Finding Home

Monday

Andy was up at 5 AM and went for a short 2-mile run, followed by some push-ups and crunches. As he got into the shower at 6 AM, Sara came staggering into the shower room. Her hair was a mess, and she was looking a bit worse for the wear. Andy thought she was beautiful, but knew it was not her best moment.

Smiling as he did so, Andy greeted her, "Good morning, Chewie."

The beautiful love of his life, and future mother of his children, flipped him off.

Andy laughed out loud, harder than we would have thought, and then Sara joined him with her delightful giggle.

"Baby, give me a minute," she said hoarsely.

"Sure, are you OK?"

"I am. I just need to pee, handle some female stuff, and brush my teeth, I'll right back. Please don't leave yet. I'll use the lady's room next door."

10 minutes later, she was back, and Andy had showered, shaved, and was dressed for the day. She came to him, and the two shared a soft and intimate kiss.

"I want to see your class roster, baby. I heard last night that there may be some, well some skanky cheerleader hoes in your class, and I want to check."

"Let's go out to the Commons. I'll make you some coffee and you can check on my laptop."

She moved to him and kissed him. He hugged her, and then sat on the teak shower bench and had her sit in his lap. He ran his fingers in her hair, as the two lovers just sat there, enjoying the morning silence. After a bit, Sara stood up.

"OK. Let's grab some coffee. I'll change and go with you to breakfast. Some of these bitches will be out early, sniffing around my man. Not on my watch, Andy. I'm not having that shit."

She grabbed his hand, and they walked out to the Commons.

"You go change, and I'll get my laptop ready and the coffee going."

5 minutes later, the coffee was poured, and Sara was at a pub table with Andy. She pulled up the roster, and her face got very dark.

"OK, it's better than I thought. There are seven of you in the class. Now, I do know the TA. Her name is Grace Federspiel. She's in our boat, and Gracie is one of my best friends. She's half Chinese, half Australian, and she's adopted. She's beautiful, and a freaking math whiz. You'll like her. Grace will run some interference for me."

"Sara, I don't understand why you're worried about this? I love you. We're getting married in December. I've been hit on before, and I'm a big boy. You have nothing to fear."

"My head knows that, baby. Really it does, and I trust you. But last year was really rough for Eden and I. Some of these skanky bitches will hit on you out of spite. If they get your cell number, they'll send you nudes. I know these girls. You're a fine piece of ass, baby, and you're mine. These bitches cannot have my man," she was almost crying as she said this.

"OK, who do I need to avoid?" he asked earnestly.

"Andy, you and I both know you're going to be nice to them, because you're a nice guy, and they're going to love you. You're hot, and you've got your shit together. They will hit on you, and I just need to be OK with that, I guess."

"Sara, this will be OK. You're my fiancé. We're good, my love."

"I know -- but well, here are the people I know. Obviously, you and Cooper. Elizabeth Perkins and Sophia Salazar are both cheerleaders. They will literally throw pussy at you, and I mean that. There are two volleyball players in your class; Sydney Steele and Haylee Larson, and I think they're pretty cool. This fifth girl I don't know. The good news is, Cooper has a 5-1 chance of getting lucky. If he looks at Elizabeth or Sophia for more than two seconds, they'll screw him. He ought to love summer term by the time it's over."

"Sara Gina Jones-Easley?"

"Oh shit; am I being that bitchy?"

"No, you're just not being you. Listen, you are smoking hot, and in love. You have a glow about you. Everyone who saw you this weekend saw it. So, Sara -- you will get hit on. It will happen. This not just an Andy phenomenon."

"I appreciate that you find me handsome. I too am perfectly content and completely in love with you. I know that I will get hit on. We can't change that. I know you're not encouraging it, and I'm not either, no matter how cheesily Alex may try to impersonate me. What none of those people know is what we have -- here -- right here in the Commons. This is our home, and our bed. We make love here, and we're us -- right here. Eden gets to come in, and then it's whoever we want. No girls named Elizabeth or Sophia will ever change that. When I get a text from them, I'll hand you the phone. Delete it. I'm a one-woman show. Mrs. soon-to-be-DeGroat, I love you. All that other stuff is bullshit. This, right here, is real and it's ours."

Sara sat beaming across from him. He had reached over and taken her hand as he talked to her. She touched his face with her free hand, and simply mouthed, "I love you."

"I love you too, Chewie," he said grinning. Then, grabbing his phone he played a file of the real Chewbacca howling. Sara giggled.

