It was 6:45 and already quite dark by the time Andrew and Joey reached the Crashdown. Neither had really said much after they had stopped, but their hands had never parted either. It was almost as if the dream had said it all, that there just wasn’t much more that could be said after seeing that dream together.
The original plan was to have dinner and have their ‘private talk,’ but Andrew could see it hadn’t been a very good plan.
They sat down in the only empty booth, the Crashdown almost filled with students, mainly from West Roswell, who had stopped there prior to going to a rock concert where three local bands were battling. Their lives had changed when they’d become a twosome, and as they’d stopped being loners it had been noticed by their teammates. Football players wandered over with their dates to say hi to Andrew and to meet Joey, Joey’s teammates would drag their dates over to meet Andrew and say hi to Joey, and Andrea and her date actually wound up eating with them.
It was fun. Both Andrew and Joey did better as a couple socially then they had as individuals. Somehow they were just more confident with the other around, conversations were easier, they were less nervous and more at ease. Within minutes they found themselves laughing with their friends.
If it hadn’t been that this was supposed to be a time for a ‘private talk’, it actually would have been great. But an hour later after Andrea and Don finally left, Joey touched Andrew’s arm as he was paying the bill. *I have an idea*.
The Parkers were in Arizona again, but they’d offered the use of their old place above the Crashdown if Joey had needed it, and she knew that he wanted to have this talk. She showed him where the key was hidden, but then left it there as she moved to the door around the corner from the entrance to the Crashdown and put her hand against the lock, sliding the bolt out of the frame. They climbed the narrow stairs up to the living room and Joey turned on a light.
Both Joey and Andrew were sort of breathless looking at each other. It was almost like seeing that dream together had fundamentally changed how they viewed each other. Twelve hours ago, they would have described one another as boyfriend or girlfriend, betrothed, or at least engaged to be engaged. But somehow they had become family, the physical relationship not consummated, but emotionally wedded in a way that neither one would ever have thought they could have experienced.
And perhaps it was for that reason that the words were not as embarrassingly painful to Andrew as he thought they would be. In fact, as he said them he didn’t find them painful at all, he found they bound him closer to her……
“Joey, whatever you said or did to my Dad really did win him over. I’d almost believe you did mindwarp him.”
“Trust me, Drew, twenty years ago all my family were just as paranoid about human people. If my uncle hadn’t needed to heal his girlfriend…who wasn’t even his girlfriend then, actually, well…I doubt I’d have ever even been born.
Once he understood, your Dad really was fine with it. The only one I’ve mindwarped recently is myself…and you too, I guess. I’m still all goosebumps from that dream.”
“Me too, and I guess this is kind of related to that. Dad tried to give me THE lecture, on uh…..serious boy-girl relationships. After that dream there isn’t too much doubt how serious we want this to get. But….the timing of that, and how comfortable you are with us getting close…I mean, physically close, I’m not sure I can get much closer to you emotionally, after that dream. Well I’ve not got too much experience with this…..OK, I have NO experience with this, and I don’t want to mess up, I don’t want to do anything that will upset or hurt you, but I don’t want to …not do anything that you want me to do either. And it’s not like I can necessarily read how you feel through the connection, either. Sometimes when we get affectionate in the connection it’s kind of like a whirlwind gathering momentum.”
Joey blushed, “Yeah…I’ve had the experience. It’s a good sort of whirlwind, but sometimes you get the feeling it’s going to take you where it’s going, whether you’ve really thought it over or not.”
“Well that’s kind of what this talk is supposed to be about. I know it’s kind of embarrassing, but I think we should kind of discuss ahead of time just what’s OK and when, before we are in the whirlwind. Then there’s at least a chance ONE of us might remember and get off the whirlwind before it takes us somewhere we aren’t really sure we are ready for.
And Joey…well, we’ve both seen that dream, we both know what we want, and I hope you know I’d do anything…or not do anything right now, as long as we get there eventually…”
Joey smiled at Andrew. She’d been having similar thoughts, but really didn’t know how to approach Drew.
He hadn’t been embarrassed to admit that he had no experience at this, …she had been embarrassed to admit that she had even less. But it really didn’t matter, she decided. She had committed to him, in their dreamwalks and in that dream of hers. That was just the way she lived her life, with full intensity, holding nothing back. Sure, she was scared, she had some reservations. What frightened her most was that they’d hold nothing back…but then have to go their separate ways, and she’d wake up to that terrible empty lonesomeness. And while she really didn’t want that, she knew if he needed that she’d nonetheless give it to him, and deal with the lonesomeness as best she could.
She felt like she was wishing her life away sometimes. If she knew the sun was going to go supernova in three days, she’d have no hesitation about spending the next 72 hours with Drew. But he was sixteen, and her not yet that. They still needed to prepare for life, to get through high school and line up college. And maybe someday the wait would just get too hard and she’d change her mind, but right now she was just afraid of sharing a bed with him …afraid of how she’d feel to be all alone in the next morning……no, that wasn’t even right. If he needed that, she’d do it, and not even reluctantly, she’d enjoy it and see to it that he did too, but …for now, if they could wait on that...and if that was mutual…she’d rather wait.
But that still left lots of interesting possibilities that they really hadn’t explored yet, ….and….yes, he was hers, she was his….she wanted to do that, …..maybe not right this minute, but as they were comfortable with it.
Joey reached out with her mind and made the connection. *Drew…* and she deepened the connection then, drawing him deeper into her very soul, so he’d understand, *Drew I am yours and you are mine, now and forever. I want and need for you to hold me, to look at me…to touch me. I want that dream, and I want our love to build toward that dream. I want us to have everything but I ache when I wake up and we are apart, and I’m afraid right now that if we consummate our love today, I’ll be so lonely tomorrow I won’t be able to bear it. It may not be that way a month from now but that’s my fear today. But if you need that, if you need anything, I’ll do it and be happy, and we’ll deal with the consequences somehow. You are my beloved, my life, and my future*
Andrew was as overwhelmed by the feelings that came to him through the connection as he had been by the feelings that came to him when he had dreamwalked Joey. He had seen deep into her soul, understood her love, and understood her fears.
But both were young and both were inexperienced. They both forgot that they were more than lovers, they were also friends.
Joey in her need to have Andrew reassured that she really was his, promised him anything, let him see into her soul, but had failed to look in his, even though he laid it open for her. Had she looked, she might have seen his need.
Andrew in his desire to make the future that he envisioned for them come true, decided to take her up on her offer to do anything he needed and deal with the consequences later.
Had they been older, wiser, more experienced, they would have remembered they were friends and Joey would have talked to him about her fears and Andrew would have talked to her about his needs. But being totally in love does not mean you have total wisdom. Each made mistakes, and the greatest mistake was not talking as friends.
Instead Andrew said, “I think I do need for you to do something more, Joey. I know you are still uncomfortable with this idea, but I really think we need to do this. But first I need to go get something. Stay here, I’ll be right back….”
Joey was a little shocked as Andrew turned and walked down the stairs.
The offer she had made him was unconditional….but she really hadn’t expected him to take her up on it.
Not without at least, kind of working up to it….kind of, testing the waters with lesser intimacies. She had thought when she’d been in the connection that as they became more intimate, her own fears might lessen…that wanting to have the closeness might overcome her fear of the loneliness later.
She knew too that the time might come when their passion in the connection would be too great for either of them to resist…..and she was OK with that, too. If it happened, it happened.
But it had totally surprised her that he might just say….. 'Oh, I don’t want to wait. Let me go buy some protection and I’ll be right back.’
She loved him and she’d do it, but…. she had kind of thought she’d have been ....romanced a little more first.
But she had really meant it, and no relationship was perfect she realized. She wanted him so very much, and she wanted him to be happy, and if he needed this that bad, then he’d have it, and she would make him happy….and be happy with him as well.
She had been in her fair share of locker rooms over the years, and it wasn’t just the guy’s locker rooms where stories get told. She knew that Andrea’s boyfriend was pushing her for a more physical relationship, perhaps Andrea was right, guys just seemed to need it more.
Well if Drew needed it, he’d have it. She was glad at least that he’d remembered the protection. She’d been so surprised she would have forgotten about it, and she most definitely did want it to be the two of them for awhile before the dream came true and they were three.
They’d deal with her loneliness or any regrets tomorrow, she decided, tonight she would just make him happy.
She looked around the living area briefly, then turned down the lights and climbed the stairs up to Aunt Liz's old bedroom.
Joey (AA/CC teen) [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
CRACK! The fist sized stone became sand and dust under the force of the powerblast.
If the special unit were still in existence, one clue to who was an alien in the Southwest was that they tended to have houses with full basements. While that may not have been anything special up in Massachusetts where Izzie and Jesse lived, it was unusual in the desert Southwest, where most houses were constructed on concrete slabs.
Michael had been down there for several hours, starting a couple hours after Maria had come home from shopping and told him about the conversation with Barbara Douglas. They’d talked at length, trying to decide what to do. He was still trying to decide.
CRACK! A cantaloupe sized stone was now sand and dust, mostly dust actually, much of it fine as talcum.
The stereo was blaring in the background, partly to hide the noise made by the rocks being crushed, although the basement training area was pretty well soundproofed. Mostly just because the kids had found the workouts here to be somewhat boring, and they’d hard-wired the outlet so the music came on when the lights came on.
CRACK! A watermelon sized stone had just become sand, Michael modulating his power to keep the fine dust down, the talcum-like powder already threatening to sift its way into the rest of the basement where it would be tracked upstairs.
Michael wasn’t a great fan of country-western, or of Emmy Lou Harris. Maria’s tastes as a former and even now occasional performing artist were more eclectic. She’d been using the practice area as an aerobics workout area now that Mark was off in college, and in the past 3 months since Joey didn’t spend the hours a day down here that she used to, practicing her powers. ‘The last three months…..’ Michael thought bitterly, as he listened to the tune in the background……..
It's just an ordinary story 'bout the way things go
Round and around nobody knows, but the highway
Goes on forever, that 'ol highway rolls on forever
Lord she never would've done it if she hadn't got drunk
If she hadn't started running with a travelin man
If she hadn't started taking those crazy chances
She said daughter, let me tell you 'bout the travelin kind
Everywhere he's goin' such a very short time
He'll be long gone before you know it, he'll be long
Gone before you know it
CRACK! Two large rocks became sand simultaneously, as Michael wondered what kind of a guy would seduce his little girl into sneaking off and spending her nights with him…..and what kind of parents did HE have who would know about that....and do nothing? CRACK?
Had he gotten her drunk? To the best of his knowledge, Joey had never had any alcohol in her life, but Michael had seen how it had affected him the one time he’d tried it, knew how it had affected Max. All the alien-human kids had been warned that their metabolism couldn’t handle it, but they honestly didn’t really know. Maybe he ought to take Mark out to the pod chamber sometime, give him a beer, and see what it did to him and how long it took to wear off. CRACK!
She say never have I known it when it felt so good
Never have I knew it when I knew I could
Never have I done it when it looked so right
Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight
And Michael knew that he couldn’t excuse Joey’s part in this. He and Maria had been wrong to let her be such a loner, with no one near her age she could really identify with once her brother had gone off to college. Maybe the trips to see her cousins had been too infrequent, maybe she had needed to be around more people her own age. He and Maria had wished she would have developed a close girlfriend, like Maria had with Liz, but she was just too affected by the secret.
CRACK! But that didn’t excuse it. Half of the sand that littered the training area was from rocks that she’d crushed. CRACK! It wasn’t like Joey could have been physically intimidated by the Douglas kid.
