© 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.

All Aboard Andi's Dream is the story of Andi and Paul Jarecki's Honeymoon Cruise aboard the yacht Andi's Dream. The story picks up the next day after the events of Andi's Dream - Joy To The World

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Chapter 1

The Family Honeymoon Begins

Introduction

In early December Dr. Adrianna "Andi" Roberts and her twin daughters Sandi and Madeline traveled from Denver to Western New York to visit Andi's friend Dr. Lucy Kocis then go up to Toronto for Christmas. Unfortunately, Andi got stuck in a Western New York lake effect blizzard and drove into a ditch on a country road. The only person who could help her was Paul Jarecki who owned a cabin near where she went into the ditch. Paul came with a tractor and took a suspicious Andi and her daughters back to his cabin where they waited out the storm.

They were stuck in the cabin for almost a week and suspicion became friendship, and as they learned about each other, friendship became love. They emerged from their snowy confines engaged with plans to marry on Christmas Eve. When they get to Paul's house, everything in Andi's life changed, and she realized that she and her daughters no longer have to scrimp and save because Paul is fairly well off, and he even gave Andi a yacht for Christmas.

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It's All About the People You Love

Dr. Andi Roberts, now Mrs. Andi Jarecki, stood marveling at her kitchen. When her brand-new husband, Paul Jarecki, built what he thought was a gourmet kitchen, he went all out. From the huge eight burner double oven gas stove to the 48" wide refrigerator, this kitchen was incredible, and Andi felt daunted by it. The kitchen was enormous, and Andi was not. Andi was a short, curvy, busty bundle of joy with a license to practice medicine. She has a beautiful face, not fashion model beautiful, but 'down to earth my god who is that angel' beautiful. Norwegian farm girl beautiful. Laughing mom helping her children color pictures beautiful. Concerned almost tearful doctor who is trying to give her patient bad news beautiful.

And she's short, not Peter Dinklage short. She was four and a half inches taller than him. She had a marvelous sense of humor about it, because being buried in a mountain of student loans, being left by your husband while eight months pregnant, and being the single mom of twin preemie girls for five years you must have a good sense of humor. That and a strong will, bear trap memory, and incredible friends.

It was barely a month previous since she was traveling from Denver to meet up with her closest friend, Lucy Kocsis (pronounced "coaches") when she got lost in a Western New York blizzard and ended up in a ditch. She and her girls were rescued by Dr. Paul Jarecki, a bit of a recluse with seventy-five acres and a cabin, and a house in town. And a house in Florida... actually, two houses in Florida, and ten Ford dealerships. She didn't find out about all that until after they were married in a candlelight ceremony on Christmas Eve.

For Christmas she gave her new husband a watch and a wallet, and a coffee mug that said, "We love you poppa!" featuring a picture of the twins. To Paul, these were the most wonderful gifts he could imagine. He used his coffee mug every day and gently washed it when he was done. Andi purchased them with the money she had available and was completely unaware of Paul's monetary worth, so these little gifts came from her heart and emptied her purse.

In return Paul gave her his Victorian Mansion, a new car, a seventy-two-foot sports motor yacht, two houses in Florida (co-owned with her brother and sister-in-law), a cabin in 75 acres of forest, a dozen chickens, then gave her a full accounting of their money. None of that moved Andi as much as when he gave the twins a plaque to hang in their room that announced to the world that he was adopting them.

The morning after Christmas, Andi was waiting for the restaurant model Bunn coffee maker to finish a fresh pot and for her dear friend Lucy to arrive. They had plans for a Boxing Day (whatever that is) breakfast, followed by an activity that Paul didn't describe to her other than to say it's traditional.

"Good morning, Mrs. Jarecki!" startled Andi out of her thoughtful funk. It was her husband's brother John and his wife Macy. John is a shorter, younger version of Andi's husband Paul, and Macy is a tall, slim, gorgeous black girl that was born and raised in a fishing village in Quebec which gave her the most delightful French accent. When it comes to looks, Macy and Andi are complete opposites. Macy is tall, slim and her skin is deep black. Andi is short, curvy, and very pale, but the moment they met, they fell in love. Neither woman had a sister and now they're drawing as close as Andi's twins are.

"Bonjour mon cher! The showers in that bedroom are so delightful!" purred Macy as she kissed her husband.

"Wait until you try the tub," said Andi, as she poured John and Macy a cup of coffee. It has been a tradition for John and Macy along with anyone else that wants to spend the holidays at Paul's house, and Andi encouraged that tradition. Currently, the big Victorian is housing Paul and Andi, John and Macy, the twins, Andi's parents, Harold and Heather Driscoll, Lucy Kosis, Gus Didomissio, Katrina Mays (Andi's favorite Nurse Practitioner), and Wonka the chocolate lab. Paul is currently taking Katrina to the airport to return to Denver. She only got to spend a few hours in Buffalo and she and Andi had been up since four AM chatting.

As John and Macy, still in their Christmas pajamas (they had a pajama party on Christmas Eve while Andi and Paul were spending their wedding night in Paul's cabin) sat at the large table in the very large breakfast noon, Lucy returned from work.

Lucy Kosis is a renowned pulmonologist and thoracic surgeon and unfortunately, she spent Christmas night at the County Emergency Medical Center emergency department performing one Christmas Miracle after another. Lucy is tall, athletic, and incredibly plain looking. She is a wonderful woman with a glowing smile, but she feels that she is ugly, so she puts her heart and soul into being good at everything else in life. She's an Olympic caliber cyclist, runner, skier and anything else she can do to avoid men. It didn't work because Gus Didomissio, a local contractor, has fallen head over heels in love with her, but she is trying (unsuccessfully) to keep him at arm's length as a 'buddy.'

Lucy arrived at Andi's house, dragging her exhausted body in from a 16-hour shift at the CEMC 'Knife and Gun Club' and plopped down at the table. Her newlywed friend, Andi Jarecki, looked at her with pity. Not being a surgeon, Andi only has a rough idea of what happens on these arduous nights, but the sorrow on her friend's face and the blood splatters on her scrubs told the entire story. And to top everything off, Lucy just missed her friend Katrina's departure by a half hour.

She sniffed a few times, her eyes bleary from crying all the way from Buffalo to Springville. "I have to get out of there..." she said to Andi, "what kind of woman cuts up her 3-year-old son just because she's mad at his dad?" She lowered her head to the arms she crossed on the table. "Animals," she whispered, and the tears began again. "Animals treat their children better."

Andi put on her reading glasses, became Dr. Andi, and sat down trying to consoled her oldest friend, but it was no use, she couldn't save the chopped-up toddler, but he was just the first in a blood splattered 16 hour long nightmare that was Dr. Lucy Kocis' Christmas evening. John and Macy immediately went to their friend's aid, but Lucy was inconsolable. John was a church pastor and Macy was an ordained minister with a doctorate in theology and psychology, but nothing John and Macy said helped Lucy let go of the dreadfulness of the past 16 hours. She wailed in horror about a pregnant 13-year-old and her 28-year-old 'baby daddy' with a knife, and she put her head down again and shrieked. Her body shuddering from her sobs. She waved away anyone who tried to talk to her about her shift through hell.

Gus, a tall fifty something widower, came down the back staircase and surveyed the situation and shook his head. "This isn't how to do it," he said. "Lucy needs something else." He leaned over and whispered to her, then took her hand and she slowly rose. With Gus leading the way, they headed down the back-basement stairs. The friends all shrugged, expecting maybe Gus would take her down to the couch in the media room for a snuggle, but the sound of a treadmill being used came up the stairs. "I'll go check on her," said Dr. Andi, and she headed down the stairs.

"I can't run with these damn things. They're all floppy." Lucy was standing on a treadmill, holding the legs of her scrubs and flapping them about.

"Then take them off," said Gus. "If it will make you more comfortable, then take them off and run."

She sat down on the bench and yanked her scrubs pants off over her sneakers, then stepped on the treadmill in her panties and started an easy jog. She let down her hair, then tied it up even more severely and began running. Faster and faster she went, sprinting, cursing, crying. She pulled off her scrubs shirt, leaving her in a tank top t-shirt and threw it across the room screaming, "Why do people do this shit...?"

She sprinted, her legs a blur, on and on until she was exhausted, as tired in body as she was in heart, and trying to push the shrieks of cut up children out of her head she slowed down, cooled down at a walk for a couple of minutes, then stepped off the stopped machine and went over to Gus and began weeping on his shoulder. Gus wasn't sure where to put his hands on the nearly naked surgeon that was leaning on him for support. From across the room, Andi was trying to signal, "Just hold her!" and eventually Gus got the idea and put his arms around Lucy. She pulled him tighter and shuddered, then calmed down. Gus led her to the back of the gym. "Come on, you'll feel better after a hot shower, and maybe a steam."

As he led her through the dressing room door, he called out to Andi, "Could you run up to her room and get her something to wear?"

"No problem."

Andi went up to the room that Lucy was using during the holidays and found underwear, a sweater, and a nice pair of jeans. She brought those back downstairs and left them with Gus, who was waiting outside of the dressing room. "How did you become such a wonderful coach?" Andi asked Gus.

He just grinned. "When you have three daughters who all join the track team, you learn quick."

Andi returned to the kitchen and Macy asked, "How is she?"

"Better. Gus put her on a treadmill and made her run it out. She's showering now."

Back in the kitchen, the talk was about the horrors that Lucy suffered. Even John and Macy, whose Christmas should be jolly and bright as they celebrated the birth of Christ, are all too familiar with the reason for the season: sin. "Every year, and it's getting worse," said John, "People get all boozed up during the holidays and then the fights break out."

"It's bad in Denver too," said Andi. "There's nothing you can do. Denver county just lets them go."

Lucy eventually came upstairs drying her long mouse brown hair with a towel. "How ya doing, babe?" asked Andi.

"I'm done with CEMC. I'll do in-home nursing before I go back to that slaughterhouse." CEMC is in a dangerous neighborhood and sees the worst of the worst with gang violence, domestic violence, and drug violence.

"Glad Gus could get you downstairs and let you burn out some of that anger," said John.

"Yeah, he was the perfect gentleman," she said, then made an angry face and smacked Gus in the gut with the back of her hand.

"What did I do?" asked Gus.

Lucy gave him a dope slap in the back of the head. "Nothing, that's what you did! Attsa matta fo you—eh? You see a chick, obviously emotionally vulnerable, obviously in need a buona cazzo duro, eh?" She made motions with her fist that left no doubt in anyone's mind what buona cazzo duro means, "Ba-boom ba-boom ba-boom, but what... you leave her hanging! Attsa matta Fredo? What kinda buddy are you, eh?"

Gus looked genuinely shocked. "I hope you're kidding me."

She held his face with one hand under the chin and shook his face a bit. "Yeah... mostly." Then she leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "Thank you for not taking advantage," and kissed his cheek.

He placed his hand on her cheek and their eyes studied each other, "Per te qualsiasi cosa," (for you, anything) and they kissed gently. Then she stood next to him, leaning close to bask in his warmth.

"You good, hon?" Andi asked her friend.

"Not yet, but I will be soon." And she wouldn't comment further.

"So... what's a buona cazzo duro?" asked Andi.

Gus blushed and mumbled, but Macy, Andi's elegant, beautiful sister-in-law with beautiful mocha black skin, said as she peered into her coffee, "It's what you were getting at twelve forty-five last night."

"I... we... uh... oh." Sputtered Andi, getting the idea. Twelve forty-five last night is why her pussy aches so much. She looked at Lucy and said, "You must tell me how you knew that."

"Where's the traditional Boxing Day breakfast?" asked Macy before Lucy could answer.

"Some slow poke lost a quick race last night and was supposed to make breakfast," said Andi.

"Did I say make? Or did I say provide?" said Paul as he strolled into the kitchen. "Let's load up folks. Ayato is waiting for us at Worzles."

Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll promised to keep an eye on the twins when they woke up from the most active day in their little lives, so the six piled into their vehicles and drove the few blocks to Worzles and found the 'gin mill' open.

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Boxing Day

They could have walked, but their vehicles were filled with gifts that needed to be transported among the sick, elderly, and needy of Springville and their caregivers. Entering Worzels, they immediately saw a couple of bar flies were already sipping draft beers at the far end of the bar. John went directly to the two usuals, while Paul walked up to the bar while tugging Andi along by the hand. Ayato and Paul looked at each other for a moment. "Colonel," said Paul in a greeting.

"Colonel," replied Ayato, then his inscrutable Japanese features broke into a smile as they shook hands, "great spread yesterday." Ayato and his wife were guests at last night's Christmas feast at Paul's house.

"I'm hoping to see an equivalent feast this morning."

Ayato thought for a moment, snapped his fingers, and said, "I'll open an extra can of fruit salad." They both chuckled and Ayato continued, "the table is already set up in the back."

John appeared and, pointing to the two early morning drinkers, said, "can you get those two some breakfast to sop up that beer? Put it on my brother's tab."

