(Greentext) The General's Son

>It was an uneventful summer day in central Virginia; the motherly general's veteran corps encamped there sat on its rear and savored the peace as best as it could
>The pickets and scouts reported no Yankee force in the immediate area, and no orders had been dispatched from Lee to march elsewhere, so the General decided to give her boys the rest from combat that they desperately needed
>The sky was bright blue and cloudless, the grass was green and warm, and the gentle breeze offset the sun's heat
>What would really make it Heaven on earth is if a few dozen wagons full of rations suddenly rolled in
>Aside from their hunger, the men were in fine spirits; they played cards, lounged in their tents, cooked what little food they had, and those with instruments cheerfully played them
>Too busy enjoying the beautiful day, a mounted courier trotting across the camp hardly gathered a second glance from them
>Most didn't even get a look at his face, but they at least saw the yellow chevrons on his brown sleeves: a cavalry corporal
>As he approached the cluster of tents sectioned off for the high-ranking officers, he was stopped by an unarmed guard that grabbed his horse's reins
>"Corporal Dixon, sir, 6th South Carolina Cavalry," the courier greeted with a salute, "I have a dispatch for General Dixie from General Lee."
>"All right, corporal, dismount and follow me," the guard replied
>As he set foot on the ground, the guard observed how short Dixon really was; his cap just barely peaked over the saddle
>"I've seen ladies taller than you..." the man thought to himself with a smirk
>As Dixon came around the other side of his horse, his face was clearly revealed
>Surrounding his thick brown mustache and his thin tuft of dark beard hair was rough wooden skin
>Finally noticing his large and glassy gray eyes, the guard put two and two together
>"You're a nandroid!" he said, taken aback with surprise
>"No sir," Dixon said while stifling a laugh, "I'm a 'botler': a male variant. There aren't nearly as many of us, but we DO exist."

>The General sat in a foldout chair by a campfire surrounded by several of her division and brigade commanders, engaged in a very informal conversation about animals
>Because of the warm day, few of them bothered to put on their gray jackets or waistcoats, the General herself included, clad in two layers of undershirts to prevent anything indecent from poking through the fabric
>Their casual dress combined with the sound of laughter disguised their high ranks to any unaware soldier who approached
>"You miss yer goddamn CATS more than your family, George?!" one officer loudly asked another while chuckling, "What do you think yer wife'n kids ate the moment you left Texas?"
>The General and the rest of her slightly inebriated officers promptly burst into laughter
>"Oh, go to Hell, Bob! I never said that!" the cat owner jokingly shouted in his defense, "I've written to my wife twice in the last week!"
>"Excuse me, Ma'am," the guard quietly said to the General from behind, "a courier just arrived with orders from General Lee."
>She turned back towards him in disbelief, anticipating her relaxing day would be cut short by a hasty march into battle
>"Damn," she grumbled aloud before laying eyes on the courier beside him
>Immediately her eyes widened and she stood up with a wide smile
>"Dixon!" she exclaimed with joy, "My baby!"
>Every general by the fire silenced himself as they looked over at her
>She disregarded all military etiquette as she rushed towards him, arms open
>He didn't reciprocate her excitement while she embraced him, her cushioned torso tightly pressing against his
>"Good to see you again, Ma," he said with a slight grin
>"I've missed you so much, hon!"
>Only when she kissed him on the cheek did he protest
>"Mama, PLEASE!" he whispered, "Not in front of the officers!"
>"Oh, don't worry about them," she said in his ear while maintaining the embrace, "I outrank them all."
>Finally letting go, she habitually dusted off the shoulders of his coat and straightened his gray kepi
>"So... what dispatches have you brought me, CORPORAL?" she asked with a smile
>Without a word, he reached into his haversack and pulled out a folded up piece of paper
>She grabbed it, looked at it for a single second, and then stuffed it into her rear pocket
>"I'll read it in a minute, dear," she said, gently escorting him away from the other officers, "Let's talk for a little."