CRACK! But what if he HAD given her some alcohol, something had…happened, and then he just held it over her, threatening to tell if she didn’t keep seeing him…? Or what if CRACK! the Douglas kid threatened to reveal the secret if she didn’t do what he wanted? What if the guy was blackmailing Joey into doing…….Michael didn’t want to think of what he might have her doing…..CRACK!
This is down in the swampland, anything goes
It's alligator bait and the bars don't close
It 's the real thing in Louisiana
Yeah, well it was the real thing in New Mexico too, thought Michael Guerin. A whole lot of desert out there for people to get lost in. People who threatened or hurt people that Michael loved. CRACK!
Did you ever see a cajun when he really got mad
When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad
It gets real hot down in Louisiana
Michael had never been to Louisiana, and to the best of his knowledge, he didn’t know a Cajun. But he didn’t think they’d be any worse than a really pissed off alien father and it could get REAL hot in New Mexico too. CRACK!
The stranger better move it or he's gonna get killed
He's gonna have to get it or a shotgun will
It ain't no time for lengthy speeches
There ain't no time for lengthy speeches
Michael hadn’t really hurt anyone since that bad old days, back when the Special Unit had hunted them. But he hadn’t been this mad since then either. CRACK!
She say never have I knew it when it felt so good
Never have I knew it when I knew I could
Never have I done it when it looked so right
Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight
It's just an ordinary story 'bout the way things go
'Round and around nobody knows but the highway
Goes on forever, that ol' highway rolls on forever.
But he’d better make sure about how Joey really felt about this kid, he decided. No matter what kind of swine the Douglas kid was, he’d have to take care of the situation in a way that didn’t drive Joey away, that didn’t drive her into his.... .arms. CRACK!
Maybe she did bear some responsibility too. But that really didn’t matter much, Michael decided. He was sure that Liz and Izzie would consider him a troglodyte, an anachronism in the days of woman’s equality to think that the boy bore more of the responsibility than the girl. But that was just too bad for the Douglas kid, Michael thought grimly. Maybe he should have chosen a 15 year old girl to seduce who had a more ‘enlightened’ father. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
If the special unit were still in existence, one clue to who was an alien in the Southwest was that they tended to have houses with full basements. While that may not have been anything special up in Massachusetts where Izzie and Jesse lived, it was unusual in the desert Southwest, where most houses were constructed on concrete slabs.
Michael had been down there for several hours, starting a couple hours after Maria had come home from shopping and told him about the conversation with Barbara Douglas. They’d talked at length, trying to decide what to do. He was still trying to decide.
CRACK! A cantaloupe sized stone was now sand and dust, mostly dust actually, much of it fine as talcum.
The stereo was blaring in the background, partly to hide the noise made by the rocks being crushed, although the basement training area was pretty well soundproofed. Mostly just because the kids had found the workouts here to be somewhat boring, and they’d hard-wired the outlet so the music came on when the lights came on.
CRACK! A watermelon sized stone had just become sand, Michael modulating his power to keep the fine dust down, the talcum-like powder already threatening to sift its way into the rest of the basement where it would be tracked upstairs.
Michael wasn’t a great fan of country-western, or of Emmy Lou Harris. Maria’s tastes as a former and even now occasional performing artist were more eclectic. She’d been using the practice area as an aerobics workout area now that Mark was off in college, and in the past 3 months since Joey didn’t spend the hours a day down here that she used to, practicing her powers. ‘The last three months…..’ Michael thought bitterly, as he listened to the tune in the background……..
It's just an ordinary story 'bout the way things go
Round and around nobody knows, but the highway
Goes on forever, that 'ol highway rolls on forever
Lord she never would've done it if she hadn't got drunk
If she hadn't started running with a travelin man
If she hadn't started taking those crazy chances
She said daughter, let me tell you 'bout the travelin kind
Everywhere he's goin' such a very short time
He'll be long gone before you know it, he'll be long
Gone before you know it
CRACK! Two large rocks became sand simultaneously, as Michael wondered what kind of a guy would seduce his little girl into sneaking off and spending her nights with him…..and what kind of parents did HE have who would know about that....and do nothing? CRACK?
Had he gotten her drunk? To the best of his knowledge, Joey had never had any alcohol in her life, but Michael had seen how it had affected him the one time he’d tried it, knew how it had affected Max. All the alien-human kids had been warned that their metabolism couldn’t handle it, but they honestly didn’t really know. Maybe he ought to take Mark out to the pod chamber sometime, give him a beer, and see what it did to him and how long it took to wear off. CRACK!
She say never have I known it when it felt so good
Never have I knew it when I knew I could
Never have I done it when it looked so right
Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight
And Michael knew that he couldn’t excuse Joey’s part in this. He and Maria had been wrong to let her be such a loner, with no one near her age she could really identify with once her brother had gone off to college. Maybe the trips to see her cousins had been too infrequent, maybe she had needed to be around more people her own age. He and Maria had wished she would have developed a close girlfriend, like Maria had with Liz, but she was just too affected by the secret.
CRACK! But that didn’t excuse it. Half of the sand that littered the training area was from rocks that she’d crushed. CRACK! It wasn’t like Joey could have been physically intimidated by the Douglas kid.
CRACK! But what if he HAD given her some alcohol, something had…happened, and then he just held it over her, threatening to tell if she didn’t keep seeing him…? Or what if CRACK! the Douglas kid threatened to reveal the secret if she didn’t do what he wanted? What if the guy was blackmailing Joey into doing…….Michael didn’t want to think of what he might have her doing…..CRACK!
This is down in the swampland, anything goes
It's alligator bait and the bars don't close
It 's the real thing in Louisiana
Yeah, well it was the real thing in New Mexico too, thought Michael Guerin. A whole lot of desert out there for people to get lost in. People who threatened or hurt people that Michael loved. CRACK!
Did you ever see a cajun when he really got mad
When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad
It gets real hot down in Louisiana
Michael had never been to Louisiana, and to the best of his knowledge, he didn’t know a Cajun. But he didn’t think they’d be any worse than a really pissed off alien father and it could get REAL hot in New Mexico too. CRACK!
The stranger better move it or he's gonna get killed
He's gonna have to get it or a shotgun will
It ain't no time for lengthy speeches
There ain't no time for lengthy speeches
Michael hadn’t really hurt anyone since that bad old days, back when the Special Unit had hunted them. But he hadn’t been this mad since then either. CRACK!
She say never have I knew it when it felt so good
Never have I knew it when I knew I could
Never have I done it when it looked so right
Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight
It's just an ordinary story 'bout the way things go
'Round and around nobody knows but the highway
Goes on forever, that ol' highway rolls on forever.
But he’d better make sure about how Joey really felt about this kid, he decided. No matter what kind of swine the Douglas kid was, he’d have to take care of the situation in a way that didn’t drive Joey away, that didn’t drive her into his.... .arms. CRACK!
Maybe she did bear some responsibility too. But that really didn’t matter much, Michael decided. He was sure that Liz and Izzie would consider him a troglodyte, an anachronism in the days of woman’s equality to think that the boy bore more of the responsibility than the girl. But that was just too bad for the Douglas kid, Michael thought grimly. Maybe he should have chosen a 15 year old girl to seduce who had a more ‘enlightened’ father. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Andrew couldn’t remember when he’d been this nervous…but that was probably to be expected he thought as he walked quickly toward the Crashdown the small box in his hand. ‘Shit,’ he thought, looking at the box nervously. ‘I bet these come in different sizes!’ He was so nervous he was talking to himself. ‘Of course they come in different sizes, you idiot. People come in different sizes. …Well what if these are the wrong size?’
He mulled that over as he walked up to the residence door, hesitating as he took one item from the box. ‘It looks like the right size,’ he told himself. 'But damn, how would you know?’ He’d never done this before. 'Maybe I can try it on and….if it doesn’t fit, maybe Joey could do her molecular manipulation thing to make it the right size, and then put it back on,’ he thought. Unless she might find that a little cavalier, a little….unromantic. He looked at it again. ‘I think it’ll fit.’ What the hell, he’d take the chance.
Joey was as nervous as she’d ever been in her life as she lay in the bed. Twenty minutes ago this had seemed so…..academic, but as she had sensed him in the street below, the impact of what she was doing was becoming very, very real. She could sense him at the door, and was shaking with nervousness. Then she felt her body react to his presence, as if it had a mind of it’s own, her nipples hardening under the sheet, the feeling of warmth and swelling of tissues surprising her as her body signaled its desire for him. ‘Damn, you can have a whirlwind even without the connection,’ she thought.
When Andrew got to the top of the stairs he was surprised to find the room almost dark, soft light filtering down from the stairway leading upstairs to Liz’s loft. He heard music playing softly on the old CD player upstairs. He slowly climbed the stairs and turned down the hall past the bathroom to Liz’s old bedroom.
As he slowly opened the door he first saw the dresser, with the clothes neatly folded on the top…the clothes Joey had been wearing when he had left. As the door opened further and his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the two flickering candles, he saw her in the bed, covered with a sheet, looking a little frightened but smiling as she looked at the place in the bed next to her where the top sheet had been folded back, the invitation clear in her manner.
As Andrew’s eyes went wide with surprise, Joey was just restraining her panic. She loved him so much, and she was so frightened and she wanted to make him so happy and she barely felt in control of her own body and……at that point she decided the best thing she could do was to just connect to him, and let the passion of the connection and the passion of her body make her do what she was too nervous, too uncertain, too…inexperienced to do herself.
She made the connection, hoping that the connection would just take over for her. It didn’t. As she saw his intentions in the connection, saw the box in his hand, she said, “Drew…no. We can’t. My Dad would kill you.”
But as she looked into his eyes she saw that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And through the connection she could feel that he did need that.. She smiled up at him and shook her head sadly. “Andrew, what am I going to do with you?”
Twenty minutes later they were a block away from her home, driving in the little car. She looked down at the ring on her finger. It was the loveliest ring she’d ever seen. She hadn’t wanted to take it really, because now they would have to confront her parents, but she’d discovered that when you were lying in bed with nothing but a sheet over you and your boyfriend proposes, it was really difficult to say, ‘No Drew, I don’t think the folks would approve of us being engaged.’
Drew had told her the story of the rings. She looked at the other one, still in the box. She’d dream about that one tonight too, she figured. Drew’s great grandfather had been a young mining engineer, who had come out from the East in the 1930s. He’d moved to Silver City New Mexico and taken a job there. It was in the middle of the Depression, and no one had much money. His great-grandfather had met and courted a young lady there. He’d taken some of his pay in raw silver from the mine, given it to a Navaho silversmith who had produced these lovely rings of silver and turquoise. The diamond really wasn’t added for twenty years, until the post WW-II period of prosperity. They’d been married for almost seventy years before Drew’s great grandfather passed away. By that time they’d already gotten different rings, because his great grandmother’s arthritis had made these too small.
His great-grandmother had died shortly after her husband, back when Drew was only seven. But his grandfather had been her only son, and Roger his and, his great-grandmother who had been a Douglas for 70 years by the time of her death had left the rings to Andrew in her will, knowing he was the last male of the line. ‘Unless we do something about that,’ thought Joey, smiling.
She’d apologized to Andrew for the misunderstanding. He’d told her if she thought she was insulting him by offering to go to bed with him, she had his permission to insult him daily in a few years, maybe more frequently than that.
