She watched him stretch. God. The gift of eyesight was a real pleasure... Then she arched her eyebrows at him.
"You're the one that told them you were bringing me here. Why shouldn't you be the one to tell them we're going
there? It's only fair you get the joy as well as the evil looks." She paused, face changing. "Hector? I would like to pay
for the tickets. Please?"
"Because I told them you were coming here. Figure you can tell them you're coming home, right? So it doesn't come
off as me dragging you all around the world according to my evil and nefarious whims!" He joked with a grin then
shook his head.
"Nope. I've got it." He said. "I don't want your extended family getting wind of it until we're already on the plane, and
they're already watching your account." Or they never would have traced her here.
Her brows came down.
"Well, I want them to know." She stated. And then shook her head and sighed. Moving over to wrap her arms around
him and lean in. "I'm going to have to close that account. It never occurred to me they'd use it that way. I should have
thought of it. I want them to know where we are. So they'll leave here and follow me there. I don't want them here,
bothering this anymore. But you're right. It's too much of a warning. They might get desperate and try something here.
Bugger pushy family. Now I'll have to buy things in the airports." She lifted her face. Met his eyes. "I'm not entirely
destitute though. I want you to know that. I don't want you to feel as if you have to pay for everything because I can't."
"You know, we both probably have more money than we know what to do with. Not because we've got the CEO jobs,
but because, well, we don't spend it." Hector said. Because, frankly, neither really had the chance. "Besides, let them
come here. Mrs J will know we're leaving, and she'll call the cops. Then they can talk to Paige about what a useless,
uneducated, uncivilized murdering psycho I am, and what a green card stealing whore you are. Could be an
enlightening conversation for the both of them, who knows?"
"You have more common sense in your thumb than the entire lot of my relatives put together." She stated staunchly.
"And they know it." Her face softened and she smiled up at him. "Though you're right about the money. Red Cross
doesn't exactly pay well. But when you've got nothing to spend it on but two birthdays and Christmas time, it really
doesn't make that much of a difference." Her eyes went thoughtful. "Can I put my money with yours? When I close my
account?" Somehow being married seemed - immensely more solid when talking about things like joint bank accounts.
She wasn't the least bit concerned however about Hector being a 'gold digger'. He'd fallen in love with her when she
was a doctor working in the middle of Africa for a charity organization. Her 'money' or the promise of it, certainly wasn't
what had attracted him. Which was more than any of her cousins, aunts, or other various female relatives could say
without hesitation.
He had to think about that. Not the concept of it. But the workings of it. "Can you? Because then we're mixing dollars
and pounds..." He said and shrugged. "Then I'll close mine, and we'll get a whole brand new one that will mix dollars
and pounds." He wasn't sure on the technicalities of it with an American bank. "But just so you know, I have direct bill
paying, when the electric is due, things like that. Property taxes, gets taken straight from the bank account. So if yours
gets there before mine does," unlikely, since the military was very good with that, "when you go to check, might have
less than you thought you would."
She laughed.
"I would be pleased if my money found its way into this house. In pound sterling or American dollar. But I can't promise
that I'll have any money coming in anyway. At least not until the churches that support my Da decide to put me on the
payroll as well." She kissed him, lips still smiling. "So I'm afraid you're the one being taken, my love. It turns out I'm not
after a green card after all. I'm just after your money."
"Uh oh, don't let that get out." He said in a teasing tone, his eyes glimmering. "Shit, if your cousins find out you're after
MY money, I might have to beat them off with a stick, and that gets tiring after a while I would imagine."
He kissed her softly. "Okay, so you do breakfast, since no one trusts me in a kitchen for some reason, I'll call the
airlines and see what we can get going. And the least we have to leave the house and be seen between then and now
is preferable." Did he put it above Paige to throw some sort of childish fit? Absolutely not. Hell, she might recruit some
of the others.
"Mm." She made the pleased humming noise against him and touched his lips with hers one more time. "Whatever
shall we find to do if we stay inside all the time?" She pondered with dancing eyes. Pulling away to walk over to the ice
box. Putting just a bit of sway to her hips before she shot him a grin.
"Now I don't know whether to hope you find us tickets soon or much later." She teased. Before turning around to begin
the making of a breakfast that hopefully would make it to the plate without 'distractions'.
