Welcome Home

Samson dragged his carry on through the crowded LAX airport, weaving through the crowd of people. After a quick stop at Starbucks, he and his ice coffee made their way to the exit. On the way, he was stopped by a couple airport occupants who thanked him for his service. A few of them tried to start up conversations, asking about where he’d been and what branch he was in, but Samson had no time for questions or small talk. All the soldier cared about was getting home. When he finally made it outside, he cursed himself for not ordering his Uber whilst still inside; he hated waiting. Thankfully, with it being the airport and all, he got a ride instantly; the driver being less than a minute away. When the luxurious SUV pulled up to the curb, Samson wasted no time throwing his carry-on and backpack into the trunk; He didn’t even give the driver a chance to get out of the car. After tossing his bag into the seat, he hopped into the car.

“Samson?” The driver asked, reading the name on his screen.

“That’s me.” Samson smiled.

“And we’re going to 2257 Lakewood drive?” The man asked.

“That’s right. Home sweet home.”

The driver laughed as he put the car into drive.

“Yeah, I know that feeling. Where are you coming from?” He asked.

“Denver.” Samson lied.

Well half lied.

He had been in Denver, but before that he was in Syria. But this man didn’t need to know that. This was a long car ride and the last thing Sam needed was a bunch of questions like; ‘How many people did you kill?’ Or ‘Why are you guys over there anyways?’ To Sam, the military’s a job, and when his bosses send him somewhere, ‘Why the fuck am I here?’ Isn’t really high on the list of questions for him.

“Oh nice. What’s in Denver?” The driver asked.

“Friends.” Samson said.

Another half lie. He did have friends in Denver, but he was only there for a few hours. Not nearly enough time to see anyone. Although he did run into his older brother Mike at the airport. They had coffee and chopped it up for a little bit. They hadn’t seen one another since Christmas after all.

Looking at the window, Samson watched purdesteriands dressed in short shorts jog past.

‘Jesus, it’s been so long.’ He thought to himself.

The day he’d left, Samson almost broke his back when he slipped on the ice in the driveway.

“Babe, put on some real shoes, it’s icy out there.” Ryan said as Samson collected the car keys from the key ring by the door.

He paid Ryan no mind. Tugging on his coat, he slipped out the door hearing Ryan mumbling something along the lines of;

“Damnit, that man’s gonna be the death of me.”

Sure enough, seconds later, just like Ryan said, Samson’s arms were flailing around like a cartoon character as he tried to prevent himself from falling. But it was no use. He came crashing down onto the ice, ass first. It was just like in the movies. The loud thud of his landing caused Ryan to rush to the door.

“What did I fucking say?!” Ryan laughed.

He tried to play it off, quickly getting up and turning towards the door to present Ryan with his middle finger; But fuck was his ass swore.

Chuckling to himself, Sam shook his head as he came back to reality; just in time too.

“Home sweet home.” The driver smiled as he pulled up to the house.

Sam turned and looked out the window. The yard where there once was snow was now green.

“Thanks” Sam said as he threw open his door.

After collecting his luggage from the car, he closed the trunk and bid the driver a goodbye before turning towards his house.

“Daddy!” A high pitched voice yelled.

Looking up, Sam’s face instantly lit up as he watched his son, Jackson, run towards him. Within seconds, Jackson was in his arms, the pair spinning in circles as the small boy laughed.

“Daddy, you’re home!” The boy said.

They‘d stopped spinning, but Jackson continued clinging to his father.

“I missed you so much.” Jackson said, his voice shaky and raw.

Sam rubbed his son’s back, in effort to sooth him.

“I missed you too.” Sam said back, his eyes sealed shut.

“But I missed you the most.” Said a deep voice.

Opening his eyes and looking up, Sam came face to face with his husband.

Dressed in a form fitting white tee, and a pair of….

“Wait! Are those my pants?!” Samson asked.

Setting his son down, Samson advanced towards Ryan, hooking a finger in one of the belt loops of the dark blue jeans.

“Please, you don’t have the butt for these.” Ryan said, rolling his eyes.

Paying his husband no mind, Samson attempted to flip the waistband of the jeans in side out.

“What are you doing? Not in front of our son!” Ryan said, backing away from his husband.

“I just wanna see the tag.” Samson said, moving forward with every step Ryan took back.

“No. Get away from me!” Ryan said, moving further away.

“Just let me see the tag.”

“No.” Ryan said.

“Why because it’ll say Sam?”

“No, because as your husband you should trust me when I say these are NOT your pants.” Ryan said matter-of-factly.

“Then let me see.”

Samson continued to reach for the waistband of the jean, causing Ryan to back up further and further until Samson finally managed to grab the back of the jeans. But it was too late.

“Jackson run!” Ryan ordered before turning around and taking off.

He was fast. He was a track star after all. But that was back in high school; Ryan didn’t run anymore. But Samson did. Ten miles a day, this was nothing to him. Bobbing and weaving, Samson chased his husband around the yard like a bloodhound. Ryan ran this way and that way, hoping to trip Samson up, but Samson never fell for it, not even when Ryan ran into the backyard, pulling the small fence door behind him.Chasing Ryan into the backyard, Samson launched into the air, tucking his legs beneath him and clearing the fence. Then, after sticking the landing, he turned towards Ryan, who stood stunned in the middle of the yard. Charging at him, Samson tackled his husband, sending the two of them flying. A second later, the two men crashed into the ground, a few feet from where Ryan had stood.

“Got cha.” Samson whispered, lying on top of his husband.

“Yeah! You got ‘em daddy!” Jackson cheered before jumping onto Samson’s back.

The two men laughed.

Then, leaning down, Samson pressed a kiss to Ryan’s lips.

“Welcome home baby.” Ryan mumbled softly.

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By Cephinise Modestin

I once told my mom I wanted to be God.... she wasn’t happy about that. I don’t think God was either, cause I got electrocuted a few hours later. Coincidence? I think not. So I gave that up on that dream and decided to go with a much safer career path... Being a writer. I build worlds, put people in those worlds, and most importantly, I tell stories of the LGBTQIA+ community.

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