Roswell Fanatics

12:30 AM The Guerin Residence, Roswell NM

She looked out the window when she heard the motorbike coming down the street. As the two got off, Maria saw Michael give Joey’s hand a quick squeeze, and she smiled up at him. She knew it wasn’t over exactly, there was still some tension there. But both looked a whole lot happier than they had two hours ago when they’d gotten on the bike and ridden off into the desert. Family was everything to Maria. She was still scarred by her own father’s desertion, even after all of these years, and seeing her husband and her daughter estranged….she’d have rather been chased by the Special Unit again. The rift wasn’t yet healed, but it was healing.

“So…? You guys want some sandwiches? Peanut butter and pickle for the pregnant lady, peanut butter jam and jalapenos for the other two?”

”Joey looked up at her father, than at her mother. She smiled as she said, “That’d be great, Mom. So when WERE you two planning on telling me about the pregnancy?”

“Well, we didn’t figure there was any hurry since we knew you already knew. Or don’t you remember the message?”

Michael pushed a few buttons on his cellphone and the speakerphone quickly came up with the voice of a drunken Joey Guerin,

"Hi Daddy……you old horndog you…”

“Uh…..that’s the TV in the background…I’m sorry, I’ll try to turn it down ….if I can find the remote. Uh….anyway, she seems a little out of it……I really think I need your help.”

“You’re a horndog too, Mom……I can’t believe you two. I come from a family of horndogs."

Joey blushed fiercely, “Omigawd, I’d completely forgotten.”

All three of them laughed as they started to eat. They were a family again, things were getting better.

But all three were also still thinking about the next part of that message, the part that Michael had cut off.

The part that went, ‘Oh well…..why not. Hey Drewey…..wanna get naked and play around?’

Two were remembering those words with some little discomfort. One was remembering them with a different emotion altogether,……anticipation.

12:25 Office of the Director, Secret Service Headquarters, Washington DC.

Richard McClanahan was the chief of the Secret Service and the call to be in his office at 12:30 had been a total surprise to Kate Powers. She had wondered briefly if perhaps someone had become concerned about her growing relationship with Bob, but she really didn’t think so. A Marine Captain working at the Pentagon was hardly a security risk.

No, this was far more likely due to whatever that quasi-interview with the First Lady was all about. She never had understood that, and had been waiting for the second shoe to drop over that interview for some time. Maybe it would be a relief to find out what was going on. Or maybe not. She was awfully junior to be seeing the boss. She entered five minutes before her appointment.

Kate received the usual professional smile from McClanahan’s secretary as she entered the lobby. “Good afternoon Agent Powers. I’ll notify the Director that you are here.”

Kate looked at her reflection in the glass of the window somewhat nervously, not at all sure she wanted to be here. But in only seconds, the door opened and Richard McClanahan emerged. “Agent Powers……do you mind if I call you Kate? Come right in….”

‘Kate? There aren’t six people in the whole Service that McClanahan calls by their first name. What the hell’s going on…?’

He ushered her in to his office, only to find the Deputy Director, Mark Highfill sitting there. ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘..the mystery deepens.’ “Hello Kate”

‘First name again,’ she thought. ‘Maybe I should have worn my body armor.’

McClanahan set down in his chair and looked at Highfill, both men smiling. “Kate….How much do you know about Trisha Anderson?”

‘Trisha Anderson? The” Princess”?? Oh no, this was going to get bad…..’

1400hours (2PM Eastern) “E” Ring Dining Hall, The Pentagon, Washington DC

The Pentagon actually wasn’t all that far from the White House, although the Metro Blue Line took a rather circuitous routing through Arlington Cemetery.

Pentagon Security had balked at letting her keep her weapons, despite her Secret Service ID, and she had balked at giving them up. That too had slowed things down. Eventually Bob had showed up, talked to the Marine Gunnery Sergeant in charge of the security deal Marine to Marine, and he’d smiled and waved her through security with her weapons.

She’d asked how he’d arranged that and he’d smiled and said, ‘I promised to frisk you personally later.’

Apparently 2PM was between rush hours at the Dining Hall, and they sat away from the few people present in a secluded booth, eating their sandwiches.

“So explain to me how she got the nickname, ‘the Princess.”

“It was five years ago, back when he was Vice President. One of the men on Mrs. Anderson’s detail got himself in trouble for coining the phrase. I’ve talked to three people on that detail. All say that their daughter is the worst spoiled brat they have ever seen. And it has apparently gotten worse now that she’s a teenager.”

“So why is she now getting a detail of her own?”

“McClanahan says they envision a political career for their daughter. Now that he’s been safely elected to his second and final term, well they want to get her more exposure. At fifteen she can go do public appearances, that sort of thing, that will help her in the future they think. She’ll be nineteen when he leaves office, in college. She could potentially start in politics just a few years after that, and that’s evidently the career they have planned for her, according to McClanahan.”

“Why you?”

