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[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 10

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 10

1950

Rio saw the newspaper when she had picked it up by the door, but had set it down in Strand’s usual spot at the kitchen table before making breakfast. She knew if he caught her looking at the newspaper she would be in even more trouble then she already was.

They had been dancing carefully around each other since the rumors had started. Since the news had spread.

“Morning, honey,” Strand said, entering the kitchen.

“Morning.”

She poured him and herself a cup of coffee and set them both on the table before going back to get the eggs and bacon. Strand sat down and stared at the newspaper. Rio looked away.

“So I guess that’s it then,” he said, looking at her, “We’re in another damned war.”

“It appears so.”

“They’re going to want you in Los Angeles more often, aren’t they?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You’ll probably be traveling down there more often. Now that the army is going to be busy. Maybe we could look into renting an apartment for you. Having hotel rooms for that long could get expensive.”

Rio shifted in her seat, “They won’t want me…in Los Angeles. They’d want me somewhere else.”

“D.C.?”

The clock counted the seconds as they both prepared themselves for the fight that was surely coming.

“You know exactly where they’ll want me, Strand.”

“But you’re not going to go.”

Rio blustered, “If I get orders then I have to go, Strand.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Not necessarily? If I don’t go then I’d be breaking the law. I could go to jail. Not to mention the repercussions it would have on my job. I’d be a deserter. I’d be a disgrace to the uniform.”

“Like me?”

Rio took a deep breath, “You were scared. No one can hold that against you.”

“And they could hold this against you? How could they do that? Hold you to a higher standard than me?” Strand tilted his head, “Do you think you’re better than me, Rio?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you think you’re better than me? I know other people do—“

“Can we just stay focused?”

“A college graduate versus a high school graduate. A deserter versus a goddamned war hero. You would even outrank me by now, wouldn’t you, Rio?”

Rio took a deep breath, “Yes, Strand. I do have a higher rank than you.”

“So, my question is simple, Rio: Everyone else thinks you’re better than me, but do you?”

“Do you think I should be worse than you?” Rio looked at him, “Should I be an equal partner in this relationship or should I completely submit to you?”

“Come on, Rio! Come on! Tell me!”

“You tell me! You tell me!” her fist came down onto the table, “Do you regret marrying me? You thought I would put on an apron and be happy for you! You thought I wouldn’t miss having something bigger in my life instead of you! Tell me! Tell me why you thought you would be able to fill that gap? Tell me how you thought you could take away an army and fill it with one man!”

“I could have! I could have been everything you needed! But then you went and joined the goddamned army! You went and fucked that stupid limey. And now you’re ruined.”

“I am not!”

One moment Strand was sitting and the next he had swung around the table and had dragged her up by her wrists. He shook her roughly, “Look at yourself, Rio! You’re nothing like you used to be! You were sweet and kind and now all you want to do is go off to another war and kill more people!”

He let go of her, pushing her harshly into the kitchen counter and Rio fell to the floor, “You’re right! I do regret marrying you!”

The only sound was the clock and Rio’s painful sobs.

Strand shifted, noticing the building stain on the carpet, “Rio?”

All she could do was whisper, “Help me.”

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           Rio laid on the hospital bed, drugged into a dopey sleep, as her husband paced the floor.

           The doctor entered the room, shutting the door tightly behind him.

           “Is she okay?” Strand asked, “She was in so much pain. I’ve never seen her like that.”

           The old man nodded, “She’ll be fine. Unfortunately, when she fell into the counter, she did have a miscarriage.”

           Strand’s face went white and he ran his hands through his hair, “A miscarriage. Like, like a baby. She lost a baby?”

           “Yes,” the doctor confirmed, “I assume you two did not know about her…situation?”

           “No, no we didn’t.”

           The doctor nodded, “Well the baby was just about at the time when she might have started recognizing signs. Or at least having symptoms. It’s likely you all would not have known for the next week or so.

           “The remains…the remains should make their way through on their own. She should not need a procedure. She will be in a little bit of pain for a while though.”

           Strand nodded, “Okay. Thank you.”

           The doctor shifted, “If you don’t mind me asking, how did your wife fall into the counter?”

           “She uh-she got dizzy and….”

           “I see. And the bruises around her wrists?”

           Strand shifted, “She has nightmares. From the war. Sometimes when I have to wake her up, she gets violent. I have to make sure that she doesn’t hit me thinking I’m someone else.”

           The doctor grimaced, “I’m sorry to hear that. And I’m sorry about the baby. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 9

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 9

Rio and Jack had fallen into a routine. Jack got up before Rio, kissing her awake with a cup of coffee, then they got ready together. They talked about their days and what they were having for dinner. Jack would try to persuade Rio to get a dog and they would leave the house. Jack would go show people houses and Rio would head to her office. Then, after work they came home, Jack getting there before Rio. They would make dinner, clean up together, and then usually participate in some late-night activities. Sometimes, they would go out to the bars with their neighbors, but usually it was spent under the covers whispering about their days. Jack would talk about the strange people he showed houses to and complications with prices. Rio would talk of colonels and greenies alike making trouble.

They liked their routine. Liked the simplicity and natural feel to it. And it did feel natural. It felt like they had done it their whole lives, even if it had only been a few months since Jack had stepped back onto the US.

But, one day Jack wasn’t home when Rio got there. She looked for a note from him explaining his absence, thinking about how they needed milk last night. What she found was his handwriting written on a scrap piece of paper on the counter, reading: “Needed to take care of something of national importance. I will be back later. PS: turn over”.

Rio flipped the paper over, to see another note: “Fooled ya.”

She shook her head, laughing a little, before opening the cabinets to see about dinner.

Jack was probably dealing with the Roberts’ house, which had magically sprung a leak the day before closing.

However, when Jack came home, Rio realized that he had most definitely not been dealing with the Roberts.

The door opened, but Jack’s voice didn’t ring out like it usually did.

“Jack?” she asked, heading towards the hall.

The only response was the sound of paws clacking unevenly on the hard-wood floor.

A dog, with his nose down to the ground sniffed around the hallway before going towards her. It was an older looking German Shepherd, probably around seven years old, jogged towards her. On second inspection, Rio realized that the dog was missing one of his back legs.

Rio’s hand automatically went to pet his head, even if her eyes were raising towards the man smiling at her.

“John Stafford. What did you do?”

He continued to smile, “I figured we didn’t have enough one-legged veterans in the house. This is Mickey. He was a K9 unit dog before…you know. One of my clients worked with these types of dogs. He said Mickey needed a good home or they were going to put him down.”

Their eyes stayed locked on each other. Mickey sat down and used one of his front paws to get Rio’s attention.

She continued to scratch at the dog’s ears, “You should have asked me.”

“I know,” Jack shifted, his hands nervously playing with his cane, “But I wanted to ask you something else. Check his tags.”

Rio raised her eyes to his for a minute, before looking at the collar around his neck. Hanging from them was the regular bone-shaped tags, showing his name and a phone number, but also hanging from it was a ring. A diamond ring that sparkled in the light from the windows.

“Jack?”

She looked up at him as he neared her, “I can’t get on one knee, so I can’t do this the right way, but I wanted to know…. Well, you see Rio, I wanted to know if you might want to marry me.”

The words were rushed, and clearly driven by nerves, and Jack smiled disappointedly, “I had a whole speech prepared and that’s what comes out. Stupendous.”

Rio laughed through the happy tears, hoping none of them spilled out of her eyes, “You crazy gimp.”

She stood, the dog following her as she strode to wrap Jack in her arms, “I’d marry you even what you said didn’t make sense.”

Jack smiled, his lips nearing hers, before backing up like he had just remembered something, “Is that a yes?”

Rio laughed, “Yes! That’s a yes!”

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“Jack Stafford, I see you feeding that dog under the table.”

Jack’s hand flew up, hitting the edge of the table. He looked at her guiltily, “No, I’m not.”

Rio laughed loudly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth to keep the unladylike sounds from coming out.

Jack’s smile lit up with genuine pleasure, “You told me when I first came to the house that you hadn’t really laughed in a long time. I promised you that I would make up for that lost time. Do you think I’ve done that?”

Rio looked down at the ring that had sat on her finger for only two hours now before getting up. She pushed Jack’s chair away from the table before crawling into his lap, her legs on either side of his and their chests pressed up against each other. She took her finance’s face in her hands, “Undoubtedly.”

Their lips met in a way that could have started a wildfire, and in fact did. Rio’s lips moved to Jack’s throat and they both groaned as Jack’s hips jumped up to meet her own. Rio grabbed onto Jack’s shirt, pulling him towards her before grinding her hips down to hers.

She was panting by the time she pulled away from the kiss, her hips still moving against his, “You’re going to regret this dog, Jack Stafford.”

“O-oh?” was all he managed to get out.

Rio nodded, a light blush appearing on her cheeks, “Because I’m not going to let you undress me while he’s staring at us.”

Jack’s head snapped towards the dog, who’s tail thumped on the floor, watching his new owners with delight. Jack groaned as his hands went to Rio’s ass, making her stop, “I suppose that’s a good thing, because I have a confession to make.”

Rio’s head cocked to the side, but she said nothing.

Jack smiled a little, “I have to admit that I did plan the reveal around one particular event.”

“What’s that?”

Jack’s forehead rested against hers, “It’s Wednesday.”

And, as if on cue, the phone rang.

Rio’s eyes lit up, “You diabolical man.”

Jack patted Rio’s leg, “Go. Go tell Zhen.”

Rio gave him one last kiss before going to pick up what was most certainly going to be a long call.

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 8

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 8

1950

           Rio jumped onto the desk in Captain Lester’s classroom as the freshmen filed out. Some of them looked at the women with awe written across their faces and Rio had to wonder whether it was because of who Rio was or because she was a senior getting ready to leave. With freshmen she never knew.

Captain Lester closed the door after the last freshman scampered from the room, “You’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Yep.”

“You going to miss us?”

“No,” but Rio’s voice was already breaking.

Captain Lester held his arms out and his TA ran into them. The both of them stayed silent for a minute, listening to the familiar ticking of the clock and the whirling of the fan.

“Thank you,” Rio said, “For everything.”

Lester laughed, “I should be saying that to you. I’ve relied on you for three and a half years now. I’m going to have to find more cheap labor once you’re gone.”

“I already have a list of people for you to look at.”

“Still trying to take care of me?”

“A little.”

Lester let go of her, and started for the desk, “Well, you’ll still be some help for me, either way.”

“Why is that?” The captain smiled and pulled a large book out of the drawer. “This has been added to the reading curriculum. I am required to teach the book to every freshman.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Sergeant Richlin, you are part of the West Point curriculum.”

“You have to teach all of the book?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Could you…uh…no one really needs to study…you know.”

“We can gloss over Tunis.”

“Thank God.”

“Speaking of relationships: is your husband coming?”

Rio nodded, but her eyes didn’t leave the ground, “Not every day your wife graduates college. Let alone West Point.”

