HiveComb

Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews

In the middle of everything going on, Mrs. Melissa Trent stayed out of the drama a lot … dealing with serious mental health issues meant stress was not an option. Having five children and a divorce before knowing what was going on complicated matters tremendously … but Sgt. Vincent Trent had stepped up and kept stepping up even through that divorce, and strategized how he was going to get his whole family back together and executed it, made sure he understood her condition and what she needed as support, and just kept on stepping up so she could find her way to be the best mother and wife she could be in the condition she was in.

Melissa Trent adored her husband for this, and for all the little things … like him knowing she worried about things like the brown sugar and turbinado sugar cans being mixed up, and always putting a can of treats for her in between so it wasn't a stresser: the treats were always in between, so they could not be mixed up.

On this particular day, she found a can full of kisses … not Hershey's, but in Lofton County, Madame Ebene-Cerise Dubois had moved up and started a whole problem with her pecan praline kisses covered in Frank's Fair Square Chocolate. They were not cheap. Madame Dubois was not young, the effort of making them was great, and the folks at Frank's had not quite figured out how to master the recipe yet.

Sgt. Trent had filled the can with those kisses anyway, and added a note: “Each of them redeemable for the real item, at the time of your choosing, my Lissa.” That was his special nickname for her, and it always made her smile.

Mrs. Trent was working on dinner; her own mother would be coming in to help her in a little while, but she always liked to do her setup first … it kept anxiety at bay to have things ready. This was also the ideal time for treats because her younger children Velma (11), Milton (9), and Gracie (8) generally came into the kitchen to learn as soon as they smelled something interesting, and Gracie and Milton were known to be up on the counter and in the cabinets – getting ready for the Summer Olympics with “summer salts” on Gracie's part had been exceeded by Milton getting down the ten pounds of baking soda to make a winter wonderland with best friend George Ludlow from next door … and speaking of that, her children at any time could have little Ludlows following them in and out of the house and the kitchen.

Mrs. Trent's older children knew about the can of treats, but they also knew what their father straight up told them: “Those are for your mother. Touch them and answer to me about it.”

“There's too much food to be eating in this house to have those kinds of problems,” son Melvin had said to daughter Vanna.

“Ain't it the truth,” Vanna had said.

So, that can always had special things that were just for Mrs. Trent … a quick check to figure out where the kids were, and her mouth could be filled with the reminder of her husband's love with a quick spark of energy to get through the work.

While Mrs. Trent was doing her setup, Sgt. Trent gathered up the three younger children and made sure she had time for setup and treats, and they enjoyed the time with him … he was a deeply loving father, and genuinely enjoyed all his children's company.

And then there was that special thing about Vincent Trent: folks chilled out and relaxed into his calm, and stayed calm, so, no matter how crazy the day went, his three youngest were always calmer and ready to wind down the day after dinner. Now that both Sgt. and Mrs. Trent understood what was going on with her, she too experienced this, but at different moments all day long … he was a reservoir of calm for her to pull on, and that can of kisses and time daily to enjoy them contained that knowledge too.

Sgt. Trent was also a calm and confident lover … those rich, sweet kisses said much in terms of memories, and also to the promise of a future evening when the younger kids were in bed before their parents felt like falling out sleep. That didn't happen often, because the younger three Trents and their joined-at-the-hip cousin Vertran and their eight Ludlow friends were a handful even accounting for Mrs. Trent's parents providing support, and the Ludlows and Lees also taking on supervising and making space for all 12 under 12 years old.

But Sgt. Trent always kept a promise … he was faithful at all times in all locations … nobody in the Army even knew he was divorced except his closest friends, and they all knew that situation was temporary. He had not so much as looked twice at any other woman: he was going to get his wife back, and that was that … and he did. Keeping her the second time around meant understanding her condition and loving her as she was … and he did. That gave her room to blossom into loving him again at her very best, and caring for her family at her very best.

It was just a can of candy … but Mrs. Trent savored the two pieces she took out that day, and then came up behind her husband while he was doing some repair work and gave him two kisses on the back of his neck that made him shiver with pleasure.

“You know I love it when you do that,” he said as he turned around.

“Yep,” she said. “Later on ...”

“Yep,” he said, “provided Tom doesn't actually help these kids build a backyard warp drive and/or blow out our van engine, in first gear while holding down the gas and holding the brake – Tom!”

16-year-old Tom Stepforth III, big brother to Vertran, had to be accounted for, too.

“But I was just showing them how engines really work from the inside, Unc – even a minivan can get some RPM, and I was thinking –.”

“Don't think about anything but taking your foot off the gas, putting the van in park, turning it off, and getting your butt in here before I come drag you out of there like I am your father!”

“Man, get out the car!” 21-year-old Melvin Trent said. “You don't even need to know my dad like that! Man came from a whole deployment – get out the car while you still can!”

“But I thought your dad was less soldiered out than my dad!”

“Your father is an officer! They learn advanced techniques and so he used one to keep from blasting you to kingdom come when you blew up y'all's kitchen! My dad is a master sergeant, and they don't do all that! Severe danger incoming – get out the car!”

“But wait a minute – we were about to find out how aerodynamic minivans are and if they can fly!” said someone else.

“No, you were about to get snatched up by my dad and then your grandfather and not live to see the age of 10 – go home, George, and Milton, go somewhere and sit down!”

“It's nice when you raise your kids to know what time it is so they can help the younger ones!” Mrs. Trent said as she laughed.

“And it took enough to get Melvin there, but hey: we do what we gotta do – see you in a bit,” the sergeant said as he went outside.