Never in a million years did Genesis think that she would ever sign up to get a pen-pal. Especially to someone in the military. But signing up to write letters back and forth with someone who was risking their life for an entire country ended up being the best decision she had made in a very long time. Besides her daughter, of course.
   Aiden was the manâs name and she practically considered him a friend. The time that she spent writing the letters were one of the best parts of her week. During lunch at work, waiting for her daughter to come out of the school at the end of the day, and after she finally managed to get her daughter into bed. Genesis was never a fan of English in high school, but for some reason she thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the soldier.Â
   She enjoyed it so much that after her daughter began to notice what she was doing and ask questions, she would read the letters to Allison before bed. Of course, she neglected to read some parts of the letters.  It got to the point that the young girl wanted to check the mail just to see if âour friend sent us something.â Allison was much further ahead than other kids in her class when it came to the speech department; probably because her mother never kept quiet.
   Saturday morning, a few weeks since she had last heard from Aiden, Genesis was at the kitchen table drinking her coffee and scrolling through her phone with her daughter who was trying to eat her cereal while watching the morning cartoons. Most of it ended up on the table, on her, or in her hair. Genesis didnât even think that was possible before she had kids. There was a loud, tough knock at the door that almost made Genesis jump out of her chair. They didnât normally get guests, especially unannounced ones. Standing up, she leaned over and kissed the top of Allisonâs head, the part without cheerios in it, and went to go answer the door.
   Standing before her was a man whom she obviously did not recognize by the look of subtle confusion on her face. He was built, taller than her, maybe slightly older? But not much. She noticed the piece of paper in his hands at the last minute, and hoped that she didnât just get herself stuck in a sales pitch. âCan I help you?â
   He didnât know what Gen looked like before she opened the door. Heâd never received any photographs and neither did he send any. Therefore when she answered his knock to say he was blown away would be a serious understatement. She looked to be about his age, maybe a couple years younger, and absolutely stunning. For a minute, he completely forgot everything he had been preparing to say. The former SEAL had spent hours going over how this moment would go, agonizing over each word he would say so that he could let her know just how much her letters meant to him while he had been deployed. Now all that careful planning was out the window and he had to try and start from scratch.
   âG-good morning, maâam.â Was he actually stuttering? Aiden could scarcely believe it. Heâd squared off against terrorists and maniacs and never blinked, but now he was losing his nerve? Aiden coughed into his hand and gathered his wits before he tried to continue. âIâm sorry if Iâm disturbing your morning and I apologize if this is out of line, Ms. Harlow, but I really wanted to meet you. Iâm Aiden Sinclair and I just wanted to thank you for the letters you sent me.â
