I looked at the home in front of me and began feeling giddy. I had been abroad for the army for about six months. I told Jenny I'd be home withing seven, so she wouldn't be expecting me.
I felt my dopey smile fill my face and I adjusted my jacket once more before bounding up the stairs to our home.
I felt the small box in my pocket and I closed my hand around it gently.
With a deep inhale, I knocked on the door once. Twice. Two more times. How many times was too much? I'm not hearing anything, maybe another knock--
The door opened a crack, and I was met with a familiar pair of brown eyes. Her hair was a lot shorter than it was; no longer falling behind her. It framed her face gracefully.
"Danny?" The shock from her face drained, and I realized I was gripping the box now.
"Hey Jenny." My smile widened.
"Danny, I--" She half-laughed and fell into my arms, "I thought you weren't coming home for another month."
I inhaled the soft lilac that coated her and squeezed her against me.
"I wanted to surprise you, babe." I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her arm length away to take her in. "You're so beautiful. Oh my God, you're so beautiful." I hugged her again.
She motioned me inside, "Come in, come in, oh you must be so tired." Jenny wiped at her eyes and tugged me into our humble abode.
Upon entering, I noticed everything was still the same. The living room still had the old white leather couch, light wood coffee table and matching side tables. The pictures above the fireplace were at the same angles and it felt the same. It just felt the same. Like home.
That's when I noticed something different.
"Hey, hon, where's--" There was a excited yap and in a fluid motion a black blur whirled around the corner and into my arms, "Luna!" The black lab nuzzled under my arms and sniffed me for what felt like forever, but that dog, my god, was the sweetest thing. I played with her, letting her get out her whining and loving barks. Finally she spun in my lap (with difficulty because she doesn't realize that she's not a puppy anymore. In fact she's one of the largest dogs I've met, but she acts like a cat. It really is the cutest thing.) and rested her head on the ground.
"Danny, when you left she got so sad. She would stare out the window and just cry," Said Jenny as she leaned down to rub Luna's head. "I'm surprised she didn't come out sooner, but she was sleeping. So I think she assumed the door was just some random person."
I laughed, "What, you have a lot of random people coming over lately?"
She squinted, "Just Lina and Jeff with their boys." Her eyes widened, "They're expecting another! Lina said she hopes it's a girl because all that testosterone is just consuming her femme fatale, also, my mother wanted to know when would be a good time to visit her and dad-- when you came back, but we don't have to decide anything right now as that would be-"
"Overwhelming?" I interrupted while laughing.
She grew bashful and kissed my forehead, "Sorry, babe. I know you just came home. There's just so much to tell you and I missed you so much. You got my letters, right?"
I nodded and reached for Jenny's hand, "I got them, read them, and held onto them every time I went out on duty."
She smiled with tears in her eyes. "Good." Something caught her eye and her smile faltered, "Hon, why did you come back early?"
Luna turned on my lap onto her back, exposing her tummy. I rubbed it as I explained, "I got shot on duty. Went clean through my calf. Hurt like a bitch- excuse me, it hurt a lot." I corrected after her look of horror.
"I don't care about you swearing, Daniel, I care about whether or not you're okay. What-- how? Are you okay?"
I nodded, "I'm fine. I was shocked when it happened and didn't realize it had happened because of the adrenaline state I was in. A buddy stopped me and called in help. I had to calm him down in order to tell me what was up." I laughed again, but grew solemn, "He ah, he died while covering my ground when I was in emergency care. Grenade." My throat grew thick.
"Danny... oh my god, I'm so sorry." She pulled me against her, "I am so sorry." I put my hand on her cheek and looked at her eyes.
"It's okay. I'm okay. They discharged me and I am going to be looking for a therapist so I don't develop PTSD, or if I do have it then I can work through it." I kissed her. "I missed you so fucking much." She laughed.
"Language, Danny." We both sat there, hugging, kissing, talking, laughing, and every once in a while I ended up crying. Or she would. I told her stories about my travels and she told me about what had happened here.
And we didn't notice how late it was until we saw the sun peeking through the window.
We were exhausted physically, but mentally we were wired.
So we went for a walk by the park. See, it had this huge hill that let you watch both the sunrises and sunsets.
And when the sun was high enough to bring tears to her eyes I went on one knee and pull out the tiny box.
And when I opened it she cried.
And nodded really aggressively.
Like, I thought her head would topple off.
And I put the small little ring on her fourth finger.
And we fell asleep watching the sunrise.
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