“A good question. Sexist as it sounds, I think the first requirement was female. And to tell you the truth, I think the more senior female agents in the executive protection section may have turned the job down, or at least told McClanahan they didn’t want it. The young…uh..lady’s reputation has preceded her.”

“So is this a good thing for you, or a bad thing?”

“Well normally, running a detail of my own…I’m just too junior, I’d have never been given the chance, not for years. But given the girl’s reputation…this may be karmic payback for the troubles I gave my folks when I was a teenager, …except I was nowhere near as bad as this kid.”

“How come nobody has heard of this before?”

“That’s why we are called the SECRET Service, Bob. A lot of president’s have been unfaithful over the years, first ladies too. Sometimes they have marital problems, heck, there was one sham marriage, the president was gay….we protect our charges, sometimes even from bad press…even when they probably deserve it.”

”How bad is she, really?”

“Imagine the worst spoiled fifteen year old you ever saw…imagine that her parents doted on her…always took her side, then imagine that her dad was the President of the US…and that you worked for him.”

“I don’t have to imagine the last part, I do work for him. It kind of sounds like what we call a high-threat environment for you though. Turn it down. The other women did.”

“They were senior enough to retire, I’m not. And McClanahan didn’t give me any options, the President and First Lady have already approved me.”

Bob smiled sardonically. “An opportunity to excel,” he said.

“Yeah, or to see your career end. But in a way you're right. If I can pull it off, it’ll really help my career. But if anything goes wrong, well…I feel awfully expendable.”

“Not to me,” he said, laying his hand on top of hers.softly.

She put her other hand on top of his and squeezed it softly. “Well, I’d better be getting back. McClanahan already picked a few people, but now that I’m boss, he wants me to pick the rest of the people for my detail.”

Bob gave a look of mock dismay, “You mean…I don’t get to frisk you?”

Two Weeks Later, 3:00PM The Arboretum, Roswell New Mexico

It was a frustrated Joey Guerin that was approaching the clubhouse on the arboretum at the north end of Roswell. She had been tipped off by her cousin….one of the Ramirez twins, only two weeks ago. Because of that phone call, she already knew what awaited her in the clubhouse ahead…a surprise birthday party.

‘Just what every sixteen year old girl needs,’ she thought, ‘a surprise birthday party.’ She knew it was well-intentioned…and family was important to her…normally.

But this was her night for Andrew…or was supposed to be. He’d pushed back the time to meet her….she supposed, because he’d have to attend this too. In fact, she could already sense his presence on the other side of the building.

She had been nervous all day. She had gotten an A in driver’s education, but had barely passed her driver’s licensing exam today…with a seventy-six, seventy-five being needed to get her license. She wasn’t mad at the examiner…she’d really done that bad. Her mind hadn’t been on the exam. It had been on Andrew and tonight.

She watched as her father and mother led her to the side door. 'I'll have to try to look surprised,' she thought.
She needn’t have worried.

As she stepped through the door, she found herself in a small dressing room with the Ramirez twins and Andrea Lopez dressed in blue bridesmaid’s dresses smiling at her. She didn’t get it even then, even when she saw Barbara Douglas smiling at her, tears in her eyes, even when she saw her mother starting to tear up…until she saw the dress….the white wedding dress on the dress form…the one her Aunt Izzie was putting the final touches on.

Her mouth dropped open and she turned to her father who was reaching for a tuxedo. His face was strangely ambivalent as he watched his daughter. Then he smiled and said, “Andrew’s idea….of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to…”

Michael Guerin had agonized for the last three weeks over whether or not he had made the right decision….but the look of happiness and joy on Joey’s face told him all he needed to know. He’d made the right decision…all four parents had.

He and Maria had gotten the call late at night from Barbara and Roger Douglas. They had a serious problem on their hands…Andrew.

When they’d shown up at the Douglas’ house they had walked into a firestorm. Andrew was asking for his college funds. He wanted them all, actually, but was willing to settle for the contributions he had put in from his summer and part-time jobs. When his parents asked what for he’d simply told them that he intended to marry Joey.

Actually, he’d kind of set them up first. Since his accident he’d been active in gathering funds for support of research and treatment of quadriplegics and the center in El Paso had sent him a video that described in considerable detail the nature of the injuries treated there and what treatments were available. From the DVD it was readily apparent the kind of life he would be living, if not for Joey’s intervention. He’d played the DVD for them, before explaining to them that he wanted the money.

He’d told them he was going to marry her anyway….he’d done a lot of planning. If he got all the money, the two of them could afford to live very modestly through high school and still have enough to go to college, even if the scholarships didn’t come through. They’d have to work part-time jobs during the school year, but with their summer jobs with the Pemberton’s camp, it would work out. Option two was if he got only the money he’d personally contributed to his college fund. They would need to get scholarships to go to college, and they’d need to live very modestly indeed in high school. They’d pretty much have to survive two years on macaroni and cheese, but it could be done. Option three was if the parents said no. He still planned to marry Joey. They’d live in one of the empty cabins out at the Pembertons, and they’d survive, but they’d likely eat mostly Ramen noodles, and not a whole lot of those. Their part-time jobs would likely preclude athletic activities, so they wouldn’t get athletic scholarships. If they couldn’t snag academic scholarships, Andrew planned to work full-time to put Joey through school, then once she had a job, go back to school himself.

