"To my big sister," Nico said, and lifted his beer toward me. "Who flew in, brought cake, and still will not tell anyone what she actually does."
"You are welcome for the cake," I said.
"I am getting to the cake," he said. "First, the mystery. Jules has been in the Air Force forever, and I still do not know her call sign."
"You never asked nicely," I said.
"I am asking nicely now," he said. "In front of witnesses. So it counts."
Corporal Mercer leaned forward. "Ma'am, you will not tell your own brother?"
"He had fifteen years," I said. "He spent most of them asking if I had air conditioning."
Nico pointed at me. "See? She drops a line like that, and then nothing. No story. Just classified this and later that."
"It is annoying," he said, and grinned at his friends. "So tonight we are guessing. Process of elimination."
"Nico," I said.
"First guess," he said. "Sparkle Six."
The table burst out laughing.
"Sparkle," I repeated.
"You heard me," he said. "Sparkle Six. Because you love glitter and early bedtimes."
"I love neither of those things," I said.
"You love one of them," he said. "I have seen your apartment. Everything is labeled."
"That is organization," I said.
"That is sparkle with a clipboard," Mercer said, and then looked stricken. "Sorry, ma'am."
"Do not apologize," I said. "He is a bad influence."
"I pay in charm," Nico said.
"You pay in neither," I said, and the room laughed again, easy and loud.
He held up a second finger. "Second guess. Cupcake."
"Cupcake," I said.
"Cupcake Six," he said. "Because you are sweet until someone touches your cake."
"I brought that cake for you," I said.
"And you told me not to cut it until the toast," he said. "Protect the frosting at all costs."
"I told you not to cut it because you were holding a pocketknife," I said.
"It was clean," he said.
"It was in your boot," I said.
His Marines howled, and Nico put a hand over his heart.
"You see what I grew up with?" he said. "No mercy."
"You started this," I said.
"I started a toast," he said. "You turned it into a roast."
"You demanded my call sign in front of witnesses," I said. "First mistake."
"Was it classified?" he asked.
"It's classified," I said, and smiled when I said it, the way I had practiced for years.
The whole table groaned.
"There it is," Nico said. "Line number one. She has three. Classified, fine, and later."
"I am fine," I said, because they expected it now.
"Line number two," he crowed.
"I'll tell you later," I said.
"And there is the set," he said. "Fifteen years, same three lines. My sister could be running satellites and I would never know."
"Then I am doing my job," I said.
"Or you really do push paper in Georgia," he said. "Which is it, Jules? Legend or paper?"
"Eat your cake and find out never," I said.
Mercer raised his glass. "Ma'am, that answer made it worse."
"For him," I said. "Not for me."
That got another laugh, and I let it cover the small, tight feeling under my ribs. He was close in a way he did not understand. Six was part of it. Six had always been part of it. I had heard that number in tents and in dust and in the dark when men were trying hard not to sound afraid, and I had answered every time until my voice gave out. Sitting here in a clean shirt, drinking water while his friends guessed cupcake flavors, I felt how strange it was that the truest name I owned sounded, in this room, like a party game.
Nico watched me over his beer. For a second I thought he saw something. Then he softened, the way he had since we were kids whenever he pushed a joke too far.
"Hey," he said, quieter. "I am proud you came."
"I would not miss it," I said.
"I know," he said. "That is why I am giving you a hard time. If I get serious I will get weird about it."
"You are doing great," I said. "Very Staff Sergeant. Very loud."
"Thank you," he said, and raised his voice again. "She still owes me a call sign, though. This is not over."
"It is over for tonight," I said. "Tonight you are the story."
"Damn right I am," he said, and turned back to his Marines, and the noise swelled up again around the cake and the framed chevrons and the music beyond the door.
Then Mercer checked his phone and stood straighter.
"Sir," he said to Nico. "Text from the front. Gunny Barrett just parked. He is on his way in."
Chapter 12: The Coffee
The door opened while they were still laughing.