Chapter 79: We Should Have Seen It Coming

Friday, January 10, 1986

All good things must come to an end, and today was that end for our ski trip. We made the most of the day, flying down the slopes and spending a lot of time talking and hugging, too.

Dinner, which came a bit early (and after we’d returned all of our rented gear) was both fun and just the tiniest bit bittersweet. We had no idea when we would all be together again. Summer was mentioned, and we all hoped that would happen. Spring break? That could happen. A cruise? Well ... why not? Cruises departed from Los Angeles, after all.

None of us wanted it to go all that long. This week had cemented what we already knew: Jess was part of ‘us.’ That rectangle now had lines (if, perhaps, dashed ones, representing the physical distance we usually had) coming out from each corner and meeting at Jess.

Technically, I suppose that made it a pyramid. Maybe that was right. Who knows? Shapes would get more abstract as more people ‘stuck,’ and I could see that happening from time to time. It would take someone very special to ‘stick’ as thoroughly as Jess had, but there were some very special people out there.

We took quite a while to separate when we finally went to our cars after dinner. There were hugs (and still more hugs), conversations that wouldn’t quite stop, and generally an attempt to stick together as long as possible.

In the end, though, we hugged and kissed, climbed into our cars, and headed down the mountain. We would be back together before too long.

This was probably our life going forward. Periods of reconnecting with Jess, followed by periods of absence. She still — and forever, most likely — wasn’t entirely right for any of the four of us. The ones we were engaged to were ‘the one’ for each of us. But Jess was right for our family, and close to right for each of us in one way or another.

Absence would indeed make the heart grow fonder. We were certain of that.

We checked in to a Holiday Inn close to LAX and quickly settled into our rooms. By popular agreement, tonight was, again, the couples. We would almost certainly stick with that for a few days, not shuffling rooms until we got back to College Station.

Once we did, a one-on-one night with Paige was a priority. We had assumed one would happen during the ski trip. It hadn’t — for the best of reasons — but it mattered.

So was talking to the potentially engaged Cammie and Mel. We all hoped they were engaged, anyway! Cammie had made it clear they had some other interesting topics, ones that might well involve the three of us having some alone time together as well.

Life was certainly not slowing down. If anything, it was speeding up, and that wasn’t even counting my hope that Michael was finally going to find his pick for the job of President and need me to meet and interview whoever the lucky person was.

Darla was, probably, on the downhill phase of the roller coaster, with perhaps another hill or two along the way, but the big one past us. That might be wrong, but it seemed likely. We had more to do — if she wanted — but the biggest part was accomplished.

Amy? A totally different story. Unless she changed her mind, I was nearly certain that her roller coaster was still going up that first big hill. I wasn’t even sure if that was the only big hill with her, or if it might be a succession of them.

After all, first Jas, then Jess, and — in a way, at least — now Paige had proven that roller coasters don’t have to end. Sometimes you get on and the ride just continues indefinitely.

Saturday, January 11, 1986

We were up and out of our hotel rooms fairly early in the morning. Even with a ten o’clock flight, we weren’t getting back to Houston until nearly five with the time zone change.

LAX was busier than it had been on New Year’s Eve, but it wasn’t crazy or anything, and we were at our gate well before flight time.

We again lucked into a two-thirds full flight and had empty seats in our rows. While boarding, Angie made the point that this was our first flight as engaged people. It wasn’t until we’d gotten settled that Paige added that it wasn’t my first flight with that status. Since I didn’t say it, I didn’t get whapped, and Paige was too cute to whap. That was Angie’s excuse for not doing it, anyway.

The flight was quiet and we were all a bit tired. After the lunch, which was pretty good, we settled in to nap for a bit.

When the flight attendants offered cocktails, Jas made the point that we were all back to being ‘underage,’ and would be until next year. Texas hadn’t grandfathered anyone in, so we couldn’t legally buy alcohol until we were twenty-one.

The house had a pretty solid assortment of beer and wine, so there was no immediate worry, and I had still only been carded a couple of times in my life. Ironically, those had been when I was over twenty-one. As long as I was buying a reasonable quantity — and especially if it was part of a large grocery order — my odds of being carded were low.

Amusingly, I had bought alcohol along with groceries and paid using a check quite a few times in my first life at nineteen and twenty. Grocery stores routinely required ID for checks. Not one of them had ever rejected the purchase because of my age. I’m sure the poor clerk didn’t want to put away all of those groceries!

As expected, all of the parents were there to meet us at the gate. They went with us to baggage claim, then off to the parking lot. Everyone got into their cars, with Tony and Jean driving Camille and Francis to our destination, the same restaurant near the airport where we’d eaten before.

We went over a carefully edited version of our ski trip, omitting many details of Jess’s visit. It was easier to say that we’d gotten a three-bedroom cabin and that Jess had joined us for skiing and had a great time at it, possibly surpassing our abilities within her first week of trying.

That was certainly true, as far as it went. We just didn’t mention that we hadn’t so much as opened the door of that third bedroom. Nor that we hadn’t taken any of our suitcases into our rooms and had changed in the living room the whole time.

Who knows? Camille and Francis would have supported it, anyway.

It sounded like the Knott’s Berry Farm trip had been everything the parents wanted it to be, and each couple was happy with their alone-together time in Los Angeles as well. If only a little, we might have jump-started the parental traveling plan.

Tonight’s plan was for all four of us to stay at Mom and Dad’s. Tomorrow the couples would move to the other parents’ houses. We would go back to College Station on Monday, making this a short trip, but we had classes starting in a week and things to get ready.

When we got home, Mom pulled Angie and me aside while Dad talked to Jas and Paige about skiing.

“Not that I think ... um. Well. Let’s leave that,” she said.

“Mom?” Angie said.

“We ... talked. Sam and I. Engagements ... we think that changes the rules. Which means ... we don’t have any. You are adults and ... you know what I mean.”

Angie hugged her.

“Thank you, Mom,” she said. “Not ... I mean. It’s not ... it’s ... it means a lot, no matter what we do or don’t do.”

“The same for us, Mom. It’s not about what happens. We appreciate you and Dad saying that,” I said.

“It’s been ... quite a journey,” she said, sighing and smiling. “You two have handled it amazingly well. We’re very proud of you and we just could not be happier with your wonderful brides-to-be. And ... if we’re proud of you, and pleased as punch about welcoming them into our family ... we can’t see how anything else would be right.”