Chapter 21

Ed's turn:

"How much is too much?" Dana asked concerning the amorous activities one expects on honeymoons.

We've BEEN there. That ONE day where we had no outside requirements for our activities. I actually kept her out of school. Let's face it. My child bride is not going to be hurt by missing a day as a 'normal' student in a normal middle school.

Anyhow, THAT day ... started in with each other in happy abandon before eight. Kept going all day and all the way up until we finally slipped into satiated, exhausted sleep, happy, both of us unable to move. We'd paced ourselves, too, stopping for breakfast, lunch, dinner, showers.

I was actually raw. When Dana got in from school she had a definite hitch in her step as well.

"So, okay," she smiled. "That was almost too much of a good thing."

"A very good thing."

She smiled, eyes laughing, "It is a good thing. Best thing ever. I'm kinda sore."

"Me too," I said. "I warned you."

"You did. And you fought me off soooo bravely when I wanted to keep going." Those grey eyes twinkled. Her face turned serious. "You got the vacation."

"I did. We're flying. Nikki's Dan has to come down for a talk with a client, Nikki's got to stay in Auburn, so we're flying back with him. We'll leave Wednesday and be back at the end of the next week. By then you ought to know where you're going to be at Auburn. I'll turn in notice and by the end of the month..."

She wrapped me in her arms. "Ed, are you really, really sure?"

"Princess," I said to her, "I want to see you soar."

Squeal! "You want me to FLY?"

I realize that this is Dana and words mean things. Her flying, though? Cindy and Nikki, hell, EVERYBODY there flies. "If that's what you want. But I was talking figuratively."

"I know that, Ed, and I was just wanting to check you for the other thing. The other girls offered to take me up for a demo flight and see if I liked it. We've just been in such a hurry while we've been there."

"This time we'll have more time. Get somebody to take you up."

"I will. Something YOU give me, Ed," she told me. "Just one of many things."

It's so perfect.

Monday and Tuesday were work days for me. It's pretty obvious what I'm doing – carefully documenting all the loose ends, making sure that the more senior of my techs know where we are on a couple of on-going projects, including the one that 3Sigma is doing, the one that started this whole process.

Tuesday evening we had dinner with Dan Granger.

"Darned right I miss 'er," he said to Dana's question. "But we're adults..."

Dana giggled. "Okay. Ed, she's as bad as Nikki is."

"Oh, that's BADDDD! She was a year older than ME!" Dana giggled. All I could do is smile.

"Anyway, little girl," he said to Dana, "we sort of make do. Nikki's gonna have the munchkins over, at least Vicki and Terri. Probably Rachel, but Rachel's parents tend to keep her a little closer."

"Sounds so very sane," Dana said. I detected that tiny tinge of sarcasm.

Apparently Dan's had his sarcasm detector honed a bit as well. "And I appreciate you buying off on our choices," he said.

Giggle. "Nikki told me how you are."

"Yeah?" he countered. "She warned me about you, too. Ed, you may need a shock collar."

I smiled. Dana's fast and she's not bashful. Dan's smart and he knows what it's like to be married to one of these things.

In the car on the way home, I said that.

"Oh, so I'm a THING?"

"Only the very best of things," I said.

"I'm YOUR thing."

"Prove it!"

She giggled. "After we do a final check on our packing."

We didn't pack too heavily. Dan warned me about baggage restraints in his plane. We had what we needed, right up to Dan's laughing, "I know it's Alabama, but we do have laundry facilities."

We run down Dana's printed list. It's all there in the bags. The only thing left to do when we leave is pack laptops and iPads.

"Now, that proof you desire, sir..."

God, I love her. Sex, the be-all, end-all of adolescent life, something I'd repressed for too long because I really wanted it to mean something. Then there comes Dana and she means everything, including sex of a frequency and variety that my feeble fantasies failed to imagine.

Yes, we're learning together. I'm learning her. She's learning me. Tonight we end up orgasmically overloaded. I think we might should have showered afterward but honestly, I didn't want to MOVE. Neither did she. Nothing to do but pull the covers up and wait for the little bounce on the bed as DC found a place to curl up with us.

The flight to Alabama started at the airport at noon. I like Dan and Nikki's Mooney. It's a sporty-looking thing. Hauls butt, too, but as Dan warned, it's compact inside.

"Trade-offs," Dana said. "Speed versus volume. Aerodynamics. All that."

"She's thinking again, Ed," Dan said. "You know you're in trouble when they start thinking."

"PFFFFFTTTHHHHH!" Dana razzed. "I suppose that you REALLY keep Nikki barefoot an' pregnant, right?"

"Yep! She swears that's what I'm doing..."

"She does not," Dana laughed. "She adores you." Her fingers lightly touched the back of my neck.

"Stop that. You're distracting me."

A giggle from the back seat. "Be nice to me. Might be your last chance with a middle school girl."

"She probably has you there, Ed," Dan said. "It's not a matter of IF she gets in, it's a matter of how far into the process they put her."

"Before she talks to the math guys?" I asked.

"Nikki says she's in. Cindy says she's in. It's almost a formality. Those two, you have no idea of what they can do. And that's the truth. We still get 'em into some of our project work, but they're both working on their doctoral programs, so that has priority. Plus, I'm thinking that Cindy's going to take a week and go get her multi-engine rating."

