by Melissa Good
She shocked both of them, she could tell, and she almost laughed at the expressions on their faces. "Sorry.. that was pretty crude."
Michael scrubbed his head. "Um… it's going to take a little bit to get used to this, y'now…I mean, Jesus, Kerry… of course I didn’t think you were just playing around, or anything.. it just happened so fast."
She snorted. "I remember you going through six girlfriends in four months last year.. .give me a break." She gave him a look. "Double standards, huh?"
"Well.. no.. it’s not that.. " He protested. "I mean.. that's me, Ker…. I've always been a freaking flirt.. we all know it… I had three dates for my senior prom, for Christ's sake.." He leaned on the seat and put a hand on her shoulder. "But you always said when you fell in love, it'd be just the one time, remember?" A smile. "So…"
Kerry gazed at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's the one time." She replied evenly.
They both stared at her. "Really?" Michael asked.
"Yep." Kerry answered, with a smile.
He digested this. "Well.. all I can say is, she'd better be worth it then." His lip poked out pugnaciously. "She'd better be good enough for my sister."
Kerry bit off a wry grin, and started the car up, as they docked. "You can judge for yourself in a few minutes." She directed the Mustang up the ramp, and through the courtesy spray, turning left and heading towards the condo. They were both quiet on the drive, and while she parked next to Dar's Lexus. "Okay… here we are." She popped the hatch and got out, hearing the door on the condo open as they walked around to get the bags out.
"Hey." Dar's voice, tinged with amusement floated over them. "Clemente just called and wanted to know if you wanted dark chocolate, or milk chocolate mousse."
Kerry looked up, to see her lover leaning on the stair balcony, dressed casually in faded cutoff denim shorts with a bright red polo shirt tucked into them. "Ah." She grinned. "I'll call him back." She noticed her siblings glances. "You know Angela.. this is my brother, Michael." She gave him a poke. "Mike, this is Dar. Say hello, and stop staring like a tourist."
"I am a tourist." Her brother protested, then he summoned up a bright smile. "Hello, Dar… it's nice to meet you."
One dark brow lifted, along with the corner of Dar's mouth on that side. "Nice to meet you too." She replied politely. "Hello, Angela.. welcome to Miami."
The chestnut haired woman returned the polite nod. "Nice to see you again, Dar." She looked around. "It's lovely here."
"Thanks.. come on up.. " Dar motioned them forward.
Kerry prodded them both up the stairs, and into the condo, exhaling as she felt Dar's hand patting her back in comfort as the dark haired woman followed them in. "Let me call Clemente.. you guys want something to drink?"
They were both glancing around the condo. "That would be great." Angela said, firmly. "Flying always makes me thirsty."
Kerry disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the three of them alone. Dar finally cleared her throat. "Would you like to sit down?" She asked, politely, indicating the couch. Families, she reflected, were tough. "Nice flight?"
Angela put her bag down and seated herself, glaring at Michael until he did the same, with an abashed look. He'd been studying the painting over the couch in fascination. "Um… it was a good flight, yes…" The woman stated. "The weather's causing a lot of congestion at the airports, but we didn't have any problem."
Dar was about to answer, when she heard the sound of glasses being fumbled in the kitchen. "Excuse me a minute." She produced a brief smile, then escaped to where Kerry was retrieving an errant tumbler. "Hi."
"Hi." The blond woman set the glass down on the counter, and got a pitcher of peach flavored ice tea from the refrigerator.
"You okay?" Dar asked, mildly, as she came up behind her lover, and rubbed her shoulders, feeling the tension in them.
Kerry poured two glasses, then set the pitcher down, and sighed. "They're being weird." She turned and looked up at Dar. "It's just so strange… I feel like I should be apologizing to them half the time, and the other half I'm mad because I feel like they're passing judgment on me."
