It took two weeks, but finally I landed on the private Texas airport. I jumped out of the plane with the help of my crutches and my secretary, Albert.
My Chinook was waiting for me on the airfield. I'd bought it off a military auction years ago, and had it outfitted with the latest in technology. It could fly long distances, and even go into battle if need be.
I hopped up the ramp and got settled on the couch with my leg propped up. My secretary had brought me a bunch of pillows, so I could get comfortable. I had two private special forces as bodyguards, and a medical team with me as well.
My crutches were tucked safely away by the door. Albert climbed up into the copilot seat and started going over the controls. He was ex military too, which made me feel safer.
Before long, we were taking off. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. The pain killers were still helping, so I was feeling no pain whatsoever.
My eyes shot open as I heard Albert call for clearance to land. We'd taken off three days ago, but because we had to make stops for food and fuel, it took us longer to reach our destination.
I opened my eyes and looked out the window. I could see the ranch down below me. The ranch that had been in my family for generations. The ranch that I'd run away from.
I swallowed hard at the memories that assaulted my mind. My family's faces were burned into my mind.
"Prepare for landing," Albert called down.
I watched as he expertly navigated the helicopter down into one of the empty fields. I could see a lot of people running around, probably wondering why the hell we were landing here.
Before long, he had landed us safely. I could see my family and friends running towards the helicopter.
Albert turned around and gave me a smile as he jumped out. He made sure the ramp was down and then he got out of my way.
I sat there for a minute, not sure what to do. What if they didn't want anything to do with me? I knew I was the oldest, but they might not want me back.
I took a deep breath and slowly got to my feet. It was still a little hard to walk around, but it got easier every day. I grabbed onto the wall for support and carefully made my way to the door.
As soon as my foot hit the ground, I was surrounded by people with guns drawn.
I let out a soft laugh. It seemed some things never changed. I slowly held up my hands and looked around at everyone.
"You might want to put your guns away," I said, a smile on my face. "I'm not a bad guy."
I could feel all the eyes on me as they tried to figure out who I was and where I came from. My dad was still out front with his gun pointed in my general direction.
"I don't think we need to do that," he growled. "How about you tell us who you are and what you want."
"I'm Alex Dutton," I said loudly. "Your son, and the oldest one at that."
I watched as my dad's face paled in shock. Beth and Kayce both gasped in shock and started crying.
"I thought you were dead!" Beth yelled at me, tears streaming down her face.
"Nope," I said with a smile. "Alive and kicking."
It only took her a minute to get to me. She jumped in my arms, hugging me tightly.
"Hello little sis," I whispered, hugging her back.
Kayce walked over to us a minute later, tears in his eyes. He reached over and wrapped his arms around both of us.
"Welcome home, Alex," he whispered.
We stood like that for a few minutes, finally letting go when my dad cleared his throat.
"Alex?" he asked me, hesitantly.
"Hey, dad," I whispered. I limped over to him and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. "Hey, dad."
He hugged me tightly in return.
"We thought you were dead," he whispered hoarsely. "I didn't know where you were. I thought you hated us."
"No," I said softly. "Never hate. I just needed to go and grow up on my own."
He nodded and stepped back, looking me up and down.
"Well, you've definitely grown up."
I chuckled softly.
"I have. I'm a Delta Force Operative," I said proudly. "I've done a lot in my life time."
"Come on, Alex. Let's get you settled in," he said with a smile.
I nodded and started following him, my family right behind me. As we walked, I could see that they'd added a couple additions to the ranch.
One of them was a helicopter hangar, which I grinned at.
"How'd you get the money for that?" I asked my dad.
"We had a good year and put it towards that. You know how we love to fly," he said.
I nodded. The Duttons loved flying helicopters and had a whole fleet of them. We used them to check on the herd and the land.
The other addition was a really nice looking stable, with lots of horse in the corral.
"Teeter's doing," my dad said with a grin. "She's one of our ranch hands and really loves horses."
I raised an eyebrow, but continued walking. Rip was standing at the door with a scowl on his face, which he immediately dropped when he saw me. He pushed open the door and allowed us in.
We walked into the main living room. There was still the same large fireplace that I remembered from my childhood, and we all sat around the fire. My leg was killing me by this point, so I laid it on a stool.
"You've been hurt," Beth said, eyeing my leg.
I nodded.
"How bad?" she asked.
"IED exploded on the battlefield and it blew a hole in my leg," I told her. "It's healing up good though. It's still a little sore."
"I can imagine," she said softly, reaching over to squeeze my hand. "You know you're always welcome here."
"I know," I said with a soft smile. "That's why I'm home now."
"So, what have you done?" Kayce asked with a grin.
"Where do I even start?" I asked with a laugh.
"I went and joined the marines when I was eighteen. I did three years and then left for Delta Force. I've done five years of active duty. I've been all around the world and seen everything you can imagine. I even killed Saddam Hussein."
I grinned at the looks on my family's face.
"That's... not normal," Beth finally said.
"Never said I was normal," I said with a wink.
"How long will you be laid up?" my dad asked.
"About six months. They said that by then, I'll be good as new, but that I might need a little physical therapy to get my leg back to normal strength."
"How did you even get a helicopter here?" my dad asked curiously.
"I own a Chinook," I said simply. "Albert, the guy who's been with me, he's my secretary."
"Nice to meet you," he said to Albert, holding out his hand.
Albert nodded and took it.
"Nice to meet you too, sir," he said, shaking his hand.
"You can call me Mr. Dutton, but sir makes me sound old," my dad said jokingly.
I snickered.
