Times Like These

Brian and I had moved into our new home just a few days before Memorial Day, and we decided to host the annual barbecue this year. I was out back, setting up tables and decorations when Brian’s head poked out the back door. “Hey babe. There’s someone at the front door for you.” Frowning, I climbed down from the step ladder I was standing on and followed him through the house. Once my eyes landed on the person in question, my eyes automatically filled with tears. “Hey, little sister.” Aaron said as he started walking toward me. I opened my mouth to say something, but a sob came out instead. “Oh come on, don’t do this to me.” He joked, pulling me into a hug. I stood there, crying into my brother’s best friend’s chest until I was able to speak to him. “What are you doing all the way in Cali?” I asked him, wiping the tears from my face. “I’m on leave. Driving to my next duty station.” He shrugged. “I figured you were missing your best friend, so I brought him to you.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I was out the front door and heading toward his truck. “Hold on a damn minute and I’ll let him out.” Aaron chuckled, jogging past me and opening the back door. As soon as the door open, Zeus climbed out and raced toward me. “Zeusie boy! Come here!” I shouted, holding my arms out as the Great Dane came barreling toward me. “Holy shit. That’s not a dog, that’s a fucking horse.” I heard Brian say from beside me as Zeus propped his front paws on my shoulders and started licking my face. “Okay, okay, down Zeus.” I chuckled as the dog dropped back onto four legs and sat in front of me. “Oh, babe. This is Aaron. Aaron, this is Brian.” I said, noticing my boyfriend standing beside me with a strange look on his face. Brian nodded and held his hand out toward Aaron. “Nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot of stories.” “Whatever she told you, I can almost guarantee that most of it was her idea.” Aaron stated with a laugh, shaking Brian’s hand. “What?! I was an innocent child.” I said, feigning hurt. “You and Mark were the ones that got me into mischief.” “Maybe when you were younger. You were a hellion as a teenager though, stealing your dad’s Vodka and shit.” He chuckled, ruffling my hair. “Do you want to come in for a beer and catch up?” I asked, hoping to be able to spend a little more time with him. “Sorry sis, I have to report in two days. I’ve gotta hit the road. Once I’m settled in you guys should come up and visit. I’m sure Josh would like to see you.” Aaron said, mentioning his older brother. I laughed loudly and shook my head. “Now I seriously doubt either Josh or Kim would want to see me. Well, maybe Josh but Kim damn sure wouldn’t allow that.” “Josh is my brother. He always had this weird little crush on Nikki and Dani, which automatically made his wife hate the girls because they were always at our house. One night when everyone was super drunk, Josh tried making a move on Dani and Kim found out and told their parents about them drinking at our house. Eventually a huge fight broke out, and Nikki broke Kim’s nose before her dad could pull her off. It was classic Nick and Dani.” Aaron explained, noticing Brian’s confused expression. Brian looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. “The bitch wasn’t going to scream in my sister’s face. I don’t care who she is.” I shrugged. Aaron chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, “That’s why we love you kid. Listen, I gotta get going. Zeus, take care of your mama.” Aaron said, talking to the dog before petting his head. “I’ll see you soon. I promise.” He said, hugging me tightly, causing me to tear up again. “Nikki, don’t cry.” He sighed. “I’m sorry! I can’t help it. I’ve been an emotional disaster today.” I defended, wiping my eyes. “I get it. Have a beer for me in honor of him. I’ll let you know when I’m in Alaska. Brian, it was nice to meet you man.” “You too, safe travels.” Brian said before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. We stood in the yard, Zeus sitting right beside me, until I could no longer see Aaron’s truck driving away from my house. “So, you never told me this dog was half horse.” Brian teased. I laughed loudly and wrapped my arms around his waist. “He’s a sweet baby. I promise. We can keep him outside until Pinkly gets used to him. We can just introduce them slowly.” I suggested. “That’s a good idea. You doing okay today?” He asked, leading me back to the house, Zeus following us obediently. “I’m okay. It’s just this day. Memorial Day. Remembering those who gave their lives for our freedom. It hits home for me now, ya know?” I said softly. “It used to be a time when I would look forward to Mark coming home and we would all get shitfaced and hang out. Now there’s going to be something missing in every family get together.” Brian pulled me closer to him and kissed the side of my head. “I get it babe. That’s how I feel with Jimmy. I’d like to tell you it gets easier, but it really doesn’t. I mean you’ll still miss him, but eventually it won’t hurt as bad. That hole you feel in your heart will probably never be filled. I know mine probably won’t. But I’m here for you, no matter what. If you want to lay in bed and snuggle so you can cry without anyone seeing you, I’m your guy. If you want to fly to Georgia to visit his grave, you tell me. Day or night, we’ll go. Just say the word, babe.” I looked up at Brian, whose eyes were full of sincerity, and I knew right then and there he is the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. “I love you, Bri.” “I love you too babe. Now how about we finish setting everything up before everyone gets here?” I nodded and we split up – me heading outside to finish decorations and Brian heading back into the kitchen to finish prepping the meat and veggies that he was planning on grilling. After he had everything done, I snuck in to make a few desserts and spent the rest of the morning hanging out with Brian and Zeus before going to get ready for the party.

