It was ever so hard for him to tell her the news that
night. Her large gray-green eyes filled with tears and she sobbed into
his shirt for a long time. He patted he back and whispered comforting
words to her as he held back his own tears.
"P-please don't go..." she croaked as she buried her face
in his shoulder, grabbing the fabric of his shirt tightly in an attempt
to keep him with her.
"It's what's best," he softly coaxed, holding her in his lap to sooth her. "I can still visit you. I'll come when ever I get leave. You'll still see me."
"Will you come for Christmas?" she pleaded, her voice shaking.
He smiled supporting and looked her in the eyes. "Of course I will!"
She extended her hand to him. "Pinky promise?"
Giving her a real smile, he hooked his pinky finger in hers and whispered back, "Pinky promise."
Mason felt a hand pulling on his pant-leg and looked down to see Tessa,
holding little Addie's hand tightly. "We'll take good care of her, Mr.
Mason," She smiled confidently. "Don't you worry. We got this."
"We promise!" Addie added, matching her sister's loudness.
Mason couldn't help but smirk, but kept as serious a face as was possible. He extended his pinky. "Pinky promise?"
Tessa nodded with a dead serious expression and locked her pinky with his. "Pinky promise."
Ava sniffled as Mason wiped her tears away with his thumb. "It'll be okay..."
Ava's little head rested on Mason's shoulder as she
breathed deeply, fast asleep. He held her snugly in his arms where he
was seated on the couch, rubbing her back tenderly and humming her a
song. Realizing that she was asleep, he slowly rose from the couch and
tip-toed quietly down the hall to her new room.
It was pink, her favorite color. The drapes on the windows
were a pastel green, and a chair with printed flower fabric sat near
the bedside. The bed itself was small and white, with painted purple and
pink flowers on the headboard. He gingerly laid her down on the bed and
tucked the pastel pink and orange comforter around her, and
placed her teddy-bear tightly in her arms.
He lingered by her bedside, not wanting to leave her just
yet. Tears filled his eyes as he whispered softly to her, "Remember the
time you tried to make me a birthday cake, and when I got home from work
you had spilled flour all over the kitchen floor. Or when you walked to
the park to pick me flowers and I didn't know where you were. I was
totally freaked," Mason chuckled at the fond memory. "Or when you
painted half of my room pink," he stated more dryly at that little
adventure. "We had the best of
times, the two of us. I love the way you run up to me in the mornings
and hug my legs. Or your early morning wake up calls. You run to me when
you've had bad dreams, you give me a syrupy kiss when you've had good
ones, or when you fall asleep on my chest..." He started to choke up and
stopped to breath. He wouldn't have those everyday moments, not
anymore.
He reached over the bed and stroked her hair out of her face and
smiled tearfully. "But every good thing has an ending. Otherwise,
nothing would ever get started. You've got a good life ahead of you, and
I'll still be here when you need me. I promise," leaning over, he gave
her one last kiss on the forehead. He had done that so many times
before, but the lump growing in his throat told him how special this one
was. It was a bittersweet moment for him. Tears falling out of his eyes onto her teddy bear, he whispered,
"We had the best of times."
Then, turning away from her, he quietly left her room and closed the door behind him.
The sun peeked over the waters of the Pacific, sleepily stretching its
rays of golden light over the wavy, spotless surface. There was only one
blemish to be seen for miles, a dark spot of metal technological
advancement, laying on the surface of the great deep. In the sky only a
few scattered clouds floated, and one aircraft rode the winds to its
carrier, the enormous submarine, The Liberator by name. She was not under the water just yet, simply waiting patiently for her last bird to make its landing.
The small plane landed without a problem and its
passengers and crew disembarked. Two of the figures squinted in the
golden light of the rising sun, but stood still, waiting for their
welcoming party as the others went into the sub and back to work.
"You're trespassing, you know that?" a voice rich with
sarcasm hollered as the man approached the pair. "I should have you
thrown overboard."
"It's good to see you too," Mason offered Jason Gray with a smirk and punched him in the shoulder playfully.
He winced and rubbed it. "Dude, carefully, don't wound the Junior Director just yet."
Mason rolled his eyes as Jason composed himself be fore asking, "Well? Have you made your decision?"
Mason straitened his posture and asked, "Where do I sign up?"
Jason smirked and pulled something out of his pocket. "Sign on the dotted line."
Both Mason and Conner were handed a document, and seconds later, they were officially Watchmen. Well, not quite officially.
"You'll need these."
He handed them each a square
case about the size of his hand across, but thin. Inside, a metal disk
with a bold, black W engraved into it sat securely in its place. Mason
touched it gently, feeling the engraving. It was a Watchman badge. His
very own.
"Now it's official," Jason noted perkily. "You're a real Watchman now."
He glanced sideways at Conner, who was staring at his badge with wide
eyes. He took a deep breath, then looked up and saluted. "Thank you,
sir."
"I won't have any of that," Jason shrugged it off. "That's
not even our thing. But anyway, you'll have to thank Dad for the
special privilege of being admitted in the first place! Technically,
Mason's dead, and you're on a long vacation getaway thing."
Conner tilted his head slightly. "Your father is a Watchman, too?"
Jason blushed, "Yeah, he's kinda... well, he's the Captain."
"Captain Barton?" Mason choked in surprise. "But your last name is Gray!"
"Ha! Nope, check the form!" He pointed to Mason's
certificate paper, and Mason checked it speedily. Yep, the document was
signed J.G.B., and below was written, Jason Gray Barton.
"You never said that!"
Jason glanced at Conner, "We all have our secrets." Then he turned back to Mason and explained, "And, of course, I didn't want to keep my last name on there, because the guys may treat me differently if they knew the Captain was my dad." Then, turning more serious, his posture straightened and he saluted.
Then mirrored him, the three figures stood alone as the golden sun cast long shadows over the platform of the vessel and down to
the vast ocean waters. A new day was dawning, and his story had only
just began. Mason Kruger knew that there was so much more to be learned,
though he had no plausible idea of what lay in store for him. But the
future shone golden with the rising sun, and God was guiding him carefully,
always having a plan and knowing the outcome. He knew the answers to
all of Mason's questions, about his parents and friend, and He knew how
best to lead him on to that future. Now all that had to be done was
to get there. One story was finished, and another had just begun.
The End