“Everything okay?”

Rio shrugged, “He’s a little…upset. I did go to college when he didn’t. Let alone one that everyone knows by name. But he’s putting on a brave face. He’s wondering what’s next for me. Or for us. I can’t really be in the army in Gedwell Falls. At least not to the extent that I’ve been trained for. So, we may move. Or we may stay. I might work or I might not.”

“He doesn’t want you to work?”

Rio laughed, “In his mind, West Point was just an excuse to put off having a baby. So, to him, we’ve waited four years and that’s long enough. He wants a kid and he thinks that me working will distract from that. Or make it harder to actually get pregnant.”

“That scares you.”

“To Hell and back.”

“You all will figure it out.”

Rio swiped her foot across the floor, “I hope so.”

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“Look at you!” Zhen wrapped her arms around her friend. “You look hot!”

“I’m wearing my dress uniform, Zhen. I’m not supposed to look hot.”

“Take the compliment.”

Rio laughed.

Zhen let go of Rio and Richlin walked to her husband, “You made it.”

Strand shrugged, kissing her on the cheek, “Of course, I did. You’re my wife. And, I also can’t wait to bring you home.”

Rio tried to laugh, and also tried not to look behind her at the imposing buildings that felt more like home than the comfy house waiting in California.

“Hey, Richlin!” someone called and Rio waved.

Strand stared at her for a moment, “I didn’t realize you went by your maiden name here.”

Before she could respond, Zhen grabbed Rio and turned her around, “So, I did something.”

“That’s scary.”

Zhen shrugged, “I just made some calls. And promised you’d buy a few drinks.”

“What?”

“Richlin!!” Richlin was raised up onto a shoulder.

“Geer?!” Rio shrieked, holding onto his head as he paraded around, holding her on his shoulder.

A small crowd of familiar faces from Geer and BeeBee to Milkmaid were there. And Sergeant Cole.

When Geer puts her down, all she can do is stare at him.

“You look good, Richlin. Those stripes fit you.”

Richlin beamed more than when she had received her diploma, “Thanks, Sarge. That means a lot.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Geer called. “We have to go celebrate!”

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Strand sat in a booth full of Army people in a crowded bar on the edge of town. Everyone had seemed to have the same thought and had eventually ended up at the bar. Rio occasionally had to break from the conversation to hug a graduate good-bye or to promise to stay in touch. Captain Lester eventually joined the group, saying he had gotten a call when he got home to meet them here (Zhen was busy talking to Geer when Rio had looked in her direction). Now, he stood amongst her old platoon looking very comfortable laughing and telling stories.

Lester laughed at a story Geer said, “You don’t have to tell me that! I remember one time that she came into my class and immediately said ‘Look, I’m hungover, so I’m not doing anything and I’m curling up beneath your desk’.”

“What did you say to that?” Zhen asked.

“I asked her how she got through PT that day and she just turned green.”

Everyone roared with laughter.

Eventually, Rio was able to escape to the bar and was joined by no one other than Molina.

“What are you doing now, Molina?” Richlin asked, leaning against the bar.

Molina shrugged, “I have a husband. A one year old. I work as a teacher in the local elementary school.”

“That’s good. How do you like being a mom?”

Molina smiled, “I love it. He’s just perfect. He gets so excited about anything new…I just want to show him the world.”

“If you don’t mind me asking: how do you manage to have a job and a kid?”

Molina grimaced, “It’s hard. Really hard. Both jobs are so demanding. I wish I had help, but I can’t afford it. Occasionally, I can get my husband to put him to sleep if I’m grading papers, but…mostly it’s just me. The schedule helps though.”

Rio looked down as her drink that she had just ordered as Molina studied her, “I don’t know how anyone would handle a job with a more demanding schedule. They would need their spouse to help support the child a lot.”

Rio nodded.

“Strand seems nice.”

Again, Molina’s old, confident sergeant nodded.

“He has also brought up kids four times since we’ve been here.”

Rio finally looked up at her, “Yes, he has.”

Molina continued to study her, “What do you want to do, Sarge?”

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter what I think.”

Molina’s face twisted, “That’s not what my sergeant would have said.”

“Your sergeant wasn’t married. I have another person that I have to take care of.”

“Sure. Just as long as you’re still taking care of yourself. If you’re not happy with having a child, then don’t have one. And there’s nothing worse than having a mom that didn’t want you. If you can’t love that child completely, then do it a favor and don’t get pregnant.”

Richlin looked up at someone who used to be her inferior, and Molina stared back with absolute certainty, “I may not know you very well, Richlin, but I do know your sense of duty is strong. So, you have to pick which duty you’re going to fulfill: the duty to your husband or the duty to yourself and your unborn child.”

Richlin turned back to the bar, “I don’t think I could fulfill that duty to him even if I tried. When I went to West Point for my senior year I found out that I was pregnant. I was so close to graduating and I didn’t know if I wanted it and I knew Strand would try to force me to come home and…I panicked. I had an anxiety attack and woke up in the hospital and….”

Molina looked down, “I see. It happens to a lot of women. That extra stress can sometimes cause…problems with the pregnancy.”

Rio didn’t look at Molina as she whispered in the crowded bar, “I never told Strand.”

Molina studied the sergeant for a while, but Richlin suddenly perked herself up, “Come on, Milkmaid. Enough heavy talk. Let’s go back to the others.”

Then, Rio slipped across the bar and sat down in the booth, sliding into her husband’s embrace.

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 7

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 7

“You mean to tell me that you’ve been living with a man that you aren’t married to for two months and have not told me or your father?”

Rio recognized that tone of voice, even with her and her mother only connected through a phone over the whole country. She was in big trouble, and no amount of cajoling or avoiding would get her out of it.

“Yes, Mom. That’s…exactly what has happened.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“No, ma’am.”

“So, what have you lost?” Rio tried not to smile at the opening, but her mother continued, “Your dignity? Your common sense?” The ability to not enjoy being in bed with a man.

“It didn’t really start like that, Mom. He just needed a place to stay, so I let him stay with me. I think it was your voice that reminded me that putting a friend up in a hotel is rude.”

“He’s a single man and you’re a divorced woman!”

Rio heard the front door open and Jack’s voice rang out, “I’m home!”

“In the kitchen!” she yelled back, covering the mouth-piece so that her mother wouldn’t hear as she continued on her motherly tirade. As he came closer she whispered to him, “My mother found out that a man moved into my house.”

Jack gasped, “A man? Here? You better kick him out. There will be a scandal.”

Rio laughed as he gathered her into his arms, “She’s particularly mad that she hasn’t met him yet.”

“Well, then tell her we’ll come.”

“What? To California?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun. We can meet your parents and go see Zhenou.” “Jack….”

But he had already grabbed the phone from her hands, “Hello, is this Mrs. Richlin? This is Jack Stafford…. Yes ma’am. I realize that I should have asked your permission. There’s no excuse for that. I’d like to make it right. Are you and Mr. Richlin free the weekend after next? Great! You see, I just got a job in town as a real estate agent.”

Rio’s head snapped up and a smile spread across her face.

“Why, thank you, Mrs. Richlin, I appreciate that. Yes, well the job also means I just came into some sizable funds. I’ll buy some airplane tickets and Rio and I will come stay with you all…. Yes ma’am, I understand. You could give me a pillow and blanket on the porch and that would be fine by me.” Jack laughed at something Rio’s mother said, “Alright, ma’am. We will see you soon. What’s that? Yes ma’am, I’ll tell her to wear a dress.”

Rio rolled her eyes as Jack hung up.

“You got the job,” she said as soon as he hung the phone back up on the wall.

“Yes, I did.”

Rio kissed him, “That’s fantastic, Jack!”

“Thank you, love.”

“We should go out and celebrate!”

“I’d rather go upstairs and celebrate there.” Jack was already significantly closer and Rio’s insides instantly twisted in the best way she knew.

She grabbed his hand, and pulled him forward, “I suppose we could also make up for the time we’ll lose while in California.”

Jack followed her, “I reckon we should.”

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“And I told Mrs. Winkler, you know I told her! But she wouldn’t listen, the poor women! And she just kept on talking with Mrs. Stickle!” Mrs. Richlin said, walking arm in arm with Jack listening attentively to her.

“No! After you told her not to?!”

“Yes! Yes, can you believe it?”

“No!”

Mrs. Richlin nodded, “I’m afraid we won’t see her at church for a while now.”

Rio’s father shook his head, “We best remember to not let those two out of our sights.”

Rio nodded, “Yes. Who knew cranberry pie could be so damning.”

Mr. Richlin leaned close to his daughter, whispering, “It was really good.”

“Better than Mom’s?”

He just held a finger to his mouth and laughed.

“Now, Jack, honey.” Mrs. Richlin carried on in a louder voice that she knew would carry to her daughter, “We must have a serious conversation about something. I told you to tell Rio to wear a dress.”

“Well, ma’am. I told her, but in the end I wasn’t going to force her into it. That would be improper.”

“Well. I’m just glad one of you has their finger on what is proper or not.” Mrs. Richlin looked at her daughter over her shoulder as they continued to walk to the car from the terminal.

“Yes, well, her skirt is very pretty, don’t you think, Mrs. Richlin?” Jack tried to defend her.

“Hmm. Seems a little too tight for my taste.”

Rio smirked as Jack turned to look at her. The tight-fitting skirt showed off her figure and she was certain that was why Jack liked it.

Rio’s dad shook his head, before raising his voice so his wife could hear him, “Well, honey. At least we know that, no matter how far Rio goes to find them, you will always be her toughest adversary.”

Mrs. Richlin turned her nose up at him.

“Well. If you think I’m bad, just wait till we get home. The people waiting for us there are much worse.”

Rio stopped in the middle of the pick-up line of the garage, before her father pulled her along, “What people?” “The whole neighborhood is coming to see you! You’ve only been gone for five years! They want to make sure you’re still alive! And with your…profession no one can really blame them. And they wanted to meet your future second husband!”

Jack looked down at his girlfriend’s mother, “Oh, Mrs. Richlin. We’re not engaged.”

She patted his arm, “Yes, you will need to fix that.”

“Mother!” Rio gasped, but Jack just smiled.

“Indeed, I should ma’am. Let me open the car door for you!”

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The boy landed at Rio’s feet when she got out of the car, football tightly in hand. He couldn’t have been more than six years old with his gap-toothed smile and crazy hair. Rio had to admit that he looked just like his father.

“Well, look at you. You must be Strand.”

The boy got to his feet, “I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

“No. You don’t. I’m— “

“Strand!” the woman called from the Richlins’ front door, “Come and—oh.” She made her way to the boy and older woman, placing her hands on her son’s shoulders, “Junior, did you say hello to the Colonel?”

“You’re a Colonel?” the boy latched onto the word.

“I am.” Rio smiled.

“Wow. Have you ever fired a gun? Have you ever killed anyone?”