"Will do Padre."

Ayato's wife Julissa, a tough chick if there ever was one, brought out bowls of scrambled eggs, plates of bacon, stacks of biscuits with sausage gravy on the side. She saw Paul and greeted him with, "Mornin' Colonel."

"Morning to you too, sergeant. Care to join us today?"

"For breakfast or the distribution?"

"Both, if possible."

The hard-bitten NCO screwed up her face and thought, "I better hang around here, except for the Sisters of Mercy home. I have friends there." The Sisters of Mercy is a nursing home that was one of their usual Boxing Day stops.

"I'll make sure whoever draws the Sisters picks you up."

Once everyone was seated at the table, John said grace and they dug in and explained to Lucy and Andi that Boxing Day is an old British holiday where "postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds" expected to get a Christmas gratuity. It's not a holiday in the US but in Canada le Lendemain de Noel. The day after Christmas is a national holiday, and since Western New York is close to Canada, it's not unusual to see Boxing Day celebrated in the area.

Boxing Day is celebrated in different ways throughout the world but is always centered on giving to the less fortunate. John's Springville Congregational Church and other churches in the village team up to hand out gifts to the elderly and forgotten of Springville. As they ate, groups from the other churches showed up and sat at the tables and the booths and had breakfast as well.

Once breakfast was done, Father Juan from St. Aloysius held up a clipboard and whistled for attention. Father Juan was a short, wrinkled gray-haired Hispanic with an infectious grin and a gift for organizing. He read off the instructions for the Boxing Day distribution, a task that would be boring, but Father Juan could draw out laughs from the entire crowd as he went through the myriad of dos and don'ts. When he was done, he called for the teams to get their gifts and head out.

Teams were set up in twos and fours and as they headed out to the parking lot, their list of locations was handed to them. Gift boxes were in Paul's truck, John's car, Father Juan's jeep, and the trunk of Pastor Vincent from Trinity Lutheran church's car. Folks checked their list, picked up as many gift boxes as they would need, and off they went to distribute the gifts.

The weather was typical Buffalo weather for Boxing Day; it was frigid when they went into the bar, warm and sunny with snow melting rapidly when they headed out to hand out the gifts, and cold and rainy when the gift distribution was over.

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"So, this is the one, eh?" asked Father Juan after the distribution was over and teams returned to Worzils to hand in their completed lists.

"Yes Padre, this is the woman who has held my heart captive for five years," said Paul, putting an arm around Andi.

"He did the same to me," said Andi while shaking Father Juan's hand, "and neither one of us knew it."

"This must be an interesting tale," said Father Juan, holding Andi's tiny hands in his.

"Paul is going to have to tell it, Father. Macy, Lucy and I have shopping to do before we set off on our Honeymoon cruise," said Andi, antsy to get going.

"You go shop then and stop by St. Aloysius when you get back. I'll light a candle for you." As the girls exited the building and hopped in Paul's truck and headed for Orchard Park, Father Juan signaled Pastor Vincent over to their table, then caught Ayato's attention and held up one finger. "So, what is this I hear about? She held your heart captive for five years?"

Ayato showed up with a pitcher of beer and several glasses and, knowing his clientele, he brought a pitcher of Coke, then stayed close. He wanted to hear, too. "It's probably nothing at all, but we like to think it was something. Five years ago, I went to a medical conference in Minneapolis. I think it was in November or something like that. All I remember is that it was frigid, thirty below. When I was there, I met Andi. She was pregnant and had that radiant smile that women who are happy to be carrying have." He paused for a long sip of beer.

"I hope there's more to it than that. I have work to do," groused Ayato.

"Oh, hush up. I'm trying to hear too," called Julissa from behind the bar.

"I don't know. You tell me. Before, and I mean just before Andi and I met, her husband met up with a cocktail waitress and left her. No kidding, he was a real piece of work. Left a note on the nightstand and took off with this babe for Branson, Missouri," Paul said to the mumbles coming from the ever-growing crowd. "So, like I said, we met, we talked a little lung doctor talk, we talked a little heart doctor talk, we posed for a group photo, and that was it. The whole thing was a waste of time, as far as I was concerned. Good thing South Boston hospital picked up the tab. She went back to Denver, and I came back here and that was it."

"So, where's the twilight zone material?" asked a voice from the crowd.

"So, she goes back to Denver and suddenly she started to have complications and fierce contractions. They rush her to the ED and next thing you know; the twins are born caesarian. Tiny, tiny preemies." Paul paused for a moment, trying to imagine the twins at birth. He wished for the thousandth time he were there to help, to hold Sandy and Madeline, especially his Maddy. Paul and Madeline have a special love for each other. He continued; "Meanwhile, I come back here and what do I do? I started updating the house on Howard, darn near every room..."

"That's right," said Gus. "Paul has had me and my guys on that house non-stop and we're still not done."

"Not done?" asked Paul.

"Andi has a few ideas she brought up to me. Go back to your story," said Gus to general laughter.

Paul gave Gus a glance then knocked back his beer and poured himself another cold one from the pitcher on the table. "So, what is going on? Out on the farm, I built a second cabin with all the modern conveniences..."

"Indoor plumbing and the works!" added Gus, who did the work.

"That's right. But I also dug out the pond. I ordered four truckloads of sand and added a beach. What am I going to do with a beach?"

"Macy and I came up with a few things to do on the beach," added John to the general laughter.

"And I built a lifeguard tower...

"I thought that was a deer stand," said a drunk at the bar.

"It's that too," said Gus to general laughter.

"But the moment I met Andi, it was the last time I talked to a woman alone. No dates, no movies, no calls, and you know what? I didn't care. I was busy. If you remember, that's when the car business exploded, too."

John nodded in agreement. "I remember that. You kept saying that you had to put money away 'for a rainy day' and you pushed and acquired more dealerships. I don't remember you ever having as much as a savings account before this, and suddenly, you're investing and setting up annuities."

"Meanwhile, in Denver, Andi is having the same thing with men that I'm having with women. They're not calling her and she's not caring. She's got her job and her babies. Then one day her boss sees that South Boston, tiny little South Boston hospital is going to have a medical conference and offers Andi the chance to go, and she jumps on it because she has an exceptionally good friend here working at CEMC. She packs up the twins, flies to Buffalo, and gets stuck in a snowdrift practically in my backyard. The Town of Concord PD calls me and asks if I can go pluck a tourist out of the ditch."

"When I see her, she's terrified. She doesn't know me from a mad rapist. She wouldn't let me help. In fact, she told me to go away. I couldn't go. I could not leave her and the babies behind. So, I knelt down in that storm in the middle of the street and prayed that something would happen. Anything that would help. I'm freezing, cold, wet, and just praying for those babies. And just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, her phone rings. It's 911 telling her who her rescuer would be..."

Paul took a long drink before continuing and one of the barflies yelled, "Who's it gonna be???"

After the laughter settled down, Paul said, "Me! Why else would I be telling this? She let me take her back to my cabin and warm up some, and soon we warm up to each other. And soon it was like... like our hearts flowered, we couldn't be apart more than 10 feet. I asked her to marry me, out of the blue, the idea just popped into my head, and at the same time I asked her, she asked me, the idea just popped in her head too."

The room was quiet except for the chatter from a football pregame show on the TV.

"Anyhow, that's the story," said Paul. "Take it for what it's worth, but that's what happened." He got up and placed his empty glass on the bar. "I have to go back and help the twins take down the Christmas tree so we can get on the road."

"I'll catch up with you," called out John, and after Paul had left and started walking home, Pastors John and Vincent, and Father Juan all leaned back in their chairs. John sipped from his cola and shook his head. "They both believe that it is the Holy Spirit that brought them together in Minneapolis, and when they separated the Holy Spirit isolated them from the opposite sex until the Holy Spirit saw fit to bring them back together and, they both told me this on separate occasions, 'unlocked their hearts'."

"Spiritually, where are they?" asked Pastor D'Angelo.

"Right now? Andi was brought up Christian until her father was killed in Iraq and her mother's faith was shattered. Her mother remarried. Harold is a very nice guy, a lapsed Jew. She went to friends' weddings, she attended church on random occasions for random reasons, but otherwise a lost soul."

"But now she has a real hunger for God's word, she told Macy that when she first sat down to dinner with Paul, and he broke bread during grace, she knew it was communion, and knew there was a reason for her being there at that very moment. It's been a hectic few weeks, but she wants to learn, she wants to join our church, and when it comes time, she wants to be baptized in their pond."

"As for Paul, he's doing very good. He is on the brink of eldership."

"What do you, the brother, think?" asked Father Juan, finishing his beer.

"I really don't know," said John. "I see a couple happily married after knowing each other for only a few weeks, and they are truly in love. Or at least think they are. Andi tells me that quick engagements and long marriages run in her family. She and Paul are the slowpokes. If you total up all the time between the moment they met and the moment they said, 'I do' for Andi, her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother you come up with less than 3 months total, but their marriages have all been till death do us part."

"It truly has to be His spirit. Nowadays we just don't recognize it," said Pastor Vincent, nodding in agreement.

Father Juan shook his head, "I don't know, I'm not convinced, and what about her first marriage..."

"ENOUGH!" roared Ayato. "You guys, you theologians get together and pick, pick, pick, you dissect everything and take the joy out of life. Let God be God and let Him do His thing and let the lovers' love! Isn't their love a reflection of God's love? Didn't He say, "Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor will my covenant of peace be removed?"

The Springville men of God looked at Ayato in shock. From back in the kitchen, Julissa yelled, "You tell 'em, babe!"

"It was a month for Julissa and me," said the retired lieutenant colonel as he picked up the empty glassware.

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"I can't wear this to a party, it might be handy if I was breastfeeding twins again though," Andi was trying on dresses to wear to the New Year's Eve party and the current selection showed incredible amounts of side-boob from multiple directions.

"You look darling!" said Macy.

"Paul will like it a lot, but not out in public." She was wearing a copper sequin plunging cowl neck, a backless minidress that Macy picked out for her. More of her skin was exposed than covered. The neckline plunged to her naval and whenever she moved, one of her nipples popped out. The dress was backless, and the beltline was so low the dimples above her rear cheeks could be seen.

"I like it. You should get it."

"This makes my legs look fat. Why did you pick this?" demanded Andi.

Macy smiled. "Because look!"

Lucy stepped out of the dressing room wearing a gold sequin plunging cowl neck, backless minidress, the same dress as Andi, just a different color. Its plunging neckline showed off her incredible abs, and the backless dress showed off her muscular back. "I feel so naked," she said sadly. She turned to Andi. "One wrong move and you show off everything you have, and I show off everything I wished I had."

"You look beautiful! If we do something with your hair," said Macy, taking Lucy's hair out of its perpetual bun and she began teased it with a comb until she was satisfied. "Just wait," said Macy and she ducked into the dressing room and came out moments later in the same dress but this time in silver, which both Lucy and Andi said was beautiful on her.

"You forgot the important part," said Macy, producing a roll of double-sided 'Fashion Tape.' She applied pieces here and there, using tape to hold the dresses in place on the doctors. "How is that?"

Andi and Lucy moved around and found that they were still covered. The dresses stayed in place. Macy handed her phone to the salesgirl and asked for her to take a photo of the three of them together. She took a few minutes trying to get Lucy and Andi to strike poses worthy of a professional model, then stepped between them, struck a beautiful pose, and nodded to the salesgirl. "Everyone say 'penis'!"

The photo was beautiful, the three of them in saucy poses and huge smiles, but the following photograph was even better, Andi and Lucy in a fit of giggles and Macy in the middle dumbfounded, eyes rolled skyward, that two medical professionals were giggling over an anatomical term.

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When Andi got home, the big beautiful blue spruce in the parlor was gone; the ornaments, garlands and lights were boxed up and hauled off to storage, the tree disappeared, and the twins were in tears. "How can your unicorn have a magic castle if the giant Christmas tree is gone?" they cried. That logic confused poor Paul nearly to tears, but Andi was used to it. The twins are Sandy and Madeline, they're darling little five-year-old girls with bright blond hair and they're much smaller than the average five-year-old, and they're also much brighter. They're both math wizards for their age and read at a fourth-grade level. Sandy is outgoing and vivacious, Madeline is reserved and thoughtful, but together they can be little terrorists if they put their minds to it.

"Did you girls help daddy take down the tree?"

"Yes, but we didn't want to," said Madeline angrily.

Andi crouched down and gathered the girls to her. "But we had to take the tree down so we could go on vacation, and ride the boat, and play on the beaches..." encouraged Andi.

"And see Anna?" said Sandy.

"And Ella?" said Madeline.

"And Minnie?" they said in unison.

"Why don't you girls bring your dirty laundry down here so we can get ready to go see Anna, Ella, and Minnie."

The girls took off like twin rockets, leaving new dad Paul bewildered in their wake. "How did you do that? I've been trying all day to light a fire under them."