"Are we good? I'm hungry. I got my ass kicked last night, and I ran this morning. I need some food. Plus, I've got skanky bitches to avoid like the plague. And -- then I may have to learn some calculus. I gotta fuel up, babe, or this will not go well," he lovingly ranted.

"Boy, you are crazy. But you're mine, and I love you," she said.

"I love you too. You ready to go? You look amazing, by the way."

"It's like I told you, a bra that fits my girls right, and I'm a new woman. Plus, I'm really excited to get back in the water."

"I can't wait to watch you," he said. Andy stored his laptop and they walked out the door.

They walked hand in hand across campus.

"There's no way watching me can be as awesome as watching you and Alex skate. You two can fly! I'm sure I'll hear all about it today. This is a small campus, and word travels fast. I'm secretly engaged to a Colton celebrity."

When the walked into the Dining Commons, their presence was immediately noted. This was the first day of summer term, and several new students had arrived yesterday. Andy and Sara got their breakfast, and joined Cooper and few of his fellow defensemen.

"Hey Andy. Hey Sara," said Cooper as they sat down.

They greeted him, and tucked in to their food. A guy Andy didn't know came and sat beside him. He continued eating, glancing sideways at Sara. She discreetly shrugged.

"Hey Andy, I'm Evan Winters. I was one of the alternate captains on the hockey team last season. I heard through the grapevine about your skating last night. I'm not sure if you want to play, or even about eligibility, but from what I heard, we'd love to have you come out for hockey. Any dude who can hang with Alex Fedorov is a guy who can help us win."

Andy swallowed his food, and turned to Evan to offer his hand. Having shaken it, he said, "Evan, it's good to meet you. Thanks for your offer. Let me think about it. You're right about the eligibility stuff, I spent six years in the Marine Corps, so I'm not sure how that would work. Plus (he leaned in and whispered) I'm getting married this December (he jerked his head towards Sara), so my playing may not fit our schedule. But, let's talk some more. I take it you're not a defenseman?"

"No," he said, quickly looking over Andy's shoulder and seeing a beaming Sara, who had -- of course -- heard the entire conversation. "I'm a center. I hope Mr. Fedorov will be kind enough to let us skate with you. I think we could give you a better look in the odd-man rush drill. No offense, but defensemen can't really score."

"Oh, I don't know," Sara chimed in. "Andy's scored plenty since he's come to Colton, and he's a defenseman."

Evan's face turned bright red. He spat and sputtered, until Andy put him out of his misery. It was all Andy could do not to laugh. Beside him, he heard Sara giggling softly.

"I'll talk to him, you're probably right. Just know, Alex is rehabbing a foot injury, so he'll progress into some more things in the two weeks he'll be here, but I'd bet we can work something out. Thanks for talking to me, Evan."

"Yeah. We may come tonight and watch if that's OK, even if we can't skate?"

"I'll talk with Alex and text Cooper -- does that sound OK? Cooper and I are going to be related soon, so I'd prefer to work through him, and he's a fellow Groton alum."

"I saw you play in high school," Evan admitted. "That was the best high school team I've ever seen. You guys crushed our high school team in the playoffs, and still our coach sang Groton's praises. You, Brian Jacobs, Andre' Broquard, John Filka, and Seamus O'Connor. That team had NHL-caliber talent at each level."

"Jake can really skate, and Alex says Andre' is the best goalie in the league. Filka and Seamus have both hoisted the Cup, and as the saying goes, 'winners win.' Those were good times," Andy reminisced. "We were really good; but that was a long time ago."

"Well, thanks again, Andy. I'll hit Cooper up later," Evan said. He got up and returned to his seat.

Andy grinned at Cooper, and turned and looked at Sara.

"You're rotten, you know that right?" he asked her. "You made a hockey player blush. I don't think I've ever done that, and I was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps."

"Well, Droobie, the entire school will know that we're getting married in December," she retorted. "You sure you want to do that?"

"I call that 'bitch repellent,'" he explained.

"Well, I love you for it," she confessed.

"It's what we do, Sara. This is how we do us."

They finished breakfast, and he walked her to the door of the Commons, kissed her deeply, and then lovingly patted her lycra-covered backside as she walked away. He was rewarded with an extra bit of swing in her hips. Andy smiled as she walked away to the boathouse.