Rio shifted uncomfortably. These questions were exactly why she had not wanted a child. The child didn’t seem to mind her not answering though. He continued on, “My dad says I’m not allowed to have a gun. He said no normal person should ever touch one.”

“I suppose that’s why I have my job then, don’t I?”

The newer Mrs. Braxton, with all her pretty curls and frills and pearls, tightened her hold on her son, “Come on, Junior, let’s go get you some food.”

“But I want to talk to the Colonel!”

“The Colonel has other people to talk to.” She pulled him quickly towards the door, “Leave that filthy ball outside.”

Rio watched the two of them climb the steps, not taking her eyes off them even when Jack’s hand came to lay on her hip.

“So, that’s Strand’s kid.” It was a statement that left Jack’s lips, but Rio still nodded, “He seems nice. Completely mixed priorities though. Who would want to talk to you when there’s food?”

Rio laughed, hitting his shoulder, “Come on. I’ll introduce you to people.”

But Rio soon lost track of Jack in the crowd of people who wanted to talk to her. She had just managed to duck away from her old neighbor when she saw him and the man standing by the stairs to the backyard from the porch. Rio didn’t have any time before her ex-husband asked if the red-headed man was Jack, reared back, and punched Jack. Jack went flying down the stairs, landing harshly on his back.

Before Strand could walk down the stairs and continue the fight, Rio was twisting him, pushing him away from the man trying to get up. She brought her fist down on his cheek before bringing her shoulder to his stomach, knocking him into a table that broke under his weight.

“Rio!” Jack called. Rio turned sharply at the sound of his voice to see him sitting up. The silence in the air was palpable

She took one more look at the stunned Strand before stiffly walking to her boyfriend, picking up his cane from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you okay?”

Jack smiled, a bruise already forming on his cheek, “I’m fine, love. I’ve had worse.”

Rio looked down at the cane in her hands, “I suppose so.”

“Strand?” Mrs. Braxton asked, trying to pick her husband up from the ground.

“Lucy,” Rio turned towards the woman, “I think it’s time for you all to go home.”

She nodded, “Yes, I think so too. I’m sorry, he just…he just wanted to come.”

Jack now stood beside her, watching as Rio shook her hands out with unleashed energy, “Mrs. Richlin,” he called, picking Rio’s mother out in a crowd, “Rio and I are going for a walk. We’ll be back soon.”

Mrs. Richlin looked at the mess the fight had produced before studying her daughter, “I think that would be best.”

Jack took Rio back towards the barn and away from the people, “Are you alright?”

“I should be the one asking you that, Jack.” Rio stepped over a stump in the high grass.

“But still?”

Rio shook her head, “I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, Rio.” They both stopped, staring at their intertwined hands, “I don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell me the truth.”

She looked up at him, “I was so scared. And angry. I don’t know why he…. He just attacked you. He pushed you down those stairs and your cane was out of reach and something just snapped.”

Jack gathered her to him as she started to shake. “I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to punch the brains out of his skull. You were…you were….” Rio’s eyes took on a far-off look.

“In the same position, I was with the sniper.” The same sniper that had almost costed him a leg and his life.

“I’ll kill him. I will.” Jack shook his head, dragging her by her arms into a barn.

“Stop. Stop. Rio, you’re not in an open war zone.” She continued to shake, “You’re safe. I’m safe. Love, look at me.” He took her face in her hands, “It’s just a bruise. I’m alright.” The shaking started to subside. “I’m alright. I’m here, with you. We’re in California. We don’t have guns. There’s no one chasing us. You’re safe. I’m safe. Okay?”

Rio nodded, her face still gently held in his hands.

“We’re fine.” Jack smiled, lessening the tension in the air like he always did, “Your ex is just an ass.”

Rio smiled a little before her lips met his, “You are the best man in the world.”

Jack smiled back, “And do you have any proof of that, Colonel Richlin?”

Rio’s smiled melted into a warm, knowing smirk. She walked Jack backward with a hand on his chest until his back was up against a column of the old barn. She whispered into his ear, her hands running down his body, “I suppose I’ll have to prove it to you.”

Jack’s eyes lit up, even as he looked around, “We’re in a barn, Rio.”

“We are.”

“Your parents barn.”

Rio hummed in agreement.

“Someone could walk in at any moment.”

“And they would be hit with the fact that I am completely and utterly yours.” She yanked on his pants, “Don’t worry, baby. You don’t have to worry about my modesty.” She got down on her knees in front of him, “Just yours.”

M SCENE

“Rio, Rio, Rio!” Jack’s voice got higher as Rio took more of him into her mouth.

She stroked him in her hand as she smiled up at him, “Shh, babe! Or else the whole neighborhood is going to know what is happening.”

Jack groaned, resting his head on the column, “You’ve gone through a lot to make sure I’m alive just to slowly kill me.”

Rio laughed around him.

“I’m serious, you wicked woman.” His hand went to her hair, “Look at you. Oh, love. You are, you are one wicked woman. Doing this to me with everyone just a way away. It’s like you want to get caught. Your ex probably hasn’t even left yet. Oh, Jesus. Do that again. Yes. Rio. Rio.”

He continued to talk to her the whole time, telling her everything that could come to mind. He told her how much he loved what she did, how much he loved her. And then he finished, Rio taking all that she could.

M SCENE DONE

“Jesus.” Jack rested his head against the column.

Rio got up, wiping her mouth, “Nope, just me.”

Jack laughed, “You’re definitely something heavenly.”

Rio smirked, cleaning the hay off her knees, “I would have thought that you would say something from the other region.”

Jack took her face in his hands again, “Do you feel better now? Are you okay to go back?”

Her hands covered his as much as they could, “Yeah. I’m good. I’ve blown off some steam.”

Jack smiled, “Wicked woman.”

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“The love birds are here!” Zhenou looked amazing. Her dress was so in fashion that it looked like she had just walked off the runway to welcome them to her home. Her hair was curled and the hand that held her martini glass was pampered and manicured. Zhen was living life to the fullest. Especially when Rio considered the quite handsome man and the huge, modern house behind her.

Rio smiled, “Hello, love.”

Zhen hugged her tightly, Rio feeling the breast that had been removed. Just another reminder of how she could not protect the people she loved.

“Love? What are you? British, now?” Zhenou let her go, “At least half British because here’s her better half!”

Jack enveloped her in his arms, lifting her friend off the ground. Zhen laughed, “Careful! Don’t crush the baby!”

“Baby?” Rio’s eyes went wide.

Zhen cradled her drink, “This baby.”

Rio laughed, “Well, if that’s a baby, I want one too.”

Zhen jumped, “Yes! You do!

“Now, I’m sorry, Jack. But I haven’t seen my friend in ages.”

“Say no more. I hear you have a swimming pool.”

“Thomas will take you there.” Zhenou was already dragging Rio away and into the kitchen. She started putting together a drink as Rio sat at the breakfast bar. Zhen looked at her, eyes gleaming, even as she poured too much liquor into the glass, “How’s work?”

Rio rolled her eyes, “You don’t want to know about my work life.”

“No. No, I don’t.” Zhen put the drink down in front of Rio with a resolute sound, “Spill.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 6

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 6

“Hi. I’m your roommate. Who are you?” the woman that slammed the door open had quickly flung a bag onto the bed and turned on Rio. Rio’s mother made a sound of disapproval, but did not comment on the women’s bad manners.

Rio, on the other hand smiled, “Staff Sergeant Rio Richlin. You are?”

“Corporal Dianne Dyland.”

Rio smiled at the familiar name, “Well, if you turn out to be like another Dianne I know, you’re going to be one hell of a woman.”

“What an odd thing to say,” Dyland mused.

Zhen’s head tilted, “You really don’t know who you’re talking to, do you?”

“Zhen!”

“Where are you from? Obviously, I need to market there better.”

Dianne’s face wrinkled in confusion, “Market? Are you selling her?”

Rio answered ‘yes’ the same time Zhen said ‘no’. They both paused and looked at each other. Then Zhen looked back at Dianne, “I wrote a book about her and a couple other people during the war.”

Dianne nodded, “Okay…I guess. I haven’t heard of it.”

“Which means we’ll probably get along just fine,” Rio assured her.

Zhen smiled a little, “When she walked into the dorm people stared at her. She doesn’t much like attention.”

Someone knocked on the open door. A bright eyed, yellow haired sergeant interrupted the conversation before it could get any more awkward by saluting, “Hello, ladies. I was sent to invite all the beautiful women to a party to start the year off right.” His eyes flicked to Zhen, “You, lovely, are more than welcome to come. It’s supposed to be students only, but…you’re very much invited.” He winked at her, saluted Rio again, and left.

“Well…I suppose I could stay a little longer,” Zhenou wagged her eyes at Rio.

“Yes, I would say he fits the bill for you.”

“Except the sergeant part. Sergeants are all terrible.”

“Thanks, Zhen.”

“Welcome.”

(*&*)?><<>??><<>??><<>??><<>???><<<>???><<>??><<<>??><<>???><<<>??><<<>??><<<>??

“No, seriously, I don’t like parties.” Dianne threw up her hands even though the two friends couldn’t see her.

“How long were you in the war again?” Zhen asked over her shoulder.

Dianne shrugged, “Six months.”

Both Zhen and Rio made a sound of realization.

“You should have joined during North Africa.” Rio turned around and walked backwards as she pointed at her roommate.

“That was where the party was.” Zhen nodded in agreement.

“Ladies!” the blonde corporal showed up again, throwing his arms open, “I did not realize when I invited you all earlier that I was talking to army royalty!”

Rio snorted under her breath as the man took her hand and kissed it, “It’s an honor to meet you, Sergeant Richlin.”

He looked down at the hand he still clasped between his and saw the ring placed as it always was, “Or Sergeant…”

“Braxton, but Richlin is fine.”

The corporal smiled, “Are you sure it’s not Stafford?”

Rio pulled her hand away from his. “I’m sure if you know me, you know my friend Zhenou.”

“It’s still Castain, by the way.” Zhenou willingly placed her hand in his.

The corporal’s eyebrows went up, “Charmed.”

“And this is my roommate, Corporal Dianne Dyland.”

“Welcome, ladies! Drinks are inside! No bar fights, please.” He laughed as if he had made the funniest joke in the world and left.

“I am seriously confused.” Dianne decided to fit in.

Rio smiled, “Isn’t everyone?”

When they entered the house, it rang full of cheers and clapping.

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Rio jumped onto Captain Lester’s desk and took the apple that was on his desk, “Morning.”

Lester looked up from where he was sorting through his filing cabinets. It being the end of the school year, he was trying to get his classroom in order. His TA did not seem to be interested in helping as she bit into hisapple.

He crossed the room, taking the apple and throwing it in the garbage, “You know,” he said, good-naturedly, “I let you be my TA, despite being a freshman, because you did exceedingly well in my first semester class, and I thoughtyou would help me.”