"Well, Albert, my dad is Mr. Dutton. Show him our medals," I instructed.
Albert nodded and walked out of the room. I heard his footsteps echoing through the hallways. I glanced around at my family who were all still looking at me in awe.
"I've seen a lot, done a lot," I said softly.
Albert walked back in with a bag full of stuff, setting it down on the coffee table in front of me. I rummaged through it and started pulling out medals and awards.
"I got this for the Battle of Mogadishu," I said, handing a medal to my dad. "We fought for twenty four hours straight to get out of there."
My dad took it with wide eyes. He flipped it over and read the inscription on the back.
"We were fighting the militia in this battle," I explained to him. "There was a shit ton of them. They were throwing rocks and shit at us. We got pinned down and had to call for backup. They sent a lot of choppers to pick us up."
"Wow," Kayce said softly. "That had to be bad."
I nodded and handed him another medal. He took it and examined it.
"This one is for killing Saddam Hussein," I told him. "He had a shit ton of security with him, but we managed to get in and out."
"How do you kill someone like him?" Beth asked.
"Well, we snuck into their compound," I started to explain, "We took out their security guards and then we made our way into the house he was hiding in. We killed his bodyguards and then we went in to finish him off."
"I bet that was a hard job," Beth said softly.
"It was," I admitted. "I had to fight him hand to hand because he knew how to use a sword. It took a long time, but eventually we managed to defeat him."
I handed her another medal.
"I killed this many people," I said to them. "It's not something I'm proud of, but it's something I needed to do."
"How many?" my dad asked softly.
"Two hundred and thirteen," I told them, looking them in the eye.
They all gasped at that number.
"That's a lot," Kayce said.
"It is," I agreed. "I'm the highest ranked person in the whole of the military. I am the Hulk."
"Why do they call you that?" Beth asked me curiously.
"I'm a giant compared to everyone else and I've got the strength to match it," I explained. "I'm also almost unbeatable when it comes down to it."
"Do you have any pictures?" my dad asked me.
I nodded and pulled out a photo album. I handed it to him and let him flip through it.
"Damn," he finally said with awe. "You have done a lot."
"I have," I agreed, feeling a little proud of myself. "I was good at what I did. I will always be the Hulk in my heart."
"Welcome home, Alex Dutton," my dad said softly.
I smiled softly and held up another medal.
"This is from my time in the marines," I said. "The Corps loves me, as I'm sure you can tell."
My dad chuckled and nodded.
"You are something else, Alex."
"I know," I agreed. "But hey, I can be whatever you want me to be. I just want a family."
"You have one," Beth said softly, standing up and coming over to me.
She wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I wrapped my own arms around her in return and hugged her back tightly.
"You can be my brother any day," she whispered. "We are glad to have you back."
I nodded against her, hugging her even tighter.
"I'm happy to be back home with you," I whispered back. "It feels like this is where I belong."
"Because it is where you belong," Beth said firmly, pulling back and smiling at me. "This is your home. We are your family."
"I am glad to hear that," I said softly. "I am glad to be here with you all."
"It's good to have you here," my dad said, getting up and walking over to me. "Now, I think it's time for us to talk about some business."
"What kind of business?" Beth asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"We need to get Alex settled in. I think we should make him part of the company so he'll have something to do when he recovers."
"That sounds good," Kayce agreed. "He needs something to keep him busy."
"Maybe I can help out with security," I suggested. "I don't know what the situation has been like with the reservation lately."
"Oh, you have no idea," Rip said from where he was still leaning against the doorframe. "Jamie's been trying to steal the land from us."
"We will not let him do that," my dad growled. "We will fight him every step of the way. He wants a fight, we'll give him one."
"We all need to be careful though," I warned my dad. "We don't want to end up in jail. I can already think of a few ways we can do it."
"I'll leave it to you," my dad said with confidence. "I know you can do it. I've seen the pictures and your medals. You are a force to be reckoned with."
"I will make sure they won't mess with us again," I promised my dad. "I'll be a thorn in their side, but not one that they can remove."
"Good," my dad said firmly. "Now let's get started on making you an official member of this family."
I grinned as Beth nodded and stood up.
"Let's get going," she said. "I'm going to get the lawyers on the phone."
"I will help as much as I can," I said, standing up carefully and putting weight on my bad leg. "Ow, fuck, that hurts."
Kayce walked over and put his arm around my shoulders.
"Come on, big brother," he said softly. "Let's get you settled in."
I snorted at him and leaned against him as he led me out of the house and into a room next to my dad's.
"This room is yours now," he said. "Albert is in the one next to it." "Thanks," I said gratefully. "I appreciate it."
"No problem, brother," Kayce said, grinning. "We're happy to have you here."
I smiled at him and nodded.
"I'm glad I am home too," I agreed. "Now, get out of here before I decide to kick your ass for calling me your big brother."
I winked at him and he laughed, but left me alone in my room. I took a moment to look around it.
There was a huge bed in it with an equally huge mattress on it. There was also an en-suite bathroom and a large walk in closet.
I was going to love it here. I could already tell. I was finally home. I finally had a family. I finally belonged. I smiled at the thought and moved to take off my uniform, changing into jeans and a shirt.
Albert walked in and helped me get settled on the bed. I lay back against the pillows and let out a sigh.
"I'm finally home, Albert," I said softly. I felt a bit tearful at that thought.
Albert nodded, his own eyes wet with tears. He smiled softly at me and reached down to squeeze my hand.
"I know," he said gently. "I know. You've missed it."
I nodded.
"I have," I agreed. "So much."