There was a hint of pain in her eyes, but other-wise she was completely calm.

She felt strange. Mia was hurting and she wanted to cry, but she wasn't allowing herself to. She needed to center herself as much as possible, for Grant, and she wasn't going to let herself take even a moment to lose that center. She listened as the Lieutenant spoke, letting each word sink into her brain for this moment that she'd probably remember forever. This couldn't have been easy for him to do and, in a way, she felt sorry for him. He was responsible for all the men and responsible for this. She knew that couldn't be easy, having to face those people with hurt faces and sunken hearts or being responsible for so many men.

"Rob spoke highly of you, Lieutenant Wilson." Mia said in a soft tone while the Lieutenant seemed to be looking anywhere except at her. She just watched him for a moment before looking back down at the dog tags, again running her thumb over them. This time she closed her eyes tightly for just a moment before opening them again and returning her attention back to the Lieutenant who was now looking at her. "Not unless you can tell me how in the world I'm supposed to tell a five year old his daddy isn't coming home." She said with a slight crack in her voice as she fought back the urge to let tears spill from her eyes. Mia bit her lower lip as she looked past the Lieutenant, not really focusing on anything in particular as she collected her thoughts. After that moment her eyes met the Lieutenant's as she asked, "What happened?" She felt like she just needed to know what had happened. She didn't just want to know Rob was dead without knowing how. She needed to know why he was dead.

Tyler watched Mia's face, he could tell the pain she was suppressing was much like his own, but in a way far more she had dedicated her life to someone who was now gone. He heard the tone of her voice cracking as she spoke about their son and he had to hold back his own tears, "I can tell him if you want.. i know what its like......" he said pausing for a minute, "To hear that news when your young." he said remembering the man in the suit and how nice he had been to him. He heard her next question and closed his eyes looking up for a brief second blinking back tears before looking back down at Mia and thought about what he was going to say about how her husband had died.

His words came slowly, each one he had to think of to make it come out right, "About a week ago we were on patrol, our truck in the lead." he said pausing slightly as he let it sink in, "At 0900 hours we spotted a suspicious vehicle on one side of the road, and I made the decision to go around it." Tyler had to stop at that point for his own sake as the memories of that day flooded his head, and how he could maybe of done it differently and whether or not they would still be alive if he had. He could see the dusty road laid out in front of him, about 500 meters up there was a red car that hadn't been there the day before, beaten up like it had been there for a while though he knew it hadn't. The com chatter came back into his head everyone weighing in on the decision if they should go around or not, but he had made the decision.

He forced the thought out of his head as he looked back down to Mia a small tear running down his cheek as he continued, "I decided to go around it... and as we did we hit an IED, which exploded under our truck, flipping it." He was practically choking on his words now, but he drove himself on, he had to get the story out for Mia. "He was killed on impact, it was quick.. if that's any consultation." Tyler lied, he could remember everything, and the screams, but he wouldn't tell Mia that, it was something he had been told by higher ups its better to say it was quick then tell the truth. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slightly blackened and torn picture of Rob's child, Grant, "He had this out when.... it happened." he couldn't bring himself to say Rob had died. He reached out his hand towards Mia with the picture.

Mia listened carefully as Lieutenant Wilson recounted what had happened. She felt bad for asking him to re-live that experience, but she needed to know. She knew he had to be lying about how quickly Rob had died. The higher ups always told them to do that. But she wouldn't call him out on it. Her eyes just looked at the picture for what seemed like forever, inner turmoil in her eyes. Eventually she just shook her head. "I- I can't... I can't take that." She said, returning her eyes back to his.

She bit on her lip again as she thought about her son. Her eyes focused on the dog tags for the third time in their conversation, as if Rob were going to answer her through them. "Come by the house at 1800 hours. Eat a good meal, then you can tell him." She said, looking at him for a brief moment before turning to leave. "I'll see you then." She said, not giving him the opportunity to turn down the dinner offer before she left. Mia walked away rather quickly, but once she was on the sidewalk heading towards her house she seemed to slow down. Her feet felt heavy, as if made of concrete.

The dog tags were still in her hand and as she walked her hand clutched onto them tightly. Mia walked with her head down and her long hair hiding her face so that no one would see as she released silent tears that she had been fighting against. The walk home seemed to take longer as she thought about Rob. Then her thoughts turned to Rob and her. Then to Rob, her, and Grant. She thought about how Rob's last moments must have been even though she wouldn't really know for certain. As she calmed herself down, Mia took a deep breath and shakily released it before wiping her face. She was almost home now. She knew she wouldn't be able to look at it the same. She also knew they'd be kicking her off the base soon. That's what happened when your spouse died. They'd send you a typed letter telling you to leave the base within the time frame specified and that was it.

