Finding Home Pt. 22

She nodded and went back into the Commons.

Andy took Sara's hand. "Do you have sailing gear?"

Sara shook her head. "Why do you ask?"

"We need to run to Portland this afternoon and get you some. We're taking Jake the Jet and Gracie for an early morning sail," he grinned.

Sara squealed and clapped her hands. Andy nodded to her.

"Mum is the word, however," he said. "It will just be the four of us. I'll drive the boat, and Jake knows there's no way I'd do this without you. I suspect you'll be the videographer, as well."

She kissed him and hugged him tightly.

"Ready?" he asked. She nodded, and they walked hand in hand into the Commons.

_________________________________________________________

Ten minutes later Andy and Sara walked into the shower room. They had greeted the Steele's and Ross's, and met the women's volleyball coach. Shea O'Neill was there to pitch Mallory Ross on the possibility of rowing crew at Colton, and Andy grinned when Bobbi Hopp - the women's hockey coach at Colton - took exception to the poaching of a potential member of her team. Andy met the VP of Admissions, and he and Sara narrowly begged off the campus tour. Andy locked the door and turned to his fiancé.

"You look lovely," he said softly. Sara had put on a pair of yoga pants and one of Andy's old Groton t-shirts.

"I bet you say that to all the hotties who wear t-shirts with your last name on the back," she teased.

"Well, there have only been two - so yes. Guilty as charged," he grinned.

She stepped to him and kissed him.

"You ready to elope yet?" he asked.

"I was ready the day you asked me to marry you," she responded earnestly.

"I'll try to do better with the 'hail fellow, well met' piece," Andy said glumly.

"Why? Baby, you don't have to pretend for me. I get why people want to be around you, but that doesn't mean the world gets unfettered access to you. I know how much you hate that. You love people, but you hate the glad-handing."

"I have a feeling I've have to get good at that, though," he said. "I think part of growing Sumner-White will include lots of that kind of work."

"Good thing you have a smoking hot trophy wife, then," she giggled. "Andy, you forget how we do us. Andy's Sara will gladly work a room for her man. Plus, Gracie is a whiz at that, especially now that she's about to become Mrs. Jet."

He smiled at her. "Damn I love you."

"Damn right you do," she giggled.

"Would you be kind enough to make love to your moody fiancé?" he asked.

"No. But I'd love to make love to my man," she said firmly. "We don't do drama, Andy."

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

Sara took his hand and led him to the teak bench. "Have a seat, lover," she ordered.

Andy smiled and sat down. Sara drew her phone out of the waistband of her yoga pants and fired up a familiar playlist. Andy's grin overtook his face as she began to dance provocatively for him.

"I seem to remember somebody liking this - a lot," she giggled.

Andy nodded. "I have a whole new appreciation for old school R&B."

Sara slowly removed Andy's old t-shirt, and he took in the view of her lovely upper body. Her breasts were constrained by the Caps sports bra his sister had sent her as a part of her Fedorov fan pack. Andy chuckled. Sara looked at him inquisitively.

"My older sister did me a solid," he said, nodding at the clothing. Sara nodded and peeled the constraining garment off her torso. He felt himself go rock hard at the sight of her glorious breasts.

"Damn," he muttered.

Sara stopped dancing and leaned forward and kissed him. "No other man has ever seen these," she said rubbing her hands lightly over her breasts. "And no one but you will ever see them."

"I love you," he said softly.

"I know," she said giggling.

Andy pulled her into his lap, and the kissing intensified. Sara began squirming on his lap, and it took Andy a second to realize that she was shimmying out of her yoga pants. He did the same contortionists act and removed his shorts and compression shorts. Sara took hold of his manhood and put it where they both desperately wanted it to be: inside her.

Sara began riding him slowly. He looked into her hazel eyes and smiled. He'd learned more about himself by looking into her eyes than he'd ever imagined. Unbidden, the lyrics of a song Eric Taylor listened to while deployed came to his mind.

And when you see your unborn children in her eyes

You know you really love a woman.

Andy's orgasm came sooner than he wanted, and he was relieved when he felt Sara's womb begin to convulse. Her breath caught, and he felt her entire body shudder. Through it all, the lovers never broke eye contact.

Sara kissed him softly. "Thank you, baby. I needed that."

"Anything for you, my love," he said chuckling. "I'm more than willing to take one for the team," he joked.

"I like our team," she said giggling.

