All Aboard Andi's Dream Ch. 01

The low point of the Magic Kingdom for the twins was when they finally got to meet Ella and Anna. They were so star-struck they were tongue tied and could only speak TwinBabble® despite their encouragement from their mother to "Use your words". The young character actresses thought the twins were from a foreign country because of how they spoke, and because they were so cute the actresses hugged and posed for pictures with Sandy and Madeline much longer than many of the other girls in the park, and of course, they were happy to pose for pictures with the whole family in their Disney wedding t-shirts.

Paul was disappointed that the rides that were advertised when he was younger were gone. Tom Sawyer's Island was closed, not a mention of Davey Crocket anywhere in the park, and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride seemed much shorter than he expected. He derived the majority of his joy from watching Andi and the twins as they enjoyed the park. He felt like an outsider looking in on their fun.

Sadly, this took him back to his days as a fighter squadron flight surgeon. Yes, he was an integral part of the flying team. He even had flight surgeon wings, but his flights were merely joy rides and he felt more attached to the hospital staff, which he really wasn't a part of, than the fighter squadron. This was similar to his youth in Tiorunda, where he wasn't quite rejected by the Polish community there, but he wasn't quite accepted by them either. He felt more at home with the Italians who accepted him as a foundling, but he never was one of them.

He learned to live life cheering from the sidelines, like the offensive coordinator on an NFL team. An offensive coordinator can call the plays and choose which players are on the field and take full responsibility for how his team scored points, but he'll never take a snap, receive a pass, or block a blitzing safety. So maybe pulling this wagon is...

"How are you doing, Daddy?" asked Andi, as she intertwined her fingers with his on his free hand and leaned her head on his arm. "You look overwhelmed."

"I think I am. A month ago, I was a solitary bumpkin with a dozen chickens planning to wait out a blizzard and suddenly the most beautiful doctor in the world pops up on my altar and says, 'I do' and a pair of miniature adrenalin junkies joined us. This is really my first outing in public with a daughter, let alone a pair of them."

"Well, you're doing great. The trick is not to try to determine patterns in their movements, it will overwhelm your senses. Just let the randomness of their actions entertain you."

On queue the twins noticed that mom and dad were lagging far behind and ran back to them. This time they grabbed Paul's wrists and chirped "Come on Dad!" Sandy began chattering about a ride that looked soooo cooool, and Madeline was chattering just as fast about Miss Piggy, and both ended up at the same time with "Come on!" and they yanked him away from Andi with as much energy as their little legs could generate.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" shouted Andi with a huge grin as she followed, pulling the TwinHauler™.

Quite a few attractions were closed for upgrades/repairs/replacements and of the working attractions, the twins were too small to ride many of them. However, the Jungle River Ride was perfect for the whole family and the twins sat on Mom and Dad's laps. While Mom and Dad groaned at the guide's lame jokes, the twins were fascinated by the animatronic animals and occasionally a group of monkeys would have some wrapped Christmas packages, which made them laugh.

With that being a success, Paul led them to another memory he held from watching the Wonderful World of Color when he was a kid, an attraction now called the Enchanted Tiki Room. The twins were fascinated by the Animatronic birds and flowers that sang three or four songs.

The twins didn't quite make it to the evening parade and fireworks, like most 5-year-olds, they were carried out of the park, sound asleep. They missed the ride on the ferryboat back to the parking area where they would catch the bus. Paul and Andi sat on a bench next to the bus stop, watching the fireworks from the parking lot, kissing like teenagers while the twins slept in the TwinHauler™.

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The twins slept the entire way back to the Shades of Green. Rather than waking them when folding up the TwinHauler then carrying them when climbing on to the bus, the driver lowered the bus and dropped the center door ramp and allowed Paul and Andi to pull the TwinHauler on to the bus and park it where the wheelchairs normally park (with the promise that the TwinHauler will be folded up and moved if someone arrives in a wheelchair or scooter). The twins never roused for the entire trip.

Once back in the hotel, the twins were laid on the futon, undressed, and covered up. Andi set up the baby monitor, and after changing into their swimming suits, Paul and Andi slipped out of the patio door and walked the few feet to the swimming pool. The air was cool and crisp for central Florida, so much so that steam was rising off the swimming pool. Paul looked at his smartwatch, which told him that he had a response to his Facebook post and was surprised to see it was from an old friend. He opened up the post in his phone and read it, then said to Andi, "An old Air Force buddy noticed my Disney World post on Facebook and saw we were down here and asked if we could meet up."

