When I see you again

Stacey stood on the Train platform, eyes closed, feeling the wind as the Train sped away.
The next time she would see David would be the following summer. They had been neighbours all their lives and lovers for the past two years. Knowing he was leaving to serve back to back Missions in Iraq, made her heart drop to depths beyond her physical self.
The hum of the wheels on the track, now faded in the distance, but Stacey could not bring herself to leave. A single bird song trilled out its lonely existence, echoing through the station as if to put a sorrowful song to what Stacey was feeling.
She slowly opened her eyes almost willing the Train to still be beside her but instead the cold metal track lay there taunting.
Stacey looked left and then right. There was no one next to her. The Platform lay empty, as empty as her life was going to be until David’s return.
Turning to leave, Stacey felt as though she was turning her back on him. Abandoning him, but she had the most important job to fulfil while he was away. She had to carry their baby to term and deliver a Son for David on her own.
With no family to support her, Stacey relied on the encouragement of David’s reassuring words via Skype every Sunday evening. The months flowed painfully by like thick molten lava flowing across horizontal ground. Each Skype call was hindered with anxiety, not knowing if David would be on the other end, followed by relief and immediately sorrow at the distance that lay between them.
Stacey’s body began to swell under the pressure of the growing child inside her. She was comforted by the fact that she still had a piece of David with her. She sang and nurtured her developing child despite the loneliness she carried in her heart, until the next Skype call.
It was now 7 months since David left and Stacey was heavily Pregnant. As David’s excitement grew, so did Stacey’s fear of the unknown.
It was 1am Sunday morning when Stacey felt the first signs that the baby was ready to be welcomed into the world. With no one to support her, she had made arrangements to be able to be admitted into the Hospital as early as she needed to be. Once there and settled, a nurse made arrangements to contact David and do her best to get an early Skype connection. As the labour progressed, one of the nurses continued to try to contact David.
A link was made and a Commanding Officer was on the other end. David was on his way back into Camp. Reportedly about 15 minutes away. The baby would not wait. They kept the Skype link open, Stacey had to push, her mind in a whirl of heartbreak, pain and loneliness like she had never felt before. Then a sound, as the baby took his first breath, Stacey heard David’s voice.