“Never miss a meal,” I tell him.
He gets up and hugs me real quick before gesturing for me to take my usual seat at the table.
“We’ve got bacon, eggs, coffee, fruit salad and muffins,” Mom says. “If you can’t find something to eat, you’re not looking.”
She brings muffins to the table along with the bacon. The eggs and fruit salad are already there, and the three of us start eating.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I shovel a forkful of eggs into my mouth and crunch some bacon with it. The mess hall on base is good, but there’s something about the way Mom does it.
“We need to finish getting the house ready,” Mom says.
“Your mother practically wants to renovate before tonight’s party,” Dad tells me.
“I do not!” Mom throws a muffin at him and Dad catches it and takes a bite. “Anyway, there’s just the decorating to do. Nadine and Harper are coming over to help in a little bit, too.”
That piques my interest a little bit, even though I was kind of expecting it.
“When does the party start?” I know Mom probably told me before, but I can’t remember. My parents have so much going on for their anniversary that it almost seems ridiculous.
“Starts at seven,” Dad says.
“I’ve got some stuff prepped for food, but I’ll need your help icing down the drinks and things, too,” Mom tells me.
“I can do that,” I say. I drink down some coffee, have some more eggs, bacon and another muffin. “What are we serving for food?”
“The usual stuff,” Mom replies. “That veggie plate everyone loves, your aunt is bringing her crab dip, Nadine agreed to make her salsa. Dad’s making his meatballs, and we’ll have some other odds and ends that people are bringing.”
“Your mom pre-made some kind of spinach pastry thing,” Dad adds.
“How many people are you expecting?” It sounded like a lot of food, but I knew by the end of the night it would probably be gone all the same, or at least there would only be enough leftovers for us to snack on the next day.
“Only about thirty-five for this one,” Mom says. “The bigger party, for the whole neighborhood, is in a few days.”
“Why do you need to have two parties?” I shake my head at that.
“We’re actually having three,” Dad says. “But the last one is just a dinner party with the Polsens.”
“Why three parties again?” I look at both of my parents, finishing off the fruit salad on my plate.
“Because we wanted to make a big deal out of our twenty-fifth anniversary,” Mom says with a shrug. “Plus, not everyone could make it tonight. We wanted to make sure we had at least one event that everyone could come to.”
“Why not make the big party the only one?” I grin. “I mean, unless you’re hoping to get triple the presents or something.”
“Because once we’d planned to have this one, we didn’t want to abandon it,” Mom replies. “Besides, it’s sort of a set-up, a pre-party for the big one.”
“I guess,” I say with a shrug.
“Now that we’ve got the plans all laid out, how’s your career going?” Dad refills his coffee mug.
“It’s going well,” I say. “I’m almost done with my term, so they’re offering me the chance to reenlist.”
“That’s good to hear, they don’t want to just shuffle you off,” Dad says.
I shrug. “I’m a specialist, so a little more valuable than I was a year ago,” I tell him. “But ultimately they just don’t want to get rid of anyone they don’t have to. Situation around the world’s pretty tense, so apart from grunts they’re trying to hold onto people.”
“Do you think you’ll do it?” Mom takes the coffee pot from Dad as she speaks, and waves it slightly in the direction of my mug. I nod that I’ll take a little more.
“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “I’ve got a couple of months before I have to really make a decision, right up until I have to do my discharge paperwork, but they’re already letting me know that staying in is an option.”
“Would there be a promotion down the line if you stayed in?”
I sipped my coffee, thinking about my dad’s question.
“Probably, at least in a while,” I tell him. “Not right away, but I’m already a specialist, so they’d want to push me to do even more, eventually.”
“What would getting out look like for you? Maybe you could go for your degree. The military will pay for that, after all,” Mom points out.