just a dream | simanda ✔

chapter two: waiting for him

Two weeks later

The day was full of lasts for Amanda and Chris. Last cuddling session in the morning after they had just woken up. Last good morning kiss. Last shower together.

Everything was just a last for them for that day. Later in the evening, Chris would have to be at the airport so he could be deployed to Syria.

Amanda would've rather spent the day making love to her boyfriend rather than teaching primary students in year three which she loved to do regardless.

The students could tell that something was bothering Amanda and they pried the information out of her by the end of the school day. A little girl, one of Amanda's students, had a father that was deployed at the time so she hugged Amanda at the end of the school day and told her she knew the feeling of a loved one being so far away.

Amanda hugged the student back and after all the students had left, Amanda sank into her desk chair with tears streaming down her face. She had to get home to bring Chris to the airport.

Amanda gathered her bag, closed the classroom door, and left the school building, still wiping and trying to dry her tears.

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Amanda and Chris were at the airport and were trying to say goodbye to each other at the terminal. Airport security had allowed the family of military men that were being deployed into the terminals so they could say goodbye to their loved ones.

Amanda gave Chris another kiss on the lips.

"Don't die on me, okay?" She said. "I don't want you dead. I want us to die together as a married couple."

"I'll try my hardest not to die but you know the risks of my job, babe. I'm in combat so I can die," Chris replied. "They're calling men and women in the armed forces. I have to go, Amanda. I love you."

"I love you too," Amanda responded, giving Chris a kiss. "I don't want you to leave," she whispered to him.

"I have to leave. You know that, babe," Chris replied, kissing Amanda back passionately.

They stood kissing until Chris had to get into the plane, not wanting to part with each other.

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Month two

It had been two months without Chris and it was affecting her at night. He wasn't there to hold her as they fell asleep so it took her hours to go to sleep because she was constantly worried about him.

It was even affecting Amanda's students when she taught. Usually, Amanda was on top of everything in the classroom but now she was too scatter-brained from not having Chris around to go home to and keep her from going insane some days.

She just wanted to wake up to his kisses and have Chris tell her that she was beautiful.

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Month four

It had been four months with Chris gone on his deployment.

A student in her class had recently gotten a baby brother and his mother was bringing him in that day for pick up after school.

"Can I hold him?" Amanda asked the mother of the student who was being picked up.

"Of course. Let me just get Brayden out of his carrier," the mother responded, getting the newborn out of his car seat.

She handed the newborn, Brayden, to Amanda and she cradled him in her arms.

"He's adorable," Amanda commented. "He looks just like his big brother."

"They both look just like their father," the newborn's mother responded.

"No, Brayden looks more like you," Amanda said. "He is very cute. He's absolutely adorable."

"He is very cute," the mother agreed.

The baby, Brayden began to cry as Amanda cradled him in his arms. Amanda didn't know what to do with the crying child, she had never held a crying child.

He began to paw at one of Amanda's breasts so she looked up at his mother.

"He's hungry," the mother explained.

"Do you want him back?" Amanda asked in reply. She continued to rock him back and forth in her arms.

"I've got bottles for him in his nappy bag if we're out in public when Brayden's hungry. Would you like to feed him?" The mum said.

"Sure," Amanda said as she sat down in her desk chair, still holding Brayden. "I would love to feed him."

The mother handed Amanda a baby bottle and helped her to get started on feeding the newborn.

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Month four, week two

Almost every bone and muscle in Amanda's body ached with missing her boyfriend. She missed him more than anything in the world. She kept telling herself that he would be home in only a month and a half but that just made it seem worse for her. Amanda just wanted Chris to come home now.

It was starting to take a toll on her teaching. Her mind was often wandering off to praying that Chris was still alive as he was in Syria. The students could tell that Amanda was worrying even more but there was nothing more than they could do but give her a hug at the end of the school day.

"Miss Holden?" A student, Penelope, asked. "Could you please help me with the research project? I'm overwhelmed by the news articles that are showing up."

"Of course," Amanda replied.

The project the students were working on was a project on different countries and the students had free choice on what country they wanted to research. This particular student, Peneople, chose Syria as the country she was going to research.

"Have you tried putting key words into the search bar? That helps to keep from being overwhelmed by the news articles you're finding," Amanda said, putting some key words into the online database search engine along with Penelope's country, Syria.

Amanda read the first headline and her face blanched as she read it.

103 Men and Women Military Members Dead

"Are you okay, Miss Holden?" Another student, Jacob, asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Amanda lied as she sat back down at her desk.

What if one of those people is Chris? she thought.

{●}

Hey guys! What do you guys think of the suspense in this chapter? Do you think one of the men and women who died in combat is Chris? If you've read the context, you know he dies so do you think he's one of them?

What have you guys thought of this fanfic so far and this chapter? I'm already currently in progress of writing a sequel that is a little more than halfway done. Can we get this chapter to 100 reads? Thanks guys! Bye until the next chapter!