It was 3AM and Maria had been pretending to sleep for about 90 minutes. listening to the deep even breathing of Michael beside her. Joey, she figured, was in her room down the hall, although most likely on that beach somewhere dreamwalking with Andrew. They were a great couple, and she was happy for her daughter, but it was bittersweet watching them together, knowing that Mark's room was already empty most of the year, and Joey's would be soon. She had been thinking about Mark and Karla too. Joey was going to be on the videophone to her cousins in the morning, Maria suspected, showing off her new ring. She could imagine Karla's reaction. If their 'reluctant to make a commitment' son didn't get a ring on that girl's finger in the next three months, he was going to be in for some rocky sledding.....must get that from the 'Y' chromosome part of the Guerin family, Maria figured, Joey sure hadn't been reluctant.
So she was going to be losing them both soon, she figured, and while she loved them and wanted them to move on to their new lives and new loves, and while her life would never be empty as long as she had Michael, there was nonetheless a sense of loss.
Isabel had looked so happy when she'd visited. Liz and Max had put off having their second and third kids until after grad school and medical school too, and she kind of thought James had been an "oops" when they were still running from the Special Unit, rather than a planned child, though she knew neither Liz nor Max would ever admit it. Maria stared up at the ceiling a while. She was healthy, she worked out, late pregnancies weren't the risk they once were, certainly not with Max to help if anything started to go wrong. But what would Michael think? Well, the kids were going to be getting together early for a two mile run, part of some conditioning program Joey had decided they needed to start, she hoped Joey didn't run that boy to death.... But maybe she could go out for coffee with Michael then, just the two of them, and talk about their options. She felt the small patch on her right hip. Those had sure improved in recent years. Low dose and continually being absorbed by the skin, they had essentially no side effects, except the effect went away within 24 hours if you took them off. It seemed like her right hand almost had a mind of it's own as her fingernails dug underneath the patch....
The activities of the day were still swirling through the head of Michael Guerin as he lay in the dark. He was pretending he really didn't believe that Joey would have powerblasted him if he'd tried to take that ring away from her, he really knew better, but fathers grieving the loss of their princess are entitled to a few fantasies, he'd decided. Oh, he didn't think she'd have seriously harmed him, but he also really didn't think he'd have gotten that ring off her without Andrew's help either.
When Michael felt the movement on the other side of the bed he thought he knew what was going on. When he heard the birth control patch hit the floor he was certain. By tomorrow night the effect of that would be out of Maria's system, for the first time in 15 and a half years. He had seen the look in her eyes when Izzie had visited.
Did he really want to go through another day like today 16 years from today? To have a teenager when they were in their late fifties??? Maria had already given him so much....Mark and Joey..and their whole life together. Could he see her go through all the discomfort of pregnancy, the dirty diapers, the 'terrible twos' with a kid that even at that age could have some non-trivial powers...... Hell, who was he kidding. She'd love it, and so would he. Maybe he'd take her out for coffee in the morning while the kids were on their run and talk it over, come to a joint decision. Fathers-to-be were entitled to their fantasies too, he thought. He might even, given time, convince himself that having another kid was a joint decision, but the patch, he knew, was already laying on the floor.........
Joey (AA/CC teen) [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
It was a cold winter day in Alexandria Virginia, the overcast sky threatening snow flurries.
Kate Powers had the day off. While to most of the public, having a Sunday off would not seem exceptional, she was a fairly junior Secret Service Agent, and the job of the Secret Service was a 24/7 operation, with junior people getting less than their fair share of the weekends. She had actually slept in a little, then gone out on her morning run. It was almost 9:00 AM by the time she returned to the apartment, sweating despite outside temperature in the mid-thirties. Most people took the elevators, but what was the sense of a workout if you didn’t exercise? She ended her long jog with a fast climb on the dusty and seldom used stairs, leading to the level of her seventh floor apartment.
As she came out of the stairwell, Kate saw Laurie Adams and her father leave the elevator and start toward their apartment behind her.
“Hi Katie,” said the five year old.
“That’s Miss Powers, Laurie.”
Before Kate could tell him that it was alright the five year old girl quickly responded, “But Katie SAID I could call her Katie, Daddy.”
“I’m afraid I did, Bob," said the sweaty Secret Service Agent, wincing slightly. “I didn’t know you wanted her to uh….be more formal. Uh…sorry.”
“That’s perfectly OK, Kate. I mean if you said it was OK, then…it was OK.”
“You know, Laurie, I was planning on baking some cookies later. Maybe after lunch you could come over for some milk and cookies?”
“That’s quite nice of you, Kate, but this is the day for Laurie to visit her grandmother and grandfather up in Bethesda. She probably won’t get back until the early evening.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to save a dozen or so, and drop them off tomorrow when I go to work. See you Laurie. Have a good day, Bob.”
‘Why was it,’ she thought, ‘that all the good guys inside the Beltway were either already taken, were gay, or had …issues?’
As she went into her apartment and closed the door, she peeled off her jogging clothes into the small washer in the little utility room before getting into the shower. ‘Case in point,’ she said to herself, ‘Bob Adams.’
‘Why on earth would a woman date a lecher like David when there were REAL men like Bob around? Easy,’ she thought, ‘because Bob has ISSUES.’
She wasn’t exactly sure what issues Bob had to tell the honest truth. She’d met Laurie shortly after she and her father had moved in to their apartment, almost six months ago when she’d been cooling down next to the play yard behind the apartment after her morning run. The little girl had been playing with a soccer ball which had rolled up next to Kate. She’d kicked it back, and pretty soon the two had it going back and forth between them. Bob had introduced himself, warning her that kicking a soccer ball to Laurie was like scratching the belly of a puppy, you now had a job for life.
She had found out from Mrs. Milstadt, the floor busybody that Laurie’s mother had been killed about three years previously, over in Europe. Bob was a Marine Corps Captain, currently assigned to the Pentagon. Laurie apparently had some medical problem that was being treated at Children’s Hospital National Medical Center, and at the Naval Hospital at Bethesda as well.
Kate had watched him play with his daughter several times a week for about two months. He was a devoted father and Laurie was a darling, who seemed to smile every time she saw Kate, especially if she had her soccer ball with her. So after two months, Kate being a modern woman, had invited him out to dinner. He had hesitated briefly, then given her a big broad smile and said yes. It had been an unmitigated disaster.
They’d gone to Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place in Georgetown. The weather that night had been lovely, the views had been great, she’d looked her best, he’d looked good, and……nothing. He’d apologized for being distracted, claiming that he just had a lot on his mind, that it wasn’t about her. The night had ended early with both of them making only pro forma promises to “Do it again someday.”
Kate wasn’t too sure if it was just too soon for Bob, if she just wasn’t his type, or …what was going on, but she’d made the first move and she wouldn’t be making another one unless he made one first. He was a nice guy and a good father, neither common qualities among the singles scene in DC, but Kate didn’t throw herself at anyone….
Bob Adams fixed a plate of Easy-Mac in the microwave for Laurie while he stirred the strawberry syrup into her milk.
“I like Katie, Daddy.”
“That’s good, sweety. She’s a very nice lady.”
‘Daddy liked Kate too,’ he thought, ‘..not that anything would ever come of it.’ Their one date had been an unmitigated disaster, mostly due to him.