The house was silent as she entered, nothing but the ticking of the clock in the kitchen. Mia just looked around, remembering every holiday and special occasion that had happened there. The next occupant or occupants would never know about any of that, would probably never even think about who had previously lived in the home. Her eyes stopped on their family picture for just a moment before she continued looking around. Finally she stopped on their wedding photo. They looked so happy there. Mia practically looked the same, but Rob. It was obvious where Grant got his looks from, minus eye color. Robert's hair in that photo was a light blonde and his curly hair looked a mess even after his mother's hassle in trying to tame it and his dark green eyes had a certain sparkle in them. A sparkle Robert's father said only appeared when he was around or spoke of Mia. Mia shook her head and turned away from the photo. She didn't want to think about him. She carefully put the dog tags around her neck, tucking them in her shirt so they were hidden, before going into the kitchen to pull out the hamburger meat to thaw out for her home-made meatloaf later.

Tyler looked at the picture and then back at Mia as he waited for her to take it, when she denied it his hand shook slightly not knowing what to do with it. He eventually closed his hand lightly around it and looked down not wanting to make eye contact with Mia as she told him the time to meet at her house. He could hear her walk away, every single click of her shoes against the asphalt made his eyes water more and more until he couldn't hear her any more and tears started to stream down his face. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and placed the photo of Grant inside of it taking a moment to stare at it. He placed it back in his pocket and reached down grabbing his bag, which suddenly felt extremely heavy as he lugged it on to his shoulder and headed towards the parking lot to grab his car so he could get to his apartment. He eventually reached it after what seemed like forever, and got in driving to his apartment, and forcing thoughts of the day out of his head so he didn't crash.

When he reached the apartment he barely got in the door before he placed down his bag and set his watch alarm for 1700 hours. He fell down onto the couch and passed out, no longer being able to fight the strain of his eyes from crying and staying awake so long. His dreams haunted him, the com was going on and off, people telling him to go around, or maybe they should shoot it to see if it would explode just in case. He decided not to shoot, "save bullets" he said before he turned the wheel and started to drive around the car. At about 250 meters, Rob, who was in the passengers seat pulled out a picture of his kid and started showing it to everyone and telling them how much he was like his mother, and how he couldn't wait to see them again. As they reached the car everyone was in high spirits, all of them were laughing and teasing Rob about how much he loved his wife, then white light engulfed all of them.

Tyler sprung awake sitting up on the couch, his face and shirt drenched in sweat as he took deep breath as if he hadn't been breathing as he slept. He eventually calmed down and looked at his clock, 1630, "okay.. ill just get up now." he said to himself as he stood up from the couch and turned off his alarm. He got undressed throwing his clothes in the washer, since he had been wearing them since Iraq, then he climbed into the shower letting the water run over his body for a half hour. He got out and looked at the clock and nodded at himself, he was on time to grab a few things for Rob's family. He got dressed in his officers uniform, adjusting the medals and looking at his hat, walking over to the mirror Tyler looked at himself as he put on the hat noting how different he looked then when he got home earlier that day. His eyes were still tortured, red and slightly puffy, as they were so drawn out from crying, he exited the bathroom and grabbed his keys and wallet before heading to the door and pushing his bag aside exited.

As he entered his car he took a deep breath and sat there for a minute thinking about how he could break the news to the kid, as he slammed his hands against the wheel suddenly. Eventually he started drive, first going back to the military storage room to Robs locker, he stood infront of the locker for a good five minutes before he worked up the courage to open it. He had been one of Rob's best friends, ever since they were deployed he counted on Rob for everything, and Rob had told him the combo to his locker so if something happened he could give a few things in there to his family. Tyler looked at the lockers insides, they were neat as always, and pulled out a box with little trinkets, the box was addressed to Mia, "In case the worst has happened -Rob." it read on the front, tyler didn't dare open it and look inside. Next he pulled out Rob's tan suit with his medals and everything folding it nicely before closing the locker. As he exited he was met by a few men from his troop who all patted him on the back recognizing what he was holding and what he was doing. Tyler walked to his office and grabbed an american flag that was folded and ready to be handed to Mia already, it was one of three on his desk that some one had put there with notes to each family. He didn't spend any more time there, since it was 1745 and he had to get to Mia's house.