________________________________________________________

Andy caught up with Cooper and the two walked into class together. Sara was right, the two cheerleaders were eyeing him immediately, but so was the TA. Clearly Sara had not talked to her yet. He felt like a piece of steak in a display case, and the feeling did not sit well with him.

The last student to walk in was the girl Sara did not know. She was petite, and had bright red hair. She was quite timid, and when Andy turned around to introduce himself, she pulled away from him, like he might strike her. He continued, but much more slowly.

"Hi, I'm Andy DeGroat. I'm new here. What's your name?"

"Jeannie. I'm Jeannie Flannery," she said timidly. She had pushed some of her hair out of her face, and Andy was rewarded with a timid smile, and a look at her lovely green eyes.

"So, Jeannie, this is my friend Cooper Hughes, he's a hockey player, and at the end of the summer, his brother is going to marry my sister -- so we're kind of family."

"Hey," said Cooper.

"Hello Cooper, it's nice to meet you both," said Jeannie.

"So, I hear they make you break into study groups in this class -- like math lab partners. I know we have an odd number in this class, and Cooper and I would love to have you in our group -- that's if you'd like to do that. I'm getting married in December, and Cooper is a perfect gentleman, so you could feel perfectly safe around us," Andy explained.

"Wow. Yeah, I'd like that, I think," she said. "I don't really know anybody yet, and my roommate got mono so she's not coming until the fall. Thanks for asking me."

"My pleasure. Us newbies gotta look out for one another," Andy said kindly.

_________________________________________________________

Sara walked into the weight room for a team lifting session. Typically, they would be on the water first thing, but the first day of summer practice meant testing their maxes. As she looked around the room, she saw Alex Fedorov working with Colton's head strength and conditioning coach. Alex was soaking wet, with a Moscow Dynamo hoodie, and a Caps hat to hold his long hair out of his face. As the team gathered, Alex noticed Sara, and called out to her.

"Sara!" he stopped his exercise and went over to greet her. "Good morning! I would hug you, but I'm a bit gross. Jessica does her best to help me avoid such things."

Now, thankfully, Jessica had warned Sara that Alex would be in the weight room doing rehab work each morning. She also told her that when Alex saw her, his greeting would be quite gregarious, including -- she supposed -- a hug.

"Hi Alex. It's good to see you. Can I introduce you to my teammates?"

"Sure, as I said, I'm a bit gross, but I think your Coach Donovan will allow me a few minutes."

"Hey everybody," said Sara, getting her teammates attention, who were all already looking her way. The news of Alex Fedorov being on campus had spread like wildfire, so they all knew who he was when they came in. His greeting of Sara meant that she now had their undivided attention. "I want to introduce you to my boyfriend's brother-in-law, Alex Fedorov. Alex, well this is everybody who's here for the summer crew workouts."

"It is great to meet you all. My lovely wife and I will be here for a couple of weeks, so I look forward to seeing some of you again. Have a great day of training."

With that, Alex turned and walked away.

Sara's single present crewmate, a very tall, and socially anxious girl named Kail Sunderland who rowed with Sara in the engine room, came up to her excitedly.

"Girl -- OK so many questions! One: boyfriend? Two: his brother-in-law is Alex Fedorov? I heard the gossip about him last night and this morning. Is your boyfriend the mysterious 'DeGroat 51'? The girls who were there said he's hot as hell, and can really skate. Finally, where is your scrawny ass girlfriend?" Kail shot the questions at her rapid fire.

"So, yes. His name is Andy DeGroat and he does wear #51. He is damn fine. And yes, Alex Fedorov is his brother-in-law. Eden is in Paris. Her sister is dancing prima with the Paris ballet, so she and her parents flew there for the premiere. She'll be back Saturday or Sunday, we're not sure."

The head crew coach came out, along with an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Testing stations were assigned, and a board ranked and kept track of each athlete's performance. Alex subtly watched Sara as she warmed up, and then as she tested each event. She was an explosive athlete -- 'twitchy' -- would be the term. Her vertical testing beat some of the men, and she was easily the best all-around athlete on the women's side of the team. He texted both Jessica and Andrew.

Brother, you have indeed chosen well. Sara is an exceptional athlete. Your children will be fast and strong skaters. Good thing their Uncle Alex will be there to help coach them. :)

As the testing was going on, the third member of their four-woman crew came in and reported to the coach. Her tardiness had been expected, and therefore excused. She was Grace Federspiel, and along with rowing crew, she was the TA for Andy's calculous class.

