Finding Home Pt. 22

"I've got a box of Cubans waiting to be opened," said a smiling Andy. "And I'd love to hear about your brother."

"What's up Queen?" Sara walked up to the trio. She hugged her friend, and then John Moses. Andy got a hug and a kiss from his betrothed.

"And here's Kisses," Claire laughed. "Kail clued me in, but damn girl. You look like you're about to bust. Can I catch a glimpse of that rock?"

Sara held out her hand so that the smaller woman could study her ring. "Very nice. Not ostentatious at all. Very old-school, old-money Boston," she grinned.

"Baby, we're up next. Queen, if you'll stick around, I'll introduce you to Andy's grandmother and the Second Lady," said Sara sweetly.

"Seriously!?" Claire exclaimed.

Andy chuckled. "That's your story. Sara and I are just the window dressing."

Claire grinned at him, "Well Dreamy, you can dress my window any time you'd like."

Sara giggled, and Andy blushed.

Andy saw a DK employee approaching them.

"We need to go, my love," he said firmly. "Dr. Moses, Claire," he nodded to the pair. Sara took his offered hand, and they took their leave.

"Miss Weber," said John firmly, "I need just a moment of your time."

She turned to him, "Look, I know how important they are to you - not just as the AD. I did my homework on you, Dr. Moses. I know you and Andy go way back. I'll tread lightly, but you don't strike me as the kind of guy to order kid gloves," she said resolutely.

"I'm not. You write what you want. And you're right; Andy is like a son to me, so that makes Sara my kind-of-daughter-in-law. I care for them both a great deal. I'm asking you, not as the AD, but as a father figure to please tread wisely. That young man has been shat on plenty in the 3-weeks he's been here."

She nodded. "I hear you loud and clear, Dr. Moses. I'm glad we understand each other. Like I said, I'm a fan. It's been almost impossible for a girl to get a real story heretofore. I know a good thing when I see it; I also know the real thing. Your son is both."

_________________________________________________________

Andy was waiting for Sara for their third and final wardrobe change. He felt himself getting hugged from behind, but it felt all wrong for Sara. Once the hug was released, he turned to see Hayley Larson.

"Hello, HayLo. I hear I owe you my thanks," he said kindly.

"For what? If this is about our talk with Jacob's parents," she paused, "there was just some stuff they needed to hear. Kicking you out of Jacob's life was a big deal. Captain, my man loves you. I'm not trying to sound weird, but you were this super cool older guy his sister totally adored, and you were kind and caring. Andy, he was 8 when Olivia brought you home. You gave him the time of day and then some. There's not many 13-year-old boys who would show that kind of attention to his girlfriend's kid brother. Adriana thought you were her Prince Charming. She even named one of her dolls 'Prince Drew,'" she grinned. "I know that's corny, but I'm just trying to tell you how special you were to Jacob and Olivia."

"Well, thank you for taking up for me," said Andy sheepishly.

"Damn right I did. Andy, I have an amazing man in my life. He's kind and caring - because he wants to be like you. On top of that, you told a garage full of dickweeds to suck it for Syd and me. We talked with Molly Bird, and if we didn't think Sara would kick our asses, we'd seduce you for a night and give you the foursome of your life," she said smiling.

Andy laughed. "Well thank you for not doing so," he grinned. "I think the world of your boyfriend. He's good people, and I'm happy the two of you found one another."

She kissed him on the cheek, suddenly. "And that's why we love you, Andrew DeGroat. You look out for the other alphas in your pack. None of us have ever had that before. I, for one, absolutely adore you for it." She pulled back and grinned at him, "Do you have any ideas how many of these Colton babies will have Andrew or Andrea as a middle name?"

Andy blushed. Thankfully, he was saved - perhaps - by the approach of Jack, Juliana, and Adriana Glass.

"Wow! Haylee, you look stunning," said Julianna Glass sweetly.

"Thank you," she said. "Wait until you see Jacob, he looks really handsome."

Jack Glass shook Andy's hand, and Julianna hugged him. He greeted Adriana, and she surprised him by hugging him as well, before she kissed him chastely on the cheek. Andy had never been hugged by a woman who was as tall as he was, so he was a bit taken aback by the experience. She blushed as she broke the embrace.

Andy made his apologies, and extricated himself as soon as was humanly possible.

