Worth More Than Money (Worth It 3)

I’d live my life on my own terms, and my terms only.

My child deserved at least that from me.

It was time to take charge of my life. For the sake of my child. My hand fell to my stomach mindlessly as I walked through the tepid streets of Williston. At least the sun wasn’t as hot in my hometown. I still couldn’t believe I had a child growing inside of me. An entire human being my body would expand and make room for. It was terrifying and amazing all at the same time.

I found myself wondering if my child would look like Gray.

An hour and a half later, I s

tood in the driveway of my childhood home. A little two-story house that had definitely seen better days. I was shocked when I didn’t see my mother’s car in the driveway. It didn’t look like anyone was home. I walked up to the porch and fished around for the spare key, then let myself in before shutting the door behind me.

The air conditioning soothed my sweating skin as I leaned heavily against the closed door.

“Mom?”

My ears perked up at the voice.

“Nick!?” I exclaimed.

“Wait, Michelle. Is that you?”

I watched my brother come around the corner and tears flooded my vision. I dropped everything to the floor and took off down the hallway, launching myself into his arms. Oh my gosh. My brother was home.

My brother was no longer deployed.

“Nick!”

“Holy shit. Michelle. What the hell are you doing back here? I thought you were in Illinois.”

“I just got back in. I hated it there,” I said breathlessly.

Tears poured onto his shoulder and I clung to my brother with all my might.

“When did you get back?” I asked, as my eyes looked up to meet his.

“A couple of days ago. Been helping Mom around the house.”

I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me over to the couch.

“Why haven’t you come home to see us?” I asked.

“This mission ran very, very long. And in between the stints we did, I couldn’t come home. Not until the job was done. You know how it goes.”

“But not like this. It’s the longest one you’ve ever done. I thought you were—”

“No news is good news, remember?” he asked.

“It’s still shitty,” I said, as he sat down.

I slid off his lap before he pulled my feet over his legs. Nick had been in the military ever since he was eighteen. Shipped off, went to basic, trained hard, and never looked back. My older brother by three years, and stacked with muscle that made all the women in the town swoon over him. Older women. Younger women. Girls in high school just coming into their own. He was the bachelor of our town, and he drowned in dates whenever he came back from his missions and deployments.

“Have you gotten bigger?” I asked. “I didn’t even think that was possible.”

“Probably,” Nick said with a chuckle. “Weight lifting is the only way to burn stress out there sometimes.”

“So, what are you doing back here? I mean, besides being on leave,” I said. “Usually you dip in for a few days before jetting off to somewhere like Germany or France.”

“I’m actually asking for a discharge.”