Andi smiled. An opportunity to find out more about her man's history has reared its head. "Sure, where? When?"

"Tomorrow, lunch at Patrick SFB beach."

"As long as it's on our way."

They bypassed the swimming pool and headed straight for the hot tub, their legs were aching from the long day at the park, and another day there was in store for tomorrow. A soak in the hot waters would be just what they need to soothe the aches and strains of the day. Paul slid in first, finding the water hot but a bit cooler than he normally has his tub set at home. He sat on the bench across from the ladder. This gave him the perfect vantage point to look at his wife's perfect legs as she eased into the water. Her modest one-piece Catalina swimsuit merely accentuated her stunning curves in a way that no bikini could achieve. She eased on to the bench and sent the baby monitor receiver on the deck behind them.

"What a day," sighed Andi, as she slouched down and let the water come up to her chin.

"Thank you for coming down here with me, Dr. Roberts."

"I've gone to every honeymoon I've ever been invited to," smiled Andi. "Where was your first honeymoon?"

"San Diego. Hotel Coronado, the zoo, stuff like that. Where did you go on your first honeymoon?"

"Disney World. Then he promised me a cruise, but we have to go hang out with his old Air Force buddies first."

"No honeymoon with Frank?"

"Not unless you count watching him play away your wedding gift money and getting drunk in Las Vegas." Paul hugged her and bent to kiss her when she stopped him. "Don't go feeling sorry for me. If it weren't for Frank, there wouldn't be these beautiful girls, and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have ended up in Springville. It was a roundabout journey to you, but we made it safe and sound."

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All Aboard Andi's Dream

It was sad to sign out from Shades of Green. The resort was so relaxing, and with a little BX and Commissary, it was familiar to Paul; it felt secure, like it was his next duty station. They posed for a family photograph in front of the gigantic Christmas tree in the lobby and when the fellow veteran handed Paul his phone back, Madeline told the fellow, "Poppa has a Christmas tree just like that one!"

"Not quite, sweetheart. This one is much bigger," said Andi.

"It just looks that way because you're taller than us," said Sandy.

From the Disney parks, they headed straight east to the Atlantic shore, a much longer drive than Andi expected. First-time visitors don't realize how huge Florida really is, but it's behind Alaska and Texas to be the third largest state. Eventually, they found Patrick Space Force Base clinging to a narrow spit of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River.

First, they took the suggested visit to the Base Exchange, which wasn't the biggest that Paul had ever seen, but Andi was impressed with the size. They picked up some snacks for the girls because they weren't sure how the boat was going to be stocked and grabbed a second bathing suit for everyone. Then she checked the prices. "I thought everything was cheaper for the troops and the veterans," said Andi.

"Nope. That idea went out the window years ago."

"But what about the poor airmen and privates with children who hardly make any money?"

Paul shrugged. "No one seems to care anymore."

"At least it's still tax free," she grumbled.

Paul took his family to the Patrick Beaches, a beautiful stretch of beaches right across US A1A from Patrick SFB. On the base side of the sea grape covered dunes is parking, picnic, and shower/changing areas, and on the seaward side of the dunes there were beautiful white sand beaches. They pulled the twins and a cooler in the Twin Hauler over the dunes using the wooden ramps, and when the girls piled out of the wagon, they were so excited they ended up running in circles, trying to decide what to do first.

At the beach, the twins had the time of their young lives. The girls were so small they had to wear bathing suits made for two-year-olds, which were made with left plenty of room for diapers in the seat, so their bottoms were very saggy. They didn't like the floaties, but they had to get used to them because Andi wasn't going to let them on the deck of the boat without them.

The twins loved the feel of the water on their feet and running away from the waves through the wet sand. They discovered the joy of sandcastles and spent a lot of time watching their mommy and new daddy play Frisbee in waist deep water and keeping an odd score that they both seemed to enjoy. What the twins loved the most was trotting up and down the beach with their sand pails and shovels, looking for shells.

Occasionally, a military airplane would scare them by flying low and fast and roaring so loud it caused the twins to drop whatever they were doing and cover their ears.