"Well." Dar nibbled her lower lip. "I don't have any experience in the sibling scene, but I think they're actually passing judgment on me, not on you." She fondly ran her hands through Kerry's hair. "Give em time… they'll loosen up, and if they don't, I'll take em on a tour and shake em up a little."
That got a laugh from her companion. "Jesus.. they're just my brother and sister… I feel like a first time debater at the nationals." She picked up the glasses. "Come on… let's go face the inquisition."
***********************************************
"I'll get that." Dar eased up from her seat and ambled towards the door, glad of the distraction after two hours of desperately clever conversation with her lover's family. She pulled the door open, giving Colleen an amiable grin. "Hello, Colleen."
The redhead nodded back. "Merry Christmas, Dar… this is some island you've got here."
The taller woman chuckled. "Thanks… c'mon in.. Kerry's brother and sister came down.. we're just getting to know each other." She'd gotten a touch friendlier with Colleen the last week or so, at the classes she taught at the gym.
"Oo… " Colleen hid a grimace. "Families.. gotta love em… be glad it's not mine." She stepped inside and moved past Dar, who kept the door open, spotting the catering crew headed her way. "Hello, Clemente… Merry Christmas."
"Feliz Navidad, Ms. Roberts." The sweating hospitality manager wiped his brow. "My people will bring in the tables, and do the setup now, if that is okay with you."
"Great… go ahead." Dar cocked an ear inside, where Colleen's rich tones had been added to the conversation, and things seemed to be loosening up a bit. It was curiously exhausting, dealing with people on this kind of emotional level, she mused, seating herself on the railing and watching as the uniformed busboys and porters brought folding tables, linen, and chafing dishes inside. It was much easier to stand in a boardroom among business adversaries, because that never touched you, not on the inside, where it counted.
Jesus. She was having a damn birthday party. Dar suddenly realized. And people were coming to it. Dar watched as a waiter walked by, carrying a beautiful centerpiece, bathing her with a sweet, floral scent. She reached out and plucked a small, tightly budded rose from the arrangment, and twirled it between her fingers, sniffing it idly, before she girded her loins, as it were, and returned to the living room.
Kerry was seated on the love seat, facing the couch where her brother and sister were perched. Colleen had captured the chair next to her. Dar stepped around the end of the love seat and settled into place next to her lover, catching her eye and handing her the rose.
It threw Kerry off her balance, and she gave Dar a near breathless, startled look as she took the bloom, bringing it to her nose in pure reflex as the taller woman relaxed and extended her long legs, crossing them at the ankles. "Thanks." Kerry smiled, forgetting their guests for a long moment.
Dar winked at her, then turned her attention to the raptly watching trio. "Is there a problem?" She asked, in her best boardroom no nonsense voice, one eyebrow lifting up in question.
"Uh… " Colleen fished for a conversation starter.
"You know." Michael folded his arms across his chest, and grabbed the bull by the horns. "Outside the movies, I've never actually seen one human being give another human being a rose before." He cocked his head at Dar. "That is obnoxiously romantic."
Everyone kind of froze, waiting for Dar's reaction. She let them wait a beat, then smiled lazily. "My father taught me to do that." She replied simply.
"What.. to give people flowers?" Colleen asked, curiously.
"To let my actions speak louder than words." Dar answered wryly, feeling the ice breaking a little, as grins went around the room. Kerry moved closer, and leaned against her shoulder, tucking her legs up under her and relaxing. "Now.. someone explain to me the candles in the little paper
bags I saw everywhere last time I was up north?"
"Well… " Michael rubbed his hands together. "There's this tradition…. "
Kerry regarded her lover's profile, feeling a warm wash of affection as she reflected on Dar's quiet sacrifice, her giving up of a tiny bit of her cool reserve to smooth the way for Kerry's own comfort. She exhaled a little, thinking about the one gift she'd held back, tucked away upstairs, waiting for her to pull together enough courage to give it.
Maybe tonight.
Yeah.
