Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

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Jenny and I spent the next two weeks together almost constantly. She got her time off of work, though I'm pretty sure Heather had something to do with that! Those weeks we spent together were all that we'd have for the next year. After I went back, I got my PCS notice effective the first of January ninety-seven. They were already drawing down ANAS and shipping us out to other duty stations.

So two weeks after I said goodbye to Jenny, Heather, and Rich, I was saying goodbye to Jack and Erica, too. I was being shipped off to Okinawa, which left me so far from everyone else it wasn't worth trying to get home to see anyone. I poured myself into my job and counted the days. All I had to get me though it was the memory of those blissful two weeks and the occasional phone call that I made off base.

In the interim, Erica graduated with a degree in Psychology, and she and Jack were getting ready to start their new life.

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Looking around the apartment one more time, the only thing Jack could find were the last few boxes left to put in Erica's car. Searching each room for items they might have missed, he remembered the fun and love he and Erica had shared in the place they had called home the first eighteen months of their lives together. The heat of the August morning was already making the apartment stuffy since the power had been turned off. Certain that nothing had been overlooked, he grabbed the boxes and carried them out and down to the car where Erica was trying to fit everything in.

"Jack, I don't know if we're gonna be able to fit what we've got in here!" she complained. "We should have put some of these things in the moving van before it left!"

"Everything here we needed for the last two days, Buttons." he pointed out. "I mean, we couldn't pack up the last of our clothes, or the kitchen, or the bathroom! Could you see us going two days in the same clothes, or without a shower or being able to cook?"

Erica sighed. "I know Jack, but what are we gonna do?"

He half-smiled at her. "I got it! Put 'em in the passenger seat, and you ride on my lap!"

Laughing, Erica shook her head. "I think CHP would object, love!" Looking around at the boxes, she threw up her hands. "I give up! You're on, funny-man. Figure out a way to get all of this to fit!"

After re-packing and shuffling the contents into different boxes, half an hour later Jack pushed the hatchback closed, having to lean on it. "There! Got it! Everything's in!"

"You've got things packed so tight in there I'm afraid that when we get to the house and open it, it'll be like opening a joke can of peanut brittle!"

"Don't sweat it, sweetheart!" he said in a terrible impression of Humphrey Bogart. "I'll take the first leg."

Erica shook her head. "No way, José! I'll take the first leg! You get that lovely Southern California traffic!"

"It's not that much worse than up here!" he argued. "Besides, I'll want to take a nap later after repacking all this stuff four times!"

"You can nap first and then drive us over the finish line!" she insisted. "I'm a better navigator than you, and we're gonna need that when we get down there, not up here where I know all the roads!"

"Yes, dear." Jack gave in, opening the passenger door. Pausing, he looked up at their old apartment window. "I think I'm gonna miss this place." He turned and looked at her about to get in the driver's side. "Special memories!"

"For both of us!" she pointed out as she got in. Buckling, she looked over at Jack doing the same. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" he answered. "Let's go home!"

Their drive down was fairly uneventful. They switched places just outside Bakersfield when they stopped for gas. Jack fell asleep less than an hour into the trip and felt rested for the four-hour drive ahead. Erica napped until they reached the four-oh-five interchange, then agonized over the stop-and-go traffic. Finally, an hour after sunset, they reached the house they'd bought in Newport Beach, located less than a five-minute walk from her parents' home.

Turning off the motor, Jack finally relaxed. "We're here! Movers should have put most of the big things where they belong, so all we should have to do is unpack the car, take everything in, and then unpack everything else!" He glanced at his watch. "Shouldn't take past... oh... February!"

They laughed together as they got out. Jack started moving boxes to the front door while Erica got out her keys and unlocked it. She was about to step in when she felt herself suddenly lifted into Jack's arms.

"Put me down you goof!" she laughed.

"Sorry! Old traditions are still important!" He swung her easily in through the doorway and Erica reached over with one hand to turn on the light.

Nothing happened.

She looked at him in the dark. "You remembered to call and have the power turned on today, right?"

"Yeah!" he said as he placed her on the floor just inside the door. Running back to the car, he fished a flashlight out of the glove box and turned it on. Running back to the front door, they saw a maze of boxes filling the living room, creating an imposing wall of packed things. "Let me see if I can make my way through this and check the fuse box."

Erica watched him disappear around a corner stack of boxes. She followed his progress through the living room by watching where the flashlight lit up the ceiling above and in front of him. Finally she saw the light vanish down the back hallway that led to the bedrooms; the breaker box located inside the master bedroom closet. She heard several thumping sounds and Jack cursed twice. Suddenly, she heard him yell as the living room light she'd switched on came to life. "Jack! Are you OK?" The hallway light came on as she made her way into the cluttered house.

