It was almost 11PM when Maria next went in to the den. Her tactics for entry were anything but subtle. She bumped into the door several times, turned the knob both ways as if she couldn’t decide which way it worked, and then kicked the door “accidentally” upon entry. As she entered, she continued to talk to Michael, who was on the other side of the house watching TV, oblivious to what she was saying, all the time hoping that she was giving the two teenagers adequate time to stop doing whatever they were doing, and make themselves…presentable. She needn’t have wasted her time.
Both teenagers were sound asleep on the couch, a West Roswell High versus Carlsbad football game DVD playing silently. Joey was curled up against Andrew, her head on his left shoulder, a gentle smile on her face, Andrew's arm was curled around her, his face smiling too.
Maria looked at the two and shook her head. ‘That has to be the cutest thing I’ve seen this month. Except there can NOT be any circulation in that left arm at all in that position,’ she thought. ‘I wonder if Joey can heal gangrene?’
As Maria was gently waking her daughter, Andrew woke up too. “Uh,….You kids want any popcorn or anything?”
Andrew smiled at Maria. “You’re right Mrs G., It is getting kind of late.... Joey, ... we better call it a night.”
Maria left so the two could say their good-byes in private. A few minutes later Andrew and Joey came into the living room and Andrew said goodnight to Maria and Michael as well. After he left Joey said goodnight to her parents and went up to her room.
“They are so young, but they ARE so cute together,” said Maria. “I almost couldn’t bring myself to disturb them, they looked so comfortable and happy dreaming there.”
“I hope they keep handling it that well, taking their time,” said Michael. “Of course, they’ll probably be back on their beach together in twenty minutes. I sure hope they remember Izzie’s visiting tonight….”
“We had some rather …interesting dreamwalks ourselves, Spaceboy.”
“We did at that.”
“Now about our discussion earlier….”
‘Who was she kidding,' thought Michael, 'She knew that he’d never deny her anything she really wanted, ……besides, she always looked so beautiful when she was pregnant. She just glowed.’
“Seeing as how the kids are setting such a good example of restraint, Maybe we ought to wait until Joey gets done brushing her teeth and actually does go to bed…?”
Maria smiled as the connection formed *Whatever you say, Spaceboy.*
Joey (AA/CC teen) [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
Kate felt that this was wrong, a violation of his privacy, but she was doing it anyway because it had to be done. And it was only the public access stuff she was doing, nothing even covered by the Privacy Act. Someone else would do a more in depth review of the official files if she wound up getting more serious with him, and she was a little frightened to realize just how much she seemed to be wanting it to get more serious...
Robert Adams...Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Virginia Military Institute....Masters from the Foreign Policy Institute of George Washington University....Platoon leader in Portugal....assigned to embassy duty Paris France as a Lieutenant.......Captain USMC now a protocol officer at the Pentagon.....married once, Karen Adams (During) ...Hmmmm.... a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department.....killed in the attack on the embassy, back when there still WAS an embassy. One daughter, Laurie.
Kate sat back and looked at the ceiling. Yeah, the rules required a deep background check of anyone that you were going to become "significantly involved with," whatever that was supposed to mean. There had been too many deep plants that had hurt the government in the past, sleepers that had seemed real normal until they had done their damage. And what did "significantly involved with" really mean? Most of the women agents considered that to be someone you were going to have sex with. Strangely, few of the men agents considered that to be significant. 'Damn, most of the guys in the DC singles scene are swine,' Kate thought. But Bob didn't seem like that. Bob seemed like....the real thing, kind of. But this was WAY too early to think about being serious with him. Way too early. She kept telling herself that as she crossed the room, heading away from the exit. She kept telling that as she tracked down the only female agent on duty who had the authorization to run such a screen. She was even telling herself it was way too early as she left the room, the other female agent already working on a standard screening clearance for Bob Adams. As she pulled up the first file and saw his picture the agent said to herself, 'Dang. Wonder if he's got a brother for me?'
Robert Adams...Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Virginia Military Institute....Masters from the Foreign Policy Institute of George Washington University....Platoon leader in Portugal....assigned to embassy duty Paris France as a Lieutenant.......Captain USMC now a protocol officer at the Pentagon.....married once, Karen Adams (During) ...Hmmmm.... a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department.....killed in the attack on the embassy, back when there still WAS an embassy. One daughter, Laurie.
Kate sat back and looked at the ceiling. Yeah, the rules required a deep background check of anyone that you were going to become "significantly involved with," whatever that was supposed to mean. There had been too many deep plants that had hurt the government in the past, sleepers that had seemed real normal until they had done their damage. And what did "significantly involved with" really mean? Most of the women agents considered that to be someone you were going to have sex with. Strangely, few of the men agents considered that to be significant. 'Damn, most of the guys in the DC singles scene are swine,' Kate thought. But Bob didn't seem like that. Bob seemed like....the real thing, kind of. But this was WAY too early to think about being serious with him. Way too early. She kept telling herself that as she crossed the room, heading away from the exit. She kept telling that as she tracked down the only female agent on duty who had the authorization to run such a screen. She was even telling herself it was way too early as she left the room, the other female agent already working on a standard screening clearance for Bob Adams. As she pulled up the first file and saw his picture the agent said to herself, 'Dang. Wonder if he's got a brother for me?'
It was still called the Winter dance, a legacy of the era of political correctness, although there was a big “Merry Christmas” banner over the entrance to the hotel Ballroom.
All High Schools have their cliques, their beautiful people, their movers and shakers and their quasi royalty. Joelle Guerin and Andrew Douglas were known to the sports crowd, but they were unknowns on the West Roswell High social scene. Neither had ever been to a school dance before, and although a few of her soccer and cross-country teammates had noticed the rather sudden change in Joey’s usually casual and quasi-Tomboy attire, and all her basketball teammates remembered THE KISS, to the overwhelming majority of those who considered themselves the social elite of West Roswell High, the emergence of the new couple on the social scene was as impressive as it was unexpected.
Generally people breaking in to the High School social scene, particularly Freshmen and Sophomores who have never previously been to a dance take a back seat to the established crowd. They sit around a lot, don’t dance much, and tend to be unobtrusive. When they do dance, they typically aren’t very good at it, and confine their efforts to the periphery of the dance floor. Well…..that may indeed generally be the case, but it sure wasn’t like that when Joey and Andrew showed up at the Christmas dance.
It had started earlier, at the Guerins, as Joey was dressing. With a few lessons from Aunt Izzie, doing the molecular manipulation for a flawless hairdo hadn’t really been all that hard. The makeup was similarly easy. The shoes were rather quickly colored to match the dress, a low cut in front, very low cut in back silver-colored affair that Joey had picked out shopping with Barbara and her mother. Maria had her doubts about it initially, but figured ….well, Joey is growing up….she just hoped Michael was ready for it. He almost was…..
“You are wearing THAT? In public?”
“Yes Dad, I am. Everybody wears dresses like this.” ‘Watch him say, ‘ Just because everyone jumps off a cliff, does that mean’…..…..’
“Well just because everyone jumps off a cliff, Joey, does that mean you would? Even if you don’t care that all the guys will be ogling you….It’s December. You’ll freeze your……well, you’ll freeze something.”
“Mom….talk to Dad….PLEASE….”
“Well Joey, your father does have a point. It probably would be a good idea to wear a sweater, at least until you get to the ballroom.”
“Why don’t you leave it on all night. That way every boy that dances with you won’t be looking down your…..neck.”
“Daddy…,” Joey said blushing deeply and looking at Maria for assistance with her father, “I’m not going to be dancing with ‘every boy,’ just with Andrew.”
Now that statement briefly confused Michael. He actually wanted to think that what his daughter was saying was that Andrew was a gentleman, who would never sneak surreptitious looks at her cleavage. He wanted to think that, but somehow in his heart he realized that his daughter would probably not be the least bit averse to Andrew taking a look at her cleavage, and that was likely the reason she picked out that particular dress.
“She’s growing up Michael. She can’t be a little girl forever. You need to accept that.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it though, does it? It looks like you’re ..advertising something.”
“Mom, make him stop, or I swear I’m going to powerblast him. I’m not advertising anything, in fact…,” said Joey admiring the ring on her finger, “I’m off the market altogether.”
“Michael, don’t tease the girl. Joey, the ring doesn’t really hide very well with the…uh…cut of the front of the dress. You may need a longer chain.”
“I’m not sure they make chains that long……. and if they did, the ring would be riding at about her belly-button.”
“MOM!!!”
Maria said, “Michael, quit it….right now. You are such a tease.. Joey, maybe you should just leave the ring at home tonight…,” and bit her tongue immediately seeing the determined look on Joey’s face. It was obvious they weren’t getting the ring away from Joey even if they used plastic explosive. It was going to stay on her neck….or go on her finger. Those were the two options.
So ultimately, Maria solved the problem. She had always liked Southwest silver and turquoise Indian jewelry. She loaned her daughter a pair of silver and turquoise earrings and a silve and turquoise necklace large enough that the ring would hide nicely behind it. It went pretty well with the whole outfit, and Joey looked….well….radiantly beautiful. ‘And besides,' thought Maria, ‘Now when Andrew stared down at her chest they can both pretend they think he’s admiring the necklace…’
As he rang the doorbell, Andrew Douglas was telling himself that he’d never ever worn a comfortable tux. When Joey opened the door and he saw her, he instantly forgot any discomfort. Yeah, he’d actually seen her naked once but this dress….that appeared to steer his eyes right at her…….lovely necklace……WOW!
Joey grabbed his hand and led him back into the living room where Michael and Maria were waiting.
“You two are the cutest pair,” said Maria, her camera taking picture after picture as the kids blinked from the strobe.
“They go beyond cute, dear. That’s as good looking a couple as I have ever seen. Andrew, take good care of my little baby. See if you can keep her from catching a cold…”
“Muth-err!” Joey hissed under her breath.
"Michael.." Maria gave Michael ‘the look,’ and he realized he’d better go no farther.
“What time were you planning on being home, Joey?”
“I should have her home by 10:30 Mr. Guerin. We’ll probably go to the Crashdown after the dance..then come back here.”
“You two drive carefully and have fun. We’ll expect to see you at 10:30. Call if you aren't going to be here by 11:00.”