Once the party started, everyone was scattered throughout the backyard. Zack, Arin, and Johnny were splashing around in the pool, Matt and Brian were behind the grill, and the five of us girls were sitting around talking, drinks in our hands. I decided to just hang out in my bikini with a cut off shirt over it and a pair of cut off shorts, and almost everyone else was wearing the same thing. I skipped makeup because I knew we would be swimming, and my hair was in messy waves. Zeus was sitting obediently between Dani and I, watching the men play in the pool. “Hey babe.” I called over to Brian, who looked in my direction. “You care if Zeus goes for a swim?” Brian chuckled and shook his head. “Nah. He really looks like he wants to have some fun.” I smiled and looked down at Mark’s dog, “Zeusie, you wanna go swim?” I asked him in a baby voice, while he looked up at me with perked ears. “Go ahead.” I nodded and he took off for the deep end. He swam around the pool for a minute, stopping to look at Johnny, before continuing his laps. “Why does he keep giving me the evil eye?” The bassist asked, watching the dog carefully. “Probably because you didn’t say hello when you got here.” Dani said with an eye roll. “You have to at least acknowledge his presence or his feelings will get hurt and he pouts.” “Shut up. He’s a dog. He doesn’t pout.” Johnny chuckled. “Bull shit he doesn’t pout. He’s a dramatic ass dog.” My sister chuckled while I nodded. “It’s true. Brian even witnessed it.” “Dude. She wouldn’t let him get on the couch earlier and I shit you not, that dog walked over to a corner and laid down. He stared her down the entire time and huffed at her.” Brian said, laughing at the memory. “That big ass horse dog is a big ass baby.” As if he knew he was being talked about, Zeus climbed the steps to get out of the pool and walked over toward Brian, making sure he shook the water off his coat in front of him. “What a fucking asshole.” Zack said in between laughs. “See what I mean? Dramatic.” Dani chuckled, taking a sip of her beer. We continued talking and laughing until dinner was almost ready, at which point I got up and helped set up the bar area in our outdoor kitchen. The girls tried to help, but Brian and I waved them off, since we knew exactly where we wanted everything to go. Soon the bar was full of food: steak, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, salad, baked beans, everything that makes a barbecue good. I made a fruit pizza, brownies, and sliced up some fresh watermelon before everyone made their plates and we all sat down at our huge patio table. “Okay, before we eat I want to say something.” Brian said, standing up and holding his beer. “Thanks to everyone for coming out and breaking in the new house with us, we love and appreciate all you guys. Today we remember Mark, and every other person in uniform who has given their lives so we could be sitting on our asses drinking beer all day today. Nick, Dani, I know you guys are hurting, but keep him in your hearts. I promise you he will live forever. To Mark.” He said, raising his beer in the air. “To Mark.” Everyone the table repeated solemnly before taking a drink. I chugged the beer I was drinking before setting it down and cringing. Matt laughed loudly at his seat across from me, “That bad, huh?” “That shit is terrible. How the fuck do you guys drink that?” I asked before getting up and grabbing a water out of the fridge. “You’ll get used to it. After a few more you won’t even cringe!” Lacey giggled. We sat at the table and ate our dinner, swapping stories and laughs before ending the night in a huge way.

Notes

I'm going to split this into two chapters before I get carried away - the next one will be in Brian's POV and I hope to get it out soon! Thanks for reading!