They stayed put, until Andy's softening member slid out of her, along with a torrent of their combined fluids.

"And then there's that," he quipped.

"Mmm. Good thing there's a shower nearby," she replied.

Andy stood up, carrying his fiancé into the shower. 10 minutes later, they were talking in the Mezzanine as they got dressed for the day.

"We need to talk about something that I was going to do - but now I'm realizing was probably not such a good idea," he began.

"OK," she giggled. "I'm not sure what to make of that - so please continue."

"I'm trying to get over my need to surprise you; I mean with major things," he said sincerely. "I think it's a good idea for you to learn how to drive. We need to talk about that, but Boston is not Brooklyn. You can't take the subway to get wherever you want to go. I mean, you can to a certain extent, but it's a different city."

"I want to learn how to drive," she said, smiling at him.

"Good," he exhaled. "John Moses is a really good driver's ed teacher."

"I know. I've already talked to him about teaching me how to drive," she said giggling. "I also talked with Sean Adams."

Andy looked at her open-mouthed.

"Baby, I love the surprises. It's very thoughtful of you. You look out for me, and I love that."

He nodded dumbly. She came to him and kissed his nose. "What's the surprise then?"

"Jack Glass and his family own several luxury car dealerships in Boston. They have the Range Rover dealership. I was thinking we'd get a nice - but not too nice - Range Rover as your first car. But the more I think about it, I realize you'd probably want to pick out your own vehicle."

She smiled wickedly at him, "I'm fine with that, but I have two conditions: first, we keep your truck. John said he would teach me to drive a stick. Second, I pay for half of the vehicle we choose as my first car."

Andy was again speechless. Sara giggled, and kissed him on the nose again.

"Deal," he said quietly. She shrieked and jumped up and down.

"You're enjoying this way too much," he protested.

"Nope. My man gives me good loving; and as a woman in love, I know my own mind. Your woman stands up for herself," she grinned.

Andy's phone buzzed. He'd texted his soon-to-be father-in-law with an idea for tonight's musical offering, and Tommy was texting him some info back. Andy smiled as he saw the response.

"We're a bit early," said Andy suddenly. "Care to go for a walk with your fiancé before we have to go be fabulous?"

"Baby, you know I'll go anywhere with you," she said grinning. "Plus, it will give us a chance to talk."

He looked at her inquisitively, but she made a zipping motion across her lips. "Once we're outside," she said.

__________________________________________________

Andy and Sara were walking hand in hand across campus. They were sauntering more than walking, and very much enjoying the lovely summer morning. Winter in Maine is brutal, so both knew to take advantage of days like today.

"Are you OK?" Sara asked. "Jacob filled me in last night on the history with you and his family. Eden and I can both tell Adriana has a thing for you, which is sweet. I hope our young men have the same effect on the younger sisters of their female friends," she giggled. "Do you and Olivia need some closure?"

Andy looked at her dumbfounded for the nth time this morning. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "There are these completely random parts of my life that keep popping up. I was too focused on the next thing - on getting into the Marine Corps and then becoming a sniper - to really give much thought to . . ." he struggled for the words.

"Your emotions," offered Sara.

Andy nodded.

"Well, for what it's worth, Jacob and Haylee are adorable. If they end up in Boston, I think we'll want them in our lives. That would be hard to do - long term - if there's unfinished business between you and his older sister. She's beautiful, by the way. Haylee showed me some of her Instagram posts. Well done, middle school Andy," she giggled.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you and Momma G about last night," Andy said. "I loved going over to their house. In fact, I imagined that's how my family would have been if my parents hadn't been murdered. Jack was always rough housing with his kids, and Julianna was sweet and affectionate with them. They were really welcoming to me and always made me feel at ease, even when Jack was doing the dad interrogation bit. They treated me like one of the family. I liked Olivia - but I loved hanging out with their family. I really missed that when Jack basically banned me from their home."

"Baby, I'm so sorry," Sara said softly. "Jacob told me he and Adriana cried when their mom told them you weren't coming over anymore. They loved having you at their house. He thought of you as his big brother."

"It was a shock seeing him again," admitted Andy. "He was just this goofy kid, and then like, 10 years later, here's this jacked dude standing there in the hallway of the Admin building. Same goofy smile. I knew him immediately. It brought back tons of memories for me."

"Olivia is totally your type," offered a giggling Sara.

