It Has to be Fate Pt. 02

Micaiah walked over to the Squadron Office, stopped at the Squadron clerk's desk and asked if the Skipper was in.

"Yes Sir, Captain, who shall I say is calling?"

"Captain McDermott, please." The Sergeant pressed a button on the intercom.

A voice from the speaker said "Yes?"

"A Captain McDermott to see you Sir." Mica heard a chair scrape and the door to the office popped open. A grinning tall thin man rushed out.

"Mica! Damn, boy, you are here early, are you ready to go to work?"

"Hell no Billy! I'm not due for two and a half weeks. How the hell are you! Ha! Congratulations Lieutenant Colonel Marker, Sir!"

"Come on in my office Mica, we need to get caught up with each other. I heard you were around and tried to call you but your phone wasn't hooked up yet. That ass hole Vern Butcher stopped by and said he saw you in the club the other night with what he said was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. What goes?"

"Billy, he is right about the gorgeous part, she is my wife, Melissa."

The Colonel jumped up and reached for Mica's hand. "Congratulations Buddy, when can we meet her? Oh! Dawn will be delighted, but Sue is going to be heartbroken."

"What is Sue now, seven? And little Randy is two now I guess."

"Yeah! She still says she is going to marry 'Unka' Mica when is old enough, and Randy is walking and talking."

The buzzer on the intercom sounded. Billy went back behind the desk and pressed the button, "Yes?"

"Sir, a Lieutenant McDermott is here to see you."

The Colonel look up at Mica, "I didn't know you had a brother." He pressed the button again, "Send him in." He turned and looked at Mica as they heard the click of high heels stopping at the office door. The door swung open and a very beautiful Lady Marine Officer in her uniform walked into the room. Her face changed to a lovely smile when she saw Mica, "Good morning Colonel, I am Lieutenant McDermott, Captain McDermott's wife."

Lieutenant Colonel Marker stood and stared at the gorgeous young woman. He looked at Mica, "Mica, Butcher was right, she is beautiful!"

Mica smiled and said, "Melissa, this is Colonel Billy Marker, and Billy, this child is my lovely bride Melissa."

Melissa smiled at the colonel, "Nice to meet you colonel, with your permission I would like to kiss my husband, I haven't seen him in half a hour and that is the longest time we have been apart since were married a few weeks ago."

"Missy, if you can stand to kiss his ugly mug, you go ahead and do it. I am delighted to meet you."

Melissa smiled at the Colonel, "Thank you, Sir. I kiss this ugly mug every chance I get." She turned to Mica , placed a hand on each side of his face and pulled him down for a long passionate kiss. She stepped back, reached up and wiped lipstick from the corner of his mouth with a dainty little handkerchief. She looked at the Colonel, "Thank you again, Sir, I needed that."

"Young lady, you have my permission to kiss him in my presence any time you want to. And you are here by ordered to call me 'Billy' when we are not conducting business. May I call you Melissa?"

"Of course you can, Billy. Mica has told me many good things about you, your wife, and family. I hope to meet them soon."

"Melissa and Mica, are you free for cocktails and dinner tonight?" Mica looked at his wife. She winked at him. He smiled, "Billy, we will be delighted to join you and Dawn for cocktails and dinner tonight."

Billy pressed the intercom button again, "Sergeant, please get Mrs. Marker on the phone for me."

"Aye, aye, Sir!"

A few moments later his desk phone rang. Billy picked it up. He smiled, "Hi Hun. Guess who is standing here in my office? --- No! It is not the President. He is your second most favorite pilot in the whole world." Mica and Melissa clearly heard the shriek of "Mica".

"Yes Dear, and guess what, Mica has his WIFE with him." Billy yanked the phone from his ear and grinned at the screaming on the phone. He waited then said, "Honey she is beautiful, absolutely stunning,---- Yes, I already invited them.--- 6 o'clock, very casual, jeans and tops, OK, I'll tell them. Love ya! Bye! Well that is settled. Melissa I guess you could tell that Mica is one of her favorite people. She and my daughter just love Mica to death."

"Billy, that is why I keep kissing him all the time, I know how lucky I am."

They talked for a few minutes and the McDermotts departed and went home.

