Awakening - The Tigris Series Book 2

Chapter Two

"Your 11th birthday is coming up, Pumpkin. You excited?" the Colonel asked his daughter.

Her bright blue eyes lit up, widening with excitement. "Yes! I've already invited a couple of my friends to come over!"

He raised his brows, expressively. "Did you, now! Did you ask your mother if that was okay?"

The girl nodded. "Yes, she said it was alright."

"Alright. She's the boss." the Colonel replied, giving the girl a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you."

The girl smiled into the hug, squeezing his waist tighter in her little arms. "Thank you, daddy."

"Colonel, there's a situation that requires your attention." a man approached them, dressed in his military attire.

"Can't you see I'm with my daughter, Lieutenant?" the Colonel replied, gesturing to the black-haired girl.

"It's urgent, sir." the Lieutenant urged.

The Colonel sighed, and looked back down to his daughter. "Looks like I've gotta go back to work, Pumpkin."

The girl whined. "But you always gotta go back to work!"

"I know, I know. I promise I'll make it up to you, alright?" he said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Say, how about one of these days, I take you with me?"

The girl's eyes lit up in excitement at his words. "Yes! I wanna go with you!"

"Can't come today, Pumpkin, but one day you will. I promise." the Colonel said, gently holding his daughter by her shoulders.

She gave him a toothy grin, and nodded in agreement. "Okay."

•••

It was Friday morning, the day I had promised Steve that I would join him on his morning run.

I lied in my bed, staring up at the blank, dark ceiling as I waited for the time to roll to 4:45am. I regretted my spontaneous decision to agree to do this. A part of me was tempted to back out, and tell him that I wasn't coming; though, that wasn't what my father had raised me to do.

"When you say you're gonna do something, you do it. Even if you hate it, you see to the end of your word. Because if a soldier doesn't have his word, then he's got nothin'." he would say.

It wasn't that I hated Steve, his company was actually quite enjoyable for the most part. His stubbornness and persistence was the most annoying part of him. He never knew when to give up. Much like how he fights, when he's kicked down, he gets back up again no matter what. Even when there is no chance at him winning, he still gets up to keep going. It was almost admirable.

A knock sounded at my door, matching Steve's knocking style. I furrowed my brows and turned over on my side to look at the digital clock next to my bed. 4:30am. He's early.

I rolled my eyes, and threw my legs over the side of the bed with a sigh. At least one of us was excited.

I made my way to my closet, shuffling through the very few shirts and pants that I owned to find suitable running attire. I came across a plain black t-shirt, and yanked it off of it's hanger to toss it onto my bed. I then snatched a pair of white and black athletic leggings, tossing it next to the black shirt on my bed.

Another knock sounded at the front door, this time a bit louder.

"Can you give a lady a minute to dress herself, please?!" I yelled, loud enough so he would hear.