Finding Home

Author's note: thank you for the kind comments and reviews. You met one of my favorite characters in the last installment: Kail Sunderland. She is, roughly speaking, a composite of two lovely women I've had the good fortune of calling my friends over the years. Eden gets re-introduced, and I hope her fans will approve of how she eventually re-enters the lives of her besties.

Tuesday

Andy's internal alarm clock got him up at 5 AM. Reluctantly, he got out of their warm and hospitable bed. Today was a kettlebell day. As he worked through a heavy complex of "Simple but Sinister" his mind paced. He wanted Saturday to be perfect, and he knew how many people he wanted at Le Bernadin to celebrate their engagement. The problem was logistics. He didn't have the time, nor the space, to make the arrangements necessary and surprise Sara. Then it hit him: Aunt Jane. He really wanted Hank and Jane there, but he knew that was a long shot. Enlisting his great aunt would kill two birds with one stone. She would handle every logistical issue with deft skill, and the fact of her doing so would increase the likelihood of their attendance. He stepped outside the Commons and made the call. Not surprisingly, she was awake at 5:45 AM, and was very glad to assist Andy and Sara. She and Helen talked daily, and her sister, "does not stop talking about that girl, Andrew. My sister is quite taken with her. Hank and I must meet her, and soon."

___________________________________________________________

Andy was in the shower, and he heard Sara come in. He heard the commode flush, and her brushing her teeth. As he was rinsing off, he felt her luscious body hug him from behind.

"Good morning, baby," she said softly.

"It is now that you're here, my love," he replied.

He turned to face her, and the two shared a slow and sensual good-morning kiss.

"I love you," he said to her.

"Damn right you do," she said giggling.

"You are so amazing. I don't just mean the sex; I mean all of it. I loved watching you and Jessica talk last night. You make me amazingly happy, Sara. Thank you."

"Well, like I told Jessica last night, you ring all my bells, and some I didn't even know I had," she smiled, winking at him.

"I'm both comforted and conflicted by the fact that you and she talk about our love life," he said.

"Baby, that's what sisters do, we talk about our men dicking us down, and knocking us up. I know all about her and Alex," she teased.

"OK, I'm gonna cry mercy and beg you to change the subject. Can I wash you? I promise not to molest you while I do so."

"The only way you can wash me is if you promise to molest me. Baby, last night was so hot. You rocked my world. You'd think I'd be good this morning, but nope. I want 10-inches of you buried in me."

As she said this, she reached down and found his hard cock and began stroking him lovingly. He groaned into her mouth as she kissed him.

"Let's sit on the bench, I'll ride you hard and fast. Then you can wash me and we can talk."

True to her word, 2 minutes later the lovers were breathing heavily, having orgasmed sooner than either would have supposed. Sara got up, and began to wash herself.

"I thought that was my job," said Andy.

"Baby, you do lots of things for me, I can do this, I think," she said giggling.

"I know you can, but what if I want to do it for you?" he asked, coming up behind her and massaging her breasts.

"Mmm," she cooed. "Damn boy, you make me crazy. But no!" She pulled away from him, covering her bountiful breasts as she did so. "Please go set on the bench, or dry off, or something. We have shit to do today, and sadly, playing with me all day is not in the cards. We need to have another uncomfortable conversation," she said.

Andy sat down on the bench. "More uncomfortable than you talking to my sister about our sex life?' he jibed.

"Yes -- for you anyway. This is about money. To be precise, it's about how much money you're going to spend on my ring. Baby, I don't want a big rock. That's not us. Now, I have to admit, there is a part of me that wants a big piece of ice to wave in the face of bitches like Elizabeth and Sophia, but that's not us, either. Your family doesn't roll like that. I'm learning class and grace and elegance from Miss Helen, and that would definitely not be a Miss Helen move. It would be a 'Sara from the block' move, however," she giggled.

"Well, the done thing is three-months' salary," said Andy. "How about that?"

"Deal," said Sara. "How much did you make a month in the Marine Corps?" she asked.

"With combat pay as a sergeant, I made $50K a year. So, I guess, what $4K and change a month? So, we're looking for a $12,000 dollar ring?"

"Yes. And, as Ellen and I have been messaging one another, I'd rather focus on color, and clarity. I really don't care about carat - how big it is."

"You want quality over size," he added.

