Free Giving It All by Arianna Hart

someone who’s gone for months at a time.”
    “That’s not what I’m talking about, although it isn’t like she didn’t know what you were gonna be doing before she married you. She was happy enough to brag to anyone who would listen about how her boyfriend was in the SEALs.”
    “We were so young. And thank you for not saying I told you so.”
    “Oh, honey, I can’t cast any stones. Your father and I got married the day after I turned eighteen. We didn’t have two nickels to rub together, but I loved him so much I couldn’t wait. I’m not talking about that. Chastity isn’t a bad person. Well, not completely bad, but it’s always been all about her. She had to be the center of attention and the center of your world. She loved the idea that you were going to be a SEAL because it was a feather in her cap, not because it was something you wanted and worked darn hard for.”
    “That’s a little harsh.”
    “But true all the same. Chastity was her daddy’s princess. It didn’t make her evil, but it didn’t give her a lot of substance either. She never had to struggle. You need someone with a little more grit, someone who has her own interests and internal fortitude.”
    “I see you’ve given this a lot of thought. I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about Chastity.”
    “What else was I going to think about while I sat around in your hospital room for hours while she’d flit in for twenty minutes and then leave? She’d come in, throw herself across you, weep beautiful tears when the doctor came by, tears that didn’t smudge her makeup, I might add, then she’d up and go. It was too hard seeing you all wrapped up like a mummy with tubes sticking in every inch of you, she’d say. Like it wasn’t hard for me seeing my baby hurt?” Her voice cracked.
    “It’s over now, Momma. I’m fine now.” It absolutely killed him to hear his mother cry over his injuries. He didn’t remember most of the time immediately after the explosion. It was all a haze of pain and blood and needles, but he remembered seeing his mother’s face every time he woke up.
    “Yes, you are. That bionic foot of yours is a miracle. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t even know you had a prosthesis.”
    “It’s made my life a lot easier, that’s for sure. I don’t trip every time I try to go down a ramp at least.” But he’d never have his job on the teams back. Everything he’d worked for was lost to him, and no bionics could bring that back. The familiar bitterness crept up his throat and threatened to choke him.
    “That’s something then.” She looked at her watch and a frown flitted across her face. “I’m gonna check on your dad and Ellie. He should be napping now, but I want to make sure everything’s okay.”
    Grant was snapped out of his pity spiral by his mother’s words. He might not be able to serve his country, but his family needed him. This was his new life, and it was time to take charge of it.
    “When we get home, I want to talk to Ellie about the program she installed and get a look at whatever paperwork Dad has in his office. Can you ask her if she’s going to be around?”
    “Yes, dear,” his mom answered, distracted. “She’s not answering her cell phone. I’m gonna try the house phone.”
    “She probably has it on silent so she doesn’t wake up Dad and it isn’t on her. We’ll be home in twenty minutes, why don’t you just hold off?”
    “What if something happened? What if she was trying to help him to the bathroom and he fell?”
    “Then she wouldn’t be able to answer the house phone either. Look at this logically. We’re on the only road in or out of Dale. We haven’t seen an ambulance come tearing past us and no one has called your cell. If there was a problem, I’m sure someone would have dialed 9-1-1 and then called you.”
    “But—” She clutched her cell phone in a white-knuckled grip.
    “Will it make you feel better if you call?”
    “I know it seems