Any of the three had seemed like a recipe for disaster to Roger and Barbara, and they had told him that he couldn’t do it, he was underage and they wouldn’t sign. He’d indicated his intention to take Joey somewhere they weren’t underage, or to have her forge documents that would let them get a marriage license.

In frustration they’d called Michael and Maria, hoping at least for reassurance that Joey either couldn’t or wouldn’t forge any documents. Maria had looked up at Michael immediately and said, “You know she would….if he asked her,” and the two of them had gone over to the Douglas’ immediately.

Michael started out a little angry, he thought he’d been more than fair with the compromise on the engagement. And though he really did love Andrew, really did think that he and Joey were right for each other…someday…he got angrier before the night was done.

When Michael and Maria arrived the battle was already engaged. Both of his parents were telling Andrew that they had nothing in the world against Joey, that in fact they loved Joey. But that it was too early for either of them to get married….they had to wait.

Michael and Maria had quickly spoken up. They knew that Joey loved Andrew, knew that Andrew loved Joey, but that the two of them were much too young….that they would have to wait. Andrew had listened politely enough, but when both parents were done…when they were waiting for a response from him, he simply asked, “Why?”

It was a simple enough question and the parents assumed they would have no difficulty answering it. That assumption proved to be wrong.

“You can’t support a wife,” was the first thing that came out of Michael’s mouth. The three options were presented to Michael with computer generated spreadsheets to back them up. The kid had done his homework. “But what kind of life is this….look what you are asking her to accept. Right now she has a comfortable home, a secure life, how can you ask her to give that up?”

“It will be her choice, Mr. Guerin. Just like it was her mother’s choice to go with you and live on the road for almost two years, while the Special Unit was trying to capture or kill you….to take those risks. Do you think Joey is any less determined than her mother?”

And Michael was temporarily brought up short by that, and in attempting to recover made what in retrospect was probably the fatal error. He said, “But the two of you are younger than we were. What if you do this…then one of you changes their mind?”

At that point a line was crossed and as Michael looked at his wife and at Andrew he somehow knew that if either one of them could powerblast, he’d already be on his butt off in the corner somewhere.

“Michael,” said Maria. “I think you and I…and Roger and Barbara need to talk. Would you please excuse us for a few minutes Andrew,….just go watch TV or something until we get a few things out on the table here? Please?”

“Michael…you know damn well Joey would never ‘change her mind’ about Andrew,” said Maria as soon as Andrew was out of the room, ‘and he isn’t going to change his mind about her either. They connect with each other, Michael, from across the room…without even looking at each other. They’ve looked into each other’s souls, Michael, and both KNOW the other’s not going away.”

“I know that…but…they are too damn young…I don’t understand what brought this up anyway….I thought that they were doing OK being engaged….it wasn’t like we were trying to interfere or anything.”

“Well, I think I know, Michael. I think it started two days ago…when I took Joey to the nurse practitioner to get a prescription for the pill.”

“Joey is on the pill?” asked Barbara Douglas.

“Has Andrew been pressuring her to have…” started Roger who stopped as Maria put her hand up and shook her head.

“You two need to know the whole story,“ she said.

Michael and Maria started with the phone messages they had gotten as they had been trying to make their trip back to Roswell from Santa Fe, continued with what they had found when they’d gotten back to the hotel room, then described the discussion in their car on the second trip south, ending with Joey’s statement as she departed to go ride with Andrew in the Douglas’s car.

It was Barbara that defected first. She said, “I know why he’s doing this. I know what he really wants. He wants her to have her dream. She’s willing to settle…to settle for what she thinks they can have now. He’s determined to give her her dream…or as close as he can get to it.”

She told them the story, the whole story, handgun and all, of that first night. Told them that she’d always remember those words, the love and the conviction in them, she repeated the words verbatim…remembering them as if they were only yesterday….

• “There is an arboretum over on the east side of town. I plan to walk down the path in that arboretum on the arm of my father, and have him place my hand in Andrew’s hand, to kiss me on the cheek and go sit with my mother. I plan to be with Andrew as long as we live, rejoicing in his happiness and comforting his sorrows. I plan to bear his children, two we think, or maybe three. I plan to live with him in happiness as long as the Creator gives us, and to be in his arms when one of us is finally taken by death. And if I’m first, I will wait for him if there is a hereafter, to join with him once again. And then I plan for our friends and family to gather together, to celebrate our love, and two lives well lived.”

Maria had folded almost as quickly. She’d always been a sucker for romance. Roger had told about his doubts initially…his fear of Joey…fear of the whole alien abyss …before tossing in with his wife and Maria.