Sure, there were reasons. When he’d let her set the date he hadn’t really considered that she might choose the anniversary of Karen’s death. Then to up the ante, the Restaurant in Georgetown she’d chosen had been the one where Karen’s parents had taken them when Karen and he had made their trip back to the states, after they had been married in Paris. The place he’d had the big row with his in-laws about him staying in the Corps. And then the phone call from Dr. Farnsworth stating that Laurie’s blood test showed blasts, and she’d need another bone marrow aspiration to determine if she needed to start the next round of chemotherapy.
The reasons the date had totally fallen apart were many, but he hadn’t felt he could talk to Kate about any of them. He was sure she wanted nothing more to do with him, but she was attractive, intelligent, and clearly liked Laurie. Most women in the singles scene in Washington DC were too narcissistic to ever pay attention to a kid, at least to someone else’s kid.
Maybe he should ask her out. She’d probably turn him down. If he were her, he certainly would after that first date disaster. They’d never really gotten past him being in a funk. He didn’t even know what kind of work she did. ‘Maybe I ought to invite her out for coffee this afternoon at Starbucks. That’d be pretty non-threatening. Laurie would be at her grandparents….’ Hey, it was worth a try…..
Kate Powers had the day off. While to most of the public, having a Sunday off would not seem exceptional, she was a fairly junior Secret Service Agent, and the job of the Secret Service was a 24/7 operation, with junior people getting less than their fair share of the weekends. She had actually slept in a little, then gone out on her morning run. It was almost 9:00 AM by the time she returned to the apartment, sweating despite outside temperature in the mid-thirties. Most people took the elevators, but what was the sense of a workout if you didn’t exercise? She ended her long jog with a fast climb on the dusty and seldom used stairs, leading to the level of her seventh floor apartment.
As she came out of the stairwell, Kate saw Laurie Adams and her father leave the elevator and start toward their apartment behind her.
“Hi Katie,” said the five year old.
“That’s Miss Powers, Laurie.”
Before Kate could tell him that it was alright the five year old girl quickly responded, “But Katie SAID I could call her Katie, Daddy.”
“I’m afraid I did, Bob," said the sweaty Secret Service Agent, wincing slightly. “I didn’t know you wanted her to uh….be more formal. Uh…sorry.”
“That’s perfectly OK, Kate. I mean if you said it was OK, then…it was OK.”
“You know, Laurie, I was planning on baking some cookies later. Maybe after lunch you could come over for some milk and cookies?”
“That’s quite nice of you, Kate, but this is the day for Laurie to visit her grandmother and grandfather up in Bethesda. She probably won’t get back until the early evening.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to save a dozen or so, and drop them off tomorrow when I go to work. See you Laurie. Have a good day, Bob.”
‘Why was it,’ she thought, ‘that all the good guys inside the Beltway were either already taken, were gay, or had …issues?’
As she went into her apartment and closed the door, she peeled off her jogging clothes into the small washer in the little utility room before getting into the shower. ‘Case in point,’ she said to herself, ‘Bob Adams.’
‘Why on earth would a woman date a lecher like David when there were REAL men like Bob around? Easy,’ she thought, ‘because Bob has ISSUES.’
She wasn’t exactly sure what issues Bob had to tell the honest truth. She’d met Laurie shortly after she and her father had moved in to their apartment, almost six months ago when she’d been cooling down next to the play yard behind the apartment after her morning run. The little girl had been playing with a soccer ball which had rolled up next to Kate. She’d kicked it back, and pretty soon the two had it going back and forth between them. Bob had introduced himself, warning her that kicking a soccer ball to Laurie was like scratching the belly of a puppy, you now had a job for life.
She had found out from Mrs. Milstadt, the floor busybody that Laurie’s mother had been killed about three years previously, over in Europe. Bob was a Marine Corps Captain, currently assigned to the Pentagon. Laurie apparently had some medical problem that was being treated at Children’s Hospital National Medical Center, and at the Naval Hospital at Bethesda as well.
Kate had watched him play with his daughter several times a week for about two months. He was a devoted father and Laurie was a darling, who seemed to smile every time she saw Kate, especially if she had her soccer ball with her. So after two months, Kate being a modern woman, had invited him out to dinner. He had hesitated briefly, then given her a big broad smile and said yes. It had been an unmitigated disaster.
They’d gone to Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place in Georgetown. The weather that night had been lovely, the views had been great, she’d looked her best, he’d looked good, and……nothing. He’d apologized for being distracted, claiming that he just had a lot on his mind, that it wasn’t about her. The night had ended early with both of them making only pro forma promises to “Do it again someday.”
Kate wasn’t too sure if it was just too soon for Bob, if she just wasn’t his type, or …what was going on, but she’d made the first move and she wouldn’t be making another one unless he made one first. He was a nice guy and a good father, neither common qualities among the singles scene in DC, but Kate didn’t throw herself at anyone….
Bob Adams fixed a plate of Easy-Mac in the microwave for Laurie while he stirred the strawberry syrup into her milk.
“I like Katie, Daddy.”
“That’s good, sweety. She’s a very nice lady.”
‘Daddy liked Kate too,’ he thought, ‘..not that anything would ever come of it.’ Their one date had been an unmitigated disaster, mostly due to him.
Sure, there were reasons. When he’d let her set the date he hadn’t really considered that she might choose the anniversary of Karen’s death. Then to up the ante, the Restaurant in Georgetown she’d chosen had been the one where Karen’s parents had taken them when Karen and he had made their trip back to the states, after they had been married in Paris. The place he’d had the big row with his in-laws about him staying in the Corps. And then the phone call from Dr. Farnsworth stating that Laurie’s blood test showed blasts, and she’d need another bone marrow aspiration to determine if she needed to start the next round of chemotherapy.
The reasons the date had totally fallen apart were many, but he hadn’t felt he could talk to Kate about any of them. He was sure she wanted nothing more to do with him, but she was attractive, intelligent, and clearly liked Laurie. Most women in the singles scene in Washington DC were too narcissistic to ever pay attention to a kid, at least to someone else’s kid.
Maybe he should ask her out. She’d probably turn him down. If he were her, he certainly would after that first date disaster. They’d never really gotten past him being in a funk. He didn’t even know what kind of work she did. ‘Maybe I ought to invite her out for coffee this afternoon at Starbucks. That’d be pretty non-threatening. Laurie would be at her grandparents….’ Hey, it was worth a try…..
Hokona Hall on the University of New Mexico campus was quiet at 7AM on a Sunday morning, a quiet broken only by the gentle snoring of one Mark Guerin, a 20-year old sophomore.That is, it was quiet until the cell phone began to play the UNM Fight Song
Hail to thee, New Mexico,
The loyal sons are we. Marching down the field we go,
Fighting for thee.
RAH! RAH! RAH!
After the third rendition of rah-rah-rah, Mark could stand it no longer, and rolled from the bed onto the floor, where he crawled to the pile of dirty clothes, poking through the pockets until he found the cellphone in a pair of Levis.
"WHAT...for cripes sake. Do you have ANY idea what time it is?"
"Good Morning to you too, Mark"
"Joey? Do you have ANY idea what time it is???" He looked up at the clock. "It's 7....damn, I must have missed dinner."
"It's 7 AM Mark."
"Morning has a 7 too?. Good Lord, sis, why would anyone want to get up at this hour.....let alone get their poor brother up. I think I just got to bed four hours ago."
