HOPKINS, South Carolina — When JROTC student Bryce Martin went to school Wednesday at Lower Richland High School, he couldn't have imagined who would be waiting for him.
"I didn't expect to see my mom that day. I thought it's going to be any normal day," Bryce said. "I was gonna go through all the procedures outside get ready with my uniform. I'm happy. I got my mom back."
His mom, Major Tracey Martin with the South Carolina Army National Guard, has been stationed in Kuwait.
"I'm coming up on 21 years in the military," Martin said. "I was active in the Air Force and then came to the National Guard and I've been in the Guard for about 17 years now."
For the past nine months, Martin hasn't seen her son. But all that changed Wednesday.
"He continued to thrive while I was gone," Martin said. "It takes a village. No one can do parenting alone. You can, but I don't suggest it."
This was Major Martin's first deployment out of the country.
"I thought she was still over in the Kuwait," Bryce said. "I take a look and her location was off, like a few weeks before this, and I thought where did my mom go?"
Now, his 16th birthday is going to be extra special.
"He'll be 16 on the 16th of November," Martin said.
"I'm happy I got my mom back," Bryce said.
While his mom was deployed, Bryce said he tried to keep himself busy.
"Just doing my best to not think about it as much, just so I didn't miss her as hard because then I know it would be harder for me to function," Bryce said. "But other than that, it wasn't a hard process."
Martin kept her return a secret, and even told her son her return date got pushed back.
"My mom's coming back late October, early November, and that's all I had in my head," Bryce said. "I got to make sure when she got home everything's in order. I got to make sure I'm in order. So my thought process was lock in, and it's not going to be too long. And she kept saying that her date got pushed back."
The surprise was worth it in the end.
Bryce said he's looking forward to his mom's cooking. He's excited to get a big plate of chicken alfredo.
The holidays are going to be extra special, too.
Martin says she and Bryce are heading to Hawaii, where other family is deployed, so everyone can be together again.