He’d apologized for not discussing the rings with her, or why he wanted to make their engagement official. Partly it was because he’d seen how she felt in the connection, the loneliness she had when their dreams together were over. He wanted her to have the ring, so she could look at it, touch it, know that she had his promise of that future, even if they were separated sometimes now. And he really did want to tell her folks, before one of his folks somehow spilled the beans. That had to happen eventually, and he wanted to move preemptively. It was better, he told her, to get engaged now and present her folks with a fait accompli, then to have them forbid it and then have the choice of accepting that or defying them. She still had doubt about what was going to happen, but Drew had asked her to trust him, and she had said she would.
They’d both laughed then, and had never felt closer. In the years to come, Joey expected they’d remember tonight and what happened….and what almost happened. Maybe they could never tell anyone, but they'd always know.
She sure didn’t have any idea how Drew was going to handle her folks. Sometimes you just have to trust the person you love. She was sure he’d do his best, but wasn’t at all sure how her dad would handle the news. She didn’t THINK he’d hurt Andrew, but wasn’t 100% sure even about that. She hoped that two hours from now she wasn’t wishing that she’d just pulled him into the bed with her and kept him there until they could leave town forever in the morning. Dad had always been real protective of his ‘princess.’ She sure hoped this went well, but boy did she have misgivings.
The looking had started……her idea. She couldn’t believe how much his hands had been shaking……she hoped the darkness of the room had concealed her blushing. They were both way too shy and she wanted to send a signal that he was different, that she wasn’t going to be shy with him and he didn’t need to be shy with her. Just one more guilty pleasure, seeing how she could arouse him just by being near. ‘Hmm! I wonder if some night it ought to be a topless beach?’ she found herself asking……
Drew was starting to enjoy this driving with his left hand, the more so since he could feel the ring on the left hand he was holding. It was the best feeling in the world, he decided, when your lover was also your best friend. His eyes slid to his right briefly, looking at the ring on her hand. He started to blush when he remembered her getting out of the bed and putting her clothes on and …..asking him to fasten the clasp on the bra, because it was hard for her to reach it… Drew knew next to nothing about women’s undergarments, but he was reasonably sure there was a way to fasten the thing that didn’t require your boyfriend to be involved, not that he’d minded a bit. It’s just that between his hands shaking, and the distraction of the …scenery, it had taken him an embarrassingly long time.
He’d apologized for that when he’d finally gotten the clasp figured out. He was hoping the darkness hid his blush as he recalled her response, 'Don’t worry about it Drew. You’ll get better with practice….’
He mulled that over as he walked up to the residence door, hesitating as he took one item from the box. ‘It looks like the right size,’ he told himself. 'But damn, how would you know?’ He’d never done this before. 'Maybe I can try it on and….if it doesn’t fit, maybe Joey could do her molecular manipulation thing to make it the right size, and then put it back on,’ he thought. Unless she might find that a little cavalier, a little….unromantic. He looked at it again. ‘I think it’ll fit.’ What the hell, he’d take the chance.
Joey was as nervous as she’d ever been in her life as she lay in the bed. Twenty minutes ago this had seemed so…..academic, but as she had sensed him in the street below, the impact of what she was doing was becoming very, very real. She could sense him at the door, and was shaking with nervousness. Then she felt her body react to his presence, as if it had a mind of it’s own, her nipples hardening under the sheet, the feeling of warmth and swelling of tissues surprising her as her body signaled its desire for him. ‘Damn, you can have a whirlwind even without the connection,’ she thought.
When Andrew got to the top of the stairs he was surprised to find the room almost dark, soft light filtering down from the stairway leading upstairs to Liz’s loft. He heard music playing softly on the old CD player upstairs. He slowly climbed the stairs and turned down the hall past the bathroom to Liz’s old bedroom.
As he slowly opened the door he first saw the dresser, with the clothes neatly folded on the top…the clothes Joey had been wearing when he had left. As the door opened further and his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the two flickering candles, he saw her in the bed, covered with a sheet, looking a little frightened but smiling as she looked at the place in the bed next to her where the top sheet had been folded back, the invitation clear in her manner.
As Andrew’s eyes went wide with surprise, Joey was just restraining her panic. She loved him so much, and she was so frightened and she wanted to make him so happy and she barely felt in control of her own body and……at that point she decided the best thing she could do was to just connect to him, and let the passion of the connection and the passion of her body make her do what she was too nervous, too uncertain, too…inexperienced to do herself.
She made the connection, hoping that the connection would just take over for her. It didn’t. As she saw his intentions in the connection, saw the box in his hand, she said, “Drew…no. We can’t. My Dad would kill you.”
But as she looked into his eyes she saw that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And through the connection she could feel that he did need that.. She smiled up at him and shook her head sadly. “Andrew, what am I going to do with you?”
Twenty minutes later they were a block away from her home, driving in the little car. She looked down at the ring on her finger. It was the loveliest ring she’d ever seen. She hadn’t wanted to take it really, because now they would have to confront her parents, but she’d discovered that when you were lying in bed with nothing but a sheet over you and your boyfriend proposes, it was really difficult to say, ‘No Drew, I don’t think the folks would approve of us being engaged.’
Drew had told her the story of the rings. She looked at the other one, still in the box. She’d dream about that one tonight too, she figured. Drew’s great grandfather had been a young mining engineer, who had come out from the East in the 1930s. He’d moved to Silver City New Mexico and taken a job there. It was in the middle of the Depression, and no one had much money. His great-grandfather had met and courted a young lady there. He’d taken some of his pay in raw silver from the mine, given it to a Navaho silversmith who had produced these lovely rings of silver and turquoise. The diamond really wasn’t added for twenty years, until the post WW-II period of prosperity. They’d been married for almost seventy years before Drew’s great grandfather passed away. By that time they’d already gotten different rings, because his great grandmother’s arthritis had made these too small.
His great-grandmother had died shortly after her husband, back when Drew was only seven. But his grandfather had been her only son, and Roger his and, his great-grandmother who had been a Douglas for 70 years by the time of her death had left the rings to Andrew in her will, knowing he was the last male of the line. ‘Unless we do something about that,’ thought Joey, smiling.
She’d apologized to Andrew for the misunderstanding. He’d told her if she thought she was insulting him by offering to go to bed with him, she had his permission to insult him daily in a few years, maybe more frequently than that.
He’d apologized for not discussing the rings with her, or why he wanted to make their engagement official. Partly it was because he’d seen how she felt in the connection, the loneliness she had when their dreams together were over. He wanted her to have the ring, so she could look at it, touch it, know that she had his promise of that future, even if they were separated sometimes now. And he really did want to tell her folks, before one of his folks somehow spilled the beans. That had to happen eventually, and he wanted to move preemptively. It was better, he told her, to get engaged now and present her folks with a fait accompli, then to have them forbid it and then have the choice of accepting that or defying them. She still had doubt about what was going to happen, but Drew had asked her to trust him, and she had said she would.
They’d both laughed then, and had never felt closer. In the years to come, Joey expected they’d remember tonight and what happened….and what almost happened. Maybe they could never tell anyone, but they'd always know.
She sure didn’t have any idea how Drew was going to handle her folks. Sometimes you just have to trust the person you love. She was sure he’d do his best, but wasn’t at all sure how her dad would handle the news. She didn’t THINK he’d hurt Andrew, but wasn’t 100% sure even about that. She hoped that two hours from now she wasn’t wishing that she’d just pulled him into the bed with her and kept him there until they could leave town forever in the morning. Dad had always been real protective of his ‘princess.’ She sure hoped this went well, but boy did she have misgivings.
The looking had started……her idea. She couldn’t believe how much his hands had been shaking……she hoped the darkness of the room had concealed her blushing. They were both way too shy and she wanted to send a signal that he was different, that she wasn’t going to be shy with him and he didn’t need to be shy with her. Just one more guilty pleasure, seeing how she could arouse him just by being near. ‘Hmm! I wonder if some night it ought to be a topless beach?’ she found herself asking……
Drew was starting to enjoy this driving with his left hand, the more so since he could feel the ring on the left hand he was holding. It was the best feeling in the world, he decided, when your lover was also your best friend. His eyes slid to his right briefly, looking at the ring on her hand. He started to blush when he remembered her getting out of the bed and putting her clothes on and …..asking him to fasten the clasp on the bra, because it was hard for her to reach it… Drew knew next to nothing about women’s undergarments, but he was reasonably sure there was a way to fasten the thing that didn’t require your boyfriend to be involved, not that he’d minded a bit. It’s just that between his hands shaking, and the distraction of the …scenery, it had taken him an embarrassingly long time.
He’d apologized for that when he’d finally gotten the clasp figured out. He was hoping the darkness hid his blush as he recalled her response, 'Don’t worry about it Drew. You’ll get better with practice….’
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It had been almost a quarter of a century since Michael last went to war.
At that time he had been fighting for the survival of the small group of pod people and their loved ones. Today he was fighting for his little girl, and he was deadly serious.
He was a soldier…or had been. He understood planning and preparation, he was responsible for the development of the training program that the younger generation of alien-human hybrids all practiced, just in case they ever had to get in a serious fight too. He and Maria had been planning almost since she had come home from lunch, excepting two hours he’d been in the basement, making sand out of rocks. Over that time they had come up with what Michael believed was an excellent plan for handling the Douglas kid.
He believed they had thought of everything, every possible contingency but in fact he had forgotten one of the most basic truisms of military planning. No plan ever survives the first engagement with the opponent.
They were sitting in the kitchen on their second pot of coffee continuing to discuss the plan. Every two or three minutes Michael would go to the door and look out into the driveway. ‘Damn that sneaky little car of his,’ he thought. It was important that he didn’t just dump Joey off in the driveway and drive off before they could confront the boy.
“OK,” said Michael. “So we both agree. The plan is that you get her in the car and get her out of here while I talk to this Douglas kid. We need them to be out of connection range, whatever that is for them. We need to work on them individually.”
Maria winced as she said it but knew it was part of the plan. “I’ll stop by the drugstore and pick up the pregnancy kit. I may take her to the Parker’s place and have her give me a sample to test, so we’ll know before I bring her back here.”
They had pretty much decided that whatever happened, Joey and this Douglas kid would not see each other for at least a year, and that was assuming that this had been a joint case of juvenile hormones raging, and he really hadn’t used alcohol or drugs or anything to make it happen. If this was truly just puppy love that got away from the two kids, Joey got grounded for 6 months, she MIGHT be allowed to date OTHER guys for six months, and if the two still felt something after a year apart, they MIGHT allow the two carefully supervised contacts for the next six months.
That’s assuming the pregnancy test was negative. If the pregnancy test were positive, Michael planned on taking the Douglas kid to Arizona, and beating him to within an inch of his life. He’d do it in Arizona, because then Max could heal him, and he’d drag his sorry ass BACK to Roswell and tell him that would happen WEEKLY if he ever TOUCHED Joey again, and it would also happen if he DIDN’T show up to be part of the life of their grandchild when it was born.
Neither Michael nor Maria had ever really had a father, certainly old Hank Guerin didn’t qualify, and Maria’s dad had dumped her and Amy when Maria was real young. Both had envied the Evans kids and Liz, and even now realized how much Jim Valenti meant to the two of them. Their grandkid was going to have a father involved in his/her life, no matter if the Douglas kid wanted to take that responsibility or not.
The issue of what would happen if coercion, drugs, or alcohol had been involved was more complicated with the plan then ranging from the kid disappearing altogether to him just not ever being near Joey again, depending on circumstances.
