#doublesurprises

[[Okay, so I got this drabble idea at like 2:30 in the morning and just had to write it out. So uh, here it is.

[[Oh and it's based on a song called Letters from War by Mark Schultz

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Blake had been gone for one year now. At 19, he had left to join the armed forces; the Navy. He was shipped overseas to fight in the war against terror. 

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It was the first day of Summer and Belle was making her normal rounds of the house, including going out to get the mail. A daily chore that she either dreaded or loved. Today was a good day. A letter from Blake.

Finally.

Upon reading the letter, Blake spoke of the weather and new friends that he'd made. He said that he'd been thinking about his grandfather, about the life that he'd had. Maurice, Belle's father, had also been in the Navy and that is what made Blake want to serve his country. He had never known Maurice, but his mom had told him so much about his grandfather that all he wanted to do was honor the man that he had so much respect for. 

At the end of the letter he wrote:

"Mom, I want you to know that I'm fighting for you, for dad, for James and Kat, for Uncle Aziraphale and Uncle Sebastian, and for Michael and Evan. I'm fighting for what I hold most dear. My family."

This was the first of his letters from war. 

Belle then pulled out her own stationary and fought back tears as she wrote:

"Blake, your father and I, all of us, are so proud of you. You're good. And you're brave. What a father that you'll be someday. Make it home. Make it safe. We love you so much Blake."

She sighed and pressed a kissed to the paper before sealing and sending the letter. 

She continued writing each day and she prayed. 

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Then, late in December, a day that she'll never forget, her tears stained the paper over the words that she read. Jake was standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders as she sat on the couch. James and Kat were on either side of her. James was holding her hand that wasn't holding the paper and Kat's arms were wrapped tightly around her mother's waist. 

"I was up on a hill. I was out there alone, when the shots all rang out and bombs were exploding. That's when I saw him. He came back for me. Though he was captured, the man set me free. That man was your son." Belle paused and gasped, biting her lip at the words she just read. Jake gripped her shoulders and grit his teeth. James put his forehead to the back of his mom's hand to hide his tears. Kat buried her face in her mother's shoulder crying. She continued. "He asked me to write to you, I told him I would, oh I swore."

This was the last of the letters from war. 

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She prayed he was living. She kept on believing and wrote every night just to say: "You are good. And you're brave. What a father that you'll be someday. Make it home. Make it safe." 

Still she kept writing each day. 

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Two years later, Autumn leaves on the ground and a cold wind blowing, Belle felt a tap on her shoulder from Kat, now 20, who was pointing out a car that had just pulled into the driveway. Belle took a deep breath and walked outside, followed by Jake and the twins. Belle walked out to stand on the grass next to the car. Jake stood at the bottom of the stairs of their porch. And James and Kat were in the doorway. 

As the door of the car opened and a young man stepped out, she fell to her knees, crying from the overwhelming joy. Out stepped a Captain, where her boy used to stand. He said, "Mom, I'm following orders, from all of your letters, and I've come home again."

He ran in to hold her, dropped all of his bags on the floor, holding all of her letters from war. Belle embraced her oldest son tightly in her arms as she cried. Kat ran passed James and Jake to join her mother in hugging her big brother. James had stepped forward once the three stood from the ground. Belle and Kat released Blake and hugged each other smiling and crying. James smiled sadly and hugged his brother tightly. James let go when Jake tapped his shoulder. James joined his mother and sister. Blake stood at attention, hands behind his back as he looked at his father. Jake was standing there, in shock. Breathing deeply and not an emotion on his face. Blake swallowed hard and smiled sadly at his dad. "Dad, I-I'm home." He mumbled. Jake broke into a smile and tears formed and rolled down his cheeks. He gathered his first son into his arms holding him tightly in a tearful embrace. 

"You're home." Jake mumbled through his tears. "Thank God that you're home." He whispered.