He entered his car and sighed starting up, not looking in his rear view mirror since all of Rob's things were in the back seat and he couldn't stand looking at it at the moment. He drove slowly knowing that their house was only a few minutes away, he glanced at his clock as he drove up to the house stopping at the curb, 1753, and debated about driving past and not stopping. It was hard, he truly considered just driving on, but he had an obligation to Rob's family to explain everything that had happened and also to tell his kid the truth. For five minutes he sat there before he turned off his car and got out reaching into the back and grabbing the box, placing the flag on top of it and the suit in his other hand and turned around looking at the house for a brief second before heading towards the door.

After setting the hamburger meat out, Mia busied herself with cleaning and random household chores so that she wouldn't have too much time to think. Of course she ended up thinking anyway. She thought about a lot of different things like the past and what would've happened in the future. Her mind just couldn't help it. There was so much history and so many possibilities, things that definitely wouldn't happen now. That made her even more sad. Out of the blue, Mia remembered something from high school. She remembered how Rob would write notes to her in class and flick them over to her desk. He'd done that every day until she agreed to go on a date with him. She remembered the look on his face that day, remembered the way she'd rolled her eyes over the way his big dopey grin spread across his face. She thought it was funny how she'd thought that grin was just so disgustingly oozing with confidence when she'd first met him, but over time that big dopey grin had melted her heart and she genuinely did like that grin. Liked. She reminded herself. She wouldn't be seeing it again.

Her eye shot to a picture on the wall of Robert with his grin and a smile crossed her face. She had been doing something stupid behind the camera when she'd taken the picture, but it was one of her favorites. She always felt as if that picture had actually captured a part of him, and she'd probably keep it forever. Her eyes softened as she continued to look at the picture. After a while she shook her head and continued her cleaning. By the time she was done even Grant's room was clean, which was kind of an amazing feat for a parent with a toy-obsessed five year old. By that time, she realized it was time to go pick up Grant. So she picked up her purse and her keys and headed out to her car.

Mia used the radio the whole way to the school to distract her, singing along to nearly any song that played up until Grant opened the back door of the silver SUV and clumsily climbed in and up into his safety seat before buckling in and closing the door behind him. Carefully she shut the radio off and pulled away from the school. Her eyes looked at Grant in the rear view mirror for just a brief moment before she returned her eyes to the road. "Did you have a good day at school, sweetie?" She asked in a caring tone. The five year old shifted in his seat, craning his neck to look at his mother with a big smile on his face. "YEAH! Sam brought this cat-tterpeelar and let it crawl on his arm and it was really gross but I liked it." Grant answered, nearly bouncing in his seat. Mia smiled and looked back at Grant, "Really? Where'd he get the caterpillar?" Grant thought for a moment, trying to remember where his friend had said he'd found the fuzzy thing. "Uhm... In is tree house. Mom, can I go visit Sam and his tree house? Do you think daddy can build me a tree house when he gets back?" The five year old wouldn't know how much those words hurt his mother. "Yes, you can visit Sam and his tree house when his mother says it's okay. And I don't know, sweet heart." She didn't know how to tell him that his father would never be able to build him a tree house.

The five year old chattered the entire ride home about what his tree house would be like if he had one, and it took Mia everything she had not to break. After a little bit though, the child drifted off to sleep in his booster seat with his chin resting on his chest. Mia shook her head slightly as she looked back at him. Soon they were home and Mia carried the child into the house and tenderly placed him in his bed after removing his sneakers. She placed a loving kiss on his forehead as she turned on his racing signal night light before she left the room, leaving the door open just a little bit. She knew he'd be waking up soon so she just enjoyed the silence for a little bit as she cooked.

Mia took her time preparing each ingredient, acting as if each thing were the main part of the dinner. She'd decided on macaroni and cheese, honey carrots, and green beans to go with the meatloaf as well as home made biscuits. She even decided to make a bit of strawberry-pretzel pie for dessert. In the midst of her cooking storm Grant woke up and groggily came into the kitchen for a juice box, which he got for himself only asking his mother to put the straw in for him before he climbed up to sit at the table to drink it. When he was finished, he threw the empty juice box in the trash and headed back to his room. Mia flinched when she heard the loud clattering of toys, knowing that Grant had managed to put all of his toys back in the floor all in one go. She didn't mind as long as he was content and not bringing worms in the house.