"Yes," she turned to look at him, looking absolutely breathtaking. "Thankfully you give me both size and quality with that beautiful dick of yours, so I don't need to choose there. I want to choose quality, though, when it comes to the ring."

He laughed. She walked over to him and kissed him.

"Thank you, baby. You spoil me," she whispered.

"You let me, I should be thanking you," he replied.

"Keep eating my pussy. That's the best thank-you I've ever gotten," she grinned. "No wonder Eden would not shut up when you went down on her."

"Is that all we have to talk about? My lovely fiancé wore me out last night, and I'm hungry. I need to refuel to keep up with her," he quipped.

"One more thing -- for now. We can talk some more at breakfast," she said. "Baby, I felt you tense up when Jessica mentioned the SWAT team. I want you to know you can do whatever you want, but I'd rather you didn't do that. You'd hate it. I will take care of seeing you never leave our house hungry or horny, but I'd rather you didn't hate your job."

"Thank you. We have a deal." he said. After a pause, he spoke, "Every time I pick up my sniper rifle, I see Romeo. I loved him, Sara. I miss him like hell. At some point, I'll shoot again, because I do enjoy it, and I'm damn good at it."

She bent down and kissed him softly.

"God, I love you," he whispered.

"Me too," she said.

__________________________________________________________

They had intended to eat breakfast alone, but Cooper and Jeannie soon joined them. Sara knew Andy could not turn them away when they asked if they could join the couple, so it was she who told them yes. He looked at her and smiled, and she whispered, "This is how we do us." He took her hand and kissed it.

Quiet and timid Jeannie had been replaced by the Crimson Dynamo. Her red hair was pulled back, and she talked freely at a volume - in both decibels and word count -- that Andy could not believe. She and Cooper talked hockey, and Calculous, ad nauseum. They had indeed missed him at math lab, but that meant they got to work with Grace Federspiel, and she explained all they were struggling with. Two hours with Grace and they felt much better about surviving the experience. Sara smiled at that comment; she'd share this insight with Grace as they were rowing.

Sara's phone buzzed. She read the text from Jessica, and smiled at Andy. "Jess and Alex want to have lunch with you. Coach wants us to eat as a team, so I'm afraid the Misfit crew is out. She also said your grandmother is coming this afternoon with my wardrobe -- the alterations will be done this morning, so she's picking them up and will meet us at the Commons. She wants to sit down with us before dinner, so leave some time, OK? Baby, I've got to go." Sara rose to leave, kissed him goodbye and told him she loved him, and that "my man kicks ass." Andy watched her leave, and was rewarded with extra wiggle from her amazing hips -- which he knew was just for him. He noticed other males watching her walk away - some of them painfully obvious as they did so - and he laughed out loud.

"Andy, what's so funny?" asked Jeannie.

"Well, Crimson Dynamo, Cooper here will tell you that last year there were some people on our fair campus who thought Sara and her roommate Eden were lesbians. But just now, as my fiancé was leaving the Dining Commons, at least three tables of dudes were staring at her backside as she walked out. I find that really, really funny."

"That doesn't piss you off?" asked Cooper. "I don't think I'd like dudes checking out my lady like that. I'd feel jealous."

"That's just it, Cooper," Andy replied. "You know who she's wiggling her ass for? Me. She's mine and I'm hers, and it's amazing. Those dudes who were checking her out? They won't lie next to her tonight, but I will." Andy grinned as he said that last sentence.

______________________________________________________________

At the first break of the four-hour Calculus marathon, Andy was approached by the two volleyball players: Haylee Larson and Sydney Steele. They were both over six feet tall, and sported broad shoulders. They were both beautiful women, and Andy realized he would have found them really appealing five days ago. Now, however, they didn't move the needle. This brought a smile to his face.

"Hey Andy, can we talk to you for a second?" asked Haylee.

"Sure, how can I help the two of you?" he replied.

"We went to your brother-in-law's hockey exhibition last night. You two are really good as a defensive pair. It's kind of funny to see a few of the Colton hockey players brought down a notch or two. Some of those guys can be real douche bags," said Sydney.

"I'm glad you came out. It's been a lot of fun to skate with Alex. He's outstanding, and I just try to stay out of his way and mind my small part of our zone," said Andy.

"Well, we just wanted to thank you for inviting a woman to play with you. That Jeannie girl is a good goalie -- but no one would know that if you hadn't given her a chance. People kind of shit on female athletes at this school, so it was great to see one of us shine when she got the chance," said Haylee.

