Captain Ann Glover, the U.S. Naval Attache to Russia, stood at the front of the plane.
"Gentlemen, remember our protocol for debarkation. Lieutenant Commander Brewer will exit first, and then we will pause for a few minutes and bring Commander Miranda and the crew off."
The thought of home.
Would he see them? He prayed silently that they would be there for him.
Captain Glover motioned Zack and Pete to the front of the plane. They stood by the door, as flight attendants threw open the door just behind the cockpit.
The warm Virginia breeze and sunlight filled the cabin, and a large crowd of several thousand stood in a huge semicircle behind a large yellow ribbon. The crowd was holding a large, long, red, white, and blue sign that stretched about thirty feet from left to right.
Welcome Home Commander Miranda and Crew of USS Honolulu.
Tears welled in Pete's eyes.
"Remember, no comments to the press!" Captain Glover said. "Okay, Zack, get out of here."
From the top of the plane, Pete watched as his JAG officer, dressed sharply in his ser vice dress blue uniform, made his way down the steps. Zack reached the tarmac and shot a salute to two admirals at the base of the plane.
Pete recognized one of the admirals as Vice Admiral Charles McClure, commander of U.S. submarine forces in the Atlantic Fleet. McClure caught Pete's eye with a nod and a smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen, " a voice resonated from a loudspeaker. "Please give a big Navy welcome home to Commander Pete Miranda, and the crew of the USS Honolulu!"
The crowd broke into cheering and applause. The Navy band broke into a brassy rendition of "Anchors Aweigh."
"That's your cue, Commander!" Captain Glover said.
Pete waved as he descended the stairway. The crowd cheered even harder. He reached the bottom, directing a salute to Vice Admiral McClure.
McClure returned the salute. "The Navy is proud of you, Pete. You did the right thing."
"Thank you, Admiral." Pete waited for the admiral to drop his salute.
"There's someone else who's proud of you too."
"Sir?"
The admiral motioned to the right of the human horseshoe.
A boy and a girl stepped from the edge of the crowd, then sprinted with open arms across the tarmac.
"Hannah! Coley!" Pete fell to his knees. His children fell into his arms.
"We missed you, Daddy!" Hannah hugged him and kissed him over and over again on the cheeks. "We were so scared you would never come back!"
"Can you stay with us for a while?" Coley's eyes flooded with tears.
"Come here, you two!" Pete wrapped them both under his arms and kissed them both on the head. "I'll never leave you again."
"You promise, Daddy?" Hannah looked up at him. At thirteen, she was becoming a lovely young lady. How had he let the time slip away?
"I promise, Hannah, that I'll never miss another one of your dance recitals." He looked at his son. "And Coley, I'll be at all your soccer games from here on."
"But how will you be at my games if the Navy sends you out in your submarine again?"
Pete stood, running his hands through his kids' hair. "Because tomorrow, kids, I'm putting in my papers. I'm retiring from the Navy."
"Really?" they exclaimed in unison.
"Really. We'll be together forever, kids." He kissed them once more.
"Forever."
Don Brown