And it was a good plan too, Michael thought, looking again out the back door. And it was. It actually didn’t start to fall apart until a full six seconds later, when the two teenagers came through the front door and walked into the kitchen behind him.
“Hi Mom, Dad….uh….you’ve met Andrew, right?”
At that time he had been fighting for the survival of the small group of pod people and their loved ones. Today he was fighting for his little girl, and he was deadly serious.
He was a soldier…or had been. He understood planning and preparation, he was responsible for the development of the training program that the younger generation of alien-human hybrids all practiced, just in case they ever had to get in a serious fight too. He and Maria had been planning almost since she had come home from lunch, excepting two hours he’d been in the basement, making sand out of rocks. Over that time they had come up with what Michael believed was an excellent plan for handling the Douglas kid.
He believed they had thought of everything, every possible contingency but in fact he had forgotten one of the most basic truisms of military planning. No plan ever survives the first engagement with the opponent.
They were sitting in the kitchen on their second pot of coffee continuing to discuss the plan. Every two or three minutes Michael would go to the door and look out into the driveway. ‘Damn that sneaky little car of his,’ he thought. It was important that he didn’t just dump Joey off in the driveway and drive off before they could confront the boy.
“OK,” said Michael. “So we both agree. The plan is that you get her in the car and get her out of here while I talk to this Douglas kid. We need them to be out of connection range, whatever that is for them. We need to work on them individually.”
Maria winced as she said it but knew it was part of the plan. “I’ll stop by the drugstore and pick up the pregnancy kit. I may take her to the Parker’s place and have her give me a sample to test, so we’ll know before I bring her back here.”
They had pretty much decided that whatever happened, Joey and this Douglas kid would not see each other for at least a year, and that was assuming that this had been a joint case of juvenile hormones raging, and he really hadn’t used alcohol or drugs or anything to make it happen. If this was truly just puppy love that got away from the two kids, Joey got grounded for 6 months, she MIGHT be allowed to date OTHER guys for six months, and if the two still felt something after a year apart, they MIGHT allow the two carefully supervised contacts for the next six months.
That’s assuming the pregnancy test was negative. If the pregnancy test were positive, Michael planned on taking the Douglas kid to Arizona, and beating him to within an inch of his life. He’d do it in Arizona, because then Max could heal him, and he’d drag his sorry ass BACK to Roswell and tell him that would happen WEEKLY if he ever TOUCHED Joey again, and it would also happen if he DIDN’T show up to be part of the life of their grandchild when it was born.
Neither Michael nor Maria had ever really had a father, certainly old Hank Guerin didn’t qualify, and Maria’s dad had dumped her and Amy when Maria was real young. Both had envied the Evans kids and Liz, and even now realized how much Jim Valenti meant to the two of them. Their grandkid was going to have a father involved in his/her life, no matter if the Douglas kid wanted to take that responsibility or not.
The issue of what would happen if coercion, drugs, or alcohol had been involved was more complicated with the plan then ranging from the kid disappearing altogether to him just not ever being near Joey again, depending on circumstances.
And it was a good plan too, Michael thought, looking again out the back door. And it was. It actually didn’t start to fall apart until a full six seconds later, when the two teenagers came through the front door and walked into the kitchen behind him.
“Hi Mom, Dad….uh….you’ve met Andrew, right?”
Michael thought, 'You damn right I’ve met Andrew, and do I ever want to talk to him now,’ as he turned around in the direction of his daughter’s voice.
Instinctively Maria put her hand on his forearm *Now Michael, don’t do anything rash….*
As both parents completed their turn they saw the two teenagers. The boy was looking straight at Michael, his eyes unblinking, a determined look on his face, evidently not shrinking from what was coming.
Joey looked…..well, her face was a kaleidoscope of different emotions. Certainly she was scared as she looked at her parents, a bit guilty, and obviously nervous as well. ….. and then her eyes went to the boy’s eyes, and she seemed to draw strength from him, smiling at him lovingly before returning to look at her parents with a determined look on her face as well.
Michael and Maria felt one another’s emotions as they saw the two standing together, his right hand softly clasping her left hand….the one with the ring with the shiny stone….
*AW SHIT!!!* came through the connection, so near simultaneously from both parents that neither could really be said to have had the thought first, as the first contingency neither had considered immediately presented itself. It would not be the last.
As both parents eyes stared intently at the ring, their jaws dropping in unison, Joey saw their expressions and let go of Andrew’s hand, holding her left hand in the air with the ring toward them before saying in a somewhat quavering voice, “Surprise…….”
Massive surges of emotion were now going between the two parents. Finally Maria put it into coherent thought..*Well, we don’t have to wonder any more if Joey is a victim or a co-conspirator anyway*
With that the battle was joined, Michael saying, “Joey, I want you to go with your mother. This young man and I need some privacy for some man-talk.”
“No Dad, I’M STAYING HERE. Anything you have to say to Andrew you can say with me here.”
“Joey, it’s OK. You go with your Mom, I’d like to talk with your Dad.”
Joey eyed her father, frowning, before turning to Andrew, smiling sweetly, and saying, “Ok Andrew, Whatever YOU say.”
Twenty-five years of living with Maria had taught Michael a lot. He wasn’t as ignorant of the subtleties of speaking and nuances of body language as he had been back when he was courting Maria. He knew EXACTLY how to interpret that exchange.
1. “No Dad, I’M STAYING HERE…” TRANSLATION: The orders of Michael Guerin are not necessarily binding on Joey Guerin.
2. “Joey, it’s OK. You go with your Mom…” TRANSLATION: I’m not afraid of your Dad.
3. “Ok Andrew, Whatever YOU say.” TRANSLATION: I’m on his side, folks. Get used to it.
Both Michael and Maria realized that the first salvo in this engagement had now been fired, by the team of Joey and Andrew, and that this was going to be a far more difficult battle than either had contemplated only minutes earlier.
Maria grabbed her keys, coat, and purse, and said, “Come on Joey. We need to talk too.”
“Sure, Mom….., said Joey, ….be right with you…” as she took Andrew’s hand, pulled him toward her, and gave his cheek a quick kiss.
Maria’s eyes met Michael’s, the eyebrows going up, as she opened the door to take Joey away. Somehow the kids had raised the ante on this game…..a lot. And even without the connection, both Maria and Michael knew that some heavy punches had already been landed, before they had even gotten in the fight.
Andrew felt Joey’s presence fade as the car left the block. Only then did Michael talk to him. “Have a seat, son. We need to talk.”
“Yes sir. What would you like to talk about.”
“First of all, that ring. Joey is far too young to be engaged. You will take that back from her as soon as she comes home with her mother.”
“Gee, sir,” said Andrew, “ I mean, I gave it to her already…..it’s hers. I can’t take it away from her now…” Which Michael knew damn well translated as: You don’t want her to have it? YOU try to take it off her. Good luck with that!
And Michael knew the kid had him there too. Sure, he MIGHT be able to force Joey to take off the ring, or he could simply use molecular manipulation to destroy the damned thing. But he’d seen how Joey had looked at the ring, and if he did either of those things he was going to have a major problem with Joey, a breach with his daughter that might require years to mend. The object of this whole exercise was to keep his daughter safe, not drive her away. ‘Damn. It isn’t enough the horndog seduces kids, he’s a friggin Machiavelli too.’
“Listen son, I do not want you to see my daughter again. Not for at least a year. And then I want to personally approve every date, and the first 6 months they will all be double dates, do you understand that?”
“Well sir, it’s not that I don’t understand what you are saying, but I’m dating Joey, not you. If she tells me that she doesn’t want to date, or that she wants to return the ring,…well OK. But this is between Joey and me….., it really doesn’t involve you.”
“It involves me, son, and Joey too. When you encouraged her to break her restriction after she healed you, you placed Joey at risk, you placed me at risk, you placed a lot of people at risk,” Michael said with obvious anger, leaning forward toward the boy.
Andrew appeared to be speaking through clenched jaws himself as he leaned forward and replied, “Joey didn’t violate her grounding, she told you she didn’t violate her grounding, and she told her mother she didn’t violate her grounding. I think you owe her an apology, Mr. Guerin.”
Andrew getting in HIS face defending Joey’s honor was another contingency that Michael really hadn’t prepared for since, that was basically what Michael thought he was doing in this exercise. Confused he made the fatal error.
“Andrew, I know the truth. I know that Joey and you have been together almost every night since she healed you.”
“So? What’s wrong with that?” asked Andrew.
As the rage slowly built in Michael toward the point of violence, Andrew continued. “After all, it’s MY dream, not yours. If Joey wants to dreamwalk me and I don’t care, what business is it of yours? It’s not like anyone could get suspicious of us being together in my dream. We weren’t any threat to the secret or anything. I’d never put Joey at risk. It’s not like we were physically together or anything. Not until after the basketball game Monday.”
‘Dreamwalked?? DREAMWALKED????? YESSS!!! …. there is a God, and He does love alien fathers….’
As nonchalantly as he could manage, a joyous Michael asked, “About how often did you two dreamwalk, son?”
“Almost every night, sir. I mean, all we did is walk along the beach and talk, mostly….. (mostly being a general term to encompass hugging, kissing, and minor petting, but at that point the night was still young…).
In Michael’s mind remembering his times with Maria dreamwalking, ‘mostly’ covered hugging, kissing, and some very major league petting…..even so, he was finding it hard to conceal his joy.
Maybe this kid…..really wasn’t all that bad. I mean, he needed to put a stop to this now, certainly, but maybe in ….four or five years….hell, they might make a nice couple at that. He was a good looking kid, not afraid to look a man straight in the eye……actually Joey could do a whole lot worse….. ‘If I can just put this whole engagement thing on hold for a few years….’
A good planner does have a few things saved for unexpected contingencies and Michael was no exception. Assuming a fatherly sort of tone he told Andrew, “Look Andrew....Joey is too young to be engaged. She’s too young to go steady. I want you to give your relationship more time……I don’t want you to see her for at least a year. If you REALLY love my daughter and she REALLY loves you, you’ll still feel that way in 12 months. When you are both older if you still feel that way….you and Joey can get engaged with my blessing. If the two of you REALLY CARE ABOUT each other, this will keep.”
“I’ll tell you what, Mr. Guerin. Why don’t you and I BOTH decide to do that. I’ll keep away from Joey for a year, you keep away from her mother for a year,…..I mean, you’re right….if what we have is real, it’ll keep.”
“That’s absurd, son. I’m not going to keep away from Maria, I LOVE Maria!” said Michael as he saw Andrew cock his head slightly to one side and give him a funny smile.
'Touche' ' thought Andrew
'Ouch,' thought Michael.
“B—but it’s different with us, Andrew. Maria and I are married.!”
“That ring was half of a set, Mr. Guerin. I still have the other half. We were kind of waiting for that one until after graduation, but if that is important to YOU….”
Michael knew they were underage, but he also knew that all the aliens had fake ID in case they had to go underground. How to make fake ID was something they taught the kids, a holdover from the old days. Somebody would teach the younger kids when everybody got together annually for the picnic. Joey’d been instructing the last two years. She was a real artist, not like the clumsy ID her father had made to go gambling in Vegas during high school. She could make a hundred dollar bill that was so good the Secretary of the Treasury would swear it was real…..
It’s a smart man who knows when he’s on the losing side of an argument and decides to not foul things up by continuing to fight the battle, and Michael Guerin was a smart man. He realized he’d been grieving the loss of his daughter, he’d even recognized the stages.
He’d been in denial ever since Isabel had told him privately that she thought what she saw in the podchamber between the two teenagers was ‘the real thing.’