As the two drove away, Maria could tell that Michael was a little melancholy about Joey growing up. He was handling it, but it was pretty clear that he knew that daddy wasn’t the number one man in his princess’s life anymore. But she knew how to cheer him up.
“Well, it looks like we are going to be alone for the next three and a half hours……got any plans…Spaceboy?”
It started when they entered the ballroom. Joelle Guerin, ex-tomboy, was radiant, and her date was strikingly handsome. They did NOT sit at the periphery. They came to dance and damn it, they danced.
Long hours of practice on the beach, under Isabel’s tutelage, were put to immediate use. During slow dances Joey melted into Andrew, and they moved as one. During fast dances, they held the center of the ballroom, most eyes on them with whispers going around the room, as their names were passed along from athletes who knew them to everyone else.
Just on a lark, the band played one tango, which pretty well cleared the floor….except for Joey and Andrew. Apparently Jesse liked to tango, so Isabel had shown them…..they moved with the strength of athletes and the skill and grace of professional dancers. All eyes were upon them, the band so impressed that they did another tango to follow. Again they were magnificent.
For the rest of the night at every break someone would be asking for the next dance from Joey…..only to be told her dance card was filled. And those females who eyed Andrew appraisingly…..well, they’d see a pair of the bluest eyes in the world looking at them, the unspoken message being, ‘don’t even think about it…’
By the next school day, half the people in school knew about Joey Guerin and Andrew Douglas, and what’s more they knew they were a couple. Nobody really expected it to last, hell, it was the first romance for either of them. Already guys were planning on luring Joey away from that Douglas kid, and girls were planning on either luring Andrew away, or getting him on the bounce when Joey dumped him.
It probably would have been kinder if Joey had just worn the ring on her finger, because a lot of people were going to be disappointed. Joey and Andrew were both indeed …off the market.
All High Schools have their cliques, their beautiful people, their movers and shakers and their quasi royalty. Joelle Guerin and Andrew Douglas were known to the sports crowd, but they were unknowns on the West Roswell High social scene. Neither had ever been to a school dance before, and although a few of her soccer and cross-country teammates had noticed the rather sudden change in Joey’s usually casual and quasi-Tomboy attire, and all her basketball teammates remembered THE KISS, to the overwhelming majority of those who considered themselves the social elite of West Roswell High, the emergence of the new couple on the social scene was as impressive as it was unexpected.
Generally people breaking in to the High School social scene, particularly Freshmen and Sophomores who have never previously been to a dance take a back seat to the established crowd. They sit around a lot, don’t dance much, and tend to be unobtrusive. When they do dance, they typically aren’t very good at it, and confine their efforts to the periphery of the dance floor. Well…..that may indeed generally be the case, but it sure wasn’t like that when Joey and Andrew showed up at the Christmas dance.
It had started earlier, at the Guerins, as Joey was dressing. With a few lessons from Aunt Izzie, doing the molecular manipulation for a flawless hairdo hadn’t really been all that hard. The makeup was similarly easy. The shoes were rather quickly colored to match the dress, a low cut in front, very low cut in back silver-colored affair that Joey had picked out shopping with Barbara and her mother. Maria had her doubts about it initially, but figured ….well, Joey is growing up….she just hoped Michael was ready for it. He almost was…..
“You are wearing THAT? In public?”
“Yes Dad, I am. Everybody wears dresses like this.” ‘Watch him say, ‘ Just because everyone jumps off a cliff, does that mean’…..…..’
“Well just because everyone jumps off a cliff, Joey, does that mean you would? Even if you don’t care that all the guys will be ogling you….It’s December. You’ll freeze your……well, you’ll freeze something.”
“Mom….talk to Dad….PLEASE….”
“Well Joey, your father does have a point. It probably would be a good idea to wear a sweater, at least until you get to the ballroom.”
“Why don’t you leave it on all night. That way every boy that dances with you won’t be looking down your…..neck.”
“Daddy…,” Joey said blushing deeply and looking at Maria for assistance with her father, “I’m not going to be dancing with ‘every boy,’ just with Andrew.”
Now that statement briefly confused Michael. He actually wanted to think that what his daughter was saying was that Andrew was a gentleman, who would never sneak surreptitious looks at her cleavage. He wanted to think that, but somehow in his heart he realized that his daughter would probably not be the least bit averse to Andrew taking a look at her cleavage, and that was likely the reason she picked out that particular dress.
“She’s growing up Michael. She can’t be a little girl forever. You need to accept that.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it though, does it? It looks like you’re ..advertising something.”
“Mom, make him stop, or I swear I’m going to powerblast him. I’m not advertising anything, in fact…,” said Joey admiring the ring on her finger, “I’m off the market altogether.”
“Michael, don’t tease the girl. Joey, the ring doesn’t really hide very well with the…uh…cut of the front of the dress. You may need a longer chain.”
“I’m not sure they make chains that long……. and if they did, the ring would be riding at about her belly-button.”
“MOM!!!”
Maria said, “Michael, quit it….right now. You are such a tease.. Joey, maybe you should just leave the ring at home tonight…,” and bit her tongue immediately seeing the determined look on Joey’s face. It was obvious they weren’t getting the ring away from Joey even if they used plastic explosive. It was going to stay on her neck….or go on her finger. Those were the two options.
So ultimately, Maria solved the problem. She had always liked Southwest silver and turquoise Indian jewelry. She loaned her daughter a pair of silver and turquoise earrings and a silve and turquoise necklace large enough that the ring would hide nicely behind it. It went pretty well with the whole outfit, and Joey looked….well….radiantly beautiful. ‘And besides,' thought Maria, ‘Now when Andrew stared down at her chest they can both pretend they think he’s admiring the necklace…’
As he rang the doorbell, Andrew Douglas was telling himself that he’d never ever worn a comfortable tux. When Joey opened the door and he saw her, he instantly forgot any discomfort. Yeah, he’d actually seen her naked once but this dress….that appeared to steer his eyes right at her…….lovely necklace……WOW!
Joey grabbed his hand and led him back into the living room where Michael and Maria were waiting.
“You two are the cutest pair,” said Maria, her camera taking picture after picture as the kids blinked from the strobe.
“They go beyond cute, dear. That’s as good looking a couple as I have ever seen. Andrew, take good care of my little baby. See if you can keep her from catching a cold…”
“Muth-err!” Joey hissed under her breath.
"Michael.." Maria gave Michael ‘the look,’ and he realized he’d better go no farther.
“What time were you planning on being home, Joey?”
“I should have her home by 10:30 Mr. Guerin. We’ll probably go to the Crashdown after the dance..then come back here.”
“You two drive carefully and have fun. We’ll expect to see you at 10:30. Call if you aren't going to be here by 11:00.”
As the two drove away, Maria could tell that Michael was a little melancholy about Joey growing up. He was handling it, but it was pretty clear that he knew that daddy wasn’t the number one man in his princess’s life anymore. But she knew how to cheer him up.
“Well, it looks like we are going to be alone for the next three and a half hours……got any plans…Spaceboy?”
It started when they entered the ballroom. Joelle Guerin, ex-tomboy, was radiant, and her date was strikingly handsome. They did NOT sit at the periphery. They came to dance and damn it, they danced.
Long hours of practice on the beach, under Isabel’s tutelage, were put to immediate use. During slow dances Joey melted into Andrew, and they moved as one. During fast dances, they held the center of the ballroom, most eyes on them with whispers going around the room, as their names were passed along from athletes who knew them to everyone else.
Just on a lark, the band played one tango, which pretty well cleared the floor….except for Joey and Andrew. Apparently Jesse liked to tango, so Isabel had shown them…..they moved with the strength of athletes and the skill and grace of professional dancers. All eyes were upon them, the band so impressed that they did another tango to follow. Again they were magnificent.
For the rest of the night at every break someone would be asking for the next dance from Joey…..only to be told her dance card was filled. And those females who eyed Andrew appraisingly…..well, they’d see a pair of the bluest eyes in the world looking at them, the unspoken message being, ‘don’t even think about it…’
By the next school day, half the people in school knew about Joey Guerin and Andrew Douglas, and what’s more they knew they were a couple. Nobody really expected it to last, hell, it was the first romance for either of them. Already guys were planning on luring Joey away from that Douglas kid, and girls were planning on either luring Andrew away, or getting him on the bounce when Joey dumped him.
It probably would have been kinder if Joey had just worn the ring on her finger, because a lot of people were going to be disappointed. Joey and Andrew were both indeed …off the market.
The VPs trip to El Paso had gone well and as the 89th Military Airlift Wing crew flew the big aircraft back to Andrews AFB, Kate relaxed in the small sleeping room and let her mind turn back to Bob Adams.
He'd asked her out again, this time to a military ball he was obligated to attend at the Navy Yard. She'd said yes almost without thinking....the second date had certainly been pleasant enough, although the memory of the first one still stuck in her mind.
Did she want to get involved in whatever 'issues' drove Bob? Clearly he and the Durings didn't get along and they were...not just old money, but old political power as well. That history had to be kind of complicated, just from the body language of the brief time she'd seen them together. Was he really over the loss of Karen? She'd looked up a picture of the woman...their wedding picture in the Washington Post society pages. She'd been a very attractive woman, and Laurie looked so much the miniature version of her mother that it had to pull at the heartstrings of both Bob and the Durings, whenever they saw her.
Kate debated the right course of action until she drifted off to sleep, but she was of course fooling herself. When she had the security check run on Bob, she'd already made up her mind at some level to pursue the relationship. Eventually her conscious mind would catch up too. And by the time the wheels of the big jet taxied in to the chocks at Andrews she already had a laptop out, trying to find out what civilian guests wear to a military ball.
He'd asked her out again, this time to a military ball he was obligated to attend at the Navy Yard. She'd said yes almost without thinking....the second date had certainly been pleasant enough, although the memory of the first one still stuck in her mind.
Did she want to get involved in whatever 'issues' drove Bob? Clearly he and the Durings didn't get along and they were...not just old money, but old political power as well. That history had to be kind of complicated, just from the body language of the brief time she'd seen them together. Was he really over the loss of Karen? She'd looked up a picture of the woman...their wedding picture in the Washington Post society pages. She'd been a very attractive woman, and Laurie looked so much the miniature version of her mother that it had to pull at the heartstrings of both Bob and the Durings, whenever they saw her.