“Look Michael,’ he’d said. “We don’t have to put the secret at risk. We could give them legal permission, do it quietly….keep it out of the local papers. They can live with us…or share time between the two houses. No one would have to know. It’s not just that without her our son would have had no life at all…it’s that I really can’t picture either of them being with anyone else. And we love her too, Michael, Barbara and I love her like she was our own daughter. She’s a wonderful young woman, Michael…..don’t make her settle for less than her dream.”

So in the end Michael had to decide. What was going to happen was going to happen. Joey wasn’t going to wait…and Drew wasn’t going to say no to her…but he wasn’t going to do it without marrying her either.

Michael's choices were to fight Joey, fight Andrew, fight the Douglas’s and Maria, or acquiesce to the fait accompli and let the kids slink off and get married. And Michael didn’t want to just acquiesce, it was too much like …settling.

“Well,” he had said, “If there’s going to be a wedding, we might as well do it right…”

Judge Lopez officiated. The marriage license was obtained in Albuquerque, after Philip Evans carried the notarized permissions of both parents to the clerk on a business trip. The invitations had been sent out to those in the know, and the arboretum reserved.



Michael watched the two dance together, blinking the tears out of his eyes….just the wind, no doubt. Maria had him by the arm, leading him to the dance floor. She’d dance with him a minute, then change partners with Joey…let Michael have a dance with his little girl. There was a chartered plane at the airport that would be leaving in two hours to take the newlyweds up to Taos for the weekend. They’d drive up Sunday and bring them back. They’d stay at the Douglas’s the first half week, but Michael already had plans for a remodel, to dedicate one bathroom so it would connect to Joey’s room…….no, make that, Joey and Andrew’s room.

As he watched them dance, saw the joy in their eyes, Michael was sure. Sure that he'd done the right thing….

It was probably just as well that all those at the wedding were "in the know." The bridal bouquet seemed to be suspended in the air for the longest time, as the Ramirez twins fought for it with their powers. Finally Joey intervened, sending it into Karla's hands with a sisterly smile at her brother. Of course, Joey did a lot of smiling and a lot of dancing.

Those who hadn't yet met Andrew either were introduced by Joey or introduced themselves, anxious to see the young man who could change little Joey Guerin who had always been somewhat of a family favorite, from a brooding loner teenager to the happy young lady they saw before them today.

Maria and Barbara did a lot of happy crying, Michael did a little himself, although he hid it better. Toasts were offered to the happy couple by Mark, by Andrea, by Michael, and by both the Parkers and the senior Evans's, who had watched Joey grow up.....all with sparkling grape juice.

The honeymoon was going to have to be in installments, due to their school schedule. After the pictures were taken and the last dance was danced, Michael and Maria took the kids home where both changed into traveling clothes and Joey through some clothes into an overnight bag....she didn't plan on needing all that many. Then they were off to the Roswell airport where the small aircraft awaited.

The pilot, Bob Hastings, worked for a flying service in Taos. In the winter, Taos tourists were skiers, but the lodges were largely empty when there was no snow on the slopes. Ten years ago they had started trying to make it a local mecca for honeymooners, with some success. Flying them in like this was always the same. It was a four place aircraft and the two were always in the back seat, scarcely able to keep their hands off each other.

Not this time though, he noticed. These two seemed younger than most, but they had a maturity about them somehow that belied their years.

They held hands and looked in one another's eyes, and pointed out the sights to one another along the way. But they seemed to be really comfortable in their relationship, very at ease and self assured. Almost as if they were already somehow connected, and the honeymoon was just going to be icing on the cake.

As he turned final for the Taos airport, he took a quick look at the young couple in the back seat. You never knew how marriages were going to work out but somehow....well...Bob Hastings would bet on these two being together for a long long time...

11PM Casita Romantica, Taos New Mexico

Casita Romantica

It would have been a five hour drive from Roswell, and would be that long a trip home when Michael and Maria came to pick them up on Sunday. It had only been two hours on the small plane and they'd been in the connection most of the time, oblivious to the sight-seeing tour being given by the pilot. They'd been met by the small limousine that had carried them to this small adobe cabin that even in the night had such awesome views.

They'd talked most of the way…through the connection. Joey was simply in awe of how Andrew had somehow made this happen. Andrew had told her…he'd known on the trip from Santa Fe that he couldn't say no to her…it was easier to face the parents than take another beating from her. She'd smiled at him, and asked for the truth. And the truth, Andrew said, was that he'd looked forward to this since the sixth grade, but he too was afraid….afraid of waking up tomorrow and seeing an empty pillow on the other side of the bed.

And because of that fear he'd told them, his parents first, that this was for forever and he didn't want to start forever by sneaking around. There had been a row, her parents had gotten called in, but that their objections really hadn't changed anything..forever was forever, after all. And then it had happened, he wasn't sure how, but he expected his mother had something to do with it, he'd told her that his mother probably loved Joey as much as she did her son,..and then somehow the four of them had quietly folded. He credited Michael with the big surprise wedding. Her dad said as long as it was going to happen…and he was sure it was, he wanted to do it right.