___________________________________________________________

Andy and Sara were sitting at lunch in the Dining Commons with the other models, and various members of the Colton Hockey Team. When Owen Kresnik and Molly Bird joined them, Andy got a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Molly. He needed to talk to Sara about that, he thought to himself. Occasionally was alright, but he was starting to feel uncomfortable with all the unsolicited female affection he was receiving. As he was lost in this train of thought, he heard another voice from his past.

"Alright! I heard we were getting the band back together!"

Andy smiled when he heard the voice, and he looked at Sara and shook his head. Jake and Andre were already laughing, and when he heard Mikey's laugh, he was certain of the owner of the voice. John Filka; one year ahead of Andy and his friends at Groton, and now a center for the Chicago Blackhawks. They were short Seamus O'Connor - now playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs - and they would have the Groton starting lineup from Andy's junior year.

Andy stood and turned to greet his old teammate. Filka, like Andy, was about 20 pounds heavier than when they'd played in high school. And, like Andy, he'd put on good weight. John was the third center for the Blackhawks. Unlike Jake and Dre, he'd never been an All-Star; however, he had won the Stanley Cup as a rookie in the league. Andy immediately noticed the lovely blonde standing next to John, looking quite nervous.

"Johnny Filka," said a smiling Andy as he hugged his old teammate. "Please tell me you'll introduce me to this lovely lady," said Andy as he looked at John's companion.

"Damn skippy I will. Captain, this is my fiancé, Ellie Jakobowski. Ellie, this is the man - the myth - the legend himself; Drew DeGroat."

Andy moved to her and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ellie. We'll overlook your current company, however," he grinned. "Please let me introduce the two of you to my fiancé: Sara Jones-Easley."

"Damn!" said a very boisterous John Filka. "Mikey was not kidding. Captain, I'd say you'd outkicked your coverage - but you'd just accuse me of the same damn thing." John shook Sara's hand.

"I'm not the only one falling for lovely co-eds," said Andy as he nodded in Brian Jacobs' direction. "Jake the Jet has his own introductions to make."

Brian introduced Grace to his old teammate and fiancé.

The members of the Colton hockey team seated at the table were a bit overwhelmed. They'd gotten used to Alex Fedorov coming around - he was family, after all. Then they'd almost gotten their hands wrapped around training and skating with Jake the Jet and Dr. Dre. But this? This was getting ridiculous. John Filka had chugged beer from Lord Stanley's Cup. The coolest freaking trophy in all professional sports.

"Gentlemen, and ladies," said Andy in his command NCO voice. "Let me introduce you to another of the Greats. John Filka of the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm not sure why his sorry ass is here, but it lets us meet his lovely fiancé - so we'll take the good and beautiful with the bad and the ugly," he grinned.

John nodded to the crowd, and lovingly put his arm around his fiancé. "Thanks for letting us say hello to your Captain and his fiancé. We had a meeting for your new ice arena, and I had to check in on these bums," he paused. "Guys, you have no idea what an honor and privilege it was to play with this guy," he said as he pointed to Andy. "I'd give anything to trade places with anyone of you. You're in for a hell of a year."

At this point, Andre and Juliette had gotten out of their seats, and the introductions began all over again. Mike and Priya looked relieved to be out of meetings, at least for a little bit.

"Filka, how long are you in town?" asked Andre.

"Well, we came up for at least today and tomorrow. We got an invite for a donor meeting on Moses Arena, and then Coach wanted to meet Ellie. We're crashing there tonight. Then, we heard about some sort of shindig at Drew's family's place - so we're hoping to get an invite to that, as well," explained John.

"Of course, you're invited," said Sara. "Grace, Juliette, and I need all the remedial Groton Great time we can get."

"I'm afraid I'm right there with you," admitted Ellie. "We met in Chicago, and I'd never even heard of Groton. I was totally in the dark until his mom emailed me the Boston Globe article."

"Well, somebody better call Seamus or he'll feel left out," said the booming voice of John Moses. His face had a wide grin on it, and he embraced the most recent Groton alum to appear on Colton's campus heartily. "It's great to see you Johnny," he beamed.

"Coach, please let me introduce you to my fiancé, Ellie Jakobowski," said Filka proudly.

At that moment, Marty made his presence known. "John Filka number 16," he shouted. "Dad! It's John Filka number 16. We only need Seamus O'Connor number 9 and they'd all be here." Marty was giddy with excitement. He went and hugged Andy.

"Thank you, Drew number 51!"