Kate debated the right course of action until she drifted off to sleep, but she was of course fooling herself. When she had the security check run on Bob, she'd already made up her mind at some level to pursue the relationship. Eventually her conscious mind would catch up too. And by the time the wheels of the big jet taxied in to the chocks at Andrews she already had a laptop out, trying to find out what civilian guests wear to a military ball.
As he lay on the beach towel beside her, Andrew looked out at the setting sun, knowing that their time together on the beach was ending.
He looked back to her with a gentle smile, captivated by her beauty as the low sun caused her right nipple to cast a small shadow on her breast. Her eyes were closed, savoring the last minutes of warmth of the sun, perhaps savoring the memory of the last seven hours. Gently he leaned over and placed a light kiss on the right nipple intending no more than that…but then overcome again by her closeness, by his feelings for her, by his memory of this session on the beach, he found himself teasing her nipple, feeling it harden beneath the moist warm probings from his tongue. He was not surprised this time when Joey arched her back pushing her breast against his mouth, or when she ran her fingers through his hair, gently encouraging his tongue’s explorations…or the sound of the whimper….’did that come from her or from me?’ It really didn’t matter, they had perhaps five minutes, and they would make the most of them…..
When Joey had met him on the beach Andrew could not remember ever feeling so good about anything in his life.
That had been the date that he had dreamed about, ever since he’d first seen her in Junior High School, those long years ago. The other people had faded in to the background, his eyes were only for her. She had been radiantly beautiful and he was sure he had been the envy of every guy at the dance. And she had been totally his…that was obvious. The requests to dance by other guys had been politely, but oh so firmly refused. He’d danced every single dance with her. He had barely been able to take his eyes off her the whole night…and that dress had stunned him, more sensual in its own way than even the night of their engagement when he’d seen more, but …somehow the dress was a statement to everyone…she couldn’t wear the ring yet, perhaps, but she was his.
When she’d materialized on the beach in the string bikini he’d almost laughed. She hadn’t worn that for awhile. While he appreciated the view, it had started as a joke…about how he’d fantasized her. He’d told her that the reality was better than the fantasy…that she really didn’t need to compete against an old dream, and she’d worn other things….pretty in their own right, but a little less revealing.
As she had walked along the beach toward him he’d smiled, asking her if she was feeling overheated from the dance still and felt like going for a swim. Thinking as he did so that the bikini top actually covered more of her than had that dress. She’d said no, that she intended to work on her tan. He had already phrased in his mind a smart ass response something like, ‘Joey, this is a virtual beach….a DREAM beach, you can DREAM whatever amount of tan on yourself you want…’ when he noticed that she had taken off the top of the bikini, and was looking up at him with an uncertain smile on her face.
Andrew knew he’d discovered some truly amazing things in this session on the beach. All teenage boys fantasize about sex, and for several years he’d fantasized about Joey…what it would feel like to caress her body, what it would feel like to touch her, to taste her…and they’d been doing a little of that gradually, even before tonight. But he realized tonight that, as exciting as it was to touch her, the truly sensuous thing was not the touching, but the realization that the touching was welcome…the touching was wanted…the touching was not an intrusion or an invasion, but was …right.
And he’d also discovered that more pleasurable even than the touching, was giving her pleasure. It hadn’t gone beyond kissing and fondling…yet, but he was amazed that just by stroking her, by nibbling, by gentle caresses and kisses, he could elicit such amazing responses from her, her nipples hardening, her body trembling…the little squeaks and mews that she made in her passion….. Even without the connection, even just in a dreamwalk, he could see the effect he had on her, and he felt so humbled and gratified that she had chosen to be his…to share this with him. His body had trembled too, and he was honestly a little bit afraid of what would have happened had they been in the real world…feeling both sides of this passion through the connection.
He knew they still had over two years before they could really belong to each other….in the real world. They’d agreed to try to take it slowly……an agreement he wasn’t sure either of them would have honored if they had really been together tonight, rather than just in the dream orb.
He sensed her starting to leave the orb, and had time to find her lips with his for only a second until she flickered and dissolved into nothingness. Then the beach itself flickered and he opened his eyes to find himself in his room, in his bed, the sheets soaked with sweat…..a tuxedo draped over his desk chair. ‘What an incredible night.’
Joey was surprised she hadn't been more nervous as she'd walked down the beach toward him in the string bikini and she tried to analyze that dispassionately. Doing anything dispassionately when it came to Andrew was getting harder and harder, she realized.
She’d actually been thinking about doing this for some time, even before she caught him being ..very appreciative of her mom’s necklace….on several occasions. She’d actually toyed with this idea on the trip home from the dance but the small car…..no, this was the right way for now. And it WAS right…she decided, and that was why she really wasn’t as nervous as she expected to be.
She’d always been shy, and so had Andrew. But she was no longer shy with him…or at least…ready to try being less shy with him. She kind of figured he had been coming up with some smart-ass reply when she’d mentioned getting a suntan, but it had never come out, as his jaw suddenly seemed about to unhinge on both sides. And that’s when everything had started that….well she really hadn’t anticipated at all.
She had really kind of planned this as a gift to Andrew….something she knew he wanted…because of how he’d looked at her….and something she wanted BECAUSE he wanted it so much. She’d really been kind of unprepared to feel how seeing him attracted to her…his manner….his eyes….his quivering like he wasn’t even in control of his body….even the swelling that was visible through the fabric of his shorts….how much that excited her…how great it made her feel that she could affect him that way, just by being close, just by touching and being touched….
She’d been even more unprepared for what his touching had meant to her. Her, the shy girl who with him absolutely was not shy….who felt….liberated by his touch, soaring to heights of passion. In one night on the beach, she was already addicted to the feel of his hands against her, his mouth..…his tongue… she’d meant this as a gift to him but had received more…..so much more…than she’d have ever believed possible. She had wanted him….wanted him since seventh grade…..but she’d wanted a kind of courtly love…romantic…but abstract. Oh, she’d known that if it had happened he’d want more, and she’d give it to him…as her gift to her beloved. What she hadn’t known was that she’d want the passion…..the heat….the fire….. ' Damn…..can I really wait two more years to feel him inside of me?'
As the sun was setting she felt his lips again kiss her, his tongue again tease her areola, feeling it harden and involuntarily arching her back and pulling his head against her, feeling him suck her deep into his mouth for his tongue to caress lavishly. ‘This is so great….and so scary....if this were the physical world……if we were connected…….what would THAT feel like,' ….. she wondered…..
She felt herself start to wake…to leave the orb…seeing as it faded his face return to hers, his lips gently caressing hers as the dream orb faded.
She awoke in her bed in her bedroom, surprised that her baby doll t-shirt and her sheets were soaked with her sweat, her shorts soaked with sweat…and more. As she stripped to take her shower she looked at her body relieved that it appeared unblemished. ‘We have got to get this under control a little more. I will NOT be seen in the shower room after practice with hickeys all over my torso….I’d never live it down.’ She knew of course that she COULD remove them with molecular manipulation if the need arose, but she also knew that she wouldn’t…it would seem like a repudiation of what she had …enjoyed.
Maybe they should keep this in the dream orb until they were a little more …in control, she thought, knowing that if he didn’t feel that way, she’d undoubtedly change her mind quickly enough…..
As he picked her up to go out to the Pemberton ranch to just go for their morning run and maybe work out a little in the small gym on the ranch, Andrew realized that something had changed between the two of them…not a bad change, but a …deepening of their feelings towards each other.
He had learned a lot about himself during the dreamwalk, learned that years of teenage fantasies had almost missed the whole point. It wasn’t about scoring or what base you got to…..it was about giving, and the more you could give the more wonderful it was. As she intertwined the fingers of her left hand with those of his right, he couldn’t remember ever being more happy….more at ease….more excited yet paradoxically enough….more content, in his entire life. He realized that there wasn’t a single person on earth….probably not in the universe, that he’d be willing to trade places with right now, just driving down the road, holding hands with the one he loved.
Joey had been a little anxious, wondering if maybe he was thinking that…good girls shouldn’t act quite so forward….or enjoy themselves quite so much, but when she saw his eyes, she knew.
What she’d learned about herself had sort of surprised her, but what she’d learned about Andrew……had only deepened her love for him. ‘I can’t believe I laid there in bed that night pouting that he was being …insensitive and demanding, while he was getting me an engagement ring. And I was equally wrong thinking I was somehow giving him something last night…’
Andrew was her soulmate, and she knew it. And, when the time was right, he’d be a kind and gentle and attentive lover….and when that ultimately happened…when they finally went the final step…she knew it wouldn’t be because Andrew ‘needed it more than she did,’ but rather that the both of them had finally decided that they had simply waited long enough. She wasn’t sure when that would happen, but she had no doubt that it would, and when it did there would be no misgivings, no regrets, and no doubts. And until then, they were going to get the grades, the scholarships, and everything else they needed to prepare for that time. Because one thing Joey knew for sure, when she went to college in two and a half years she wasn’t going to be living in the dorm, she was going to be living with Andrew.
She reached up and took the ring off the chain, putting it back on her finger,…then intertwined her fingers in his. She knew they had great times ahead, and the passion she had felt for him was only a taste of what was to come….but for right now, she’d never known such contentment, just driving down the road toward the Pembertons. She was, she knew, the luckiest girl on earth.
He looked back to her with a gentle smile, captivated by her beauty as the low sun caused her right nipple to cast a small shadow on her breast. Her eyes were closed, savoring the last minutes of warmth of the sun, perhaps savoring the memory of the last seven hours. Gently he leaned over and placed a light kiss on the right nipple intending no more than that…but then overcome again by her closeness, by his feelings for her, by his memory of this session on the beach, he found himself teasing her nipple, feeling it harden beneath the moist warm probings from his tongue. He was not surprised this time when Joey arched her back pushing her breast against his mouth, or when she ran her fingers through his hair, gently encouraging his tongue’s explorations…or the sound of the whimper….’did that come from her or from me?’ It really didn’t matter, they had perhaps five minutes, and they would make the most of them…..
When Joey had met him on the beach Andrew could not remember ever feeling so good about anything in his life.