That evening they were greeted at the door of the apartment of the Marker family. Dawn Marker was a tiny woman, less than five feet tall and weighing a hundred pounds. Her honey blonde hair was in a long pony tail and she stood and looked Melissa up and down after they were introduced. A smile slowly grew on her face. "Honey, Billy was right, you are a real living doll." She took Melissa's hands and pulled her into the kitchen. She said, "Come on, girl, tell me how you hooked and landed Mica, lots and lots of other girls have tried and tried and never even came close. Where did you meet him? There will be lots of broken hearts all over eastern North Carolina when the word of this gets out." Billy handed Mica a drink and asked him what Melissa would like to drink. Mica said she enjoyed a 'Tom Collins' if he had the mix. Billy grinned, "Dawn loves them too, so I always have plenty on hand."

In a little while, Mica and Billy saw their ladies come out of the kitchen. Dawn pulled Melissa over to the men, "Billy, she is just as sweet as she is beautiful. Mica did super good for himself. Wait tell you hear how they met and about the wedding, fabulous, really fabulous." Then Dawn turned to Mica, "Mica, someone is dying to see you, let me get the kids." She yelled, "Suzie, you kids come here, someone wants to see you." A young girl entered leading a little boy by the hand. The girl stopped and looked around. She smiled and looked at Mica. She just stared.

Then she screamed, "Unka Mica!" and ran towards him. Mica stooped and lifted her into his arms and hugged her tightly. He kissed her forehead and told her he had missed her very much. She cried and hugged him back. There was minor confusion while Dawn and Melissa fed the children and then got them ready for bed. When things were quiet the ladies sat with the men and sipped their drinks. Then, after a nice dinner, Melissa got up and walked over and sat in Mica's lap, she put her arms around Mica's neck and kissed him hard.

Then she held his face and said, "I don't want to wait, I want your babies now."

"Wow!" Dawn yelped, "I thought our brats would make you want to wait before you had kids."

"NO! They are perfect, they woke up my maternal instincts. I haven't been around little kids for a long time, my youngest married brother or sister is ten years older than I am and their kids are all over ten now. I wanted to just hold and cuddle both of them, especially little Randy."

Dawn grinned, "Thank you. That makes me feel so good I want to cry. Mica, I want the two of you to know I was fully prepared to hate this girl you married. Boy was I ever wrong. It didn't take long for me to see that her beauty is not just skin deep. She really loves you Mica, you done damned good when this one picked you out."

Mica grinned, "Thanks Dawn, but I picked her out."

Dawn smiled at Melissa, "Honey, aren't men cute, they have no idea of how things really work do they?"

Melissa laughed, "In this case it was a mutual decision, it was inevitable that we would get married. Mica's momma put it right, she said it was fate. We had no choice. I believe her." She then told the Markers how they met, met his parents, and were married.

Dawn agreed. She said, "No wonder I like your wife so much Mica, she was your gift from God. I just have trouble believing any girl this beautiful was not grabbed by a horny young officer when she was stationed here before."

"I think we were supposed to meet here, but it didn't happen, so we met in the jungle." Said Melissa, "But I have to tell you that when I was here before he might not have noticed me. I always went without any makeup except a dusting of flat pale powder, wore my hair in a old ladies bun and wore baggy old clothes. You see I wanted to be the best Marine I could be so my father would be proud of me. I was a Daddy's girl. I didn't have the time or interest in anything else. That was before I realized that Daddy would always love me no matter what I did.

"When I first saw Mica in the jungle I was in my utility uniform. When I got a good look at him I stepped behind a truck and took off my glasses, put on very light makeup and undid the top button on my blouse, I reached in and undid the clasp of the front opening bra I wore to flatten my bust, then pulled my top tighter and tucked it in in back."

Dawn giggled and slapped her leg, "See, I'll bet Mica never even knew what hit him."

Mica looked at Melissa with a puzzled expression on his face, "I've never seen you wear glasses!"

"Oh! Honey, I don't need glasses, they were plain glass, I wore them for years to hide behind and I just threw them away behind that truck. It was all part of what I always called my 'old maid librarian disguise'."

Billy and Mica looked at each other and shook their heads, Billy said, "Devious, women are just so damned devious."

Mica slowly smiled, "Billy, in this case I am very happy she chose me."

