Vanessa gave the taller girl a sideways look. "Just wait. He and Brett know which buttons to push, and they will.
Whether it's being cruel or their mouths get ahead of them..." She shrugged and met her husband as he entered the
kitchen with another beer. "Shoo!" She said with a kiss on his cheek. "Before we put you to work!" She signaled for a
cousin to lead him back with tempts of the half time cheerleading show before he could protest. She watched him go
and looked back at Andi. "There is no forgiveness in Hector."
Hector shrugged and nodded. Not about to say 'good.' He was Pete's father also. "So what's going on with you?
Trying college again or waylaid by cute sorority girls...again?"
Andi wasn't about to get into an argument with someone over how Hector was or wasn't. Especially since, as the new
comer, anything she opinioned could just be dismissed as 'not knowing what was really going on'. And, to a certain
extent that could be considered true. But she also knew Hector. All she said however as she picked up the punch
bowl smoothly was:
"No one knows how to hurt you the way family does. And there's always more going on inside a person than they let
on. Hector's a surprising man." She gave the other woman a smile and gestured with a tip of her head to the door.
"Shall we go out and deliver the troops from their eternal thirst?" She asked cheerfully.
Pete chuckled and stretched. Not half as interested in his love life as his brother's. Hell, he had women in and out of
his bed on a fairly regular schedule. Hector - well, Hector never got laid. Or at least not until now, he thought with a
grin.
"Hanging around the college still. Best place to meet the sorority babes." He chuckled. Pete had no real interest in
college. But he had to do something and he couldn't find any job he actually wanted to do or that didn't drive him
crazy with monotony within the first week. So - college it was for now. Who knew what came later? Maybe he'd end up
like the old man. He swung his leg off the bike.
"Come on. Introduce me to your hottie. I want to find out if she thinks you're porn star material too."
Vanessa smiled. "We should. It's nice to meet you finally." Vanessa said. "I suppose after your sabbatical you and
Hector will return to Africa?" She asked, looking at Andi then. "To me it sounds so exotic, but to hear it from Hector's
letters," shared by his siblings. Not one was written directly to Vanessa or Brett, "it's almost like it's right next door."
"We'll decide all that at a later date." Hector said coolly coming in with Pete and going over to Andi. Then he
dismissed Vanessa from his attention, as he always did. "Andi this is my brother Pete. Pete, Andi." Vanessa just
sniffed and went back to the punch.
Pete grinned.
"Hey ya." He offered by way of greeting. That had been - odd. Walking in on a conversation his mother hadn't
steered completely over to herself yet. Hector of course shut his mom down anyway and Pete's attention just glossed
over that fact and shifted to something more pleasant. Natural response to just about everything the family did to
each other.
"Hey ya yourself." Andi replied with a bright grin and Pete got why Hector had started chasing her in the first place. "I
was wondering when you'd pop up." Then she transferred the punch bowl into Hector's hands. "Vanessa and I were
just about to risk life and limb by trying to find a spot on the table for this so your timing is spot on." She pressed a
soft kiss to his cheek. Noticing he'd lost his tie somewhere and looked much more relaxed for it. And yet still looked
more uptight than she'd possibly ever seen him before. She slipped a hand in the crook of his arm. And then turned
to Vanessa.
"Did you want to come outside and dish up your potion? I'm sure the children are hoping for some of the unmelted
sherbert."
"No." Vanessa said with a wave of her hand. "You kids go play, I've a lot to finish up here." She said with a sigh of
resignation, as if she were always left to finish things up.
"That's why she keeps me around." Hector said with a chuckle to Pete. "Heavy lifting and high shelves. Come on, let's
go give the hordes something to drink, maybe they'll forget about me for a bit."
Pete chuckled.
"Not unless you spike it with something pretty damn strong." He observed. Observing as well the way his brother
moved around the girlfriend. Pete was good at reading body language. Especially defensive or protective body
language. You kind of had to be when you were occupying his rung of the family ladder. And he was picking up on
some interesting stuff. Again, he had to shake the feeling that his life was missing something he couldn't define.
"But you look so good reaching for things on high shelves." Andi commented warmly, giving Vanessa a wink over her
shoulder before Pete got the sliding glass door and they were outside on the wide deck again. "He really does." She
added aside to Pete and Pete laughed.
"Good to hear because I've been meaning to ask you - "
"Hey!" It was Sara who, seeing Pete in with Hector and Andi, knew an 'all clear' sign when she saw it. Pleased she left
the uncle/nephew/something or other from whoever it was' side of the family that had gotten Dee knocked up this time
and came over to join the group. Wherever Pete was it was safe to be. "Saved your drink." She offered Hector's
girlfriend and Andi chuckled.
"Ta. I didn't dare leave it undefended."
"Guarded it with my life." Sara lied blithely. "What's up? Ooo, punch!"
