"It's just..." It's frustrating for me too," Stasya said, correctly guessing Meredith's thoughts. "I'm not spouting faded clichés for entertainment, ...ou know. But... What can I say? You screwed up, Meredith."Meredith gave her a wan smile. "Don't remind me." But... You said he was mad, right?" Yeah. He was furious." Well... That's good, then."Meredith looked at her. "Why's it good?" Because it means he still cares about you," Stasya said. "If he didn't, it wouldn't bother him that you..." She. ’ She looked up at him. ‘Did you mean what you said about my meeting your sisters?’ Alex let out a frustrated laugh. Emma Kingsley was definitely a siren, teasing him one moment, tormenting him the next. ‘I love you, Emma, of course, I meant it. I told you I would stop at nothing to have you. Why do you think I came storming in here in the middle of the night like a fool?’ She shared in his laugh and touched his crooked neck cloth. ‘I love you, too, Alex. Even before you took me to your bed.’. They giggled and laughed because it was all done in a playful manner.Karen had never felt more humiliated then she did walking back into the trailer drenched like a drowned rat after pissing on the grass.The rest of the morning, the girls joked around and talked with one another, and Mark and Tucker hung out in the living room.“Mom, I hate to remind you of this,” Tucker said to his mother after she spent 15 minutes rewriting her daily standard operating procedure documents to include her.“I am. “I’m stationed at Benning. I’m a drill sergeant,” replied Jose.I stared at him. “You stayed in? Holy Christ!”Jose nodded. “After I got back to Drum, I went to WLC. It’s been three years, mano. I finished my hitch as a team leader and squad leader at Drum, reenlisted, took the Advanced Leader Course, and then was transferred to Benning. I’m a staff sergeant now. I just finished Drill Sergeant School and am assigned there. It was so fucking weird when I heard you were alive and only two hours.