Andi grinned over at him as she helped herself to one of the sandwiches. Hungry as well and for her that was rare.
But she also had a lot of missed meals to make up for too.
"Mm." She commented absently. "Tall, dark and handsome. You're right. I can't imagine what they see." She teased,
settling in comfortably and tucking her legs up under her on the chair. Giving him a look from the corners of her eyes.
"And if you fly in and fly out, they never find out about any annoying habits either."
"Come on, these people knew me when I was a kid. And I was a goofy looking kid. Ears about to take flight, braces for
a time..." He chuckled as he started to eat. "They're weird. And I do not have any annoying habits." Then he flashed a
grin. "Okay, maybe a few."
Andi made a coughing noise into her water and than shot him a grin.
"Not a one." She agreed. In truth, possibly because she was so hopelessly in love, she didn't know of any annoying
habits of his. He was a little too insightful sometimes and combined with his usual straight forward approach he did
have the tendency to call her on things. Which could have been annoying if she didn't need someone that would call
her on some of the things she did. Especially since his approach with her at least was always done in love and in such
an odd way that she felt safe when he hit on them. He was stubborn and persistent. Which she found good qualities.
Hopelessly protective. But she never felt suffocated or as if he thought of her as helpless or incapable. He probably
squeezed the toothpaste in the middle or something else equally inconvenient but she probably did too. After all
they'd been through, and the lifestyles they lived, it seemed too inconsequential to really get upset over though. In
fact, if she was going to have to peg one of his habits as annoying - it was the one that actually bothered her on a
deep, soulish level. That he didn't seem to realize his own value. That one she'd found out about when he'd gotten
shot and, phobia of doctors or not, not even tried to get it treated once he was safe and on base again. And that
wasn't annoying. That was - that actually scared her.
"Though they are strange." She agreed with a smile. Helping herself to the potato salad. "But they care about you.
And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Most of the time." She amended with a soft laugh.
"Just another one of a long line that think they know what's best for me better than I do." He said with a chuckle,
though he hit the nail on the head. "I've read all that stuff, about women being the more nurturing of the sexes, et
cetera, et cetera, but seriously. Eventually we all get to the point where we can make decisions for ourselves, and shit
like that." He chuckled.
"I know, I'm fighting a losing war on that one."
"I don't know." Andi shrugged lightly. "I'm rather fond of most of your decisions." After all, it had been his decision to
bring her here, though he'd given her the option. And his decision to come after her in the first place. His decision to
not let letters be the only time they talked. His decision to want her in the first place... yes, she'd had options on most
of those too. But it took two people to reach the same decision to make that happen. Something she was starting to
realized some of the other women on the block didn't understand.
That had to get annoying sometimes. She knew she was suddenly feeling a bit annoyed over it herself in a way that
she hadn't when the other women had actually been present.
"Though if it’s any help, I think they've narrowed down the list of things you're doing wrong to just one this time
around." The edges of her lips twitched. "Though I'm fairly sure your one 'mistake' is the worse of the lot as far as
they're concerned."
"Ah yes. The infamous neighbors. All of which are mad I'm not playing house with them, so it doesn't matter.
Whichever one didn't get picked would still play the same old game. Don't worry about them." He said, finishing his
lunch and settling back with his glass of sweet tea.
He shrugged it off, he always did. If he had any interest in any of them, he would have show them that a long time
ago. Hard headed women.
It didn't occur to her to ask if they were 'playing house'. She didn't see what she and Hector were together as anything
as simple or shallow as that. In fact, she didn't think the other women really understood what they were envying.
Thoughtful, she rubbed her bare toes lightly against the instep of his foot and gave him a soft smile. She'd get up and
clear the table in a minute but there was no hurry. That was one of the precious things about this time. There was no
hurry.
"I do feel a bit bad for them." She admitted. "You represent a lot of things to them. It would be hard not to pin dreams
on you." Yes, he was very handsome. And - all the things that made him Hector. But - for the women here, he could
very easily represent more. Freedom, adventure, stability, protection, desirability, status. All the things they thought
they couldn't achieve on their own here. "You handle it much better than I would in your place." She gave him a soft
smile and slipped her hand under his free one, turning hers palm up to rest against his. Dismissing pushy neighbors
and hungry women out of her world with a simple mental shrug. She rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her
free hand as she looked at him.