"What?" asked a shocked Andy.

"Baby, she's absolutely your type. Total hottie, dark-complected, great athlete, smart as hell, with a great ass. Totally an Andy babe. Trust me, even Ellen and Jessica agree with me on this one."

Andy stopped and looked at his fiancé. "That doesn't bother you?"

Sara shook her head. "No. Like I told you, I'm getting my PhD in Andy DeGroat. If you think about it, it really does make sense. Stop and think about the ladies you've really had a thing for."

"OK?" he said sheepishly.

"It's a thought exercise my beautiful man," she said giggling. "Start with Olivia," she nodded.

"Olivia, then Anna Chang, Heather Benson, Praja Reju, and you," he said cautiously.

"Andy, you forgot one," she said smiling. "Grace Federspiel."

Andy nodded.

"Now, having met all those ladies save Olivia - but I have a good idea from looking at her sister and her mom - and, if you take Heather out as the exception that proves the rule, you see the Andy babe taking shape. Non-Anglo, total hottie, great athlete, wicked smart, great ass. That's an Andy babe."

"You forgot the most important piece," said a grinning Andy. "You're forgetting the trait that sets you apart from all the other Andy babes."

"And what is that?" she giggled.

"You surprise me on a regular basis," he said sweetly. "I mean it, Bellissima. Life with you is amazing; and the fact that you shock the hell out of me on a regular basis is one of the things I love the most about you."

"And you say sweet things to me on a regular basis," she said as she hugged him.

"Do you want to hear something really funny?" Sara asked as they held one another.

Andy nodded.

"I was bound and determined that after this summer, I was going to give up on guys," she said with a note of sadness Andy rarely heard from his fiancé.

"Really?" he replied.

"I was going to tell the fellas to talk to the hand. I'd graduate from Colton, go to law school, pass the bar - all that - and then maybe I'd think about thinking about a fella," she said. "After all the shit Eden and I had been through with the asshole males at this place, it didn't hardly seem worth it."

Andy kissed her nose.

"Thank you for rescuing me from myself," Sara said softly.

Andy chuckled. "That, my love, is exactly how we do us."

She reached up and stroked his cheek. "Five minutes with you, my beautiful man, and I was ready to be Mrs. Andy DeGroat."

"Most important five minutes of my life," he smiled.

_________________________________________________________

The morning session of this last photo shoot went off without a hitch. Couples were mix and match, as last-minute pairings were explored. The cheerleaders did a fantastic job of keeping snotty females at a distance, but their presence did mean that the number of male athletes - recently returned to campus - was bound to increase. Andy had to diplomatically remind his younger comrades that every guy outside of the cheerleader perimeter would gladly trade places with any one of the guys taking part in the shoot. Miles laughed, and nodded in agreement.

"Dude, I got guys trying to pay me off so that they can chat up Kail," he said. "They're all stunned at how good our ladies look. This gig is the truth; and those dudes can kiss my ass. No way the Captain and I stared down a garage full of assholes for me to step aside now."

"I hear you, but I just wish I didn't look like Derek Zoolander while we're doing this," remarked Ethan Ross.

"Bro, you look like Hansel - not Zoolander," quipped Brian Jacobs.

The room broke into laughter.

"Ethan, Jake the Jet just busted your balls," whispered Cooper Hughes to his teammate. "How freaking awesome is that?"

The two friends fist-bumped, absolutely elated that an NHL All-Star felt free to cut up with them.

Andy walked out of the tent and noticed media people inside the perimeter. Sydney was giving an interview, looking quite at home, and poised in front of the camera. He noted the station affiliate on the side of the camera: KETV 7. He felt John Moses come up behind him.

"You might want to be careful when you do that," said Andy quietly. "I'm not much for people trying to sneak up on me from behind. I'd hate to kill you by mistake."

John chuckled. "Eric warned me about that; I thought he was pulling my leg. Not sure what I'm gonna do without that tool in my bag."

"I'm not 14 anymore," laughed Andy. "Though I'm pretty sure you could still make Jake the Jet piss himself."

"She's a natural at that," said John nodding in Sydney's direction. "That's how her parents met. Her mom was the news anchor for the local TV station, and her dad had just been named the youngest CFO in Union Pacific history. She wanted to do something other than a fluff piece. She talked him into a long-form interview, some real journalism. The interview went very well - in fact she won a regional Emmy. That got her lots of job offers from bigger markets. He realized this, and moved damn fast. They got married three months later. Sydney was born one year after that initial interview."