Izzie was always such a damn romantic, he’d been sure she was wrong, at least until she saw that kiss on the basketball floor the VERY day Joey got off restriction. And why he didn’t realize there was something going on when his daughter who’d been staying up until almost midnight all of her teenage years and having to be dragged out of bed in time to catch the school bus had for the last 11 weeks been going to bed at 9:30 and getting up to have breakfast with her parents...... THAT could ONLY have been denial.
The anger he’d pretty well worked out crushing rocks this afternoon, he figured, thinking with irony that some of the sand would likely wind up in a sandbox for his grandkids to play in. Grandkids, some of whom would probably bear a strong resemblance to the young man sitting at the kitchen table across from him.
He’d tried bargaining too, but the young man appeared to be holding all the aces, and although he was being polite and not rubbing the old man’s face in it, Michael was pretty sure that Andrew knew he was holding them too.
If it hadn’t been for that damn ring, he might have been able to put this off for a while at least, but once the ring was on that finger……..damn, he sure didn’t want to be the one to try to take it off, remembering the pride he’d seen in his daughter’s eyes when she’d showed it to them.
So yeah, he was a little depressed. He’d really hoped he might be the most important guy in Joey’s life for a few more years…but already he was feeling himself move on to acceptance.
Maybe alien-hybrids just did mature early. While his papers from child protective services had indicated his age as 16 when he’d met Maria, he’d actually only been out of the pod a little over 9 years when he met Maria, and only 13 years when they had gotten married. He still kidded her sometimes about her being an older woman who’d had her way with a young naïve alien boy.
Although not quite sixteen, Joey had sure had a better upbringing than he had, a series of foster homes, and then alcoholic old Hank Guerin. She was probably as mature as he was when he and Maria got engaged. Andrew seemed like a pretty level-headed kid too.
Or maybe he was just rationalizing, because he knew it really didn’t matter. Joey had given her heart to this young man, and he obviously made her happy. The only way he could keep his little girl now was to let her go, hopefully not too soon,…hopefully Andrew meant it about waiting to get married until they’d graduated….hopefully they’d wait on a few other things too, this was going so fast…..
But yeah, Joey could have done a lot worse. There was a lot to like about this young man who’d come to Michael’s own house, looked him straight in the eye, and stood up to him. The kid had a lot of spunk which Michael thought with sudden and unexpected sympathy for Andrew, he would definitely need if he was going to share his life with Joey.
Andrew knew something had changed when Michael pulled out the six pack of Snapple and gave him one, then started talking about the old days when he and Maria had been chased by the Special Unit, and what that had been like.
Andrew had never cared for Snapple, and if he had cared for it, he dang sure wouldn’t have bought the peach-flavored kind. But he had a feeling that this was now about building bridges, and Joey was important to him, and if it helped him keep her close to the people she loved, he’d swim in the stuff if he had too.
He took a large gulp…..'Well, ....that was pretty bad'.
He watched Michael add Tabasco sauce to his….well, it could hardly be worse. He added a little and took a tentative sip. 'That was….better, actually'. He added a little more. 'Really, not bad.' He settled down to some attentive listening, a smile slowly growing on his face.
It was a half block away from the Crashdown, and Maria and Joey were sitting in dim light at the back table of the nearly empty coffeehouse.
Maria was praying that the cellphone in her purse would ring, summoning them back to the house, trying to remember if this part of the plan had been her idea or Michaels.
‘Whoever thought of it,’ she told herself, ‘it sucks.’
Oh, it had started well enough. She’d brought Joey here about 45 minutes ago to give Michael time and space to read the riot act to the Douglas boy. She’d bought them coffees and told Joey to stay there, that she had to get something from the drugstore next door. When she’d come back with the small bag, Joey had looked at it curiously, a funny smile coming to her face.
“Mom, what’s that?” she’d asked starting to blush.
“What do you think it is?” Maria had replied.
“Well, the last time I thought something was what I think that is," she said grinning, "..well …it wasn’t, so I’d just as soon not guess.”
That had only confused Maria.
When Maria had removed the pregnancy test kit from the bag Joey’s eyes had widened in total shock.
“Does Dad know about this???”
“Yes Joey,” said Maria. “We both decided we should do this..”
Joey had blushed deeply, looked away for a minute, and finally looked back with a smile. “After all the grief I gave the twins about Aunt Izzie being pregnant…..they are never going to stop kidding me about becoming a big sister.”
“N-no Joey…..this is for you..”
That exchange had taken place about thirty-five minutes previously. Joey had not said a word to her since then, those blue eyes of hers looking daggers at her the whole time.
Maria was now reasonably sure that Joey wouldn’t give her mother a urine sample unless she started to spontaneously combust in front of her, and probably not then…..even if she had to pee anyway. Boy, had this ever not worked well....
Joey had sat there for the last thirty-five minutes, her left hand, the one with the ring, still gripping the ceramic mug of coffee which continued to steam, long after Maria’s cup had grown cold. Three times Maria had tried to explain to Joey that they only had her best interests at heart, each time the conversation stopped by a warning look and a raised right hand from a sullen and mute Joey. Although the gentle boiling of the coffee in her mug on each occasion had probably been entirely adequate to convey the message.
Maria looked at her bag, hoping that damn phone would ring. She was now certain that she and Michael had DRASTICALLY underestimated Joey’s attachment to Andrew. She hoped Michael wasn’t doing anything heavy-handed, this situation was explosive enough without him making it worse.
Instinctively Maria put her hand on his forearm *Now Michael, don’t do anything rash….*
As both parents completed their turn they saw the two teenagers. The boy was looking straight at Michael, his eyes unblinking, a determined look on his face, evidently not shrinking from what was coming.
Joey looked…..well, her face was a kaleidoscope of different emotions. Certainly she was scared as she looked at her parents, a bit guilty, and obviously nervous as well. ….. and then her eyes went to the boy’s eyes, and she seemed to draw strength from him, smiling at him lovingly before returning to look at her parents with a determined look on her face as well.
Michael and Maria felt one another’s emotions as they saw the two standing together, his right hand softly clasping her left hand….the one with the ring with the shiny stone….
*AW SHIT!!!* came through the connection, so near simultaneously from both parents that neither could really be said to have had the thought first, as the first contingency neither had considered immediately presented itself. It would not be the last.
As both parents eyes stared intently at the ring, their jaws dropping in unison, Joey saw their expressions and let go of Andrew’s hand, holding her left hand in the air with the ring toward them before saying in a somewhat quavering voice, “Surprise…….”
Massive surges of emotion were now going between the two parents. Finally Maria put it into coherent thought..*Well, we don’t have to wonder any more if Joey is a victim or a co-conspirator anyway*
With that the battle was joined, Michael saying, “Joey, I want you to go with your mother. This young man and I need some privacy for some man-talk.”
“No Dad, I’M STAYING HERE. Anything you have to say to Andrew you can say with me here.”
“Joey, it’s OK. You go with your Mom, I’d like to talk with your Dad.”
Joey eyed her father, frowning, before turning to Andrew, smiling sweetly, and saying, “Ok Andrew, Whatever YOU say.”
Twenty-five years of living with Maria had taught Michael a lot. He wasn’t as ignorant of the subtleties of speaking and nuances of body language as he had been back when he was courting Maria. He knew EXACTLY how to interpret that exchange.
1. “No Dad, I’M STAYING HERE…” TRANSLATION: The orders of Michael Guerin are not necessarily binding on Joey Guerin.
2. “Joey, it’s OK. You go with your Mom…” TRANSLATION: I’m not afraid of your Dad.
3. “Ok Andrew, Whatever YOU say.” TRANSLATION: I’m on his side, folks. Get used to it.
Both Michael and Maria realized that the first salvo in this engagement had now been fired, by the team of Joey and Andrew, and that this was going to be a far more difficult battle than either had contemplated only minutes earlier.
Maria grabbed her keys, coat, and purse, and said, “Come on Joey. We need to talk too.”
“Sure, Mom….., said Joey, ….be right with you…” as she took Andrew’s hand, pulled him toward her, and gave his cheek a quick kiss.
Maria’s eyes met Michael’s, the eyebrows going up, as she opened the door to take Joey away. Somehow the kids had raised the ante on this game…..a lot. And even without the connection, both Maria and Michael knew that some heavy punches had already been landed, before they had even gotten in the fight.
Andrew felt Joey’s presence fade as the car left the block. Only then did Michael talk to him. “Have a seat, son. We need to talk.”
“Yes sir. What would you like to talk about.”
“First of all, that ring. Joey is far too young to be engaged. You will take that back from her as soon as she comes home with her mother.”
“Gee, sir,” said Andrew, “ I mean, I gave it to her already…..it’s hers. I can’t take it away from her now…” Which Michael knew damn well translated as: You don’t want her to have it? YOU try to take it off her. Good luck with that!
And Michael knew the kid had him there too. Sure, he MIGHT be able to force Joey to take off the ring, or he could simply use molecular manipulation to destroy the damned thing. But he’d seen how Joey had looked at the ring, and if he did either of those things he was going to have a major problem with Joey, a breach with his daughter that might require years to mend. The object of this whole exercise was to keep his daughter safe, not drive her away. ‘Damn. It isn’t enough the horndog seduces kids, he’s a friggin Machiavelli too.’
“Listen son, I do not want you to see my daughter again. Not for at least a year. And then I want to personally approve every date, and the first 6 months they will all be double dates, do you understand that?”
“Well sir, it’s not that I don’t understand what you are saying, but I’m dating Joey, not you. If she tells me that she doesn’t want to date, or that she wants to return the ring,…well OK. But this is between Joey and me….., it really doesn’t involve you.”
“It involves me, son, and Joey too. When you encouraged her to break her restriction after she healed you, you placed Joey at risk, you placed me at risk, you placed a lot of people at risk,” Michael said with obvious anger, leaning forward toward the boy.
Andrew appeared to be speaking through clenched jaws himself as he leaned forward and replied, “Joey didn’t violate her grounding, she told you she didn’t violate her grounding, and she told her mother she didn’t violate her grounding. I think you owe her an apology, Mr. Guerin.”
Andrew getting in HIS face defending Joey’s honor was another contingency that Michael really hadn’t prepared for since, that was basically what Michael thought he was doing in this exercise. Confused he made the fatal error.
“Andrew, I know the truth. I know that Joey and you have been together almost every night since she healed you.”
“So? What’s wrong with that?” asked Andrew.
As the rage slowly built in Michael toward the point of violence, Andrew continued. “After all, it’s MY dream, not yours. If Joey wants to dreamwalk me and I don’t care, what business is it of yours? It’s not like anyone could get suspicious of us being together in my dream. We weren’t any threat to the secret or anything. I’d never put Joey at risk. It’s not like we were physically together or anything. Not until after the basketball game Monday.”
‘Dreamwalked?? DREAMWALKED????? YESSS!!! …. there is a God, and He does love alien fathers….’
As nonchalantly as he could manage, a joyous Michael asked, “About how often did you two dreamwalk, son?”
“Almost every night, sir. I mean, all we did is walk along the beach and talk, mostly….. (mostly being a general term to encompass hugging, kissing, and minor petting, but at that point the night was still young…).
In Michael’s mind remembering his times with Maria dreamwalking, ‘mostly’ covered hugging, kissing, and some very major league petting…..even so, he was finding it hard to conceal his joy.