"Well I'm up now because I'm going to meet someone and go running. And this call was Mom's idea. She thought I ought to talk to you before I call Uncle Kyle and Aunt Ava, and....Karla finds out."
"Karla finds out what?," Mark asked, suddenly becoming more interested. Karla was the main reason he was at UNM, and being cuddled up with her in the Valenti's den allegedly watching a chick flick was a major reason he hadn't gotten to bed until the wee small hours of the morning.
"Well, you remember Andrew...?"
"Andrew who???"
"Andrew .....the football player....?"
"The football....oh, his name was Andrew? Hey, that's right, you get off being grounded tomorrow, don't you. You going to go see him?"
"I got off grounding LAST week, Mark. Anyway, we are engaged."
"You are what?"
"Andrew and I are engaged."
"Engaged in what?"
"Engaged, engaged...you know,...betrothed."
"You are WHAT? Do Mom and Dad know about it?"
"Yep. We told them last night."
"And this Andrew kid....he's still alive???"
"Of course he's still alive. He's the one I'm going running with, after I get done with my phone calls."
"Joey....are you pregnant?"
"I AM NOT PREGNANT. What is it with this family and that anyway. We just decided to get engaged, that's all."
"And Mom and Dad are OK with this?"
"Not altogether, but they're getting there. They hosted a little celebration for us last night, invited Andrew's folks over, made a few toasts. Dad was really being awfully sweet about the whole thing, especially the misunderstanding where I almost power blasted him."
"Damn, you always were his 'princess.' If I'd pulled a stunt like you did three months ago, I'd have been grounded for the rest of my life. And if I'd have gotten serious with someone at your age.....damn. They always did spoil you rotten."
"Women are just more mature than men when they are younger. And you were always Mom's favorite. She was always making puppy dog eyes at Dad to get your sorry butt out of trouble. You have no room to talk."
"Well I guess congratulations are in order then. I'll be home next weekend. I have GOT to meet the guy who could sweep my baby sister off her feet, and convince Dad he still deserved to live. In the meantime, tell him he'd better not get too fresh with my baby sister, 'engaged' or not, or I'll kick his butt"
"He's a football player and in pretty good shape, Mark. I don't think you could kick his butt, I think he'd wind up kicking yours."
"Well then tell him if he get's fresh with my baby sister I'll do the powerblast thing to him, and kick his butt."
"You even think about touching him and I'll do the powerblast thing to you, bro, and kick your butt. Your situation won't have improved."
"Cripes, you always get so physical. Well, maybe now he can keep you occupied so you won't spend all day, every day in the training room, and won't be that much better than everyone else. He may be the great equalizer here. I might have a chance against you then."
"I wouldn't bet on it. I learned how to shield-protect and powerblast simultaneously last night."
"You did? Well obviously Dad wasn't taking the news quite as well as you're trying to make me believe, or did you have to fight Mom?"
"It wasn't like that......quite. You'd have had to been there."
"Well if he's still breathing this morning, he must be quite a guy. Congratulations Sis. I really will be home next weekend to meet him and to see everyone."
"Thanks Mark. Oh, Andrew and I have to keep this away from the public for a while, but I'll be letting everyone on the network know, and that Andrew's parents are in the know too. I think Mom thought that you might be getting a call from Karla about 15 minutes after she gets the word that your baby sister is engaged....."
"Damn, .....she's probably right. UH....Is there any way you might consider just not telling anyone...I mean, anyone at all?"
"No Mark! Not an option. Come up with plan B, and my guess is that if plan B doesn't involve a diamond, you need a plan C."
"I think you may be right....... Tell me...I've never done this..., how did he pop the question to you? Was it in some romantic setting? Out on a date at a restaurant or something? Was it in public or just the two of you?"
"Er....uh..... Well I think what worked for us might not be right for everyone. That is, I think every couple probably needs to decide individually what will work for them."
'There's gotta be a great story here,' thought Mark Guerin, 'Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to hear it? At least....not for decades.'
"Well, sounds like I have some shopping to do, Joey. If you can hold off on the notification for about an hour, I may be able to take Karla along looking at rings.....then we can both be surprised at the news from Roswell. I love you. My best to the two of you, and I hope you have a long and happy life together. And I will be there next weekend to meet him, probably with Karla with me to show off her new ring to the folks. Don't tell them ahead of time though, OK? I love you Sis."
"Love you Mark. See you in a week.."
Hail to thee, New Mexico,
The loyal sons are we. Marching down the field we go,
Fighting for thee.
RAH! RAH! RAH!
After the third rendition of rah-rah-rah, Mark could stand it no longer, and rolled from the bed onto the floor, where he crawled to the pile of dirty clothes, poking through the pockets until he found the cellphone in a pair of Levis.
"WHAT...for cripes sake. Do you have ANY idea what time it is?"
"Good Morning to you too, Mark"
"Joey? Do you have ANY idea what time it is???" He looked up at the clock. "It's 7....damn, I must have missed dinner."
"It's 7 AM Mark."
"Morning has a 7 too?. Good Lord, sis, why would anyone want to get up at this hour.....let alone get their poor brother up. I think I just got to bed four hours ago."
"Well I'm up now because I'm going to meet someone and go running. And this call was Mom's idea. She thought I ought to talk to you before I call Uncle Kyle and Aunt Ava, and....Karla finds out."
"Karla finds out what?," Mark asked, suddenly becoming more interested. Karla was the main reason he was at UNM, and being cuddled up with her in the Valenti's den allegedly watching a chick flick was a major reason he hadn't gotten to bed until the wee small hours of the morning.
"Well, you remember Andrew...?"
"Andrew who???"
"Andrew .....the football player....?"
"The football....oh, his name was Andrew? Hey, that's right, you get off being grounded tomorrow, don't you. You going to go see him?"
"I got off grounding LAST week, Mark. Anyway, we are engaged."
"You are what?"
"Andrew and I are engaged."
"Engaged in what?"
"Engaged, engaged...you know,...betrothed."
"You are WHAT? Do Mom and Dad know about it?"
"Yep. We told them last night."
"And this Andrew kid....he's still alive???"
"Of course he's still alive. He's the one I'm going running with, after I get done with my phone calls."
"Joey....are you pregnant?"
"I AM NOT PREGNANT. What is it with this family and that anyway. We just decided to get engaged, that's all."
"And Mom and Dad are OK with this?"
"Not altogether, but they're getting there. They hosted a little celebration for us last night, invited Andrew's folks over, made a few toasts. Dad was really being awfully sweet about the whole thing, especially the misunderstanding where I almost power blasted him."
"Damn, you always were his 'princess.' If I'd pulled a stunt like you did three months ago, I'd have been grounded for the rest of my life. And if I'd have gotten serious with someone at your age.....damn. They always did spoil you rotten."
"Women are just more mature than men when they are younger. And you were always Mom's favorite. She was always making puppy dog eyes at Dad to get your sorry butt out of trouble. You have no room to talk."
"Well I guess congratulations are in order then. I'll be home next weekend. I have GOT to meet the guy who could sweep my baby sister off her feet, and convince Dad he still deserved to live. In the meantime, tell him he'd better not get too fresh with my baby sister, 'engaged' or not, or I'll kick his butt"
"He's a football player and in pretty good shape, Mark. I don't think you could kick his butt, I think he'd wind up kicking yours."
"Well then tell him if he get's fresh with my baby sister I'll do the powerblast thing to him, and kick his butt."
