take a shower?” J.P. asked.
“No. Of course not.”
“Yeah, I’d like to take a quick shower, too,” said Axel.
“Sure.”
“Me too,” said Elijah.
“Me too.” “Me too.” “Me too.”
“OK,” I said. “Maybe we won’t be heading out in half an hour.”
“We’ll be quick,” said Taylor.
They tried to coax a clue out of me on the drive over.
“Let’s just say that sometimes big surprises come in small packages.”
“So, it’s a package,” said Axel.
My poor mother was a bit overwhelmed when I showed up at her doorstep with nine Marines. I had told her that I was throwing a party for them, but she must not have been expecting them all to show up at her house.
“Oh, my,” she said. “There’s so many of you. Please, come in. Come in. I’ll put the kettle on.”
“Don’t trouble yourself, Mom. We can’t stay long, actually.”
We crowded into the living room, and my mother brought out Mary Anne, sleeping in her carriage.
My Marines didn’t dare crowd her, but they all leaned over, trying to get a peek. Finally, in a whisper, Taylor said, “Is she..” But he didn’t finish his thought. Instead, he went back to staring at the baby.
“Is that?” Travis started, but he too couldn’t put a whole sentence together.
“I’m going to put the kettle on,” said my mother, “maybe you gentlemen can stay for a cup of tea.”
Once my mother had left the room, all heads turned to me; all mouths hung open.
I beamed with excitement, looking from one astonished face to the other. “So?” I said, “what do you think?”
In unison they turned to Mary Anne and blabbered sounds they’d probably hoped would come out as words.
“I.. she.. you…” Tristan stammered.
“She’s got Axel’s nose,” said Elijah.
“And his forehead,” said Manny.
“But she’s got your eyes,” Taylor said to me with a smile. He reached for me and gave me a big hug. “Congratulations. She’s beautiful. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you.”
“For us,” said Travis. “I’m happy for us.”
“Yeah,” said Santiago, “Congratulations Gwen. And congratulations Axel.”
Axel mouthed ‘thank you’ but no sound came out.
Tristan put his arm around me. “Mary Anne is a pretty name.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It kind of sounds like Marine.”
“So you named her after us,” said J.P.
“In a way.”
“Because, in a way,” Tristan started as if he were asking a question, “in a way, she’s ours.”
“In a way.” I stole a glance at Axel.
“We share,” said Axel. “Right? We’re a team.”
“We’re a team,” the squad chimed back.
My mother returned with a tray of cups and saucers. “I don’t have any cakes,” she said. “It’s not really a proper tea service. But you’ll have a cup of tea, won’t you?”
Back at my apartment, my Marines took turns holding Mary Anne. Manny held her with a look of terror in his eyes as if he thought she would squirm free from his hold and fall to the ground. Nolan took her from him and cradled her closely, bouncing her up and down gently. When it was J.P.’s turn, I stood off to the side with Axel, watching J.P. watch Mary Anne.
“Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?” said Axel.
“How do you mean?”
Axel straightened. He put his hands on his hips and looked on proudly as J.P. turned back and forth with Mary Anne in his arms. “I was uncomfortable with the whole ‘property’ thing, you know.” He looked at me. “I thought that’s what you wanted, so I kept it up. And it was fun.” He looked back at J.P. and Mary Anne. “And now…”
I gave him a minute, but he still didn’t finish his thought. “We can still play games,” I said. “Mary Anne doesn’t mean the fun has to stop.”
He looked at me. “Is it fun for you to be considered as property?”
I shrugged. “I know it’s not real. It’s just a figure of speech.” I smiled. “And I am having fun.”
He took my hand in his. “And would you still be having fun if I thought of you as something else, something other than our property?”
I rocked my head back and forth as if I were considering the option. “I think I could adapt.”
“Maybe Tristan will still consider you our property.”
I looked at him more seriously this time. “And would you be OK with that?
He rocked his head back and forth as if he were considering the option then he smiled and looked at me. “I think I can adapt.”
THE END
Author’s Note
Dear reader, thank you so much for taking the chance to read Nine Marines’ Shared Property - Book 8 in my best-selling