Jack saw her as they met near the entry to the kitchen while he sucked on the side of his right index finger. Taking it out of his mouth and shaking it, he nodded back towards the bedroom. "Breaker was tripped, probably when the power was turned on. Damn thing cut me when I reset it!"

"Are you alright?" she asked concernedly, grabbing his hand to examine it. "Jack! You're bleeding!"

"Ah! Just a flesh wound!" he said dismissively. "I'll put some disinfectant on it after we unpack the bathroom. Lets get those boxes in so we can get it."

Two hours later, they sat at the only two kitchen chairs that weren't stacked with boxes. "At this rate we'll need a week to settle in! Where did we get all this stuff?"

"It's things I brought from Pittsburgh, plus things you brought, plus what I'd gotten in college." she answered. "It's all the things you need to run a house, Jack."

"Forget it!" Jack suggested "Let's chuck 'em all outside and live the simple life! It'd be easier than unpacking!"

"Come on, you!" she laughed as she stood back up and dragged him to his feet. "Break time's over! We need to at least find the sheets so we can sleep on our bed!"

They didn't get to bed until well past one in the morning and had only been asleep three hours when the phone rang. Jack turned on the light, reaching down to the floor next to the bed where they'd put the telephone for the time being. "Gary's Dry Clean, Jack speaking." he mumbled.

Heather would have laughed if she hadn't been so excited. "Jack? Jack you're at home, not at work. I need to talk to Erica! Is she there?"

Slowly realizing where he was, he looked at the watch he'd forgotten to take off when they'd gone to bed. "Heather? It's four in the morning! I don't know what time you get up there on the farm, but out here we have hours left 'till we milk the cows!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, Jack! I completely forgot about the time difference!" Heather apologized. "Um... did I wake you?"

"No! We get up at four every morning! Good for catching worms!"

Erica rolled over. "Who is it, Jack? Tell them to call back in the morning!"

"It's Heather, Buttons... and it is morning there. She wants to talk to you. Want me to give her the brush off?"

Sitting up, she shook her head. "No, I'll take it." Grabbing the receiver, she sighed. "Heather? It's Erica. Look honey, can this wait until tomorrow? It's late!"

"So am I!" she replied.

"For what?" Erica asked sleepily. "Whatever it is, I'm s..." Suddenly Erica was wide-awake. "Heather? Do you mean..."

"Uh-huh!" she answered, her smile audible even over the phone.

"Oh my God! Heather! When did you find out?" she yelled.

Jack rolled over, having started falling back asleep until Erica yelled. "Is everything OK? Something wrong with Rich?"

She covered the mouthpiece with her palm. "Heather's having a baby!"

"What, now?" he asked. "When did all this happen?!"

She shushed him. "Heather?"

"I just found out and I had to tell you right away!" she said excitedly. "I'm sorry for calling at such an early hour! I just couldn't wait!"

"No! It's fine, Heather! I'm glad you called!" Lowering the mouthpiece she told Jack, "She just found out!" Going back to the phone she asked, "How far along are you?"

"Five or six weeks." she answered excitedly. "My due date should be in April! Oh, Erica! I'm so excited!"

"How's Rich taking it?" she asked.

"I haven't told him yet." she explained. "He left for work an hour ago and won't be back until late tonight. He's working out of the office today, so I can't even call him. I just had to tell somebody and Brooke isn't reachable!"

"Well congratulations, Heather! I'm sure Rich will be thrilled!"

"Wait a minute!" Jack sat up suddenly. "I know before Rich does!? Oh, ho, ho! This is gonna be so good!"

"Don't you dare ruin this for Heather!" Erica barked. Hearing her sister-in-law over the phone, she went back to it. "What's that, Heather? Oh, Jack was just planning something nefarious for Rich because he knows before Rich does! Don't worry, Heather! I'll keep him in line!"

"You tell Jack that if he ruins this surprise for me, I'll... I'll... I'll never speak to him again!"

She turned to her husband. "Jack? I'm serious. If you ruin this for her, I don't think I could ever forgive you for it! This is not something to turn into a joke! Do you understand me?"

Jack lay back and sighed. "Alright. Fine! Ruin the best thing I've ever had on Mr. Perfect! I'll let it go!" He grumbled as he rolled over and pulled the sheet tight up to his neck.

"OK, Heather. You don't need to worry. Jack won't do anything. You just plan however you want to tell him! Congratulations again! All right! Call me later! Bye!" Hanging up the phone and handing it to Jack to put back on the floor, Erica lay back and sighed. After a time, she rolled over and wrapped her arms around him. "Jack? You still awake?"

"Unfortunately." he grumbled.

"Jack?" She paused, trying to think how to broach the subject. "Jack, I want to go off the pill."

He slowly rolled over and looked at her. "Seriously? I thought you wanted to wait until we were more settled..."