"They're sort of self-igniting, if you know where the secret buttons are located," said Andi, giving Paul a hug. "One of those buttons is at a theme park," she said as they kissed. "This is one of those shoals we mentioned that you need to navigate through."

"Is Lucy around?" asked Paul after they kissed again.

"Sure, why?"

"Why don't you two meet me in the kitchen. I have two more boxes to hand out."

Andi looked perplexed but found Lucy, down on the treadmill as usual, and asked her to come back upstairs when she was done with her workout. Soon the two women joined Paul, who had two gaily wrapped packages about six inches long, two inches high, and three inches wide. Lucy and Andi's minds both went straight to "Dildo," and they started giggled again. He handed one box to each woman, who found that the boxes were quite heavy for their size, too heavy for a dildo. Lucy opened her first and found that it was a box of business cards. Andi's were the same.

"Doctor Adrianna L. Roberts, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Tift Memorial Veterans Clinic... What is this?"

"Doctor Evangeline L. Kocsis, Thoracic surgery, Pulmonary Medicine, and Critical Care, Tift Memorial Veterans Clinic... same question and don't ever call me Evangeline." Lucy glared at Paul.

"Look at this as a job offer. The clinic will not be ready for months, so you have time to consider it, but you heard my talk at the seminar. Five percent of the civilian population has sleep apnea, while up to sixty percent of veterans have it. In the civilian world, pulmonary hypertension is incredibly rare, 2 cases in a million. In our veterans, the rate is much higher, as is arthritis of the lungs. COPD is killing our vets. Men and women are coming back from the desert with COPD so brutal that they are being rated at 100% disabled. I want to implement a three-prong approach in our clinic: help our veterans who have it, try to determine a cause, and come up with preventative measures so we don't lose a generation of soldiers."

"I'm in. I would like to get back to regular thoracic surgery," said Lucy, "not this meatball M*A*S*H nightmare I've been living."

"If it means that much to you, it means that much to me," said Andi. "I'm all yours."

"I'm not the head honcho on this endeavor. I'm just the damn fool that walked into the VA and spouted off and wouldn't shut up until they did something. I'll be on staff just the same as you guys."

"This will be interesting, I never slept with a colleague before," said Andi with what she hoped was an innocent little smile then rubbed her round ass against his crotch.

"You get used to it," said Lucy, then noticing the shocked stares she was getting, she called out, "What?"

Trying to ignore Lucy's accidental revelation, he continued. "Our mission in this endeavor is primarily research, then treatment..."

Paul was interrupted by a loud banging from the laundry room, and they all rose to investigate. In there they found Sandy and Madeline standing on a pile of clothing and banging their hands on the drier as they yelled, "Let's go!"

Andi looked at the pile of clothes and sighed, then laughed... they brought down every stitch of clothing they had here in New York. The clean clothes were mixed with the dirty clothes, so now there was a lot of laundry to be done. Paul took her in his arms as she tried to determine whether to laugh or cry. "Got their fuses lit pretty darn good, mama."

"Our babies want to see Anna," sighed Andi.

"And Ella!" they shouted.

As they got the laundry drama sorted out, there came a knock at the back door. "Come on in, Veronica!" called Paul without looking.

"How did you know it was Veronica?" asked Andi, as they properly loaded the washer with as much of the girls' clothes as they could.

"She's the only one that knocks."

"Aw! You took your tree down," said the vivacious blond. "What about January sixth?"

"Yeah, what about January Sixth?" asked Andi.

"That's the day I traditionally take the tree down. What's up, blondie?"

"I just wanted to ask if I can borrow your library tomorrow night. The company party is Thursday, and Mitch and I want a few more practices." Veronica was once a beauty queen (she won Miss Ohio and came in 10th at Miss USA) and her talent was ballroom dancing. The company she works for puts on a huge holiday party and she and her coach Mitch dance there every year. Paul's library is a big empty room with a sprung dance floor.

"Sure, no problem," said Paul. "Hey, we're going to Cheektowaga for our annual Christmas Eve dinner in a little bit. Would you like to join us?"

"I don't... Christmas Eve? We're about three hundred sixty-four days early, don't you think?"

"We're two days late... there was this wedding... It's a long story. Come on along."

<><><><><> ֎ <><><><><>

Christmas Eve dinner at Giardini's

(three hundred sixty-four days early)

Against her common sense, Veronica von Köster rode with Gus and Lucy in Lucy's Lexus into Cheektowaga for dinner at Giardini's Italian Family Restaurant, a place she has heard of for ages from Paul, but she's never gone. Good Italian food is not conducive to a trim waistline. "Thank you for getting my reading room done so nicely, Gus."

"Reading room?" asked Lucy.

"I added a small reading room to her house," said Gus. "It has five sides and is big enough for what, two rocking chairs?"

"It catches the morning sunlight so beautifully. This morning I had my tea out there and saw the most beautiful cardinal in my tree," said Veronica.

"Don't let the twins see that. They want to put a cardinal in a cage."

It was starting to snow as they followed Paul off US33 on to Harlem Drive and they turned onto Maryvale drive then into Cedargrove Heights. "Isn't this Tiorunda Housing?" asked Veronica.

"Yup," said Gus. "It used to be called that." He pointed toward a large, gray, slab-sided two-story building. "That's where John and Paul grew up."

"That's kind of gloomy," said Lucy, seeing the trash around the dumpsters and the bicycles sticking out of snowdrifts.

"It used to be really bad," and he continued around the park. Many of the buildings were split-level duplexes and decorated with Christmas lights, but the big gloomy two-story gray boxes only had lights in the occasional window. After cruising through the neighborhood, they pulled on to Genesee Street and there was Giardini's. They pulled into the parking lot and Gus complained that a proper Italian Restaurant should have several black 1968 Cadillacs in the parking lot.

"Hush," said Lucy. "People will hear you."

"I'm Italian. What are they going to say? Come on, Veronica." Gus led them to the entrance and as soon as he entered, they were assailed by Momma Giardini.

"Augusto!" she cried and threw her hands around Gus. "You finally come home."

"I was here two weeks ago, momma."

"Not enough for a hardworking man! And who do you have with? So pretty!"

"Momma, this is Veronica von Köster, a neighbor we have been trying to get to come here, and you have met Lucy."

As Momma Giardini teased Lucy for being too skinny, Veronica smelled the wonderful medley of fragrances wafting from the kitchen... it smelled like Italy. It's been a while since she's been there, but she remembers those smells like it was yesterday. Momma led them to a table in a private room where Andi, Paul, Sandy, and Madeline sat with John, Macy, and Andi's parents, Harold and Heather Driscoll. Their waiter Tony pulled chairs out for Veronica and Lucy and the twins swarmed into their grandparent's laps. Harold and Heather were heading back to Denver after dinner, so the twins were getting as much grandma and grandpa time as they could.

"Such a happy family," sniffed Momma. "Such love! It's a shame Pauli and John's parents weren't here to see this." Andi and Paul were taking a moment to study each other's eyes. Even after everything that happened in the past five weeks, Paul's breath still catches in his chest when he looks into Andi's eyes.

As their lips parted, the newlyweds realized that everyone was looking at them. "Um, sorry," mumbled Paul. "Gus? Would you like to do the honors?"

"Why I'd be happy to," he said and Andi and Veronica folded their hands to say grace, but Gus had turned to Tony and said, "We'll have the antipasto and wedding soup, lasagna, bring a whole pan, rigatoni with pork ragout, lamb Osso buco, gnocchi ala Romana, your seafood stuffed shells, bowtie carbonara, and your spaghetti."

"Meatballs or sausage?"

"Bring both. And for dessert we'll try the..." but Gus was interrupted by the twins chanting.

"Tear Sue, Tear Sue, Tear Sue!"

"Tiramisu," said Tony, writing it down. "Anything else?"

"The house wine you get from Pordenone, and Welshes for the girls."

"Wow, that's quite a load," said Lucy. "I'm going to be on the treadmill all day tomorrow."

"Mind if I join you?" said Veronica. She was going to be house and dog sitting for Paul and Andi while the family goes on a cruise. This meal will give her the excuse to try all their exercise equipment.

Soon bowls of the Italian Wedding soup were set out and even the twins liked it. They weren't wild about it at first. They are primarily chicken noodle connoisseurs. "There are meatballs in your soup," said Andi.

"Meatballs?!?" they asked as they wrinkled their noses but peering in their bowls, they saw the little meatballs.

"There are leaves in there," complained Sandy.

"It's spinach," said Uncle Gus.

"Spinach makes you strong," insisted Madeline, so they tried it and when Tony came back with the Antipasto, they made sure to let him know that the soup wasn't bad in their opinion.

"I will be sure to tell the chef that the wedding soup gets the twins' approval," said Tony.

"And the sticks," said Sandy as she dipped the end of her breadstick into her soup bowl.

As the bowls and platters of the main courses were set out, Veronica's eyes closed in pleasure as she smelled the fragrance of each dish set before them. "Oh, if you only knew the torture of a photo shoot in Italy," she said. "You could smell the food everywhere, but your agent and the photographer were right there demanding that if you ate, it was water and a rice cake. A tiny rice cake."

"Oui!" said Macy, "I had a shoot in Napoli and the smells were so dangerous!" Macy escaped life in a fishing village by becoming la femme noire distante (mysterious black woman) for a photographer and parlayed that into a career which paid for her school expenses, which allowed her to become a theologian.

"Naples was the worst," agreed Veronica. "I could gain five pounds just sniffing the food..."

"We have ANOTHER fashion model with us?" Lucy almost wept, which caused most people to laughed, but Gus and Veronica felt sorry for her.

Other than that, the dinner was a success. The couples laughed as they ate and talked about their plans for the next couple of weeks. Cruising on the warm Caribbean, basking in the warm Florida sunshine. Swimming, fishing and relaxing on Andi's Dream. "I'm going to catch a fish THIS BIG!" declared Sandy, holding her hands about six inches apart.

"That's kind of small, isn't it?" asked Gus.

"She likes fish sticks," said Andi, trying to fight back the giggles.

"Waste not want not!" said Madeline, coming to her sister's aid.

Harold Driscoll took picture after picture of his wife Heather as she posed and smiled with all the guests, especially Macy, whom she thought she needed to make up for her earlier remarks. Harold looked truly happy for the first time since Andi met him as a young teen when her mother remarried. She hugged Harold and said, "You and mom look so happy."

"I think you and Paul showed us what we really had," said Harold. Until this weekend their marriage was one of quiet friendship, but when Heather finally admitted her inner pain to Andi, it changed their relationship forever. Her marriage with Howard truly warmed up.

"You can come and visit any time you want, dad," and Andi kissed her stepfather on the cheek.

"That's the first time you ever called me dad," he said.

"Paul had a talk with me too," said Andi. Paul and Andi talked Christmas evening while cleaning up after the feast about how she treated poor Harold, who only wants peace between Heather and her daughter Andi. "I'm sorry I've been unfair to you. It's not your fault my father died, but I didn't think of that..."

"Stop," said Harold as he hugged his stepdaughter. "It's ok, I always understood."

Andi looked up at her stepdad in surprise. "You did?"

Harold gave her a kiss and said, "We'll be back this summer. After all, we are looking for a place to retire."

The Christmas decorations in the restaurant were lavish and made a great background for photos and the other customers were cheerful and sang spirited Italian songs that only Gus and Lucy understood. Tony was a big hit with the twins and more than once they hopped down and began following him around as he greeted new diners, causing people to laugh at Tony's girlfriends.

"You're not going to be here for New Year's Eve?" asked Momma Giardini.

"No momma, we're going to be on Andi and Paul's boat," explained John for the fourth time.

"But it's not New Year's Eve without you and Macy not drinking and Paulie drinking enough for all three of you."

"Momma!" said Paul, "we agreed to not speak about that." But Paul saw Andi glaring at him. "It only happened once," he told her.

"Once I can see," said Andi.

"Once a year," said Macy.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll. Their red-eye flight to Denver departed in a few hours, and they had a rental car to turn back in. "Next time let us pick you up," said Paul, "I can get a loaner for you when you get here."

"Thanks Paul, that's swell," said Harold as they shook hands.

"And if you like it, I'll let you buy it," said Paul with a playful grin. "We'll be up there in March. I have a friend getting a big assignment in Minot. We're going to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Olson, then come down and close out Andi's condo and sell her car."

"Can't wait to see you again," said Harold and for the first time since he married Heather, everything looked like it was going to be ok.

<><><><><>

Andi and Paul soaked in the enormous bathtub in their bedroom... it was big enough for the two of them and the twins, too. Several candles flickered as they held each other close, kissing and whispering endearments. "You know, I put these tubs in because they looked right for this position in the bathroom. I never dreamed of actually using them. I prefer the shower."

"Showers aren't any fun, especially when you're alone," said Andi. "You can't do this in a shower." Then she leaned back on Paul and moaned in contentment.