"You even think about touching him and I'll do the powerblast thing to you, bro, and kick your butt. Your situation won't have improved."
"Cripes, you always get so physical. Well, maybe now he can keep you occupied so you won't spend all day, every day in the training room, and won't be that much better than everyone else. He may be the great equalizer here. I might have a chance against you then."
"I wouldn't bet on it. I learned how to shield-protect and powerblast simultaneously last night."
"You did? Well obviously Dad wasn't taking the news quite as well as you're trying to make me believe, or did you have to fight Mom?"
"It wasn't like that......quite. You'd have had to been there."
"Well if he's still breathing this morning, he must be quite a guy. Congratulations Sis. I really will be home next weekend to meet him and to see everyone."
"Thanks Mark. Oh, Andrew and I have to keep this away from the public for a while, but I'll be letting everyone on the network know, and that Andrew's parents are in the know too. I think Mom thought that you might be getting a call from Karla about 15 minutes after she gets the word that your baby sister is engaged....."
"Damn, .....she's probably right. UH....Is there any way you might consider just not telling anyone...I mean, anyone at all?"
"No Mark! Not an option. Come up with plan B, and my guess is that if plan B doesn't involve a diamond, you need a plan C."
"I think you may be right....... Tell me...I've never done this..., how did he pop the question to you? Was it in some romantic setting? Out on a date at a restaurant or something? Was it in public or just the two of you?"
"Er....uh..... Well I think what worked for us might not be right for everyone. That is, I think every couple probably needs to decide individually what will work for them."
'There's gotta be a great story here,' thought Mark Guerin, 'Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to hear it? At least....not for decades.'
"Well, sounds like I have some shopping to do, Joey. If you can hold off on the notification for about an hour, I may be able to take Karla along looking at rings.....then we can both be surprised at the news from Roswell. I love you. My best to the two of you, and I hope you have a long and happy life together. And I will be there next weekend to meet him, probably with Karla with me to show off her new ring to the folks. Don't tell them ahead of time though, OK? I love you Sis."
"Love you Mark. See you in a week.."
Being one of the junior people on the VP team had a certain number of drawbacks and Kate realized this was one of them as she opened the gun safe in her closet and extracted the two pistols.
The small backup revolver went into the concealed holster strapped to the inside of her left thigh. The larger 9mm service automatic and its two extra magazines went into her purse. It was a pain to be called in to work on your day off, but at least this time she was getting some notice….it would be two hours before she actually had to show up for the cocktail party at the Kennedy Center that had suddenly appeared on the Vice President’s wife’s schedule. Not only did the elected executives have their whims, but so did their wives, and the Secret Service had grown used to that over the years.
So she’d been notified that her Sunday off really wasn’t going to be off after all and that she should come in by 6PM for the 7PM scheduled event. The reason that she was getting ready at 3PM….well, she still wondered if that were a good idea.
Bob Adams had called about two hours before on his way to Bethesda to drop off Laurie, asking if she wanted to go to coffee with him. She had debated it with herself briefly, remembering the first date. But she knew what attracted her to him. It was how he treated Laurie.
It was clear that his daughter was the world to him, and that differed so much from the way the majority of men behaved in the narcissistic DC area singles scene, that she had to give him another chance. Then this came up.
‘Oh well,’ she thought, ‘at least it gives me a ready excuse to leave after an hour if things didn’t go well.’ She was going to be really overdressed in the cocktail dress though, and the side slit in it necessary to access the hip holster if she needed it was certainly more provocative than she really would have preferred. She was only offering him a second chance to see if she might want to start dating him, not trying to seduce him. ‘It can’t be helped,’ she thought. ‘Either go like this or cancel the date altogether….’ Looking at her watch she saw he’d be there in five minutes. ‘What the hell,’ she thought, grabbing the raincoat. ‘I can just wear this over it.’
The small backup revolver went into the concealed holster strapped to the inside of her left thigh. The larger 9mm service automatic and its two extra magazines went into her purse. It was a pain to be called in to work on your day off, but at least this time she was getting some notice….it would be two hours before she actually had to show up for the cocktail party at the Kennedy Center that had suddenly appeared on the Vice President’s wife’s schedule. Not only did the elected executives have their whims, but so did their wives, and the Secret Service had grown used to that over the years.
So she’d been notified that her Sunday off really wasn’t going to be off after all and that she should come in by 6PM for the 7PM scheduled event. The reason that she was getting ready at 3PM….well, she still wondered if that were a good idea.
Bob Adams had called about two hours before on his way to Bethesda to drop off Laurie, asking if she wanted to go to coffee with him. She had debated it with herself briefly, remembering the first date. But she knew what attracted her to him. It was how he treated Laurie.
It was clear that his daughter was the world to him, and that differed so much from the way the majority of men behaved in the narcissistic DC area singles scene, that she had to give him another chance. Then this came up.
‘Oh well,’ she thought, ‘at least it gives me a ready excuse to leave after an hour if things didn’t go well.’ She was going to be really overdressed in the cocktail dress though, and the side slit in it necessary to access the hip holster if she needed it was certainly more provocative than she really would have preferred. She was only offering him a second chance to see if she might want to start dating him, not trying to seduce him. ‘It can’t be helped,’ she thought. ‘Either go like this or cancel the date altogether….’ Looking at her watch she saw he’d be there in five minutes. ‘What the hell,’ she thought, grabbing the raincoat. ‘I can just wear this over it.’
Duwann and Benjamin were two of the DC Metropolitan area’s homeless.
The city government department of social services liked to emphasize to that ‘anyone could be homeless’ and ‘many people are just one paycheck away from being homeless’ to indicate that homeless people were just regular folks who were down on their luck. Every few years, when they were appealing to Congress for more money, the department of social services would screen their rather substantial database and, if they were lucky, come up with an ordinary person who was indeed just down on his or her luck, to serve as a poster-child for their attempts to get a larger appropriation.
But Duwann and Benjamin weren’t average people who were down on their luck, they were rather more like the vast majority of the homeless people in the DC Metropolitan area, people who had largely had the same opportunities as their peers who weren’t homeless, but who had managed to condemn themselves to their current lifestyle by making numerous and sustained bad decisions over a period of months to years.
Duwann and Benjamin’s current most severe bad decision stemmed from their history of years of multiple drug abuse, finally culminating in their current addictions to crystal meth. The addiction itself kind of set the parameters of their bad decisionmaking. Meth was a drug you became tolerant to fairly quickly, requiring higher and higher dosages to provide the sought after euphoria. When smoking alone no longer gave them their desired euphoria, they had switched to IV injecting, needles furnished by the District of Columbia city government through their needle exchange program, funded by that previously mentioned congressional appropriation. But even IV use will not sustain the rush, at least not without an ever increasing spiral of dosage and cost, and about 97% of their discretionary income went to the support of their habit.
Had they been female, they would have certainly turned to prostitution, but being males and rather smelly and unkempt males at that due to their chosen lifestyle, they pretty much obtained their discretionary income by theft. And to attempt to commit theft tonight was their current bad choice.
