Waiting: One Wife's Year of the Vietnam War

Chapter 41

{Chapter 41} “Oh, it really is over!” I cried as Lee held me. “We made it, didn’t we?” he laughed in a mirthless way. He kissed me and then said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” I turned to walk beside him and then stopped. “Can you just leave? I mean, what are all these guys doing?” “Going to Oakland, most for outprocessing from the Army.” “Lee,” I said, still disbelieving, “nobody was here for them. I mean, I’m the only person to meet the whole planeload.” “People don’t come out in the middle of the night to welcome back Vietnam veterans,” he said sardonically. “Come on. How are we getting out of here?” I refocused my attention on Lee and led him to the taxi. “Let’s hurry. I can’t wait for you to see Reveilee.” Lee grinned. “Wow, I’d almost forgotten.” He must have seen my face fall because he quickly added, “I’m ready to see her, too.” I woke the driver, who stretched, blinked, and let us in. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Lee said, stripping off his envelope cap and throwing it on the seat on the other side of me. The driver tried to talk to Lee as he had to me for the first part of the journey. I was content to hold Lee’s hands and try to comprehend that he was really beside me. “I’m so glad to see you!” I said again and again, hugging him. Lee laughed and put his arm around me. “I’m glad to be here.” “Just wait until you see the baby. She’s so beautiful.” “Won’t she be asleep at this hour?” Lee frowned. “Well, it’s not every night that a girl gets to meet her daddy.” April 1970 [307] We rode in silence for a few minutes. I watched Lee under the passing street lights, measuring his mood. I was so excited that I was giddy. He was quiet, withdrawn. “Is anything wrong?” I asked lightly. “No, no, Honey, I’m just tired. Don’t forget, I’ve been travelling for damn near twenty-four hours.” I laughed with relief. “Of course. I’m just so happy to have you back that I didn’t think about what it took to get here.” We talked, but our topics jumped from the freezing weather in Alaska to his parents’ new house and from his orders to be a Ranger instructor to the ribbon that would be in Reveilee’s hair. It was a disjointed conversation , but at least it was in person. When we finally reached Collins Street, I paid the driver and hopped out of the cab, pulling Lee up the stairs. “So this is where you lived,” he said, taking in the building and the street. My year was as strange to him as his was to me. “You can get a good look tomorrow. Right now I want you to see the baby,” I whispered as I turned the key. Susan was sitting on the couch reading when we entered. She jumped up to give Lee a hug. “Welcome home,” she said with more emotion than she usually allowed herself to show. “Hi, Susan,” Lee said. “How’s Tom?” “You probably know more about that than I do,” she said to him and then turned to me, “I did everything just like you said. She’s in her crib in my room.” “Come on,” I tugged at Lee and then led him into the lamplit bedroom. Reveilee, all dressed in her frilly dress, stared straight up at me as though she were afraid to move in her unfamiliar garb. I chuckled at her expression and swooped her into my arms. Holding the baby on my hip, I made the introductions. “Lee,” I said, “meet your daughter Reveilee.” Lee stared down at his four-and-a-half-month-old baby, a look of awe spreading over his face. Tentatively, he reached out and took her hand. She instantly wrapped her tiny fingers tightly around his without taking her eyes off him. [308] chapter 41 “Would you like to hold her?” I asked, uncertain if Lee was ready for this step. “Of course, I would,” Lee said, taking her into his huge hands and sitting her on his right arm. I stepped back to study the sight I...