"Yeah, I was about to ask Andi." Pete filled her in. "Cause see, Hector was talking about porn videos - "
"Again?" Sara laughed.
"Want to wear the punch?" Hector asked Sara, who took the punch bowl while it was safe to do so. Hector gave an
aggrieved sigh. "Now this is why I hesitated bringing you. Not the drunk father, the martyred stepmother, the whiny
sister, the bitchy sister, or the sure to be soon sticky kids, it’s the really bad stories the rest could tell you."
Pete laughed. "Hey, I just wanted to know if Hector was comparable to a porn movie. Would hate to be the only one
who managed to get that gift."
"Ewww." Sara said, using the plastic ladle to get herself some punch, and laid out a couple more plastic glasses full of
it. "God, Pete, you're disgusting. I don't want to think of either of you having sex. Ever."
Andi had moved automatically back into Hector's arms as soon as they were free. Both slim hands resting on his
chest, against his heart where she could feel the reassuring beat of it. But she laughed easily as Pete's question.
"Cover your ears, Sara." She warned and then, somehow without leaving Hector, leaned so that she could murmur to
Pete: "He's really rather amazing. Half the time I don't know whether to scream or lose my heart in a sigh. And he
does this thing with his hips - "
"Okay!" Pete backed right off, raising his hands in his air so fast he almost spilled his beer. "Way too much info. Just -
way too much." And then he saw the way the girlfriend had leaned back into Hector and was laughing her head off at
him. And started to laugh too. "Oh - that was so wrong." He protested it. "That was - Hector, your girlfriend's evil!"
"What are you blaming me for?" Hector asked with a laugh, wrapping his arms around Andi. "You asked! Don't blame
me because you're too nosy for your own good."
"Well, at least we can assure Dad he's not gay." Sara said evenly.
"Why does everyone assume I'm gay?"
"Because you ran off to hang out with a bunch of men without fathering a dozen kids first? Remember, you're in the
white trash south." Sara said mock seriously.
"And you're the first one not to expose anyone else to this side of the family, when they're just casual dates." Pete
added.
"Hey! Not my fault. I still live at home, remember." Sara said. "Mom and Dad felt a little insulted when I used to have
them pick me up down the street."
Andi, snuggled in close in the safety of Hector's arms. Things hadn't gone as badly as she'd expected but this had
certainly been no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. If she'd had to do this fresh off the plane from
Africa she seriously thought she might just have folded up and disappeared. There was something... so sad about all
of this. And it was so sad because they all truly did love each other so the pain wasn't something they could ignore.
But for now there was laughter and that was a welcome reprieve for her.
"At least it makes sure you never leave your date waiting in the living room with them while you 'finish getting ready'."
Pete teased. Knowing better than most how awkward dating was in their family when you were still at home. He was
proud of Sara for even trying. Luckily, as the guy he'd always had to go to the girl's house. He'd certainly never
brought them home to his. He still had an aversion for letting any girls into his private areas, much preferring to go to
their dorm or apartment. Sara shrugged.
"I meet the 'girls' at the mall a lot." She supplied with a grin. "So -" she turned her attention on her brother. And the
girl he was holding. Here. In the middle of the porch. For the entire family to see. Like that was normal for their family
or something. "I want the mush. Not the sex." She clarified hastily, waving a hand. "Gimme the mush. First kiss?" She
prompted.
"You are so nosy." Hector said, chuckling, knowing that this wasn't 'normal' for his family, or 'run of the mill,' which was
why he was enjoying it so much. "Ah, let's see...I don't remember the date..." one loses track of time when one slept
at odd hours when one could, which he did. A lot. "I know at one point I took a nap somewhere around mid morning."
He grinned at Andi, had been her idea for him to nap at all, in fact bribed him into it. "The tent was nice and dim,
somewhere along the lines I think I had been threatened with the most hideous elephant ever created, and how
normal was really boring, then it just...happened."
Sara grinned and nearly squealed, covering it by drinking her punch. "So who started it?"
"Oh I definitely did." Hector said with a chuckle. "Dark side of my personality. I molest innocent doctors in their dark
tents."
Andi's hand curled against Hector's chest and she looked up at him, eyes laughing and warm. Remembering quite
well his 'heavy heart' and the strange, familiar closeness being with him had brought with it even than.
And she very much liked his 'dark personality' if that was the results...
"It was like being able to finally come home after being away too long." She murmured. Sara gave a sigh she didn't
really have to fake dramatically all that much and Pete - Pete got that feeling again in his chest. But - relationships
and women like that didn't exist. Or they didn't last. Trying to find that was a waste of time and a good way to get hurt.
He'd always known that. But... he'd always counted on his brother to be single and the non-romantic type too. She
made him feel relaxed, he'd said...