"I can always get tickets today, the flight just might not be for today." He said with a chuckle, watching her go to make
breakfast. He watched her for a little bit and took the phone into the living room, where he could part the blinds with
his fingers and watch the neighborhood. He made the calls to the airline, got a flight without as many transfers as the
last one, and called Tommy to take them to the airport in the first place. All three of them were enamored with the car,
even if the males were more so than Andi.
Then he sat there and looked at his phone, wondering which of his sisters to call first, then decided against that for
now and called Jo, organizing a barbeque before they left.
Andi put a good breakfast together. She'd forgotten how much she missed fresh food. And cooking. As creativity went
she supposed this was as close as she would ever come. But it made her happy. Satisfied. And she liked watching
Hector forget, from time to time, that he was addicted to tabasco sauce. She glanced out the window as she worked.
At the back yard with its spreading trees and the fence with its overhanging vines. Everything was so green. So alive.
She liked here. She thought... she thought she would even miss it. She'd found so much safety and healing and love
and comfort and happiness here. Found so much of Hector here. She didn't know if she'd spend the rest of her life
with the tribe. If there came a time she was to leave... she hoped it would be to return here.
But here wasn't quite here without Hector...
If she came back here to live though, she'd be dealing with the neighbors differently, she thought. Especially that little
trollop across the street. The girl had some nerve on her and for once, Andi couldn't find the positive side of it.
She really did have a wonderful man.
And he was taking her back to Africa. To her parents. To marry her. In front of Mum and Da and all her people. Maybe
even Suz and Mike and some of his Delta if they could wrangle it. She'd have to ask Da when they talked later. It
would be a nice surprise for Hector. Or at least everyone but Suz would be 'nice', she thought with a quiet chuckle.
Hector was taking her home to marry her.
The thought had her insides singing. She hadn't dared hope but oh... how she'd wanted her Mum and Da to be there
when she got married. And her tribe - they'd be so ecstatic. It was more than she ever would have hoped for and she
wanted to sing. And yet - it would be away from Hector's family. She could be wrong but she didn't think they'd forgive
that easily. And - she wondered if he wouldn't regret not having them there. She didn't want him regretting that. She
didn't want to take him away from his family if it would have made him happy to have them there. So she was torn
between being delighted and feeling guilty and horribly selfish.
But she so wanted her Da to be the one to 'give her away'.
Shaking her head at herself she turned on the radio to the oldies station and distracted herself by singing along with
the songs as she moved around the kitchen to the music. After all God had said 'make a joyful noise'. He hadn't
mentioned it necessarily having to be in harmony.
"So yeah, definitely barbeque. Tommy will work the grill, you can do the pasta and shit. Me? I'm going to sit on my fat
ass and watch y'all." Hector was saying. Jo laughed.
"If you were capable of just sitting around, indeed your ass would be fat, the amount of carbs you eat." She said.
"Rachel back on Atkins?" Hector asked.
"Yeah she's giving it another go. Not that she needs to lose the weight, but someone at work told her it was better for
her. I don't know."
"Women. What can you do?"
"Very very funny." Jo said. "Okay, I'll call Tommy and Amy and see what we need for that. I'll hit you back later."
"Always do." Hector said as he hung the phone up and stared at it before picking it back up. "Hey." He said when Beth
answered.
And then proceeded to hold it away from his ear as his sister ranted and raved about being incommunicado and just
disappearing, and how their father was drinking even more, and if he'd just call the old man up and apologize...
That's when Hector broke in.
"No." He said firmly. "Absolutely not. I told him my terms, I'll see him when he's dead. Now do you want to know why I
called or are you going to make me hang up?"
"Hector, he's your father. That means something."
"Maybe if he was an actual father and not the asshole he is. Moving on, or am I hanging up?"
"Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn on this subject?"
"I'm warning you...one...two..."
"So why'd you call anyway?"
"I'm headed back to Africa."
There was a pause. He swore he could have heard a pin drop if one dropped then. "With Andi?" Beth asked quietly.
And when Beth was quiet it was never a good sign.
"Yes with Andi." He said, rolling his eyes, exasperated by the women in his family. "So we're having a barbeque before
we leave. Would love the kids there."
