Vanguard (36 page)

Sophie and Michael helped collect the luggage, and greeted other members of the mission. They weren’t attached at the hip, but Sophie always knew exactly where he was. She felt most content when she was in contact with him. They stood in the excited crowd, Michael’s hand cradling Sophie’s shoulder. She leaned against him, her ear pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

The four of them managed to load their bags onto a cart and push it to Will and Anjali’s car, which Sophie and Michael had driven to the airport. Sophie had her doubts as to whether all the luggage was going to fit.

“I swear I’m buying a company van.” Will was sweating as they piled the luggage into the trunk. “First thing on Monday morning.” Anjali and Sophie looked at each other and giggled. “What?”

“You say that every time we come home from a trip,” his wife said. “But you never buy the van.”

“This time is different.”

The women laughed again, and Will shoved the last bag in with a string of curses.

They drove home, the car dragging its tailpipe occasionally with the weight of them and the luggage. Michael and Will sat in the front seat; the women insisted Will sit up front since he was tallest. Anjali and Sophie sat in the back, talking a mile a minute. For a while, they were just two girlfriends who had been apart for a long time, complete with giggling and whispering behind cupped hands.

“Man, I’m glad you’re here,” Will said to Michael, taking everyone in the car by surprise. “You belong here with us.”

Sophie looked into the rearview mirror and saw Michael smiling back at her as he drove.

“Thank you,” he said at last, still looking at Sophie. He seemed to struggle with his words for a moment. “Thank you.”

They were four now, instead of three. It would be different. But it was going to work out just fine.

~~ - ~~

August 9, 2014

Carter groaned in disbelief as the car pulled up in front of the house. They were
arguing.

He could see the glares from where he was sitting on the porch. The windows were rolled up, air conditioning blasting and music playing, yet Carter could hear their voices as they yelled at one another inside the car. They hadn’t even noticed him, so intent they were on their fight. This was going to be a disaster, just like back in GYL.

The volume of the shouting and intensity of the glares increased. He was thinking about intervening when Michael suddenly lunged across the front seat. Carter saw coffee cups, keys, and sunglasses go flying as Sophie’s arms flew around his neck and Michael started devouring her mouth. Carter shook his head in disbelief, and walked over to bang on the window. He could see Michael’s hand heading up her shirt, and he cringed a little.

“Cut it out! Crissakes, get a room!” The two of them sprang apart. Carter saw Michael reach down and adjust himself before getting out of the car.

“Cock blocker,” he said in a low voice that Sophie couldn’t hear.

“Don’t touch me until you get rid of that wood.” Carter turned to sweep Sophie up in a huge hug. “Hi, beautiful! It’s so good to see you. I’m not going to ask what the hell you two were doing in the car there.”

“Arguing,” she said, blushing.

“Didn’t look like it at the end.”

“We like making up,” Michael said sardonically behind him. “Will you hug me now? Or do you wish to inspect me for ‘wood’ first?” The three of them laughed as they went into the house. Carter could see Sophie’s eyes darting, searching.

“Who’s here, Carter? You said there would be people here from the class.”

“I told you, it’s a secret.” Carter opened the front door with a grin and waved them in.

This had been in the works since Michael had returned to the US – a reunion of as many of their classmates as Carter could scare up. The doors of the DeVries estate had been thrown open to anyone who wanted to travel to welcome their lost classmate back home.

Sophie and Michael turned toward the closed doors of the den, knowing that their classmates were in that room. Not just because the doors were closed, or because they could hear the sounds of people gathered together…but because they knew when some of them were close. They could feel it. More than ten years off the road, and the connection remained strong.

Carter let them walk through the doors first. There would be a video camera or two running in the room, so he’d see their faces after the fact. They stepped into the room, hand in hand, then stopped dead and stared. There weren’t ten people there, or even twenty.

There were forty-seven of their classmates in front of them. Plus a couple of dozen babies, children and spouses. Carter. Michael. Sophie. The entire class.

Carter could see his classmates’ faces as they processed the sight of Michael and Sophie together – truly together. Then the roar went up. They were supposed to yell “surprise,” but everyone went nuts, and it didn’t really matter anymore. Against impossible odds, they were all back together again. Then again, they’d never truly been apart.