That had been the date that he had dreamed about, ever since he’d first seen her in Junior High School, those long years ago. The other people had faded in to the background, his eyes were only for her. She had been radiantly beautiful and he was sure he had been the envy of every guy at the dance. And she had been totally his…that was obvious. The requests to dance by other guys had been politely, but oh so firmly refused. He’d danced every single dance with her. He had barely been able to take his eyes off her the whole night…and that dress had stunned him, more sensual in its own way than even the night of their engagement when he’d seen more, but …somehow the dress was a statement to everyone…she couldn’t wear the ring yet, perhaps, but she was his.
When she’d materialized on the beach in the string bikini he’d almost laughed. She hadn’t worn that for awhile. While he appreciated the view, it had started as a joke…about how he’d fantasized her. He’d told her that the reality was better than the fantasy…that she really didn’t need to compete against an old dream, and she’d worn other things….pretty in their own right, but a little less revealing.
As she had walked along the beach toward him he’d smiled, asking her if she was feeling overheated from the dance still and felt like going for a swim. Thinking as he did so that the bikini top actually covered more of her than had that dress. She’d said no, that she intended to work on her tan. He had already phrased in his mind a smart ass response something like, ‘Joey, this is a virtual beach….a DREAM beach, you can DREAM whatever amount of tan on yourself you want…’ when he noticed that she had taken off the top of the bikini, and was looking up at him with an uncertain smile on her face.
Andrew knew he’d discovered some truly amazing things in this session on the beach. All teenage boys fantasize about sex, and for several years he’d fantasized about Joey…what it would feel like to caress her body, what it would feel like to touch her, to taste her…and they’d been doing a little of that gradually, even before tonight. But he realized tonight that, as exciting as it was to touch her, the truly sensuous thing was not the touching, but the realization that the touching was welcome…the touching was wanted…the touching was not an intrusion or an invasion, but was …right.
And he’d also discovered that more pleasurable even than the touching, was giving her pleasure. It hadn’t gone beyond kissing and fondling…yet, but he was amazed that just by stroking her, by nibbling, by gentle caresses and kisses, he could elicit such amazing responses from her, her nipples hardening, her body trembling…the little squeaks and mews that she made in her passion….. Even without the connection, even just in a dreamwalk, he could see the effect he had on her, and he felt so humbled and gratified that she had chosen to be his…to share this with him. His body had trembled too, and he was honestly a little bit afraid of what would have happened had they been in the real world…feeling both sides of this passion through the connection.
He knew they still had over two years before they could really belong to each other….in the real world. They’d agreed to try to take it slowly……an agreement he wasn’t sure either of them would have honored if they had really been together tonight, rather than just in the dream orb.
He sensed her starting to leave the orb, and had time to find her lips with his for only a second until she flickered and dissolved into nothingness. Then the beach itself flickered and he opened his eyes to find himself in his room, in his bed, the sheets soaked with sweat…..a tuxedo draped over his desk chair. ‘What an incredible night.’
Joey was surprised she hadn't been more nervous as she'd walked down the beach toward him in the string bikini and she tried to analyze that dispassionately. Doing anything dispassionately when it came to Andrew was getting harder and harder, she realized.
She’d actually been thinking about doing this for some time, even before she caught him being ..very appreciative of her mom’s necklace….on several occasions. She’d actually toyed with this idea on the trip home from the dance but the small car…..no, this was the right way for now. And it WAS right…she decided, and that was why she really wasn’t as nervous as she expected to be.
She’d always been shy, and so had Andrew. But she was no longer shy with him…or at least…ready to try being less shy with him. She kind of figured he had been coming up with some smart-ass reply when she’d mentioned getting a suntan, but it had never come out, as his jaw suddenly seemed about to unhinge on both sides. And that’s when everything had started that….well she really hadn’t anticipated at all.
She had really kind of planned this as a gift to Andrew….something she knew he wanted…because of how he’d looked at her….and something she wanted BECAUSE he wanted it so much. She’d really been kind of unprepared to feel how seeing him attracted to her…his manner….his eyes….his quivering like he wasn’t even in control of his body….even the swelling that was visible through the fabric of his shorts….how much that excited her…how great it made her feel that she could affect him that way, just by being close, just by touching and being touched….
She’d been even more unprepared for what his touching had meant to her. Her, the shy girl who with him absolutely was not shy….who felt….liberated by his touch, soaring to heights of passion. In one night on the beach, she was already addicted to the feel of his hands against her, his mouth..…his tongue… she’d meant this as a gift to him but had received more…..so much more…than she’d have ever believed possible. She had wanted him….wanted him since seventh grade…..but she’d wanted a kind of courtly love…romantic…but abstract. Oh, she’d known that if it had happened he’d want more, and she’d give it to him…as her gift to her beloved. What she hadn’t known was that she’d want the passion…..the heat….the fire….. ' Damn…..can I really wait two more years to feel him inside of me?'
As the sun was setting she felt his lips again kiss her, his tongue again tease her areola, feeling it harden and involuntarily arching her back and pulling his head against her, feeling him suck her deep into his mouth for his tongue to caress lavishly. ‘This is so great….and so scary....if this were the physical world……if we were connected…….what would THAT feel like,' ….. she wondered…..
She felt herself start to wake…to leave the orb…seeing as it faded his face return to hers, his lips gently caressing hers as the dream orb faded.
She awoke in her bed in her bedroom, surprised that her baby doll t-shirt and her sheets were soaked with her sweat, her shorts soaked with sweat…and more. As she stripped to take her shower she looked at her body relieved that it appeared unblemished. ‘We have got to get this under control a little more. I will NOT be seen in the shower room after practice with hickeys all over my torso….I’d never live it down.’ She knew of course that she COULD remove them with molecular manipulation if the need arose, but she also knew that she wouldn’t…it would seem like a repudiation of what she had …enjoyed.
Maybe they should keep this in the dream orb until they were a little more …in control, she thought, knowing that if he didn’t feel that way, she’d undoubtedly change her mind quickly enough…..
As he picked her up to go out to the Pemberton ranch to just go for their morning run and maybe work out a little in the small gym on the ranch, Andrew realized that something had changed between the two of them…not a bad change, but a …deepening of their feelings towards each other.
He had learned a lot about himself during the dreamwalk, learned that years of teenage fantasies had almost missed the whole point. It wasn’t about scoring or what base you got to…..it was about giving, and the more you could give the more wonderful it was. As she intertwined the fingers of her left hand with those of his right, he couldn’t remember ever being more happy….more at ease….more excited yet paradoxically enough….more content, in his entire life. He realized that there wasn’t a single person on earth….probably not in the universe, that he’d be willing to trade places with right now, just driving down the road, holding hands with the one he loved.
Joey had been a little anxious, wondering if maybe he was thinking that…good girls shouldn’t act quite so forward….or enjoy themselves quite so much, but when she saw his eyes, she knew.
What she’d learned about herself had sort of surprised her, but what she’d learned about Andrew……had only deepened her love for him. ‘I can’t believe I laid there in bed that night pouting that he was being …insensitive and demanding, while he was getting me an engagement ring. And I was equally wrong thinking I was somehow giving him something last night…’
Andrew was her soulmate, and she knew it. And, when the time was right, he’d be a kind and gentle and attentive lover….and when that ultimately happened…when they finally went the final step…she knew it wouldn’t be because Andrew ‘needed it more than she did,’ but rather that the both of them had finally decided that they had simply waited long enough. She wasn’t sure when that would happen, but she had no doubt that it would, and when it did there would be no misgivings, no regrets, and no doubts. And until then, they were going to get the grades, the scholarships, and everything else they needed to prepare for that time. Because one thing Joey knew for sure, when she went to college in two and a half years she wasn’t going to be living in the dorm, she was going to be living with Andrew.
She reached up and took the ring off the chain, putting it back on her finger,…then intertwined her fingers in his. She knew they had great times ahead, and the passion she had felt for him was only a taste of what was to come….but for right now, she’d never known such contentment, just driving down the road toward the Pembertons. She was, she knew, the luckiest girl on earth.
Last edited by greywolf on Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bob Pemberton watched the two teenagers jogging side by side on the track. It had been nearly an hour, and they hadn't even slowed their pace. Whatever else you had to say about them, they sure had dedication.
He hoped that would be enough.
They seemed like nice kids, and Jan had told him about the two of them saving Corby, not the WHOLE truth, with iridescent handprints and pixie dust and all, just that the two of them had saved the life of their son. And he was grateful to them...so very grateful, and the Pembertons would always be their friends, give them jobs.....whatever they could do for the young couple.
But Bob had seen her wearing the ring and when he'd asked and Joey had nervously admitted the two were engaged...and asked him to keep it a secret for another six months...well, he'd agreed, but thought their parents were insane to permit it.
As he watched them run he thought that they were certainly great kids, but if he ever had a daughter she sure wouldn't be getting engaged as a teenager in high school. Of that he was perfectly sure. Having gotten Corby through the 'terrible twos' he was convinced he had survived the most difficult period of parenting. How hard could it be to have teenagers?
The ancient Greeks believed that the gods punished men for their hubris, and maybe that was so. Or maybe fate just had a perverted sense of humor. Because in three months Jan and Bob would concieve a second child...a girl this time, who they would name Jane. And she would be Bob's 'princess', a real Daddy's girl.
Bob would lose her though, when she was fifteen. Bob and Jan would take her and Corby rock-climbing in the Sacramento mountains, with one of her classmates...her first puppy love. A piton would be pounded one or two hammer strokes too hard, and would split the crack, his daughter Jane would lose her grip on some rotten stone and fall, and when he tried to belay her the piton would pull out and she would fall 20 feet, rupturing her spleen and breaking her pelvis. He would be devastated, watching her fall, unable to belay her.
Perhaps the gods did love their irony, because that would occur only 45 minutes after he'd caught his daughter in a little makeout session with the boy, ....after which he'd specifically instruct the boy to keep his hands off his daughter. As he would watch his daughter start to die before his eyes he wouldn't really understand Jan's eyes going to the young boy but it wouldn't matter, the boy would already be running to put his hands on the young girl. He wouldn't understand at first either the golden glow that came from those hands that would be on his daughter's abdomen and pelvis...not until Jan finally told him the secret she'd kept from him for all those years.
Yes, he'd lose his daughter then....no, she wouldn't die....the boy would not allow that...he loved her too much. But Bob would lose her nonetheless, lose her to her own love. In fact, she and the boy would be engaged throughout most of their High School years, and the day she graduated she would marry young Michael Guerin Jr.
