The drive back home was quiet. Both of them were tired from the flight over and were just ready to relax. When we pulled up to the house I parked out front and helped them grab everything they brought with them. We walked inside together and I hung the keys on an empty hook by the door.

"Mom, I'm back." I said loudly into the house as Morgan and Rob followed inside behind me.

"She is a bit lost in her own world right now Dani, she'll come out and say hi later." Peyton said as she came around the corner.

"Morgan, Rob, this is my step-mom Peyton, Peyton this is my spotter Rob and my best friend Morgan." I said introducing everyone.

The intros didn't last long with both of them being used to usually cold military greetings. When it was over I brought them both upstairs and showed them to their rooms. Rob is staying in Dominic's old bedroom while Morgan is staying with me in mine. Morgan went into my room to start to unpack while I followed Rob. He put his bag down on the bed and turned to face me. He has a few scratches on his arms from the blow back the other day but he looks pretty fine.

"How's your head?" Rob asked and lowered himself down on the bed.

"Low grade concussion, the ringing finally stopped thank God. I'll be fine in few days. How are you?" I asked.

"My back took the worse of it. I'm going to be rearranging my belts and bag when we get spun up again. It's just sore." Rob said and reached around to rub the pain that's still lingering.

"It could also be the years of war catching up to us." I said and sat down next to him.

"Yea, that too." Rob said and sighed. "How's your heart?"

"Broken" I said quietly.

Rob didn't say anything else but just put his arm around my shoulder as my eyes teared up. He has been one of the constants in my normally wonderous life. Wherever I went, Rob was usually just a step behind. He's been one of the few good things the army has given me over the years. We went through Ranger school together and went on to our unit together as well.

After I got the call, Rob was the one who caught me when I fell to the floor and he was right by my side when I woke up in the med bay. I thought it was just a dream and then he told me it wasn't. That's when he told me we were going home, to be here for the funeral. We have been through a lot together, injuries, bad opps, getting stuck behind enemy lines, weddings, capturing high value targets, funerals, to many funerals and the birth of his kids.

I let Rob hold me for a few minutes. His big muscular arms making me safe and content at home and I just sagged against him. It only lasted for a few more minutes before Morgan walked into the room. She was quiet, unlike her normal loud self and I looked up at her.

"My turn" Morgan said and held out her hand for me to take. Rob gave me one last squeeze before letting me go. I got up from the bed and let Morgan pull me out of the room. We walked back to mine and once we got here I shut the door behind her and walked to the bed.

I didn't sit down, only watched Morgan as she walked over to me. She brought her hands up to my jaw and softly cupped it in her hands and my breath caught in my throat. Carefully, she turned it and got a better look at the scratches from the other day. Neither of us said anything as she inspected it for herself. When she was satisfied, Morgan's eyes met mine.

"We are both here for you and aren't going anywhere. Peter was our friend too. We want to honor him with you." Morgan said and swallowed. I bit my lip and nodded before Morgan pulled me into her arms.

Morgan and I have been friends since the beginning. We met in boot camp were she practically saved my life and have always been in each other's orbit since. We were in the same platoon and went overseas into combat zones together. We served together for a bit longer before I went off to sniper school. We linked back up again for about a year before I went off to Ranger school. After I came out a Ranger, Morgan went to Officer Candidate School and graduated a Lieutenant who often times works with my Ranger unit as an intelligence officer who puts together our target packages. Once we realized we were going to be stationed in the same place, we bought a small house together just outside of base. Both of us were tired of life in the barracks and thought it made more sense to pool our money and get a house together then waist away there.

The sting of my tears hitting the scratches on my face pulled me out of my head and I started to sob again. I couldn't help it though as the water works just came out. We held onto each other for a while before I finally pulled away. Morgan's eyes were red as well and I couldn't help but wipe away the tears as they fell from her face.