Duwann and Ben had met at the needle exchange center, and had developed an uneasy rapport based upon shared knowledge of who the dealers with the best product at the least cost were and where they hung out. More recently, they had teamed together for the purpose of boosting of easily fenced pilferables from local malls and, when desperate, mugging people to get money when they were desperate for a more immediate buy. This team would not last long in any event, both were emaciated from the appetite suppression effects of the meth, and both were approaching paranoia from the direct effects of the drug on their brain and the indirect effect of the prolonged sleep deprivation caused by the drug. Because of the drug effects neither was in particularly good shape, but with the help of a couple of switchblades they could usually make up for in viciousness what they lacked in physical strength. And tonight both desperately needed some meth, so they went hunting for some easy prey.
Bob Adams had been surprised to find Kate virtually waiting at the door, her coat already on, and stole a quick look at his wristwatch to see if he was late. He’d been out of the dating scene for years but remembered the cardinal rule of dating, never be ahead of time. Women did not like it when you caught them before they had time to prepare. The second rule, however, was never be late. That would get you in almost as much trouble. He had arrived with what was once called military precision, at least in better times for the US military.
He was more than a little uncomfortable doing this. She was a very pleasant and attractive woman, but except for her friendship with Laurie, he knew little about her. He had meant to find out on their previous date, before it turned to a shambles. He was not altogether comfortable with dating at all yet. The memory of Karen still intruded often, even though he had decided after two and a half years to move on. His total moving on in the ensuing six months, actually, had been the disastrous date he’d shared with Kate, and she had initiated that. It wasn’t easy to lose the dream of a shared life with Karen, even though he had no choice. Every time he looked at his daughter, she reminded him of her mother. But he knew he had no choice. He wasn’t yet thirty. He had to get on with his life.
It was only a half mile to the Starbucks and if it hadn’t been dark and cold, they might have just walked there, but it was overcast and the sky was spitting snow flurries. His car was still warm from the trip back from Bethesda, and he smelled a subtle fragrance on her…different from Karen’s favorite, but pleasant. It seemed like hot drinks were in great demand tonight and after circling the area of the Starbucks twice Bob was forced to find a parking spot in the far end of the strip mall, in a dimly lit area of businesses already closed for the night or long bankrupt. There were some patches of ice on the ground and if she had been Karen he would have had no hesitancy in gripping her around the waist to help steady her, but he wouldn’t dream of it tonight. He was testing waters that he had not tested for almost seven years, and didn’t want to do anything that might be misinterpreted. It wasn’t that Bob Adams didn’t have social skills with unattached women, he had dated often enough before meeting Karen, it is just that those skills were …really rusty.
Duwann nodded toward the couple getting out of the car at the end of the strip mall, Ben quickly understanding his meaning. The man and woman, probably a yuppie couple, looked reasonably prosperous. It would have been better if the woman were alone, they could have quickly grabbed her purse and run, but they had found that when you could hold their woman hostage to their behavior, men really didn’t put up much resistance either. Women in particular were afraid of knives….didn’t want to be scarred up. And the men would rather just hand over their wallets than put the woman at risk, while they might fight or run otherwise if it were just themselves. Getting their knives ready Duwann and Ben moved to intercept the couple on their way to the coffeehouse.
The city government department of social services liked to emphasize to that ‘anyone could be homeless’ and ‘many people are just one paycheck away from being homeless’ to indicate that homeless people were just regular folks who were down on their luck. Every few years, when they were appealing to Congress for more money, the department of social services would screen their rather substantial database and, if they were lucky, come up with an ordinary person who was indeed just down on his or her luck, to serve as a poster-child for their attempts to get a larger appropriation.
But Duwann and Benjamin weren’t average people who were down on their luck, they were rather more like the vast majority of the homeless people in the DC Metropolitan area, people who had largely had the same opportunities as their peers who weren’t homeless, but who had managed to condemn themselves to their current lifestyle by making numerous and sustained bad decisions over a period of months to years.
Duwann and Benjamin’s current most severe bad decision stemmed from their history of years of multiple drug abuse, finally culminating in their current addictions to crystal meth. The addiction itself kind of set the parameters of their bad decisionmaking. Meth was a drug you became tolerant to fairly quickly, requiring higher and higher dosages to provide the sought after euphoria. When smoking alone no longer gave them their desired euphoria, they had switched to IV injecting, needles furnished by the District of Columbia city government through their needle exchange program, funded by that previously mentioned congressional appropriation. But even IV use will not sustain the rush, at least not without an ever increasing spiral of dosage and cost, and about 97% of their discretionary income went to the support of their habit.
Had they been female, they would have certainly turned to prostitution, but being males and rather smelly and unkempt males at that due to their chosen lifestyle, they pretty much obtained their discretionary income by theft. And to attempt to commit theft tonight was their current bad choice.
Duwann and Ben had met at the needle exchange center, and had developed an uneasy rapport based upon shared knowledge of who the dealers with the best product at the least cost were and where they hung out. More recently, they had teamed together for the purpose of boosting of easily fenced pilferables from local malls and, when desperate, mugging people to get money when they were desperate for a more immediate buy. This team would not last long in any event, both were emaciated from the appetite suppression effects of the meth, and both were approaching paranoia from the direct effects of the drug on their brain and the indirect effect of the prolonged sleep deprivation caused by the drug. Because of the drug effects neither was in particularly good shape, but with the help of a couple of switchblades they could usually make up for in viciousness what they lacked in physical strength. And tonight both desperately needed some meth, so they went hunting for some easy prey.
Bob Adams had been surprised to find Kate virtually waiting at the door, her coat already on, and stole a quick look at his wristwatch to see if he was late. He’d been out of the dating scene for years but remembered the cardinal rule of dating, never be ahead of time. Women did not like it when you caught them before they had time to prepare. The second rule, however, was never be late. That would get you in almost as much trouble. He had arrived with what was once called military precision, at least in better times for the US military.
He was more than a little uncomfortable doing this. She was a very pleasant and attractive woman, but except for her friendship with Laurie, he knew little about her. He had meant to find out on their previous date, before it turned to a shambles. He was not altogether comfortable with dating at all yet. The memory of Karen still intruded often, even though he had decided after two and a half years to move on. His total moving on in the ensuing six months, actually, had been the disastrous date he’d shared with Kate, and she had initiated that. It wasn’t easy to lose the dream of a shared life with Karen, even though he had no choice. Every time he looked at his daughter, she reminded him of her mother. But he knew he had no choice. He wasn’t yet thirty. He had to get on with his life.
It was only a half mile to the Starbucks and if it hadn’t been dark and cold, they might have just walked there, but it was overcast and the sky was spitting snow flurries. His car was still warm from the trip back from Bethesda, and he smelled a subtle fragrance on her…different from Karen’s favorite, but pleasant. It seemed like hot drinks were in great demand tonight and after circling the area of the Starbucks twice Bob was forced to find a parking spot in the far end of the strip mall, in a dimly lit area of businesses already closed for the night or long bankrupt. There were some patches of ice on the ground and if she had been Karen he would have had no hesitancy in gripping her around the waist to help steady her, but he wouldn’t dream of it tonight. He was testing waters that he had not tested for almost seven years, and didn’t want to do anything that might be misinterpreted. It wasn’t that Bob Adams didn’t have social skills with unattached women, he had dated often enough before meeting Karen, it is just that those skills were …really rusty.