"Hey girl," said Kail as she walked to her crew mates. "What's up with you? You look all -- I dunno -- kinda spaced out, or something. Fantasizing about string theory again?"

"The most beautiful man I have ever seen is in my Calc I class, I mean like my ovaries are screaming at me to have his children. His name is Andrew DeGroat, and he's rugged -- he's got these cool scars on his left arm..."

"And the left side of his neck?" finished Sara, looking at her crew mate coldly.

"Oh damn," laughed Kail. "Grace is macking on Sara's man, and my girl has no idea she's doing it."

Grace turned towards Kail and turned pale. "What did you say?"

"Andy DeGroat. He's Sara's boyfriend. His brother-in-law is right over there -- Alex Fedorov. He came and greeted Sara, and she introduced him to everybody. Nice guy. Great hair. M&M's, does Andy have hair that nice?"

"He was a Marine, so it's still a bit short. He's receiving the Navy Cross at the end of the summer, so he'll grow it out after the ceremony."

Sara said all this coldly, never taking her eyes off Grace. Grace began to blush.

"So, this beautiful guy in my Calc I class is your man? I finally meet the perfect dude -- and he's your boyfriend? Dammit! I mean, I'm happy for you, but dammit!"

"Ladies, is everything OK? It looks like there may be a fight, or something, going on soon," asked the coach.

"All good here coach. Grace just met her dream guy -- not knowing he's Sara's boyfriend. So -- nothing to see here. But thanks," Kail quipped.

Testing completed, they were moving to the boathouse to check on oars and hulls. A teammate came up excitedly to Sara, "You're getting married in December? A friend of mine was talking with Evan Winters and he said you're engaged or something?"

"We are -- tentatively. We still need to talk to my mom, and we don't have a ring yet, but yes. We're getting married in December."

Sara expected the words to come out of her haltingly. But as she said them, she felt not the least bit of catch or embarrassment. She felt, well, she felt at peace. She also felt happy, so happy she could not contain the tears that welled in her eyes.

"Damn girl!" Kail exclaimed. "Not only did you shoot down Grace, but you're got this dude locked down! I like it. No, I really like it. My girl M&M's has game!"

"Wait, seriously?" asked Grace. "I lay eyes on this guy for the first time this morning and you've already landed him -- not just dating him -- but you're gonna marry him?"

Sara nodded, and giggled through her tears.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Grace stomped as she cursed.

This time the crew coach came up to them.

"Ladies, what is the problem today? You have a chance to three-peat as the national championship crew, in fact you're the favorites. Now, on the first day of summer workouts, Eden is away in Paris, and every time I look over here, I see some kind of drama."

Kail responded rapid-fire, "Coach, we're good. We're dealing with some girl stuff, but we're good. Sara's getting married to an absolute dreamboat named Andy DeGroat in December, and Grace is pissed because she has him in her Calc I class, and wanted to have his children. So, like I said: stuff -- but good. We'll sing Kumbaya and hug it out. We're girls, it's what we do."

The coach looked at them dumbfounded, and then walked away.

Kail laughed out loud, and not surprisingly, her laugh was loud and raucous. Sara giggled, and finally, even Grace had to laugh.

"So, when do we get to meet Mr. Dreamy DeHottie?" asked Kail. "Because I may want to throw my panties at him, too. Did you two bitches not think about that? He may get one look at me and be like, 'Sayonara beautiful Sara and Grace. I'm rolling with the beast of burden Brunhilda here.'"

When their morning workout was completed, the three turned to leave the boat house together. As they were walking out, the strength and conditioning coach called out to Sara. She shrugged her shoulders at her crew mates, and they indicated they'd wait for her. She walked back the 20-feet to the coach -- who was, thankfully, a female.

"Your test scores are incredible, Sara. I always knew you had it in you, but you could never quite unleash the beast. What gives? Whatever you're doing, please let me know. We'll bottle it and sell it -- or at least share with your teammates. I'm serious, I've never seen a female athlete test the way you did today."

Sara giggled, something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. "Andy DeGroat," she said.

"Is he your trainer?"

"No ma'am, he's my boyfriend. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel more relaxed and happier. I can just be me and do what I do. I know that doesn't really help, or make sense -- but he's the reason."

"Well, we can't really bottle him, can we? Anyway, congratulations on both your testing and your boyfriend. I'm really happy for you. Now, if we can get some of that for Eden," she said grinning.