Whenever my dad was on base he would always come over and just spend time with Morgan and I. He started to think of Morgan as a second daughter especially after he found out her family didn't approve of her military service. They thought she would only join and do her first service term and then go home to be with them. Well one term turned into 10 years now and she still hasn't thought about going home to them.

So dad did what he does best, loved her like she was his own. It made me happy to know that the two have their own relationship outside of me and Morgan went to him when she needed things. Had, had, fuck. When I pulled out of my own self pity spiral I looked at Morgan, really looked at her. Her chocolate-colored eyes look sad, something I haven't seen in a long time. They are red rimed and the bags under them looks like she hasn't slept in days.

"You know he loved you like his own daughter right?" I asked wanting to make sure she knew, that she knows how much she means to him, meant, meant, meant.

"I know. It's just hard to believe some times. I was having dinner with him just last week. He was pushing me to do this DOD fellowship but now it just feels wrong. Everything feels wrong without him here." Morgan said and clenched her jaw.

"He held us together and pushed us to work for our dreams." I said and wiped away a tear from her cheek.

"Yea" Morgan said and I just pulled her in for another hug.

This one didn't last long, just enough for her to know that I'm here with her. When we broke apart I showed Morgan where she can put her clothes for the next couple of days while she is here. While she started unpacking, I went downstairs and moved my laundry around in the washer. After that was done, I checked in on mom really quick. She is still lost in her painting and I knew Peyton or I would have to pull her out of it later. I just let her be and walked back up to my room and started pulling the ribbons out of the box.

It took some time but finally I had my jacket all pinned together correctly. All of my ribbons are on display along with my name plate and skill badges. For once, I'm not covering up my identity. After I was done I took a few steps back and looked it all over, to me everything is in place and I even had Morgan take a look at it. She agreed and after she did I sighed and took a seat on my bed. It's not often that I'm able to wear all of my badges and name plate. The only other time I can remember recently was promotion ceremony to Staff Segreant.

After taking a few moments to collect myself I walked over to check on Rob and found him passed out on the bed. Just as I was about to leave, my foot hit a creaky floor board and he bolted upright and reached for the knife I knew he tucked into the mattress. I just stayed still and let him get his baring's for a second before I opened my mouth.

"Barbeque for dinner?" I asked quietly.

"Sounds good." Rob said and sat up in bed. I stayed for another second to make sure he was okay before leaving again. Morgan seemed to be okay, she was putting together her own uniform when I checked back in with her and told her I was heading down stairs to start with dinner.

Downstairs I found Peyton on the couch reading through a booklet of papers. Music is still coming from the studio and I knew mom wouldn't be coming out any time soon.

"I'm going to grill for dinner, is there anything else you would have wanted?" I asked Peyton as I started to pull out the steaks, burgers and hot dogs I bought at the store earlier.

"I can make some sides if you grill, are you going to start now?" Peyton asked looking up from her papers.

"Yea, I'm going to light it up now. I'm hoping the smell will make mom come out of her hole." I said and put everything down on the counter. "Is Dominic coming over tonight?"

"He should be, I told him to." Peyton said and flipped the page over.

I didn't answer, just started to unpack everything from the store and started to season the steaks. Once that was all done, I moved on to counting out some burgers and hot dogs. After that was done I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and went out the sliding back door to the deck. It didn't take long to get the grill going and the meat cooking. Morgan and Rob both joined me outside a little into cooking, beers in hand.

Morgan put on some music while I watched the grill and talked about a few different missions we were all on together. Just as I pulled the steak from the grill the backdoor slid open and mom walked out. She has paint all over her hands and quite a few spots on her face. I only smiled at her as Morgan and Rob stood from their chairs to greet her. Though they have met a few times over facetime and phone calls, Rob hasn't met my mom in person yet.

"Rob this is my mom Shannon, and Morgan you already know each other." I said and put another piece of cheese on a burger.

"It's really nice to finally meet you in person Ma'am." Rob said.

