Chapter Three

Ripcord slowly began to ascend the wooden steps of the porch, still wearing the smile he'd had since he'd carefully pulled up into the driveway of the squat house. He took in every detail he could, each small thing was a piece of home. The worn-in welcome mat, the porch swing, the lacy white drapes in the windows, the flag mounted on one of the porch's columns, even the small potted plants scattered around. Ripcord reached for the knob of the front door and gave it a slow turn. In a very slow motion he cracked the door and carefully eased it open. Immediately his senses were assaulted. The sound of a radio blaring Cheap Trick's "Didn't I See You Cryin'?" were heard along with a feminine voice singing along with the song. Additionally the pleasant smell of cooking seasonings filled the air. Both made Ripcord smile even wider as he carefully slipped into the house. He slowly made his way through the living room with Covergirl in tow. As he passed through the room his eyes scanned over the details, the soft cream-colored walls, the worn-in brown carpet, the brown brick fireplace, the well-worn couches, and several pictures of two children in various stages of growth that adorned the walls. As he crept slowly into a hallway just on the narrow side, the music and the woman's voice became louder. Finally Ripcord eased in an open doorway that lead into a good sized kitchen. Near the kitchen's sink was a young woman with fiery red hair pulled up into a ponytail which bounced up and down as she danced to the music. She was dressed in a dark blue jump suit and jacket, with an EMT emblem dominating the back of the jacket. Ripcord let a huge grin play over his face as he carefully stepped behind the shorter woman, watching her season several pork chops.
"If you're cookin' then I'm orderin' a pizza." Ripcord called out over the noise of the music.
"Wally!" The woman yelled as she turned around with a bright look on her face as she wrapped a hug around Ripcord.
"I take it you missed me huh?" Ripcord asked with the same playful look on his face.
"Damn right I did, ya big lug." The woman said with a smirk as she gave a playful shove to Ripcord's shoulder. The woman then swung her eyes towards Covergirl, which caused her joyful face to suddenly take on an air of disbelief. However almost immediately her face brighten again, much more so than before. "Oh my God! Courtney Krieger!" The woman shouted out. The woman immediately ran the short distance to Covergirl and began to act extremely flustered as she began to talk in a swift tone and used a lot of body language. "Miss Krieger, you have not idea how big of a fan I am of yours! I still have that Cosmo with you on the cover!"
"Courtney, this is Kitty, my sister." Ripcord said with a laugh, "And I take it Kitty already knows you."
"Hi Kitty." Covergirl said, letting out a small chuckle as a slight look of embarrassment crossed her face. As the look subsided she extended her hand to Ripcord's sister.
"This is so an honor!" Kitty shrieked with delight as she swiftly shook her hand. After a moment a realization seemed to cross her face as she raised an eyebrow. "But what's a model doing with my brother?" She said in a confused tone. Covergirl opened her mouth to say something but it caught in her throat.
"She's a friend of mine, she's stationed at Knox. I went up there on TDY one week and we met." Ripcord said as he stepped towards the two similarly built women.
"So that's where you went when you disappeared from the scene three years ago." Kitty said with a slow nod of her head. "So how close of friends are you?" Kitty asked in a playful voice as she shifted her gaze between the two soldiers. The younger woman's comment brought a blush to Covergirl's face as the ex-model looked to Ripcord briefly before shifting her gaze away from both Weems' siblings.
"Hey does that guy that works at the Chinese place still have a thing for you?" Ripcord asked.
"Don't change the subject." Kitty said playfully to her brother as she pointed her index finger at him.
"Well if he does then I hope you're willing to deal with him tonight." Ripcord said as he grins and leaned against the wall. Kitty shot a quizzical look at Ripcord before he spoke up again. "I smell the rolls burning."
"Shit!" Kitty called out as she shot towards the oven and flung the door downwards.
"Where's Mom?" Ripcord asked as he laughed at the sight of sister's near dive for the oven.
"In the back!" Kitty shouted back as she quickly threw on thick insulated mittens and pulled a roll filled cookie sheet out of the oven.
"I'll be back in a minute." Ripcord said, still laughing at his sister as he passed by Covergirl, giving a reassuring squeeze on her upper arm.

