[Once again, I want to thank Gaius Petronius for his editing help. I gave him a tight time frame and he did as much as he could in the time he had. Any editing issues are attributable to me.]
Carol Rogers got off the plane with her two oldest daughters, Abigail and Brianna. They got to the baggage claim area where they were met by her youngest daughter, Katie, and her fiancée, Melanie Smith. In fact, Katie and Melanie were going to be married in just over a month. But this time the family was celebrating a different occasion, Katie's college graduation.
Katie and Melanie had been best friends and teammates on a premier soccer team for two years. Then they both got soccer scholarships to a Division I University in California. Still teammates and now roommates they had won the National Championship the previous season.
Melanie had completed her undergraduate degree the year before, but had remained at the school (and on the soccer team) as she began her work on her Master's Degree. She still had one more year to go, and so Katie was going to stay at the school and be an assistant coach for the soccer team. She was taking some Master's level courses that would help her in the future. Katie's plan was to be a physical education teacher and soccer coach at a high school or middle school.
After getting back to Katie and Melanie's home, Carol and her daughters got a second wind and they were up until very late at night just talking about anything and everything. This caused everyone to sleep in late the next morning. They got up and went to lunch at one of the campus eateries. Then Katie and Melanie took Carol, Abigail, and Brianna on a grand tour of the campus.
At dinner, they met up with Josephine (Jo) Napoli and her parents, Angelina and Vito. Jo was graduating with Katie. She had also been on the Soccer Team the last two years with Katie and Melanie. Also at the table was Margaret, Jo's fiancée. Margaret had only finished her sophomore year and still had two more years to go. However, rather than leave her, Jo changed her future plans and decided to stay at the school to work on her Master's degree in history. She also had made arrangements to be an assistant coach along with Katie. Jo made all these decisions and arrangements first and then asked Margaret to marry her. Fortunately for Jo, Margaret had said yes.
Margaret was a cheerleader at the school. She was also majoring in Electrical Engineering. Back when Jo was in high school, she had been hurt by another girl. She had given up on the notion of love and during her two years at a junior college, she had been very active sexually. And at first the same pattern held true at this school. In fact, Margaret had been one of Jo's "conquests" during that first semester they were both at the school.
The four of them were now best of friends and they loved each other very much. That love was occasionally expressed in a way that included sex. The parents of all four knew about their friendship. And as their daughters were two engaged couples, the parents certainly had no illusions about the future spouses. But they were not aware of the full extent or complexity of the relationship between the four of them. As far as the daughters were concerned, that was on a "need to know" basis and the parents didn't need to know, yet.
Dinner was another great time as stories were shared and relationships forged. The most fun were the stories of Katie and Jo as younger children, which everyone loved, except Katie and Jo.
Katie and Jo each had ceremonies for their individual majors. Everyone went to both ceremonies. Carol noticed that Margaret sat next to Jo's mother Angelina and they were talking so easily, as if Angelina had known Margaret her whole life. Carol was very happy to see this. She knew that Margaret's mother had died when she was very young and that Margaret's relationship with her stepmother was very strained. Carol was pleased to see that Margaret might have the kind of relationship with her mother-in-law that she did not have with her stepmother and that life had denied her with her own mother.
Jo's ceremony had been first and when her name was called and she walked across the stage to get her diploma, there was a small eruption of noise from both the Napoli and Rogers clans. Jo loved it.
The same thing happened at Katie's ceremony. So, when "Katie Rogers" was called, there was a second small eruption. Things like this had always been an annoyance for Katie at soccer games, but she smiled broadly at the little knot of people in the audience who were making the noise this time.
After the ceremony Margaret asked Katie, "I was surprised that they only said 'Katie' for your name. Did you have to ask them special for that?"
"Katie is my actual name."
"What?!?" Jo piped in. "I always assumed it was Katherine or something."
At this point Carol jumped in. "The older girls are Abigail and Brianna, but we've always called them Abi and Bri. Before Katie was born, Paul and I liked the name Catherine with a "C" but we didn't want their initials to be A, B, C. So, we were thinking about Katherine with a "K." Then her father said 'Look everyone is going to call her Katie anyway. So will we. And so will the girls (Abigail and Brianna). Why don't we just start there?' And that's what we did."
Jo turned to Katie and said, "I've known you for about two years now,
well.
" Melanie was shocked that Jo had made the implied reference to their sexual relationship, but neither Carol Rogers nor Angelina Napoli seemed to react so she was relieved it went unnoticed. Jo continued "So how come this is the first I am hearing about this?"
"Jo, you've been calling me Katie for two years. Have you ever heard anyone else call me Katherine?"
"No."
"And...?"
"I don't know. I just didn't realize it, that's all."
The main ceremony was out on the Intramural Fields. There were thousands of chairs set up and all the speeches were given. Now Katie and Jo joined Melanie as graduates. This called for another celebratory dinner. Jo had been very specific that they could not go to an Italian restaurant. "My mom will end up back in the kitchen telling them they were doing it wrong and trying to cook our meals. Let's just do a steak place."
After the dinner they went back to Jo and Margaret's place for an open house party. Along with the families, some people stopped by from the Soccer Team and the Cheer Squad. Carol got to spend some time with Neve Cohill and was very impressed with the young woman's maturity. Her play the last season and particularly in the National Championship game had created a bit of buzz around her in the women's soccer world. Neve remained a humble and charming person and said a lot of complementary things about Katie. So naturally, Carol became a quick fan.
At some point, Angelina Napoli pulled Katie and Melanie aside. "I know my Bambina is not too subtle. And as smart as Margaret is, she gives up more than she knows when she talks. I heard what Josephine said earlier and I guess it confirmed what I already suspected. She had problems at the end of high school and it probably cost her some scholarships. And it was nice that she was close to home for a couple more years, but she wasn't happy. I would ask her and she would say she was, but I'm her mother and I knew different. But since she's been out here, she's been truly happy. And I've known how much you two are a part of that. You kids today have different options, different realities than your mothers or I had at your age. I also know that she loves you both very much and now I just know how much." At this she gave a little smile to the girls. Katie started to blush a little but Melanie just continued to look back at her. "But I am just happy she has had you two in her life and I hope you will continue to be there for her."
Melanie replied, "Ms. Napoli, I am not going to confirm or deny anything you seem to suspect. But I can say that Katie and I love Josephine very much. And Margaret too. And no matter where we all end up, I suspect we will always find ways to get together as much as we can." (Melanie knew better than to use the nickname "Jo" in speaking of her friend "Josephine" in her mother's presence.)
Angelina Napoli wrapped her arms around the girls and pulled them into a giant hug.
Jo called everyone into the living room and as they sat down, she ran a cable from her laptop to the television. A few clicks on the laptop and a video of the soccer team's highlights was playing on the television for everyone to see. Everyone enjoyed watching the events play out, but Carol also made a point of asking Jo how she had done it as it had given her an idea.