"Can we eat out tonight?" She asked. Feeling brave. As long as it was a quiet place she thought she was up to
another public outing. She thought she needed another public outing or she was going to settle into the comfortable
routine of Hector and house and little more and never come back out. She wasn't sure when Mrs. Johnson would be
over for dinner. Probably when they invited her the afternoon before. But they'd eaten all of Hector's gumbo from last
night and he wasn't making more so she didn't feel bad about her spur of the moment question. "My treat." She
offered. "Suz actually packed a dress or two for me."
Hector laughed. "I don't handle it." He admitted. "I just ignore it until it's time to ship out again. Not sure that really
counts as handling it."
He raised an eyebrow. "Suz packed dresses?" He asked, amused, remembering hearing her reaction when she first
opened her bags when they first arrived. "Sure, we can do that. Anything you'd wear a dress to would have to go out
of town, but not far out of town."
Andi rolled her eyes even as she chuckled. Fond and frustrated.
"Suz packed all kinds of surprises." She admitted obliquely. "And very little of my own things. But yes, she packed
some sun dresses along with the prerequisite little black dress." She shook her head. "I haven't worn a dress in - "
she had to pause and think about it. "In quite a long time." She finally decided. Years easily. "You'd think I'd just
admitted to hating all things soft and fluffy when she found out." She looked over at Hector, eyes laughing and her
fingertips shifted lightly against the underside of his wrist. "It doesn't necessarily have to be anywhere posh. I just - I
want to see more. Maybe somewhere you like to go when you're in the area?"
"Well, if it makes you feel more girly, I've never worn a dress." Hector said with a laugh. But he was definitely thinking
of that 'little black dress,' as much as he tried not. Not that he was trying too hard not to either. "But if you want to
wear a dress, we'll either have to go within walking distance, and there's nothing dress worthy. Or take a cab or
borrow a car."
"With your legs?" She teased when he confessed to never having worn a dress. Standing up to press a kiss to his
forehead. Liking the way his dark hair curled when it was wet...
"If we borrow a car we can stay out as late or as little as we want." She suggested, starting to clear away the table. "I
used to have a friend that had a car in London. I think about seven of us took turns borrowing it on a regular basis."
She chuckled and just left it at: "Poor car..."
"Just a matter of choosing the car." He said. "Mrs Johnson would let us use her car, with strict rules. Can't go over
thirty, that type of thing. Tommy....it’s a school night. He's got class in the morning. Cassie...I'd be on babysitting duty
tomorrow for sure!"
He stood up once the table was cleared. "But let's get the tour underway so you don't get lost in case you decide to
sleep walk." Not that she could start walking around in the night without him knowing about it.
Andi chuckled at the idea of her shambling around in the dark. Not likely before, really not likely now. Besides - the
way she and Hector slept it would be next to impossible to untangle enough to get up in the first place. With a grin,
she linked her fingers through his and joined him.
"So I get to see the kingdom now?" She asked, eyes dancing.
Hector laughed. "Maybe my next big home improvement project should be installing a moat around the perimeter." He
said. "Throw in some alligators." He led her out of the kitchen through the hallway then a sharp turn into a living room.
"So, living room. TV, DVD, play station. Don't laugh, the guys, fully grown men, have been known to come over and
play." He said with a chuckle. Video games were hard to outgrow, and none of them really wanted to. "Grandma's
china cabinet. Never used any of it, too afraid I'll break it. Cassie threatens to come and take it, but she's afraid of
breaking it too, so we leave it as is for the most part. Piano, couch, lazy boy chair...that's the living room. My sister
and I used to play board games right there on the floor for hours when it would rain during our visits."
Andi slipped her hand out of his to wander. She had an almost obsessive need to touch things which had only gotten
worse as a doctor. She relied on her fingers more than her sense of smell or hearing. But she'd also grown up with
part of her world firmly in the breakable, 'don't touch ANYTHING!' category so she'd at least learned, if not to touch, to
touch lightly. Which is what she did now. Carved china cabinet, fairly new couch, fairly.... well loved recliner, polished
piano top. Looked out the windows to see the view from this side. Looked at the pictures which proved to be mostly
small children she guessed were the nieces and nephews. She easily recognized two of the huge smiles from
yesterday morning. None of the pictures had Hector in them and she didn't think that was Cassie's fault.