Andy grinned, "Well, The Crimson Dynamo was a surprise. But you're right, she can really play. The women's team got a steal in that girl. And asking her to play was Alex's idea. It's his show, really. I'm just his workout partner."

Sydney spoke reluctantly, "Speaking of workout partners, there's actually one more thing we want to ask you about. You probably know that your girlfriend, er, I mean fiancé, absolutely destroyed every testing metric for female athletes at Colton. I'd kill to have her vertical, and her shuttle run was freaking amazing! Well, we heard that one of the coaches asked her about it, and she said 'Andy DeGroat.' Are you training her or something?"

Andy laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at your question." He paused, "I'm not her personal trainer. We're just very much in love, and helping one another deal with some stuff in our lives. You really should talk to Sara about it, I'm sure she'd love to talk to you. I'm afraid I don't know what more to say."

"Everybody can see how different she is," said Sydney again, "It's like she's softer, or something. She looks really, really happy. We're glad for her."

"Thank you," said Andy.

The time for their break was just about gone, but Haylee asked one more question, "Could we crash your study group? The cheerleaders are too busy scheming how to get with you and Cooper to do any work. One of us may have a thing for Cooper, so hearing that is a non-starter for us. Plus, this shit is hard, and we both need to do well. Would your group be open to us joining them?" The tall woman flashed a conspiratorial grin as she asked her question, while her friend and teammate blushed furiously.

"I'll ask Cooper and Jeannie. We meet in the math lab in the library at 2 PM. I hear Grace is a really good TA, so you may want to use her as a resource. She's great in general as well, I'm told."

"Thanks Andy," said Haylee. "We're looking forward to coming to the rink tonight, it's actually kind of fun. I think most of the campus is coming tonight. There's not much else to do during summer term, so it's great."

___________________________________________________________

Andy, Cooper, and Jeannie headed to the Dining Commons for lunch with Haylee and Sydney in tow. Andy noticed with some interest that Cooper had gravitated towards Sydney while they walked across campus. Sara, Kail and Grace were outside the Commons, talking with Alex and Jessica. Alex called out to him in Russian, "Brother, I see your band of misfits is increasing. Soon, half of campus will be following you."

Andy laughed, and responded (in Russian), "Actually, they're following me because they heard I can introduce them to the great hockey player. They're using me to get to you."

From behind him, Andy heard Jeannie growl, "Seriously, you guys drive me nuts with that crap. Get it out of your systems now, because I swear if you do that to me tonight, I'm slashing both of you."

Andy went to Sara, hugged her and kissed her passionately, but not inappropriately. "Hello lovely," he said smiling to her.

"Mmm. Hi, baby," she replied.

He then hugged and kissed Jessica on the cheek, and exchanged a 'man hug' with Alex.

"Damn Gracie, you see this shit? Four slammin' women standing here, and he acts like two of us don't exist. JFed and Kisses get hugs and kisses, and two of us get 'talk to the hand' from Dreamy DeHottie. I call bullshit," Kail protested.

"Wait," said Jessica, "when did I become JFed?" she asked.

"Last night, when we were watching Sara talking with you, and getting all ooey-gooey watching Dreamy here. She used to be M&M's -- you know -- hard candy shell and milk chocolate center? But now, she's more like a Hershey's kiss. No shell. JFed and Kisses. Gracie feels me, don't you my bitch?"

Andy looked at Sara with a mischievous grin on his face, and she nodded to him. He moved in front of Kail.

"Special K, you're absolutely right," he said right before he hugged the tall girl and kissed her on the cheek. Andy then moved to Grace, but the look of trepidation in her eyes meant he took her hand and kissed it, forgoing the hug entirely. Both looked utterly shocked. Sara giggled, and everyone laughed -- Kail and Grace included.

Finally, Kail spoke, "Special K, huh? Dreamy DeHottie, I knew you were my bitch. Kisses, this one's a keeper. He gets the Special K seal of approval. Now, practice was a bear. Coach makes us row with 3 instead of 4 since Elsa has her scrawny ass in Paris. I'm hungry." With that, she smacked Andy on the ass, and turned to go into the Dining Commons.

Andy noticed Sydney and Haylee standing back out of the corner of his eye. He turned to them and said, "Wow. I'm sorry. I need to introduce the two of you to my sister and brother-in-law. Haylee Larsen and Sydney Steele, please meet Alex and Jessica Fedorov."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," said Jessica. "I'm guessing you play a sport, but I can't tell if it's volleyball or basketball?"