Ripcord sighed heavily as he stared down at the knob of the thick wooden door that lead from the small laundry room to the back yard of the house. He took a moment to collect his thoughts somewhat before his hand slowly reached towards the knob. As the door silently swung outwards Ripcord's eyes took in the details as the dying afternoon sunshine cast a hazy light on the yard. The dominant feature was a big oak tree in the corner of the yard with a worn out tree house and tire swing still attached to its branches. His eyes then fell an area sectioned off with old railroad ties, his mother's garden. In the summer it was a beautiful sight. Nearly every color of the rainbow would be represented, a myriad of different plant and vegetables. However now in autumn only a few sections devoted to vegetables still held color. Kneeling down in front of several tomato plants was an older woman, still dressed in nurse's scrubs. The woman had wire frame glasses pushed up into her fiery red hair, the same as her children, with the exceptional streak of gray scattered in just a few places. Her hands worked their way over several of the tomatoes, giving gentle squeezes to the bright red vegetables. Ripcord reluctantly made his way towards the older woman, stopping about ten feet behind where the woman was kneeling.
"Um....Hi Mom." Ripcord finally called out after some initial hesitation. The woman slowly dropped her hands onto her knees then twisted her body at an equally slow pace. She gave a single slow nod in Ripcord's direction before she twisted back around and began inspecting the tomatoes again.
"Hello Wally." She spoke in a slow deliberate voice. "Does your sister know you're here?"
"Yea...Yeah, I talked to Kitty a minute ago." Ripcord responded, casting his eyes down to neatly clipped grass in the back yard.
"She should have dinner ready shortly. We still cook extra so there should be plenty." She stated in the same, almost monotone, voice. "How long are you here for?"
"Jus...Just today and some of tomorrow." Ripcord said, still tripping over his words somewhat. "I...I have company, a friend of mine."
"Well, there's always room for one more." She said, adding a slight shrug of her shoulders. "He's welcome to stay."
"Sh..She." Ripcord corrected after a long moment.
"Oh. I see." She responded simply.
"Well, I'm gonna go see if Kitty needs help." Ripcord said with a sigh after a small eternity of silence had stretched out between the two.
"That's good. I'll be along shortly." She responded, allowing a single slow nod again. Without a word Ripcord turned and walked solemnly back towards the house. Once the sound of the door closing was heard Ripcord's mother twisted her body around again. Her dark green eyes stared longingly back at the spot where Ripcord had been standing. "It's good to have you home again Wally." She called out to no one, her sad voice just barely above her breath.

Ripcord's eyes scanned over the well kept dinning room, taking in all the familiar details he knew by heart. The white lace drapes pulled elegantly to side of the two windows in the room. The tall wooden china cabinet that sat against the blank back wall, several treasures, priceless only in the eyes of the Weems family, displayed proudly behind it's glass doors. The well-polished wood of the rectangle shaped table and six padded chairs that sat around it. Four of the those chairs were occupied, his mom at the back end of the table, the Weems children across from each other in the seats nearest their mother. The same spots they'd occupied ever since...well ever since. Ripcord tired to ignore that train of thought, instead focusing on the modest array of food set out on the table. Pork chops, mashed potatoes, chopped carrots, and rolls. Not exactly five star dining to many, but to Ripcord it was a taste of home. That was all that mattered. He looked over and gave Covergirl a warm smile before his mother spoke up.
"Kitty if you would please say grace." She spoke as she gave a single nod.
"Sure thing." Kitty said in her normal cheery voice before bowing her head, causing the other three people at the table to follow suit. The young woman then went through blessing before saying 'amen', causing the others to utter the word as well lift their heads. As his family started to dig in Ripcord took Covergirl's plate with a smile and began to fill it for her. As he set the plate in front of her and began to work on his own, Kitty broke the silence. "So Wally, what are you doing now? You mentioned being down at Benning?"
"They've got me there as a special instructor, they've been sucking up everybody that's logged a lot of jumps to give a hand down there. The number of DIs has been dropping, so they're looking for help where ever they can find it." Ripcord stated with a shrug as he set his plate in front of him.
"Did you hear about your Cousin Jacob?" Ripcord's mother asked before Kitty could follow up his response. "He's finally graduated Law School. He made some good scores on his tests and he's already gotten offers from several firms to walk on with them."
"Really? That's good for him, he should have enough from that to set himself up pretty quickly." Ripcord let out a small chuckle before continuing. "That should have Aunt Mary overjoyed, one less kid in the house."
"One down, four to go." Kitty added with a smile. "If Aunt Mary doesn't give out soon her nerves will." The comment raised another chuckle from the siblings before Kitty continued. "So Wally, what ever happened with that promotion?"
"Truth be told sis, I dunno. I was about to go before the NCO board for review then I got reassigned and the promotion just kinda got lost in the trail of paperwork." Ripcord stated with a shrug.
"So Courtney," Ripcord's mother started again, not giving Kitty a chance to give any follow-ups to her brother's statement. "Kitty tells me you used to be a model, what was that like?"
"It was... interesting." Covergirl stated with a slight nod of her head.
"Oh, c'mon," Kitty said with a smile as she leaned forward, "It had to be more than just 'interesting'." Kitty said playfully to female soldier.
"It had its good parts and bad..." Covergirl said before looking down for a brief moment. After a short moment had passed she looked up and smiled at Kitty. "I don't miss it."
"Drop it sis." Ripcord stated flatly as a sly look crossed Kitty's face.
"What?" Kitty said with a playful tone. "I just wanna make sure she's not a psycho stalker like Anna was, somebody has to watch out for you bro."
"Drop that too." Ripcord said with a shake of his head.
"Why? Afraid she knows you're back and will come knocking on the door in the middle of the night like last time?" Kitty shot back with a slight laugh, causing her mother to shake her head. "Well," Kitty said playfully as she turned to Covergirl, "Would you like to know about Wally's favorite stalker?"
"I mean it Kitty," Ripcord warned in a less than serious tone, "Tell her about Anna and I'll tell 'your idol' here about your fiasco with Phil. Still making payments Kitty?"
"Oh, don't you dare Wallace Andrew Weems!" Kitty said as a blush crossed her freckle-covered face. The whole exchange raised a fit of laughter from Covergirl that she quickly tired to play off as cough, which in itself rose laughter from the two Weems children.
"Okay kids, I'm going to bed." Ripcord's mother said, resisting a chuckle of her own at the antics of her two children. "Kitty don't forget about the picnic after Church tomorrow, I'll be leaving early to help set it up." The older woman then turned to Ripcord and spoke with a solemn tone. "I know you won't want to join us Wally, but Courtney is welcome to go with Kitty in the morning if she wants."