But today, looking out at Joey and Andrew, Bob just hoped it would all work out for them, because they were nice kids....even if way too young to be engaged.
He hoped that would be enough.
They seemed like nice kids, and Jan had told him about the two of them saving Corby, not the WHOLE truth, with iridescent handprints and pixie dust and all, just that the two of them had saved the life of their son. And he was grateful to them...so very grateful, and the Pembertons would always be their friends, give them jobs.....whatever they could do for the young couple.
But Bob had seen her wearing the ring and when he'd asked and Joey had nervously admitted the two were engaged...and asked him to keep it a secret for another six months...well, he'd agreed, but thought their parents were insane to permit it.
As he watched them run he thought that they were certainly great kids, but if he ever had a daughter she sure wouldn't be getting engaged as a teenager in high school. Of that he was perfectly sure. Having gotten Corby through the 'terrible twos' he was convinced he had survived the most difficult period of parenting. How hard could it be to have teenagers?
The ancient Greeks believed that the gods punished men for their hubris, and maybe that was so. Or maybe fate just had a perverted sense of humor. Because in three months Jan and Bob would concieve a second child...a girl this time, who they would name Jane. And she would be Bob's 'princess', a real Daddy's girl.
Bob would lose her though, when she was fifteen. Bob and Jan would take her and Corby rock-climbing in the Sacramento mountains, with one of her classmates...her first puppy love. A piton would be pounded one or two hammer strokes too hard, and would split the crack, his daughter Jane would lose her grip on some rotten stone and fall, and when he tried to belay her the piton would pull out and she would fall 20 feet, rupturing her spleen and breaking her pelvis. He would be devastated, watching her fall, unable to belay her.
Perhaps the gods did love their irony, because that would occur only 45 minutes after he'd caught his daughter in a little makeout session with the boy, ....after which he'd specifically instruct the boy to keep his hands off his daughter. As he would watch his daughter start to die before his eyes he wouldn't really understand Jan's eyes going to the young boy but it wouldn't matter, the boy would already be running to put his hands on the young girl. He wouldn't understand at first either the golden glow that came from those hands that would be on his daughter's abdomen and pelvis...not until Jan finally told him the secret she'd kept from him for all those years.
Yes, he'd lose his daughter then....no, she wouldn't die....the boy would not allow that...he loved her too much. But Bob would lose her nonetheless, lose her to her own love. In fact, she and the boy would be engaged throughout most of their High School years, and the day she graduated she would marry young Michael Guerin Jr.
But today, looking out at Joey and Andrew, Bob just hoped it would all work out for them, because they were nice kids....even if way too young to be engaged.
Last edited by greywolf on Wed Oct 11, 2006 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It was 6 AM as Maria looked up at the tradename on the fixture....American Standard. That had been her sole reading material for the last 20 minutes.
'Damn, How did I ever forget about this?' she asked herself. 'It's only been sixteen years.'
She wasn't sure what there was still to come up, last night's dinner had been the first...twenty minutes ago. She wasn't sure what the last stuff had been, she sure didn't remember eating THAT. She was expecting to see her toenails in the bowl the next time she vomited.
She'd been through this twice before....she was pretty sure she'd survive. It was just that right now.....welll, she wasn't altogether sure she wanted to.
'This should only last about four weeks.... and I'll probably lose at least 20 pounds in that next four weeks,' she told herself.
She retched one more time before thinking...'if I survive, that is.'
Twenty minutes later she fished the kit out from under the sink. 'I didn't actually think when I bought this I'd be using it on myself...'
She wasn't at all sure she could produce a sample, she was kind of dehydrated from the retching.....'one pink line no, two pink lines yes....'
She watched as the test area turned to two bright crimson lines.
'Well that's a big yes.....'she said to herself. 'Why am I not surprised....,' as she returned to her retching....
'Damn, How did I ever forget about this?' she asked herself. 'It's only been sixteen years.'
She wasn't sure what there was still to come up, last night's dinner had been the first...twenty minutes ago. She wasn't sure what the last stuff had been, she sure didn't remember eating THAT. She was expecting to see her toenails in the bowl the next time she vomited.
She'd been through this twice before....she was pretty sure she'd survive. It was just that right now.....welll, she wasn't altogether sure she wanted to.
'This should only last about four weeks.... and I'll probably lose at least 20 pounds in that next four weeks,' she told herself.
She retched one more time before thinking...'if I survive, that is.'
Twenty minutes later she fished the kit out from under the sink. 'I didn't actually think when I bought this I'd be using it on myself...'
She wasn't at all sure she could produce a sample, she was kind of dehydrated from the retching.....'one pink line no, two pink lines yes....'
She watched as the test area turned to two bright crimson lines.
'Well that's a big yes.....'she said to herself. 'Why am I not surprised....,' as she returned to her retching....
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Nov 07, 2006 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It was awfully early on a Sunday Morning, thought Joey, for a knock on her bedroom door. She had just gotten dressed …well sort of dressed, she was in her running gear…Andrew was picking her up to go out to the Pemberton’s again. She had considered showering but…why bother? She’d be sweating like crazy in 60 minutes, and showering two hours after that.
“Come in”
“Joey…I am going to take your mother out for a little drive…maybe stop for breakfast somewhere.” ‘For her, that’ll probably be dry toast and flat 7-up,’ thought Michael.
“She’s had a kind of interesting morning…and I think she just needs to get out of the house a little bit…..get some fresh air.”
“Oh…OK, Dad. Andrew should be picking me up in 15 minutes or so. We’re going to go running and then maybe a little workout on the weights. Then we were going to go have lunch at the Crashdown.”
“That’s fine dear. Your Mom and I will see you later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t….that is, behave yourselves, OK?”
“Sure Dad, always…,” she said, wondering about the strange look on her father’s face.
She heard the car depart as she was packing a towel and a change of clothes into her carry bag. As she reached for the shampoo she held up an empty bottle. “Dang, forgot that.” Grabbing the empty bottle she ran quickly into the master bath and grabbed the nearly full shampoo bottle, pouring a quarter of it into her empty bottle. As she turned to leave her eyes fell on the trash, and she was instantly irritated when she saw the familiar box.
“I can’t believe they actually expected me to……” she said as she picked up the strip…and read through the instructions. “Omigawd……..”
It was three minutes later when the phone again rang at Hokona Hall on the University of New Mexico campus.
Hail to thee, New Mexico,
The loyal sons are we. Marching down the field we go,
Fighting for thee.
RAH! RAH! RAH!
“What????? What do you want…” said a suddenly awakened Mark Guerin.
“Mark? Wake up. It’s Joey.”
“Joey? What is it?” He almost said, ‘this better be good,’ stopping himself when he remembered that the last call like this his sister had announced her engagement.
“Mark….I’m sitting here looking at a pregnancy test……a very POSITIVE pregnancy test.”
“Does Dad know?”
“I’m not sure, but I think so.”
“That’s too bad. I really kind of liked Andrew. Is he dead, or just somewhere in Canada, heading for the Yukon Territory, with Dad in hot pursuit.”
“This doesn’t involve Andrew.”
“You got pregnant with someone else? While engaged to Andrew? Joey, what’s wrong with you.”
“It’s not MY test. And I told you before I’m not pregnant, thank you.”
“Well I give up. You are the only female of childbearing age at home. What else would I think?”
“I don’t know that I’d say that to Mom right now….Dad either.”
“Joey…..TELL ME THIS IS SOME OBSCENE JOKE. I so do not want to think about….old fogey sex.”
“Well it looks like Mom and Dad did more than just think about it.”
“That is so....gross. Why did you let them do something that stupid?”
“Me? I didn’t encourage them. Blame Aunt Izzie. She did it first…….Oh Lord, I gave the twins such grief over that…..are they EVER going to give me a bad time.”
“Well what are we going to do? We’ll be the laughing stock of all our friends and relatives.”
”Aunt Izzie will have hers first. Maybe that’ll sort of …distract everyone.”
“Gee,…you still have three and a half years at home…..hope you like changing diapers.”
“That’s two and a half…..and I think I’ll tell Karla what fun having a little baby around the house is.”
“I’d really rather you didn’t……I’m getting pushed kind of hard to set the date already.”
“Don’t I know it. She already asked me to be a bridesmaid. So when are you going to get married?”
“Well, …I’ve got two and a half years to graduation yet. Think she’ll wait that long?”
“Hell, I’m not altogether sure that Andrew and I will wait that long. Whoops. I think that’s him at the door. Better go now. Love you Mark.”
“Love you too sis……these Sunday morning telephone calls I’m not sure about, but I do love you.
If all that’s really true, tell Mom I’m really happy for her and tell Dad he’s a randy old horndog.”
“I will not. You tell him. You better start coming home on weekends….I may need you to chaperone Mom and Dad when I’m out of the house. Gotta go. See you soon.”
“Bye-bye Joey.”
Mark Guerin looked up at the ceiling of his dorm room and shook his head. “Gonna be a brother….again. Damn!”
“Come in”
“Joey…I am going to take your mother out for a little drive…maybe stop for breakfast somewhere.” ‘For her, that’ll probably be dry toast and flat 7-up,’ thought Michael.
“She’s had a kind of interesting morning…and I think she just needs to get out of the house a little bit…..get some fresh air.”
“Oh…OK, Dad. Andrew should be picking me up in 15 minutes or so. We’re going to go running and then maybe a little workout on the weights. Then we were going to go have lunch at the Crashdown.”
“That’s fine dear. Your Mom and I will see you later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t….that is, behave yourselves, OK?”
“Sure Dad, always…,” she said, wondering about the strange look on her father’s face.
She heard the car depart as she was packing a towel and a change of clothes into her carry bag. As she reached for the shampoo she held up an empty bottle. “Dang, forgot that.” Grabbing the empty bottle she ran quickly into the master bath and grabbed the nearly full shampoo bottle, pouring a quarter of it into her empty bottle. As she turned to leave her eyes fell on the trash, and she was instantly irritated when she saw the familiar box.
“I can’t believe they actually expected me to……” she said as she picked up the strip…and read through the instructions. “Omigawd……..”
It was three minutes later when the phone again rang at Hokona Hall on the University of New Mexico campus.
Hail to thee, New Mexico,
The loyal sons are we. Marching down the field we go,
Fighting for thee.
RAH! RAH! RAH!
