All Aboard Andi's Dream

©

2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

Author's note:

These stories are written in Literary Past Tense. Literary Past Tense describes how most of us use past tense in our stories. Literary past tense stories are written as though the events of the story are happening now. Even though we're using the past tense forms of verbs, within the story itself, events are happening in the present, which explains the occasional present tense verbs in some descriptions.

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Chapter 9

Springtime in Springville

Both of the Jarecki brothers were overwhelmed. Both men carried a home pregnancy tester that was handed to them by their wives. Both tests showed positive. As the group walked through the gentle icy rain to Worzil's, they chatted excitedly about the miracle that has happened to them. To Paul and John Jarecki, the news that their wives were pregnant was wondrous and they could barely contain their joy. They wanted to sing! They wanted to cheer! John and Paul lifted their wives over the puddles as they walked the few blocks to Worzil's. Andi was excited, too. She was hoping this time she could experience natural childbirth. Macy was terrified. She was over 40 and has lost several children; she did not know what was going to happen.

Worzil's was a tavern that's been standing in Springville since before 1920. Owners have changed and the name occasionally changes (slightly) but Worzil's remains. It fits the bill of a British pub, with air hockey in the back room. It's a meeting place for the people of Springville, and when you can't think of what to make for supper, there's always Worzil's.

"Welcome home!" called the bartender Ayato. "When's the happy occasion?"

Paul had stopped being amazed at Ayato's feats of auditory achievements. Folks say if a bird poops on a customer's car in the side parking lot, Ayato can determine what type of bird it was from the sound of the poop splatting on the car. He probably heard them talking all the way up the street. "November," said Andi. "We need a doctor's estimate, we're going to see Doctor Shifferle on Tuesday."

"Congratulations!" said Ayato's wife Julissa as she hugged Andi.

"Don't forget Macy," said Andi.

"Her too? Were you all at the same party?" asked Julissa.

"Same day, same party, different locations," said Macy. Actually, neither wife was sure if it was Valentine's day that their ovum was penetrated, but their periods were similar and they both missed the last one in February.

When their wives told them, both brothers were shocked speechless. John and Macy had to work together to overcome her past and develop a satisfying sex life. Then came the false pregnancies that drove the hope of a child away. But now, proof that prayers were answered was the tester in John's hands.

For Paul, he and his first wife, Melony, were planning on having a baby. She was a fighter pilot and finally had enough flying and was ready to raise a family, but she died while on temporary duty in Korea, and Paul's hopes for a family were shattered. Years of emptiness crushed his soul. But when he met Andi, things changed, and he didn't realize how much everything had changed until she handed him that pregnancy test.

"I love you," said Paul as they kissed.

"I know," said Andi with a smile. She patted her tummy and said, "I have proof!"

The twins were hard to control, they wouldn't sit in their chairs, they were hopping and cheering, excited that they were going to have a baby brother to play with. "Can we take him swimming when we're on Mom's boat?" asked an excited Sandy.

"When he gets as big as you are," said Paul.

The only thing that stopped the twin's excitement was the unmistakable

Pink! Pink! Pink!

of the air hockey table and they dashed off to watch the action.

"How long have you two been planning that presentation?" asked Andi's best friend, Lucy. Macy and Andi told their husbands at the same time just a few minutes ago.

"Since Denver," said Andi. They just completed a road trip from Denver to Springville and they held that news in the entire way? That was a feat of immense proportions for Andi.

"We both suspected but we didn't know," said Macy. "We got the test kits in Denver and the moment we got to Andi's home, we ran upstairs and checked." Macy was impressed by how easily those words came out. For years the big Victorian that was constantly under construction was 'Paul's House' but now it's universally known as Andi's home.

"Then we had to wait for John to show up," said Andi. "Those guys have been through a lot, they need this joy. We knew we had to let them know at the same time."

"How did you keep it secret all the way back here from Denver?" asked Gus.

"It was super easy," said Andi.

"Barely an inconvenience," added Macy.

"We put Paul and Kenny in the rental truck and it was all girls in the van."

"Girl power!" cried the twins from the air hockey table.

"We need to call your mom and Nana," said Paul.

