Alana Albertson - Invincible

I didn’t cry, but I became choked up. I almost told her I loved her but the officiant interrupted our moment and came back to the center of the chapel and started the ceremony.

Annie glowed. We were still dressed in our hiking clothes, but this was our wedding, our way. I’d give her the wedding of her dreams when I returned from deployment. But I’d pay for everything, and her parents wouldn’t be invited.

It came time to say our vows. I repeated what the officiant told me.

“Do you, Patrick Joseph Walsh, take this woman whose hand you now hold, to be your true and wedded wife; and do you solemnly promise before God and these witnesses to LOVE, CHERISH, HONOR AND PROTECT HER: to forsake all others for her sake; to cleave unto her, and her only, with her forever until death shall part you?”

My heart pounded in my chest. “I do.”

“Do you Analía Rose Hamilton, take this man who now holds your hand, to be your true and wedded husband; and do you solemnly promise before God and these witnesses to LOVE, CHERISH, HONOR AND PROTECT HIM, to forsake all others for his sake; to cleave unto him and him only, and him forever until death shall part you?”

Annie beamed. “I do.”

The officiant finished the ceremony. We exchanged rings. And then he said the words I was waiting to hear.

“Therefore, by the power vested in me by the laws of the state of Nevada, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

I cupped Annie’s face and kissed her. She jumped on me and I twirled her around.

“I present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh.”

There was no one in the chapel but I didn’t give a fuck. Annie was mine now. Forever. She was a Walsh. And no one would ever hurt her again.

A few days later, I woke up with her in my arms. Her head was tucked under my chin and she was curled up in front of me, leg thrown over my thighs and hair strewn across my pillow. Normally, and I know it makes me a fucking douche to say this, but I wasn't the type to have a woman stay over at my apartment. I couldn't afford those kind of connections due to the amount of time I was on assignment. I simply didn't want the complication. With Annie, though, I didn't have any objections to waking up with her shit all over my house or having her in my bed.

I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me. I needed the connection that only she seemed to be able to provide. The movement startled her and her eyes shot open and she gasped. When she realized that it was me her body relaxed and she gave me a sleepy smile.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

"What time is it?"

"It's early. I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay." She snuggled closer and kissed my jaw line. "This is nice. What do we have planned today?"

"Well, I figured that we could stop by my mom's on the way back to San Diego, say hi. I haven't called her since I got back and she would probably want to know that her baby boy has gotten himself married to a beautiful woman."

She jerked backwards. "You haven't called your mom? Patrick Walsh how could you!" She paused, then her eyes widened and she rolled out of bed. "Oh my God I have to get dressed."

I grabbed for her but she pulled away and started babbling to herself as she sorted through her things. "Baby, come on. She's not going to care what you look like, I promise."

"Says you. Of course she's going to care what I look like. I can't meet your mom for the first time looking like...like...like a hooker!"

She grabbed a pile of things and headed towards the bathroom, but I jumped out of bed and stopped her. "All she will see are the same things that I see when I look at you. Someone who is strong, loyal, and kind. I don't want you to freak out about this and trust me, she will think that you're the best woman on earth."

Tears filled her eyes and I crushed her to my chest. "Please don't worry," I told her. "She's going to love you."

She sniffled. "I still really need to get ready. I can't just go over there looking like a mess."

"You look beautiful in anything."

"Fine."

I followed her into the bathroom. "But I should do my husbandly duty and help you."

So I did. Enthusiastically.

Later, we pulled up to my house. It looked the same, and even though it was a dump, it was home to me. My mom had scrapped away everything to buy this place, because she wanted me to have a permanent home.

My mom ran out the door. Her hair had a few more gray streaks than the last time I’d seen her. “Pat, I’m so happy you’re home. Is this your new girlfriend?”

When I called to tell her I was coming by, I had simply said that I was bringing someone special. I owed it to my mom to tell her in person. “Mom, this is Annie. Annie Walsh.”

My mom clutched my arm. Her eyes immediately darted to Annie’s left ring finger and then to her belly. “You eloped and didn’t tell me? Pat, how could you?”

“Sorry, mom. I proposed last week and we got married that day. Wanted to do it before I deployed again and we were in Nevada. We’ll have a big wedding later.”

My mom and I had always been close. She knew my views on marriage and that I would never ever enter into it lightly. I’d been raised to respect women. Even if I had veered off course. “Am I going to be a grandmother?”

“Jesus, mom. No. She’s not pregnant.”

Annie stood by my side. Her own parents were so icy. I figured she didn’t even know what to say to my mom.

“Well come inside.” My mom hugged Annie. “Welcome to the family. I always wanted a daughter.”

“It’s an honor to meet you Mrs. Walsh.”

“Please, Annie. Call me Tracy. Or Mom if you feel comfortable. I have to get to know the woman that tamed my son.”

We went inside and sat on the sofa. My mom had prepared all my favorites: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, zucchini boats, chocolate chip cookies. All from scratch.

Annie went into the bathroom to freshen up and my mom pulled me inside the kitchen.

“That’s Annie Hamilton? The girl from the news who was kidnapped and forced into sex slavery? Patrick Joseph Walsh, were you the one who saved her?”

I could never lie to my mom. “Yes.”

