A Loving Daughter

Duke and Lexi drove to the south end of Lafayette Regional Airport and cuddled for a while, watching the lights of the arriving and departing flights until the wee hours, before heading to their motel room a couple of miles away. Even there, they lay, half-asleep and half-awake, the rest of the night, murmuring their love for each other as they lay fitfully sleeping, awakening and snuggling and kissing. The morning finally brought the inevitable and they began the painful process of packing and getting ready to go their separate ways.

"I want to stay," he whispered gazing into her wide-open blue eyes.

She turned to him, seeing the sincerity in his brown eyes, and kissed him softly, hoping against hope, but sadly accepting the inevitable.

"But if I don't go, I still won't be with you, they'll haul me off to jail," he pulled her to him, "government contracts carry unique penalties," he touched her sweet lips with his.

"I know," she murmured, "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you so much, baby, so much that it hurts, y'know?" he almost sobbed into her hair, as he teared up.

"I know, Daddy," her deep tormented sobs shaking her young body.

"I'm going to miss you, my sweet baby," he finally managed to choke out.

"I'm not," she whispered, trying to steady her breaking voice even as she shook with quiet sobs, the tears running down her cheeks into her mouth.

"I'll see you every day," she choked out. She hadn't worn any makeup today, she didn't want him seeing her with mascara running down her face.

"I'll fix us supper, every night," she sobbed shivering in the cool air, "because you'll be home right after work," the great big tears rolled down her face, Duke tried to wipe them off as she reached for him, "I'll be the lunatic talking to her Daddy at the kitchen table," the tears blinded her as she broke down, no longer able to hold back the deep wracking sobs that shook her slim body.

"Oh, Daddy," she cried, her hands reaching for his face but not daring to touch it, half-afraid he'd suddenly disappear, "oh, my sweet, wonderful Daddy. I love you so much."

He tried to comfort her, pulling her tightly to him, her hands finally finding his face, but he couldn't break her out of her sadness at his departure.

"I'll be back," he promised.

"Oh, God, I hope so," she sobbed, whisperingly, "maybe I'll have a surprise for you when you come back home to me."

"What kind of a surprise," he mumbled into her hair, sobbing quietly.

"If I tell you, then it won't be a surprise," she smiling a tearfully sad smile, "besides, maybe if I keep you curious enough wondering what the surprise is, you'll come back sooner," she held his face cupped in her two tiny hands.

He kissed her and held her tightly, already partly guessing the surprise.

"You're something else, you know that," he squeezed her tighter to him, pressing his body to hers.

It was a long time before he finally let her go. They followed the cavalcade to the Mormon Church where Janine worshiped, for a remembrance, and it was over. Janine was at the crematorium and all her close family were waiting for the ashes.

Before Duke left, he gave her full spousal access to his bank accounts, as well as a full power of attorney. The bank official who presided over the changes and the power of attorney, gave Lexi a look of mixed suspicion and curiosity until Duke got to the relationship of the responsible party part, and her clouds lifted. She was his daughter, she realized.

Back in the car, he spoke seriously with her.

"This," he held both her hands as he reached in his jacket pocket, "is my promise to you," he pulled out a solid gold ring that he'd picked up in Cambodia many years ago, "that I'll always love you and will always be faithful to you," he squeezed the soft pliable metal to fit it on her finger, "this, is as close as we can ever legally get to becoming husband and wife," he clasped both her hands in his, "since we can't be legally married," he gazed into her wide open blue eyes, "with this, I give you the promise of my love, the loyalty of my body, the fidelity of my heart and all of my soul."

She smiled another sad smile as she heard him speak.

"All I want," she whispered kissing his hands, "is my sweet, my darling, my loving Daddy back home safe."

"One way or another," he promised her, "I will come back to you," he lifted her chin and kissed her gently, "and now you're responsible for all of me," he grinned.

She smiled sadly again, as she spoke.

"I want all of you home," she smiled a little more lightly, "not just the responsibility for your ass," she almost giggled.

"Well, just make sure that there aren't any boyfriends hanging around when I come home, then," he warned teasingly. She snorted humorously and really giggled.

"There aren't any boys that can or will ever measure up to my man," they both laughed.