Around the same time Mia was taking the meatloaf out of the oven, she heard a car pull up. So she carefully set the pan on the counter beside the stove top where the other things were staying warm and quickly slid the biscuits in the oven so they could begin baking before going to the front door. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, to collect her thoughts better, before opening the door even though the Lieutenant hadn't quite yet made it completely to the door. "C'mon in. Dinner's almost ready, just waiting on the biscuits." She said, stepping to the side enough to let Tyler in.

Tyler looked up just as the door opened and took a deep sharp breath as he saw Mia standing in the door way, he knew this was going to be one of the worst nights he would most likely ever have. His boots clicked each steadied step towards the door, his mind was racing trying to figure out a way to tell Mia's kid the truth of what happened to his father. As his foot reached the step leading up to his house he paused for a brief second, as his body tried to flee, telling itself to run and drive away, but he pushed it on wards pulling himself up and taking a step into the house. As he entered he silently put down Rob's uniform at the stand for keys and took off his hat placing it under his arm and he pursed his lips slightly before he brought his eyes up to Mia's face, "I am so sorry." he whispered before dropping his eyes and taking another step into the house.

Looking down at the box and flag in his hand he had to hold back the crack in his voice as he ran his free hand over the flag telling himself over and over how great of a man Rob was, and how horrible this was. He turned around and faced Mia again biting his lower lip to ease some of the pain he felt inside as he extended his arms both underneath the box as if it took all his strength to hold the weight of the memories that lay inside up. On top was the flag, folded and pinned with a note of condolences to the family, he knew what it said, and in reality it was rather impersonal just something higher ups stamped with out ever reading. "This.. is for you.." he said his voice cracking half way though as he shut his eyes tightly remembering when the man in the suit did the same to his grandparents. "Ro... Ro.. R... he asked me to give you this if anything happened to him." he said looking at the box, his words fumbling over themselves, not even being able to say Robs name.

Tyler wouldn't let Mia not take the box this time, practically pushing into her hands, as if it was something hot he had to get rid of. For him it almost was, the memories it even brought to him were crashing forward, and he needed all his strength for what he knew would come this night, the boy who he distinctly heard the clink of toys from a room near by, was going to have the worst night of his life as well. He gave Mia a look that few had ever seen, a look that only said sorry, since Tyler blamed himself for what happened, though he would take that to his grave if he had to, so they could move on. "Thank you for inviting me for dinner ma'm... its very kind of you." he said changing the subject from Rob as he looked around the room, "Its very beautiful what you've done here." he said as he took a few more steps into the house and looked around.

Mia shook her head after hearing the Lieutenant whisper that he was sorry. He didn't need to be. She knew Rob's intent to be a soldier when she married him, and she was okay with that. She'd miss him, she'd miss him so bad it'd hurt, but she wasn't going to let this rule her life. Rob wouldn't want that. He'd want her to be happy. He'd want Grant to be happy. She knew neither one of them would ever be completely happy, but she'd try her best to make sure Grant had a good childhood and she'd try to move on. Not move on now of course since she'd just found out, but eventually. She and Rob had talked about it one time when he was home and the house was quiet, just them. "Don't be sorry, Lieutenant. I knew I was marrying a soldier." She said, looking at him with honest eyes.

Mia's eyes looked down at the box. She barely heard the Lieutenant's words as she just looked at it with the flag and the note on top of it. The note, she just wanted to rip up. They can kiss my ass. She thought before carefully taking the box and the flag and the note with a quiet, "Thank you." She didn't bother with the note, just tucking it into her back pocket to look at later to see how long she had to get out. The flag was so neatly folded as it rested on top of the box. Her fingers ran over it carefully, her eyes fixed on it with a small hint of sadness. She sighed a heavy sigh before looking up at the Lieutenant. He'd told her what had happened. "Oh, it's not a problem. Figured you're due for a good meal, hm?" She said with a slight smirk. Then she watched him as he looked around the house. "Ah, thanks. I tried to make it comfortable... and not what they had. I had to fight to get them to let me, uh, renovate. She'd really only made minor changes, but they hadn't liked it one bit.