Duwann nodded toward the couple getting out of the car at the end of the strip mall, Ben quickly understanding his meaning. The man and woman, probably a yuppie couple, looked reasonably prosperous. It would have been better if the woman were alone, they could have quickly grabbed her purse and run, but they had found that when you could hold their woman hostage to their behavior, men really didn’t put up much resistance either. Women in particular were afraid of knives….didn’t want to be scarred up. And the men would rather just hand over their wallets than put the woman at risk, while they might fight or run otherwise if it were just themselves. Getting their knives ready Duwann and Ben moved to intercept the couple on their way to the coffeehouse.
Bob Adams’ current job was as a protocol officer at the Pentagon, and it was probably as far as you could get from actual combat and still be in the military. The job, in fact, was given to him by his assignments officer mainly to allow him to live in close vicinity to Bethesda Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Medical Center, because the assignments officer knew about Laurie’s condition. But before this job, before he had been assigned to embassy security duty, Bob actually had seen combat as a young platoon leader in Portugal, and he recognized the purposefulness to the actions of the two men wearing the hooded sweatshirts that were moving to place themselves between the coffeeshop and Kate and him. He hoped they were just going to be ‘aggressively panhandled,’ but somehow he doubted it. He instinctively speeded up and placed himself between the two men and Kate.
Distracted by nearly slipping on a patch of ice, Katherine Powers didn’t notice the two men walking from the darkness of the doorway until Bob suddenly speeded up. Sensing that something was wrong, she looked up as the two men pulled out the switchblade knives. The nearest was only four feet away, and looking right at her. She looked to her purse instinctively, hanging from her shoulder, and quickly reached for it. The move was obviously misinterpreted by the nearest attacker, who closed quickly saying, “Give it over, bitch, or I’ll cut you!” reaching out to grab the strap of the purse.
When the knives came out at close range, Bob quickly assessed the men in front of him. Both looked to be street punks, in not terribly good health, and untrained with the weapons they held. Even unarmed he could likely have taken one, but the two together could do real damage, if not to him then to Kate.
He had perhaps $100 in his wallet and a few credit cards that could be quickly cancelled, and it just wasn’t worth it to place Kate’s life in jeopardy for that. Holding both hands palm upward he said, “We don’t want any trouble..”
During the summer between her sophomore and junior years in college, Kate had an internship with the Atlanta Georgia Police Department. Her entire job had been to talk to groups of girls and women about what to do if you were a crime victim. ‘Never, ever, put yourself at risk for money,’ she had told them. And if it were just the $120 in the purse, she wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but there was a 9mm pistol in there, and enough ammunition to kill thirty people, and she was not going to let some meth addict have it if she could help it.
She didn’t like it much. While she could get the first guy what his partner could do to Bob was anyone’s guess, but if he hesitated even a little she could probably get him covered with her back up gun.
As the man tried to grab her purse strap she let it fall just before he reached it. His eyes followed the falling purse, his left hand reaching for it, his right hand and knife temporarily forgotten. Kate grabbed the man’s right wrist with both hands, rotating it away from her while her right foot swept his feet from underneath him. The knife was wrenched from the man’s hands, and her knee quickly found his groin as she reached for her backup revolver.
When he saw movement between Kate and the other attacker Bob assumed she was under attack. He gave his assailant a savate kick into the midsection followed by a fist to the trachea. As the man crumpled he turned quickly to help Kate.
He was greeted by the sight of a disarmed assailant on the ground and Kate down beside him, her skirt hitched up and showing a substantial portion of cream colored left thigh interrupted by an empty holster. Her eyes were already looking at his disabled assailant, a five shot revolver in her hand.
Bob Adams recovered first. “Was that first date so bad you felt you had to be armed for this one?”
Distracted by nearly slipping on a patch of ice, Katherine Powers didn’t notice the two men walking from the darkness of the doorway until Bob suddenly speeded up. Sensing that something was wrong, she looked up as the two men pulled out the switchblade knives. The nearest was only four feet away, and looking right at her. She looked to her purse instinctively, hanging from her shoulder, and quickly reached for it. The move was obviously misinterpreted by the nearest attacker, who closed quickly saying, “Give it over, bitch, or I’ll cut you!” reaching out to grab the strap of the purse.
When the knives came out at close range, Bob quickly assessed the men in front of him. Both looked to be street punks, in not terribly good health, and untrained with the weapons they held. Even unarmed he could likely have taken one, but the two together could do real damage, if not to him then to Kate.
He had perhaps $100 in his wallet and a few credit cards that could be quickly cancelled, and it just wasn’t worth it to place Kate’s life in jeopardy for that. Holding both hands palm upward he said, “We don’t want any trouble..”
During the summer between her sophomore and junior years in college, Kate had an internship with the Atlanta Georgia Police Department. Her entire job had been to talk to groups of girls and women about what to do if you were a crime victim. ‘Never, ever, put yourself at risk for money,’ she had told them. And if it were just the $120 in the purse, she wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but there was a 9mm pistol in there, and enough ammunition to kill thirty people, and she was not going to let some meth addict have it if she could help it.
She didn’t like it much. While she could get the first guy what his partner could do to Bob was anyone’s guess, but if he hesitated even a little she could probably get him covered with her back up gun.
As the man tried to grab her purse strap she let it fall just before he reached it. His eyes followed the falling purse, his left hand reaching for it, his right hand and knife temporarily forgotten. Kate grabbed the man’s right wrist with both hands, rotating it away from her while her right foot swept his feet from underneath him. The knife was wrenched from the man’s hands, and her knee quickly found his groin as she reached for her backup revolver.
When he saw movement between Kate and the other attacker Bob assumed she was under attack. He gave his assailant a savate kick into the midsection followed by a fist to the trachea. As the man crumpled he turned quickly to help Kate.
He was greeted by the sight of a disarmed assailant on the ground and Kate down beside him, her skirt hitched up and showing a substantial portion of cream colored left thigh interrupted by an empty holster. Her eyes were already looking at his disabled assailant, a five shot revolver in her hand.
Bob Adams recovered first. “Was that first date so bad you felt you had to be armed for this one?”
It was almost 15 minutes before the DC Metro Police arrived. By that time both Duwann and Ben were trussed up with the heavy duty plastic wire ties that Kate had in her purse...standard issue. She had also contacted the duty supervisor....required whenever a service pistol was drawn and pointed at anyone. He'd been philosophic...these things happen. They hadn't really been short on manpower, just ...well...womanpower really. The next junior female agent would have her Sunday ruined to be called in to be available to accompany the Vice President's wife to the restroom at the Kennedy Center if needed. Kate would likely be tied up for a while filling out Metro DC Police paperwork, and....don't forget the info copy to the Secret Service, please.
The Secret Service actually began life in 1865, fighting counterfeiters. It wasn't until President McKinley's assassination that protection of the president was added to the Secret Service duties and those duties were not particularly secret, although other Secret Service missions did require undercover work.
While the weapon was no longer visible by the time the Metro police arrived, it had been described by the 911 caller, and the four police officers had drawn guns as they approached the four people in the dimly lit parking lot. The badge and a quick call to the Secret Service duty officer defused any tension, but everyone still had to go down to the station, two to fill out reports, two to be incarcerated....again. Neither Duwann nor Ben were exactly strangers to the Metro DC Police.
90 minutes later, Bob and Kate were free to go. The DC Metro police officers smiled as they watched the couple go out the door. Those two idiot meth heads had sure picked the wrong couple to try to mug this time. Two stories below in the jail, Duwann was telling Benjamin the same thing, both vowing to give those two a wide berth. They would both make bail within 48 hours, and be back plying their trade, such as it was, as soon as they could get new switchblades.