'They didn't want me to spend any of my college money…or yours either. They are kind of sharing us.. going to make a few little changes to give us privacy..half the weekdays at the Guerin house, half at the Douglas house. The engagement ring could come off the chain, effective immediately…the wedding ring unfortunately would have to go back on…at least publicly, that being defined as amongst those not 'in the know." '

The two day honeymoon was a gift from her folks….part of the wedding. Michael and Maria would drive up to Santa Fe tomorrow, probably have a romantic night of their own, and be in Taos by checkout time on Sunday to drive "the kids" back. They'd spend the first week at the Douglas residence, while Michael did a little remodeling.

It had taken a lot of planning to pull it off, both mothers had done the bulk of it, with Andrea and Aunt Izzy both helping with the dresses and stuff. But he really hadn't thought he could keep it a secret. He'd been scared to death that she'd see it, in the connection. And she HAD noticed him blocking certain things out….she figured it was nervousness about …tonight. But then, she'd been doing a little blocking on that subject too. But not anymore….

Both had been nervous as they had prepared themselves for bed, Joey in the negligee that Andrea had given her, Andrew in flannel boxers. The fire was crackling in the little corner fireplace, the tangy scent of the burning pinon creating for them a memory they knew they would forever cherish as he stepped up next to her.

The small fire was the only light in the room as she reached around his neck, and pulled his lips to hers. She could tell the diaphanous negligee had excited him, and his excitement had excited her. As his mouth worked its way down her neck his hands pulled it away from her shoulders, and it dropped silently to the floor. She hadn't expected it to stay on long….

She climbed into the bed, pulling him in beside her, their lips meeting again and again, their hands wandering. Somehow the boxers disappeared in a brief soft golden glow, and they lay against one another on the sheets, their kisses and caresses continuing. Joey felt his hand go to her, dipping softly at her entrance and she knew that he was checking to see if her body was really ready for this. She was shaking with emotion..as was he, but she smiled a willing smile up at him in the semi darkness.

The connection formed as he started to enter her, and she smiled as he hesitated. We all have our demons, she thought. The person who had believed that she could never find acceptance, who had wanted this night even before she'd turned down a date in the seventh grade, but had never really believed it could ever be, looked through the connection at her husband. He'd dreamed of this moment a thousand times, and now when it came…he was terrified he would hurt her.

'Andrew, Andrew, what AM I going to do with you,' she thought. Actually, that was rhetorical. She had a pretty good idea what she was going to do with him…certainly tonight.

As she deepened the kiss she slid her hands down his back, caressing him, pulling him closer. It was as much her movements as his that caused the brief stinging pain that opened her wider as her body welcomed him. The explosion came only seconds later, and she felt it as he felt it, through his mind, pleased that she could give of herself, pleased that she had given him pleasure and release. She held him there against her, breathing in his scent…bathing in his warmth and closeness.

Maria had cautioned Joey to have reasonable expectations…and she did. They were both, she knew, rookies at this game. They would improve, with experience and practice. Tonight, for her, would be a time of giving, not receiving.

And a half hour later she was ready to give again as she felt his need grow again. She smiled as she felt him try to ignore the sensations of his own body, as he tried to feel through the connection her feelings, avoid those that were still uncomfortable for her, but more …. to seek out those that she enjoyed. She knew it was really too early to expect that….but she found her breath coming in short gasps, a feeling building within her like being sucked into a whirlpool. pushed to the center by each of those tiny movements that took her breath away.

She tumbled into the whirlpool, a whirlpool of passion and desire and longing. She was dizzy…weak…lost in the whirlpool, clinging to him…driving him yet deeper as the whirlpool exploded in wave after wave of pleasure, triggering his explosion as well. Their muscles convulsed, forcing their union even closer as they embraced one another…. their breaths coming in ragged spasms…when they remembered to breathe at all. Finally they lay still, their bodies still together, clinging to one another….
Yeah, they were rookies, but pretty talented ones…and throughout the night…well, let's just say the game went into extra innings.

But Drew had been wrong, so had Joey. When they woke up in the morning, there was still an empty pillow beside them. Of course, that wasn't as bad as they had feared....they were sharing the other one.

Santa Fe New Mexico 8AM

He moved with the practice of over twenty years...their usual coupling modified now by his present unwillingness to put weight directly over her lower abdomen...where their new child was growing.

But it was no less exciting...no less fervent...than it had been that first time many years ago. If anything it was more so. Michael was certain that no woman was ever more sensual...more beautiful...more desirable than a woman carrying within her your child, and this was the third ...and final... time Maria was carrying his. This hadn't been his idea...not that he was objecting. He wasn't sure if she was just in the mood...the hormones of a pregnancy seemed to do that to her....or if she was trying to reassure him that even though he was no longer the most important man in his daughter's life he still was in hers...but it really didn't matter. They'd gone to sleep last night doing this...and she'd started it again as soon as she woke up this morning.