Maybe this kid…..really wasn’t all that bad. I mean, he needed to put a stop to this now, certainly, but maybe in ….four or five years….hell, they might make a nice couple at that. He was a good looking kid, not afraid to look a man straight in the eye……actually Joey could do a whole lot worse….. ‘If I can just put this whole engagement thing on hold for a few years….’
A good planner does have a few things saved for unexpected contingencies and Michael was no exception. Assuming a fatherly sort of tone he told Andrew, “Look Andrew....Joey is too young to be engaged. She’s too young to go steady. I want you to give your relationship more time……I don’t want you to see her for at least a year. If you REALLY love my daughter and she REALLY loves you, you’ll still feel that way in 12 months. When you are both older if you still feel that way….you and Joey can get engaged with my blessing. If the two of you REALLY CARE ABOUT each other, this will keep.”
“I’ll tell you what, Mr. Guerin. Why don’t you and I BOTH decide to do that. I’ll keep away from Joey for a year, you keep away from her mother for a year,…..I mean, you’re right….if what we have is real, it’ll keep.”
“That’s absurd, son. I’m not going to keep away from Maria, I LOVE Maria!” said Michael as he saw Andrew cock his head slightly to one side and give him a funny smile.
'Touche' ' thought Andrew
'Ouch,' thought Michael.
“B—but it’s different with us, Andrew. Maria and I are married.!”
“That ring was half of a set, Mr. Guerin. I still have the other half. We were kind of waiting for that one until after graduation, but if that is important to YOU….”
Michael knew they were underage, but he also knew that all the aliens had fake ID in case they had to go underground. How to make fake ID was something they taught the kids, a holdover from the old days. Somebody would teach the younger kids when everybody got together annually for the picnic. Joey’d been instructing the last two years. She was a real artist, not like the clumsy ID her father had made to go gambling in Vegas during high school. She could make a hundred dollar bill that was so good the Secretary of the Treasury would swear it was real…..
It’s a smart man who knows when he’s on the losing side of an argument and decides to not foul things up by continuing to fight the battle, and Michael Guerin was a smart man. He realized he’d been grieving the loss of his daughter, he’d even recognized the stages.
He’d been in denial ever since Isabel had told him privately that she thought what she saw in the podchamber between the two teenagers was ‘the real thing.’
Izzie was always such a damn romantic, he’d been sure she was wrong, at least until she saw that kiss on the basketball floor the VERY day Joey got off restriction. And why he didn’t realize there was something going on when his daughter who’d been staying up until almost midnight all of her teenage years and having to be dragged out of bed in time to catch the school bus had for the last 11 weeks been going to bed at 9:30 and getting up to have breakfast with her parents...... THAT could ONLY have been denial.
The anger he’d pretty well worked out crushing rocks this afternoon, he figured, thinking with irony that some of the sand would likely wind up in a sandbox for his grandkids to play in. Grandkids, some of whom would probably bear a strong resemblance to the young man sitting at the kitchen table across from him.
He’d tried bargaining too, but the young man appeared to be holding all the aces, and although he was being polite and not rubbing the old man’s face in it, Michael was pretty sure that Andrew knew he was holding them too.
If it hadn’t been for that damn ring, he might have been able to put this off for a while at least, but once the ring was on that finger……..damn, he sure didn’t want to be the one to try to take it off, remembering the pride he’d seen in his daughter’s eyes when she’d showed it to them.
So yeah, he was a little depressed. He’d really hoped he might be the most important guy in Joey’s life for a few more years…but already he was feeling himself move on to acceptance.
Maybe alien-hybrids just did mature early. While his papers from child protective services had indicated his age as 16 when he’d met Maria, he’d actually only been out of the pod a little over 9 years when he met Maria, and only 13 years when they had gotten married. He still kidded her sometimes about her being an older woman who’d had her way with a young naïve alien boy.
Although not quite sixteen, Joey had sure had a better upbringing than he had, a series of foster homes, and then alcoholic old Hank Guerin. She was probably as mature as he was when he and Maria got engaged. Andrew seemed like a pretty level-headed kid too.
Or maybe he was just rationalizing, because he knew it really didn’t matter. Joey had given her heart to this young man, and he obviously made her happy. The only way he could keep his little girl now was to let her go, hopefully not too soon,…hopefully Andrew meant it about waiting to get married until they’d graduated….hopefully they’d wait on a few other things too, this was going so fast…..
But yeah, Joey could have done a lot worse. There was a lot to like about this young man who’d come to Michael’s own house, looked him straight in the eye, and stood up to him. The kid had a lot of spunk which Michael thought with sudden and unexpected sympathy for Andrew, he would definitely need if he was going to share his life with Joey.
Andrew knew something had changed when Michael pulled out the six pack of Snapple and gave him one, then started talking about the old days when he and Maria had been chased by the Special Unit, and what that had been like.
Andrew had never cared for Snapple, and if he had cared for it, he dang sure wouldn’t have bought the peach-flavored kind. But he had a feeling that this was now about building bridges, and Joey was important to him, and if it helped him keep her close to the people she loved, he’d swim in the stuff if he had too.
He took a large gulp…..'Well, ....that was pretty bad'.
He watched Michael add Tabasco sauce to his….well, it could hardly be worse. He added a little and took a tentative sip. 'That was….better, actually'. He added a little more. 'Really, not bad.' He settled down to some attentive listening, a smile slowly growing on his face.
It was a half block away from the Crashdown, and Maria and Joey were sitting in dim light at the back table of the nearly empty coffeehouse.
Maria was praying that the cellphone in her purse would ring, summoning them back to the house, trying to remember if this part of the plan had been her idea or Michaels.
‘Whoever thought of it,’ she told herself, ‘it sucks.’
Oh, it had started well enough. She’d brought Joey here about 45 minutes ago to give Michael time and space to read the riot act to the Douglas boy. She’d bought them coffees and told Joey to stay there, that she had to get something from the drugstore next door. When she’d come back with the small bag, Joey had looked at it curiously, a funny smile coming to her face.
“Mom, what’s that?” she’d asked starting to blush.
“What do you think it is?” Maria had replied.
“Well, the last time I thought something was what I think that is," she said grinning, "..well …it wasn’t, so I’d just as soon not guess.”
That had only confused Maria.
When Maria had removed the pregnancy test kit from the bag Joey’s eyes had widened in total shock.
“Does Dad know about this???”
“Yes Joey,” said Maria. “We both decided we should do this..”
Joey had blushed deeply, looked away for a minute, and finally looked back with a smile. “After all the grief I gave the twins about Aunt Izzie being pregnant…..they are never going to stop kidding me about becoming a big sister.”
“N-no Joey…..this is for you..”
That exchange had taken place about thirty-five minutes previously. Joey had not said a word to her since then, those blue eyes of hers looking daggers at her the whole time.
Maria was now reasonably sure that Joey wouldn’t give her mother a urine sample unless she started to spontaneously combust in front of her, and probably not then…..even if she had to pee anyway. Boy, had this ever not worked well....
Joey had sat there for the last thirty-five minutes, her left hand, the one with the ring, still gripping the ceramic mug of coffee which continued to steam, long after Maria’s cup had grown cold. Three times Maria had tried to explain to Joey that they only had her best interests at heart, each time the conversation stopped by a warning look and a raised right hand from a sullen and mute Joey. Although the gentle boiling of the coffee in her mug on each occasion had probably been entirely adequate to convey the message.
Maria looked at her bag, hoping that damn phone would ring. She was now certain that she and Michael had DRASTICALLY underestimated Joey’s attachment to Andrew. She hoped Michael wasn’t doing anything heavy-handed, this situation was explosive enough without him making it worse.
Joey sat in the coffeehouse, the cup of coffee still untasted in her hand. 'They just don't get it,' she thought. And while she loved them and understood that they 'only had her best interests at heart' it was still maddening, the moreso she realized because until it happened she really didn't get it either.
She wondered if Andrew had really known what he was doing...had done this intentionally, or if he had been just caught up in the moment and was now as surprised by what had happened as she was. She looked down at her left hand, her heart leaping again when she saw it, caressing it gently with the fingers on either side. The ring had changed everything.
An hour or two ago she might have understood her parents fears that she and Andrew might have gotten carried away, have made a mistake. Heck, 90 minutes ago she'd been across the street naked in bed totally ready to have sex with Andrew...OK, not TOTALLY ready, but she was going to do it...and that HAD been a mistake.....a miscommunication anyway.
But it had finally sunk into her what she was sure that Andrew now understood, and that her parents had not yet realized. The look in Mom's eyes when she'd held out the pregnancy kit had been one of worry wondering if her little girl had slept with Andrew, and what might have happened if she did. But Mom didn't understand. Joey was GOING TO SLEEP with Andrew. That was just one facet of what that ring meant. God willing, Joey was going to spend most of the next 70 years of her nights in bed next to Andrew, and the ring said that. Neither of them were hiding that fact, they were both proud of it. And it was a fact now. And as long as she lived, and Andrew lived, nothing was changing that.
Joey had been scared to death about breaking the news to her parents about Drew, far more scared than she'd been about telling Barbara, or even Roger. But she wasn't the least bit scared anymore, the ring had done that to her. 'What part of forever didn't her parents get?'
The Barista walked over to the thermostat for the second time. It was 78 degrees. He didn't understand. Ten minutes ago it had been 76 degrees. The thermostat was set for 72 degrees. The heaters weren't even running, and he'd opened one of the windows in the back already. He looked at the new Espresso machine. Could it be making that much heat? He tapped the thermostat on the side several times, watching the needle jump. It settled back again to 78 .....no, almost 79 degrees.
Joey gripped the coffee cup as she wondered about what was happening between Drew and her father. She thought Drew was probably a match for her father, unless dad cheated and used his powers. She felt the vibration as the bubbles rose in the cup, not quite breaking the surface. Apparently her body had even understood how it was between her and Drew before her mind had. Maybe somehow when he had sleepwalked her, ...somehow that commitment was made...maybe the dream of a child together had just....somehow switched a switch inside of her. Her body had wanted him over there above the Crashdown, she had little doubt about that. Now she could feel it accumulating power, readying itself to fight for its mate.......well, mate-to-be, anyway. She'd been exhausted after healing Corby, but right now she'd never felt as powerful. Maybe this was, 'in-the-zone' alien version. Whatever it was, she knew it was growing, and if that damn phone didn't ring pretty soon, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to keep it under control.
Andrew had said that whenever they were apart she should look at the ring and know they really truly weren't apart. She looked down at the ring and smiled briefly. 'I love him so...' The power seemed to pull back just a little. 'I guess he was right.....I wish that damn phone would ring though.'
'76 degrees...,' thought the barista, looking at the thermostat yet again. '...and still going down.' He looked at the new Espresso machine again, not being just too sure what had changed. 'Apparently the stupid thing isn't going to blow up after all. And it makes a damn good Cappucino. Oh well, two hours to closing.' He looked toward the back table when he heard the cellphone ring there. Both women got up to go. He had been eying the young one until he'd seen the ring on her finger and the look in her eyes. THAT one was taken. She radiated it. So young, too. He wondered who the lucky guy was.
As Joey got in the car with her mother, she had not the slightest doubt about how things stood. Her family had always been the most important thing in the world to her, but Andrew and the children they would have now were her family, first and foremost. She loved her mom and dad, her whole extended family, but if a choise was forced there really would be no choice at all.
If her parents couldn't accept the reality signified by that ring, she'd go away with him. If his parents wouldn't help, Jan Pemberton had an old bunkhouse that wasn't being used, they could stay there until they could think of where else to go, what else to do.