"So you're going to Africa with Andi."
"Wow, you're quick on the uptake. Very good. Now if we can just master moving on."
"Back to work or what? According to Cassie, you're still on leave."
Hector had to take a breath. "That's none of your business." He said, with a hint of the darkness he felt on that one.
"So why are you going to Africa?" Beth pressed.
"Because we spent time here, at my home. Time to spend time there, at her home."
"You know, that place is a minefield. It’s not a vacation."
"As long as no one's trying to give me orders, it is." He said, pointedly. Which just flew over Beth's head.
"You know, I've been thinking...and we've been talking about it...."
"Who's we?" His tone getting even darker.
"Cassie, Dee and me." Beth said. "And we love you, you know that. But we're just not sure on Andi. I mean, she's
taking you away from your family, and you're just....different. I don't know, but we don't like it."
"Then good thing you're not me." Hector said, giving her an out if she'd take it. Which she didn't.
"Hector, I'm serious. Don't you think you're going a little fast?"
"It only seems fast to you because you just met her. I've known her a helluva lot longer than you." Hector said, trying
to keep his temper down. On the heels of Paige's stunt, this was the last thing he needed. "In fact, you know what,
forget I called."
"Hector..."
"No, don't start. I'm not Dee, I'm not Pete, and I'm not Vanessa. You have no right to try and swoop into my life and
make decisions for me because you feel its best. Because you're not me, you don't lead my life. You don't even know
my life. Now, I've tolerated it because I've only been home a week at a time, here and there, but it stops. Right now.
Not doing it. You've got a choice. Either let me run my own life or get the hell out of it."
"See, this is what I mean! This is all Andi...."
"No, she just happened to be here for the longest stretch I've been home in ten years. Get a grip. If a woman could
control me that completely and make me tell everyone to go to hell when they don't agree with me, don't you think you
would have been able to accomplish that a lot longer before Andi did?"
Beth's temper finally came to the fore.
"Well maybe if I was sleeping with you, you would have!" She snapped.
"What?" Hector all but roared. This had not been a good morning for him. "You did not say that. Are you insane?
What is wrong with you women? All of you! Why can't you all just shut your mouths and be happy for me for once?
What's the big deal? That I have a life of my own and now I have proof to show for it? That I'm really not going to jump
up and run at your beck and call because I've got something better to do now? My sex life has nothing to do with this!
You're all unbelievable!"
He was pacing, stalking the living room, shaking his head as his temper started to release.
"I've had it up to here with all you trying to tell me what's best for me. Why don't y'all take a good, hard look at your
own damn lives and fix them before starting on mine! Because yours ain't so rosy you know. Why don't you go find a
sociable husband for Cassie? Or try to get Dee to stick with one man for at least a year before getting knocked up?
Or stop Dad from drinking? Keep Pete in college? Give Sara some direction? Or better yet, get your head out of your
own ass and start paying attention to your own kids! See? Your lives aren't that great, so stay the hell away from
mine. I like my life, I love that girl. If you don't like it, you can all just simmer here, alone."
Andi in the process of sliding the ham out of the pan jerked when Hector's voice suddenly roared through the house. It
was a new sound to her. She'd never heard him yelling before. Not like this at least. She still caught the ham on the
plate but she burned a couple knuckles in the process. Thoughtful she tipped her head to the side as she stuck them
in her mouth. Listening.
Someone had just lit quite the fuse and she didn't think it was the airline dealers. In fact, listening, she was quite sure
it wasn't.
So she reached over and turned off the stove, slipping the food she'd already made into the oven and setting it on low
to keep things warm. Then she went to the ice box to get some ice to wrap in a towel.
"We're your family!" Beth yelled right back. She didn't control her temper. She expected other people to deal with it.
The fact that this was her older brother who'd never raised his voice to her before hurt. And being hurt made her feel
mad. And defensive. He was only doing it because he couldn't see straight around that skinny tramp. "We care about
you! And we're not going to stand by while you let your life go to shit! Hell no, we're not perfect! You're not perfect
either! We're all messed up and that's why we watch out for each other! You bring home a snotty ice queen, dump her
in our laps and expect us to adore her when she couldn't care less about us - or you - and then you blow up on dad
like you never want to see him again and disappear! You're messing everything up! And you're not even trying to
make things right! You just take off and we don't even know if you're alive or dead for a week! With her! You should
have heard the things she said to Cassie last time she was over! This isn't about something being wrong with us! We
worked just fine together until you brought her home!"