"Oh no" I said and took a swig from my beer before turning around and watching my mom. She didn't say anything for moment before she pointed a paint covered finger at Rob.

"This house is not an Army base, if I hear you utter the word Ma'am again I will throw you out." Mom said and pointed her long finger into Robs chest.

Morgan snickered for another second before she pulled my mom into a hug. After the initial awkwardness, Rob came around to mom as she helped me with the last of the stuff on the grill. We all brought everything inside and I found Dominic helping Peyton set the table. When Dominic saw my friends, he broke apart from Peyton and came over to greet them. Dominic comes down to see me often in Fort Benning when I'm stateside and Rob usually ends up at Morgan and I's house once a week. So they all know each other well by now.

Dinner all together went over well. We all took interest in mom's latest series of commissions that she took while we all steered clear of anything related to Dad. After we were all finished with dinner mom and Peyton cleaned up while Dominic, Rob, Morgan and I went and sat out on the deck with some beers. We just talked about simpler times and then we started pester Rob about getting to see his kids soon. He has an 8-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy, Michelle and Marc. He only got to see them for a few hours when we got back from overseas before he got on another flight and came to be with me.

The night ended a little after that as we were all pretty tired. Before he left, I thanked Dominic for the truck and gave him a long hug. After he was gone, I finished off the laundry I had working and brought it all upstairs. I checked in with Rob and made sure he was going to be okay for the night. As he started to push me out of the room, I thought he would be okay and closed the door behind me.

Morgan just finished her shower when I closed the door to my room. I left all the clothes I had to fold in the laundry basket for tonight and just crawled into bed. It didn't take long before Morgan joined me and sighed.

"You ready for tomorrow?" She asked and turned to face me.

"Are you?" I questioned and raised an eyebrow.

"Definitely not." Morgan said and pulled the comforter up higher on her shoulders. I didn't respond but just got comfortable for the night and prayed tomorrow won't be as bad as I was making it in my head.

The next morning when I woke up, Morgan wasn't in bed. I had zero interest in running today. Once I finally pealed my body from the bed, I bounded down the stairs and found mom sitting at the table with a coffee in front of her. The local paper is open and mom is reading an article as I got my own cup of coffee and sat down next to her. When I saw what the paper was open to I sighed. Dad's eyes were staring into mine.

"I didn't know the paper knew about his passing, if I did, I would have tried to stop it." Mom said and closed the paper.

"Rob told me yesterday that some of the teams are going to coming to the wake tomorrow as they are home, I just wanted to warn you. What time are we going to the funeral home?" I asked.

"In about an hour." Mom answered and got up from the table. I didn't say anything as I just took in the sunshine pouring in from the backdoor.

"You need to eat before we go." Mom said and put a plate down on the table before returning to her cup of coffee.

"Did you eat yet?" I asked and sat down next to her in front of the plate.

"Yea, Peyton made me some eggs before she ran out with Morgan." Mom said and opened the paper again to go back to reading.

I didn't say anything else as I slowly ate the pancakes that were left for me. As I finished the plate I knew it would be a miracle if I would be able to hold them down all day. Just as I finished breakfast the door opened and in walked Rob, Morgan and Peyton. They didn't say anything but Morgan held a bag in her hand.

"Find what you were looking for?" Mom asked them.

"Yes" Morgan said and went upstairs. Rob followed and I just went to the sink to wash my breakfast stuff.

When it was done, I went upstairs to start getting ready for the wake. Rob, Morgan and myself are going in full uniform even though mom made it clear today was for family only. It's not like I had much of a choice in clothing anyway. By the time I was all buttoned up and ready, it was time to head out. Just before I left my room I remembered to ask Morgan and Rob for the patches they were able to get. They handed me a few from different units we've worked with but two stood out to me, the first one was from Morgan's intel unit while the second was Rob and I's Ranger unit along with one of our challenge coins. I tucked them into an inside pocket of my jacket as we made our way down the stairs.