"That's the sound of freedom!" a young man told them and looking up, they realized that this was a stranger and did what their mom told them, and they ran away as fast as they could. A moment later, they ran back to the young man and scooped up their sand pails and shovels, both said "sorry", and ran off again, leaving the young lieutenant and his date doubled over in laughter.

Andi and Paul came ashore after splashing and playing Frisbee, and Paul was exhausted. They sank down to sit on the sand and Andi handed Paul an aluminum vessel and said, "I prescribe 355 milliliters, and it must be taken internally."

"Is it safe?"

"I'm a doctor, trust me," said Andi with a smile.

"Will this cure me?"

"It'll cure what ails you. Let's go, doctor's orders."

Paul pulled the tab on the can of Hard Lemonade, then took a sip. He smiled and pulled Andi close for a kiss. "Why didn't I find you earlier, Doctor Roberts?"

"Because I wasn't in your network, but if you like your doctor, you can..."

Just as Andi was about to deliver the worn out punchline, a shadow covered them, and a powerful voice said, "Colonel Jarecki!"

Paul peered up at the figure that was casting the shadow, thought for a moment, then said, "Wobbler?"

"That's Colonel Wobbler to you, sawbones!"

"Wobbles! Pull up some beach. Andi, this is Lloyd Weber, call sign Wobbler."

Lloyd and an elegant platinum blond in a one-piece bathing suit that looks like it costs about the same as a Mercedes car payment sat down with Paul and Andi. "Hot damn Pea Jay, how long has it been?" said Lloyd as they shook hands.

"Fifteen years. Allow me to offer you a cold one and introduce you to my bride, Doctor Adrianna Roberts, A.K.A. Mrs. Andi Jarecki." Andi noticed that Paul gleamed when he called her his bride. "And who do you have here, Colonel Wobbler?"

Lloyd grinned, "Remember that general with the fine young daughter that half the eagle drivers on base were trying to... ahhh... meet?"

"General Hughes, yeah, I remember. Then this is his daughter?"

The blond held out her hand. "Close. I am, I mean I was, the general's daughter's nanny, Zoe. Zoe Weber for the past 12 years." The foursome had a laugh over that and toasted each other's marriage with white wine infused canned lemonade.

"How long have you two been married?" asked Zoe.

"Hmmm, how long was that, four days?" asked Paul.

"Yep, we got married on Christmas Eve. How did you know Paul?" asked Andi. "was he your flight surgeon?"

"There was no 'flight' involved in our relationship," said Lloyd. "every time I went in to see Pea Jay, he found a new medical reason to ground me. I was a medical tackling dummy. Then I'd end up "Supervisor Of Flying" for a week. The S.O.F. mostly drove around the taxiways and runways in a mini pickup truck looking for pieces that fell off of airplanes."

Andi turned to Paul and said, "Can I ask him? Would he know?" Paul just held his hand out, inviting Andi to talk to Lloyd. So she did. "Ok, when you do a Google search on my husband, there are reports that he got thrown out of the Air Force for beating up another colonel. Is that true?"

"Absolutely Not True. No credibility to that rumor at all. Completely untrue... sort of. I was there at his retirement ceremony, and he graduated to the civilian world with honors. I even handed him his first civilian beer."

"Wobbler was allowed that honor by being the only fighter jock to get me to puke in twenty years of flight surgeoning." Andi looked at him, confused. Puke? Paul explained, "every flight surgeon is required to go up in an airplane every quarter, so I'd have to ride in the back seat of a 2-seat fighter and the boys..."

"... and girls," chimed in Lloyd.

"Oh, christ on a crutch, I had forgotten Brunhilda ...and girls, thank you for that memory. They all thought it was simply great fun to shake and spin the hell out of me, trying to get me to vomit. Lloyd won the honor of attempting one quarter..."

"I didn't win it, I bought it. I bought the honor for 20 pizzas and 4 cases of coke."

Paul addressed Andi's confused look. "It was an F-15 unit, and we were deployed to Saudi Arabia and there was no alcohol, so he bribed the deployment commander to take me up for... wait!" Paul did a few quick calculations in his head. "For forty-five bucks? You bribed him with forty-five bucks?"