"We all watch out for each other? How do you figure that? By standing on the porch pretending not to hear every time
Dad and I would go at it? Oh that's supportive. That's really watching out for me and my best interests. Or is it good
for me for my own father to call me a baby murdering psycho? Character building I guess." He shouted back.
"*This* is NOT a family! This is some weird parasitic relationship through genetics that I'm not sure I want a part in any
more. And how would you know if she's an ice queen? You ran her through the gauntlet before she could even say
hello! And the only thing I'm messing up is the Norman Rockwell painting you've got in your head...which never existed
Elizabeth! Why do you think I was so hot for the Army when I graduated? I get a month leave time every year. Do you
see me taking it? Do you see me running home for a week after every big op, which I'm entitled to? No you don't! Do
you know why? Because I can't stand all the controlling everyone does in someone else's 'best interest.' Before you
DARE think of commenting on my life, you had better know what the hell you're talking about, because you don't!"
He raked a hand through his hair. "I love you all, but there is a reason I don't come home. Because of scenes like this.
And there's a reason that when I am home, it's not for long. Because of scenes like this. Get it through your head,
Elizabeth, I'm a grown man and I WILL make my own decisions whether you 'approve' or not. I'm the big brother no
one can relate to because I don't want you to relate to me! You don't know what my life is really like, only what I tell
you. You have no idea what it's like to be shot, to watch others get shot, to drag your men back behind your lines
while they're bleeding all over you, to see what one person can do to another just because he can. To try and sleep
with bombs going off over your head. To go without food or sleep for days and days because you have to. So don't
you dare tell me that I don't deserve to be happy if you don't 'approve' of it, because your approval doesn't mean
SHIT!"
A part of her was so mad she was seeing red. And another part of her was actually scared. Of what her brother was
saying. Of the fact he was saying it. She stuck with mad and ignored the rest because she wasn't comfortable with the
other.
"This IS a family!" She yelled right back. "Hector! And we do make it work! Maybe not the goodie two shoes way but it
works! God damn it! If we don't know you its because you don't want us to! Because you always stand to the side and
act like you don't have any problems! When you're just as messed up as the rest of us! Maybe your girlfriend likes to
pretend otherwise but we all know better!"
Cassie who had been over visiting was making hand motions but Beth ignored her.
"Don't you dare judge us about Dad! That's your problem if you can't deal with him! And sure, we want you to be
happy! We just don't want you to fuck everything up for a stupid reason! And a good lay is a stupid reason to fuck us
all!"
Hector took a deep breath. And the next time he spoke, it was quietly. It was never a good sign when Hector went from
raging to quiet.
"Everyone has problems. But you don't know mine, don't pretend you do. I don't want to know yours, because you're
supposed to be an adult, and handle them on your own without calling a Geneva convention." He said, now his voice
barely above a rumble.
"Elizabeth, don't try and make me choose. The one issuing the ultimatum always loses." He said, calling her by her
complete first name again. Making it sound impersonal. "Always. The choice is yours. But you should know, whatever
you say next, is not going to change the fact that I'm going to marry that 'good lay, 'that ice queen.' So think before
you speak."
Beth's eyes went wide and deep in the heart of her she started to tremble. She realized she'd gone too far - now - but
it was too late to back off. Cassie was looking at her horrified and making all kinds of hand gestures that amounted to
'stop'. Beth's lips pressed together and she sniffed.
"Fine. I see how it is." Her voice was curt. "Be that way. And when it’s all over just remember that I told you so." And
she abruptly slammed the phone back in its receiver.
Hector stared at the phone in disbelief for a moment. Then threw it against the wall, the plastic shattering into pieces
before it hit the floor. Leaving a good sized dent in the wall while he was at it.
Then he walked over to the wall, managing to walk around the furniture instead of kicking it out of the way, and
gathered all the pieces into his hands, going into the kitchen and throwing it in the garbage, unplugging the now
useless phone.
"I always hated that phone."