That last day, they went together and got her a new car. She loved it, a brand-new Lexus, powder blue, but the sadness remained. Duke returned Grady's car and Lexi drove him to the airport in her new Lexus, taking the long way around and stopped under a shady grove. There, shielded by a thick bushes, he took out a blanket from his duffle bag and spread it beside the car. They spent that hour making gentle love for the last time in God knew how long. It was a very poignant hour they spent, Lexi and Duke tearing up a few times.

They got back on the road and Duke drove the last mile, Lexi sniffling into his shoulder. Later she watched the airplane that carried her heart and her soul, fly away and imagined that she saw him waving out of his window and waved back, tears streaming from her lovely liquid blue eyes.

She drove back to Lubbock, no rush this time, staying at Super 8 outside of Dallas for the night. She went back only to tell her mother, Carmen, that she was pregnant, and that she was moving out into her own apartment. She didn't tell her that she was looking for an apartment almost seven-hundred and fifty miles away in Lafayette. As Carmen stood watching her throw the few possessions that she wanted into the brand-new Lexus. Her mother snidely asked if she'd hit the Lottery. Lexi just smiled caressing her stomach and without rancor or anger quietly answered, that yes, she'd hit the biggest, the best lottery of all and left her mother standing there flabbergasted at her quiet and angelic demeanor. Normally, Lexi would have pugnaciously argued with her mother. She would have taken the stance of the young little girl arguing that Momma never let her do anything instead she was the adult woman, just smiling and conceding the point as being nothing worth arguing about. She loved her mother, and hugged her goodbye. Her mother returned the hug, not understanding what had happened but glad that her little girl had grown into a woman in the few days away. Lexi didn't tell her about her nascent child's father. She loved her mother dearly, and she cared a lot for her step-father, but she loved and adored her Daddy more and didn't want to start any screaming and recriminations. A few years from now would be plenty of time, if Daddy came back alive.

Her mother smiled tenderly at her as her tears began to roll out of her hazel eyes. Lexi waved good-by and pointed her car from Lubbock back to Lafayette. A few days later, she found herself a large, roomy apartment there. Katie and Bree helped her settle in, finding furniture and dishes and seeing the size of her apartment, hinted at looking for a place. They soon moved in with her and told her of their own secret affairs with their uncles. It was pretty soon very evident why Mike was Katie's favorite uncle. She whispered that she'd told him about Lexi and Uncle Duke, and with the example he set, she was only waiting for him to retire from the Army — but then that's another completely different story.

Epilogue:

My Daddy did made it home from Iraq, alive. According to Momma's diary, he turned down a fat contract in Afghanistan. They lived in Opelousas, the next town over from Lafayette, a fairly small town with a little bit of night life. The diary says it was a happy time. I know it was for me. It was many years before I learned that my Daddy was also my Granddaddy, but by then, it didn't really matter to me, he was my Daddy, and he was a wonderful old man. He and I went fishing along the Bayou des Cannes and caught a lot of fat crawfish along its banks. Momma always came with us, and she always smiled happily, holding onto Daddy's hands, or constantly touching him as if she couldn't believe that he was really there. She said that she had missed him so badly when he was gone, that she didn't want to be away from him for even one minute any more. She was always kissing some part of him, his cheek, his hand, his arm, his chest, his belly, his — well, we won't go down there. I guess that's where I get my affectionate nature.

He ran a small crawfish business, not because he needed the money, he only had a small set of customers for them and he sold them cheap, less than he spent gathering them for the most part. He usually kept the fattest and biggest for me and Momma. His was mostly a pleasure business, because as cheap as he charged, he sometimes just gave away his product. When he finally passed, he left Momma and me completely broken-hearted and desolate. We cremated him as he wanted, and scattered his ashes in the Teche where he could send us lots of crawfish and crabs, always a symbol of his love.

I have many wonderful memories of him, peeling crawfish or cracking crabs and hand-feeding them to Momma — and me. They always tasted so good and sweet coming from his hands. I miss him so much. Now I've gone and done it, I've gotten myself to crying over him again, just like Momma said she cried when he was in Iraq. Momma's still alive, and she still sets a place for him at the table. He's still very much alive to Momma, so she doesn't miss him. She's the crazy woman still taking to her man, her lover, her Daddy — My Daddy.

End of this story.