“Alright, alright. What do you need?”

He handed her a stack of papers, “Grading key is on the top. When is your husband coming to get you?”

“Strand? He’s not coming.”

“Who’s helping you clean out your dorm?”

“No one. It’s just me.”

Lester turned away to the file cabinets so she wouldn’t see his face, “Is someone coming to help Dianne?”

“Sure. She’s got her parents and two of her siblings coming. And her boyfriend.”

Rio didn’t seem to care that she would be one of the only people going home from her first year of college alone. Maybe she thought that since she lived so far, it was fine that her family wasn’t going to be there, that her husband didn’t want to help her move out.

“What’s it going to be like when you get home?”

Rio shrugged, “Probably the same old thing. Cooking, waiting. At least now I can train or run since I’ll have nothing else to do.”

Lester smiled, “You’ll probably be the only student coming back more fit than when you left.”

Rio snorted.

“I’ll do fine.” It wasn’t until Lester turned to look at her that she looked away, “It…it can’t be that bad.”

(*&*)?><<>??><<>??><<>??><<>??><<>??><<>??><<>??><<>??><<<>??><<>??><<>??><<>??>

Strand did not pick her up at the airport. It was Zhen. Rio had told Strand in their weekly call what time she would be coming home, and he had asked what she would make for dinner that night. She had laughed off the discomfort she felt, “Whatever you want, Strand.”

But Zhen had been the one to pick her up at the airport, jumping up and down as she held a sign saying, “Staff Sergeant Smartass.”

Now, Zhen was swinging Rio’s front door open with her foot, letting it bang into the wall behind it, “Honey, we’re home!”

“Zhen!” Rio reprimanded, following her friend into the house. She walked with one of her many bags over her shoulder into the kitchen to see Strand sitting at the kitchen table with two of his friends. All three of them had beers in their hands despite it being just before noon. Rio smiled as best she could, “Hello, gentlemen.”

Strand smiled at her, “Hey, babe.”

Rio walked up to him, bent over (despite the heavy bag on her back), and kissed him.

He patted her cheek, “What’s for lunch?”

Rio looked at him incredulously, “You all haven’t eaten?”

“No, and the boys and I are starved.”

Rio could feel rage dripping off Zhen, “Okay, let me finish emptying the car.”

She got Zhenou out of the room before she could blow up. She managed to close the front door before Zhen had turned back to give Strand a piece of her mind. Fortunately, Rio was able to hold her back.

It was only then that Rio realized how much stronger than Zhen she was. Richlin easily held her friend back, even though Zhen had been through the war as well.

“Telling him off won’t help anything, Zhen. Leave him alone.”

Zhen stopped struggling to point at her friend, “You do realize what he was doing, don’t you?”

“Yes.” “He was trying to reestablish dominance! Showing off in front of his friends! Telling them and youthat you going off to college wasn’t a big deal!”

“I know.”

“That you having more education than him, that you trying to have a job, that youjust generally being a better person than him, is not a big deal.”

Rio grabbed her best friend, “Zhen, I know. I know what he was doing.”

Zhen stopped and studied her friend, the person she had been through thick and thin with, the person she had been through many dangers with, had seen shot and tired and injured and defeated. She recognized the look on her face, “And you’re going to let him.”

Rio looked down at the ground, seeming ashamed at what she was doing, “He’s my husband. I’m his wife. I’m his wife.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 5

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 5

 Jack laughed into Rio’s neck.

“What?” she asked, feigning innocence.

Jack shook his head, “You are diabolical. You didn’t have to scare them off.”

Rio smiled, “They were staring too much. I wanted you all to myself.”

Their foreheads touched, and Jack brushed her hair back, “I can’t blame you for that. Although the whole restaurant has been staring at us this whole time, so….”

Rio rolled her eyes, “We’re probably insulting someone’s sensibilities in this crowd. Bunch of hoity toity people. They’ll get over it.”

Jack laughed, “Hoity toity?” he looked around, “I suppose you’re right.”

Rio smiled, taking a sip of her wine, “You should have just taken me to a bar. We could have made out in the back corner.”

Jack laughed, “As exceptionally appealing as that sounds, I wanted to do this first date thing right.”

“How charming.”

Jack cupped her face in his hands, “Rio. If I finally get to have you I want to do it the right way. With the first dates and the meeting the parents and the anxiety of proposing. I want to make it worth the wait for both of us.”

Rio looked up at him through her lashes, “A life with you is already worth the wait, Jack.” She straightened his jacket, even though it didn’t need to be straightened.

He gave her one last kiss, “Come on. Let’s go somewhere else where we can enjoy more than just each other’s company.”

So, they did end up at a bar. Drinks and cigarettes in one hand and darts in the other. Once they both got the hang of having a dart instead of a bullet it became easy for them to go several rounds without not hitting a bullseye or at least very near it. They ended up having to take several steps back, leaving people to walk through the tables at their own peril.

“My God, you need glasses,” Jack laughed, “You’re fine for a long time and then you take one more step back and you can’t get a bullseye.”

“I do not need glasses!” Rio retorted.

“Really? Is that what you say or what the eye doctor says?”

“He’s stupid.”

“He’s a doctor, Rio!”

“Well, I’m a colonel and I don’t tell people that they need a gun!” she seemed to think that was pretty clever of her and smiled victoriously at Jack.

“No more scotch for you,” was all he said taking the drink out of her hand. Rio sent a rebelliously dart at the board. Jack didn’t even look up, “Miss.”

“That was so a bullseye!”

Jack checked the board and then smiled at her, “I know you can’t see that since you don’t have glasses— “

Rio just laughed.

After a short drive home, they stumbled to the front door, both feeling a heaviness descend upon them both. Although it was enough to sober the both of them up, it wasn’t an unwelcome feeling. It was more like the weight of a heavy blanket on a cold winter’s night. Rio unlocked the door, letting them both in. Then she leaned her back against the door, flicking the lock back in place with a sound that seemed to electrify them both. Jack’s weight was very welcome against her, his hands gripping her waist, his cane digging into her side, as hers went into his hair.

A moan escaped Rio’s mouth as Jack moved across her jaw and down her neck.

“You said no sex,” Rio said, Jack making a regretful sound as he bit lightly at where her shoulder met her neck. Rio cried out, her eyes trying to close, but she managed to keep them open, “But, there’s other stuff we can do before the sex.”

Jack faltered against her. He took a couple steadying breaths before he tried to talk, his voice and octave lower and slightly muffled by her neck, “What did you have in mind?”

Rio grabbed his hand before leading him backwards towards the stairs. The look on her face was carnal and very similar to the look Rio gave to so many Krauts when she had them cornered.

“God, Rio. You’re going to be the death of me.” He hooked his cane on the railing once they got to the top of the stairs. He closed the door softly, as if the sound would shake Rio out of her stupor and she would tell him that she couldn’t do it anymore. But when he turned around he realized that was never going to be the case.

His jaw dropped open as she laughed and turned in a circle for him in nothing but her bra and underwear, her red dress a pool on the ground. Sure, he had seen her dress and undress in the army, but that was when she was eighteen and in ill-fitting, army-regulated underwear that most likely hadn’t been washed in a while. Years in the army made her mostly muscle but age had added a little weight to her ass and thighs and even a little bit to her chest. And the underwear she had on was…most definitely not army uniform.

“Like what you see?” Rio asked, shocked at how confident she felt. Although, when a man looks at you with that much awe how could you feel anything except sexy?

Jack slowly walked to her, grabbing her face in his hands and kissing her passionately on the mouth.

Rio’s eyes did close this time as Jack’s hands drifted down her sides. He moaned, pulling her to him. Rio gasped when she realized just how much she was affecting him.

“Jack. Clothes.”

She pushed his jacket off him, before going for his tie.

“No sex, right?” Jack asked.

Rio smiled up at him, “No. No sex.” She helped him out of his shirt and leaned closer to him before whispering, “Trust me. I’ll take care of you.”

“You’ll take care of me?” he sounded confused.

Rio gave him a wicked grin, “You spent time with Geer. You can figure it out.”

When she reached for his belt buckle, Jack blinked in recognition of what she was saying, “O-oh.”

“Lay down.” Rio ordered after she got his belt off.

He did what he was told, crawling back to put his head on the pillow. Rio ever-so-carefully took off his shoes before pealing his pants off him. As she reached for his boxers, he grabbed her hands, “Rio, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

She silenced him with a kiss, “I want to.” And then she slowly pulled his boxers down.

M SCENE

When she took his shaft in her hands, Jack barked out her name. Smiling just a little bit, she had to remember that no one had ever touched him. This was the first time he was feeling something other than his own hand. Well, she supposed she would just have to show him what he was missing.

She knelt between his legs, careful to avoid putting any weight on his bad one, and took him into her mouth. His head slammed back onto the pillow as she slowly, so devilishly slowly, took him in deeper and deeper, moving her hand up and down the shaft to help. She sucked on his tip before taking him in fully. He was about the size of Strand, maybe a little bigger, but it wasn’t too hard to take him all. If her ex-husband had done anything for her, it was to teach her how to do this.

She wondered if there was a sort of irony to that. Strand had hated Jack with a firm passion, even though he had never met him. Anytime Jack’s name was brought up in a conversation, Strand would change the subject. Yet, here Rio was, pleasuring the very man he hated with the skills he loved the most.

Rio giggled at the thought and the vibration in her throat brought Jack over the edge. Rio smiled knowing there was certainly some irony in that.

M Scene Done

“What did you do to me?” Jack asked, trying to catch his breath.

Rio laughed, crawling up to lay by his side, “Did you like it?”

“You know full well that I liked it,” he kissed her passionately, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to do the same to you.”

She kissed him again, “There is no way.”

Jack looked confused, “What do you mean there is no way?”

“For you to do to me what I just did to you? There is no way.”

“What?”

“There is no way, Jack.” She laughed a little at the absurdness of the idea, “Women don’t have anything for you to suck on.”

“That seems unfair.”

Rio shrugged and watched as Jack yawned, “Go to bed, Jack. It’s been a long day.”

“The best day.”

Rio kissed his cheek and laid her head on his chest.

They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

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 Rio woke up to the phone beside her ringing. Not wanting Jack to wake up, she turned around and had grabbed the phone by the second ring.

“Hello?” she whispered into the phone.

“Hi! This is Zhen, your best friend since forever! Also the person that you’ve called every Wednesday since you moved. Remember me?”

Rio collapsed onto the bed, quietly sighing, “It’s Wednesday.”

“Was Wednesday, honey. Now it’s Thursday. I thought you had died. Or had gone off to war. Again.”

Jack rolled over in his sleep and Rio got even quieter, “I’m sorry, Zhen.”

“And why are you whispering?”

Rio looked at the sleeping form next to her, “Uh, no reason.”

“Rio…Is somebody there?”

“Uh…no?”

“No? NO? NO?! Who is there, Rio Richlin?”