But like I said...he wasn't complaining. Only long after their passion had spent itself did he remember to think about Joey at all. Finally as they both lay there cuddled together…enjoying the warm afterglow of their lovemaking….Michael did think about his daughter…and the young man she had married.

“I hope he is tender with her…gentle….cautious. She’s still so young…I’m not at all sure she was ready for this, even if she thought she was. She’s always been so reluctant to become attached to anyone. I hope Andrew goes slowly…doesn’t push her to do anything that she isn’t comfortable with…,” said Michael.

“He seems like a very kind and gentle young man, Michael, …and he is Joey’s choice. I suppose there will be a period of adjustment before Joey is comfortable with what’s involved with being a wife….but I think Andrew cares for her very deeply. I’m sure he’ll treat her with tenderness…give their relationship time to develop fully..without being too demanding. I don’t think he’d ever hurt her.”

“Perhaps not…but I really wonder if she was ready for this…”

Maria nodded. She’d been trying to fight off her own fears about that very question for two days now. She felt uncomfortable using Michael like this…as a distraction…to quell her own fears…but as she looked over at him she couldn’t help smiling….he really didn’t seem to mind.

Taos New Mexico 8AM

It had been a busy night…but for the last four hours her head had been beside his on the pillow…his face buried in the riot of her blonde curls. But as he gradually woke up, he realized she was already awake. He kissed the back of her head softly, but before he could cuddle closer he felt her pull away…sit up..turn toward him.

As he lay on his back looking up at her he saw her blue eyes sparkle…and a coquettish smile come to her face as she positioned herself to straddle his hips. As he felt her hands touch him…it dawned on him what she was planning.

“Again? Already?” It wasn’t that he was complaining…not really. He was just a little worried … about her.

“…Aren’t you getting a little bit sore?," he asked. '.. and …we’ve never tried this position….I’m not sure you have the angles and the anatomy just right either..,” he continued…looking up at those deep blue eyes.

“Nothing ventured…nothing gained…” said Joey. “Besides…if we make a mistake…hurt something…I can always heal myself…you too, if it comes to that.”

Her smile seemed to fill the whole room. She felt uncomfortable using Andrew like this…to quell her own concerns…but as she brought his hands to her chest and leaned slightly forward into him…..as she looked down at his face his expression becoming one of passion…..he really didn’t seem to mind. Somehow they worked out the positioning and she felt a pleasant shudder go through both of them as he entered her.

“Besides,” Joey said, as her body forced his to keep up with her rhythm, “..sometimes it’s like Mom reads my mind…almost like we were connected….and if I’m going to be sitting with her ... in a car for five hours …her reading my mind…well, I’m not going to take any chances that what’s going on in my mind .... is going to be that I’m .... lusting after my new husband ..... all the way back to Roswell.”

It was the word ‘husband’ that overcame the last of his reluctance…the first time she’d ever called him that. Soon they were joined in the connection…as well as physically…and they were sharing their joy with each other through their minds as well as their bodies. In fifteen minutes she was again collapsed on top of him, their sweaty bodies spent from the force of their intimacy but their mental and physical union continuing.

“I love you Mrs. Douglas…” he said.

Her eyes danced as she kissed him softly on the lips. “I love you too, Drew. I love you so much…”


It was 9:45 when the knock came on the door in Taos. Maria was through before the door had gotten half way open, hugging first Joey…then Drew. Michael greeted his daughter with a warm hug…his son-in-law with a handshake. It was only ten minutes later that the guys were taking the luggage downstairs and Andrew was checking out. Maria indicated that she and Joey would wait in the room, “It’s my last chance for a CLEAN bathroom before we drive across the state..” she said.

But Joey sensed that the bathroom was the least of her mother’s concerns and sure enough, as soon as Michael and Andrew had left, Maria looked at her daughter with motherly concern.

“Well…how was the weekend…I mean…Joey…if you have any doubts…any regrets….?”

Joey looked at her mother, then slowly shook her head. “I guess part of growing up is learning to live with your regrets….learning to accept the mistakes you’ve made in life, Mom…and making the best of it. You can’t change what has happened … and it’s silly to wish you’d done something different…now that….well…what’s done is done.”

Maria was horrified by the words and the remorseful tone of her daughter….her worst fears were being realized.

“Joey…if you are unhappy…we could do something…maybe get the two of you an annulment..”

Joey’s face broke in to a broad smile…and she fought not to laugh as she said, “No….what I was regretting was that I didn’t abduct Andrew when I was twelve…it would have made Junior High School a lot more fun…”

As Joey started to laugh., Maria knew she’d been had… and started slapping her daughter on the shoulder.

“Ouch…enough…I’ll stop kidding..,” Joey promised. Then she looked Maria squarely in the eyes, her own eyes sparkling...her face radiant with happiness.