"I'll be right back. Make yourself, er, comfortable." She said softly, carefully grabbing Rob's uniform before going to set the box and uniform down in her room. Not long after Mia had walked off Grant came thundering down the hallway, holding two toys in the air as if they were racing and switching between race car sounds and flying robot sounds. He skidded to a stop when he saw the Lieutenant. "Hi! This is Optimus Prime. He's the bestest Auto-bot ever! And this," He paused holding up a red race car toy. "This is Lightning McQueen. He's the fastest race car in the world." The boy had the biggest grin on his face as he spoke with excitement about his toys. Then he remembered something. "Oh!" He exclaimed before saluting the man he hadn't met before, he remembered his daddy teaching him that when he saw someone wearing what this man was. Mia cleared her throat from the other side of the room when she saw the five year old start to run off. "Excuse me. No, sir. Introduce yourself." She said, pointing to the Lieutenant while making eye contact with her son. Grant just looked at her for a moment before turning back to look up at the strange man. "My name is Robert Grant Charlton. Everyone calls me Grant though." He said in a small voice after being called out by his mother. Mia smirked and shook her head before silently slipping into the kitchen to check on the biscuits. Grant just looked up at the tall man and stared at him. "What's your name, your favorite color, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnd who's the best race car driver?" The little boy asked with blue eyes full of burning curiosity.

Tyler nodded at Mia and shook his head shortly after, she had married a solider, but this could have been prevented, everything would have been better if only he had made a different decision. he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and smiled, "Well i can defiantly say it looks alot different from when i lived here." he said, looking around and smiling. This house, he knew it well, it was the house he was in when his parents didn't come home, his grandparents taking care of him. He had memories here, good ones at that, so many good ones and he had to focus on those ones right now. He was looking around again when he heard the little boy come running into the room making him wince slightly as he turned around to be met with a young boy playing with toys.

He smiled and kneeled down looking at the young boy smiling and nodding to his explanations for what his toys were in his two hands. He watched the boy start to turn away then turn back saluted him, which Tyler saluted back before letting the boy continue on, but then he heard Mia looking up and smiling slightly. He knew they were going to be ok, especially with the way Mia was handling her self with her child. "Hello Robert, my name is Tyler Wilson, im here to have dinner with you and your mother." he said, "You know your just like your father." the last few words coming out as a whisper as he stood up looking over at Mia and dropping his head slightly. He took a deep breath and brought the smile back to his face, "I like blue and my favourite race car driver was dale earnheart." he said as he looked at Mia then the table, "Well Robert why do you tell me something about yourself then? since ive told you about me while we wait for your mom to put food on the table." he said as he motioned for Robert to move towards the table so they could have some small talk before dinner.

Grant headed for the table, setting his toys in a basket in the living room first since his mother didn't allow the toys at the table. Once at the table he climbed up into his seat and sat down, letting his feet dangle freely. "Um... I like Grant better, sir. I've just always been called that so... I'm used to it." He said, getting that out of the way first. "My favorite color is red, but I like blue too. Mama likes Jeff Gordon... and I kinda do too. I just turned five and Mama made me a Lightning McQueen cake and it was the bestest cake ever. My best friend is named Sam, and he has this tree house that sounds really cool and he found a cat-tterpeelar in there and he brought it to school today and it was the neatest cat-tterpeelar ever. And I think my mama makes the best food ever." Then he paused and looked over at his mother to make sure she wasn't paying attention before he continued. "Mama's like a fairy wizard thing. She can make carrots taste like candy." He whispered, hiding his mouth behind his hand to make his statement even more secret-like.

Mia smirked as she listened to her son jabbering away, even more so at his 'secret'. She shook her head as she grabbed her kitchen towel from the hook by the stove before pulling the hot biscuits out of the oven as she turned the oven off. She carefully set the biscuit pan on the counter beside the meatloaf just to cool. Then she carefully pulled out a few of her more decorative plates and began to fix the plates in a very methodical way. She mad sure each food item looked exceptionally placed, including the biscuits she set out on a separate plate that she'd set in the middle of the table. She went ahead and put ketchup on Grant's meatloaf since that was pretty much the only way to get that boy to eat it. Then she went ahead and cut it for him. She grabbed two of the plates she'd just prepared and two forks, one knife, and two napkins. She set Tyler's in front of him first, laying out his silver ware and napkin carefully. Then she set Grant's in front of him along with his fork and napkin. "How come he gets a knife?" Grant asked, looking up with a jealous curiosity. Mia smirked and ruffled her son's curly hair. "Cause he's older than you and can cut his food without launching his meatloaf across the room." She answered before heading back into the kitchen to grab her plate and silver ware and napkin plus the biscuits. Grant looked like he was about to say something else but then he just shut his mouth and crossed his arms across his chest, looking stubbornly at the table. "Only did that once.... okay five times." He muttered under his breath. Mia set her plate and dining necessities on the table and the biscuits before she looked between Grant and Tyler. "Alright, I know what you want to drink." She said, looking at Grant who still seemed to be pouting. Then she looked to Tyler. "What can I get you to drink, Lieutenant? We've got just about everything so..." She trailed off at the end, then just waited for his answer.