The Secret Service actually began life in 1865, fighting counterfeiters. It wasn't until President McKinley's assassination that protection of the president was added to the Secret Service duties and those duties were not particularly secret, although other Secret Service missions did require undercover work.
While the weapon was no longer visible by the time the Metro police arrived, it had been described by the 911 caller, and the four police officers had drawn guns as they approached the four people in the dimly lit parking lot. The badge and a quick call to the Secret Service duty officer defused any tension, but everyone still had to go down to the station, two to fill out reports, two to be incarcerated....again. Neither Duwann nor Ben were exactly strangers to the Metro DC Police.
90 minutes later, Bob and Kate were free to go. The DC Metro police officers smiled as they watched the couple go out the door. Those two idiot meth heads had sure picked the wrong couple to try to mug this time. Two stories below in the jail, Duwann was telling Benjamin the same thing, both vowing to give those two a wide berth. They would both make bail within 48 hours, and be back plying their trade, such as it was, as soon as they could get new switchblades.
Somewhere between the DC Metro Police precinct house and the apartment complex in Alexandria, it became a real date.
Bob took Kate home, the weapons went back in the safe, the raincoat and cocktail dress would need to go to the cleaners, neither really designed for rolling around on the icy pavement of a parking lot. She changed into something a little less formal, and they simply went out for a quick dinner at one of the casual restaurant-bars of Old Town Alexandria.
They sat in the back booth, listening to the Irish music playing in the background. She really did have a beautiful smile, Bob told himself. It wasn't as if the rest of her weren't attractive, he thought, but she was too serious, she smiled too little. Anyone with that great a smile should use it more often.
She looked across the table at him. He was totally different tonight, at ease. 'He was probably more comfortable with unarmed combat tonight than he had been with that first date,' she thought. 'That couldn't have been the first date since....she died, could it?' she thought. 'What would it be like to have someone you loved enough to make a child with....and then lose them?' Maybe all the good ones are taken....maybe Bob is still taken....but he'd asked her here tonight. It was a start, anyway, and she had the feeling that Bob might be worth waiting for, even if he wasn't quite ready now.
"So I take it all the ordnance was business related, and you really weren't planning on shooting me if I botched another date?" asked Bob Adams, hoping to see her smile again.
Kate smiled broadly. "Yes, business, if it hadn't been for our little incident right now I would be sitting beside the wife of the Vice President at the Kennedy Center, prepared to escort her to the ladies room and shoot any would-be assassins in it."
"Well then since you're off duty, perhaps we could split a bottle of wine. Judging by how you handled old Ben back there, you probably don't need a weapon to take care of me if I get too rowdy."
"I somehow doubt that you would have been as easy to disarm as Ben was, Bob. You handled Duwann there fairly well yourself."
"The result of a misspent youth, Kate. Fourth generation military, some families never learn it seems."
"Nothing dishonorable about that," said Kate.
Bob Adams looked at her. 'Tell that to Karen's folks,' he thought. Still, she had such a lovely smile, no sense ruining the evening with his problems.
"The crab cakes here are excellent. And the corned beef and cabbage is great too. I've eaten here a number of times," he said, 'but never before with such lovely company..'
'Yep, I think he may be worth waiting for,' she thought, 'issues or not.'
Bob took Kate home, the weapons went back in the safe, the raincoat and cocktail dress would need to go to the cleaners, neither really designed for rolling around on the icy pavement of a parking lot. She changed into something a little less formal, and they simply went out for a quick dinner at one of the casual restaurant-bars of Old Town Alexandria.
They sat in the back booth, listening to the Irish music playing in the background. She really did have a beautiful smile, Bob told himself. It wasn't as if the rest of her weren't attractive, he thought, but she was too serious, she smiled too little. Anyone with that great a smile should use it more often.
She looked across the table at him. He was totally different tonight, at ease. 'He was probably more comfortable with unarmed combat tonight than he had been with that first date,' she thought. 'That couldn't have been the first date since....she died, could it?' she thought. 'What would it be like to have someone you loved enough to make a child with....and then lose them?' Maybe all the good ones are taken....maybe Bob is still taken....but he'd asked her here tonight. It was a start, anyway, and she had the feeling that Bob might be worth waiting for, even if he wasn't quite ready now.
"So I take it all the ordnance was business related, and you really weren't planning on shooting me if I botched another date?" asked Bob Adams, hoping to see her smile again.
Kate smiled broadly. "Yes, business, if it hadn't been for our little incident right now I would be sitting beside the wife of the Vice President at the Kennedy Center, prepared to escort her to the ladies room and shoot any would-be assassins in it."
"Well then since you're off duty, perhaps we could split a bottle of wine. Judging by how you handled old Ben back there, you probably don't need a weapon to take care of me if I get too rowdy."
"I somehow doubt that you would have been as easy to disarm as Ben was, Bob. You handled Duwann there fairly well yourself."
"The result of a misspent youth, Kate. Fourth generation military, some families never learn it seems."
"Nothing dishonorable about that," said Kate.
Bob Adams looked at her. 'Tell that to Karen's folks,' he thought. Still, she had such a lovely smile, no sense ruining the evening with his problems.
"The crab cakes here are excellent. And the corned beef and cabbage is great too. I've eaten here a number of times," he said, 'but never before with such lovely company..'
'Yep, I think he may be worth waiting for,' she thought, 'issues or not.'
It was 8PM Sunday night in Roswell New Mexico and as Maria entered the den to get to the garage she froze in the dim light as she saw Joey and Andrew. 'Whew, it's OK, they're just watching those videos.' "Hi kids!"
Maria realized that something had fundamentally changed in her relationship to Joey....that Joey was going to need ..... more space, particularly when she was with Andrew. She should have knocked...or made some noise or something. Otherwise she might have interrupted something......something like her mom had almost interrupted a number of times 20+ years ago.
It wasn't exactly that she wanted Andrew and Joey to be making out in the Guerin family den, but she'd kind of resigned herself to the fact that a betrothed couple were likely going to be making out someplace, so she sure didn't want to discourage it from happening in the den where it would be relatively safe and unlikely to get too far out of hand. This was a new world for her and she had forgotten that when she'd barged into the room.
"Football?"
"Team films, Mom. Andrew is explaining the plays to me, so I can run patterns right."
"You ARE NOT turning out for the team Joey," said Maria before softening her voice considerably and continuing, "....are you?"
"No Mom, just helping Andrew."
Maria over the past 24 hours had become very comfortable with her young son-in-law-to-be, and wondered if Joey weren't pushing him just a little hard. An hour run this morning, an hour of throwing the football back and forth, and now two hours of watching game films..... And that didn't even count the dance lessons.
Neither Andrew nor Joey had ever been to a school dance, and their first was less than a week away. Joey had dragooned both her parents into helping teach them. Maria was pretty good at dancing, and even Michael no longer acted like he had two left feet after 20 years of practice and the recent cruise. The kids had been....well, terrible actually, but by the end of two hours, both were passable. Joey had called Izzie and asked if she could meet them 'on the beach' tonight and coach them a little more.
Maria shook her head. The boy had to be head over heels for her. He didn't just put up with all that, he really seemed to enjoy every minute of it.