“Mom…In my entire life…nothing has ever seemed so right…I love him so much…he’s kind…caring…I still can’t believe he talked you and Daddy into letting us do this. This has been the best…the loveliest…the happiest two days of my life. For so long I really didn’t believe there was anyone out there for me…and now…MMMMMMmmmmm!”

As Maria felt her daughter hug her tightly…saw the tears of joy on her face…all of her fears suddenly vanished. It was going to be alright…

Down in the parking lot, Michael and Andrew were putting luggage in the trunk, and the silence was starting to bother Andrew.

“Mr. Guerin….I realize that you had some real reservations about this. I want to thank you for going along with my wishes…and Joey’s wishes. I know you are worried…worried that we are too young…or that we don’t understand how much commitment is necessary to make this work…and I just want you to know…until the day I die…I will care for her…take care of her the very best that I can.”

Michael looked long and hard at the young man who was now his son-in-law.

“Andrew…I have to admit that I was troubled by this…and I still think it would have been easier for the two of you if you had just waited. But I also have to tell you…marrying you was not my greatest fear for Joey. For the past several years…before your accident…Joey was becoming more and more isolated. She seemed to believe that she could never really fit…never really be a part of this world. I remember that feeling…I had it too at her age. I’m not sure what would have happened had a young girl in high school not decided I was worth caring for…worth believing in…even when I couldn’t even find it in me to believe in myself. Maria made me part of this world…and I’m sure Amy would have rather we had waited….especially when Maria ran off with me while the Special Unit hunted us like animals…but that was Maria…and there was no stopping her.

I really feared that Joey was going to be like me…never really feeling like she belonged…but in the end….Joey is her mother’s daughter as well as mine. Once she decided…well…I pretty much knew what would eventually happen…even if you were gentleman enough to put it off while she was tipsy.

So all things considered….well, I wish that I could have done the same with Maria as you did with Joey….marry her…of course times were different…we were running for our lives….but even so… Look, QAndrew,…I know you love her…and she loves you…. What you are going to go through the next few years will be hard…in some kind of limbo between married adults and school kids who’ll need their parents permission to go on a field trip…every time Joey writes ‘Joey Guerin’ on some piece of paper she’ll think of it…every time you have to act like you’re just boyfriend and girlfriend…you’ll wish you could tell the world…but for right now…that’s the best we can do.”

“Mr. Guerin…really…what you’ve done…what my folks have done…I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough….”

“I think you probably ought to call me Michael now, Andrew. Or ‘Dad’ if your own father wouldn’t mind….and you don’t need to thank me. When you are a father….and it’s difficult to emphasize too much that it would be a good idea to at least postpone THAT for several years….well, then you’ll find out. Seeing your kids happy….seeing that they find the right one for them…the one that will insure their happiness…you’d do almost anything to give them that chance.”

Andrew nodded. Michael patted him on the shoulder. “Well…we’ve waited long enough. By now I’m sure that your bride has convinced mine that everything will be alright. Let’s go up to the room and get them, OK?”

“OK, Mr. Gue uh….Michael.”

6:30 PM Tinnie Silver Dollar Steakhouse and Saloon, Hondo New Mexico

They’d stopped for lunch…and a little shopping…in Albuquerque and at a few rest stops along the way…Maria had indicated that someone was kicking her in the bladder. Maria had been watching the interaction of Joey and Drew the whole way. They were doing their best to be blasé about the situation…but their hands were seldom apart…and even when they were…she was pretty sure that they were in the connection…discussing interesting events of the last 48 hours no doubt. But both had also been making a real effort to talk to her an Michael. Drew seemed to be making a special effort to assure them that they really hadn’t lost a daughter….just gained a son-in-law. And for all the tenseness she had when the day began, Maria was content. She was with her family…or at least most of it. If Mark and Karla had been there it would have been perfect.

Hondo New Mexico isn’t much of a town…just about a thousand people. But the steakhouse had pretty good food and the Barbara and Roger Douglas had reserved the small room where six people could have a quiet dinner and perhaps a little quiet celebrating without being observed by their friends and neighbors in Roswell.

Barbara was surprised when she saw her son….surprised how much he’d changed. It seemed like only yesterday he’d been a little boy…just learning how to ride a bicycle. Somehow in such a short time he’d become a young man… developed a maturity that only a year ago she’d have never believed possible. Of course, he’d been through a lot. Barbara had always thought Joey was beautiful…even back when she was scared to death of her. Tonight the girl just radiated beauty…and it was clear even from across the room the love she had for Andrew. Yes, the two made a beautiful couple…not just that they were attractive…but the care that they showed for each other…and for both sets of parents.

“A penny for your thoughts,” said Roger, watching his wife watch the young couple.

Barbara smiled up at him. “I love my son….and my new daughter…,” she replied.

