Never Leave My Side (A Teen Pregnancy story)

Flashback - Part 2

When I arrived home from Jason's house, I noticed both of my parents' cars were there. A surprising sight for me, since a lot of the time I either saw one or none of the cars. I walked in through the side door, expecting to see angry parents. Instead, I saw nothing.

"Hello?" I called out, hoping to hear an answer.

"Gabriel!" I heard my mother yell back. It sounded like she was in the living room.

I quickly made my way through the house to them. "What's up with you guys?" I asked, sitting down on the couch next to them.

My parents sat closely together on the couch. They were staring at the phone, almost as if they were waiting for it to do a back flip. They looked up at me and then motioned for me to sit down.

My dad sat quietly, studying me. Then he spoke, "Darry is on his way home right now from Afghanistan."

I stared at him in disbelief. "What? He still has like ten more months before he's supposed to be home! Did something happen?" Panic started rising in my throat and I tensed up. When a soldier comes home that early from a deployment, the worst was to be expected. Especially, when that soldier had only been there for a little over two months.

It looked even harder for my dad to speak now. "An IED went off when Darry was driving somewhere off base with his battle buddies. He's being flown back to the States as we speak."

I could feel my heart drop. Why did every possible bad thing have to happen to my family? Were we just destined for hardship? Please, let him be okay. I couldn't live if he didn't make it. I looked at my parents who were holding hands. They must have felt terrible. Every time they tried to rebuild their family, they were slammed back down to the ground.

"It's going to be okay." I said, not sure if I believed it myself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next few hours were a blur as much as they were agonizingly slow.

My parents had gotten a call that Darry was being taken to the VA hospital in the east coast. He would be there until he could be transferred to a hospital on the base he was stationed at in the states. They were only allowing my parents to go visit him as they were the 'primary next of kin' for him. Dallas and I were second on that list, so I wasn't allowed to go. (Also, I tended to panic more when I was flying and my mom didn't want to add any more stress to myself and the twins than was necessary.)

Jason was over almost as soon as I told him there was a family emergency and that Darry was on a medflight home. He'd stopped talking to Allie and come right over, walking through the door just as my parent's finished packing their bags. They could be over there anywhere from a few days to a few weeks; all depending on how bad Darry's condition was.

"We'll call you as soon as we've found out what's happened." My mom promised as she hugged me goodbye. "Call me if you need anything, alright?" She glanced down at my stomach.

I nodded, "I will, Mom." I watched her as she turned to Storm.

"Take good care of her, will you?" She asked him, giving him a hug.

Jason looked surprised at the gesture, she hadn't exactly been the nicest to him the past few months, but he welcomed the hug with open arms. "Of course, Mrs. Evermore." He affirmed and released her from the embrace.

I didn't say anything to my dad as I hugged him goodbye. I just held him tightly as he rubbed my back reassuringly and then kissed the top of my head. "I'll call you when we land." He said, letting go of me before reaching for my mom's hand, carrying their bags in his other hand. "Don't worry about telling Dallas, Gabry." My dad said, right before leaving. "I'll tell him. Just send his calls our way, okay?"