Coming Home (#Wattys 2017)

12; Help

A/N: Arabic will be translated into English so I don't have to translate it all. It will be in italics.

Carrie hated walking. They walked for three straight days before finally making it to Islamabad.

"Hey, we're another step closer to going home," he told her as they slowly made their way through the alleyways of abandon buildings.

The outskirts of the capital city were lined with abandon buildings, cars, trash, and it looked like a war zone. And what made it even worse was the blowing sand. During their final day of walking, a large sandstorm blew through. But it continued to swirl around in the tight quarters.

Their next move was to hopefully find someone who didn't want to kill them, and would be willing to help them find the United States embassy.

As they walked, Carrie was reading every sign or poster she saw back to Harrison, thinking maybe that would be of some help. Most of the signs were for abandon shops or street signs. Nothing useful.

Harrison suddenly stopped. Carrie who wasn't paying attention, slammed into his back. He pointed up ahead. There in the street was a man and what looked like his two sons. Harrison then looked at her. "Should we try?"

She thought for a moment. Carrie took a few seconds to look through of the scope of her assault rifle to see if the man or any of the children were carrying any weapons. She was a little reluctant to leave her spot. They were able to use the buildings and the cover of darkness to their advantage. But this could be a step closer to making it back to Billie.

"Go ahead. Keep your guard up. And let me do the talking."

Carrie stepped around a car into the middle of the street while Harrison pushed forward. While advancing, they used hand signals to waive if the coast was clear or they had to stop.

As they moved closer, one of the little boys saw them. He grabbed the others hand and went to hide behind the man she presumed as their father. The small boy pointed at them. The man then held his hands up in surrender.

"Harrison lower your gun."

He did and she did the same. "Time to make some friends."

With the tips of their guns now pointing at the ground, Harrison and Carrie took their final steps towards the family. The three of them looked scared to death. But they didn't run.

The man then said something in Arabic that Carrie could easily understand. She was going to try English first so Harrison could understand. "We're not going to hurt you," she reassured them softly.

The three of them took a step back. Carrie then switched to Arabic. "We're not going to hurt you," she said again.

The man nodded. He seemed to lower his guard when she made the attempt to speak his language. "Why are you here?"

"We're American soldiers. We were left behind when our team killed Osama bin Laden."

"You and he killed bin Laden?"

Carrie looked over her shoulder at Harrison who nodded. "Yes."

The man then hugged her. Harrison raised his gun and looked like he was about to shoot the man before he realized it was his way of saying thank you.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. We were wondering, would you be able to help us find the American embassy? It's our only way home."

The man nodded. "I know someone who can get you there. For now, you guys could use a filling meal."

"Thank you so much."

"Follow me."

A half hour later, Harrison and Carrie were eating dinner with the family. They couldn't be more grateful for their hospitality and help. Tomorrow, the man would be taking Harrison to meet his contact.

After dinner, Carrie sat on the small couch in the living room as Harrison and the man strategized for tomorrow. His wife spoke English which allowed the three of them to communicate without Carrie acting as a translator.

She looked through the pictures in Harrison's wallet once again. Carrie missed Billie so much. Hopefully they could be out of this place in a matter of days.

"Who's that?" one of the boys asked.

"That's my daughter," Carrie answered.

The other boy sat on the couch next to her as she flipped through more photos. "That's America?"

Carrie nodded. "America looks amazing," the smaller boy told her.

"America's pretty cool."

She kept flipping through the photos. The ones of baby Billie brought tears to her eyes. After she and Harrison had Billie, they were called back for tour four, making them miss Billie's second birthday.

✎✎✎

Carrie felt another contraction hit. She took a deep breath, waiting for it to go away, but it became more persistent. That's when she felt her water break.

"HARRISON!"

She heard footsteps, then a thud, as she opened their bedroom door. He was in the middle of standing up. "Did you fall?"

He shook his head, but the smile that crossed his face told her otherwise. Then she laughed. "You really fell?"

"Yes sweetheart."

Then more pain hit, ruining their little moment. "The baby's coming!"

Harrison scooped her up and carried her to the car where he sped off to the hospital. "This baby is really coming?"

Carrie squeezed his hand. "Our little girl's coming."

A few minutes later, she was wheeled down the hallway to the birthing room with Harrison at her side. "You can do this Carrie," he encouraged. "You can do it."

Doctors followed them in the room and began encouraging her to push. She reached out for his hand and squeezed it so hard he thought for a quick second she broke it.

"Come on Carrie. Push!"

She leaned back against the bed with sweat beating off her forehead. "I can't," she panted.

Harrison moved back to her side. "Sweetheart, there's nothing you can't do. You're a badass Navy SEAL. You've been shot. You've pushed through it. Now why don't you push our daughter out?"

He could see the determination on her face. She pushed as hard as she could while squeezing his hand until they heard the baby cry. "You did it."

Their baby girl was placed in his arms. Harrison then set her in her mother's arms. "Hello little girl."

Carrie kissed her forehead gently. She then looked up at her husband. He nodded.

"Welcome Billie Catherine Ford. It's time to meet your daddy."

✎✎✎

Carrie didn't realize she was crying while still holding the picture of baby Billie. One of the boys patted her shoulder gently. "You're going to see your daughter again. My dad is going to help you and your husband go home."