During the dinner there were several toasts…..sparkling grape juice only…to the young couple and one from Joey and Andrew…to their parents. All too soon for Maria, it was time to bid her daughter and son-in-law good-bye. Oh, she’d see her daughter tomorrow…but for the rest of the week they’d be spending their nights at the Douglas’s….until Michael got done with a little carpentry to allow the newly-weds a little more privacy in Joey’s room. As Maria watched her daughter looking at her new husband with dancing eyes….she figured they’d need it.


It was almost 8:30 PM when the senior and junior Douglas’s got back to the Douglas residence. Andrew’s room was at the end of the hall separated by the bathroom from the guest room…each with doors to the bathroom. Barbara helped Joey hang up her clothes in the closet of the guest bedroom…if anyone showed up, they could claim she was just visiting. There was a big double bed…but somehow Barbara didn’t think it would get much use.

“Well, would you two like to watch a movie or anything?” asked Roger.

“Or perhaps you’d just like to get to….that is…go to sleep?” said Barbara…starting to stammer. The young couple took it with good grace.

“Actually, “ said a blushing young lady with very blue eyes…, “..we probably do need to get back in training. We have time for a three mile run before bedtime.”

“Three miles??” asked Andrew.

“Three miles….maybe more…and two miles in the morning…” said Joey….with a look at Andrew that made Barbara and Roger think that their son would undoubtedly find the effort amply rewarded.

Forty minutes later they walked side by side, cooling off in the desert night.

”Whew…a little layoff and you get out of shape quickly,” said Andrew.

“It’s always been my philosophy that if you work hard at doing things…well you improve with practice…,” said Joey with a grin.

“We’ll need showers first…I don’t think you want to get near me as sweaty as I am,” said Andrew

“Well….maybe A shower….,” said Joey pointedly.

Barbara and Roger heard the door open and the two runners come in.

“I think we better call it a night, folks,” said Andrew. “We have school in the morning.”

Both sweaty kids were given hugs and shooed upstairs. In the distance Barbara and Roger could hear a shower running.

“What do you want to bet they are thinking about school tomorrow this very minute…,” said Roger with a grin. Barbara shook her head. “We were young once too, Roger..”

“Hey…I still am..”

“Well…let’s give up on the movie then. I am too.”

7:00 AM The Douglas household

Barbara and Roger were running just a little late. Somehow, it was just hard to get out of bed this morning...after what had been an amorous night together. She felt guilty as she rushed through her shower...determined to gie her son and new daughter-in-law a good breakfast before they went off to school. She needn't have worried.

As she descended the stairs she was met by the smell of bacon frying...and entered the kitchen to see Joey scrambling eggs.

"What's all this?"

"Well...Drew and I got up early and went out running....just a two mile. He sent me to the shower first," she said, smiling as she remembered him telling her that they would NEVER get to school on time if they started the day taking another shower together, '...and so I thought I'd fix everyone breakfast."

"You needn't do that, Joey. You're company.....," Barbara started to say before catching herself and smiling. "No....that's wrong I guess. You aren't company anymore...you're family. Here...let me help you with that..."

When Roger and Drew came downstairs they found scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and toast waiting for them.

They also found a mother and the daughter she'd always wanted...drinking coffee together and planning a mother-daughter get together after Joey and Drew got back from their work at the Pembertons.

8:00 AM West Roswell High School Parking lot

Andrea watched as Joey maneuvered Andrew's car...well, her and Andrew's car now, she supposed... in to the parking space. The girl was trying her best...but apparently was still distracted by Andrew. She came close to smashing the mirror into the mirror of the car next to her....had to jockey back and forth a few times to get it squared up...but ultimately was successful.

"What a crappy driver.." said Jasmine Phillips aloud. Jasmine was the reigning queen of the Ice Princess Posse and one of the WRH cheerleaders. She had been talking to the girl next to her....one of the other cheerleaders and Posse members, about Andrew Douglas...soon to be the starting quarterback of the football team...and the current new cool guy at the school.

"I wonder what he sees in her..?" Jasmine said derisively.

"Brains...beauty...athletic ability...plus she's a real person...not some sort of a plastic beauty queen wannabe....why would Andrew be interested in her...? I have no idea.." said Andrea, drawing angry glares from both of the cheerleaders.

"I could take him away from her in a week if I wanted to.." said Jasmine.

"Oh sure...that'd be the day...," laughed Andrea.

As both of the cheerleaders turned and walked away, Andrea walked over toward Joey and Andrew. 'Well, apparently married life agrees with Joey,' she thought, '...the girl positively GLOWS..."

"Hi Joey...Drew...how was the weekend?"

Joey blushed, then pulled Andrew just a little closer. "You have no idea, Andrea...."

"Yeah well...I have an idea that if Enriquez doesn't come up with a ring pretty fast....he's in a lot of trouble."

Joey and Drew just smiled. Enriquez had already talked to Andrew. Joey already had the engagement party planned.

Around the corner, Jasmine was talking to her fellow cheerleader.
"I tell you...she's just a jock. He could do a lot better. Heck, I might even let him go out with me."

The other cheerleader didn't say anything, ...she just nodded.