ATOP Chapter One

“We see here yet another great day in America, as hundreds upon hundreds of men line the docks in New York, eager to reunite with their wives and children. After many long months of waiting… hey…” the announcer broke off as someone pushed past him, jostling the microphone. “I’m tryin’ t’ talk here,” 

“Yeah? Well, go talk somewhere else, buddy,” a fist was waved in his face and the announcer backed up a few steps, smacking into another man standing behind him.

“Watch where you’re going! We’re tryin’ to see the ship!”

“You fellows don’t realize,” the announcer straightened to his full height of five feet, seven inches, adjusted his tie and brushed off his slouch hat. “I’m with CBS News. We are attempting to record this momentous occasion so that not only the people of America but the whole world may observe…” 

“Hey, knock it off,” a tall, lanky young man waved him off with a slightly annoyed grin. “We’ve had all the publicity we can take, all those stinkin’ cameras they hauled on after us in Omaha and the Bulge…”

“It weren’t that bad,” the man who spoke wore an eye patch and had a long scar zigzagged down the side of his face. “I can handle the cameras, it was the guns an’ the bombs I couldn’t take…”

“Land mines,” a one-legged man on crutches shook his head wryly. “The land mines were the worst.”

“Oh, listen, fellas,” the newsman pleaded. “I know all about it. I communicated with the war reporters on site, got all the information straight outta them. And now I have the happy task of…” he stopped again, suddenly surrounded by ex-GI’s, all of them looking frighteningly frustrated. He tried to gesture to his cameraman, but couldn’t see over the heads of the men crowding him into the corner of the dock.

“Aw, come on, lay off of him,” another man pushed through the circle. “The ship’s almost here, Sandy, would you back off? You other guys too, get back, give him breathing room, that’s right. He ain’t bothering you.”

“Sure, Chief,” Sandy backed off, laughing. “Just having a bit of fun.”

“You and your fun,” Ronnie rolled his eyes. “You’re all gonna get in trouble.”

“As I was saying, ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer straightened his hat and tie again, laughing awkwardly as he resumed his position in front of the camera. “After many long months of waiting, and you have seen first hand how the waiting and the nerves have worn on the men, hundreds more of the war brides are now arriving in New York Harbor.”

♡♡♡

Six months had been too long. Never mind that he had needed every last moment of every one of those miserable months to get the promised house ready, it had been... just too long. Ronnie never knew how he survived the wait. Just the last-minute one day delay had nearly killed him.

He had been in New York City very much on time indeed. And the ship... had not been. Right away he had gotten the news that the ship was a day late. And the anger he felt against the shipping company and all involved in the ensuing moments was not to be described with words.

He had spent a long, lonely, miserable day roaming the streets of New York and had consequently spent most of the money he had brought along on random things he had seen in store windows. Thus his pockets were full of baby toys and there was more than one box for Rachel stacked up on the desk in the hotel room. Well, maybe the extra time hadn't been so bad. There was a fuzzy little teddy bear somewhere in one of those pockets that he simply couldn't wait to pass on.

And now it was finally here, today the long-awaited day... and there was the ship, just a dot on the horizon, and thank God, steadily growing closer. A deafening roar of a cheer went up the moment the men caught sight of the ship and as it moved forward, the noise continued to be almost unbearable. Everybody was talking all at once to nobody in particular, and absolutely nobody was listening either.

"Please, God, please, God..." Ronnie whispered in the midst of the chaos. "Please hurry the ship, please, I can't wait another second..."

Whether his prayers actually sped the ship up or not, he didn't know. But suddenly... it was there. Dropping anchor at the dock. It couldn't... couldn't be possible for the noise to grow any louder, could it?

It could. And it did. It grew twice as loud. The decks of the ship were crammed with women and children, all of them shouting as loud as the men. Some of the children were crying with all the excitement and the noise. And suddenly, the first and foremost thought on the mind of every single man was to get their women and children out of there and somewhere safe and quiet and peaceful.

Ronnie stood his ground as they lowered the gangplank. The last thing those poor women and children needed was another desperate husband and father crowding the dock while they were trying to get onto it. But oh, to endure more waiting! Because Rachel was certainly not the first woman to come down the gangplank. And there were hundreds.

On and on and on it went and the crowd thinned surprisingly fast. The ones with children vanished the moment they possibly could push their ways through the crowd. Ronnie saw Sandy flash past with Rose on his arm and he waved, calling out congratulations, but Sandy's answer was lost in the chaos. He and Rose were gone. 

Why was it taking so long? There was almost no one left on the ship... would they be the last ones? And then Ronnie looked up and his heart stopped beating. 

There she stood, at the top of the gangplank, clutching Benjie desperately close, and looking fearfully down at the dock before her. She looked... worried... nervous... alone. Here she stood on the threshold of her future... and... she was afraid.

"Rachel... Rachel!" 

The sound of her name jerked her out of her momentary stupor. She turned her head, scanned the crowd... and then her face changed. A wave of relief swept over it and her eyes shone. In one short moment, she had run down the gangplank and into her husband's arms. 

"Thank God, thank God," Ronnie whispered, pulling them both against his heart. "You're here at last, and safe, thank God..." and that was all he took time to say. He wasn't going to wait around either. Pushing his way through the crowd, shielding Rachel and Benjie from the chaotic press of countless human bodies, he got them off the docks as fast as he could... and there they stood on the streets of New York. Bewildered, slightly dizzy, and in shock... a family, together at last... and wondering... where and how to begin. 

They stood there in silence for a long moment, just staring at each other. And then Benjie screamed with joy.

"Daddy!" 

And that was all it took. They were laughing now, all three of them, and the older two of the three were crying as they laughed. Benjie was overwhelmed with excitement... and there was nothing holding him back. The teddy bear was produced and hugged wildly, and then Benjie was being passed from Rachel to Ronnie and the delighted shrieks and giggles of the little boy melted his daddy's heart more than it ever had melted before.