Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

[dharmalady]

Juliet Scott was married for five years. Three of them were good. She was young, Damien was too. They were in love and carefree; had fun and had a lot of sex, traveled to a lot of places. She'd been on track to start med school but when she met Damien, she wanted him instead, and she thought she'd always choose him over everything.

Until she got pregnant.

He stuck around for a few months but then, conveniently his job took him away and the stretches of time between being home and being gone were longer. He was never a bad dad to Mia, not once, but it was like a chore to be home, to be a husband and civilian again. Juliet missed him but she tried to talk to him about it and it was a fight, every time. He had a job, he had missions, he couldn't just give that up. So she decided a year and a half ago to not make him choose anymore. She sent him divorce papers, certified mail, with a letter explaining to him that she was tired of feeling like she and Mia weren't a priority. Like he didn't want to be there when he was back in the states. She wasn't surprised when she got the signed paperwork back with no note in response.

She and Mia have been solo ever since, the two of them moving to Miami to be closer to Juliet's sister. Med school finally happens, and now Juliet's an intern and Mia is five. It's been hard, harder than Juliet ever thought she'd have to do on her own, but she's doing it. She's never told Damien he can't be a part of Mia's life, she's never tried to keep him away from her. When she moves, she makes sure someone in his branch of the military, wherever he is, gets her address. She's not even angry at him anymore, just sad that it ended this way between them.

Comments

[dharmalady]

It terrifies her because Rachel's all she has. Her sister's her rock, and without her, Juliet has no one. No one but a five-year-old. "Thank you. It's about six months. On the outside. It's happening the same way it happened to my mom and..." Her voice breaks, trying to keep her composure in front of Mia.

"Anyway. I'll...get through it. She needs me to be strong."

[inthewar]

He knows that maybe he could reach out, he could offer her some more support, but he doesn't know if she really even wants that from him, not after what he did.

"She's strong," is all he can think to say. "Hang in there. I'll talk to you soon."

[dharmalady]

What he doesn't even realize is that all she wants is someone she knows to comfort her. But she just nods, clearing her throat. "Okay. Three weeks."

[inthewar]

The last time he was supposed to see Mia, he was late. By six months. And he'd had a terrible fight with Juliet over it, though he'd understood her anger completely.

He's not late this time. In fact, he gets there a day early, but he calls Juliet first, not wanting to just show up when she's not expecting him. "Hey. I'm here. Got a room at the Holiday Inn a few miles from you."

[dharmalady]

"You don't need a room. I have a guest room, it's fine. She's so excited to see you, she'd wanna go with you. That'll be hard enough when you leave again but we can put it off while you're here at least. Come over whenever you're ready," she tells him.

[inthewar]

"Okay. I'll be over there in an hour," he tells her. Then he takes a shower, changing into clean clothes and taking a cab over to Juliet's place. He knocks on the door, a backpack full of presents slung over his shoulder, suitcase in his other hand.

[dharmalady]

Juliet lets Mia answer the door because she knows who it is.

Mia's entire face lights up once she opens the door, and she launches herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Daddy!"

[inthewar]

Damien grins at her, setting his backpack down for now and kneeling to catch her. He kisses her over and over again, holding her so tight and so close to him.

"There's my girl."

[dharmalady]

She doesn't care about anything other than he's there with her and she wraps her arms as tightly around him as she can, clinging to him even when he stands up so he's holding her. "I missed you," she says as she tucks her face against his neck.

[inthewar]

"I missed you, too, honey," he whispers to her, cradling the back of her head with his hand as he holds her. "I get to stay with you for three weeks, baby girl."

[dharmalady]

That just sounds like forever to her, and she smiles happily, pulling back to look at him. "I can see you every day?"

[inthewar]

"Yeah, honey, everyday," he grins at her, carrying her back inside and sitting down with her. "You wanna open your presents?"

[dharmalady]

"Yes!" she says eagerly, but she stays right on his lap too, not wanting to move away at all.

Juliet sits across from them, not wanting to interfere with this time they have together.

[inthewar]

He has so many presents for her, just thinking he needs to give her presents to make up for the time he's not here. There are books with cows, a stuffed cow toy, a puzzle with cows. There's a little bead bracelet from Morocco, and he helps to get it on her wrist. And there's a little hand woven purse from Thailand for her, something she can sling over her shoulders.

[dharmalady]

Mia is just so overwhelmed, her eyes bright and shining, and she's saying thank you so much, after everything she opens. But then she just wraps her arms around her daddy. "You're my present, too."

[inthewar]

Damien's eyes glisten just a little and he smiles at her, kissing her forehead and holding onto her tightly. His eyes close for a moment as he just holds onto his little girl, breathing her in.

"You're the best gift I could ever get, Mia. Everyday," he tells her.

[dharmalady]

A part of Juliet just wants to ask him why the fuck he can't stay then, if Mia's the best gift he could ever get. But she won't say it, and instead just gets up, leaving the room now that Mia's done opening presents. She retreats to the kitchen, bracing her hands on the counter and closing her eyes tightly, counting slowly to five. When she comes back, she has her phone in her hand.

"Pizza for dinner. Damien, what toppings?"

[inthewar]

He's still holding Mia in his lap, kissing the top of her head as he looks up at Juliet.

"Pepperoni? You like that, too?"

[dharmalady]

"Yeah, we're all good," she says before ordering via an app on her phone. And that night they eat pizza and watch movies before Mia falls asleep in her daddy's lap, her head tucked against his shoulder.

[inthewar]

Damien's so comfortable with his little girl in his arms, draping her little blanket around her so she's warm and comfortable, too. He kisses her, not moving at all while she sleeps. But when the movie ends, he carefully gets up, moving slow so he doesn't jostle her, and then he carries her to bed, tucking her in, putting her new plush cow beside her in bed.

"I love you, baby girl," he whispers to her, stroking her little cheek before pulling back and letting her sleep.

[dharmalady]

Juliet's waiting for him when he comes back, and now she has a drink, alcohol, gesturing to the bottle. "Help yourself," she says before taking a sip.

"You know. You love her so damn much. And she loves you more. So why are you afraid to be here?"

[inthewar]

He's quiet, sipping at his drink. "It's easy to do this when I'm not here very long," he admits, knowing how bad that sounds. "She can't see all my fucking flaws."

[dharmalady]

"Well. Guess you're the lucky one in all of this. You're the good guy. You come, deliver presents, love her and leave and then I'm the bad guy. The enforcer." She doesn't even sound upset, she's accepted it. She just wants to make him face it sometimes. "I'd love a fucking break sometimes, you know?"

[inthewar]

"No. I'm the fucking bad guy. She'll figure that out soon enough," he says, downing his entire glass quickly now.

[dharmalady]

"Not if you actually made an effort, Damien. She's young enough that if you did more now, she'd never think twice about anything else," Juliet points out. "She doesn't give a shit about anything other than you. What you do for her which is make her feel loved and happy."