Mom did a double take when she saw the three of us. Her eyes watered and she put her hands on her hips as she tried to get her words together.

"Can I get a picture of you guys? I don't have any recent ones of Daniella in her uniform." Mom asked and swallowed hard. I just nodded, willing to do anything she needed us to do today.

The three of us got together and mom snapped a few, one without our berets and another with them. Once mom got what she was looking for I heard foot steps come around the corner and saw Peyton dressed in black slacks and a Navy button down, tie in hand for mom to knot around her neck. Once Peyton was ready I looked around the house to make sure I had everything I needed. Mom and Peyton jumped into Peytons car while I took the truck and drove behind them the whole way there.

When we got to the funeral home, the funeral director met us at the door when we all walked in. Rob and Morgan actually stuck around outside while Peyton, Mom and I went inside to talk with him. Since the army covered everything there really much for us to do. Their liaison was here as well and he went over everything with us for what we can expect to happen. We still had about an hour until people would arrive. Mom and Peyton went towards the front of the room while I walked over to the casket.

I took my beret off and took a breath before looking down. Dad was dressed in his uniform as I expected and it finally started to sink in that he wasn't coming back. A sharp breath ripped through my lungs as I knelt down on the bench in front of the casket. I pulled two patches from my pocket and the coin and carefully placed them inside the lid of the casket.

"So you have a piece of me and Morgan with you always." I said to him and clenched my jaw. I rested my head against the outside of the casket and tried to recall any of my Ranger training to help me in this moment but came up short. Out of all of the funerals I've been to through my years in the army, nothing quite prepares you to see your own father in the coffin.

It took some time but finally I pulled my head up from the side of the casket and I wiped my face. Once I thought I looked okay I stood from the bench, pulled my beret on and looked down at Dad again. With tears in my eyes I pulled my hand up to salute him. When I broke the salute I turned around and marched back up the aisle and out of the funeral home to get some air.

The bright warm North Carolina sun greeted me as I paced around in a circle for a few minutes trying to get myself together. The heat of midday started to get to me while dressed in this suit so I walked back inside. I met up with a red eyed Morgan and a stone-faced Rob as I found mom and Peyton down by dad. Dominic strolled into the funeral home a few minutes later and he went over to see mom while I stayed away. I couldn't face seeing dad like that again right now. Maybe later but not again right now.

Just as I was going to suggest getting a seat to Rob and Morgan, the door to the funeral home opened and in walked a familiar little boy and his mom. When Logan saw me he ran away from his mom and hugged my legs.

"Hi Logan." I said and ran my hand through his hair.

"Hi Daniella." He said and pulled away from me to take in Rob and Morgan. His eyes widened a little bit more when noticed our uniforms. "Wow." He said and I watched his eyes run along all of our ribbons.

"That reminds, I have something for you Logan." I said and reached inside my pocket and pulled out the extra patches I had. I made sure to grab the right ones and bent down on one knee to be eye level with him.

"These are for you. This one is from my unit and this one is from my best friends." I said and handed him both of the patches.

"They are so cool." Logan said and ran his fingers down both patches.

"Logan, how many times" I heard Mal's voice in the background break off and I looked up to find her standing behind her son with another man next to her.

"Hi Mal." I said and stood up a bit straighter in her presence.

"It's Mallory, Daniella." Mallory said.

"I should have known you're the soldier." The man next to Mallory started but stopped.

"And what's it to you?" I asked looking at the familiar face but couldn't place it.

"My name is Troy Simms, I'm Mallory's husband." He said and held out his hand.

And my day just went from bad to worse.

a/n: I love leaving little cliff hangers. updating earlier as I will be busy tomorrow with Easter. Happy Holidays to everyone who is celebrating this weekend! song on the side is Lonely by Machine Gun Kelly. say what you want about MGK, this song made me sob the first few times I heard it.