Billy laughed, "Yeah! Now maybe I can get some peace and quiet around here. This devious wife of mine has been trying to get you married off for years. It drives them crazy to see your friends, unmarried and happy as a lark, lots of money to spend on themselves, lots of pretty women chasing them. They are afraid you will get the wrong idea about your own marriage when things get a little tough."

"Well Billy!" said Dawn, "Sometimes when I see a handsome stud like Mica, just drifting along with a big smile on his face, then I look at you changing a diaper and trying to feed the other one, me in old jeans and a sweat shirt lugging a load of laundry with no makeup and stringy hair. I wonder how you put up with it."

"Dawn Marker! I have never seen you look anything like that. You are always pretty, full of energy, and pep. You are always beautiful to me. You just don't know how happy I am with my little family, I always felt sorry for Mica that he wasn't as lucky as I am."

Dawn walked to Billy and kissed him for a long time. She pulled away and hugged Melissa, "God Sweetie, when they say something like that you know how lucky you are, it makes me want to cry again."

Later, a long delightful evening of talking, Dawn kissed each of the McDermotts good night, "Your Mom is right Mica, the two of you are perfect together. It has to be fate."

On the way home Melissa said, "Honey, I didn't say anything, but Dawn told me how lucky they are to have found that apartment. She said the realtor gave them a great price on the rent. I was thinking, is that one of your apartments?"

"No, it is one of OUR apartments."

"And you guys say we women are devious. Mica I love you so much. Please keep being devious. I love the way you help people and then don't take credit for it."

"Honey, what else could I do, they were having trouble, his mother was sick and alone, he was paying for nurses. Their old car was giving them trouble and they couldn't afford a new one. I told Billy that I had heard that the Real Estate guy had a bargain for a quick rental. He rushed right over and rented the place. The rent is half of their housing allowance. They were able to buy a new car."

"Honey, I love you, but I think, from what Dawn told me, that they have figured out what you did. She mentioned that you are the sweetest man she has ever met, that you have helped them and refused to take credit for it. They both think you are the best thing since sliced bread, me too!"

"Sweetie, if you love proud, honorable, people and want to help them, why not do it so that they don't feel obligated, or beholden to you. Someday, if I need help, they will be there for me."

"Mica, you are sure right about that, both of them love you. I am such a lucky girl to have you. I was serious about wanting to have our babies as soon as possible. I will abide by what you want though Sweetie."

"Honey, it is you body we will be using, it is your decision."

"No, it is our body, our cock, our sperm, and our baby."

Mica smiled at her, "how do you expect me to argue with you when you are right?"

"Well you can just---OH!" She giggled. "Boy! Is that ever a sneaky way to end an argument. Let's do this; I'll just leave my diaphragm in my drawer for a month. If we get pregnant, great, if we don't, that is fine too! If you want, we can do that every other month and see what happens for six months or so."

"Wow! Russian Roulette with sperm, I like that, it is a deal. I have a question though."

"What?"

"Why not just leave it out forever?"

Melissa laughed, "Let's do it this way, I'll leave it out until you say to put it back in. OK?"

Mica grinned at her, "You have a deal, Sweetie! We'll let nature take it's course, it has worked for us so far. Fate wouldn't do us wrong."

Melissa looked at him as they got ready for bed, "Honey, I really like your friends a lot. Dawn is so sweet and I can tell they both think the world of you. How long have you known them?"

"I have known them for about nine years, we were in flight training at Pensacola together. I was a brand new Second Lieutenant and he was a Captain. He had been a Grunt Marine, a ground pounder. He won a Navy Cross and a couple of Purple Hearts in Korea and they gave him his pick of assignments. He chose Flight Training.

"He had trouble with navigation and one day he asked me if I could show him how to do a problem. I showed him an easy way to do it and he was grateful and asked me out to his place for a BBQ and we have been good friends ever since. I just fell in love with Dawn, I am closer to her than I am to my own sister.

"Billy is not an Academy man and came up from the Enlisted Ranks. He won a Battlefield Commission when he took over his platoon because all the officers and most of the sergeants were killed or wounded. Even though he was wounded he took charge and led his men on and they their accomplished their assigned mission."