"The second time was later that day in the supply tent." Andi added softly. Watching Hector's face with a soft smile on
her lips. "You said if we didn't leave you were going to kiss me again."
Sara kept quiet. Not about to interrupt the story flow.
Pete rolled his eyes because he was expected to and Sara smacked his shoulder. "Shh!" She admonished.
"Third one was in the med tent, again I took her hostage and held the door closed." He said and laughed. "We always
seemed to be getting interrupted. Intentionally I'm sure. See, I'm an evil influence on her and all apparently. Shirking
duties and such."
It was Andi's turn to laugh and it was quiet but not because it was muted. Because it was simply an intimate, bubbling
sound.
"He is." She agreed, turning her head to look at the two younger Garretts, who were practically glowing even if Pete
was pretending he wasn't supposed to care. If the rest of the family had been half this simply curious and friendly
they probably would have had the whole story in no time. "He's a terrible influence. Always reminding me that there
was more to life than work and what it felt like to laugh. Honestly, you'd think he was trying to remind me that there
was something to life outside of working and the occasional bout of sleep." She looked back up at him and her smile
softened. "We weren't interrupted that last night though. When I went on break for lunch with you and never came
back." She touched his cheek gently with her fingertips. "I was so sure I wasn't going to see you again." She added,
voice softer.
"Told ya both to join the army." Hector said with a chuckle.
"Sorry, I don't want an Andi of my own." Sara said laughing. "Though I should turn gay, shit that would just kill mom
and dad."
"Yeah, like I need more competition. At least Hector is off the market." Pete joked. He and his brother had never been
competition. He went for girls who didn't want to work for a relationship, or have a relationship period while Hector
never spent enough time in the States to be a serious competitor against his brother. "As long as the rest of them
stay straight, I just might have the chance to have the corner on the Louisiana and Texas markets."
"See, I knew I'd see you again." Hector said with a smile. "Never a doubt in my mind."
"And everyone has established he's the most stubborn son of bitch ever born." Sara said.
Even now it made her chest go tight and touched right through the center of her. That even then he hadn't been
willing to let her go. And that had been even then.
He really was that determined when it came to her. She knew that right to the core of her now and it reassured her in
ways she couldn't have imagined before she'd met him. But it didn't mean she didn't still like hearing it all the same.
"Well, you might have said something." She told Hector with a quietly laughing smile.
"He always plays things close to the vest." Sara opinioned knowledgeably. "Bet he didn't even tell you he loved you
before he left."
Andi laughed and looked over at her.
"Well, we had only known each other little less than a week the first time." She clarified. "But no," one of her favorite
stories, "he was drugged the first time he told me he loved me."
"Whoa!" Pete started to chuckle. "Scary woman. Remind me to avoid doctors and nurses and anyone with access to
medication."
Sara's eyes went wide however.
"It was when you were hurt, wasn't it?" She asked her older brother. He was standing in front of them and hadn't
limped in or anything, and he'd written her a letter so she wouldn't worry, so she wasn't all that traumatized by the
incident. Despite the stir it had caused in the family. But - she started to grin at what she'd figured out. "You were
doped up on drugs when you got hurt and spilled your guts about it, didn't you?" She asked triumphantly. "I always
knew it would take someone giving you a concussion or doping you up to get an 'I love you' out of you."
Brett was sick of the game. His team was losing anyway. Considering they always did it didn't surprise him much.
Always could count on a loser to stay a loser. He picked himself up off the couch and thought he might grab
something to eat. Today had been a lousy day and he wasn't looking forward to tonight either. He hated staying at
someone else's house. And Diane was always trying to hide the beer from him. Not that she had the nerve to keep it
hid. He wandered out into the kitchen and went through the fridge.
"I tell you I love you all the time." Hector defended himself. But family, at least his sisters, were easier. And less
threatening. Pete and him, well, that had been bred out of them a long time ago. Manly man behavior and all.
"I don't count. You're obligated to love me." Sara said.
"And why's that?" Pete asked.
"Because I'm the cutest." Sara said with a bright smile. "So how drugged were you?"
"Not that drugged. They still felt the need to tie me down." He said, Sara shook her head.
"I figured that too." She said, chuckling. Some of her brother's weird ideas were worth chuckling about, as long as he
had the power to walk around on his own two feet without assistance. "Did you try to chew through them?"
"No I did not!"
Dee was biting on her fingernail again. Her father was going for more beer and she looked at the clock, then put a
smile on her face and came out carrying the cake. "Okay, let's cut the cake!" She announced. That way the party
could break up nicely and politely after wards.
Sara, Pete and Hector got quiet and very still. Dee was rushing it, which meant their father was drinking. Pete
exchanged a look with Hector and Hector looked away.
"We're gonna grab a piece of cake and split." He said easily. "Long ride back and all."