"Hey buddy, I think you need to be thanking Mikey," he said looking in his friend's direction. But when he saw the look on Priya's face, he knew she was the mastermind behind this reunion. "Actually, why don't you go thank Priya," he said grinning.

As Marty moved in Priya's direction, Andy got her attention and mouthed 'thank you.' She nodded, and blew him a kiss. Andy's attention was grabbed by the conversation John Filka was having with Sara. He chuckled and entered, unbidden, into their talk.

"Johnny, she's not a witch; and I doubt she knows who Wanda Maximoff even is. I just got her introduced to some Clone Wars and the DC Universe," Andy said smiling.

"I dunno Captain. I've never seen you happy. Feels like witchcraft to me," he laughed. "Seriously Drew, you look fucking amazing - oops, sorry. Ellie is helping me cuss less."

"Why the hell would she do that?" asked a giggling Sara.

John Filka laughed loudly. "Damn Drew. I thought maybe Pri and Mikey were giving me a sales job. No dice. Sara, it really is a pleasure to meet you, and to see that you're as advertised."

"Thank you," said Sara demurely. "Andy and I are actually very good for one another. My friends have the same reaction to him."

"Alright Johnny, enough bullshit," said Andy. "How in the world did you meet her? She's got John Moses eating out of her hand, as well as Jake and Dre. Is she legally blind?"

His friend grinned. "I took Alex's advice. Two years ago, we were playing in DC. My mom told me your sister was engaged to him, so I sent word to their locker room a couple of hours before the game. He sent me a note back, so I headed out to the ice. Your sister was there, and they told me how they met. Jessica and Alex encouraged me to find a local charity or fine art that I could support, and then I might have a chance of meeting someone other than a puck bunny. I chose the Chicago Art Institute. Ellie is a curator there," he paused. "Dude she is wicked smart. She did her undergrad at the University of Chicago and her master's at King's College, London. She's a Chicago girl, and her dad and brothers are huge Hawks fans. We met at a Foundation cocktail event. That was 18 months ago." The smile on his face told Andy all he needed to know.

"Johnny, I'm really happy for you," he said.

Sara's phone went off, and she excused herself from the conversation. 30 seconds later, she came back for Andy.

"We need to go," she whispered. She was smiling, so Andy knew this was not an emergency drawing them away. Andy nodded, the pair said their goodbyes, and headed out the door. Alex and Jessica Fedorov were waiting for them in the Range Rover.

"We're kidnapping you," Jessica grinned. "Sara told me you have an errand in Portland, and Tommy is sending us on a supply run as well. We'll run our errands together."

As Andy opened the door for Sara, his phone went off as well. He'd given different people in his life corresponding ringtones, so when he heard Harry Connick, Jr., he knew it was Tommy. Sara giggled as Andy helped her into the vehicle. Once he climbed inside, Andy checked the text; it was the set list for tonight.

"Damn," he muttered. "Gina's man is flexing hard tonight."

Sara looked at him inquisitively. He read the text.

"Here's the set list for tonight: Ells is doing 'Eleanor Rigby' with Mary Frances and CeCe singing backup - the Aretha Franklin version. Then CeCe and I are doing 'It's Only Love' - which I gotta be honest - is a song I've never heard before. That's followed by CeCe and Ethan doing 'Woman in Chains,' and we'll end with Sara's song for the evening."

"And what is Sara's song for the evening?" she asked batting her eyes at him.

"Nope. Not gonna work, my love. You can take your Wanda Maximoff skills elsewhere. But I bet if I told you, you'd have no idea what it was. I wouldn't if it weren't for Eric Taylor."

"Alright Droobie, dish the story," said his sister from the front seat.

"Eric and his wife Felicia met in college. They had mutual friends, and one night their respective friend groups ended up at the same movie. Eric and Felicia had never met, and they ended up sitting next to one another. One year later, they were engaged. This song is from the soundtrack of the movie they saw that night. When we were deployed, he'd play it when he'd talked to her, or missed her," he paused and thought for a second. "When you hear it, you'll see what I'm about to say. I've been privileged to see this song in real life. Jess, you've been the beneficiary of this, as has Ells. The Judge and Miss Helen have lived this for 50 plus years," he grinned.

"When did Eric and Felicia graduate from college?" asked Alex.

"Ah, a man who wants to do some honest work, and not just try to bewitch the storyteller," grinned Andy. "He graduated in 1994. Felicia graduated in 1995."