“What????? What do you want…” said a suddenly awakened Mark Guerin.
“Mark? Wake up. It’s Joey.”
“Joey? What is it?” He almost said, ‘this better be good,’ stopping himself when he remembered that the last call like this his sister had announced her engagement.
“Mark….I’m sitting here looking at a pregnancy test……a very POSITIVE pregnancy test.”
“Does Dad know?”
“I’m not sure, but I think so.”
“That’s too bad. I really kind of liked Andrew. Is he dead, or just somewhere in Canada, heading for the Yukon Territory, with Dad in hot pursuit.”
“This doesn’t involve Andrew.”
“You got pregnant with someone else? While engaged to Andrew? Joey, what’s wrong with you.”
“It’s not MY test. And I told you before I’m not pregnant, thank you.”
“Well I give up. You are the only female of childbearing age at home. What else would I think?”
“I don’t know that I’d say that to Mom right now….Dad either.”
“Joey…..TELL ME THIS IS SOME OBSCENE JOKE. I so do not want to think about….old fogey sex.”
“Well it looks like Mom and Dad did more than just think about it.”
“That is so....gross. Why did you let them do something that stupid?”
“Me? I didn’t encourage them. Blame Aunt Izzie. She did it first…….Oh Lord, I gave the twins such grief over that…..are they EVER going to give me a bad time.”
“Well what are we going to do? We’ll be the laughing stock of all our friends and relatives.”
”Aunt Izzie will have hers first. Maybe that’ll sort of …distract everyone.”
“Gee,…you still have three and a half years at home…..hope you like changing diapers.”
“That’s two and a half…..and I think I’ll tell Karla what fun having a little baby around the house is.”
“I’d really rather you didn’t……I’m getting pushed kind of hard to set the date already.”
“Don’t I know it. She already asked me to be a bridesmaid. So when are you going to get married?”
“Well, …I’ve got two and a half years to graduation yet. Think she’ll wait that long?”
“Hell, I’m not altogether sure that Andrew and I will wait that long. Whoops. I think that’s him at the door. Better go now. Love you Mark.”
“Love you too sis……these Sunday morning telephone calls I’m not sure about, but I do love you.
If all that’s really true, tell Mom I’m really happy for her and tell Dad he’s a randy old horndog.”
“I will not. You tell him. You better start coming home on weekends….I may need you to chaperone Mom and Dad when I’m out of the house. Gotta go. See you soon.”
“Bye-bye Joey.”
Mark Guerin looked up at the ceiling of his dorm room and shook his head. “Gonna be a brother….again. Damn!”
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Nov 07, 2006 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It was two weeks later on the road between Clovis and Roswell.
The game was over, and the voice of the KPSA radio announcer said it all, as Andrew and his parents drove back from the Clovis game.
In what was supposed to have been a close game, the West Roswell High team just blew right past the defending state champion Clovis team tonight.
Their point guard, Joey Guerin, just tore apart the Clovis team in the first quarter with fast break points on offense and steals on defense. When Clovis changed their tactics in the second quarter to give their own beleaguered point guard defending Miss Guerin some help, she riddled them with quick passes to the Roswell forwards and center building the lead even further.
By midway through the third quarter, it was already apparent that the game was essentially over, and both teams substituted liberally allowing the younger players time…although that’s sort of misleading, Joey Guerin herself being only a freshman. She didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter and even though Clovis closed the gap somewhat, it was essentially trash time. The game was decided befre Miss Guerin was pulled out.
She finished as the game high scorer with 23 points, 17 assists, 6 steals, and 6 rebounds. The final score tonight, Roswell 89, Clovis 56. For Roswell, it’s on to regionals. For Clovis….maybe next year.
"What a great game for Joey....did you see all those assists?," Barbara Douglas said.
Roger smiled at his wife. Three months ago she wouldn't have known basketball from Lacrosse....now she was shouting recommendations to the coach about what to do. He figured his son loved the girl a little bit more than Barbara did......but only a little. He couldn't believe he'd ever once considered her some kind of threat to national defense. They'd sat with Michael and Maria during the game. He'd never met two nicer people.
"So what are your plans now, Andrew."
"Meet the team bus at the High School, then take Joey to the Crashdown for a milkshake."
"It's incredible how often you two eat....and how skinny you stay," said Barbara.
"That's because they are burning about 6000 calories a day with their training. Why are you training so hard? Football season's not for another 6 months?"
"Just want to be in shape, Dad."
And Roger believed that. He'd seen Joey and Andrew looking over college catalogs in the den two days ago. Andrew had been looking at their fooball programs discussing what it would take to get a scholarship at that school....who they would play. Joey appeared to be looking at....married student housing. And Roger really didn't have the least reservation about that. Even without counting the fact that his son would be paralyzed or worse without Joey's help....she'd been very good for Andrew, and according to Michael and Maria, Andrew had been very good for her. They were so young but....they both had such maturity when they were together...they were working so hard for what they wanted....he actually believed it would all work out. Hopefully, they'd take it slow though. At least until they graduated from High School.
"Well give Joey our love, Andrew, and don't keep her out too late." 'Although why THAT matters I'm not really sure. They'll be on their beach 15 minutes after he comes home.' Life for Andrew, Roger decided, was going to be very interesting.
Meanwhile, at the Navy Yard in Washington DC, the last dance was being danced, and Kate Powers, Secret Service Agent was melted into the chest of Robert Adams.
'He's a damn good dancer, you have to give him that,' she thought. She had enjoyed the night immensely. The pageantry....Bob in his formal uniform....the music. She had been afraid it would be stiff and formal, and she would feel out of place....but it was nothing like that. She couldn't remember when she'd enjoyed herself so much.
She felt a moment's fear. She was falling for Bob....falling hard. What if....he didn't feel the same? What if...he wasn't ready yet? And what about all she didn't yet know about Laurie and Karen? Suddenly she felt a need for answers.....not tonight...tonight she could get by with a kiss at the door, but ...there was too much about Bob she really didn't know for her to be starting to have the thoughts she was already starting to have about him. She needed answers....fast.
The game was over, and the voice of the KPSA radio announcer said it all, as Andrew and his parents drove back from the Clovis game.
In what was supposed to have been a close game, the West Roswell High team just blew right past the defending state champion Clovis team tonight.
Their point guard, Joey Guerin, just tore apart the Clovis team in the first quarter with fast break points on offense and steals on defense. When Clovis changed their tactics in the second quarter to give their own beleaguered point guard defending Miss Guerin some help, she riddled them with quick passes to the Roswell forwards and center building the lead even further.
By midway through the third quarter, it was already apparent that the game was essentially over, and both teams substituted liberally allowing the younger players time…although that’s sort of misleading, Joey Guerin herself being only a freshman. She didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter and even though Clovis closed the gap somewhat, it was essentially trash time. The game was decided befre Miss Guerin was pulled out.
She finished as the game high scorer with 23 points, 17 assists, 6 steals, and 6 rebounds. The final score tonight, Roswell 89, Clovis 56. For Roswell, it’s on to regionals. For Clovis….maybe next year.
"What a great game for Joey....did you see all those assists?," Barbara Douglas said.
Roger smiled at his wife. Three months ago she wouldn't have known basketball from Lacrosse....now she was shouting recommendations to the coach about what to do. He figured his son loved the girl a little bit more than Barbara did......but only a little. He couldn't believe he'd ever once considered her some kind of threat to national defense. They'd sat with Michael and Maria during the game. He'd never met two nicer people.
"So what are your plans now, Andrew."
"Meet the team bus at the High School, then take Joey to the Crashdown for a milkshake."
"It's incredible how often you two eat....and how skinny you stay," said Barbara.
"That's because they are burning about 6000 calories a day with their training. Why are you training so hard? Football season's not for another 6 months?"
"Just want to be in shape, Dad."
And Roger believed that. He'd seen Joey and Andrew looking over college catalogs in the den two days ago. Andrew had been looking at their fooball programs discussing what it would take to get a scholarship at that school....who they would play. Joey appeared to be looking at....married student housing. And Roger really didn't have the least reservation about that. Even without counting the fact that his son would be paralyzed or worse without Joey's help....she'd been very good for Andrew, and according to Michael and Maria, Andrew had been very good for her. They were so young but....they both had such maturity when they were together...they were working so hard for what they wanted....he actually believed it would all work out. Hopefully, they'd take it slow though. At least until they graduated from High School.
"Well give Joey our love, Andrew, and don't keep her out too late." 'Although why THAT matters I'm not really sure. They'll be on their beach 15 minutes after he comes home.' Life for Andrew, Roger decided, was going to be very interesting.
Meanwhile, at the Navy Yard in Washington DC, the last dance was being danced, and Kate Powers, Secret Service Agent was melted into the chest of Robert Adams.
'He's a damn good dancer, you have to give him that,' she thought. She had enjoyed the night immensely. The pageantry....Bob in his formal uniform....the music. She had been afraid it would be stiff and formal, and she would feel out of place....but it was nothing like that. She couldn't remember when she'd enjoyed herself so much.
She felt a moment's fear. She was falling for Bob....falling hard. What if....he didn't feel the same? What if...he wasn't ready yet? And what about all she didn't yet know about Laurie and Karen? Suddenly she felt a need for answers.....not tonight...tonight she could get by with a kiss at the door, but ...there was too much about Bob she really didn't know for her to be starting to have the thoughts she was already starting to have about him. She needed answers....fast.
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Nov 07, 2006 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It was almost eight PM.
It was a strange situation, actually. There were only the three people in the hall, one of them a very tired five year old. She was yawning, starting to get a little whiney, and wishing she were home in her own bed. The five year old, at least, was being honest. Both of the women were being…well, certainly less than honest.
Part of it began when Katherine Powers saw the woman park her car in the parking lot and take Laurie from the car seat in back. She had never met the woman, but knew who she was. Laurie’s other grandmother, Bob’s mom. Mrs. Adams took care of Laurie during the day and sometimes…when Bob was kept late by duty at the Pentagon like tonight, until the late evening. When she saw the woman Kate knew at once what she was going to do. She went down to Mrs. Milstadt’s door and pretended she’d been visiting, so she could ‘happen’ to be walking by Bob’s door when Mrs. Adams and Laurie would arrive. The real purpose, of course, was to meet Bob’s mom….see what she was like….see what information she could find out from her.