Tyler smiled wide and he chuckled to himself as he walked over to the table and sat down placing his hat off to his right and placing both hands in his lap listening to Grant, "Ok.. ok.. grant it is then.. i just like the name Robert.. i know alot of great men named Robert." he said smiling at Grand before letting him ramble on again. He smiled and had to bite his lip to stop himself from bursting out laughing at Grants secret about his mother. "I'm really hoping that she cooks, well i know she makes great cookies, but i haven't tasted one of her meals yet." he said just as Mia entered the dining room with a plate full of food. He could smell the meatloaf as his stomach roared at him in anger for not having eaten anything since the left iraq, it wasn't because he wasn't hungry, but that every time he ate it came right back up with his next memory.

He watched the plate come down in front of him and licked his lips slightly looking over at Grant, "You know when i was a kid.. i once got spaghetti in my socks, and they happened to be the only clothes i was wearing at the time.. i was that... good at fighting my food." he said leaning towards Grant and winking while chuckling. As Mia came back in he smiled at her, it was sincere, but behind it lay the pain of everything he knew she had to be feeling, and everything he remembered from when he was a kid, which made the smile seem almost plastic. "Oh.. water would be fine for me Ma'm." he said nodding slightly and smiling again at Mia.

After a second he turned his attention back towards Grant, "So what do you want to be when you grow up?" he said as he took his napkin and placed it lightly in his lap. He kept his hands under the table resting in his lap to disguise the fact he couldn't control the shaking in them. He knew if he had the fork or knife in his hand at that moment they would be flying all over the place, making him sit slightly straight to try and calm himself more. "Did you know i used to serve with your father grant, what do you remember best about him." Tyler suddenly asked out of the blue. He wanted Grant to remember his father in best way possible so he needed to get those memories to the table, even though he knew it was going to hurt horribly for Mia. He remembered how years ago the man in the suit had asked him about his father and mother, and then told him the news a little while later, and in truth it had made it easier to swallow, but even at this age it was going to still be a huge pill. Then he started to eat, each bite slow to reach his mouth, as if he was trying to extend the amount of time before he had to talk to Grant.

Mia nodded when Tyler told her water would be fine. She should have guessed since that was usually what Robert had drank for dinner, only occasionally drinking sweet tea. Then she turned around, deciding that Grant would be okay for at least a moment. She took her time in the kitchen, leaving them time to talk for a moment. Grant shifted in his seat, trying to make himself taller, as Tyler asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. "I want to be a bug studier... Especially cat-tterpeelars." He said, remembering how interesting he had found the caterpillar his friend had shown him. Mia smiled at his answer. That was new answer. This morning it was 'Rocket-Racer', yesterday it was astronaut, and the day before was NASCAR racer.

Grant watched Tyler for a moment, tilting his head just ever so slightly to the right. In Grant-years, it took forever for the Lieutenant to speak again. This question made Grant think about everything he remembered about his dad. "Well...." He said, looking towards the kitchen to make sure his mom was busy because this was a real secret. He dropped his voice down to as much of a whisper as he could manage before he continued. "Sometimes, not very often, daddy gets his guitar and he plays it reeeeally quiet and he sings to mama when I'm supposed to be sleeping. He has a really nice voice, but I've only ever heard him play and sing for mama. That's what I remember best about him."

Mia had paused as Grant started his answer, as if she were frozen in time. Tears prickled in her eyes as her lip quivered. As Grant finished his answer, Mia moved and accidentally knocked the glass of water she'd fixed for Tyler off of the counter. "Shoot." She whispered, keeping herself hidden as she closed the pocket door between the dining room and the kitchen. Then she began to clean up the broken glass and water, also trying to pull herself back together. You are not going to cry. You cannot do this right now. That little boy is going to need you and you have got to be there for him. Suck it up and get back out there.

((Sorry it's really short, but I was afraid that if I didn't reply soon that I'd never get back to it.))