Maria smiled as she watched them together. Andrew was a good kid, Michael had been impressed by him, however reluctantly, .....even after he found out that Joey's internet courses were going to make her a junior by mid-June.
Joey could have done a whole lot worse......
Maria realized that something had fundamentally changed in her relationship to Joey....that Joey was going to need ..... more space, particularly when she was with Andrew. She should have knocked...or made some noise or something. Otherwise she might have interrupted something......something like her mom had almost interrupted a number of times 20+ years ago.
It wasn't exactly that she wanted Andrew and Joey to be making out in the Guerin family den, but she'd kind of resigned herself to the fact that a betrothed couple were likely going to be making out someplace, so she sure didn't want to discourage it from happening in the den where it would be relatively safe and unlikely to get too far out of hand. This was a new world for her and she had forgotten that when she'd barged into the room.
"Football?"
"Team films, Mom. Andrew is explaining the plays to me, so I can run patterns right."
"You ARE NOT turning out for the team Joey," said Maria before softening her voice considerably and continuing, "....are you?"
"No Mom, just helping Andrew."
Maria over the past 24 hours had become very comfortable with her young son-in-law-to-be, and wondered if Joey weren't pushing him just a little hard. An hour run this morning, an hour of throwing the football back and forth, and now two hours of watching game films..... And that didn't even count the dance lessons.
Neither Andrew nor Joey had ever been to a school dance, and their first was less than a week away. Joey had dragooned both her parents into helping teach them. Maria was pretty good at dancing, and even Michael no longer acted like he had two left feet after 20 years of practice and the recent cruise. The kids had been....well, terrible actually, but by the end of two hours, both were passable. Joey had called Izzie and asked if she could meet them 'on the beach' tonight and coach them a little more.
Maria shook her head. The boy had to be head over heels for her. He didn't just put up with all that, he really seemed to enjoy every minute of it.
Maria smiled as she watched them together. Andrew was a good kid, Michael had been impressed by him, however reluctantly, .....even after he found out that Joey's internet courses were going to make her a junior by mid-June.
Joey could have done a whole lot worse......
It was almost 9PM as the car drove up to the gates of the large house in Bethesda Maryland. Kate watched Bob push the button in front of the small TV camera…the gate swinging open some 15 seconds later. “I won’t be long,” he said as he opened the door.
“OK If I come too?” Kate asked.
“Sure….but, ..well sure.”
Kate really didn’t know how to interpret that, but eventually decided she would get out. She wasn’t sure if Bob thought his deceased wife’s parents would be offended that Bob was dating….or just what the issue was, but she was curious. As they approached the door it opened and Laurie came out between a couple who looked to be in their mid 60s.
“Katie…you came too,” said little Laurie, coming to hug her.
”This is my grandma and grandpa …”
Kate saw the frowns on the faces of the couple and at first thought they were for her, but then the faces softened as they saw her holding Laurie.
“This is Katherine Powers. Kate, this is Ambassador and Mrs. During.”
Not really looking at Bob, the gray haired man said,“Pleased to meet you Ms. Powers, any friend of Laurie’s is always welcome here.”
‘But apparently not Laurie’s daddy,’ thought Kate. “Pleased to meet you Mr. Ambassador, Mrs. During,” she said, falling into the comfortable speaking pattern of a Secret Service Agent dealing with dignitaries. She watched as a maid brought a small Barbie sleepover suitcase out, and handed it to Bob. The couple both kissed Laurie and told her good-bye, the Ambassador saying, “Have a pleasant evening, Ms. Powers,” before turning with his wife and leaving, acting to all the world like Bob was invisible. The maid looked somewhat embarrassed as she bid them goodnight and closed the door.
Filled with unspoken questions, Kate watched Bob secure Laurie in her car seat and the three then left the grounds. Laurie talked to Kate and to her father for about 15 minutes, then slowly drifted off to sleep. The rest of the way back to the apartment there was silence. Eventually they arrived and went up to Bob and Laurie’s apartment, Bob carrying the sleeping Laurie. Kate watched smiling as her father undressed the sleeping child, put a Princess Barbie nightgown on her, and tucked her into her bed, saying a short silent prayer over her.
As they reached the living room Bob said, “I suppose I owe you an explanation about that….”
“You don’t owe me anything, Bob. I had a pleasant dinner and enjoyed your company. I really don’t have to pry into your relationship with your in-laws. “
“I enjoyed the evening as well, Kate. It’s been a long time since I have had dinner with such pleasant company. I guess I’d best walk you home.” And he did, the whole twenty five feet from his apartment door to hers.
As she opened her door she turned to see him looking uncharacteristically tentative and uncertain. ‘Well that’s certainly a change from guys who think a dinner entitles them to a grope and a quickie….’ Kate smiled and brought her face up to his, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “Thanks for the nice evening, Bob. I really would like to do it again sometime.”
“Me too, Kate. Sleep well.”
“OK If I come too?” Kate asked.
“Sure….but, ..well sure.”
Kate really didn’t know how to interpret that, but eventually decided she would get out. She wasn’t sure if Bob thought his deceased wife’s parents would be offended that Bob was dating….or just what the issue was, but she was curious. As they approached the door it opened and Laurie came out between a couple who looked to be in their mid 60s.
“Katie…you came too,” said little Laurie, coming to hug her.
”This is my grandma and grandpa …”
Kate saw the frowns on the faces of the couple and at first thought they were for her, but then the faces softened as they saw her holding Laurie.
“This is Katherine Powers. Kate, this is Ambassador and Mrs. During.”
Not really looking at Bob, the gray haired man said,“Pleased to meet you Ms. Powers, any friend of Laurie’s is always welcome here.”
‘But apparently not Laurie’s daddy,’ thought Kate. “Pleased to meet you Mr. Ambassador, Mrs. During,” she said, falling into the comfortable speaking pattern of a Secret Service Agent dealing with dignitaries. She watched as a maid brought a small Barbie sleepover suitcase out, and handed it to Bob. The couple both kissed Laurie and told her good-bye, the Ambassador saying, “Have a pleasant evening, Ms. Powers,” before turning with his wife and leaving, acting to all the world like Bob was invisible. The maid looked somewhat embarrassed as she bid them goodnight and closed the door.
Filled with unspoken questions, Kate watched Bob secure Laurie in her car seat and the three then left the grounds. Laurie talked to Kate and to her father for about 15 minutes, then slowly drifted off to sleep. The rest of the way back to the apartment there was silence. Eventually they arrived and went up to Bob and Laurie’s apartment, Bob carrying the sleeping Laurie. Kate watched smiling as her father undressed the sleeping child, put a Princess Barbie nightgown on her, and tucked her into her bed, saying a short silent prayer over her.
As they reached the living room Bob said, “I suppose I owe you an explanation about that….”
“You don’t owe me anything, Bob. I had a pleasant dinner and enjoyed your company. I really don’t have to pry into your relationship with your in-laws. “
“I enjoyed the evening as well, Kate. It’s been a long time since I have had dinner with such pleasant company. I guess I’d best walk you home.” And he did, the whole twenty five feet from his apartment door to hers.
As she opened her door she turned to see him looking uncharacteristically tentative and uncertain. ‘Well that’s certainly a change from guys who think a dinner entitles them to a grope and a quickie….’ Kate smiled and brought her face up to his, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “Thanks for the nice evening, Bob. I really would like to do it again sometime.”
“Me too, Kate. Sleep well.”