"We have a plan for that too," said Andi. And as they waited for their dinner to arrive, she pulled out her phone. Macy stood up next to her as Andi made a FaceTime call to her mom. Soon Heather came on the line and said, "You made it! How was the drive?"

"It was good, we probably couldn't have made it if Yi wasn't with us. Is Dad there? I have some news for you." Andi and Macy got close together and as soon as Harold joined Heather, Andi said, "Macy is going to have a baby!"

Heather looked overjoyed for her, but also a little disappointed. "Congratulations dear. When are you due?"

"We think about the same time as Andi," said Macy with her million megawatt smile.

"WHAT?" shrieked Heather.

"Andi is going to have a baby too," said Macy.

"Oh you two! You're WORSE than sisters!" cried Heather joyfully.

"We're so happy for you!" said Harold.

"I can be there in a couple of days," said Heather.

"Mom, we don't need..." but Paul whispered in her ear, "Let her grandmother." Andi paused, then smiled. He was right. Andi and her mother's relationship have never been stronger. "We have a room ready for you and dad, you can come any time you want."

While they chattered about babies, Kenny Johnston and the twin's governess, Yi-jin Carlson, watched the antics from the far end of the table. 'When we have a baby we're not going to make such a production,' thought Kenny. Then he reminded himself that they hadn't even been out on a proper date yet and stifled that thought. He didn't realize that Yi was thinking the same thing.

Andi then called her grandmother. "Hi grandma, do you remember Macy from our wedding?"

"Yes, yes I do. Hi Macy."

"Hi," said Macy.

"Guess what!" said Andi. "Macy is going to have a baby!"

"That's wonderful," said Nana.

"Andi is going to have a baby too!" said Macy.

"Oh my! That's wonderful! Another great-grandchild!"

From the other side of the room, Grandpa Knute said, "Make this one a boy!"

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The dinner was awesome as usual. They got a big slab of haddock on a nest of French fries with potato salad, macaroni salad, and coleslaw, a typical Western New York Friday fish fry. Andi normally picked at hers, fed the French fries to the twins and took the rest home to lunch on for the rest of the week. But that night it all looked so good she ate the entire fish fry. Macy got her usual salad and picked at Andi and John's side salads before changing her mind and getting a fish fry of her own.

With sacks of leftovers in their hands, the family and friends made their way back to the big Victorian house on Howard Ave. "I need to go home pretty soon. There's probably a ton of work for me," said Kenny, who was on the road for nearly a week and he was the only one at the feed shop that could lift the 50 pound sacks of feed.

But Yi didn't want the evening to end. She had Kenny all to herself for several days, and she wasn't willing to end that. "My back is hurting from that drive, how is yours?" she asked him.

"It's killing me," groaned Kenny. That was mostly from tension. Hauling Andi's antique Porsche 911 cross country, knowing how much it meant emotionally to Andi and her mom was terrifying to him. Every time the truck they were driving got hit with a cross breeze, the trailer began weaving behind them, making Kenny's heart jump.

"I can't send you back to work like that," Yi said as they stepped out of Worzils into the cold night. "Can I use the hot tub?" asked Yi. "My back and neck are aching from that drive." She drove most of the way while Andi and Macy sat behind her, hogging the snacks and whispering their plans.

"Sure," said Paul. "You don't have to ask. Kenny, you can use one of my suits."

"I don't..." Kenny started.

"Have you ever been in bossman's hot tub?" asked Yi. "You don't know what you're missing."

Twenty minutes later, Kenny eased into a tub of 103° (39.5°C) water. "Sit in this corner," said Yi as she adjusted the underwater lights. It felt so good. The tub was big and deep and he could probably do an acceptable cannon ball from the deck and not hit bottom. Yi got the jets running and the jets behind Kenny massaged his back and shoulders. "This corner over here works on the lower back," Yi said as she eased into the corner she described.

"This is fabulous," groaned Kenny. "I'm afraid to get out, it's freezing out there."

"You won't feel it," said Yi. "Your core body temperature is going up. Wait until we use Paul's sauna."

"Sauna?"

"He's got a sauna steam room in the cabin, and in the basement he's got a steam shower. That thing is AWESOME!"

"What's a steam shower?"