"Can't do what?" he asked, and then he noticed that her fingers were below the waterline and rubbing her clit in circles. Paul opened the drain, then reached for her breasts and began to pinch her nipples and twist them between thumb and forefinger.

"Oh god that's good" said Andi, as she masturbated in the loving arms of her husband. She always wondered what it would be like to do this, and it was so good! Paul kissed her neck and whispered encouragement into her ear as she brought herself to orgasm. The water level dropped slowly, revealing Andi's actions below the bubbles.

"You look so beautiful when you love yourself," he whispered in her ear. For Andi, his words of encouragement were just as effective as her fingers. She began gasped as she climbed to orgasm and Paul whispered, "cum for me, show me how hot you are." Andi mewled as Paul's words and his hands pushed her over the edge. "More, show me how you like it," he hissed.

Now both of Andi's hands were stirring up her orgasm. Her two middle fingers of her left hand were plunging into her pussy while the same fingers of her right hand flickered back and forth over her clit. Paul hefted her round breasts while he pinched her nipples hard, the way she showed him that she liked.

She shrieked as she came. She pushed herself back against Paul over and over, and the waves of pleasure had their way with her. Paul held her close and laughed as she came so deliciously, it was glorious that she would share this intimate moment with him. When it was over, they sat in the empty tub, Andi lay back against Paul panting and shuddering. "God, I love you," she said.

"Now it's my turn," whispered Paul.

"Oh, no!" she gasped. "My virtue! Please, kind sir!" Paul chuckled; this was an interesting game. He suddenly wished he had a mustache to twirl. He eased his way out of the tub and scooped Andi out in his arms. "Sir, no, please, whatever you do, don't..."

"Heh, heh, heh," Paul gave an evil laugh. He laid Andi down on the bed, her damp skin glistening in the candlelight. So sexy, so delectable. "What are we afraid of, little lady?"

"I'll pay the mortgage, kind sir," said Andi. She rolled over and tried to crawl away.

Paul grasped her by the hips and got between her legs. "I got you now, milady," he said in his best 'bad guy' voice. "This is what I meant by compound interest!" and he eased his cock into her sodden pussy.

"Oh!" cried Andi. "I am undone!" and his enormous cock slid into her, spreading her open and reaching for her cervix. She crossed her arms on the bed and lay her face down on her crossed arms and watched in a mirror as she surrendered her pussy to Paul. "Oh, yessssss," she hissed as he began to fuck her with hard, deep strokes. Then she softly said, "You bad guys are so damn easy."

Trying not to laugh, Paul started to fuck in earnest. He fucked as hard as he could. The air was filled with the sound of their bodies slapping together, but he wasn't going to last long. He was so worked up from watching her cum earlier and Andi was still worked up from her show in the bathtub that they were both close to climax. Andi rose up on her hands and thrust her ass back at Paul, gasping, "Harder... harder!" and soon they were cumming.

Paul collapsed on Andi's back, and she collapsed to the bed as he flooded her pussy with semen. "You're a pretty bad badguy," she groaned. "I need another bath now."

"Let's make it a shower," said Paul. "We have to go to Niagara Falls tomorrow.

<><><><><> ֎ <><><><><>

We Wait Because We Wait

For normal people, leaving on a honeymoon is as simple as getting on the airplane and going. Sure, you may need to have someone keep an eye on the cat or feed the goldfish, but in the end it's just you and your honey and your tickets to wherever you're going. Paul and Andi chose not to go the easy route and decided to take the twins along. To keep an eye on the twins while they were otherwise engaged, Lucy was enlisted to come along on the trip. Since it was a cruise, Lucy asked Gus to come along. But Gus still had work commitments, so they chose to return shortly after the new year started. Because of this, Macy was enlisted to come along and keep an eye on the twins, to which she agreed, and she would bring John, and he would return to Western New York with Lucy and Gus. Irma Hirsh would keep an eye on the chickens and Veronica would watch Wonka and the house until John returned.

It was planned that the newlyweds would leave first and spend the day in the Magic Kingdom, then head over to Port Canaveral and check out the boat. Paul had something to do at Patrick AFB, so maybe they could pick up snacks before heading out. They would head out to sea and test the boat, then pick up everyone else in Melbourne on Wednesday.

This was all decided on Christmas afternoon before dinner without Paul, John, or Gus's knowledge.

When Tuesday dawned foggy and cold, Paul loaded up his brand-new family in his Ranger and headed north and continued north past the airport and up into Niagara Falls NY. "Ok, here's our first stop," said Paul.

"Can we see Anna?" called Sandy from the depths of her comfy child seat.

"And Ella?" called Madeline.

"Not here," said Paul as he pulled up to the entrance to the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. At the main gate, a guard stopped them, and Paul handed the guard his ID card. The guard snapped to attention and gave Paul a sharp salute, which he held until Paul returned it. They chatted for a bit. The guard gave him directions, and they headed on to base. Andi was full of questions. "Why did he salute you but not the car ahead of us?"

"Because I am an officer and he had to salute me, the people in the car ahead of us were not."

"You asked him how to get to Sea Beau. What's that?" asked Andi.

"Sea Beau is the lazy way of saying CBPO, which is the Consolidated Base Personnel Office."

"And the deer's you asked him about aren't real deer's?" said Andi.

"Correct. DEERS stands for the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. It is the personnel database which we are entering you and the girls into, so you will be listed as my dependents. That way you have access to things like Tri-Care, the BX, and the Commissary."

"What is that?" Andi was used to being bombarded with jargon and acronyms, but these were alien to her.

"Tri-care is the medical insurance benefit I receive from the military, including prescription coverage. The BX is the Base Exchange, a large department store on base, and the commissary is a large grocery store on base."

"And why would I go out of my way to go shopping on base?"

"It's tax free."

Andi smiled; he could see her eyes glinting behind her sunglasses. "There you go talking all sexy again..."

Inside the personnel office, away from the snow, rain and the stifling humidity, the air was warm and dry. Even the sounds were muffled and quiet. For the first time in her life, Andi realized the meaning of "Hurry up and wait." Paul had called the personnel office and reserved "a slot" before they were married when they first figured out their honeymoon plans. They showed up dead on time, quite early in the morning, but the wait remains.

She was sitting in a waiting room filled with people in and out of uniform. Many of the people were obviously retired, like Paul, here for one reason or another. A big screen TV showed a list of names and their status in line. A block of the screen was showing either "Did You Know" trivia about the personnel office, or videos of C-130's taxiing around the air base. "I can see why you insisted on bringing crayons and coloring books," she whispered to Paul. The girls were laying on the carpeted floor, furiously coloring the Disney characters they had recently made plans to speak to.

"Nothing changes, 'we wait because we wait.' It's part of an old fighter pilot drinking song," whispered Paul quietly as so not to break the funeral parlor silence in the room.

"You were kind of a fighter pilot; I saw your wings and pictures of you in an airplane."

"Ahhhh no. I was their sworn enemy. I was the mean doctor who wouldn't let them fly with a sinus infection or any other disqualifying minor irritations."

"So now I'm Mrs. Mean Doctor?"

"You're now Mrs. Colonel Mean Doctor...we're up!"

The screen had changed and informed them of the cubical number that contained a waiting airman, ready and eager to help. Ok, maybe just ready. They gathered up their girls, crayons, coloring books, and stray sneakers and marched off to the allotted cubical, Sandy and Madeline both limping oddly because both had kicked off their left sneaker. As they entered the cubical, the young Hispanic airman snapped to attention. "Good morning sir," she smiled, "How can I help you today?"

"First of all, you can relax, Airman Hernandez, and tell us your first name."

"It's Anna, sir," as she eased into her seat. At the sound of her name, the twins perked up. Anna is their favorite Disney character, so they silently slid up next to their new heroine to watch her in action.

"We're here to change my marital status and enroll my family into DEERS."

"Ok, if you will hand me your ID card and sign in over there," and she pointed to a small black box on her desk. Paul put his index finger on the box, which scanned his fingerprint, and signed him in. Meanwhile, Airman First Class Anna Hernandez double checked his ID card. "Ok, I'll need your marriage license and your birth certificates."

Since Andi's original plans were to travel to Canada, she brought birth certificates for herself and the girls and their passports along from Denver, and when they packed for Florida, Paul insisted that she bring them along for this purpose. Airman Anna scanned the documents, entered information into the database, and finally printed up several forms which showed the information she was going to enter into the database. "Please double check everything in these forms. It's a real pain in the neck to correct something once past this point." And she handed Paul several pre-filled out forms.

He and Andi looked over the forms to ensure all birth dates and names were correct and handed them back to Anna, who was chatting with her new fan club. "Are you going to see Mickey and Minnie?"

"Uh-huh!" said the twins in unison, "And Goofy and Donald and Daisy, and Princess Leia, and the Mandalorian!" said Sandy with mounting excitement.

"And baby Yoda?" asked Airman Anna

"Grogu!" corrected Sandy and Madeline.

"Who do you want to see the most?" asked Airman Anna.

"Anna and Ella," said Madeline softly with a reverence that cracked up Airman Anna. Paul handed back the forms and said that they were correct, and Airman Anna scanned them in and said to the twins, "Poof! That's it! Now we take a picture of your mom to mark the occasion."

She had Andi stand on a spot in her cubical in front of a blue screen and took a picture with a pre-positioned camera. Then she had Andi look at one more form, ensure that spelling and date of birth was correct and when that was confirmed Anna pressed a key on her computer and a machine behind her desk produced a peach-colored ID card for Andi. Anna handed it to her and said, "Welcome to the United States Air Force, Mrs. Jarecki, and if you have questions, please call. My extension is on that other card I gave you. Colonel Sir, I suggest you introduce Mrs. Andi to the USAF as soon as possible, the BX is only a couple of blocks away," she grinned.

"Thank you, Airman, but we will be hitting the BX at Patrick SFB tomorrow."

"OOoooo, nice! Take me, too!"

<><><><><> ֎ <><><><><>

The Very Friendly Skies

They put their coats and sneakers back on and got into the Ranger and headed south to Buffalo International Airport. The twins have already flown from Denver to Buffalo, so they considered themselves world travelers and as soon as they hit the airport, they pulled off their jackets and put on their sunglasses and strolled through the facility with their backpacks and carry-on roller bags. There was slight confusion at TSA when the agents found that juice boxes had somehow been added to the twins' back packs and had to be disposed of.

"That is not what I meant when I asked you to help pack your bags," scolded Andi.

They made it to their gate with plenty of time to spare, and the doctors whiled away the time, reviewing plans for the new clinic and reading medical journals while the twins played with their stuffies at Paul and Andi's feet. Finally, the plane was ready to start boarding.

"Welcome to United flight 775 direct service to Orlando. We will start boarding shortly. Keep in mind that this is a sold-out flight today, so there will be no empty seats. We have a standby list, so if anyone would like to take a bump and fly later, please come up to the desk now."

The twins started packing up their tablets and stuffies, then donned their sunglasses, ready to hit the beaches. They were still wearing their bright yellow church dresses, but the sunglasses made them look cool.

"We will start boarding with anyone who needs extra time..."

Paul had to nudge Andi to get her to close her laptop and get ready to board.

"Any newlyweds traveling with twins, please board now, any newlyweds traveling with twins..."

The people waiting to board chuckled at the announcements, but Sandy and Madeline left their parents behind and walked onto the jetway, pulling their carry-on bags and wearing their shades, their noses in the air like they owned the airline. As the embarrassed couple had their boarding passes checked, the flight attendant said, "Ernie and Mary Kraft say bon voyage."

Andi probably didn't hear because she was scrambling after Sandy and Madeline, but Paul did. "Pardon?" he asked.

"Ernie and Mary Kraft say bon voyage," repeated one of the attendants, and then she pointed over her shoulder to the passenger assistance desk behind her. Over there was one of Ernie and Mary's granddaughters, waving to Paul. Was that one Gwen or Sarah? Paul could never keep them straight. He waved back and thanked the attendants, then dashed to catch up with his bride. Paul didn't think that Ernie was the kind to pull a gag like this. 'Well played Ernie', he thought.

The family had first class seating, and it was decided that Paul and Madeline would sit on one side of the aisle, Sandy and Andi on the other. The twins complained about the seating, but Andi played the parent card and sat the two on separate sides of the aisle with a separate parent each "because I say so." Actually, it was the airline that didn't want the two toddlers seated side by side without a parent at hand. Both twins refused window seats. They wanted to sit in the aisle to be nearer her sister.

All through loading, the twins looked at each other. The agony of their separation was painted plainly on their faces, their eyes filled with tears. Occasionally, little hands would reach across the aisle for each other. Silently fat tears crept down their faces to collect on quivering chins.