"We're volleyball players," said Haylee.

"It is very nice to meet you," said Alex. "I see you have fallen in with a very motley crew. You must be careful who you spend time with," he joked.

Both girls laughed. "They're really cool," said Sydney. "Alex, we want to thank you. Andy told us you invited Jeannie to play with you last night. Female athletes get second class citizen status around here, so we really appreciate you giving her a chance."

"It was my pleasure," he said, smiling. "The

Krasny motornyy chelovek

plays quite well. It is a joy to see her doing what she loves to do."

"Wait," said Jeannie nervously, "what did you call me? Crazy motor chick?"

Alex and Jessica laughed. "No sweetie," said Jessica, "he called you the Crimson Dynamo. It's a play on words from when that cheerleader called you the ginger mouse."

"Yes, and please, Crimson Dynamo, tell me you are joining us again this evening?" said Alex, "It would be a pity to be denied seeing you play again. Andrew Davidovich and I need all the help we can get."

"You can count on it, Mr. Fedorov. I'm glad you invited me to play with you," the petite girl replied, absolutely beaming.

"Guys, if you don't mind, I'd like to have lunch with Alex and Jessica alone. There's some family stuff we need to talk about," said Andy.

Cooper replied. "No problem. We'll see you at 2:30 at the math lab?"

"I'll be there," Andy replied. "I look forward to seeing all of you."

___________________________________________________________

As Alex, Jessica and Andy were eating, Sara came over to them excitedly.

"Andy, Eden just texted me. She wants to Zoom with us at 1 PM. I'm sorry baby, I know you wanted a nap, but we really do need to talk to her."

He smiled at her. "Absolutely. Come get me when you're ready to go."

As Sara walked away, Jessica turned to her brother.

"Well," smiled Jessica, "this should be interesting. Sara and I will have plenty to talk about tonight at the ice rink."

"Just a heads up," said Andy, "Haylee and Sydney were telling me that hockey night is a big hit. There's not much going on during summer term, so the bleachers may be full this evening. You may need to have Kail and Grace save you some seats."

"Grandma will be there too," she said. "I feel like I ought to warn her about Kail, but Droobie, I just love that girl. The things that come out of her mouth defy explanation -- but she is so funny!"

______________________________________________________________

"Are you OK with this, baby?" asked a worried Sara once they were back in the Commons. "I really wanted to talk to E first, but we just haven't had a chance. If you want, I can talk to her to begin, and then you can come in later."

He kissed her. "I'm totally OK with this. Eden is special to both of us. She's like your sister, and we don't bail on family -- no matter how hard the conversation. We love her, and she loves us. This will be fine."

Just then, Eden's face appeared on the monitor of Andy's computer. She looked better, much better, then when Andy had talked to her on Saturday.

"Oh my God!" Eden shrieked. "Sara, you look amazing! Andy, what have you done to my roommate? I hardly recognize her. I mean, the two of you together look -- well you look -- you look like you're in love."

Eden got very emotional, and began to choke up. Sara did the same. Finally, Andy spoke. "Thank you, Eden. I have to say, you look much better than when I saw you last. How's Paris?"

Eden wiped her eyes, and said, "Droobie, that's very diplomatic of you, so thank you. However, Ellen and I have been texting -- actually texting a lot -- since I've been in Paris. She's told me everything -- and I do mean everything. I am so happy for the two of you. I love you both so much, and to see you looking so damn fine together makes me so happy I want to scream!"

"Really?" asked Andy.

"E," interjected Sara, "we were afraid we screwed everything up with you. It's just that stuff happened so fast, and continues to happen so fast that we haven't had an opportunity to call you. And, neither of us wanted to tell you over the phone."

"I know," said Eden. "Andy, your sister is great. And -- can I just say congratulations? Sara, our boyfriend will be a highly decorated Marine. I know you probably don't want to tell us all that happened that day Andy, but please know we'd love to hear all that you can tell us when I get back."

"Thanks, Snips," said Andy. "I'd love to tell you and Sara as much as I can. Like I told you before you left -- I love you both, very much -- whatever my moving forward looks like, I want it to be with both of you."

"Well," said Eden with a smirk, "moving forward looks like my roommate, from what I've heard." She laughed.