"So, we're looking for a romantic comedy from the mid-1990's," posited Jessica. "That's not too terribly helpful, Mr. Detective," she smiled at Alex. "But we could probably narrow the field down a bit. The Taylor's don't strike me as the kind of people to go see 'When Harry Met Sally.'"

Andy shrugged. "You know, the three of you could just wait until tonight and find out with the rest of the world."

Sara looked at him and cocked her eye. "Boy, you are out of your damn mind if you think we're going to wait. Not when we can figure this out."

Andy laughed. "OK, I'll give you one hint. Two of the actors/actresses who had major parts in the movie have won Oscars. The lead actor, however, has yet to win one."

Alex thankfully changed the subject, but Andy knew Sara and Jessica would be on their phones Goggle searching like crazy as soon as they could.

_______________________________________________________

The sailing store in Portland had the gear they needed, and they added a second set for Grace. As they were loading the purchases in the back of the Land Cruiser, Andy made a request of his sister, "OK, 'Sica. Would you please explain to my fiancé why she's more than enough for me to be happy? She made a statement to that effect this morning, and I realize that my telling her will never do the trick. But I think she will believe you."

Sara turned to Andy and glared at him angrily. He returned her look with sorrow and confusion. Jessica was speechless from the front seat, and Andy saw the color rising in her face.

"OK, I'm sorry. That was poorly done," he admitted.

"No, it wasn't," interjected Jessica. "You just hit a nerve, is all. For both of us."

"I don't understand," began Andy. Jessica held her hand up, and exhaled loudly. She turned her pregnant body as best she could, and grabbed Alex's hand.

"It's like this. We're all ridiculously competitive people. Competitive people like knowing they won - and that they won the pick of the litter, so to speak," she paused. In the pause, Sara reached over and took Andy's hand.

"The two of you are definitely the pick of the litter," continued Jessica. "Sara and I are not blind. We could see all the coeds mooning over the two of you when you played hockey together. I see it all the time when I'm at a game. Sara lives with this reality constantly, as well."

Andy began to say something, but Jessica held her hand up and Sara put her finger lovingly on his lips. He looked at Sara, and could see the expression on her face change. She nodded to him.

"The two of you do nothing - I repeat - nothing, to make either of us wonder if you're satisfied with us. You both do a wonderful job of letting us know how happy you are, and you both work hard at being wonderful men. Which then only makes our insecurities worse."

This time, Andy spoke. "I don't understand. Should we be making you feel uncomfortable? Is that what you're saying?"

His sister shook her head. "Just keep doing what you're doing," she smiled.

"I still don't understand," protested Andy.

"Andy, we won each other. But there are women who would like nothing better than to change that. Jessica and I know that as well. There are women on this campus who will try to seduce you when they see the ring on your finger; just like there are women who try to seduce Alex when they know damn well his wife is carrying their first child," explained Sara. "We know what's up, but sometimes our insecurities get in the way."

"That's some serious bullshit," said Andy. "I thought deployment relationship bullshit was a mess."

"I must echo my brother's question," interjected Alex. "How are we to respond to such a thing when this happens?"

"Keep being you, lover," said Jessica affectionately. "Women catch on to these things quicker than men do. You and Droobie are genuinely nice men. You don't think every woman out there wants to screw you. You treat women with respect, and speak to them like they have a brain. Things are changing, but you'd be surprised how rare that is. If we need to tell you, we'll tell you. For example, I'm sure Drew has already caught on to the fact that Adi Glass has the hots for him. He'll keep being a good guy - because that's who he is. She'll get over it; but if she doesn't, Sara will let him know. You need to listen to your wife at that point, little brother."

Andy looked at Sara, "Do I need to distance myself from Adriana? If so, just say the word."

She kissed him. "No baby. I get it. You're her knight in shining armor. At this rate, half of my 8's crew would make love to you if you wanted them to," she smiled.

"You know I don't want that, right?" he asked. She saw the desperation in his eyes, and kissed him again.

"I do. You give me no reason to worry, like Jessica said. Baby, it's just a new thing for me. I've never had a boyfriend, let alone one that my best friends would love to take home for good. Please be patient. I'll get better at this," she said softly.

"Drew, you're a victim of your own success. You've helped your guy friends pull their heads out of their asses, and their ladies recognize that. They love you for that. If I must hear Haylee or Sydney tell me how amazing you are one more time, I swear I'll lose my damn mind," she laughed. "I'm your sister. Imagine how that feels for your fiancé?" said Jessica patiently.