Their silent suffering broke the hearts of the entire cabin crew, and the flight attendant tried to cheer them up, but Sandy and Madeline's world didn't include anyone but their sister at this moment. "They're so pitiful," said the flight attendant as she handed Andi a glass of cranberry juice and a small bottle of vodka. "How old are they?"

Andi looked at her suffering babies, and her heart ached for them. "They just turned five in November," she said as she sipped the cranberry juice and slid the bottle into her purse.

"Oh my gosh, I would have guessed three, maybe early four. Preemies?" and she sat another bottle of vodka on Andi's tray table. Andi looked at the bottle and picked it up while the flight attendant said, "from one twin mom to another."

Andi smiled and said, "Thank you. They were born at 28 weeks, they're never apart." Andi upended the vodka into her cranberry juice.

Boarding was complete, and the passengers were settling down and buckling in, but the twins were reaching out to each other, the flight attendants could barely look at them, their tiny sad faces and their big tear-filled eyes... finally, a fellow in a uniform walked slowly down the aisle and stopped at where the twins were reaching out to each other. He stood there until they looked up at him in terror. He tipped his hat back and crouched down and asked, "What's wrong here, you two? I can't fly this big old metal bird with sad little girls onboard." Both girls looked like they were going to run away screaming in terror. Eventually, Sandy whispered something. "I didn't hear you honey, what did you say?" the man asked.

"Use your words," encouraged Andi.

"My sister is sad. She should sit with me," said Sandy bravely.

The man with the fancy uniform and the shiny metal wings smiled. "Well, when we take off, we like to have all parents sit with their girl, so they don't get scared. You need to help your mama, and your sister has to help your papa. Once we get up in the air, you two can sit together. Is that ok?"

Tear filled twins nodded slowly.

"Good, would you like some coffee, or wine, or maybe a juice box?"

"Juice box please," they softly chimed, unsure of what this man was getting at.

The man took two sets of wings out of his pocket and showed them to the girls. "You're on my crew now, and I like a happy crew. Copy?" He waited for them to acknowledge what he said, then he handed the wings to Andi and Paul. "Mom and Dad can perform the pinning on ceremony once we're airborne, ok?"

A steward appeared and handed the captain two juice boxes, straws already inserted, and the captain handed them to the twins. "Are we good? Can we head to Florida now?" The girls each gave him a thumbs up as they sipped their juice and he smiled. "Good. I'll let the tower know we're ready to go." And he rose, spoke to the steward, and entered the cockpit.

The steward leaned over Sandy and said to Andi, "If you would like, after we reach altitude, you can swap seats," and she pointed toward Madeline.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

Not long later, the airplane pulled on to the runway and started its take-off roll. When they flew from Denver to Buffalo, the twins were seated side by side with their mother in the aisle seat. Back then, they were together and busy with their stuffies and their baby stuffies and they were isolated from the trip. They had the bulkhead to their right, and their mom to the left, and seat backs in front and behind them; they were blocked in safely. Now they're hanging out over the aisle and are part of the aircrew. This was scary stuff.

Finally, the aircraft reached altitude and Madeline found her seat belt was released. She didn't know or care who released her, she just knew she was free, and she practically dove across the aisle. She scrambled up onto Sandy's seat and the twins hugged, rocking from side to side. While they were reunited, Andi got up from her seat and stepped out into the aisle. "Ok, you two, if you're going to sit like this, you both have to wear your seat belts."

"Awww mom!"

"Do you want the captain to come out and take those wings back?"

"Oh kayyy,"

Andi strapped Madeline in, then she sat down with Paul, who was reading a newspaper. She set up her laptop and started checking a few things; she logged into her bank and checked her accounts, then sat up in shock. She refreshed the screen, and the information was the same. Andi looked at her disinterested husband. "Honey?"

"Yes, dear?"

"It says here that my student loans have a zero balance."

"Isn't that odd..." Paul turned the page to see what the sportswriters were saying about the Bill's chances next year.

"It looks like a payment for the full amount was made on the 26^th."

"You don't say... Looks like everyone in the NFL has decided that the Bills need better receivers."

Andi put her finger on Paul's cheek and made him turn his head toward her. "Would you like to know how that makes me feel?"

"Tell me," he said.

"Let me show you," she whispered huskily in his ear, then she pointed over to the twins, who were sound asleep, leaning on each other, their heads touching. "Safe, secure, and loved." She gave him a kiss, "Thank you so much," then she lay down, put her head on his lap, curled up and went to sleep.

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ORLANDO!

If Paul and Andi had decided to turn around and go home after landing in Orlando, the twins would have been happy. They thought the Orlando airport was incredible and the highlight of the trip. The twins weren't excited about the long walk from the airplane through the terminal, but when they got to the train station, they suddenly realized they were in paradise. They could see palm trees through the enormous windows and there was a little train waiting for them. Stepping into the section where you board the little train, they could feel the muggy Florida heat. Madeline turned and yelled, "Mom! It's summer!"

Paul and Andi hauled their carry-on luggage and the twin's car seats onto the train and slumped down in their seats. They looked at each other and sighed. "We made it this far, old man." She held her hand up for a high five. As he patted her hand, she said, "This was the easy part."

"I was afraid of that."

The twins ran from side to side of the train car, looking out of the windows, and it wasn't until they neared the main terminus that they noticed that they were in front looking out of the front window and there was no driver on the train. "Who is driving?" demanded Sandy. "There has to be somebody driving."

"There's nobody driving," explained Paul. "The whole train is a giant robot and the only thing it knows how to do is go back and forth, even if no one is riding."

"That's just silly," scowled Madeline. "where are its eyes? Where is its mouth?" with the absolute certainty that all robots have eyes and mouths.

"Maybe they are at the other end of the train. Maybe it's going backwards and you're looking out of his butt!" grinned Paul.

Madeline smacked her hand down on Paul's knee. "That's just silly! You can't look out a robot's butt!"

"What?" demanded Sandy, who wasn't paying attention.

"Poppa says we're looking out of a robot's butt!"

"You can't do that; everybody knows you can't look out of a robot's butt!" said Sandy with absolute certainty.

"Robots don't have windows in their butts!" agreed Madeline.

"Silly Poppa!" And with that they went back to watching out the front window as they approached the main terminal.

"Silly Poppa," scolded Andi with a smile.

"Hey, they stopped worrying that we don't have a driver," grinned Paul.

"You're settling into this Poppa job pretty well," said Andi with a little kiss.

"Aww," said an older woman, who watched the twins explore the small train car. "They're adorable!"

"They're slowly becoming Poppa's girls," said Andi, as she leaned her head on Paul's shoulder.

"Is this your first trip to Orlando?" asked the older woman.

"Not mine, but it is theirs," said Paul, indicating with his finger that he was talking about Andi and the twins.

"We're on a Family Honeymoon," said Andi. "We just got married," she said as she kissed Paul.

"And I adopted her girls... our girls," said Paul.

"We're going to Mickie's house!" cried Madeline, throwing herself on Paul's leg.

"Are you! What are you going to do when you get there?" asked the lady as Sandy sat down cross-legged in front of her.

Madeline jumped off of Paul's leg and sat next to Sandy. and they began listing their anticipated adventures, starting with a planned tea party with Ella and Anna. Paul and Andi scooped the twins up as Paul reminded Madeline, "You don't even like tea."

"But I like parties!" she said just before Paul started tickling her tummy, causing her to squeal and giggle.

"Ok you guys, we're coming into the terminal. Time to settle down."

"Oh Kayyyyyy," moaned the twins as they attempted to calm down.

"I must say, for a first-time dad, you're doing a good job," said the woman as she corralled her carry on and prepared for the train to stop.

"Told ya!" whispered Andi, with a nudge to Paul's ribs.

Soon the train came to a stop, and the doors opened automatically. The girls stepped into the main Orlando terminal, ready for their vacation to begin. It took a few moments for them to recognize it, but the twins had come face to face with the largest Christmas tree they have ever seen. The tree is forty feet tall and covered with 44,000 lights, surrounded by a ring of palm trees all decorated for Christmas. They stood at the base of the behemoth and gaped in awe at the majesty of the tree. Then they noticed that the great room they were standing in was ringed by six stories of hotel suites. Some of the hundreds of balconies had people sitting and watching the parade of people far below. Sandy and Madeline started waving at the people on the balconies, but no one waved back.

Then they saw it, the Mecca for five-year-old girls: the Disney souvenir store. Their sharp little five-year-old eyes saw Disney Princesses, Disney Superheroes, and Disney Cartoon characters, and their little transmissions dropped into drive immediately. They were three steps into their sprint for Disney treasures when they were snagged by their parents. "Hold on you two," ordered Poppa.

"We have to get our bags and our car first," said Momma.

Madeline pointed at the store shelves that were calling to them, "But...!"

"That's for people who are leaving," said Poppa. "We're going to Mickie's house, and they have much nicer stuff there." Big puppy eyes filled with tears, lower lips pouting out, tiny chins quivering... Paul was putty in their hands. "We can look, but we will save our buying for Mickies House."

"KAY!" and they were gone. There was nothing but a vapor trail leading to the Disney store. "They own you now. You know that, right?" said Andi, as they tried to catch up with the girls.

In the store, the twins gasped in awe at the multitudes of Anna and Ella stuff. Of course, they wanted everything, but they were handicapped by parents that were raised poor and didn't believe in splurging. After about ten minutes of looking, Paul said, "Ok girls, we have to go get our baggage or they're going to give your clothes away."

"Oh Kayyyyy," moaned the twins, and they reluctantly followed their parents to the baggage claim.

From the little trains that take you to the main terminal, to the giant Christmas tree, to the hotel balconies overlooking the terminal, to the huge Disney store, they had a great time at the airport. Even collecting baggage was fun. They got to chase their suitcases around the baggage carousel until Poppa grabbed them. But then they stepped outside, and it was so warm! The sun had set, yet it was still warm! When the sun sets in Denver and in Buffalo, it gets cold, but here in Florida it stays warm. This was odd and magical to the girls.

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Welcome Home

"Ok, honey, I'm going to need some help navigating here," said Paul as they threaded their way through the central Florida wetlands in their rented SUV. The roads to their destination were both well marked and confusing as hell at the same time. Their resort, Shades of Green, isn't part of the Disney resort system, but it used to be, so signage was there directing them to their destination, but there was not as much signage as the pure Disney resorts. To get to their resort, it appeared that they were headed to the Magic Kingdom, but they were just cutting through a corner of the Magic Kingdom's main parking lot. Finally, with a lot of help from Andi and her paper maps, Google Maps, Waze, and the road signs they found themselves on a road with Christmas decorations hanging from the streetlamp poles, every decoration was an illuminated tin soldier. They turned on to another road and came to a military style guard shack in the middle of the road that had a barrier with a stop sign which blocked their forward progress.

A uniformed guard stepped out of the shack and in a jovial voice said, "Good afternoon folks, welcome home! I need to see your ID cards." Paul handed his military ID to the guard who regarded it, then turned to Andi. "ID please?"

"Sorry," she said and handed the guard her driver's license.

"Do you have military ID?" said the guard as he handed back the card.

Andi looked at Paul, confused, but Paul just smiled. "This is a military installation; they want to see your military ID."

Andi said, "I don't have a... oh wait," then she remembered the new peach colored military dependent's ID card in her wallet. Because she isn't active duty, it didn't occur to her to think of it as a military ID. "Sorry, I'm new to this," she said, blushing. It took some work to get the card out because she slid it into a tight pocket so it wouldn't get lost, and she had to fight it out of her wallet. She handed that to the guard who regarded the card and noticed that it was a brand-new card. "Newlyweds?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," she answered shyly. "Three days."

He handed the card back and with a huge smile said, "Congratulations, Colonel, Ma'am, and welcome home." He stepped back to the guard shack and, as the arm blocking their path, raised and saluted Paul sharply. Paul, Sandy, and Madeline returned the salute and drove on to the hotel.

Shades of Green used to be a Disney owned and operated golf course and country club, but the odd rules that Disney used to determine membership automatically spelled its failure. It was purchased by AFRC, Armed Forces Recreation Centers, who have rest and recreation centers in Hawaii, Seoul Korea, and Bavaria, Germany. It's a home away from home base for military active duty, retired, veterans, and their dependents.

"This is beautiful!" gasped Andi as they approached the main building, and she was right, AFRC works extremely hard to present exhausted GIs with a place of beauty where they can relax with their loved ones.

They stopped at the main entrance and got out. The Bell Captain stepped up and shook Paul's hand. "Welcome home! Just checking in? Need a hand with your luggage?"

"Thank you, yes sir," said Paul.

"When you get your room number, let me know the number and I'll get your luggage to your room." The smiling Bell Captain and an assistant were fast and efficient, and they emptied their rented SUV and stacked the bags on a cart while Paul and Andi led the girls inside.

Paul and his girls walked into the lobby and stopped at the registration desk. "Checking in?"