“Give me the phone,” Jack said suddenly.

“No, go back to sleep,” Rio said to him.

“Go back to sleep?! Richlin! Who. Is. There?”

Jack rolled on top of Rio, pinned her arms to the side, and grabbed the phone from her, “Hi, Castain. Long time no see.”

The line was dead for a minute before Zhen burst out, “STAFFORD?!”

“The one and only. Hey, I have a question for you since I have Rio pinned: how do I pleasure a woman?”

Zhen was quiet for a second before laughing on the other end, “You put your penis in her vagina, Stafford.”

“No, another way.”

Zhen’s voice became sly, “Oh, another way?”

“Jack. Get off me. Give me the phone.” Jack kissed her before carefully covering her mouth with his hand.

“Hush now. I’m trying to take care of you.”

Rio started laughing beneath her gag.

Jack and Zhen talked for a few minutes, Zhen giving Jack the most delicate of details. Rio couldn’t help but marvel as the man in front of her asked the most profane questions she could ever imagine. This was a man who wanted, maybe even needed, to take care of her. To make her feel good.

And it made her want him more. As she watched his eyes go dark with want and felt him growing against her belly, she wondered if she had ever been this turned on with Strand.

By the time Jack said goodbye to Zhen and hung up the phone, Rio would have been more than ready for him. And the bastard knew it.

He kissed her soundly on the mouth, before quickly trailing kisses down her neck. “Do you trust me?”

Without a second of hesitation, Rio answered, “Absolutely.”

M Scene

She could feel him smiling, even when he pushed her bra down and latched onto one of her nipples, playing with the other with his fingers.

“Jack. Jack, hands.” He quickly released her hands from her sides and they quickly buried themselves in his bright red hair. Rio stared at the difference between her white skin and his hair as Jack moved down her body, kissing down her stomach.

He pulled her panties off before settling between her legs, “God, Rio. Look at you.”

She tried to close her legs, but he caught them. He looked up her body into her eyes, “You trust me, don’t you?”

Rio let her head drop onto the pillow and relaxed her legs.

“You okay?” Jack asked and he waited until she nodded to kiss up her legs.

“You need to hurry this up or I’m going to combu—” Jack gave a strong lick up her slit and Rio keened at him.

His hand moved up to explore and Rio realized with startling clarity that Jack had never seen the underside of a woman before.

He seems to be perfectly capable of figuring it out by himself, she thought before thinking was suddenly impossible.

Jack’s finger entered her, stretching her for the first time in almost a decade, and Rio recognized the familiar feeling of needing more, of waiting for something even if she didn’t know what it was.

“Jack,” she said, burying her head in the pillow.

“Do you know what Zhen told me?” Rio didn’t particularly care to talk about Zhen right now, but she lifted her head to look at him anyways. Jack smiled, adding another finger inside her, “She said she was pretty sure that your ex never took care of you. Never made you come.”

Rio recognized the expression on Jack’s face. It was first time she had seen it on him, but years in the army had made her able to recognize male pride. “She also told me how to make you come. How to drive you crazy. Do you want me to show you?”

Rio could only nod.

His thumb went to the top of her slit, searching for something, and they both knew when he found it. Rio couldn’t help the loud gasp that tore through her throat.

“Jack!” her elbows couldn’t hold her any longer and she collapsed at the sudden explosion of feeling inside her, “Oh, oh, God!”

She had never felt anything like this and she felt like a virgin again, figuring out what felt good and what didn’t. She had always thought that the pleasure women talked about came from how they made their partners feel. It had never occurred to Rio that she might feel the same pleasure herself.

Jack leaned down, latching his lips around the treasure he had found and it was all that Rio could do not to shriek with pleasure. Her hands grabbed onto his hair and her toes curled into the sheets.

He used his tongue in different ways: circles, figure eights, stars. Rio felt something build inside her and her back arched.

“Jack. Jack. Jack.” She chanted his name like a prayer before something snapped inside her and she screamed.

M Scene Done

Jack got up and gave her a wash cloth to clean herself off with. Then, he curled up in bed with her, unclipping her bra and throwing it on the floor next to her panties. He pressed her back against his chest and kissed her cheek, “You have about four hours before you need to be in for work.”

Rio was already asleep.

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 4

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 4

 Captain Lester spent an hour taking Rio around the campus and introducing her to some of the students they ran into. The men and women who met her seemed surprised that she wasn’t still in the military, but were more than happy to see her get back into it.

“When something feels like home,” the uniformed girl shrugged, “Why would you ever want to stop?”

Pretty soon, a crowd followed them wherever they went, staying back to give Rio just enough room to look around.

“Why are they all following us?” Rio whispered to Captain Lester.

“Well, I suppose they’ve read the book. They want to know if it’s true or not.”

“Huh.”

The captain looked her over, “You know, most people have a hard time getting into the academy, but you? You would be the easiest ‘yes’ the committee has ever made, even if you are a woman. You have reference upon reference and no black marks on your record. You have experience and clear intuition. You can get in. The question isn’t if we’ll let you in. The question is if you will.”

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 Strand was on the front porch when she came home. Rio waved goodbye to Zhen before letting him take her into his arms. He kissed her solidly on the mouth, a hand coming up to tangle in her hair.

“I missed you.”

“Strand—“ Rio tried to tell him, but his mouth was on hers again.

“I got you something.”

Rio’s eyebrows shot up, “Me?”

Strand brought her inside and gave her a box tied together with lacy black ribbon.

Giving Strand a skeptical look, Rio opened the box, “Oh, my God!” Rio laughed, “That’s going to stay in the box for now!”

Strand wrapped his arms around her and buried a smile into her neck, “Until later tonight?”

Rio laughed, “Maybe if you’re good.”

Strand brought her into the kitchen and sat down next to her at the kitchen table, “I was thinking while you were gone.”

“That’s a dangerous statement.”

Strand smiled at her, then his smile turned a little dreamy, “I want a kid.”

Everything around Rio stopped, “…O-oh?”

“Yeah. It was so quiet when you were gone and a child would quickly make everything loud. And you’re so bored all the time. A child would give you something to do.”

“Strand. I’m nineteen. You really think a kid is the right thing to do? Now? You’re just starting out with your job and I was… never mind. It just doesn’t seem like the best thing to do.”

“Why? We’re both adults, just like you said. It’s not like my job is going anywhere. It’s not like you’re going anywhere. I don’t see— “

Rio grabbed her husband’s hand, “Strand. I went to see West Point this weekend.”

“That’s cool,” he said, sounding a little confused.

“It is?”

Now, they were both confused.

“Well…yeah. It’s a pretty town. Not much there, but— “

“There’s a military academy there. Strand, I went to go tour Wes Point. The military school, not the town.”

He leaned back in his chair, ���Why would you do that?”

“Because I was thinking of going there.”

“Going there? Like… for school?”

“Well, yeah.”

Strand laughed, “Yeah. Okay, Rio.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t go to a military school that’s across the country. What was I going to do during that time? Follow you?”

“Well, we could figure it out— “

“There’s nothing to figure out, Rio. You’re not going.”

Rio stayed quiet for a second, “You can’t just tell me what I can and can’t do.”

Strand laughed, “I don’t have to. They won’t let you in. Women may be able to go into the military, but Wes Point is not stupid enough to create women officers. The gentler sex has no business being there.”

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 “I hope you made him sleep on the couch. Or the porch.”

Rio looked down at her wedding ring, “Of course I didn’t. I had just left him alone. And then told him I might leave him again. I wasn’t going to make him feel like he didn’t have a wife.”

Zhen leaned forward, squinting at her friend, “You still let him fuck you, didn’t you?”

Rio didn’t meet Zhen’s eyes, “I had left him, Zhen.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to reward him for telling you that you couldn’t do something you clearly want to do.”

“But is it something I want to do?”

Zhen blanched, “Are you kidding? You came back from West Point and wouldn’t shut up about it. I haven’t seen you that alive since the last time you were yelling orders at the platoon! You didn’t even look like that on your wedding day. Rio, when you talk about you and Strand being intimate you look like you’re going to be sick.

“Tell me how any of that says: Zhen, I so want to be a housewife for the rest of my days and pop out many Strands and bake cookies and rub my husband’s feet right before he fucks me in a way that gives me no pleasure whatsoever?”

“I do get pleasure from it!”

“Have you ever come?” “What?”

“Exactly!”

Zhen threw her hands in the air, “Rio… Some women can be perfectly happy tending to their husbands and loving on their kids. But you are not one of them. There has to be a point when you let go of who your mother has always taught you and be who you have taught yourself to be. This is that point.

“Go to West Point. If he doesn’t like it then you tell him what we said in boot camp: Tough shit.”

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 It took two months for Rio to get the letter, but only fifteen minutes for Zhen to get in the car and drive over to her house.

“Did you open it?” she asked, slamming into the door. Strand, who had come in five minutes ago, stepped out of her way.

“No.” Rio said, digging into her apron pocket to retrieve the letter. The pot she was stirring started to boil, the wooden spoon still in Rio’s hand.

“Open what?” Strand asked.

Both the women ignored him as they ripped into the letter together.

“Sergeant Rio Braxton, we at the West Point Military Academy are….” Rio trailed off as Zhen started jumping by her side.

Rio looked up at her friend, “I got in. I actually got in.”

The two girls hugged, laughing, and jumping.

Strand raised his voice, trying to get their attention. When the girls settled down to look at him, he started, “Rio. What is this?”

“I got into West Point.”

“The military school?”

Rio almost rolled her eyes, “Yes, Strand. The military school.”

“I thought we weren’t going to do that, honey.” He only called her honey when he was trying not to blow up at her.

“I thought you were under the impression I wouldn’t get in.”

Strand took a deep breath, “Zhenou, could you please leave me and my wife alone, please?”

“No, actually. I can’t.” Zhen violently shook her head.

Strand looked commandingly at Rio and she turned to her best friend, “He’s right. I’ll call you tonight.”

Zhen unhappily nodded, leaving her best friend alone with her husband.

Strand waited until he heard the door close to even look in Rio’s direction, “I don’t know what you were even thinking.”

“I was thinking that I could do something with myself. Something that I would enjoy and be proud of.”

“And you can’t be proud of raising our kids? Is that it?”

“I didn’t say— “

“Then why can’t we have kids? Why can’t you— “

The wooden spoon slammed onto the kitchen counter, “God damn it, Strand! I don’t want kids!”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“No. What’s ridiculous is you thinking I could raise kids? Use some sense, Strand! How do you think that would go? I take them to the playground and hear them telling the other kids that their mommy used to kill people and she was really good at it. Oh! Oh! And on top of that, their daddy was a goddamned deserter who couldn’t handle the fact that he might die in service to his country! Did you think that when I was tucking them in that I would tell them war stories? That they wouldn’t ask me why I used to shoot people in the head? Did you think that when they have nightmares they could crawl in bed with us like we don’t have nightmares ourselves? What were you thinking, Strand?!”