Andy chuckled. "Scoping out potential donors?"

John shook his head. "Nope. Potential friends. The Steele's know shit about Linda - they only know Jen," he paused. "Plus, when you add the fact that it's a lock Emma Steele will be coming here next year, and I'd say it's a pretty sure thing we'll be seeing more of the Steele's. I'd love to think we can recruit JoJo as well, but she won the state 100-fly, and set the state record in the process. She was an All-American as a freshman - so I'm guessing she'll end up at Stanford or Texas - some D1 swimming powerhouse. She's already got several offers."

Andy grinned. "Somehow my money is on Colton. The AD there loves a challenge. Recruiting that kind of athlete sounds like it's right up his alley. Plus, I'm guessing that Miss JoJo will be getting regular correspondence from the Second Lady of the United States. That lady could sell sand to Bedouins."

John laughed. "We may have asked your future brother-in-law to draw up a new aquatics center. Plus, the market is about to be glutted with stellar swim coaches whose programs got cut. I give us a punchers chance."

John turned to look at his young friend. "Listen Andy, I know this is not your cup of tea, and I know you're doing it for your sister - but on behalf of the college I want to thank you. The past couple of days have gone stunningly well, and you've had a big hand in that. We have a couple of female alums who are in serious talks with Donna Karan about starting a Women's Entrepreneurship program here. That's how well this has gone; and that's some serious pull if we can get that done. A program like that will help attract female athletes like JoJo Steele."

"You're welcome," Andy replied.

"Eric and I have a few thoughts on how best to use you and Sara," he grinned. "We don't want to wear you out, and we want to respect the fact that the two of you will soon be newlyweds. I think you know the school will want to leverage you and your accomplishments."

Andy nodded. "If Sara's good - I'm in. I owe my very existence to this place. You're right, I hate it, but I guess that's what folks call adulting."

The pair were approached by a young woman. She had short, black hair and was cute, but not pretty. Andy guessed her to be about 5'3". She was carrying a notepad, and Andy spotted her as media - probably the student paper. John turned to Andy to handle the introductions.

"Andrew DeGroat, this is Miss Claire Weber. Claire is the editor for the Daily Camel - the student newspaper. She'd love to do a long-form interview with you - and Sara, as well."

The young woman offered her hand to Andy. "It's great to meet you Andy," she said enthusiastically. "I've heard nothing but good things about you. I lived across the hall from Eden and Sara their freshman year. Can I just say I almost didn't recognize my old neighbor? Engagement looks good on her."

"Thank you," said Andy. "If you're a friend of Sara and Eden, I'd love to sit down with you. Does next week sound alright?"

The diminutive woman laughed. "Sara told me that's how you'd roll. Next week would be great. I'll coordinate with Sara?"

Andy nodded.

John Moses spoke next, "Claire, off the record - what did you mean when you said that's how Sara thought this would go?"

She looked at John directly, and responded with confidence. "Andy's world runs on relationships. He has a circle of trust. If you're in that circle, he'll beat the shit out of assholes, or stare down a crowd of sexist clowns for you. If you're not, keep walking," she grinned.

Andy laughed. "Nailed it."

She continued, "I also know this is a new day at Colton, and Andy is a hell of a story. We could have a very good relationship, I think. Unlike lots of other media outlets, the students here actually read the Daily Camel. We've worked hard at that. I know the girl who is our sports editor is orgasmically happy. Colton Athletics is about to be no joke."

John Moses burst out laughing. When he'd recovered, he said, "Young lady, I think we're going to get along just fine."

"You should talk to Dr. Eric Taylor," interjected Andy. "He's the brains behind a key part of the changes coming to Colton."

"We had breakfast this morning," she said smiling broadly. "Our faculty advisor made money available for three of us to come back to school early. Off the record," she paused, "I'm ecstatic with what's going on. Journalists are big on facts - not just propaganda. That Gilbert woman was a propaganda machine. I'm singing 'Ding-dong the witch is dead,' with the rest of the little people."

"I look forward to sitting down," said Andy.

"And Andy," she said with the smile leaving her face, "What that woman said to you is beyond reprehensible. My older brother did a tour in Iraq as an Army doc," she paused. "I'm also a connoisseur of cigars and Chris Stapleton. So, if you'd like to do the interview off campus . . ."