"Yes ma'am," said Paul and the girl behind the counter began the checking in process which included a long briefing as she gave Paul and Andi maps to navigate the multiple buildings, restaurants, athletic center, golf courses, swimming pools and the BX and Commissary.

The registration process took more time than Paul was used to, but this is a large resort and there was a lot to learn, and Andi had her hands full keeping an eye on the girls. The lobby had a gigantic Christmas tree reaching 25 feet up to the vaulted roof, a massive fireplace, huge comfortable chairs, a waterfall, a coffee kiosk, and an ice cream vendor. Once the paperwork was completed with a cheery "Welcome Home" Paul went out to park the car, and shortly the Bell Captain arrived in the lobby with a cart full of Jarecki luggage. and he led Andi and the twins to their room.

The suite was large and comfy. It was a studio with a living room, kitchenette and dining area, and a bedroom. The couch was a futon and was going to be for the girls while the honeymooners got the bedroom. The suite featured a patio that was just feet from the huge horseshoe-shaped swimming pool and not far away was the Mill Pool, which was the children's swimming pool. Finally, the Bell Captain extended his hand, not for a tip, but to shake Andi's hand. "I understand you're a gold star daughter. Thank you."

"My mom always gets a gold star," insisted Sandy, thinking of the gold stars her mom gives them for completing their schoolwork and finishing their chores.

"No, he's talking about my father, Grandpa Dan." Andi always insured that the twins were filled with stories of Dan Roberts, her dad. "Thank you," she said. "I only wish the girls had met him."

Paul showed up just then as the bell captain hung a gold star on their door. "I was told that you requested we didn't put the second gold star up," said the Bell Captain.

Paul's expression went ice cold. "She didn't die with honor," was all he said as he entered the room. He was still angry over his wife's death that was caused by her infidelity.

"Ok folks, let's head to the BX!"

"Will it be as big as Nagra Falls?" asked Madeline who loved the toy department at the little BX on Niagara Falls ANG (Air National Guard base).

"No, probably not," said Paul as he led his family up a flight of steps, across the skywalk to the main building and into the AAFES (Army/Air Force Exchange Service) Base Exchange.

"This is a real BX?" asked Andi in shock.

"Well, yeah. It will be small, but it will be tax free, and we'll be able to use our Star Card." The star card is the credit card system in the military. It can only be used at the Air Force and Army's Base Exchange and the Navy and Marine Corps's NEX.

When they got to the BX, they found it was quite small, but Paul expected much smaller. It was about half the size of the BX at Niagara Falls ANG, and it was without a toy and electronics portion. They bought things like sunscreen and swimsuits because those things are few and far between in Buffalo during the winter. Andi found Paul a nice-looking golf hat emblazoned with "Shades of Green." It would shade his head and it was the first hat she ever saw him wear without the Buffalo Bill's logo. Then they found the ultimate prize - a TwinHauler, a large foldable wagon with soft sides and had a soft roof to protect little heads from the Florida sun. It was big enough to hold both twins plus blankets, towels, and an assortment of beach toys and it had wide inflatable tires that would work great on the beach.

Near their room was a Tiki hut themed restaurant that the twins loved, but Paul and Andi thought was overpriced, so they also got a frozen pizza and drinks at the BX. The family headed back to their hotel room to heat up the pizza and rest up for the big day tomorrow. However, when walking back to their room, the twins saw the swimming area named the Mill Pool. The Mill Pool had numerous attractions for the small swimmers, including a big three-story tall water slide, which attracted Sandy, and a small eight-foot-tall water slide and splash park which attracted Madeline.

"Can we? Can we? Can we?" begged the twins. "Pleeeeeeeeze?"

Andi attempted to reason with them. "We should be resting up to go see Ella and Anna tomorrow."

"Can we please? Can we please? Can we please?" The twins clasped their hands as if in prayer.

Paul finally sighed, "Ok, but two hours, no more. AFTER you eat."

"We promise!"

The twins dashed off up the hallway to where they thought the room was to get changed. Andi drew close to the new dad and said, "You have no idea of the can of worms that you just opened."

The frozen pizza was a good idea because the only restaurant the twins eat properly at is Giardini's, but they will eat almost any pizza put before them. There was no chance they would forget about the swimming pool either, because they changed into their swimsuits as they ate. They were still gnawing on pizza crusts as they headed off to the pool.

Andi's words were prophetic. At the pool it was non-stop action; the twins were everywhere doing everything. Where just hours ago Paul was able to tell the twins apart by their actions and reactions, in the pool they became identical, identical twins. Every squeal, every splash, and every shout of "Watch me!" was identical. Regardless of the context, every time a face got wet, the owner of the wet face ran to Andi or Paul for a wipe down with a dry towel. Andi and Paul lay side by side in a double lounge. Both had changed to swimsuits also, and eventually the twins asked for help. They wanted to try the kiddie water slide, but the pool guard said that they needed a "spotter."

"This was your idea, daddy," said Andi.

"What is it going to be like this summer at the cabin? Duty calls," sighed Paul. He got up and peeled off his t-shirt. When he pulled his shirt over his head and turned to drop it on the lounge, Andi gasped loudly. "What?" he asked.

"Your shoulder! Oh, my God! What happened to you? Did you hit yourself?" Paul contorted his neck, but he couldn't see what she was talking about. Finally, Andi used her phone and took a picture and showed it to him. "This!" she said.

"Oh, that." He grinned and pulled Andi close in a hug. "T'was the evening of Christmas, and all through the house, the only one stirring was my favorite mouse." He gave her a kiss, then reminded her of making love under the Christmas tree in a house full of people less than 48 hours ago and how she chomped down on his shoulder to keep from shrieking when she came.

"Did I do that? Oh, God! I'm so sorry!"

"I really should get a purple heart for this wound."

"I'll give you a purple eye if you tell anyone where you got thi..." but her threat was cut short by a sudden kiss. Then Paul was off to the splash area to help his daughters.

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Three hours later, the Jarecki family retired to their room. They probably would have stayed longer, but the Mill Pond pool closed. In their suite, the living room featured a futon and a smaller couch that expanded to a single bed. The twins watched a kid show on TV, while Paul and Andi sat at the dining table with their laptops and went over web sites that listed different visitors' opinions at Walt Disney World and suggested the most effective way to get the most out of their visit to the park. By the time they had their "battle plan" complete, the twins were fast asleep.

They quietly scooped the tykes up, unfolded the couch and slid them under the blankets, making sure that Madeline was on Sandy's left. Then they quietly turned the TV off. Paul pulled a couple of candles out of the suitcase and lit them, and the two small flames filled their bedroom with a warm glow. Paul quietly stepped outside and filled the ice bucket at the machine, then popped the cork on a bottle of sparkling wine in the hall so the noise wouldn't wake the twins. Reentering the room, he poured two glasses of the sweet sparkling wine and handed one to Andi. Then they retired to the bedroom.

They sat on the edge of the bed and toasted their marriage. Then Andi kicked off her shoes and began wriggling out of her clothes. She handed her wine to Paul and finished undressing, her skin alive in the soft golden light of the candles, her nipples hard and aching to be sucked. Paul was ready to kneel down and worship at the altar of her body, but she pushed him back so that he was sitting in the office chair in the room. It was Andi who knelt and began to undress her husband. She pulled off his socks, then stood him up and pulled down his shorts and his trapped cock sprang free, hard and throbbing, aching to penetrate her. She had him step out of his pants and she tossed them aside, then took the wine from his hands and pulled his shirt off, and kissed the dark, evil looking bruise on his shoulder.

He started to reach for her. She felt his hands begin to travel up her narrow waist toward her breasts when she hissed, "Stand at attention, Colonel." His hands snapped to his sides, and he straightened up immediately, standing squarely at attention, his cock aiming straight at her, throbbing with desire. His tiny bride likes to play sexy games, and he was more than happy to play along. She wrapped a hand around his thick cock, the tips of her fingers unable to reach the tip of her thumb as they wrapped around his appendage. As she stroked him gently, she began to suck on his nipple. She sucked hard, her tongue sliding over the tip, driving him crazy.

Paul grunted from the erotic assault, and her teeth clamped down on his nipple, causing him to squeak from the shock. She held it between her teeth, showing him exactly how she likes to feel a man bite her nipple until he gasped, "Please stop." His cock had gone limp in her hand and his hands were curled into tight fists. She released his nipple and kissed it gently. Oddly, she knew that women handle pain much better than men. Do we enjoy it? Andi had to admit, when it comes to sex, she tends to like a sharp bite of pain to punctuate the sweetness of the sex. But men are visually stimulated. Maybe she can get to him in a different way...

She rolled the office chair to the side and sat down, making sure she was illuminated properly by the two candles. She then called "Colonel, left face!" Paul executed a fairly sharp left face, then she called "Parade rest," glad that her years in the high school band color guard taught her those commands. When he turned, he saw his wife sprawled in the office chair. She winked at him and gently wrapped her hands around one of her large breasts and tipped the nipple to her lips. Her breast wasn't large enough to let her suckle her own nipple, but it was close. She stuck her tongue out as far as she could, and it touched! She licked her own nipple!

Andi moaned and licked again and again. It felt so good; the thrills were radiating from her nipple and shooting throughout her body. She looked and his cock was hard, and it was drooling precum. She began to lick her other nipple. How far can she push him? She rose from her seat and stepped up to Paul. He was still at parade rest, his cock throbbing with need. She felt that need herself. Her juices were abundant. She wants him so badly. She leaned over and licked the head of his cock, and she noticed the shudder run through his body.

Standing up, she gave him a smile and said, "We need to get up early, let's call it a night." She turned to the bed and turned down the sheets and was about to get in bed when Paul sat down on the side of the bed. With a giggle she complained, "You were at parade rest, colonel..."

"I think this is a justified breach of protocol," said Paul, and he pulled her over his lap and began to spank those delicious round cheeks of her ass. She kicked and cried out softly as he spanked, but he could hold her in place. "This is for the wound in my shoulder," Smack! "and for leaving me at attention while you had your fun," Smack! "And for unilaterally calling an end to the evening," SMACK!

Andi's feet whirred as she pretended to try to kick free. She's been pushing to see if she could get him to this point and it finally happened. His spanks were perfect. They stung, but they didn't hurt. He stopped spanking her and pushed her down to the floor. "I believe a thank you is in order for your student loans."

She forgot all about that? Tens of thousands of dollars in debt were gone! "I'm sorry, sir," she whimpered. "Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, sir?"

"Thank you, master," she said as she stared at his cock.

"You may proceed." She reached for his cock, but he took her hands and placed them on his thighs. "Start again," he said softly but firmly.

Andi leaned forward, leaving her hands on his thighs, and took the head of his cock in her mouth. She ran her tongue around the large cockhead and explored the opening when she felt his hand on the back of her head, gently pushing her down. Andi loved this part; she loved it when Paul took command and ruled her. She knew deep in her heart that he would never hurt her. Their histories would never allow that. He is so good and so sweet to her and the girls, and he'll play any silly sex game she wants, so it's good for him to let the inner master out and control the action.

He was holding her head with a hand over each ear, and he was moving her entire head up and down, fucking her mouth like she was a toy. It became a game for her because he wasn't forcing her. She could have pulled free anytime and use their safe word. He was groaning as she did everything she could to make him cum. Her tongue was slithering over his cock, one hand slipped down and was fondling his balls, and she found herself moaning in pleasure, too.

He pulled her off of his cock and leaned over and kissed her. Her mouth was so warm, and her lips were so swollen. "Cum in my mouth, master," she begged as he guided her back to his cock. This time her mouth slid up and down his cock faster, deeper, the spongy head of his cock banging against the back of her throat with every plunge down by her mouth.

He almost came! A single spurt of semen hit her tongue, and he growled and pulled her off his cock. It twitched and jerked with every beat of his heart and Andi wanted it, but Paul stood and said, "On the bed."

"Yes Master," said Andi and she crawled up and lay back. Paul loomed over her and suddenly her eyes opened wide in shock as Paul's cock entered her. "Oh, my god! I keep forgetting how big that thing feels." With her legs on his shoulders and her feet pointing to the ceiling, Paul began to fuck. With all their playing around, they both were super-heated, and he was fucking like a madman. They tried to keep it quiet, but the slapping of their bodies filled the room, as did Andi's gasps and cries as she came... then came again. Finally, as she was starting her climb to a third orgasm, Paul gave that growl that she's starting to love and flooded her womb with his semen.

When her breathing returned to normal, Paul handed Andi a glass of wine, then he joined her in bed with his own wine. "How much longer would you have remained at parade rest?" asked Andi as she arranged the covers.

"About four seconds," said Paul. "When you start playing like that, I can't keep my hands off of you."

"What if I just want sweet, gentle, romantic sex?"

"Just ask," said Paul as their glasses clicked. "You remember our safe word.

