The Comments Said My Dead Officer Husband Had Returned Chapter 09

The Comments Said My Dead Officer Husband Had Returned Chapter 09

Two years later.

Everyone at the base knew that Madeline at the tailoring stand had good skills and worked fast.

Mrs. Knowles from next door said, “Why don’t you just open a shop?”

I thought about it and said okay.

Elias found me a storefront. Right outside the base. It was small yet spacious enough.

The day it opened, Elias brought a whole company of soldiers to show support. Every single one of them got

a new uniform made.

[No one does grand gestures quite like him.]

Ava turned five and was in the middle class at the kindergarten.

Every morning, she rode on Elias’s shoulders to school.

At pickup time, Elias came to get her. Ava would run and shout “Daddy!” and he’d scoop her up in one motion.

Much smoother than before.

[Elias is so good at holding kids now. Before, he held Ava like she was a piece of firewood. Now he holds her like she’s a treasure.]

Jayden wouldn’t let Elias walk him to school. Said he was a big kid now.

Yet every morning before heading out, he would polish Elias’s shoes until they shone bright and spotless.

[Jayden shines his father’s shoes? So thoughtful and sensible.]

Elias was utterly stunned the first time he noticed it.

He didn’t say thank you. But that night, he bought Jayden a pen.

It was a black Parker with an extra-fine nib.

Jayden took the pen and looked at it for a long time. “Thank you, Daddy.”

[Jayden calls him “daddy” so naturally now. So nice.]

That evening, the four of us went for a walk along the street.

Ava rode on Elias’s shoulders. Jayden walked in the middle, holding Elias’s hand with one of his and mine

with the other.

The sunset stretched our shadows far and wide, merging the four silhouettes into one.

Ava suddenly said, “Daddy, I want a toffee apple.”

I’ll get you one tomorrow.”

“I don’t want tomorrow; I want it now.”

“There aren’t any around right now.”

“Then make me one.”

Elias was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know how.”

“Then learn.”

[Ava’s bossy tone is just like her mother’s.]

Jayden smiled. I rarely saw him smile. When he smiled, he looked exactly like Elias when he was young.

“Mommy, can we always be like this?”

Before I could answer, Elias spoke up, “Sure.”

[Elias answered so fast. Was he afraid Jayden would change his mind?]

Jayden glanced up at him, then hung his head again, yet a smile lingered on his lips.

[Jayden smiled! He really smiled!]

We kept walking. The sunset turned the whole street orange-red. The base broadcast was playing an old song. The sound was distant and soft.

Elias suddenly spoke, “Madeline.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you still angry? About what happened three years ago?”

I thought for a moment. “Yes.”

He was quiet for a moment. “How much longer will you stay mad?”

“I don’t know.”

He went quiet again.

[Madeline is still angry? I thought she wasn’t anymore.]

[She’s not angry. She’s teasing him.]

Ava leaned over from his shoulders to look at my face. “Mommy, the corners of your mouth went up. You’re

lying. You’re not angry anymore.”

[This little girl is a human lie detector!]

I couldn’t hold back my laughter any longer.

Elias watched me, the corners of his mouth twitching faintly. It wasn’t a full smile, yet his expression was far

more relaxed than before.

[His lips moved! He’s almost learned how to smile!]

Jayden let go of my hand and ran ahead. He turned around and looked at the three of us. “Mommy, Daddy,

Ava. Hurry up.”

[Jayden calls him Daddy so naturally now!]

Elias’s footsteps paused for a second. Then he sped up, walked to Jayden, bent down, and lifted him up onto

his other shoulder.

Jayden got startled and grabbed Elias’s hair. “Daddy! Your hair!”

“Yeah.”

“It hurts!”

“Bear with it.”

[Still terrible with words, but his actions speak volumes. Now he has both kids sitting on his shoulders.]

Ava wrapped her arms around Elias’s head. Jayden grabbed his hair.

Elias was in the middle, his neck bent a little sideways from the weight.

I walked behind them and watched the three of them.

The sunset fell on their bodies. Their shadows stretched long.

One last comment floated by: [A family of four, living happily ever after. This story is well worth a read.]