"I know what I said!" she interrupted him. "I changed my mind. Oh, Jack! Don't you want to start our family? Rich and Heather got married after us and here we are, in our own house, and we haven't even started trying yet!"

"We've been in our own house for a total of seven hours, Buttons! What? You wanna start now?" He looked up into her eyes, seeing the mischievous grin creep across her face. His face lit up with a half-grin before they both started giggling and working to get undressed as quickly as possible.

Heather struck a match and lit the two candles that she'd placed on the dining room table. Shaking the match out once they caught, she moved over to the light switch and dimmed it just bright enough to allow them to see while still emphasizing the candlelight. Smiling, she walked back to the mirror by the front door and checked herself one more time. Just then she heard a car pull up the driveway and one of the garage doors opening. Moving through the house gracefully, she went down the few steps at the head of the hallway that led to the garage. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and waited.

Richard slowly dragged himself out of the driver's seat, stretching his worn body. He'd spent all day on the road and was just glad to be home. Slamming the car door as the garage closed, he threw his dark gray suit jacket over his shoulder as he made his way to the door leading into the house. Stepping into the hallway, he smiled at the sight that greeted him. "Hey, beautiful!" he said exhaustedly. "Are you a sight for sore eyes!"

"Rough day?" she asked, hoping that it hadn't been too hard.

"Boy and howdy!" he exclaimed, walking up to her and wrapping his arms around her. "Sorry! You got all dressed up for me and here I am, dragging my butt in here, smelling like a sock!" He started to pull away from her so he wouldn't get his sweat all over her.

Heather tightened her grip on him, not letting him pull away. "I missed you today!" she sighed.

"Just today?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I just really missed you, is all." she said as she looked up at him. "I knew it would be a hard day for you, so I wanted it to be nice when you got home! Have you eaten?" She slowly released him as they started into the house.

"Grabbed a late lunch about three. I'm starved!" He sniffed the air. "What's Cook making?" he asked.

"Her name's Theresa, dear! Calling her Cook just seems... inappropriate!"

"Tough habit to break, love." He shrugged. "You're lucky I don't call you Hargrave! Besides, it's convenient! Her last name's Cook, and that's what she does! What'd she make, anyway?" He looked into the dining room and saw the candles and low lights.

"Theresa's off for the night, dear." she explained. "So are Gregory and the others. I wanted time alone! I hope you don't mind. I made dinner myself!"

He stopped and looked at her. "You cook?"

"If the need or desire arises, yes I can cook, Richard!" She fisted him in the ribs lightly. "Sit down love, and I'll bring you your dinner!"

Walking up to the table, Richard smiled when he saw she'd set places at the head of the table and one next to it. Sliding into the seat at the head as she liked him to, he relaxed for a moment. When he saw her carrying out a large tray, he quickly rose to go to her. "Here, honey! Let me help you..."

"No! You sit right back down, Richard! I want to do this for you tonight!" she ordered, nodding toward his seat.

Holding up his hand in mock surrender, he sat down and waited while she served his favorite dinner of roast lamb. He wanted to start eating right away, but waited until she was done serving herself. Just as he was about to dig in, she put a hand on his arm, staying it. "Something wrong, Heather?"

She smiled at him as she softly answered. "No, Richard! Everything's perfect! I was just remembering dinners with my parents at this table! I really wish you'd gotten a chance to know them. They would have loved you!"

Smiling, he put down his fork. "I'm sure I would've loved them! After all, they raised you and I love you!" he complimented her before leaning over to kiss her gently. Wanting to tear right into his food, he could see Heather had some kind of plan for the evening, so he relaxed into it. "So then, how was dinnertime in the Moore household?"

Sitting up straight, Heather looked off in the distance. "Well, for starters we always dressed for dinner. Father would sit where you are, Mamma at the other end, and I would sit here." She gestured to the seat on her left in the middle of the table that seated eight. "Theresa would serve, with Gregory's assistance, then once served, Father would say Grace and we would wait for him to begin eating. If there was anything that needed discussing that day of major importance, he would talk about it after Grace and before he would start. Anything of minor import would wait until after dinner when we would retire to the Great Room."

She sighed wistfully. "It was like that every night. It was a pleasant comfort to know what to expect, especially after a hectic day at school or after Church and the weekly social that was always so chaotic."

"Sounds nice!" he said smiling. "Dinner at our house was chaos incarnate! Half the time we didn't even eat at the table, we ate in the living room around the TV. Sundays and Wednesdays Mom would have us at the table, though. Saturdays were hit and miss. Once Jack was around, he ate at our place twice a week until..." his voice trailed off. "Well anyway, dinner was a casual thing for us. Mom would say Grace if Dad hadn't started eating by the time she sat down. It wasn't very often into high school though, more often when Erica and I were kids." He looked at her questioningly. "Did you want to make our dinners more formal, like you used to do when you were growing up?"