This actually dovetailed quite nicely into Mrs. Adams’ plan. Hers was, in fact, only slightly more devious. She would go to Bob’s door, make a big production out of not being able to find the key…which she had securely in her coat pocket….and then happen to go to a neighbor…Kate Powers….to inquire if their was a building super who might be able to let her in. She knew of course, there was not. The real purpose, of course, was to meet Bob’s girlfriend….see what she was like….see what information she could find out from her.
The two plans worked far better than either woman would have expected. Twenty minutes later, Laurie was wrapped in a blanket and asleep on the couch of Kate’s apartment while Kate and Rebecca Adams were sitting at the kitchen table sizing each other up over coffee and brownies.
“Laurie talks about you all the time, Ms. Powers.”
“Please, make that Kate Mrs. Adams.”
“Only if you will call me Rebecca then, Kate.”
“OK. Rebecca it is.”
“So what kind of work do you do, Kate?”
“Oh, I work for the US government.”
“Not the Foreign Service?”
“Uh….no, the Treasury Department,” said Kate, noticing a note of apprehension in Rebecca’s voice.
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Rebecca Adams.
Kate thought she could detect a note of relief in her voice, and wondered what the story was here. She knew that Karen had been in the Foreign Service, as had Ambassador During of course. Why was Rebecca Adams so relieved that she was not…apparently not caring what she actually did do, as long as it wasn’t working for the State Department. Somehow she had to get the information, and the most likely source for it was the woman in front of her. Sometimes you have to trust people a little, Kate decided, especially if you were contemplating a long term relationship with their son and grand-daughter.
“I think I ought to make a confession, Rebecca. I really wasn’t visiting Mrs. Milstadt when you came up the elevator. I’d seen you and Laurie in the parking lot…and I wanted to meet you, so I just walked down the hall so I could be walking back when you got to the door. I’m sure Laurie has told you that I’m dating Bob…and I wanted to get to know his mom. I’m really sort of glad you forgot the key….it gives us a chance to get to know each other a little bit.”
Kate was sort of surprised when the older woman started to laugh, pulling a key from her pocket and putting it on the table.
“Apparently brilliant minds think alike, Kate. That’s the key to Bob’s apartment. I’m sorry, it’s just that……well Bob’s been through so much, and I guess mom’s just never quit worrying about their little boys, even when they are Marine Officers.”
“Bob’s pretty closed mouth about that with me, Rebecca, and …well, it’s difficult to have a conversation with him about Karen….at least, without knowing where he is in the grieving process. I’m afraid to ask him, fearing that…..well, on our first date I think I did something that reminded him of her, and it was…well sort of disastrous. I think he’s still grieving somewhat…and I don’t want to hurt him further…or expect more from him than he is ready to give. And once when we went to pick Laurie up at the Durings once I got the feeling that….well, they were struggling just to be civil. I kind of feel like I’m walking through a minefield here….with my eyes closed.”
“Well just using that expression…..well I think my husband would like you. I take it your political background isn’t well….pacifist.”
“Judging by the two weapons in the gunsafe in the closet,,,,,that would be no. I’m a Secret Service Agent. But what does politics have to do with this. I thought we were talking about Bob and Karen.”
“Unfortunately, politics and the story of my son and Laurie’s mom are sort of inextricably intertwined, Kate. Our family is fifth generation military. Bob’s dad is a successful small businessman now, but the first 26 years of our married life, he was a Marine Corps officer like Bob, eventually retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel after working his way up through the ranks. We live in Arlington, and when Bob graduated from High School there he went right into the Marine ROTC program at Virginia Military Institute.
After Bob was commissioned, he was a highly decorated platoon leader in Portugal, and as things in Europe continued to deteriorate, they decided to increase the security in US embassies abroad by adding an officer and additional enlisted personnel. Bob was chosen for embassy duty and, actually that is how he met Karen.
The Durings have been active in the Foreign Service for three generations….well, four I guess, if you count Karen. The family originally was Quaker, but over the generations had lost most of the philosophy, except for their pacifism. Ambassador During is still one of the greatest advocates of negotiation and compromise rather than confrontation. I don’t think either of the Durings have ever really gotten over the fact that their daughter married a military man.”
“Well, just because they have a certain political philosophy doesn’t guarantee that their daughter would.”
“Oh, but that’s the thing….she was a pacifist. She and Bob met at a State Department sponsored seminar at George Washington University, when they’d been chosen for assignments at the embassy in Paris. They apparently were like oil and water….he’d come home every evening talking about this opinionated pacifist loon, she apparently had nothing good to say about the war-mongering young Marine Lieutenant. This went on for about 6 weeks, the two apparently arguing almost constantly. As he boarded the plane to Dulles Bob told me that he was hoping he could survive a three year tour in the same city with that woman without strangling her, she apparently told her roommate and her parents much the same.”
“So what happened?”
“They were married six weeks later, in the embassy in Paris.”
“How’d that happen?”
“I have no idea. Apparently they got together to continue the argument…..it was Paris…six weeks later both sets of parents got messages indicating that their kids were on a honeymoon in Provence. I guess opposites attract, sometimes.”
“So they resolved their political differences after all?”
“No, they really never did. Too deeply rooted, I guess. The Durings tried to pressure Bob to quit the military…..there was a dust-up over that. When the threat situation heated up in France Bob tried to get Karen to take Laurie and leave….she refused to do that. Ultimately Karen wound up dying…..shielding Laurie from the blast….Bob was at his duty station on the other side of the embassy. Bob has never really forgiven the Durings…I guess, because Karen was killed after refusing to leave…..because she knew that her folks would have wanted her to keep supporting the ambassador in his call for a negotiated settlement with the insurgents, they’ve never forgiven Bob because they believe if the Marines had surrendered, rather than defending the embassy, the insurgents wouldn’t have bombed it….and guilt about Laurie….well, that’s hard on both the Durings and Bob.”
“Why would anyone have guilt about Laurie?, I mean, she survived, although I imagine losing her mother was really hard on her.”
“It’s more than that. Her mother shielded her with her own body from the blast…but you knew it was a ‘dirty’ bomb, didn’t you? They’d surrounded the explosive with a half ton of radioactive waste….everything from nuclear medicine waste products to Cobalt-60 stolen from cancer treatment facilities. Well, Laurie wound up highly contaminated. They decontaminated her but…some of it got to her bone marrow and immune system. She developed a type of mutation to the cells in her immune system….they just don’t work right anymore. As I understand it, everybody gets cancers….all the time. But normally your body’s immune system recognizes that they are….abnormal, and destroys the cancer cells before they really get started. Laurie can’t do that anymore. I guess they’ve really made strides in the treatment and even cure of a lot of childhood cancers. Laurie has had three different ones….and so far they’ve cured them. But that has meant a lot of chemotherapy….a lot of pain…..and the underlying problem is still there. Even though her cancer gets cured, she doesn’t have the immune system she needs to keep it from happening again.”
“Can’t anybody do anything about it?”
“Well, the people at Bethesda and Children’s Hospital National Medical Center are really pretty good when it comes to treatment, but to cure the immune problem….well, as I understand it, it’ll require some basic breakthroughs in molecular biology if she is ever to live a normal life….probably some gene therapy. There’s a center out at the University of Arizona, Dr. Elizabeth Evans’ group, that is getting close. But unless they make a big breakthrough…..well, eventually they are going to run out of chemotherapy regimens, or Laurie will have a reaction to one of the medications, or get an infection while she’s immune suppressed from the chemo……, we are all praying for a breakthrough because if there isn’t one….well, eventually Laurie will run out of time. And of course, Bob still kind of blames the Durings, and they kind of blame him. It’s not a very good situation for Laurie, either medically or socially, what with the people that she loves not really getting along well together. At one time the Durings were threatening to go to court for custody….saying that as a single parent Bob really couldn’t take care of her, but he’s basically on a humanitarian assignment here at the Pentagon, so he’s close to Bethesda and Childrens’….and of course, my husband Arthur and me…..so we can take care of Laurie when Bob has the duty like tonight.”
“Wow, what a story,” said Kate. “Kind of like Romeo and Juliet with the Capulets and Montagues not really seeing eye to eye, and that carried over into the marriage. “ Well, she’d known Bob had ‘issues’ and he certainly did. She looked out into the living room where Laurie was sleeping, her heart going out to the young child. “I sure hope things work out well for Laurie…..Bob too.”
“Well. I hope you’ll understand me wanting to….well, get to know you. Laurie really likes you but…..well, I just ….I wasn’t sure that Bob was really recovered enough from what he has going through to make good decisions about the future yet. And apparently I was wrong. You seem just every bit as nice as Laurie said you were. I kind of feel like an old busy-body now…butting in where I’ve no business, but if you ever have kids you’ll know that while they may grow up….well, Bobby’s still always going to be my little boy.”
“What was ‘Bobby’ like as a little boy? He seems so…well, so responsible I guess, dealing with Laurie’s problems, being a single dad, being a Marine. It’s hard to imagine him as just a little boy somewhere.”
‘You’ll have to come over to our place at Arlington sometime. I’ve got all the photo albums here, but I’ve got a small memory book of pictures in my purse….”
Bob Adams didn’t really understand at first the note on the door ‘At Kate’s, come on over, Mom’ but a tentative knock on Kate Powers’ door was rewarded with a “Come in.” When he entered he was rewarded by the sight of the three most important females in his life, his daughter sleeping innocently on the couch, and his mother and girlfriend drinking cofee at the kitchen table and laughing over his mother’s ‘brag book’ with the pictures of her grandchild and son. He’d known there was a picture of Laurie in the bathtub in that book. He didn’t think there was a similar picture of him.
As he approached the table he found out differently.
“Mom!” the Marine Captain said, “Did you HAVE to show her THAT one?”
“Well Bobby, we just got to talking about your childhood and….well, I forgot about it..”
It was a strange situation, actually. There were only the three people in the hall, one of them a very tired five year old. She was yawning, starting to get a little whiney, and wishing she were home in her own bed. The five year old, at least, was being honest. Both of the women were being…well, certainly less than honest.