Another fit of laughter rose from the two women as they turned to the next page in one of the thick photo albums. Their attention was focused on a picture that showed a much younger teenaged Ripcord standing in the middle of field, a parachute harness on, the silk of the parachute itself flapping in the breeze. The humor in the picture was in the Superman costume the skydiver was wearing and the overly dramatic pose he was striking.
"This is what happens when you decide to do a jump on Halloween." Kitty explained to Covergirl. The two women turned their gaze towards the hallway as Ripcord reentered the room, sipping from a can of beer as he crossed over the couch that they were on.
"Wasn't it cold jumping in tights Wally?" Kitty asked in between her fits of laughter.
"Oh God, not that picture." Ripcord responded with a roll of his eyes as he plopped down into the well-worn sofa next to Covergirl, who immediately shot him a knowing glance. The paratrooper immediately pointed out the next picture, showing a younger Kitty in a flashy, pink 'princess' outfit. "Now this picture has a funny story behind it."
"I think I forgot to feed the dog...." Kitty trailed off, averting her eyes from the photo album.
"First off, we don't have a dog. Secondly, you're not gettin' outta this one." Ripcord said with a chuckle as he reached past Covergirl and clamped a hand down on his sister's shoulder, pinning her to couch.
"This so not fair Wally." Kitty said flatly with a shake of her head.
"You see," Ripcord started with an almost sing song tone to his voice. "Kitty was in a school play at the time this picture was taken. She won the lead, so I give her that much credit. But during one of the biggest scenes in the play, Miss Weems here goes totally blank. She stands on stage with the boy lead, in complete silence for two long minutes. Then the director calls out her line but Kitty is too freaked to realize it at first so finally after the director yelled out the line at the top of her lungs for the third time, Kitty chokes out the line. But of course by then the whole auditorium was in an uproar."
"I am so gonna kill you for that one Wally." Kitty responded with a shake of her head as she crossed her arms, which in turn raised a laugh from Covergirl. "Okay, show's over." Kitty stated as she reached down and turned the page. The move caused something to tumble out of the back of the album and fall lazily down to the carpeted floor. Covergirl immediately reached down to pick up the small photograph. She then turned the photograph over and looked at the image on it. Covergirl recognized the house in the background as being the one there were in now. On the wide steps to the front porch were four people, two adults and two children. The two children were recognizable as Ripcord and Kitty. The woman, dressed in a white nurse's uniform, was obviously their mother. The man dressed in the uniform of a firefighter however was new to Covergirl. He resembled the current Ripcord only somewhat older. The each of the people in the picture looked honestly happy, like something right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
"Who's this Wally?" Covergirl asked as she tapped her finger on the man in the picture. Covergirl turned in time to see a depressed look cross over Ripcord's face just before he shot to his feet and quickly slipped out of the front door.

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