**************************************
Dar leaned back against the sliding glass door, sipping on a glass of very spiked eggnog and listening to Duks relate a story of his last vacation in Germany. The party was in full swing, and after the initial shock of having so many people in her usually peaceful condo, she'd actually started having an acceptably good time.
Kerry was seated on the couch, with her brother and sister on the loveseat, and Mariana and Mark next to her, and all five people were arguing about the appropriateness of sports salaries. Dar chuckled, as Mark predictably supported the 'pay em anything as long as they score' view, and Mariana insisted the money could be better used to feed orphans in third world countries.
Everyone had brought presents, and Dar had, using verbal and almost physical strong arm tactics insisted on their being put under the tree and opened at an unspecified 'later'. "I haven't opened presents at a birthday party since I was five years old, damn it.. " She'd told Kerry. "I'm not starting up again at 30."
Colleen was sitting with Duks, Ray and Barbara, and an interested, but mostly very quiet Maria. Dar had been surprised Kerry had invited her, and more surprised that her secretary had attended, but she was glad, and she's spent a few minutes giving the woman a tour around the apartment, mostly to convince her she really, truly, didn't live in her Lexus.
"Dar?"
"Hmm?" She glanced down, startled, as her name was called. "Sorry… just thinking."
"You've been to the Netherlands, haven't you?" Duks asked. "Tell them.. is it not true things are so much more relaxed in Europe?"
"Well… " Dar slipped into the armchair she'd been leaning against and considered. "Yes and no… they're different cultures, and they all have things that they're very strict about.. the French about language, for instance. They hate Americanisms creeping into their speech.. and we get into trouble with that a lot because it's so damn hard to translate a lot of the technology terms."
"Si.. " Maria interrupted shyly. "When I'm having to order things for you, it's hard." She stated. "It is me speaking Spanish, and our salesman speaking Spanish, and we are every third word going to English for 'buses' and 'gigapets."
"Gigabytes." Ray and Duks corrected simultaneously.
Dar nodded. "Right…and you have to be careful of the cultural bias… especially in the Pac Rim countries if you're a woman….I would say that in Europe they're certainly a whole lot more relaxed about sex."
The all laughed, and Maria blushed. "Um.. " Dar laughed herself." That came out wrong… what I mean is, like the Clinton scandal. The French look at us and say "You must be kidding.. you're spending how much on WHAT?.." She waited for the laughter to die down. "Because there, of course, mistresses are paid for as a matter of course in the government.. no one cares about that. They do care if the person does their job, so they think we're very hung up on sex, and frankly, it doesn't make much sense to them."
"Right.. that's true." Duks agreed. "And Americans can be the biggest as…." His eyes flicked to Maria. "Ah.. the most obnoxious people overseas… we do ourselves no favors a lot of times, and that makes the people view the entire country in a certain way."
Dar smiled, and sipped her eggnog. "There are places overseas I refuse to speak English in, when I'm out and about casually."
Duks rattled off a question in German, and she answered it, with a tolerant smile. "Not bad." He chuckled. "You've even got the accent right."
They all laughed.
Kerry peeked over, and smiled as she saw Dar lean back and take a casual swallow of her drink. The party was working out better than she'd planned, and she was even having a good time, catching up with her brother and sister, and trading techie horror stories with Mark. The caterers had brought in eight chafing dishes full of things she knew Dar liked, along with a polite bartender who was behind a well stocked mini bar they'd rolled in for the party. Everyone had done the buffet justice, and now they just had to get through the cake, and she could claim a success.
A soft knock came at the door, and she looked up, to see it open, and Jack poke his crew cutted head in, spotting her. He grinned, and stuck a hand inside, curling a finger at her then putting it to his lips.
Kerry darted a glance towards Dar, who hadn't noticed, and she stood, brushing her slacks off and stepping around the coffee table. "Excuse me a minute." She trotted across the apartment and reached the door. "Hi Jack.. c'mon in."