>"I haven't seen you in just shy of a year, and you come back with a fancy new rank!" she complimented, "I'm so proud of you, hon!"
>The pair now stood near a cluster of trees on the edge of the camp, providing decent shade and distance from anyone in earshot
>"Well, I feel if I stayed in your corps," he said while adjusting his belt, "I'd be a colonel by now because you would have promoted me every other week."
>She flashed him a face that combined confusion with frustration, feeling like he purposefully insulted her
>"I... I like to earn what I get is what I mean, Mama," he explained, "I mean, Sarah's three years younger than me, and what is she, a lieutenant?"
>"Captain, actually," she confessed, ashamed that he proved his own point
>Of her four children, the eldest Dixon was the only son, the only cavalryman, and the only one not under her command; consequently, he held the lowest rank of the four
>His sisters: Sarah, Ellie, and Jennie were dispersed across two Carolina infantry regiments and an artillery battery, yet held unusually high ranks for their ages
>The General sighed, "Okay, maybe I DO spoil you kids with promotions too often, but that's only because I love you so much. Your sisters aren't bad soldiers by any means, hon!"
>"I never said they weren't, Ma. If I were you, I would just... slow down with the promotions so it doesn't look like they're gettin' special treatment, y'hear?"
>"You're right," she agreed, concluding the matter, "I'll ease up on it."
>During a lull in the conversation, he glanced down at her gut and froze
>It looked marginally swollen, and now that he saw it, he realized how she was neither drinking nor smoking with her officers earlier
>"...You're pregnant AGAIN?" he asked with a frown
>She only nervously smiled in response
>He pulled off his cap and angrily ran his hand through his locks
>"Who's the father this damn time?"
>She ignored his angry tone, put her hands on her belly, and said, "A cute little Yankee from the Midwest. Iron Brigade."

>Mere moments away from cussing at his own mother as well as a 3-star general, Dixon stopped himself and took a deep breath
>Despite her telling her philosophy to him several times, he still didn't care for her promiscuity in the name of the war effort
>The whole idea of mating with the strongest men of the opposing army so their child gains their combat ability made no sense to him, as the father wouldn't be present to raise the child anyway, and he learned from experience that bravery wasn't always genetic
>He himself was half New Englander, specifically half 20th Maine, yet he hadn't entered his first battles as brave as a veteran
>He calmed himself and slapped his kepi back on his head
>"By next year, you'll have enough kids to fill a regiment," he joked without smiling
>"If it means stoppin' the Yankees and havin' many darlin' children, I'll have enough to fill an army," she told him
>After a silence, he decided it was as good a time as any to leave, so he spread his arms apart as she did before
>"Sorry, but I have to get goin' now, Ma," he said, "I was ordered to deliver the dispatch and then head right back to Lee's headquarters."
>As she sprang into his arms once more, she quietly asked him, "Are you sure you can't stay just a little longer, sugar?
>"I'm sure, Mama. I'll try and see you again as soon as I can. I promise."
>She replied with another long kiss on his cheek as she hugged him even tighter
>"I love you, hon... so much," she whispered
>For a brief moment, he let go of his worries and felt perfectly content in his mother's embrace
>"I love you too, Ma... Maybe I can stay just a few more minutes," he mumbled
>She released him and patted him on the shoulder for his decision
>"That's just what I want to hear, hon," she said with a satisfied grin, casually retrieving the folded dispatch from her pocket
>She opened it and skimmed her eyes across the text
>In hastily scrawled text that would be illegible to most, it read: "General Dixie - You are ordered to assemble your corps at once and execute a march towards Tillsburg with all possible speed. General Longstreet and I will be waiting with further details. -General Robert E. Lee"
>The message was exactly what she feared it would be
>"Ooh, the boys won't like this too much," she groaned
>"What's the matter?" Dixon asked
>"It looks like we're followin' you back to Lee."