"Yeah, it's a little shower room with glass walls on one side and a glass door. Inside there are super fancy showers and benches to sit on. When you hit the button it eventually fills the room up with steam. I could be sitting this close to you naked and you'd never see me through the steam."

"I don't believe you. I'd have to see that for myself."

"Put it on your calendar, big guy."

They sat in the hot tub, enjoying the warmth and the stars above. "I haven't had a road trip like that in years," said Kenny.

"It was interesting," said Yi. "I didn't realize how amazing the Black Hills were."

"I was impressed by Guanella Pass and Georgetown," said Kenny. Their conversation was stilted. They both had something on their mind and both were afraid to say what they wanted to say. Eventually, the hot tubs timer shut down the jets, and they sat in the hot water with two gentle waterfalls gurgling softly.

"What are you doing April third?" asked Kenny nervously. 'She's going to say no,' he thought.

"What day is that, Thursday? I'm working until dinner, but I can get off early. Why?"

"Well... it's opening day and I have tickets..."

Opening day! Opening day was a holiday as far as Yi and her dad believed. Normally, on opening day, they were in Daytona, watching their beloved Tortugas play exquisite baseball. "What do you have in mind?"

"They're not great seats but I have tickets for opening day at Sahlen Field. The Buffalo Bisons open against the Toledo Mud Hens."

Buffalo vs Toledo? These were teams that had

history.

Yi was raised on triple A baseball. Triple A ball was the greatest baseball played. Young athletes trying to get in "the game" desperately. Older players working off an injury or trying to regain their glory days. In Triple A, the players play to

win

, in "The Game" they play to not lose. As far as Yi was concerned, Triple A was the best baseball ever played.

Yi eased her nearly naked body into a delighted Kenny's lap. "I can get the whole day off," she said before checking with Paul.

"I can't wait," said Kenny softly as their lips met.

"It will be the perfect first date," said Yi as she considered unfastening her bikini top.

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Staff Sergeant Andi Roberts stood on the arm up pad at the end of the runway, and she was getting angry. Her team was a couple of inexperienced goofball children who barely knew their jobs on the F-16, and here come six F-15s. Fortunately, she had an intimate knowledge of the plane. She dug around in the Technical Order shelves and found TO-F15A-1-2CL-18 End of Runway Procedures. She flipped through the checklist and read the steps to her team. Most of it was very simple, and many of the steps they had to perform were very similar to the F-16, just higher off the ground.

"Soon as the crew dogs are done it's our turn, this is the last chance to make sure the plane is right. If you see something you don't think is cool, if you see it leaking something, if you see a missing nut or bolt, you tell ME. I don't care what you do, just get my attention."

"Can I drop my pants and wave Old Faithful around?" said Dale Lusting, a silly Airman First Class.

"I got pretty good eyesight, I should be able to see something that small," groaned Andi.

"HA! Burn!" said Brad Clifton as he elbowed Dale.

"You!" Andi snarled at Brad. "Keep an eye on where the crew dogs connect the interphone cable, I don't want to tell these eagle drivers what to do with ASL."

"What's ASL?" asked Brad.

"Sign Language," said Dale.

The big twin tailed "Asshole Smashers" taxied onto the arm up pad, the first plane being directed by hand signals from the lead crew chief on the pad. As he got plane number one spotted, two, three, four, five, and six fell in line next to the plane and waited their turn for final inspection and arm up. All six canopies opened simultaneously and the pilots all reached up and grabbed the sill of their forward wind screen. Nobody touches an airplane if they can't see both of the pilot's hands.

Brad watched the crew chiefs connect to the first F-15. "See where they connect the cable? You do the same thing," said Andi, shouting over the whistle of the idling engines. Then she turned to Dale and put her mouth next to his sound protective headset. "I need you to be smarter than a set of chocks today. When you are not doing anything I need you right next to those chocks, waiting for my signal to pull them."

"I got it," said Dale.

"Ok, let's go," said Andi and the first plane was released to them. Dale carried a pair of wooden chocks, chunks of four-inch by four-inch lumber held together with a piece of rope, and placed the wood in front and behind the left main landing gear tire on the F-15. It looked silly, a jet with 60,000 pounds of thrust being secured by a chunk of wood, but it works. Unless the pilot opens the throttle all the way, that plane is not going to 'jump the chocks' and roll off.