Heather considered his offer honestly. "Well, it would be nice if we would occasionally." She glanced at him and smiled. "Maybe on Wednesdays and weekends?"

"Mix of both?" he nodded and chuckled. "OK. I can go along with that. Since it's Tuesday, you wanna start tomorrow or start tonight and then pick it up this weekend?"

"If you wouldn't mind starting tonight?" she asked hopefully.

"Anything you like, beautiful!" he leaned over and kissed her again. "Well, 'the cook' has already served, so..." They both bowed their heads in prayer as Richard spoke. "Dear Lord, thank you for the blessings you have seen fit to bestow upon us, and make us truly thankful for them. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."

"Amen!" Heather said smiling in contentment. When she opened her eyes and saw Richard about to begin eating, she cleared her throat. "Richard? I have news of importance to bring up."

Setting his fork down once more, he looked over at her. "Oh?"

"Yes, dear." She took a breath and smiled. "I talked to Erica this morning. I called to deliver some news to her."

Curious how this would be important, he furrowed his brow. "What news?"

"An expected delivery?" she smiled at him shyly.

He was about to ask what was going to be delivered when his eyes widened. "Delivery? As in..." He watched in awe as Heather bit her lower lip with a wide grin and nodded enthusiastically. "A... a baby? You mean... you're... you're..."

"We're pregnant!" she corrected him. "You're going to be a daddy!"

Getting out of his chair, Richard helped her to stand. "When? How?" he asked dumbly.

She looked at him with mock seriousness. "You mean you don't know where babies come from, dear?"

He laughed at his own idiocy for even asking. "No... I mean yes! Of course I know! No, I meant... I knew we talked about it and you said you were going off the pill, but that was only last month!"

"Apparently that's all it took, dear!" she giggled.

Wrapping her in his arms, he kissed her strongly, lifting her up and swinging her in a circle afterwards as he howled, "Ooooooo Raaaaaaah!"

Putting her down again as she laughed, Richard almost stumbled back to his chair, his dinner and hunger completely forgotten. "Oh, wow!" he said in a daze.

"So I take it then you're happy about it?" she asked jokingly.

"Happy? No, dear! I'm not happy! I'm over the moon about it!" As his brain starting to work again, he looked at her with a concerned expression. "What about your practice?"

Considering it for a moment after she sat down, she picked up her water glass and sipped it. "Well, I can take six weeks Maternity Leave, and then we can hire a nanny to take care of..."

"No." Richard shook his head. "I don't want my kids raised by a stranger!"

Upset that he expected her to give up her career, she looked at him. "Richard! It wouldn't be a stranger! Besides, I have obligations to keep! Patients that need me!"

Pursing his lips and considering her position, he nodded. "You're right! I'll quit!"

Heather was shocked at his suggestion. "Richard! I can't ask you to do that! You worked so hard to get that position! I'm proud of you for it! Lots of children are raised by nannies!"

"But they aren't my kids, Heather!" he still shook his head. "I don't care about my job! I do it because it's necessary! If we have to cut back to make it on just your salary, it's worth it to have our kids raised by one of us! That's a lot more important than a career to me!"

"Richard, are you sure this is what you want?"

"Absolutely!" he answered without even waiting for Heather to finish asking her question. "Besides, I hate the way the upper managers look down their nose and give me all the crap work they don't feel like doing, just because I didn't go to an Ivy League school! I know Hank will be disappointed, but... No, he'll understand! I'll see him tomorrow and give him the news that..." He thought for a moment, trying to figure out on his own when the baby would be due. "When's the due date?"

Shaking her head, Heather laughed. "April! I'm not exactly certain though. I haven't seen a doctor yet. I just missed my period five days ago and used a home testing kit! Well, actually I used three! I wanted to be sure!"

"Perfect! I'll tell him that after I do the quarterly reports due the first week of April I won't be coming back!"

Lowering her tone to be serious, Heather looked him squarely in the eyes. "Richard? Look at me. Are you sure you could be happy as a 'Mister Mom'?"

Looking back in her eyes, he smiled. "I can't think of anything I'd like more, love!" He frowned suddenly as a thought occurred to him. "Heather? You wouldn't be embarrassed having a stay-at-home husband, would you?"

"No!" she shouted.

"Is it the money then?" he asked, hoping he hadn't misjudged her essential character.

"Richard!" she scowled at him. "I have more money than we could ever need! It's not about money, or what other people think! I just want you to be happy! Are you sure? Is it that important to you that you would give up your whole career for it?"

Nodding, he smiled at her reassuringly. "Positive."

"Alright!" she gave in.

"So it's settled!" he stated. "I'll stay at home and raise the kids and you keep people from going nuts!"