Part of it began when Katherine Powers saw the woman park her car in the parking lot and take Laurie from the car seat in back. She had never met the woman, but knew who she was. Laurie’s other grandmother, Bob’s mom. Mrs. Adams took care of Laurie during the day and sometimes…when Bob was kept late by duty at the Pentagon like tonight, until the late evening. When she saw the woman Kate knew at once what she was going to do. She went down to Mrs. Milstadt’s door and pretended she’d been visiting, so she could ‘happen’ to be walking by Bob’s door when Mrs. Adams and Laurie would arrive. The real purpose, of course, was to meet Bob’s mom….see what she was like….see what information she could find out from her.
This actually dovetailed quite nicely into Mrs. Adams’ plan. Hers was, in fact, only slightly more devious. She would go to Bob’s door, make a big production out of not being able to find the key…which she had securely in her coat pocket….and then happen to go to a neighbor…Kate Powers….to inquire if their was a building super who might be able to let her in. She knew of course, there was not. The real purpose, of course, was to meet Bob’s girlfriend….see what she was like….see what information she could find out from her.
The two plans worked far better than either woman would have expected. Twenty minutes later, Laurie was wrapped in a blanket and asleep on the couch of Kate’s apartment while Kate and Rebecca Adams were sitting at the kitchen table sizing each other up over coffee and brownies.
“Laurie talks about you all the time, Ms. Powers.”
“Please, make that Kate Mrs. Adams.”
“Only if you will call me Rebecca then, Kate.”
“OK. Rebecca it is.”
“So what kind of work do you do, Kate?”
“Oh, I work for the US government.”
“Not the Foreign Service?”
“Uh….no, the Treasury Department,” said Kate, noticing a note of apprehension in Rebecca’s voice.
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Rebecca Adams.
Kate thought she could detect a note of relief in her voice, and wondered what the story was here. She knew that Karen had been in the Foreign Service, as had Ambassador During of course. Why was Rebecca Adams so relieved that she was not…apparently not caring what she actually did do, as long as it wasn’t working for the State Department. Somehow she had to get the information, and the most likely source for it was the woman in front of her. Sometimes you have to trust people a little, Kate decided, especially if you were contemplating a long term relationship with their son and grand-daughter.
“I think I ought to make a confession, Rebecca. I really wasn’t visiting Mrs. Milstadt when you came up the elevator. I’d seen you and Laurie in the parking lot…and I wanted to meet you, so I just walked down the hall so I could be walking back when you got to the door. I’m sure Laurie has told you that I’m dating Bob…and I wanted to get to know his mom. I’m really sort of glad you forgot the key….it gives us a chance to get to know each other a little bit.”
Kate was sort of surprised when the older woman started to laugh, pulling a key from her pocket and putting it on the table.
“Apparently brilliant minds think alike, Kate. That’s the key to Bob’s apartment. I’m sorry, it’s just that……well Bob’s been through so much, and I guess mom’s just never quit worrying about their little boys, even when they are Marine Officers.”
“Bob’s pretty closed mouth about that with me, Rebecca, and …well, it’s difficult to have a conversation with him about Karen….at least, without knowing where he is in the grieving process. I’m afraid to ask him, fearing that…..well, on our first date I think I did something that reminded him of her, and it was…well sort of disastrous. I think he’s still grieving somewhat…and I don’t want to hurt him further…or expect more from him than he is ready to give. And once when we went to pick Laurie up at the Durings once I got the feeling that….well, they were struggling just to be civil. I kind of feel like I’m walking through a minefield here….with my eyes closed.”
“Well just using that expression…..well I think my husband would like you. I take it your political background isn’t well….pacifist.”
“Judging by the two weapons in the gunsafe in the closet,,,,,that would be no. I’m a Secret Service Agent. But what does politics have to do with this. I thought we were talking about Bob and Karen.”
“Unfortunately, politics and the story of my son and Laurie’s mom are sort of inextricably intertwined, Kate. Our family is fifth generation military. Bob’s dad is a successful small businessman now, but the first 26 years of our married life, he was a Marine Corps officer like Bob, eventually retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel after working his way up through the ranks. We live in Arlington, and when Bob graduated from High School there he went right into the Marine ROTC program at Virginia Military Institute.
After Bob was commissioned, he was a highly decorated platoon leader in Portugal, and as things in Europe continued to deteriorate, they decided to increase the security in US embassies abroad by adding an officer and additional enlisted personnel. Bob was chosen for embassy duty and, actually that is how he met Karen.
The Durings have been active in the Foreign Service for three generations….well, four I guess, if you count Karen. The family originally was Quaker, but over the generations had lost most of the philosophy, except for their pacifism. Ambassador During is still one of the greatest advocates of negotiation and compromise rather than confrontation. I don’t think either of the Durings have ever really gotten over the fact that their daughter married a military man.”
“Well, just because they have a certain political philosophy doesn’t guarantee that their daughter would.”
“Oh, but that’s the thing….she was a pacifist. She and Bob met at a State Department sponsored seminar at George Washington University, when they’d been chosen for assignments at the embassy in Paris. They apparently were like oil and water….he’d come home every evening talking about this opinionated pacifist loon, she apparently had nothing good to say about the war-mongering young Marine Lieutenant. This went on for about 6 weeks, the two apparently arguing almost constantly. As he boarded the plane to Dulles Bob told me that he was hoping he could survive a three year tour in the same city with that woman without strangling her, she apparently told her roommate and her parents much the same.”
“So what happened?”
“They were married six weeks later, in the embassy in Paris.”
“How’d that happen?”
“I have no idea. Apparently they got together to continue the argument…..it was Paris…six weeks later both sets of parents got messages indicating that their kids were on a honeymoon in Provence. I guess opposites attract, sometimes.”
“So they resolved their political differences after all?”
“No, they really never did. Too deeply rooted, I guess. The Durings tried to pressure Bob to quit the military…..there was a dust-up over that. When the threat situation heated up in France Bob tried to get Karen to take Laurie and leave….she refused to do that. Ultimately Karen wound up dying…..shielding Laurie from the blast….Bob was at his duty station on the other side of the embassy. Bob has never really forgiven the Durings…I guess, because Karen was killed after refusing to leave…..because she knew that her folks would have wanted her to keep supporting the ambassador in his call for a negotiated settlement with the insurgents, they’ve never forgiven Bob because they believe if the Marines had surrendered, rather than defending the embassy, the insurgents wouldn’t have bombed it….and guilt about Laurie….well, that’s hard on both the Durings and Bob.”
“Why would anyone have guilt about Laurie?, I mean, she survived, although I imagine losing her mother was really hard on her.”
“It’s more than that. Her mother shielded her with her own body from the blast…but you knew it was a ‘dirty’ bomb, didn’t you? They’d surrounded the explosive with a half ton of radioactive waste….everything from nuclear medicine waste products to Cobalt-60 stolen from cancer treatment facilities. Well, Laurie wound up highly contaminated. They decontaminated her but…some of it got to her bone marrow and immune system. She developed a type of mutation to the cells in her immune system….they just don’t work right anymore. As I understand it, everybody gets cancers….all the time. But normally your body’s immune system recognizes that they are….abnormal, and destroys the cancer cells before they really get started. Laurie can’t do that anymore. I guess they’ve really made strides in the treatment and even cure of a lot of childhood cancers. Laurie has had three different ones….and so far they’ve cured them. But that has meant a lot of chemotherapy….a lot of pain…..and the underlying problem is still there. Even though her cancer gets cured, she doesn’t have the immune system she needs to keep it from happening again.”
“Can’t anybody do anything about it?”
“Well, the people at Bethesda and Children’s Hospital National Medical Center are really pretty good when it comes to treatment, but to cure the immune problem….well, as I understand it, it’ll require some basic breakthroughs in molecular biology if she is ever to live a normal life….probably some gene therapy. There’s a center out at the University of Arizona, Dr. Elizabeth Evans’ group, that is getting close. But unless they make a big breakthrough…..well, eventually they are going to run out of chemotherapy regimens, or Laurie will have a reaction to one of the medications, or get an infection while she’s immune suppressed from the chemo……, we are all praying for a breakthrough because if there isn’t one….well, eventually Laurie will run out of time. And of course, Bob still kind of blames the Durings, and they kind of blame him. It’s not a very good situation for Laurie, either medically or socially, what with the people that she loves not really getting along well together. At one time the Durings were threatening to go to court for custody….saying that as a single parent Bob really couldn’t take care of her, but he’s basically on a humanitarian assignment here at the Pentagon, so he’s close to Bethesda and Childrens’….and of course, my husband Arthur and me…..so we can take care of Laurie when Bob has the duty like tonight.”
“Wow, what a story,” said Kate. “Kind of like Romeo and Juliet with the Capulets and Montagues not really seeing eye to eye, and that carried over into the marriage. “ Well, she’d known Bob had ‘issues’ and he certainly did. She looked out into the living room where Laurie was sleeping, her heart going out to the young child. “I sure hope things work out well for Laurie…..Bob too.”
“Well. I hope you’ll understand me wanting to….well, get to know you. Laurie really likes you but…..well, I just ….I wasn’t sure that Bob was really recovered enough from what he has going through to make good decisions about the future yet. And apparently I was wrong. You seem just every bit as nice as Laurie said you were. I kind of feel like an old busy-body now…butting in where I’ve no business, but if you ever have kids you’ll know that while they may grow up….well, Bobby’s still always going to be my little boy.”
“What was ‘Bobby’ like as a little boy? He seems so…well, so responsible I guess, dealing with Laurie’s problems, being a single dad, being a Marine. It’s hard to imagine him as just a little boy somewhere.”
‘You’ll have to come over to our place at Arlington sometime. I’ve got all the photo albums here, but I’ve got a small memory book of pictures in my purse….”
Bob Adams didn’t really understand at first the note on the door ‘At Kate’s, come on over, Mom’ but a tentative knock on Kate Powers’ door was rewarded with a “Come in.” When he entered he was rewarded by the sight of the three most important females in his life, his daughter sleeping innocently on the couch, and his mother and girlfriend drinking cofee at the kitchen table and laughing over his mother’s ‘brag book’ with the pictures of her grandchild and son. He’d known there was a picture of Laurie in the bathtub in that book. He didn’t think there was a similar picture of him.
As he approached the table he found out differently.
“Mom!” the Marine Captain said, “Did you HAVE to show her THAT one?”
“Well Bobby, we just got to talking about your childhood and….well, I forgot about it..”
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Nov 07, 2006 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.