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First Lieutenant Liam Anderson was the leader of a special operations force called The Regiment that answered directly to the president. They were deloyed on missions in different parts of the world. Because of that he rarely spent time with his family. The gallant and heroic acts of The Regiment were broadcast in the news. Liam loved living this life and would pay no head to the passionate pleading of his wife, Camilla. She wanted her husband to leave The Regiment so he could spend more time with his family. But Liam would not hear of it. He loved his wife and kids deeply. But nothing on earth would make him leave The Regiment.
During a mission in Baghdad, Liam had come face to face with death. He was on the protective detail of the US Ambassador. Their envoy were heading to a meeting were peace talks were to be held. They were ambushed by militants. Amidst the flying bullets and the confused noises, Liam was moving the Ambassador from the limousine to safety when he caught a sniper's bullet on his chest. It flattened out on the vest he was wearing while the brute force stretched him senseless for a few minutes on the ground. The bullet was clearly meant for the Ambassador's head.
This was the incident that prompted his Camilla, his wife, to ask him to leave the Regiment, and even resign the army, so he could also spend more time with the family. Worry was etched heavily on Camilla's face as she spoke to her husband but he clearly misunderstood her. An argument ensued.
“No my dear wife, I cannot leave the military.” Liam replied controlling his anger with great difficulty. “I joined the military, especially The Regiment because that's who I'm meant to be and I love every bit of it."
Camilla didn't reply. She wasn't exactly the talking type. She nervously wiped her pretty face with a blue handkerchief. She rose and put the air-conditioner on. Then she came back and sat on the sofa beside her husband and gently took his hand in hers.
“Honey,” she stuttered a little. “I'm not asking you to leave doing something you love. I just asking you as your wife to consider for the sake of our family. What if you die what would happen to us?" The frown was slowly fading from Liam's face. “You know all these times you've been away it's been difficult running the family, especially controlling the kids. If you were around it would have been easier…”
Liam faced Camilla and held her hand in-between his two hands.
“Ok dear. I will consider but I'm not giving any promises.”
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As Camilla walked up the stairs she thought a lot. She definitely knew her beautiful home was falling apart. Her two children were always living wild whenever their dad wasn't around. They threw boisterous parties at home during his absence and brought in all manner of questionable friends. They wouldn't hear their mothers pleadings.
“Mom, you know, we're young.” They would say, mischievous smiles hanging on their lips. “It's our time to enjoy life and feel the world.”
“And what would your father say if he saw this?”
“Don't worry mom he'd understand.”
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But when Camilla could bear it no longer she complained to her husband. The parties stopped but the children simply started attending parties in their friends' houses where they indulged in all manner of deliquent lifestyles.
Sometimes Liam would tell his wife stories of his gallantry during missions with The Regiment. Camilla would join in the conversation but at the end she'd gently say:
“That's all good, honey. But know that all the medals and promotions ain't going to raise our children right. We need you here.”
Liam arrived home one afternoon. He was in a hurry to tell Camilla about his promotion to the rank of a major. Also he wouldn't be deployed again in a long time. He thought Camilla would be delighted at the news as that meant Liam would now spend more time with his family.
“Honey I've got some really good news. I've been promoted to the rank of Major. But that's not all. I won't be having any more deployments. That will make it possible for me to spend time with you and the kids.”
Camilla kept mute. Liam looked closely at her and was shocked to see her beautiful blue eyes misted with tears. All his excitement vanished. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
“What's the matter sweetheart?” He asked.
Camilla shook her head sadly.
“Please tell me.”
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Camilla wiped the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief then picked a newspaper from the low mahogany centre table and put it in her husband's lap.
Liam turned the pages with trembling hands until his eyes caught the headline: 6 DEAD 3 INJURED IN SHOOTOUT AT DRUNKEN PARTY. When he saw the names of his two sons Basil and Alfie the paper fell from his hands to the floor.
Camilla spoke:
“Basil's been arrested because he participated in the shootout. Alfie is hospitalized with serious injuries. For God's sake honey I told you but you wouldn't listen. I told you the kids were leading wayward lives and I needed you around to be able to keep them in line. Look what's happened now. One of my babies might serve a life sentence and the other's injured so much his may not survive."
At this point, Camilla broke down completely. Liam was so dazed that he couldn't even console his wife. He just sat mute with his hand on his chin.
“I'm getting a divorce after all this.”
Camilla said and walked to her room
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The silver-lined clock was striking 3:52pm. Liam gazed at the time then went to the hospital where his youngest son was hospitalized. A kind nurse directed Liam to the ward where his son, Alfie was hospitalized. As he walked in he was just in time to see the doctor shaking his head sadly while pulling a white cloth over the body that lay lifeless on the bed. He was muttering:
"...time of death 4:15pm.."
It dawned on Liam he'd traded his family for his passion.
Liam was holding the phone. Streams of sweat poured down his body. He was undecided. Finally he went ahead and dialed the number. After some delay, Camilla's voiced came on at the other end.
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"Hi honey." Liam began not knowing what to say next. But he continued anyway. "I am calling to ask for your forgiveness. I ruined our family, I ruined your life. Give me an opportunity to make amends. Please return home. I know we've been separated for over 6 years now. But...please...give me another chance. I recall how much I loved you when we met, how much I wanted to have a family with you. I still remember how my heart was flooded with joy when I held our firstborn son in my arms. I knew I was going to have a wonderful family..."
All the while Camilla hadn't said a bit. Liam muttered nervously into the receiver,
"Honey you still there?"
A pause then:
"Yes, I am. Go on."
"Family is the most important thing to me and I've learnt that the hard way. We've lost a son and one is in serving a life sentence. Much have been destroyed by my mistakes and I'm very sorry. I resigned years ago from the military. If you'd give me another chance we could rebuild our family again. Even our son that's in prison, we could work on getting him a presidential pardon and we could build our family again."
After a long pause Camilla replied:
“I have heard all you said." Camilla paused again. "Well, I'm ready to put the past behind.” Camilla sniffed. “To be honest I made this decision a long time ago. I forgave you for the trauma you put me through, because there's no reason holding a grudge. To me you are still that dashing young lieutenant I met in the cafe on base some years ago. I still remember how much we talked and talked about the great life we were going to have together and the great family we'd raise. You only made some misguided choices that ruined it all. I willing to give you a chance again in my life.” A tense, dramatic pause. “I will visit you and we can talk more. I should be back with you in a couple of months.”
“I'm glad.” Liam said simply. “I'll be expecting you.”
“Bye, love."
“Till then, honey.”
Liam couldn't believe what's just happened. He hadn't thought Camilla would forgive him. The tears rolled down his cheeks. He was crying because his ex-wife had forgiven him even though he didn't deserve that. He was also crying because he knew he could never completely atone for his grevious mistake that hurt his family. Family above all. He'd learnt that the hard way.