“I was thinking that we could move past the fugging war! That we could be a normal family! That we could be a proper family. But you keep bringing the war back into it! You keep trying to get back into it! This is all your fault!”

He jabbed his finger at her, “And you want to know why you can’t move past the war, Rio? You really want to know? Because you’re a monster!”

“Strand!”

“You heard me! Only a sick, monster of a woman could ever do what you did! Could ever find herself while she was killing people!”

The kitchen stayed quiet for a minute, the only noise was the clock on the wall next to them.

Strand started towards her, “Rio— “

“No, Strand.” She held up her hands, blocking him from gathering her into his arms, “If that’s how you feel then I’ll go.”

She went upstairs to pack a bag, Strand following right behind her.

“Rio. Rio, come on, baby. You know I didn’t mean that. Babe, just listen to me! Rio. Rio!”

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 The driver pulled up to the imposing building right on time. Zhen leaned closer to the window to be able to see the top. Then she looked over at her friend, “Seems like your kind of place.”

Rio smiled at her before smoothing out her uniform. She fixed her service cap, which sat on the regulation bun. It seemed the military had gotten itself together when it came to female soldiers. Long hair was allowed as long as it was tied up into a bun. New bras, ones that actually fit, also made their way into uniforms.

Although Rio missed the short, manageable hair, she was also glad that when she came home to her husband she would still look like the proper wife he expected her to be.

“Yes,” Rio’s father said, “I think this place will do you some good.”

He beamed at her, even as his downcast wife refused to look at the building.

“Mom?” Mrs. Richlin finally looked up at her only surviving daughter. Rio fidgeted in her seat, “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a long way from home,” Mrs. Richlin paused before finishing, “Your home. It’s also a long way from your husband.”

“And what a husband he is,” Zhen muttered.

“Hush,” Rio told her.

“Oh, honey,” Rio’s mother grabbed her daughter’s hand, “The idea of this place is already putting so much stress on your marriage. Don’t throw away your future for an education.”

Rio pulled her hand away and opened the door, “That’s where you’re wrong, Mom. This place is my future.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack CH 3

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack ch 3

 1964

 When Rio came out of the meeting, Jack was still there. He sat behind Kid’s desk, with his bad leg up on another chair someone must have brought him. He talked up a storm to the woman typing on her typewriter. Kid seemed to be listening to the old vet while still getting her work done.

Jack looked over at the door and saw her. He immediately smiled at her, waving her over.

“What are you doing, Jack Stafford?”

“Child and I are swapping Rio stories.”

“Colonel stories, Stafford,” Kid said, without looking up.

Jack laughed, “Right, Colonel stories. Child, did she ever tell you in boot camp about that one time—“

“Kid already knows too much about my boot camp days, Jack,” Rio crossed her arms, smiling at his antics.

“Sure, but this wasn’t in the memoir. It was that one time with the mud pit and Mackie kept screaming at us, but Keer was stuck so you just told him to—“

“That’s enough of that, Jack.”

“Alright, fine.” Then he looked over at Kid, “She told him to take off his pants.”

Kid, who had been taking a drink of water, choked.

“Alright, Jack. I’m done for the day, so why don’t I take you to your hotel?”

“Oh.” He looked at her with wide eyes, “I don’t have a place to stay.”

“Ben didn’t give you any accomodations?”

“No.”

Rio thought about it, “I have a bed at my house that you can use. Come on.”

Just as they were about to leave, Kid looked up, “Oh, Colonel! Rainy called you. She said to tell you, ‘You’re welcome, bitch.’ Excuse my language.”

Jack laughed behind her, but Rio just shook her head, muttering, “Shameless.”

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 “Wow. Nice place.”

“A little bigger than a flat in London?” Rio asked.

It wasn’t like her house was anything special. It was a simple, two bedroom house on the outskirts of town with a little land attached to it. The house itself needed a fresh layer of paint. The fence needed fixing. But it was home.

“Do you have pets?” Jack asked.

Rio laughed, “What?”

“Pets. You have all of this room. It would be a dog’s heaven.”

Rio looked around, as if looking at the land attached to her house for the first time, “I suppose you’re right.”

“You live out here all by yourself?” Jack asked, hoisting his bag over his shoulder.

“I needed to get out of the city.”

“Too loud for a small town girl like you?”

Rio just shrugged, “I like it out here. Plenty of places to go, walks in the woods, and it’s still near the town. It’s nice.”

“But no dog?”

“No dog.”

“Seems like a wasted opportunity,” Jack said, letting himself in.

Rio just followed, grinning silently to herself.

Jack just sat in the front hall, taking in everything. The stairs off to the side that led to the bedrooms, the hall that led to the kitchen and living room. He just looked at it.

“Something wrong?” Rio asked after he had stood there for a while.

“No. No, it’s just….”

“Just what?”

“It smells like you.”

“Hopefully not Battle of the Bulge Rio.”

Jack turned to look at her and she couldn’t help but notice just how well he fit in. He looked like this was his house and not just hers.

“This smell is significantly better. Which is good because I probably would have fainted if the whole house smelled like that.”

She laughed, “What do you want for dinner, you old gimp?”

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 She put him in the bedroom that Zhen used when she came to the house, making sure that he had enough pillows to prop up his bad leg, “I can’t think of anything else you would need, do you?”

Jack sat down on the bed and took off his shoes and socks, “No. I think you’ve got the hostess thing down.”

But Rio wasn’t paying attention. She was too busy looking at his foot, which was bright red.

He looked down at it, “Oh, that old thing.” He rolled up the leg of the pants, showing scarred, mutilated flesh going up the calve, stopping just under the knee. “It wasn’t a clean through and through, but it didn’t get enough of the bone to warrant an amputation. So, staying off it, using a cane, propping it up.”

“There’s nothing else you can do?”

“Not really.”

She sat down on the bed next to him, looking anywhere except at him, “Jack, I am so s--.”

Jack put his hand over her mouth, scooting closer to her, “Don’t even finish that, Rio. Don’t think it, or say it. You all saved my life. End of story. Do you understand?”

Rio was forced to look into his eyes, and, even though she still blamed herself, she nodded.

Jack removed his hand from her mouth, before cupping her face with his hands, “You saved my life countless times, Rio. You saved my life.”

Neither knew who moved first, maybe it was a simultaneous charge that ran through both of them, but suddenly, after over twenty years, their lips touched in a ferocious and reverent kiss. It seemed like they were both trying to persuade the other that they were alive while still basking in the relief that they were together again.

Jack’s hands moved, one tangling itself into her hair and the other grasping solidly onto her waist. Rio’s own hands came up, grabbing onto his shirt, and pulling him even closer to her.

Jack suddenly stopped the kiss when Rio had gone to lift his shirt, “I thought I told you that was for Mrs. Stafford.”

Rio blinked in surprise, “You mean…you mean you’ve waited? All this time?”

“Well, yeah. I made a promise.”

“And if she hasn’t met her end of the promise?”

“You mean if she’s had sex?”Jack shrugged, “I wouldn’t mind. Just as long as I get her eventually.”

“A lot of men don’t see it like that.” Rio stated.

“Those men are idiots.”

Rio laughed and Jack smiled, “I missed that sound. I didn’t hear it a lot after you became Sarge.”

“I probably haven’t laughed this much since them.”

Jack looked appalled, “Almost twenty years of not laughing? That’s preposterous. We need to right this wrong.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Jack shifted closely, if that was possible at all, “Let me take you on a date.”

“A date? Aren’t we a little old for that?”

Jack leaned in closer, “Let me take you on a date, Rio.”

Just before their lips touched again, she nodded.

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 When Rio woke up to a scream, she thought it was a nightmare, but even when she sat up and opened her eyes, the shout continued with the same intense fear and pain.

“Jack!” she untangled the covers from around her legs and ran to the spare bedroom. When she opened the door, he was shaking and screaming, laying on his back. She rushed over to him, leaning over, and shaking his shoulder, “Jack, wake up! It’s just a dream! Jack, it’s just a dream!”

His eyes flew open and his hand grabbed for her throat before he realized who she was, “Rio.”

She smoothed his hair back, “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sorry.”

She reached down where his leg was wrapped in the sheets, careful to help his bad leg out without hurting him.

“I’m sorry. It was just the new place, I guess.”

“Jack, it’s fine. It happens to all of us.”

“I almost grabbed you. I almost hurt you. I’m s—“

“Jack. You thought you were in an active war zone. I understand. I get them too.”

“About the World War or about Korea.”

Rio sat down on the bed next to him, “Both. The worst ones are when the two combine together. Or when everyone I lost come back to kill me.”

Jack sat up, “I’m sorry, Rio.”

“Stop apologizing, Jack. You have nothing to apologize about.” She stood up and offered him her hand.

His eyebrows raised, “Where are we going, Colonel Richlin?”

“To get some milk. And then to bed.”

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 They did not go back to bed. They ended up staying up throughout the night, talking and laughing, catching up on everything that they missed in each other’s lives.

By the time that Rio came into the office the next morning, she had gotten only an hour’s worth of sleep.

“Long night?” Kid asked, coming up beside her boss.

“Very long night. And morning, I guess.”

Kid’s eyebrows raised, “Oh. Okay, I didn’t think…I don’t think I needed to know that.”

Rio looked at her confused, then gasped, “No, Kid! Not that!”

“Oh, thank God! I never need to know what happens….”

“Just stop!”

“You know what?! I’ll get you coffee! And you have some papers. And we’ll just pretend that this conversation never happened.”

“Jesus, Kid.”

“I’m sorry!” Kid said, all but running towards the kitchen.

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 “I’m bored,” said a voice above Kid.

She looked up to see Jack Stafford, standing there, waiting for her to…unbore him?

“Um. Okay.”

“Where’s Rio?”

“Colonel is in her office.”

“Right. Colonel.”

Jack moved towards the office he had seen Rio come out of the other day, but Child called to him, “You can’t just go in there. She’s got work to do.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“She’s busy.”

“Fine,” Jack sat down in the chair he had occupied yesterday, “Well, then I need your help.”

“With what?”

“A date.”

Kid smiled, “Well, well. Who would you be taking out on a date?”

Jack just smiled.

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 “You can either wear a dress or your uniform,” Jack said, leaning over Rio’s desk.

She looked up at him, “Is that what you figured out while you were harassing my staff?”

“They’re fun.”

“This is a place of work, Jack. It’s not exactly supposed to be fun.”

“Well, obviously their Lieutenant Colonel thinks that. They are absolutely terrified of her. She seems like a menace to work with. Sintra keeps shaking in his boots whenever she walks by.”

Rio smiled contently, “Good.”

“So, dress or uniform?”

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 “Sintra, if you keep staring at her, she’s going to figure out that we’re here.”

Sintra turned so that he was sitting facing forward. The way one should when sitting in one of the most expensive restaurants in the city.