"Shh… c'mere.. " He tugged her outside. "I've got a present… but if I give it to her, she's gonna say no." He whispered. "But if you're holding it, I bet she says yes."
Kerry's brows knit. "What??" She muffled a laugh. "Aw, come on, Jack..I know she'll love what…" She stopped speaking, as he produced the present, a cream colored puppy wearing a tiny navy sweatshirt. "Oh… my….god…."
"Isn't she cute?" Jack whispered. "She rode all the way in my back seat, and she was such a good girl…" He held the puppy out. "Say hello.."
Kerry took the animal, who squirmed, and sniffed her hair, making a small whining sound. "Jack.. she's going to go bananas.. you know that." She stroked the puppy's soft fur, and felt it's silky ears. "I don't know if she'll go for this."
"Listen… I got a maybe out of her when she was up by us… and she really likes Alabaster." He paused. "That's the puppy's mother… they're great dogs."
"Oh.. I know.. I know.. " Kerry scratched the puppy's chest, and it licked her, finding some errant sauce on her chin and searching enthusiastically for me. "But it's a lot of responsibility, and she's not home most of the day.. I don't know if that's fair."
Jacks' shoulders sagged. "You should have seen her face when she was playing with them… I know she really wants one… they're great companions.. you know, she could go running with Dar in the morning and all… " He looked at Kerry's face. "No, huh?"
Kerry sighed, gazing at the warm brown eyes that seemed to radiate love. "It's not my decision." She remembered Susie, who had looked at her with that same trusting gaze. "Hey sweetie…" She whispered, reliving the memory of that last morning, when she'd said goodbye to her friend, and felt the hurt all over again. She'd never gotten attached to a pet since, for what she thought was good reason. "I don’t'… "
The door opened, spilling light out onto the porch, and a pair of sharp, blue eyes captured them. "What on earth is going on out here?" Dar asked, glancing at Jack as Kerry turned to face her. "What are you two…. " A pause. "Oh. I see." Her eyes went from the puppy to her lover, then back to the puppy. "What have we here?"
Jack put on his most innocent expression. "You said I could bring her."
"I what?" Dar's brows shot up. "When was this?"
"When I talk to you today.. I asked if I could bring a special present, and you said "Yeah." " Jack put his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. "So I did."
"Um.." Kerry shifted the puppy, and tried to keep it from chewing on her earlobe. "I … he called me out here.. and I um… oo.. stop that…" She lifted her eyes to Dar's in appeal. "I told him it'd be kinda tough."
"Ah." Dar eyed them both. "I get it.. he called you out here, trying to get you on his side, because he knew.. if you asked me if we could keep the puppy, I'd probably say yes." She paused. "Right?"
Jack studied his flight boots, then glanced up through blond eyelashes. "It was a plan."
"Uh huh.. and what do you think of this plan, Kerry?" Dar inquired, a gentle twinkle in her eyes.
"Oh.. well… I um.. " Kerry watched as
the puppy yawned, and put her head down on the blond woman's shoulder. "I mean, I told him I didn't think you'd go for it.. I mean, you're not here a lot, and a dog's a lot of responsibility, and all that." She stroked the animal's fur. "She's really cute though, huh?" The puppy nuzzled her. "Maybe I could…um.. " She let the thought trail off. "Find someplace…or …maybe I could…um… " A small tongue licked her cheek. "Aww.. uh.. "
The puppy turned it's head and gazed at her. Kerry gazed at her. Jack gazed at her.
Dar burst out laughing. "Well, to be honest, you just beat me to it, Jack." She informed her pilot friend. "I was actually working on getting a puppy… " Her eyes dropped to Kerry's surprised ones. "A cocker spaniel…as a matter of fact.. but I suppose a Labrador will do." She glanced at Jack and winked.
He winked back.
Kerry's jaw dropped as she saw the mischevious grin on Dar's face. "Wait.. you mean it's for me? I've been suckered, haven't I?" She asked faintly. "Son of a… " She turned to look at Jack. "You… "