This living room might once have belonged to a woman but it was almost entirely male now. Much like the bedroom. It
felt like Hector and that wasn't a bad thing. Andi thought maybe doing home improvement projects probably fell right
under 'yard work' on his list whenever he got home. Especially on his own, she had a hard time seeing Hector just
lounging around for too long. She circled back to him like a small, content planet and took his hand in both of hers
again.
"I could almost smell the testosterone oozing off the electronics." She grinned at him, teasing before she softened.
"But I like this room. I do. It doesn't just look comfortable. It feels that way."
"It's gonna come as a huge shock that I don't even have cable, let alone a million channels dedicated to sports, huh?"
He said with a chuckle. No need for cable really, he wasn't there enough. He had a computer, but it had dial up
access, since anything faster would be useless if it only got used once a year. With her hands in his, he backed up
across the hall and opened another door. "Boring. Dining room. So there's a table. And chairs. Used to be used a lot
when my grandparents were alive, family gatherings and all. Not so much now. Not that I ever really sat in here. We
had a little table back over in the living room for the kids. I had to sit there until I was sixteen." He chuckled.
"By the time I was fourteen, I was physically way too big for the kids’ table, so I'd eat on the couch and eavesdrop on
the so called adult conversations." He said. "The door on the other side leads right into the kitchen, Grandma would
bring out the food, set it on the table, and Grandpa, who sat in the big captain's chair right there, would serve the first
serving, after that it was a free for all."
The thought of Hector as he was now, sitting at a tiny table in a tiny chair with his knees up to his chin had Andi in
quiet chuckles and she stepped into his arms and rested her cheek against his shoulder to look at the room, arms
around him.
"Kids’ tables are always more fun." She opinionated. In her mind it was easy to imagine the room full of noise and talk
and people. The table was wide and sturdy. She wondered what they'd talked about. Small things like the children?
Big things like the world? Whether there had been arguments or silences or had they ignored things like that when
they'd gotten together for meals? Had they played catch-up and friendly family gossip and teased and laughed and
joked?
"Lord of the manor." Her smile was soft as she freed a hand to rest her fingertips lightly against the back of the big
chair at the head of the table. "That's what Grandda used to call the chair at the head of the table." Of course it had
only been him and her but still, his chair at the head of the table had always belonged to him. She raised her face to
press a light kiss to Hector's jaw line. "What next?" She asked curiously.
"That's really about it." He said with a chuckle. "Down the hall there's a bedroom, and three more upstairs. Then
there's the basement, which has a washer and dryer that I think still work. And storage stuff. An attic with more
storage stuff, though that stuff is older." The basement was used by the family for storage. Hector didn't mind, he had
the space and really nothing to fill it with. He wasn't much fond of endless clutter that belonged to him, so he didn't
have it.
Her eyes were laughing as she pulled back enough to catch both of his hands in hers and draw him back out into the
hallway.
"This is a tour remember?" She 'chided' with laughter under her words. "I want to see everything. Even the closet you
keep your skeletons in. This way if I decide to go sleep walking I won't wake up lost." She had a good feel for the
outside of the house, having been all over the roof earlier and she headed toward the first floor bedroom. Curious of
course, about everything. But wanting to feel as if she belonged in this house. Every part of it. And more - wanting to
see which rooms he'd touched and which rooms still felt like his grandmother's. Or Cassie's and the children.
He showed her every nook and cranny, from the guest bedrooms, to the attic, to crawl spaces to the basement. The
room he had lived in during his last year of high school still bore touches of a high school kid, things his grandparents
never bothered changing, and neither had he. Posters of bands, and sports heroes, school pennants, pictures,
normal things. The only things really noticeably missing was a music and video collection, but that had been moved
out to the living room once he moved out of that room.
"So that's the big tour." It was an old house, passed through his grandfather's side of the family, so there were a lot of
old hope chests and trunks, some covered with dust. A playroom with toys of various ages for various ages. He led
her back to the kitchen where he grabbed a Pepsi out of the fridge.
"So who should we borrow the car from?"