There were lots of things in Joey's life that she'd negotiate about, plenty of things that she'd compromise on if it would make her mom and dad and extended family happy. But Andrew wasn't one of those things.
Her body quivered slightly as it fought to hold back the power it had gathered......
She wondered if Andrew had really known what he was doing...had done this intentionally, or if he had been just caught up in the moment and was now as surprised by what had happened as she was. She looked down at her left hand, her heart leaping again when she saw it, caressing it gently with the fingers on either side. The ring had changed everything.
An hour or two ago she might have understood her parents fears that she and Andrew might have gotten carried away, have made a mistake. Heck, 90 minutes ago she'd been across the street naked in bed totally ready to have sex with Andrew...OK, not TOTALLY ready, but she was going to do it...and that HAD been a mistake.....a miscommunication anyway.
But it had finally sunk into her what she was sure that Andrew now understood, and that her parents had not yet realized. The look in Mom's eyes when she'd held out the pregnancy kit had been one of worry wondering if her little girl had slept with Andrew, and what might have happened if she did. But Mom didn't understand. Joey was GOING TO SLEEP with Andrew. That was just one facet of what that ring meant. God willing, Joey was going to spend most of the next 70 years of her nights in bed next to Andrew, and the ring said that. Neither of them were hiding that fact, they were both proud of it. And it was a fact now. And as long as she lived, and Andrew lived, nothing was changing that.
Joey had been scared to death about breaking the news to her parents about Drew, far more scared than she'd been about telling Barbara, or even Roger. But she wasn't the least bit scared anymore, the ring had done that to her. 'What part of forever didn't her parents get?'
The Barista walked over to the thermostat for the second time. It was 78 degrees. He didn't understand. Ten minutes ago it had been 76 degrees. The thermostat was set for 72 degrees. The heaters weren't even running, and he'd opened one of the windows in the back already. He looked at the new Espresso machine. Could it be making that much heat? He tapped the thermostat on the side several times, watching the needle jump. It settled back again to 78 .....no, almost 79 degrees.
Joey gripped the coffee cup as she wondered about what was happening between Drew and her father. She thought Drew was probably a match for her father, unless dad cheated and used his powers. She felt the vibration as the bubbles rose in the cup, not quite breaking the surface. Apparently her body had even understood how it was between her and Drew before her mind had. Maybe somehow when he had sleepwalked her, ...somehow that commitment was made...maybe the dream of a child together had just....somehow switched a switch inside of her. Her body had wanted him over there above the Crashdown, she had little doubt about that. Now she could feel it accumulating power, readying itself to fight for its mate.......well, mate-to-be, anyway. She'd been exhausted after healing Corby, but right now she'd never felt as powerful. Maybe this was, 'in-the-zone' alien version. Whatever it was, she knew it was growing, and if that damn phone didn't ring pretty soon, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to keep it under control.
Andrew had said that whenever they were apart she should look at the ring and know they really truly weren't apart. She looked down at the ring and smiled briefly. 'I love him so...' The power seemed to pull back just a little. 'I guess he was right.....I wish that damn phone would ring though.'
'76 degrees...,' thought the barista, looking at the thermostat yet again. '...and still going down.' He looked at the new Espresso machine again, not being just too sure what had changed. 'Apparently the stupid thing isn't going to blow up after all. And it makes a damn good Cappucino. Oh well, two hours to closing.' He looked toward the back table when he heard the cellphone ring there. Both women got up to go. He had been eying the young one until he'd seen the ring on her finger and the look in her eyes. THAT one was taken. She radiated it. So young, too. He wondered who the lucky guy was.
As Joey got in the car with her mother, she had not the slightest doubt about how things stood. Her family had always been the most important thing in the world to her, but Andrew and the children they would have now were her family, first and foremost. She loved her mom and dad, her whole extended family, but if a choise was forced there really would be no choice at all.
If her parents couldn't accept the reality signified by that ring, she'd go away with him. If his parents wouldn't help, Jan Pemberton had an old bunkhouse that wasn't being used, they could stay there until they could think of where else to go, what else to do.
There were lots of things in Joey's life that she'd negotiate about, plenty of things that she'd compromise on if it would make her mom and dad and extended family happy. But Andrew wasn't one of those things.
Her body quivered slightly as it fought to hold back the power it had gathered......
As she drove the car away from the coffehouse Maria was starting to get it.
She's had watched the coffee cup start to boil of its own accord several times, watched her daughter rub her thumb nervously over the ring, and look down at it for reassurance.
Even considering the pregnancy kit had been a huge mistake but actually showing it to her and expecting her to cooperate...??? The ring had put forever off-limits any inquiries into whatever questions either set of parents might have about the sexual habits of Joey Guerin and Andrew Douglas, and both she and Michael had been stupid not to see that immediately. For better or for worse that ring was a clear sign that the kids were taking responsibility for that aspect of their lives from now on.
She and Michael had made a plan, but the appearance of the ring had changed everything and until she'd seen THAT look in Joey's eyes, she'd just gone on blindly following the plan. 'Boy, that was stupid.'
'The kids...,' Maria thought. It had happened already. They were a couple and Andrew now a part of the family no less than Joey or Mark. 'God, they are so young.....,' but as she looked at her daughter, there was really no denying it. This wasn't some adolescent crush that was going away. Andrew wasn't some kitten that had followed Joey home, and she wasn't sitting there waiting nervously to find out if her parents were going to let her keep him.
The young man was hers and she was his and if the folks didn't get on board real quickly the train was going to leave without them.
And at this point it didn't matter that they were too young, or hadn't finished their educations, or hadn't dated enough other people, or were probably too of the shyest people at West Roswell High. It had also ceased to matter what the kids had or hadn't been doing in the last 10 weeks, or what the result of that pregnancy test would have been if she'd taken it.
Whatever the reality was, she and Michael needed to just accept it and move on, because otherwise they were going to lose Joey .....and Andrew too, and she loved them.....both of them she realized as she remembered the quick kiss Joey had given him as they left. She knew from that night onward it really wouldn't ever be 'Joey and her friend Andrew' again, it'd be 'the kids'.....
She's had watched the coffee cup start to boil of its own accord several times, watched her daughter rub her thumb nervously over the ring, and look down at it for reassurance.
Even considering the pregnancy kit had been a huge mistake but actually showing it to her and expecting her to cooperate...??? The ring had put forever off-limits any inquiries into whatever questions either set of parents might have about the sexual habits of Joey Guerin and Andrew Douglas, and both she and Michael had been stupid not to see that immediately. For better or for worse that ring was a clear sign that the kids were taking responsibility for that aspect of their lives from now on.
She and Michael had made a plan, but the appearance of the ring had changed everything and until she'd seen THAT look in Joey's eyes, she'd just gone on blindly following the plan. 'Boy, that was stupid.'
'The kids...,' Maria thought. It had happened already. They were a couple and Andrew now a part of the family no less than Joey or Mark. 'God, they are so young.....,' but as she looked at her daughter, there was really no denying it. This wasn't some adolescent crush that was going away. Andrew wasn't some kitten that had followed Joey home, and she wasn't sitting there waiting nervously to find out if her parents were going to let her keep him.
The young man was hers and she was his and if the folks didn't get on board real quickly the train was going to leave without them.
And at this point it didn't matter that they were too young, or hadn't finished their educations, or hadn't dated enough other people, or were probably too of the shyest people at West Roswell High. It had also ceased to matter what the kids had or hadn't been doing in the last 10 weeks, or what the result of that pregnancy test would have been if she'd taken it.
Whatever the reality was, she and Michael needed to just accept it and move on, because otherwise they were going to lose Joey .....and Andrew too, and she loved them.....both of them she realized as she remembered the quick kiss Joey had given him as they left. She knew from that night onward it really wouldn't ever be 'Joey and her friend Andrew' again, it'd be 'the kids'.....
Back at the house, Michael was starting to get it too. He and Andrew were each on their third Snapple, and it was almost time for a new bottle of Tabasco as well. The kid was a formidable negotiator, Michael would have to give his future son-in-law that. He'd conceded only a single point in the last 45 minutes, that it probably had been a little over-the-top for the kids to get engaged a week after Joey came off her grounding, not because anyone was really that upset with Joey but, hell, the whole purpose of the grounding had been to distance Joey from the mystery of Andrew and his kidnapping, not really to punish her. It WAS going to be just a little obvious Monday if Joey showed up at school with a ring when Andrew and Joey had only been together for a week that SOMETHING had been going on earlier.
So the kids, and Michael sensed the inevitability of what was happening between his daughter and Andrew the first time he used that term, were going to have to publicly date a while more before they could show that ring to anyone, at least anyone who wasn't in on the secret. But Andrew wouldn't consider taking the ring back, and Michael had started to think it probably went well beyond foolhardy to think that he'd be able to get it away from Joey, so they had reached a compromise.
Michael had actually wanted the kids to wait a year to announce the engagement to the world, knowing that they could get away with six months, but hoping that by waiting a year they'd ....kind of slow down what was going on. He was still a little worried about the kids getting their educations, preparing themselves for their future together...maybe getting too carried away, although he was realistic about his ability to influence that, likely somewhere midway between zilch and nada. He still intended to give a little fatherly advice, but he had already realized the ring kind of trumped whatever he might say.
But he had wanted to kind of slow the train down a little so in classic negotiating fashion he'd told Drew they really needed to wait a couple of years to announce their engagement, hoping to compromise on a year. The kid had surprised him, really, by saying that he thought they should wait until Joey was a junior. Michael felt this had been his only real victory, he'd asked for two years, expecting to get one, and since Joey was now only midway through her Freshman year, she wouldn't be a junior for.....gee, a year and a half or so he guessed.
When Drew had found out about the confusion his mother had caused trying to talk around the secret,...
'It would have been REAL nice if Joey had thought to tell her father that Roger and Barbara both knew the secret, thought Michael
'... Andrew had tried to reassure Michael about his daughter's virtue and even though it had cost Michael deeply, he's held up his hand and looked the young man in the eye.
"Andrew, if you ever have a child, and I probably can't stress enough that that probably shouldn't happen in the next few years....,"
"Yessir Mr. Guerin."
".... but if you ever do, and that child happens to be female, when she becomes a teenager you might think that as her father you'll want to know about her sex life.
Let me tell you from experience, you won't. At least..once you know she's found someone she loves, and that he loves her, and that the two of them want to take care of each other...you won't.
You are going to have to say to yourself her mother and I gave her all the love we could, showed her by how we treated each other how we thought two people in love should treat each other, and then you are just going to have to trust your daughter and the man she loves to make good decisions in their lives."
For those few moments Andrew felt like he'd been given the greatest trust any man could ever give another. He shook Michael's hand and said, "We'll do our best, sir."
He really hadn't expected this emotional bonding with Michael, already feeling somewhat guilty about not telling him that with the extra credits Joey was taking on the internet and the academic courses she'd taken in lieu of PE while running cross country and playing basketball, she'd have enough credits to be a junior in June, just like him......
So the kids, and Michael sensed the inevitability of what was happening between his daughter and Andrew the first time he used that term, were going to have to publicly date a while more before they could show that ring to anyone, at least anyone who wasn't in on the secret. But Andrew wouldn't consider taking the ring back, and Michael had started to think it probably went well beyond foolhardy to think that he'd be able to get it away from Joey, so they had reached a compromise.
