"Garroth, I have some good news for you," mom says, walking into my room.

I check the clock. It seems to be early.

7:43 AM.

Why am I up this early?

"What is it?" I ask, hugging my knees to my chest.

"Your dad's gonna come back for a few days," she smiles.

I give a broad smile back, teeth showing. I haven't seen him in about six months, so I'm excited. Vylad's gonna be excited, too. Like, really excited.

"For how long?" I ask.

"I don't know, he didn't say. But hes on his way now, should be here tomorrow," she ruffles the hair I have, which I won't have for very much longer.

"Okay, I'm gonna go check up on your grandparents and brothers. You be good, okay?" She asks. I nod and she leaves.

I lay down and look up at the bare white ceiling, smiling like an idiot. But I dont care, they took my dad away for so long, and now I'm getting him back.

"What are you smiling about, you idiot?" A voice asks.

I sit up immediately to see Aphmau, a smirk spread across her face. I scrunch up my nose and she laughs.

"Well, answer my question, you dingus!" She says.

Dingus?

"For your information, I'm smiling like an idiot because my dad is coming for a few days," I say.

Aphmau smiles, "That's awesome, Garroth!"

"I just cant wait until tomorrow," I say, kicking my feet. Aphmau giggles.

"Can I meet him, too?" She asks.

I nod, "If you want."

"Thanks!" She says, smiles, ans runs off.

That smile, those eyes. Man, she really is a beautiful girl. Or woman, I don't know. Is 11 considered a woman?

Dude questions.

I lay again, looking up at the ceiling.

My dad is coming home, and nothing in the world can stop him.

~•~

I decide to watch something on the iPad. I remember doing this at the hospital when I was younger all the time. Good times, good times.

Kind of.

I open up The Walking Dead. I wanna finish it, because I'm only on season 4. Good timing, I do say.

My brain gets stimulated with action. All the shooting and drama going on. I smile to myself, my eyes wide with excitement. Since I have my earbuds low, I hear a voice say:

"What's so exciting about zombies?"

I turn around to see my dad, hair buzzed and in a uniform. I give a broad smile and I shake with happiness.

"Dad!" I hug him tight. He does the same thing back. I try not to cry.

"Hey, soldier," he says, still hugging me.

His camouflage uniform smells like sweat and cologne, a safe smell. He strokes my hair lightly and separates from the hug.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asks.

I sigh, "Can we not talk about that for now?"

He pauses but nods, "Yeah, we can change the subject."

"How's the Army?" I ask as he sits down next to me.

"Okay, but I hate being away from all of you," he says.

I nod, "Where are you going next?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "Probably somewhere in Afghanistan."

I shudder. That's a dangerous country, isn't it? I was terrified when he was in Iraq, but then he got deployed to Japan, and then Germany, and then- well you get the picture. He was safe for the longest time, and now he is gonna be in complete danger.

"Hey, I promise it'll be okay, alright?" He looks me straight in the eye. But something isn't right, his eyes are terrified and sad.

I nod, "O-Okay."

He promised that it'll be okay. I have to trust him, one of the only men I've ever trusted.

~•~

Dad and I talked for a while, catching up on almost everything. School, the summers he's missed, stuff like that. Later, mom, Zane, and Vylad come in. Vylad as energetic as ever.

"Daddy!" He runs over to him. Dad picks him up and ruffles his hair.

"There's my boy. What's up, buddy?" He asks.

Vylad shrugs, "The ceiling," he pauses. "Duh."

Zane face palms while the rest of us laugh. I do admit, he is pretty adorable. Vylad looks around at everyone, wondering why we are all laughing. I shake my head and look down.

"We can't stay for too long," mom says. "Vylad was just too excited and wanted to stop by."

"You do realize I'm here longer than a day, right little man?" Dad asks.

Vylad nods, "Uh huh. But you're gonna have to leave again."

"I know bud," dad sighs and puts him down. "But I will come back again, okay?"

Vylad nods sadly. Dad smiles and ruffles his hair. Mom grabs his hand and smiles at all of us.

"I think we should go," she says. "Zane's getting antsy."

Zane growls as they leave. Dad shakes his head and laughs while turning to me. I can tell he's got an idea.

"Do you wanna buzz your hair again? While I'm here?" He asks. I nod, he's pretty much the only one I let do that.

He laughs and leads me into the bathroom. He plugs in a buzzer and turns it on.

"Any specific hairstyles?" He asks over the buzzer.

"Mohawk?" I ask once again.

Dad winks as he puts the buzzer over my head. I look at the blonde hair falling to the ground. It's pretty much deja vu, and even though I hate it, it's kinda nice to remember those things. Dad finishes and turns the buzzer off for a second.

"Like it?" He asks.

I nod, "Yeah, it's cool."

"Why don't you keep it?" He unplugs the buzzer.

"But I don't have any hair g-"

"Got some," he says, holding up a tube of hair gel.

"Always you dad," I sigh. "Always you."

He laughs and starts to gel my hair, showing me how to do it. It looks awesome, though it's relatively tall, it's still cool. Then, in the mirror, I see Aphmau. She blushes, but giggles.

"Awesome mohawk!" She exclaims, and turns to my dad, "Hi, Mr. Ro'Meave."

"Aphmau, I'm guessing?" He shakes her hand.

She nods, "Yeah, I'm Garroth's friend."

I blush as soon as those words come out. They both notice. Dad smiles at me and Aphmau gives a small laugh. I blush deeper.

"It's nice to meet you, Aphmau," dad says.

"Same to you, Mr. Ro'Meave," she says.

Man, this is awkward for me.

3 days later

I sit in the room, waiting for what? I don't know. I just stare out the window, it's so weird not to be outside in forever. I turn the other way to see dad, looking at me with sympathy.

"Hey, soldier," he says and sits next to me.

I look at him confused, "What's wrong?"

"I have to go, I've already spent too much time here. They need me back there," he says with tears in his eyes, threatening to spill.

"B-But you just got here," I stutter.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But I have to go, I don't have any control over it," he kisses my forehead.

"You keep fighting for me, okay?" He looks at me straight in the eye.

I nod, tears also threatening to spill out of my eyes. He looks at me with more sympathy.

"Tell your brothers and your mom that I love them. I've already said my goodbyes to them but, you know," he says.

I nod, "I-I promise I will."

"Good," he says as he gets up. "I love you, Garroth. Don't ever give up on me."

I nod and he leaves the room, wanting to look back but he doesn't. My brains cries out for him. I want to run after him, beg him not to go but I know that won't help. So I just sit there, in the dead silence.

The army officers are thieves. They put soldiers in dangerous places.

The president is a thief, ruling over them like they're dogs.

America is a thief, making them leave all of the sudden just to defend her.

Thieves.

••••••••
Sorry for the late chapter, had a lot to do today.

Thanks for reading! Bai!
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