"His platoon made it back to it's position and he sent a messenger with a message stating the officers were all dead or seriously wounded. He didn't know that the message never got through. They received orders for the platoon to make a sweep of a village on their flank and determine if it was clear of North Korean regulars. Billy led his platoon on that reconnaissance mission. He found the village and placed his machine guns so that they covered the whole place with a cross fire.

He slipped into the village before daylight and found that there were almost a hundred Chinese soldiers sleeping in the huts with the villagers. He captured an officer who went into the bushes to pee. Billy put his knife to the man's throat and told him what he wanted him to do. The officer spoke some English and at daylight called his men to assemble in the road. The Chink officer yelled something and a firefight broke out.

"When it was over they had killed or wounded about eighty Chicoms. They captured the rest. Billy was wounded twice more but got the platoon back to their lines before he collapsed. When the Battalion Commander found out a young buck sergeant had done all that, he requested a commission for him. He had never even gone all the way through high school.

"I worked with him for months and taught him how to study. I taught him how to read an assignment and pick out the salient points in the text. I showed him how to pick out the points that would be on a test. Once he caught on, there was no stopping him. He earned a degree in Business Administration, and is now working towards his Masters degree through the University of North Carolina's Extension Service."

"Mica, how many other guys have you helped?"

"Gosh! I don't know, maybe half a dozen. Hey! Most of them never learned how to study. Once they learn it, you can't stop them. Take Billy for an example, he took a speed reading course. Now you can give him a college course text and study guide in any subject. He will read the whole text and the study guide in about an hour or so and then score 95 percent or better on a final examination on the subject. Billy loves the Marine Corps. He requests the reading material on different subjects from various military or aviation schools. He studies them and requests they test him. He passes the tests and is a certified graduate of those schools. They are all on his service record. He has diplomas from the Leadership Courses from the Army, the Navy and the Marines. He is a certified Air Force Navigator. He has completed the Navy Supply Officers course. He is slated to go to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, when he completes this tour. Billy is on the fast track to the top."

"Wow! He seems like just an average guy, very nice, well mannered, considerate, funny, and polite."

"Darling, let me give you another clue, silly, girly, little Dawn is as sharp as he is, if not sharper. She helps him study and knows the subjects as well as he does. She has a fantastic memory and unbelievable hand-eye coordination and I don't mean only in sports. She can write very rapidly and the results look like a printing press wrote it. I have seen her fill a page without an error in a fancy old English script that you would swear was hot off a printing press. It is called calligraphy."

Mica noticed that Melissa was watching him carefully, "What's wrong, Honey?"

"I'm jealous because Dawn is so much better than I am."

"What are you talking about? No one is better than you are. Oh! Listen to me Sweetie! I love Dawn. I have for years. I have admired her body, her beauty, her sense of humor, and her intelligence. I have never really lusted after her. You on the other hand are my one and only soul mate, I lust after you constantly. I love you completely and totally. No woman can compare with you in personality, intelligence, and beauty. If you will come into our bedroom I will show you how much I adore and worship you."

"Oh Mica, please forgive me for being such a silly girl. I admire Dawn too! I just get jealous because she is so perfect and can do everything and never get a hair out of place."

"Just remember that there is one thing she can never do as well as you can."

"What is that?"

"She can never be you."

"Oh Mica! I love you so much!"

Melissa reported for duty on October 7th as per her orders and was told she was now the Assistant Personnel Officer for the 2nd Marine Air Wing. She reported to the Personnel Office and met her new boss. He was a Major she had worked with before and admired as an excellent officer. They had worked well together before and she was happy with her assignment. She met with her new boss and he told her that he had requested her as his assistant because he was confident she would do a fine job for him. He invited her to his quarters for dinner on Friday evening with he and his wife. Melissa explained that she was now married and that she would have to check with her husband and see if they had anything planned for that night. He said he was delighted to hear she had gotten married and invited her to bring her husband too.

When they were through discussing her duties she went to her new office and met her own little staff. When she got a chance she called home and talked to Mica. He said he would meet her outside the Headquarters Building at noon and take her out for lunch. She quickly agreed. She was waiting in front of the building looking for his convertible when a shiny new Ford Sedan stopped in front of her. Mica stepped out of the car and took her hand and escorted her to the driver's door, saying, "Get in Sweetie, see how you like it." He ran around and jumped in the passenger door.