Michael had actually wanted the kids to wait a year to announce the engagement to the world, knowing that they could get away with six months, but hoping that by waiting a year they'd ....kind of slow down what was going on. He was still a little worried about the kids getting their educations, preparing themselves for their future together...maybe getting too carried away, although he was realistic about his ability to influence that, likely somewhere midway between zilch and nada. He still intended to give a little fatherly advice, but he had already realized the ring kind of trumped whatever he might say.
But he had wanted to kind of slow the train down a little so in classic negotiating fashion he'd told Drew they really needed to wait a couple of years to announce their engagement, hoping to compromise on a year. The kid had surprised him, really, by saying that he thought they should wait until Joey was a junior. Michael felt this had been his only real victory, he'd asked for two years, expecting to get one, and since Joey was now only midway through her Freshman year, she wouldn't be a junior for.....gee, a year and a half or so he guessed.
When Drew had found out about the confusion his mother had caused trying to talk around the secret,...
'It would have been REAL nice if Joey had thought to tell her father that Roger and Barbara both knew the secret, thought Michael
'... Andrew had tried to reassure Michael about his daughter's virtue and even though it had cost Michael deeply, he's held up his hand and looked the young man in the eye.
"Andrew, if you ever have a child, and I probably can't stress enough that that probably shouldn't happen in the next few years....,"
"Yessir Mr. Guerin."
".... but if you ever do, and that child happens to be female, when she becomes a teenager you might think that as her father you'll want to know about her sex life.
Let me tell you from experience, you won't. At least..once you know she's found someone she loves, and that he loves her, and that the two of them want to take care of each other...you won't.
You are going to have to say to yourself her mother and I gave her all the love we could, showed her by how we treated each other how we thought two people in love should treat each other, and then you are just going to have to trust your daughter and the man she loves to make good decisions in their lives."
For those few moments Andrew felt like he'd been given the greatest trust any man could ever give another. He shook Michael's hand and said, "We'll do our best, sir."
He really hadn't expected this emotional bonding with Michael, already feeling somewhat guilty about not telling him that with the extra credits Joey was taking on the internet and the academic courses she'd taken in lieu of PE while running cross country and playing basketball, she'd have enough credits to be a junior in June, just like him......
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:41 pm, edited 3 times in total.
She followed her mother through the kitchen door, relief coming to her face as she saw Andrew looking OK sitting at the table littered with empty Snapple bottles. She'd felt his presence for a block, but had needed to see him sitting their safe before she could calm down enough to even start to form a connection, her body still vibrating with energy...
"Joey," said Michael Guerin as he held his open hand toward her, "Give me the ring."
Things had actually been going so well for the last 15 minutes that Michael was at first taken completely by surprise as he saw the green protective force-field suddenly coalesce around Andrew Douglas. Even as he felt Joey gather the power into her, his amazement temporarily over-ruled his common sense. 'Joey was protecting while getting ready to powerblast. Damn, that was great. Only he and Max had ever been able to do that, not even Ava and Isabel had ever mastered that, and now Joey was demonstrating that ability right here in the kitchen.........the kitchen.....NOT THE PRACTICE AREA.....'
"Andrew, help! Call her off..... She's going to break something," yelled Mike Guerin as he projected a green protective force-field over Maria.
*Joey....what are you doing? It's over. We won. It's time to be gracious.....*
Joey wasn't sure how he'd done it, but if Andrew said it was over, it was over. She damped down the power furiously, feeling the temperature rise in the room, feeling her body struggle to safely release the power it had accumulated. It was 30 seconds later when a sweating Joey looked uncertainly at Andrew as she took off the ring and gave it to her father.
Michael took the silver chain from his pocket and put it alongside the ring. If Izzie could do this, so could he. On the second try the chain's color matched that of the ring. He handed them both to his daughter.
"OK Joey, you can wear it on your finger around family and Andrew's folks.....brag to your cousins all you want, but it stays on the chain around your neck at school and in public until you are a junior, that's the deal," he said. looking at Andrew for confirmation.
As Maria touched Michael the connection was made.
*I didn't get the pregnancy test and almost got incinerated. Was that MY stupid idea or yours?*
*It doesn't matter, they only dreamwalked each other*
*Thank God...... So what do we do now?*
*The only thing we can...congratulate them and help them celebrate*
As she smiled at Andrew the connection formed between them.
*You amaze me. I would have never believed that you could sell this to dad*
*Aw, your dad is OK, he just loves you and wants the best for you. I can't hold that against him*
*Did you tell him about me graduating a year early....and being a junior in six months*
Even before she saw the guilty smile on his face, she knew from the connection.
*Well.....it never really came up in the conversation, actually...*
'Andrew, Andrew...what AM I going to do about you?'
It was almost 11PM whan the phone rang at the Douglas residence. As Roger picked it up he heard the voice of Michael Guerin.
"Roger, the kids have done something incredibly stupid........," Roger had been expecting this call since he came home and found the wall safe open, with only one small box missing... He listened intently as Michael continued "....Maria and I would like to invite you and Barbara over to help the kids celebrate..."
"Joey," said Michael Guerin as he held his open hand toward her, "Give me the ring."
Things had actually been going so well for the last 15 minutes that Michael was at first taken completely by surprise as he saw the green protective force-field suddenly coalesce around Andrew Douglas. Even as he felt Joey gather the power into her, his amazement temporarily over-ruled his common sense. 'Joey was protecting while getting ready to powerblast. Damn, that was great. Only he and Max had ever been able to do that, not even Ava and Isabel had ever mastered that, and now Joey was demonstrating that ability right here in the kitchen.........the kitchen.....NOT THE PRACTICE AREA.....'
"Andrew, help! Call her off..... She's going to break something," yelled Mike Guerin as he projected a green protective force-field over Maria.
*Joey....what are you doing? It's over. We won. It's time to be gracious.....*
Joey wasn't sure how he'd done it, but if Andrew said it was over, it was over. She damped down the power furiously, feeling the temperature rise in the room, feeling her body struggle to safely release the power it had accumulated. It was 30 seconds later when a sweating Joey looked uncertainly at Andrew as she took off the ring and gave it to her father.
Michael took the silver chain from his pocket and put it alongside the ring. If Izzie could do this, so could he. On the second try the chain's color matched that of the ring. He handed them both to his daughter.
"OK Joey, you can wear it on your finger around family and Andrew's folks.....brag to your cousins all you want, but it stays on the chain around your neck at school and in public until you are a junior, that's the deal," he said. looking at Andrew for confirmation.
As Maria touched Michael the connection was made.
*I didn't get the pregnancy test and almost got incinerated. Was that MY stupid idea or yours?*
*It doesn't matter, they only dreamwalked each other*
*Thank God...... So what do we do now?*
*The only thing we can...congratulate them and help them celebrate*
As she smiled at Andrew the connection formed between them.
*You amaze me. I would have never believed that you could sell this to dad*
*Aw, your dad is OK, he just loves you and wants the best for you. I can't hold that against him*
*Did you tell him about me graduating a year early....and being a junior in six months*
Even before she saw the guilty smile on his face, she knew from the connection.
*Well.....it never really came up in the conversation, actually...*
'Andrew, Andrew...what AM I going to do about you?'
It was almost 11PM whan the phone rang at the Douglas residence. As Roger picked it up he heard the voice of Michael Guerin.
"Roger, the kids have done something incredibly stupid........," Roger had been expecting this call since he came home and found the wall safe open, with only one small box missing... He listened intently as Michael continued "....Maria and I would like to invite you and Barbara over to help the kids celebrate..."
It was 1AM and the party was breaking up. It had been a small party, just the six people, but a happy one. Four parents were totally amazed that something like this could have happened in less than a week, but the two teenagers just radiated happiness at the little celebration.
Michael had brought out the sparkling cider to celebrate, explaining to the Douglas’s the metabolic problem that he and Max had with alcohol and that Joey might possibly have it as well.
There was some pointed kidding of Joey by her father over her “poor memory” in not telling her parents about the Douglas’s being in on the secret, but Michael was unwilling to spoil the moment by coming down too hard on her. Barbara was doubly embarrassed when she realized the impression that her trying to talk around the issue had left on Michael and Maria. Michael had said not to worry about it, he’d almost lost his kitchen over an unthinking comment he had made just 45 minutes previously, it could happen to anyone. Sometimes messages just got misread. When Andrew saw Joey blushing he didn’t have to connect to realize that her mind was thinking about a bedroom above the Crashdown.
Both sets of parents were saying their goodbyes, obviously trying not to be obvious when they left the kids alone to say theirs. No, they weren’t REALLY comfortable with this yet, but they were getting there.
The Guerins had decided that if they HAD to lose Joey to some guy, well…Andrew was a pretty nice guy. Roger really like Joey, and her parents seemed very nice too, no matter what Michael had hatched from. And Barbara was just in heaven with her new daughter.
So 78 days 4 hours and 10 minutes after a devastating neck injury had changed his life forever, 78 days 1 hours and 13 minutes after a shy young lady who would have never voluntarily revealed her secret to him if the injury had never happened decided she couldn't leave Andrew injured like that, Andrew Douglas was in the living room of the Guerin’s alone with his fiancé clasped tightly against him, enjoying the taste of her lips and tongue, with full parental approval, or at the least, resignation.
Andrew didn’t know it yet, but he was going to be going to a speed and agility camp in Albuquerque at the end of the next summer. On the first day, the Alamogordo safety who had made the hit on him at the game would come up to tell him how sorry he was that he’d hurt Andrew, that he was glad it wasn’t as bad as it looked like it had been at first, and that he hoped Andrew didn’t have any hard feelings. The kid would never understand Andrew’s response, "Hard feelings? No. That hit was one of the best things that ever happened to me...."
Michael had brought out the sparkling cider to celebrate, explaining to the Douglas’s the metabolic problem that he and Max had with alcohol and that Joey might possibly have it as well.
There was some pointed kidding of Joey by her father over her “poor memory” in not telling her parents about the Douglas’s being in on the secret, but Michael was unwilling to spoil the moment by coming down too hard on her. Barbara was doubly embarrassed when she realized the impression that her trying to talk around the issue had left on Michael and Maria. Michael had said not to worry about it, he’d almost lost his kitchen over an unthinking comment he had made just 45 minutes previously, it could happen to anyone. Sometimes messages just got misread. When Andrew saw Joey blushing he didn’t have to connect to realize that her mind was thinking about a bedroom above the Crashdown.
Both sets of parents were saying their goodbyes, obviously trying not to be obvious when they left the kids alone to say theirs. No, they weren’t REALLY comfortable with this yet, but they were getting there.
The Guerins had decided that if they HAD to lose Joey to some guy, well…Andrew was a pretty nice guy. Roger really like Joey, and her parents seemed very nice too, no matter what Michael had hatched from. And Barbara was just in heaven with her new daughter.
So 78 days 4 hours and 10 minutes after a devastating neck injury had changed his life forever, 78 days 1 hours and 13 minutes after a shy young lady who would have never voluntarily revealed her secret to him if the injury had never happened decided she couldn't leave Andrew injured like that, Andrew Douglas was in the living room of the Guerin’s alone with his fiancé clasped tightly against him, enjoying the taste of her lips and tongue, with full parental approval, or at the least, resignation.
Andrew didn’t know it yet, but he was going to be going to a speed and agility camp in Albuquerque at the end of the next summer. On the first day, the Alamogordo safety who had made the hit on him at the game would come up to tell him how sorry he was that he’d hurt Andrew, that he was glad it wasn’t as bad as it looked like it had been at first, and that he hoped Andrew didn’t have any hard feelings. The kid would never understand Andrew’s response, "Hard feelings? No. That hit was one of the best things that ever happened to me...."