“I didn’t know the colonel could look so….” The young blonde corporal leaves his statement hanging with an air of wonderment.

“I didn’t know she had legs,” Kid nods, watching her boss smile and lean closer to the red-headed man, “She looks good.”

“A little scandalous if you ask me,” the older sergeant was older than even the colonel and only decided to keep working with her because of her Medal of Honor. His graying hair showed his old ideals, but it could not hide the begrudging admiration and protectiveness he had for his colonel. He had come to watch the date for a reason, and Kid didn’t think it was to rant about the colonel’s low neck line.

“Come on, Old Man. You can’t stick all that old way of thinking with these new women.”

Kid was right. After World War Two, a lot of things had opened up to the new generation of independent women, including jobs, colleges, and, yes, clothes. The new women lived by the motto pushed by the warrior women after the war: “If you don’t think we can, watch us.” That thinking had brought female marathon runners, doctors, professors, and lawyers. These women had put new standards into place, and those standards called for more female freedoms.

The colonel was just using one of them.

Sintra turned around again, “I like the red on her.”

Old Man raised his eyebrows, “It seems like that young man would rather her in white.”

“Or black.”

Old Man looked at Kid, scandalized, but Kid just sipped her wine and went back to watching the couple.

They were leaned close together, sitting on the same side of the booth, their heads bent towards eachother. Besides their hands connected on top of Stafford’s knee, they didn’t touch, but they got as close as they could without. Stafford said something that made the Colonel laugh, her smile coming quickly and the sweet noise carrying over to her three inferiors. Only when the food came did they let go of each other’s hands, but the colonel’s hand stayed on the man’s knee.

“Wow.” Sintra said, “I didn’t realize…you know. It’s only been two days. Not even a full two days when you think about it.”

“They only waited a good nineteen years to get back together,” Kid defended, “Their relationship is bound to go a lot faster.”

Sintra made a noise of acceptance, then turned towards Kid, “A month.”

“For the wedding or for them to end up in bed together?”

Sintra Looked sick, “Please. Let’s never bet on the colonel’s sex life.”

Kid laughed, “Two weeks tops for the bed. Month and a half for the wedding announcement.”

“How much?” “Twenty.”

“Twenty and a date. And I’ll give you thirty if you win.”

“Deal.”

Old Man shook his head, “I’m going to barf.”

In front of them, Stafford laughed as he sipped wine, spilling little drops on himself. Richlin roared with laughter, taking her napkin out of her lap and cleaning off his face and shirt. Jack said something to her then that made her laugh so hard she hid her head in his chest to keep from being too loud.

“Aw!” Kid could have squealed, “They’re so cute!”

“Five bucks they’re actually talking about war,” Sintra said, turning back to his companions.

The colonel had finally straightened up, allowing Stafford to lean close to her and whisper something into her ear. As he tucked her hair back and talked only to her, Richin’s smile grew into something devilish. And it was only then that she looked straight at her inferiors and made direct eye contact with them.

“Shit!” Sintra was already standing up and throwing a twenty onto the table.

“She knew this whole time!” Kid gasped in realization as Sintra grabbed her hand. The three ran out of the restaurant, their boss’ quick, sweet laugh following right behind them.

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 2

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 2

  December 1945

 “What am I doing?” Rio muttered, staring at the doors that will change her life.

Her father looked at her sideways, but it was Zhen who leaned back from her place in front of Rio, “There’s still time to back out of this. I have a car around back and a bag thrown into it. We can leave right now.”

Rio studied her friend, still finding it hard to recognize her without all the dirt and grime on her face. Now makeup replaced blood and a dress replaced uniform and flowers replaced a carbine.

“No. No, I made a promise. I’ll do it.” Then, she straightened herself up and took her father’s arm.

“It’s just nerves, sweetheart,” he said, smiling and patting her hand.

“I know,” she said. And then softer, “I know.”

Jhen sent one more worried look over her shoulder, before the doors opened and they started to walk.

The wedding was a blur of worry and anxiety. Stand up straight, but don’t lock your knees. Don’t trip on the dress. Don’t topple off the heels.

Strand wore his uniform, even though Rio had told him that he probably shouldn’t. She wished she could have worn her own, had thought of asking her mother, but had never gotten up the courage. A uniform did not fit the people they were trying to fit into, but she would have felt less like a liar.

Nothing about their appearance was true. Strand had deserted and didn’t deserve the privilege of wearing his uniform around like a hero. Rio should have been the one in the uniform. But, mainly, she shouldn’t be wearing white right now.

But no one knew that. Yet.

Jhen’s memoir comes our next month and then everyone would know that Rio was not only a fallen woman, but also somewhat of a cheater. Of course, Rio had read over the whole thing, and had given Jhenou the go-ahead to publish it, to publish everything, but it still didn’t change the fact that everyone would know who she had become, and what her husband was too.

Everyone would know. And everyone would judge.

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 Rio saw the memoir sitting on Strand’s bedside table, so she knew he was reading it. She had thought of hiding it and saying that it must have gotten lost in the move to the new house, but she knew that wouldn’t stop him.

So, when she laid in bed next to him as he read, she knew what would come. And a month and a half into their marriage, she didn’t have to wait anymore.

He had come home, tired from helping his uncle recreate his company, to find a bored Rio on the couch. Dinner had been okay, if a little lackluster and silent, and Strand had gone to bed early, leaving her to do the dishes.

When she finally came up stairs and started pulling off her earrings, she saw the book laying with him in bed. And he was staring at her.

“What’s wrong?” Rio asked, even though she knew full well what was wrong.

“You kissed him.” It was a simple statement, but it sounded like he was having a hard time believing it.

“I was drunk,” she replied, trying to act nonchalant, “I barely remember it.”

“Yet, you seemed to remember it enough to tell Jhen about it. About what you talked about. How many times you kissed him.”

She reached behind her to unzip her dress, breathing a sigh of relief when it finally came off.

“What do you want me to say, Strand?”

“I don’t want to say anything now! I would have wanted to know then! My God, Rio! I should have known before we got married!”

“So, you wouldn’t have married me if you knew I made a mistake when I was drunk?”

“Don’t say it like that, Rio! You know exactly what I meant! People have read this faster than I have. How many people knew that my wife cheated on me before I did?!”

“What do you want me to say, Strand?! Tell me!”

“I want you to say that you had no feelings for him! That you didn’t care for him the same time you were fucking me!”

Rio looked at him for a second, “I don’t like you reading that book.”

“You can’t tell me that you didn’t love him, can you?”

Rio, still in her bra and underwear, reached out and took the book from the bed, placing it on her shelf. Then she crawled into bed, pulling Strand so that he was straddling her, “I don’t want to argue with you, Strand. I’m married to you. And he’s in a different country, half a world away. You have nothing to worry about.”

She pressed her lips to his, submitting to him and letting him forget his worries by using her body.

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 “I hope you’re buying today. You’re making a lot of money off me right now.”

Jhen smiled at Rio over the menu of the same place where they had decided to join the army, “Absolutely. The book has seemed to take off these days.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it has.”

Jhen put the menu down, grabbing Rio’s hand. “How are you doing?”

“Well…a lot better than Strand is doing.”

“That’s his own fault for deserting. And….”

“Not being as good of a soldier as his dear, little wife?”

Jhen grimaced, “Yeah.”

Rio waved her hand, wedding ring shimmering in the light, “Don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it. I just have to figure out what I can do until the mean time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, my job is waiting on his hand and foot now, isn’t it?”

Jhen’s face scrunched up, “It doesn’t have to be.”

“What else would it be, then?”

Jhen leaned forward a little, “A lot of college applications are due in late February.”

“There’s not a college in Gedwell, Jhenou. You know that.”

Jhen shrugged, “There’s a big college in New York. I think in a town called West Point.”

“No, Jhen.”

“You’re bored, Rio. And you miss the army. Don’t tell me you don’t. You miss the order of it, the fullness, the purpose. If you don’t want to be a housewife, then don’t be a housewife. Strand can take care of himself.”

Rio remained quiet.

So, Jhenou pressed on, “I’m going up to New York anyway. I have to go talk to the publisher, meet some people. Fly up with me. While I’m dealing with snobbish book people, you can go take a look and see if you would like to go.”

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 “I don’t understand why Jhenou wants you to go so badly,” Strand said, watching Rio pack the food she had made into the ice box.

“Well, I kind of am one of the main characters in her book. The publishers want to meet me. Make sure I actually exist.”

“They have newspaper articles for that.”

Rio ignored him, closing the ice box, “That’s enough food to last you until I’m gone. Breakfast on the right, dinner on the left, lunches in the middle. All you have to do is heat it up.” The doorbell sounded, “That’ll be Jhen. I love you.” She kissed him goodbye, grabbed her bag, and almost ran out the door.

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 The building in front of her was just as imposing as she thought it would be. Yet, it didn’t seem like a threat. It seemed like a challenge.

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” a voice said from beside her.

Rio looked over at the man who had come up to stand at her side. He was silver-haired with kind, yet stern blue eyes. They looked familiar, his eyes, yet she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what made them familiar.

“A vet, I reckon,” he said, looking her over. How he had guessed that, Rio had no idea. She was in a pink dress and loafers. The most un-soldierly thing imaginable.

“Yes, sir.” She said.

He smiled, “We all have the same look. Captain Bernard Lester. I teach here.”

He shook her hand and she ended up genuinely smiling at him, “Sergeant Rio Richlin. Well, Braxton now, I guess.”

He looked at her closer, “Sergeant Richlin. Silver Star?”

“That’s me.”

“Wow. And the memoir?”

“Unfortunately.”

He laughed, “No, Sarge. Not unfortunately. I have a class in an hour, but I can show you around until then if you’d like.”

Rio smiled again, “I would like that very much.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 1

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch. 1

AU Note: THIS HAS MANY SPOILERS FOR PURPLE HEARTS, IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT, DON’T READ THIS.

Now that that’s taken care of: we didn’t get to see a lot of the budding relationship between Rio and Jack after the war. But guess who has a few ideas about what happened. Me. The answer is me.

So, this little story will have a lot of fluff and maybe a little smut. Maybe? I lied. It will have smut, but later on. I’ll tell you when it’s coming and when it’s done so you can bypass it if you don’t want to read.

 1964

Kid knew something was familiar about the man that limped up to her desk, cane in hand. She knew the signs of veterans, being one herself and working with them for almost ten years now.

But, studying the man, she knew that him being a veteran wasn’t why he was familiar.

“Can I help you?” she asked, noticing that he wasn’t in uniform, when he had pressed up against the desk to get out of the traffic in the room, “Sir, how did you get in here?”

The red-haired man smiled and pointed to the man right behind him, battling the many people trying to push him out of the way, “Frank let me in.”

“Not even close,” the supposed-Frank said, “Child, right?”

She nodded.

“He’s here to see your boss.”