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The Magic Kingdom

The first day was a trip to Disney's Magic Kingdom. Paul had never been to a Disney park; in fact, he's never been to a major theme park in his life. He and Melony had planned to visit Disney Japan after her TDY to Korea was over and she returned to her home station in Okinawa. Andi had been to Disneyland in Anaheim with her dad a long time ago, so her memories did nothing to help with the ocean of paperwork there seemed to be to get in the park, but finally they got their park passes and were ready to go!

Rather than drive the confusing spaghetti bowl of Disney roads to get to the Magic Kingdom, then pay the parking fee, the brand new Jarecki Family chose to ride the shuttle bus supplied by Shades of Green. They trooped up a flight of stairs, across a bridge to the BX, up the ramp to the lobby, pause for photos at the giant Christmas tree in the lobby, then down that wonderful natural stone staircase that follows the ornate waterfalls dripping in as much Christmas decor as water, and out to the bus stop.

The bus arrived a few minutes after they lined up at the loading area. "ID's please," called out the driver as he stepped off the bus and stood at the door. Andi flashed her new ID card as she led the twins aboard while Paul carried the TwinHauler along with other various and sundry items.

After a ride filled with questions from the twins on why the bus needs a driver if the train doesn't, the bus dropped them off near the entrance to the park, much nearer than if they had driven. First a walk through a series of gates where they were checked for weapons, then a walk up a ramp to the Monorail. Paul had seen the monorail a million times on the TV and couldn't wait to ride it in person. Walt Disney was a railroad enthusiast, which is why the Monorail and his park trains exist. The Monorail ride was much smoother than Paul expected, and he wondered if he could build a train layout that could incorporate a monorail.

After disembarking from the monorail, they approached the main entry gates. They first had to go to the customer service desk and receive their park passes. Andi and Paul got cards, the girls got bracelets to wear, then they returned to the gates to enter the park proper. There was a scanner at each gate. They had to hold their card at the scanner (which was emblazoned with a silhouette of Mickey Mouse) and wait for it to turn green. The twins had to hold their arm up so the scanner could scan their bracelet. It was tough the first time; they kept moving their arms away to see if the scanner had turned green before the scanner could get a good scan. Eventually Andi told them that this was their ID, like when they get on the bus, Mickey on the scanner had to read their ID so they can get in the park. After that it was no problem for the twins. Sandy would hold her hand up so Madeline could see Mickey turn green, then they switched.

Paul fell in love with Main Street USA, Walt Disney's tribute to his hometown of Marceline, Missouri, with a lot of Fort Collins, Colorado mixed in. The Victorian architecture seemed to sing out to Paul's soul. The style of the buildings touched something in his heart, and he realized that his house would fit right in with this décor. He started firing picture after picture with his DSLR until Andi came up and said, "Don't burn up your batteries and storage space. There's more of the park to see." Then she shook her head and said, "Tourists!"

"Look at the architecture. Our house fits right in with these buildings," he pointed out.

"So, you're saying we live in Disney World?" Andi teased him, but he was right, their beautiful Victorian home, with its broad porch wrapping around three quarters of the building, the surrounding waist high wrought-iron fence, even a widows walk roof, fit right in with the gingerbread decorated Main Street USA.

"What I'm saying is that I've been knocking myself out trying to figure out how to decorate the house for Christmas, and the blueprint is right here." He pointed out the garlands and the wreaths and the candles and the gas lamps.

In another time, to anyone else, she would have said "get real" but now that Christmas is a time of celebration for her, her feelings of joy overwhelmed her. She smiled and said, "let's do it."

Other than Main Street USA, the thing that overwhelmed Paul the most was Liberty Square, primarily the Hall of Presidents. The honor that the presidents were given was incredible, and the story that was told, and how it was told, brought a patriotic tear to Paul's eye. He wasn't a combat soldier, but it summed up everything he fought for.

"Can we do something cool now?" asked Sandy as they stepped out of the hall of presidents.

"That wasn't cool?" asked Paul.

"It was a bunch of old guys," she replied. "They couldn't even sit still."

"They weren't guys," said Andi. "They were robots pretending to be guys."

"They were?" squealed Madeline, her nose crinkled up in surprise. Then she started walking toward another attraction. "We need ears," was all she said.

"Do we need ears?" Paul asked Sandy, who just nodded her head vigorously and skipped after her sister, who started skipping too. Paul turned to Andi and said, "Go catch them, I have an idea," and he headed over to a vendor. Soon the entire Jarecki family was decked out in untraditional Disney style mouse ears. The girls' Minnie ears all featured a golden bow to mimic Minnie Mouse's red bow, but there were other differences. Paul's set of ears had a black bow tie between the ears and Andi's ears included a bridal veil. He also got t-shirts for the whole family. Paul's shirt was black, emblazoned with "Groom" in white Disney script. Andi's was white and marked "Bride" in black. The back of both shirts said Just Married. The Twins shirts both said Brides Maid on the front, and Just Adopted on the back. When the Jarecki family emerged from the restrooms in their attire, they were beset by Disney photographers for the rest of the day. Luckily, the twins absolutely loved posing for pictures.

The Magic Kingdom was a huge hit with the girls including Andi who was living this experience as a child vicariously through her daughter's eyes. For the girls, the high point was the "Small World" ride, the little dolls singing "It's a Small World" in their native languages was fascinating to the girls, even though the animation was, for a better word, toy like.

The low point of the Magic Kingdom for the twins was when they finally got to meet Ella and Anna. They were so star-struck they were tongue tied and could only speak TwinBabble® despite their encouragement from their mother to "Use your words". The young character actresses thought the twins were from a foreign country because of how they spoke, and because they were so cute the actresses hugged and posed for pictures with Sandy and Madeline much longer than many of the other girls in the park, and of course, they were happy to pose for pictures with the whole family in their Disney wedding t-shirts.

Paul was disappointed that the rides that were advertised when he was younger were gone. Tom Sawyer's Island was closed, not a mention of Davey Crocket anywhere in the park, and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride seemed much shorter than he expected. He derived the majority of his joy from watching Andi and the twins as they enjoyed the park. He felt like an outsider looking in on their fun.

Sadly, this took him back to his days as a fighter squadron flight surgeon. Yes, he was an integral part of the flying team. He even had flight surgeon wings, but his flights were merely joy rides and he felt more attached to the hospital staff, which he really wasn't a part of, than the fighter squadron. This was similar to his youth in Tiorunda, where he wasn't quite rejected by the Polish community there, but he wasn't quite accepted by them either. He felt more at home with the Italians who accepted him as a foundling, but he never was one of them.

He learned to live life cheering from the sidelines, like the offensive coordinator on an NFL team. An offensive coordinator can call the plays and choose which players are on the field and take full responsibility for how his team scored points, but he'll never take a snap, receive a pass, or block a blitzing safety. So maybe pulling this wagon is...

"How are you doing, Daddy?" asked Andi, as she intertwined her fingers with his on his free hand and leaned her head on his arm. "You look overwhelmed."

"I think I am. A month ago, I was a solitary bumpkin with a dozen chickens planning to wait out a blizzard and suddenly the most beautiful doctor in the world pops up on my altar and says, 'I do' and a pair of miniature adrenalin junkies joined us. This is really my first outing in public with a daughter, let alone a pair of them."

"Well, you're doing great. The trick is not to try to determine patterns in their movements, it will overwhelm your senses. Just let the randomness of their actions entertain you."

On queue the twins noticed that mom and dad were lagging far behind and ran back to them. This time they grabbed Paul's wrists and chirped "Come on Dad!" Sandy began chattering about a ride that looked soooo cooool, and Madeline was chattering just as fast about Miss Piggy, and both ended up at the same time with "Come on!" and they yanked him away from Andi with as much energy as their little legs could generate.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" shouted Andi with a huge grin as she followed, pulling the TwinHauler™.

Quite a few attractions were closed for upgrades/repairs/replacements and of the working attractions, the twins were too small to ride many of them. However, the Jungle River Ride was perfect for the whole family and the twins sat on Mom and Dad's laps. While Mom and Dad groaned at the guide's lame jokes, the twins were fascinated by the animatronic animals and occasionally a group of monkeys would have some wrapped Christmas packages, which made them laugh.

With that being a success, Paul led them to another memory he held from watching the Wonderful World of Color when he was a kid, an attraction now called the Enchanted Tiki Room. The twins were fascinated by the Animatronic birds and flowers that sang three or four songs.

The twins didn't quite make it to the evening parade and fireworks, like most 5-year-olds, they were carried out of the park, sound asleep. They missed the ride on the ferryboat back to the parking area where they would catch the bus. Paul and Andi sat on a bench next to the bus stop, watching the fireworks from the parking lot, kissing like teenagers while the twins slept in the TwinHauler™.

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The twins slept the entire way back to the Shades of Green. Rather than waking them when folding up the TwinHauler then carrying them when climbing on to the bus, the driver lowered the bus and dropped the center door ramp and allowed Paul and Andi to pull the TwinHauler on to the bus and park it where the wheelchairs normally park (with the promise that the TwinHauler will be folded up and moved if someone arrives in a wheelchair or scooter). The twins never roused for the entire trip.

Once back in the hotel, the twins were laid on the futon, undressed, and covered up. Andi set up the baby monitor, and after changing into their swimming suits, Paul and Andi slipped out of the patio door and walked the few feet to the swimming pool. The air was cool and crisp for central Florida, so much so that steam was rising off the swimming pool. Paul looked at his smartwatch, which told him that he had a response to his Facebook post and was surprised to see it was from an old friend. He opened up the post in his phone and read it, then said to Andi, "An old Air Force buddy noticed my Disney World post on Facebook and saw we were down here and asked if we could meet up."

Andi smiled. An opportunity to find out more about her man's history has reared its head. "Sure, where? When?"

"Tomorrow, lunch at Patrick SFB beach."

"As long as it's on our way."

They bypassed the swimming pool and headed straight for the hot tub, their legs were aching from the long day at the park, and another day there was in store for tomorrow. A soak in the hot waters would be just what they need to soothe the aches and strains of the day. Paul slid in first, finding the water hot but a bit cooler than he normally has his tub set at home. He sat on the bench across from the ladder. This gave him the perfect vantage point to look at his wife's perfect legs as she eased into the water. Her modest one-piece Catalina swimsuit merely accentuated her stunning curves in a way that no bikini could achieve. She eased on to the bench and sent the baby monitor receiver on the deck behind them.

"What a day," sighed Andi, as she slouched down and let the water come up to her chin.

"Thank you for coming down here with me, Dr. Roberts."

"I've gone to every honeymoon I've ever been invited to," smiled Andi. "Where was your first honeymoon?"

"San Diego. Hotel Coronado, the zoo, stuff like that. Where did you go on your first honeymoon?"

"Disney World. Then he promised me a cruise, but we have to go hang out with his old Air Force buddies first."

"No honeymoon with Frank?"

"Not unless you count watching him play away your wedding gift money and getting drunk in Las Vegas." Paul hugged her and bent to kiss her when she stopped him. "Don't go feeling sorry for me. If it weren't for Frank, there wouldn't be these beautiful girls, and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have ended up in Springville. It was a roundabout journey to you, but we made it safe and sound."

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All Aboard Andi's Dream

It was sad to sign out from Shades of Green. The resort was so relaxing, and with a little BX and Commissary, it was familiar to Paul; it felt secure, like it was his next duty station. They posed for a family photograph in front of the gigantic Christmas tree in the lobby and when the fellow veteran handed Paul his phone back, Madeline told the fellow, "Poppa has a Christmas tree just like that one!"

"Not quite, sweetheart. This one is much bigger," said Andi.

"It just looks that way because you're taller than us," said Sandy.

From the Disney parks, they headed straight east to the Atlantic shore, a much longer drive than Andi expected. First-time visitors don't realize how huge Florida really is, but it's behind Alaska and Texas to be the third largest state. Eventually, they found Patrick Space Force Base clinging to a narrow spit of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River.

First, they took the suggested visit to the Base Exchange, which wasn't the biggest that Paul had ever seen, but Andi was impressed with the size. They picked up some snacks for the girls because they weren't sure how the boat was going to be stocked and grabbed a second bathing suit for everyone. Then she checked the prices. "I thought everything was cheaper for the troops and the veterans," said Andi.

"Nope. That idea went out the window years ago."

"But what about the poor airmen and privates with children who hardly make any money?"

Paul shrugged. "No one seems to care anymore."

"At least it's still tax free," she grumbled.

Paul took his family to the Patrick Beaches, a beautiful stretch of beaches right across US A1A from Patrick SFB. On the base side of the sea grape covered dunes is parking, picnic, and shower/changing areas, and on the seaward side of the dunes there were beautiful white sand beaches. They pulled the twins and a cooler in the Twin Hauler over the dunes using the wooden ramps, and when the girls piled out of the wagon, they were so excited they ended up running in circles, trying to decide what to do first.