"Just her?" Dana asked.

"No, she's gonna take her Dan with 'er. He's as well-trained as I am. She doesn't need a leash."

I laughed. Don't think Dana needs a leash either because here I am flying to Alabama and we're probably going to be moving there. That was my reply.

"Two-way street," Dana popped. "If you'd've told me we were moving to Alaska I'd be shopping for parkas."

"Wouldn't do that," I said. "The idea of you all covered up with only your nose showing."

Giggle. "Snuggling becomes a requisite in sub-zero conditions," she said.

"Be careful, you two. We have a prospective client in Alaska."

"No joke?" Dana squealed.

"I'm not ready for a project that far afield yet, sweetie," I said.

"Sign on and we'll send you up there for one reason or another. You can take Dimples there with you."

"Dimples?" Dana squeaked.

"Yeah. Dimples. I'm sure Ed's told you."

"I did," I said. "Just never nicknamed 'er that."

"Dana the Dimple Girl," Dana giggled. "Thanks, Dan."

"Cute," Ed said.

"Thank you, Baby," she told me.

The flight time passed quickly.

As we entered the landing pattern, I looked. "That's the new plane?"

"Yep," Dan said. "Big ol' thing, compared to what we're used to. Cindy and Dan are going to Arizona for an accelerated multi-engine course week after next. Next week is her doctoral dissertation. Right now the only one that can fly THAT thing is Wally – the flight service guy."

"I won't be able to ride in it?" Dana asked.

"I imagine Cindy's fit to be tied, but that's a lot more expensive than pooting around the pattern in one of these things. Probably five hundred bucks an hour or so."

"Seriously?" I blurted.

"Yeah, when you figure fuel, inspections, a set-aside for repairs and stuff."

"How do you justify something like that?"

"When a guy flies it in and tells you it's yours for a dollar..."

"No joke?"

"No joke," Dan said. "Johanna's dad. Some kind of business thing. I'm not sure I want to know exactly where it's been, but there it is. We can use it when we need to move a bit more of a load a bit faster. It's got six seats – five passengers, and it could have ten or eleven. For those far-off projects, we can haul a crew and equipment halfway across the country in a day."

We helped Dan push the plane back into its hangar after topping off the fuel.

When our wheels touched down, Nikki and Cindy were there with Nikki's SUV, waiting.

"C'mon! We're in the new house!" she squealed to Dana.

Dana squealed right back.

"Can we borrow your wife for a little bit, Ed?" Cindy asked me. "We'll bring 'er back in good shape."

"We just want to talk to her about the math guys tomorrow, is all," Nikki said.

"If I don't know it right now, you're not going to teach me in one evening," Dana told them.

"Oh, that's what they'll say, first off. 'Did you get coached?' And the answer is 'No!' because of what you just said," Cindy explained.

I rode to the house with Dan, while Dana was riding there with her new sisters. We all went in when we got there.

They ran off into the spare bedroom/guest room. I heard three voices talking excitedly.

"They're really excited about Dana joining them."

"What about me?" I asked.

"You? Of course. You're part of what makes Dana happy. Like all their husbands do. You, though, you have a spot. Dana, well, tomorrow it's the math guys, the day after that – Friday, she's going to meet some other faculty. Same thing on Monday. Tuesday, they'll probably call her and you in for a conference and sort of lay out a plan."

"It's a rush. So fast..."

"What about her grandmother? How's that situation?"

"Mizz Lee? Oh, buddy ... she sees the munchkins as what she's been hoping for after a career as a teacher."

"And her grandma's boyfriend?"

"Retired lawyer. Family's all over the country so where he's located is of little consequence. I think he's already looking at real estate. Of course, she could go to that interview and bomb out..." I didn't think she would, but there's always the possibility.

"I wouldn't lend a lot of weight to that idea. Nikki and Cindy pretty much dragged her over the coals already. Nikki says she's good ... better than Tina or Susan were. And those two got through the baccalaureate program in two years."

I'd be better off letting her pick the story up here.

Dana's turn:

We're back in Alabama. We had our social gathering for dinner. Sometimes it's not a big deal, I'm told. Jason wields a pair of tongs and a spatula and grills hot links and hamburgers and such and we line up and act carnivorous.

Afterward, Cindy and Nikki and I are at Cindy's. I'm starting to get nervous.

"What if I'm really NOT all that?" I ask.

"C'mon," Nikki told me. "Your ACT says you ARE all that. If we didn't have Mizz Aneeta taking this case, you could walk into any college in the country with your ACT score and they'd be happy to take you, not knowing anything else."

"And we know you," Cindy added. "Your ACT is a year old. Did you get, like, DUMBER?"

"No, but these guys..."

Cindy smiled. "Dana, I was their first victim. I was as scared as you are, maybe more. They're really good guys. And they sort of know what to expect. They've been warned. Same with the engineering bunch and the language bunch and all that. You're in."

"Look, Dana," Nikki said, "We think you're in. We want you here. I think you want to be here."

I nodded. "Still kinda scary, though..."

"I know," Cindy said. "Next week I sit in a roomful of professors and deliver my doctoral dissertation. So does Nikki. I SHOULD be getting ready to be a high school senior."