As soon as the interphone was plugged in, Andi heard the connection made and said, "Good morning sir,"

"I prefer ma'am," said Captain Melony Ruskin.

"Sorry... ma'am. Master Arm switch off, all weapons switches off safe or normal."

"Off... and safe," said the pilot.

As Dale and Brad gave the plane a final once over, Andi said, "Going home today ma'am?" There are no F-15's stationed in Korea. This plane had a big ZZ on the tail proclaiming it was from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.

The pilot looked down at Andi and said, "No, I'm never going home. I need you to take care of my Paul."

Andi's blood ran cold when she heard those words. "Pardon ma'am?"

" I'm heading to Osan." But her voice sounded pained. "Paul will be waiting for you."

"Are you OK ma'am?" asked Andi.

"No. Promise me you'll love Paul for me?"

"Yes," said Andi automatically.

"Thank you," whispered Melony sadly. "Let's go."

"Ma'am, is there anything..."

"No. Just love Paul."

"I will."

Andi looked at Brad and Dale, they were done with their checks and the "Cap 9" (captive AIM-9 Sidewinder missile) was ready. She gave Dale the signal to pull the chocks from around the wheel and signaled Brad to disconnect the interphone cable. She normally gave the pilot a thumbs up, but instead, with this pilot, she snapped to attention and gave her a salute. The pilot looked down at Andi sadly and returned the salute.

Ten minutes later, they had number six complete, and the planes moved on to the runway. Andi moved their dispatch truck to where they could see the F-15's up close. She wanted to hear them really fire up those huge Pratt & Whitney F-100-PW-100 engines. They waited and waited and nothing happened. To Andi, it sounded like the lead aircraft shut down. Da fuck? She pulled the stepladder from the back of the step-van just as the radio announced, "Ground Emergency."

Andi dashed out onto the active runway, carrying a stepladder. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" she told herself as she sprinted out onto the wide concrete strip. She slammed the ladder against the fuselage of the lead aircraft and as she dashed up the ladder, she hit the canopy open button with the handle end of her screwdriver. The massive canopy raised up to the open position. She found the pilot slumped forward in her straps. Andi pushed her back and touched her neck. No pulse, no breathing. "GET A CRASH CART! PATIENT IS NON RESPONSIVE! CODE BLUE!" Andi shouted.

Andi got the pilot released from the straps and with a Herculean effort, she lifted the pilot clear of the cockpit and a dozen helpers reached up and helped lower the pilot from the airplane. "LAY HER ON THE GURNEY." Andi immediately climbed on the gurney and placed her knees on either side of the patient and started doing chest compressions.

The head of the Emergency Department said, "Doctor Roberts, she's gone."

Andi looked over her shoulder at the head doctor. She was no longer on a cold Korean runway; she was in a hospital with a team of doctors and nurses around her. "I'm going to shock her, give me the paddles! Set the defibrillator to three hundred." Andi ripped open the pilot's flight suit and readied her for the defib.

"Doctor Roberts, no. She's gone," said the chief of the ER. The chief lifted Andi's hands from the patient's body. "You did everything you could."

Slowly, Doctor Adrianna Roberts pulled off her gloves and threw them in the trash. One by one, the members of the ER team sadly left, angry with the knowledge they couldn't do anything for this poor woman. Andi looked at the body of the pilot for a long time, not comprehending how she could have suddenly died. "It doesn't matter how I went," said Melony. "What matters is that you need to take care of my Paul. He's a good man."

"I will," muttered Doctor Roberts.

Suddenly Andi woke up. She was in bed with Paul, and he was twitching and muttering in his sleep. Was that Melony? Was she the last person to talk to her? Luckily, they had planned to take the twins, Yi, Macy and John, to the cabin early. She looked at the clock and it said it was a quarter past twelve. Andi had only been in bed for two hours. Slowly Andi lay back down, but she couldn't go back to sleep. Instead, she rolled over and cuddled Paul. Paul refused to talk about Melony's death since he mentioned it back in December, so she cuddled with him and it settled his restlessness.