At the beach, the twins had the time of their young lives. The girls were so small they had to wear bathing suits made for two-year-olds, which were made with left plenty of room for diapers in the seat, so their bottoms were very saggy. They didn't like the floaties, but they had to get used to them because Andi wasn't going to let them on the deck of the boat without them.

The twins loved the feel of the water on their feet and running away from the waves through the wet sand. They discovered the joy of sandcastles and spent a lot of time watching their mommy and new daddy play Frisbee in waist deep water and keeping an odd score that they both seemed to enjoy. What the twins loved the most was trotting up and down the beach with their sand pails and shovels, looking for shells.

Occasionally, a military airplane would scare them by flying low and fast and roaring so loud it caused the twins to drop whatever they were doing and cover their ears.

"That's the sound of freedom!" a young man told them and looking up, they realized that this was a stranger and did what their mom told them, and they ran away as fast as they could. A moment later, they ran back to the young man and scooped up their sand pails and shovels, both said "sorry", and ran off again, leaving the young lieutenant and his date doubled over in laughter.

Andi and Paul came ashore after splashing and playing Frisbee, and Paul was exhausted. They sank down to sit on the sand and Andi handed Paul an aluminum vessel and said, "I prescribe 355 milliliters, and it must be taken internally."

"Is it safe?"

"I'm a doctor, trust me," said Andi with a smile.

"Will this cure me?"

"It'll cure what ails you. Let's go, doctor's orders."

Paul pulled the tab on the can of Hard Lemonade, then took a sip. He smiled and pulled Andi close for a kiss. "Why didn't I find you earlier, Doctor Roberts?"

"Because I wasn't in your network, but if you like your doctor, you can..."

Just as Andi was about to deliver the worn out punchline, a shadow covered them, and a powerful voice said, "Colonel Jarecki!"

Paul peered up at the figure that was casting the shadow, thought for a moment, then said, "Wobbler?"

"That's Colonel Wobbler to you, sawbones!"

"Wobbles! Pull up some beach. Andi, this is Lloyd Weber, call sign Wobbler."

Lloyd and an elegant platinum blond in a one-piece bathing suit that looks like it costs about the same as a Mercedes car payment sat down with Paul and Andi. "Hot damn Pea Jay, how long has it been?" said Lloyd as they shook hands.

"Fifteen years. Allow me to offer you a cold one and introduce you to my bride, Doctor Adrianna Roberts, A.K.A. Mrs. Andi Jarecki." Andi noticed that Paul gleamed when he called her his bride. "And who do you have here, Colonel Wobbler?"

Lloyd grinned, "Remember that general with the fine young daughter that half the eagle drivers on base were trying to... ahhh... meet?"

"General Hughes, yeah, I remember. Then this is his daughter?"

The blond held out her hand. "Close. I am, I mean I was, the general's daughter's nanny, Zoe. Zoe Weber for the past 12 years." The foursome had a laugh over that and toasted each other's marriage with white wine infused canned lemonade.

"How long have you two been married?" asked Zoe.

"Hmmm, how long was that, four days?" asked Paul.

"Yep, we got married on Christmas Eve. How did you know Paul?" asked Andi. "was he your flight surgeon?"

"There was no 'flight' involved in our relationship," said Lloyd. "every time I went in to see Pea Jay, he found a new medical reason to ground me. I was a medical tackling dummy. Then I'd end up "Supervisor Of Flying" for a week. The S.O.F. mostly drove around the taxiways and runways in a mini pickup truck looking for pieces that fell off of airplanes."

Andi turned to Paul and said, "Can I ask him? Would he know?" Paul just held his hand out, inviting Andi to talk to Lloyd. So she did. "Ok, when you do a Google search on my husband, there are reports that he got thrown out of the Air Force for beating up another colonel. Is that true?"

"Absolutely Not True. No credibility to that rumor at all. Completely untrue... sort of. I was there at his retirement ceremony, and he graduated to the civilian world with honors. I even handed him his first civilian beer."

"Wobbler was allowed that honor by being the only fighter jock to get me to puke in twenty years of flight surgeoning." Andi looked at him, confused. Puke? Paul explained, "every flight surgeon is required to go up in an airplane every quarter, so I'd have to ride in the back seat of a 2-seat fighter and the boys..."

"... and girls," chimed in Lloyd.

"Oh, christ on a crutch, I had forgotten Brunhilda ...and girls, thank you for that memory. They all thought it was simply great fun to shake and spin the hell out of me, trying to get me to vomit. Lloyd won the honor of attempting one quarter..."

"I didn't win it, I bought it. I bought the honor for 20 pizzas and 4 cases of coke."

Paul addressed Andi's confused look. "It was an F-15 unit, and we were deployed to Saudi Arabia and there was no alcohol, so he bribed the deployment commander to take me up for... wait!" Paul did a few quick calculations in his head. "For forty-five bucks? You bribed him with forty-five bucks?"

Lloyd grinned and nodded his head and knowing where this story was going, Zoe snickered and looked off to sea. "Anyhow," continued Paul, "we pull on to the runway and he announces on the radio 'Hold on boys and girls, the Wobbly Goblin is primed and ready to launch,' and the tower replies, 'May the lord have mercy on your souls Goblin.' And we launch... we went straight fucking up. He's got the afterburners wide open, and he doesn't even blink. He's giving me a travelogue. 'Looking quickly to your left, you will see all of Saudi Arabia in its entirety.' Then he levels out at 30,000 feet and says, 'ladies and gentlemen, we are now at our cruising altitude. Feel free to move about the cabin.' Then he rolls it over on its back and drops like a rock straight into the Persian Gulf. 'Looking straight ahead, you will see the Persian gulf in all of its natural splendor.' I swear he pulled out of that dive at wave top level and goes barrel rolling past a supertanker. The guys on deck had to look down to see us. I spent the rest of the flight filling puke bags."

Zoe and Andi were howling with laughter. "I'm a certified hero," said Lloyd with a huge grin.

"He tells your story better than you do," said Zoe, between gales of laughter.

"He should. I think he was the sober one on that flight."

When the laughter died down, Andi said, "You said that the rumors of Paul beating up an officer were completely untrue... sort of... What do you mean 'sort of' not true?" Andi still wanted to know about the rumor that Lieutenant Colonel Paul "Pea Jay" Jarecki beat up a commanding officer.

Lloyd looked at Paul, who just said, "Tell her."

Lloyd continued, "So we're at his retirement ceremony, and everyone knows what happened with Melony. There aren't any secrets in a flying squadron, and the bastard that was doing Melony, her commander, walked up to Pea Jay, puts his hand on his shoulder and said," Lloyd effected a deep southern drawl, "son, shit happens." Lloyd nodded to Andi, "Just like that. Your man, honest to God, says 'Here, hold my beer,' and he turns to me and hands me his beer, then he turns around and knocks that bastard out. One punch. He went down like a sack of potatoes. Ol' PJ looks down on him and says, "Sure as shit does," then finishes his beer. And to this day, no one saw a thing. Not even me"

"I'm not proud of that," said Paul.

Andi looked at Paul with a shocked look on her face. "You really did that?"

"It wasn't really my finest moment."

She put her arms around his neck and asked, "What would you do if you saw him again?"

"I would profusely and profoundly apologize and beg his forgiveness."

Andi gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "That's my man of God."

Just then the twins came roaring at them, arms outspread, yelling at the top of their lungs. They crashed into the sand in front of their mom and rolled over, grinning. "What's all this?" Andi asked.

"Sound of freedom!" said Sandy, and Madeline nodded her agreement.

The two couples chatted for a while, then Paul announced it was time they got going. Captain Stan would be ready to pick them up soon, so saying their goodbyes, the two families walked back to the air base side of the protective dune. The twin's sand pails were full of bits of shells, and they were enormously proud of their collections, so Andi found a plastic bag and poured the shells in the bag for safekeeping, then they rinsed the sand off of the twins at the outdoor shower and changed them out of their swimsuits to shorts and t-shirts, then loaded up in their rental car and headed up to Port Canaveral.

They pulled into the rental turn in, piled out and unloaded their luggage and even before Paul could finish the paperwork with the rental agency and before Andi could handle the inevitable "Why are they taking our car?" question from the twins, a middle age Asian woman pulled up in a small van and started to load their baggage on the van. Having settled Sandy down that they were not stealing their car, Andi realized that Madeline had wandered off. She found Madeline "helping" the Asian woman put their baggage in her van.

"Um, excuse me?" said Andi as she walked up to the van.

The Asian woman stopped and turned. "Are you Adrianna Jarecki?" She was dressed in white mid-thigh shorts and a white, short sleeve top with blue piping, deck shoes and a white and blue sun visor. Her raven hair was well past her shoulders and braided in a French braid.

"Yes, I am," Andi started.

"I'm Sung-mi Carlson, the first mate of Andi's Dream. I'm so glad to meet you. My husband, Stan, is captain on this trip, and he's getting your dream ready."

Just then, Paul walked up from the rental office. "Sung-mi! How's my favorite juicy girl?"

Sung-mi suddenly switched from her slight accent to a heavy Asian accent. "Ah! Docka Paul! Ay numbah wan! You buy me juicy drink?" She laughed, and they hugged, and she said, "Your bride is beautiful! And you didn't tell me you were bringing along some beautiful preemies to play with!"

"They are my new daughters, Sandy and Madeline. How is Bitty doing?"

Sung-mi smiled proudly. "Bit-na is six years old now and she will be the cabin steward on this trip."

"Andi, this is Sung-mi Carlson, our captain's wife. She is a Pediatrics RN, and one hell of a navigator."

"A little help here?" called Madeline, but the grown-ups were too busy with introductions to notice.

"Your babies are just beautiful," said Sung-mi to Andi, as they shook hands. "They were born at thirty weeks?"

"Twenty-eight weeks. You could tell by looking at them?"

"A little help? Please?" begged Madeline.

"Yes, there is no one thing in particular to look at, but delicate hands are one thing that is a bit of a giveaway."

"HELP!"

Paul looked at the source of the cry and found both Sandy and Madeline trying to wrestle a large suitcase into the back of the van. He could have easily grabbed the handle and hoisted it in, but instead he grabbed the handle and said, "Oh gosh, this is heavy, everyone push!"

The twins lifted as hard as they could, and Paul lifted the bag into the van with the twins 'help'. "Good job, girls!" and held up his hand for a high five. "Twin power!" The twins high-fived and flexed their muscles, looking for even greater weights to lift.

Andi and Sung-mi watched in amusement. "You found a good one, Doctor Andi."

"Actually, he found me."

They piled into the van as Andi told Sung-mi the story of being caught in a Western New York blizzard and how they spent almost a week in the cabins. "I love the cabin," said Sung-mi, "and the pond is so relaxing!"

"It's under a few feet of snow, so I haven't seen the pond yet," said Andi.

"You will love the pond, and the pond over on Josh's side of the road." As Sunny talked about how she and her husband vacation with Paul's chickens, they pulled into the Cape Canaveral Yacht club and drove along the shorefront. Pier after pier of boats went by. Sailboats and rowboats and speed boats and fishing boats of all make and model went past. "Will we get to go to Jupiter and take the sailboat out, Paul?" asked Sunny.

"Are you an astronaut?" asked Sandy.

"Jupiter!" said Madeline.

"We might," said Paul. "Nothing is set in stone." Then he explained to the twins that Jupiter was the name of a town in Florida where he and Uncle John own a house and a sailboat.

They turned a corner, and they weren't looking at clusters of small boats anymore. There were piers with some enormous yachts tied up. "There's your boat," said Sung-mi as she pointed toward a boat that looked like a cruise ship to Andi, and the closer they got, the bigger it looked.

"That's mine?"

Paul leaned forward between the seats and kissed her cheek. "That's all yours."

Sung-mi navigated the van through the yacht marina and finally pulled up to Andi's Dream. "Oh my god, it's huge!" gasped Andi, looking at the yacht that cost her so much in human dignity and tears. It was a beautiful 72-foot Riviera Sport Motor yacht with a white tarp covering the stern. A man close to Sung-mi's age, a young Asian woman in her 20s, and an Asian girl about six years old, all dressed similar to what Sung-mi was wearing, were standing alongside Andi's Dream. The man stepped forward and shook Andi's hand.

"Dear," said Paul, "This is Stan Carlson. He's going to captain Andi's Dream for us. Stan, this is my wife Andi."

Stan smiled at her and said, "Welcome aboard Andi's Dream."

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I would just like to give a big shout out and say thank you to the wonderful people of the Armed Forces Recreation Centers. I've been lucky and blessed enough to have enjoyed their kindness and hospitality at two of their establishments, Shades of Green at Walt Disney World, and the Hale Koa Hotel on Waikiki Beach. Both are wonderful places for active duty and veterans to take the family on vacation, and an incredible place for a busted up ol' GI to relax. They also have the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul, Korea and the Edelweiss Lodge in Bavaria. In real life, they really do say "Welcome home" to visiting veterans, and they do everything they can to make it feel like home. Thanks, guys!