Chapter 12

Amy had never been in the Governor's mansion before this bright and sunny Friday morning on the winter after she was re-united with her children. She had already fed Christina and she was sound asleep in her stroller with an angelic look on her face. If only she were as angelic at night and didn't keep her awake to all hours with her sporadic awakenings and loud vociferous demands. Violet and Duncan were always well-behaved and she had no problems on that score at all. Right after the baby was born, she had told them the truth about her being their real mother and that she had been lost in a strange land and had returned to find her family taken away from her. They were shocked but soon realized she was being honest and they quickly began to call her "Mom" again much to her relief. Poor Diego was still "Diego" but he didn't seem to mind at all.

She was impressed with all of the Californian history displayed on the walls with paintings and statues and other memorabilia. It was strange to see the mansion help dressed in formal attire as if the place were some plantation in the Deep South.

Amy knew the ceremony was for some awards she had not received when she had been mustered out of the service in Frankfurt, Germany. She tended to stay away from military bases and even got nervous when she was around a lot of uniforms and military vehicles. Even down in Las Vegas, she had caught herself getting down on her hands and knees to look under the SUV out of force of habit. She had left her little automatic out in the car because they told her there would be scanners inside the mansion and she did not want to cause a commotion. She was glad to see there were armed guards at the entrance that that the entire facility was covered with a lot of cameras that were hopefully tied into a security control center that was primed for immediate reaction. She knew that Diego or Rosita or any of the other relatives that had accompanied them were in the least bit interested with her constant need to check her perimeter and look for escape routes. Her bosses down in Las Vegas knew without asking how attuned she was to everything around her and that was the primary reason she was promoted again and again.

She saw that the ceremony would be officiated by a Brigadier General from the California National Guard. He looked awfully young to be a one star General but in these times of constant combat; promotions move a lot faster than in peacetime. She definitely did not like the flash cameras. They heightened her fear factor and made her want to drop to the floor sometimes when they popped off unexpectedly. It was like the flare guns at night or the drone bombs that came without warning.

She was greeted by the Governor and his pretty young wife at least 30 years younger than he and with an air of "I would rather be somewhere else" that could not be disguised. Still, the Governor was extremely gracious and the ceremony got started right after a quick invocation by a female chaplain from an Army Reserve Unit in San Francisco. She was a captain but had no decorations except for a good conduct medal that rested uncomfortably over a nicely curved boob.

The general was subdued and serious of face. She noticed at the last moment that one of his hands was a prosthesis molded to look like a real hand. He read the orders of the day and then began to give Amy the medals she had never even thought of when she had returned to civilian life. Counting the good conduct medals, the unit citations, the battle ribbons and the war zone awards, she would be able to fill up three rows without any difficulty. Then he pulled out an ornate document and a large medal box announcing that she was the first California National Guard female to be awarded the "Silver Star" for combat duty in Afghanistan.

Amy was really embarrassed now because she knew nobody had any idea of the extent of her combat service. The general opened the award scroll with a little difficulty due to his missing hand but managed it without asking for any assistance.

"Be all within hearing, these are the particulars as to the awarding of the "Silver Star" award to Staff Sergeant Amy Gonzalez nee Powell for extraordinary valor show on the field of battle in combat operations on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border during the period (February 2006 to April 2013).