Lloyd grinned and nodded his head and knowing where this story was going, Zoe snickered and looked off to sea. "Anyhow," continued Paul, "we pull on to the runway and he announces on the radio 'Hold on boys and girls, the Wobbly Goblin is primed and ready to launch,' and the tower replies, 'May the lord have mercy on your souls Goblin.' And we launch... we went straight fucking up. He's got the afterburners wide open, and he doesn't even blink. He's giving me a travelogue. 'Looking quickly to your left, you will see all of Saudi Arabia in its entirety.' Then he levels out at 30,000 feet and says, 'ladies and gentlemen, we are now at our cruising altitude. Feel free to move about the cabin.' Then he rolls it over on its back and drops like a rock straight into the Persian Gulf. 'Looking straight ahead, you will see the Persian gulf in all of its natural splendor.' I swear he pulled out of that dive at wave top level and goes barrel rolling past a supertanker. The guys on deck had to look down to see us. I spent the rest of the flight filling puke bags."

Zoe and Andi were howling with laughter. "I'm a certified hero," said Lloyd with a huge grin.

"He tells your story better than you do," said Zoe, between gales of laughter.

"He should. I think he was the sober one on that flight."

When the laughter died down, Andi said, "You said that the rumors of Paul beating up an officer were completely untrue... sort of... What do you mean 'sort of' not true?" Andi still wanted to know about the rumor that Lieutenant Colonel Paul "Pea Jay" Jarecki beat up a commanding officer.

Lloyd looked at Paul, who just said, "Tell her."

Lloyd continued, "So we're at his retirement ceremony, and everyone knows what happened with Melony. There aren't any secrets in a flying squadron, and the bastard that was doing Melony, her commander, walked up to Pea Jay, puts his hand on his shoulder and said," Lloyd effected a deep southern drawl, "son, shit happens." Lloyd nodded to Andi, "Just like that. Your man, honest to God, says 'Here, hold my beer,' and he turns to me and hands me his beer, then he turns around and knocks that bastard out. One punch. He went down like a sack of potatoes. Ol' PJ looks down on him and says, "Sure as shit does," then finishes his beer. And to this day, no one saw a thing. Not even me"

"I'm not proud of that," said Paul.

Andi looked at Paul with a shocked look on her face. "You really did that?"

"It wasn't really my finest moment."

She put her arms around his neck and asked, "What would you do if you saw him again?"

"I would profusely and profoundly apologize and beg his forgiveness."

Andi gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "That's my man of God."

Just then the twins came roaring at them, arms outspread, yelling at the top of their lungs. They crashed into the sand in front of their mom and rolled over, grinning. "What's all this?" Andi asked.

"Sound of freedom!" said Sandy, and Madeline nodded her agreement.

The two couples chatted for a while, then Paul announced it was time they got going. Captain Stan would be ready to pick them up soon, so saying their goodbyes, the two families walked back to the air base side of the protective dune. The twin's sand pails were full of bits of shells, and they were enormously proud of their collections, so Andi found a plastic bag and poured the shells in the bag for safekeeping, then they rinsed the sand off of the twins at the outdoor shower and changed them out of their swimsuits to shorts and t-shirts, then loaded up in their rental car and headed up to Port Canaveral.

They pulled into the rental turn in, piled out and unloaded their luggage and even before Paul could finish the paperwork with the rental agency and before Andi could handle the inevitable "Why are they taking our car?" question from the twins, a middle age Asian woman pulled up in a small van and started to load their baggage on the van. Having settled Sandy down that they were not stealing their car, Andi realized that Madeline had wandered off. She found Madeline "helping" the Asian woman put their baggage in her van.

"Um, excuse me?" said Andi as she walked up to the van.

The Asian woman stopped and turned. "Are you Adrianna Jarecki?" She was dressed in white mid-thigh shorts and a white, short sleeve top with blue piping, deck shoes and a white and blue sun visor. Her raven hair was well past her shoulders and braided in a French braid.

"Yes, I am," Andi started.

"I'm Sung-mi Carlson, the first mate of Andi's Dream. I'm so glad to meet you. My husband, Stan, is captain on this trip, and he's getting your dream ready."

Just then, Paul walked up from the rental office. "Sung-mi! How's my favorite juicy girl?"

Sung-mi suddenly switched from her slight accent to a heavy Asian accent. "Ah! Docka Paul! Ay numbah wan! You buy me juicy drink?" She laughed, and they hugged, and she said, "Your bride is beautiful! And you didn't tell me you were bringing along some beautiful preemies to play with!"