I don’t know how most moms would react to finding out that their son had married a former prostitute, even it the girl had been kidnapped. But my mom wasn’t most moms.

“I’m proud of you, son. You’re a great man. As a woman, I’m even prouder of the fact that you can love her and look beyond her past. Not many men would be able to do that, and treat her with respect. She’s lovely. I love you.”

“Love you too, mom.” I still hadn’t told Annie I loved her. I was her husband and I still couldn’t do it. What was holding me back? I told myself that I was waiting for the right time. But I wondered if there was something else in my subconscience that was preventing me from truly opening up to her.

Annie emerged and sat down the sofa. My mom brought out old photo albums and decided to embarrass the shit out of me.

“Here’s Pat with his favorite teddy bear.”

Annie loved the old pictures. I just sat back and watched her bond with my mom. If I’d taken that reward money her dad offered, I could’ve bought my mom a new house. But she’d never accept it from me. I wished I could take care of her.

“So what was Pat like as a kid?”

This was fun.

“Pat was very sweet and sensitive. Very attached to me. Loved trains and dogs. Always tried to protect me.”

“So pretty much exactly how he is now.”

I laughed. “I’m hardly sweet.”

“You are too. And super romantic. He remembers everything I say, though he usually doesn’t react. But then months later, boom. All my dreams come true.”

My mom was eating this up. I barely had time to see her anymore so I think getting a glimpse into my life was fascinating to her.

After humiliating me a bit more, we finally went to bed. Had to wake up early the next morning and hit the road.

“Well Annie, it’s been a pleasure. Please, you’re welcome in my home anytime. When Pat deploys, I hope you will come up here and visit me. I want to get to know you.”

“I’d love that.”

They hugged. Then my mom turned to me.

“I love you, Patrick. Stay safe. I’m so proud of you.”

“Love you, too.”

Annie and I went to my childhood room and snuggled up in bed. My little league awards were still on the shelves, a cheesy poster of a topless Britney Spears wearing nothing but white cotton panties trimmed with pink lace hung on the wall. Exactly as I had remembered.

Annie glanced around the room. Probably wondering why my room was stuck in a time warp and hers had been turned into a museum. “I love your mom. She’s so different from mine. Sweet and warm.”

This was my opportunity. I had to tell her. But I just couldn’t. She seemed so happy and I didn't want to ruin it.

“She’s your family now. When I’m gone, she means it, if you get lonely, fly up here. She’ll take care of you. I need you to promise me that you’ll come see her.”

“Of course, I will.” She kissed me. “I’m worried about telling my parents we eloped. You’re coming with me, right?”

Damn straight. She wasn’t setting foot in that house without me. And if my talk with her father went as I expected it would, I doubted that she’d ever see them again. “You can count on it.”

She drifted to sleep in my arms. Before I met Annie, my only goal in life was to survive and protect my fellow men. But now, my attention was split. I felt torn by my desire to protect her and loyalty to my Team. Maybe this is why I’d always felt that the Navy didn’t want the SEALs to have wives or families, despite what they said about the importance of a support system. Because if I had to choose between my Team and Annie, without a doubt I’d choose her.

After we left my mom’s house, we spent a day in Marin County and then took scenic Highway 1 along the coast back to San Diego. I couldn’t wait to come back from deployment, plan a real honeymoon with Annie. No Caribbean cruise, that was for sure. We talked about spending time in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Half Moon Bay, Big Sur, and Santa Barbara.

Annie wanted to go straight to her parents’ house. I debated convincing her to wait a few days, but I’m sure she’d fight with me. That was fine. I wanted to get this over with.

I dropped Trigger off at my house. Annie called and told her parents that we were going to be stopping by for her to pick up the rest of her stuff.

My mind raced. I had to be smart and watch what I said. I’d given Matt my word. I was leaving in a few weeks and I wanted to make sure that her father was out of her life. Before I met Annie, I’d planned to apply to the world famous SEAL Team Six, as known as DEVGRU. They were stationed in Virginia Beach and it would be great to put distance between Annie and her dad. I’d just become eligible—they required five years of stellar service in the Teams and the selection process took six to eight months. But those SEALs were the real badasses, the ones that took down Bin Laden during Operation Neptune Spear. It would mean even more time training, even less time with Annie. But it was a career goal of mine. I would make my decision once I came back from this next deployment, and I knew that Annie would support my decision one hundred percent.

The gate opened to Annie’s parents’ house. Last time I came here, I was nervous. This time I came here, I was pissed. Let’s roll.

We walked up the stairs to the front door. Before Annie could get out her key, the door opened. Her dad stood in front of us, with his nostrils flaring.

“What are you doing here, Annie? I told you not to set foot again in this house as long as you were seeing him.”

What the fuck? I glared at Annie. She’d only seen them once since she started staying with me, when she went over the first night to pick up her clothes. She’d told me they’d warned her about me but she’d never mentioned that they’d forbid her to see me or given her an ultimatum. I guess we both kept our secrets to protect each other.

“I’m not seeing him, Dad. I’m married to him. He’s my husband.”

Annie’s mom popped around the corner. “Annie, baby, how could you elope?”

I still couldn’t figure her out—did she know that her husband found her and left her there to die? She was cold also, redecorating her room. My impression is that she cared more about her image than her own daughter, but I could be off base.