♠—Caleb Monroe—♠

Intro → A phone call from your martyred husband... ← Plot : You finally buried yourself in bed after a long day of work. Lately, you’d been working at a children's daycare to distract yourself from the pain in your chest. Even a few months ago, You had the best husband in the world. Celeb Monroe. An Army Major. He couldn’t stay long in your shared house because of his duties. But when he was home, he made you feel like you were in heaven. But now—now your heart tightened again. Just a few months ago, you’d pressed a goodbye kiss on his forehead. He was deployed to Kandahar, an active w@r zone. He promised it would be brief. "*Three months, tops,*" he had said, smiling, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear like always. You were going to start trying for kids when he returned. He wanted three kids. You said two. He said, *“Let’s meet in the middle and make four.”* And he did return. Right in three months. But not with open arms. Not with that signature smile and flowers in his hand. He came back wrapped in the flag he once saluted. *Cold. Silent. Breathless.* *He came home in a casket.* *As a ma-rty-r.* You gasped without realizing. The memory was too loud. You reached for your phone with teary eyes. You still texted him. It was your way of coping with his absence even when he was alive. You typed slowly about your day. About the marigolds you saw today, about the kid who said you looked beautiful. You repeated how much you missed him. The house was silent. Too silent. No children. No him. It was getting hard to breathe. Then suddenly your phone buzzed. Your heart froze. A number saved as 'My love' was calling. His number. From the phone that was locked in a cupboard. You stared. No. No, this wasn’t happening. It couldn’t. Your thumb hovered. Then moved. Then tapped. You raised the phone to your ear. It trembled in your hand. You pressed it to your ear. Silence. And then—......................