The caned man turned to her and smiled, “I’m here to see your boss. I’m assuming it’s Rio?”

Kid made a confused face.

“Richlin. Rio Richlin. West Point. Medal of Honor. I don’t know what her rank is anymore. She was a sergeant when I knew her.”

“And what’s your purpose for being here?” Kid asked.

“Well, Child, a scary Sam—“ he turned around fast and the man behind him shook his head, “Damn. I’ll guess it right, don’t you worry. Anyway, this scary man in the suit showed up at my flat in London and told me by order of Rainy Schulterman that I was to pack a bag and leave with him. I got on a plane and now I’m here.”

Kid was silent for a second and then, “I’m sorry. Are you--?”

“Jack Stafford, at your service. You are?”

“Sergeant Melinda Child.” She shook his hand, “Wow. Okay. I had read about you, from, you know, the memoir, but I never thought…. I’m going to see if Colonel’s available.”

“Please do.”

Kid almost ran to Richlin’s office, knocking softly before entering and closing the door quickly behind her, “Colonel.”

She shot a hasty and somewhat sloppy salute towards a bewildered Rio, “There’s someone here to see you.”

Richlin looked back down at the papers in front of her, “Tell the major that whatever it is, I don’t care.”

“Ma’am. It’s not the major.”

When Rio came out of her office she was both the most happy and nervous that she had ever been in her life. The folks in the office were known for pulling pranks, but never against her. And the way that Kid had seemed completely flabber-ghasted meant that he was really here. He had to be. It would be a cruel joke if he wasn’t.

But there he was, still so utterly recognizable even if his face had aged and his clothes changed. It was still Jack. And it was still his smile.

“Hey, Sarge.”

Rio’s awe-filled gaze changed to one of pure joy, and before she knew it she was across the room and in his arms.

The whole room stopped. Literally. People stopped moving, phones dropped from ears, conversations died instantly as everyone watched their lieutenant colonel throw herself into the stranger’s arms.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, finally withdrawing, but not really letting go.

“Well, I am a gift from Rainy.”

“Rainy?! That bitch. You know she’s working for the ‘commerce department’ now?”

“No shit.”

“Just saw her about a week ago.”

Jack turned to look over his shoulder, “Bob, do you work for the commerce department?”

The man in the suit crossed his arms, “My name is not Bob. And sure, I work for the commerce department.”

Jack twisted again to look at Rio, “You know, he also told me that his name was Ben, but I didn’t believe him then either.”

Rio laughed, “It’s good to see you, Jack.” Realizing that it was too quiet, she turned towards the soldiers working, “Don’t you all have a job to do? I can give you one!”

Jack smiled as the government building returned to normal (while still watching the Colonel of course). “Well, some things just never change, now do they?”

“I thought I had gotten a lot better at that!” Rio said, half-heartedly offended.

Jack laughed, “You doing that yelling anywhere else these days?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kids, of course.”

Rio laughed, “The only kid I have is Kid,” she said, pointing to Melinda Child, “I got out of screaming households a while ago.” At Jack’s raised eyebrows, Rio explained, “I’m divorced.”

“Oh, yes! The pilot. Castain sent me a letter. Told me you were getting married and also told me not to worry because it wouldn’t last long.”

“You’re kidding me? She did that?”

“I’m not lying.”

“Oh, God!” Rio covered her eyes mortified, but before long was smiling up at him.

“Say, Rio, do you have a lunch break soon?” Jack asked.

Child was right behind Rio, “She already went to lunch.”

“But coffee will do just fine,” Rio smoothly interjected. “Let me grab my things. Kid, if that major shows up, tell him to fug off. I’ll be back before the meeting at two.”

“Got it, Colonel.”

As Rio came back, tying a scarf around her neck, she turned to Rainy’s agent, “Tell your boss that she’s not being very subtle.”

Then, the whole building watched as their boss left work early for the first time.

 (*&*)?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?><>?>>?><>?><>?><>

 “What have you been up to, Jack?” Rio made sure to slow down her pace to match Stafford’s limping steps.

“Working mostly. As a real-estate agent in London.”

“Really?”

“Shocking, I know. Your job, however, is not shocking. I always knew you were bound to abandon your own and become an officer.”

“Ouch, Stafford. That hurts!” Yet, they both laughed at the familiar joke. “Any kids of your own?” she asked, looking straight ahead.

“Never married actually.”

Rio looked up, shocked, “Really?”

Jack shrugged, looking straight into her eyes, “I never found anyone that measured up. I went on a couple of dates, of course, but no one ever stuck around.”

“I can’t imagine why they would ever leave.”

Rio realized her mistake as soon as she said the words. “I would assume you wouldn’t have to imagine, since you should know.”

“Look, Jack, I—“

“Did you come visit me? When I was at the medical station back in Germany?”

“You don’t remember?”

Jack thought back to that time, “I remember the shape of you, but I don’t know if that was real or a dream. I didn’t know what to believe I was on so many painkillers.”

“You had a whole conversation with me. And I sat by your bed until they knew without a doubt that you were going to live.”

“What did we talk about?”

“You. Going back to Britain. I told you that your job was done, and you told me that you weren’t going to give up fighting until either the war was won or I left it. Then you went back to sleep and I made sure you were on a ship headed home before you woke up.”

Jack was silent for a moment, “I don’t remember that.”

Rio looked up at him as they entered the coffee shop, “For what it’s worth, the whole platoon went home after that. What was left of it, at least. Those who were POWs got released a week after the Russians took Berlin.”

“You didn’t let me come back with you,” Jack stated.

Rio shook her head.

“Why?”

Richlin shrugged, “For lots of reasons: Britain was your home, you were injured, I was your sergeant, I had already given myself to someone else—“

“I thought you didn’t care about that. That’s what it said in the memoir.”

“God, I hate that thing.” She took a deep breath, “I didn’t care when I was on the battlefield, but back out here…I knew it would mean more. I knew that people would expect me to marry Strand and if I had brought you back here, you would have married a fallen woman.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have cared.”

“Maybe. But other people would.”

Jack laughed, stepping up to order his coffee. Even by the time they were sitting down with the steaming cups, Jack was still shaking his head, “I should have known. I should have known that it wasn’t that you couldn’t have been happy with me. It was because of your stupid sense of self-sacrifice.”

He laughed a little, and Rio looked down at her cup.

“Rio. Just answer me one thing, honestly: would you be happy with me? If I stayed here, could I make you happy?”

Rio shook her head, “Jack, you have a life in Britain—“

“That’s not what I asked, Rio. Could you be happy with me? Can we try it? Just for a little while. And see if this, us, is worth looking into.”

Rio looked at him, as he shifted nervously in his chair. She grabbed his hand in hers, “Jack, I would love to try. You just need to make sure that this is what you want. I won’t leave the States, which means if this works out, you would be giving up your life. You need to think about what you’re doing.”

Jack shook his head, “I don’t need to think. I would give up the world for a chance to be with you.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

😍😍😍😍

[soldiergirlscorned]

FUBAR - Fugged Up Beyond All Recognition

(via frontlinessoldiergirl)

[soldiergirlscorned]

Rio Headcannons

-She figures out that Strand is cheating on her. She breaks up with him, but later becomes friends with the girl he cheated on her with. -Jack is too scared to make the move on her. After a couple of weeks of knowing Strand cheated on her, she runs into Jack and asks him if he remembers he kiss they had on the boat. He says yes. -Later on, when he's in the shower, she storms in there in true Richlin style and, fully dressed, steps into the shower, turns him around and kisses him in the spray. -They write letters back and forth, some of them the 119th can read and some they can not. Most of the letters are sickeningly sweet, but other times it's clear that the author of the letter was drunk and had something to get off their chests. -They continue like this until they meet on the battlefield. After that, they decide they don't want to lose each other, and, with both their platoons there, they get married on a ship. -after the war, real continues on in Europe. She helps people rebuild after the war, and starts to put governments back into place. -Later on in her career, she becomes a renowned general, the highest ranking of any woman in the military. -When she's on the job, she is nothing but a mean mean general ready to take on anything that stands on her way. At home though, she's a sweet mother of two brilliant little girls, who will, like their mother, let nothing stand in their way.

[soldiergirlscorned]

Rio Richlin + Jenou Castain + Quotes

[soldiergirlscorned]

Frangie Marr + Rainy Schulterman + Quotes

[soldiergirlscorned]

Anyone else feel like this will be Rio?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_1FJGCAPxo&feature=share

[soldiergirlscorned]

The 119th future plans and what will actually happen RIO
EXPECTATION: She fully intends on doing what her mother told her she would do. Get married (most likely to Strand), have kids, an hang up the gun.
WHAT HAPPENS: She stays in Europe for a while after the war. There are so many people that felt the sting of war and she wants to help. After that she works in the military, but in the states this time. She works through the Cold War. Eventually, she marries Jack and they have beautiful twin girls. They follow their parents into military service. 
JACK 
EXPECTATION: Goes back to Britain after the war and live a quiet life. 
WHAT HAPPENS: His life is nothing but loud. When he’s not chasing his girls around or making his wife laugh, he’s giving talks about the wars, raising money for the military, and supporting women in the army (how could he not).
ZHENOU 
EXPECTATION: Dies in the war 
WHAT HAPPENS: Ha. Psych! This girl outlives them all, with a successful career as an author. Her and Cat live in an apartment in NYC near Rainy.
CAT 
EXPECTATION: Opinionated Cat lady 
WHAT HAPPENS: talk about a ladies lady. Seriously, her war talks get her a long way with the ladies. Even into a couple of beds. 
STICK: 
EXPECTATION: Long career in the military. 
WHAT HAPPENED: Unfortunately, Stuck gave his life for his country before the war ends. He gave up his life so that his friends/his family could get away. There is no better way Stick could think to die.
GEER: 
EXPECTATION: Becomes a successful businessman. 
WHAT HAPPENED: War takes its toll in certain ways. Geer ends up assaulting a man for talking shit about women in the army, especially black women. He’s in jail for two years before the rest of the 119th manages to pull him out. 
RAINY 
EXPECTATION: Leads an exceptional career as a spy. 
WHAT HAPPENS: Exactly that. She also ends up with the biggest family of them all. Five beautiful, multilingual, rambunctious kids and a more than happy husband. 
FRANGIE 
EXPECTATION: Goes back to Tulsa and starts a job. Doesn’t end up as doctor. 
WHAT HAPPENED: She starts to do that, but a year after the war, Rainy and Rio show up at her doorstep. Turns out, the only thing that was needed to get Frangie into medical school was a forged high school diploma (courtesy of Rainy) and a threat to show up with a gun at the school (courtesy of Rio). She becomes a successful surgeon 
BEEBEE: 
EXPECTATION: Goes on to live a quiet life 
WHAT HAPPENS: Well, quiet in a way. This scavenger becomes a successful broker for the United States. He spends a lot of his time glaring at foreign diplomats across the table