Monroe Doctrine: Volume VIII by James Rosone & Miranda Watson

Author:James Rosone & Miranda Watson [Rosone, James & Watson, Miranda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Front Line Publishing Inc.
Published: 2023-10-20T16:00:00+00:00

Grabowski Family Home

St. Augustine, Florida

Staff Sergeant Jamie Roberts had transferred to one of the National Guard units in St. Augustine with Jeremiah. Once they’d found out she was having twins, she had made the decision to step back from being a full-time Active Guard member to the inactive ready reserve for a few years. She still had a desire to finish her twenty-year requirement for a National Guard pension. But right now, her focus was on being a stay-at-home mom until her munchkins were old enough to start school. Becoming a parent to twins had been a drastic change for her. It had changed her focus in life and what she wanted to pursue and put her energies into. With the war still raging, Jamie felt compelled to remain active in her community to support the war effort in whatever ways she could.

She had become increasingly active in the VFW and spoke regularly at various women’s empowerment and Women in Uniform events. Apparently, being one of only two women in history to be awarded the Army Distinguished Service Cross and the first woman to be awarded the Combat Infantry Badge put her in high demand. It was strange to her, but she had become the poster woman for women in combat jobs, at least within the National Guard units.

In the day-to-day, though, she was fighting a battle of the mind that she didn’t feel like she was winning. A new baby was a lot of adjustment for anyone—twins were a level of chaos most people just weren’t prepared for, even in the best of circumstances. The two boys were a whirlwind of grunts and screeches, trying to climb anything and everything. She had quickly learned that there was no level of childproofing that was fully foolproof against their shenanigans. And so, she had to be hypervigilant in order to keep them safe. But her mind was already there, and there was no rest—and that was a growing problem.

When she slept at night, she was haunted by nightmares of her combat experiences in Cuba and Venezuela. She would wake up in a cold sweat. Sometimes Jeremiah would wake her up if she screamed or thrashed about in her sleep.

She didn’t want to get help at first because a good soldier was expected to “embrace the suck,” or that was what she’d been told and heard from vets of earlier wars. But the lack of restful sleep was wearing on her. When she did finally succumb to seeking assistance, she’d been given several medications that made her feel like a zombie, like she lacked human emotions entirely. She and Jeremiah watched Equilibrium one evening after the twins were finally asleep, and the old film hit her.

“That’s what I’ve become!” she remarked.

“What do you mean, babe?” asked Jeremiah, alarmed.

“I’m like one of those people in the city, taking pills just so I don’t feel anything at all. I mean, I’m glad that I don’t feel like I’m going to lash out at you

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.