• Ashley closed her eyes and let the soft, cool breeze roll off of the ocean and across her face, as she slowly drug her feet through the warm sand. Using her hand to cover her face, she turned to face the setting sun and watched her memories of him play out.
    All those days splashing around in the waves, their first kiss, the first time they made love, even when he asked her to marry him, every moment spent on this beach, every perfect memory stretched across the sand.
    Looking back now she could see the flaw in their plan, their happieness was completely based on him coming home safely. But then again, how did they know he would die fighting for their freedom? How could they possibly know he would die mear days before he was suppost to come home? How did they know his squad would be ambushed? They didn't and now she was left alone with a baby to raise.
    Little baby Koltan, named after his daddy, had no clue what he was missing. Had no memory of the brave soldier his father was, of the father that never even got to hold him.
    Ashley turns to leave as the sun slipped under the water, holding Koltan tight to her chest, fighting the now chilly breeze, and heads back to their beach house. Tears roll down her face as she looks down into the face of a baby that could be an exact miniature of his father.
    Passing the "For Sale" sign on her front lawn, she turns around to say her last goodbyes then slips into her home to finish packing.