~~ - ~~

A few hours later, Carter came over to sit on the floor beside Sophie. Ana sat in one of the few chairs. She never should have flown here from São Paolo nearly seven months pregnant, but there’d been no stopping her.

“Hey.” Carter kissed Sophie’s head as he settled down, beer bottle between his legs.

“Hey, yourself. I can’t believe you did this.” She looked out to the back deck where Michael was sitting in a patio chair, nursing a beer and laughing over someone’s story. “Look how happy he is.”

“I’ve never seen him this happy. But it’s not just all of us being together again. It’s you. You make him happy. I never thought you two could be in the same room without murdering one another, and now you’ve gone and proven me wrong.”

She smiled and looked back out at Michael, her heart in her eyes. He suddenly looked up through the patio door. He had his sunglasses on, so Carter couldn’t see his eyes, but he was looking at Sophie. Carter wondered if he and Janet looked like that when they were together. He hoped so. A sniffling sound broke the moment, and everyone looked at Ana. She waved her hand at them and blew her nose.

“Nothing, nothing. I have pregnant woman hormones...” She broke off in a little sob, and Carter jumped to his feet, rubbing her shoulders. “I can’t believe you two are finally together,” she said. “Do you remember, Sophie, on the very first day, at the lunch table together? When Michael was looking at you?” Now both of them were tearing up.
Women.

“I remember a great deal about Michael and Sophie on the road.” Carter let his mind wander back ten years. “All those times you two fought. The times I had to negotiate peace treaties between you. How many times did you come crying to me about the shitty things he said to you?”

“You’ve always been there for me,” said Sophie. “I love you for it. But we’ve all changed. Michael and I are very happy now.”

Carter smiled. “I know. All I’ve ever wanted for you – for all of us – is to be happy.”

“Speaking of happy, have you talked to Viktor?” Ana started a bit of juicy gossip about one of their classmates, and Carter decided to mosey along like a good host. He walked back toward the front of the house. Janet was coming downstairs holding baby Mike, who had just had lunch and a nap. Carter held his arms out eagerly for his boy, who greeted him with a wide smile.

“Hey, big boy.” His small son patted his face. “Come see Daddy for a little bit.” Carter kissed Janet, who went to sit with Sophie. He was looking for a sunhat in the front closet to put on Mike’s bald head – he was taking after his daddy in the hair department, it seemed – when a little body collided with his legs.

“Hey there, sport.” He shifted Mike in his grasp and reached down to steady the gorgeous dark-haired boy who had just crashed into him. The boy looked up shyly, then scampered back to his mother. Carter straightened and saw Mirielle.

“Did you name him after Michael?” she asked, gesturing to Mike. Kyle came around the corner, and Mirielle handed the toddler to him. The little boy screamed with laughter as Kyle tossed him over his shoulder and took off running. Crazy bastard hadn’t changed a bit in the last ten years.

“Yes, we did. He was born just a few days after Sophie got Michael out of the camp. We didn’t know at the time, but we wanted to honor him, one way or the other.” Carter swallowed the wave of emotion that always followed when he thought about how things could have ended up for Michael. “Would you like to hold him?”

Mirielle eagerly took the baby from his arms. Mike stared, transfixed, at her face. She was still stunning, even after a decade and two pregnancies, one of which had resulted in twins.

“That was a beautiful thing to do.” She held one of Mike’s chubby hands. “I haven’t spoken to Michael yet. We ended so badly and didn’t keep in touch after the end of our year. I wasn’t honest with him, and I feel terrible about that.”

“I do not know if I was very honest in our relationship either,” said Michael, who had come up behind them in the hallway. “However, I have learned recently that it is never too late to make things better. Come, we will talk.” Mirielle smiled, handed Mike back to Carter, and together they went out on to the front porch to talk in private.

“Oh, I am batting a thousand today, buddy. Your daddy is the man.” His son smiled back and grabbed for Carter’s blond hair. “Watch it there. I’ve already lost too much of my hair, and I don’t need any help.” Janet appeared beside him, untangling their son’s fingers from Carter’s thinning locks. He pulled her into an embrace, Mike snuggled between them.

“I love you,” Carter said. “Thanks for letting me do this, having all these people in our house. It means the world to me.”

“I know it does, baby. I love your classmates, too. Makes me wish I could have traveled with you.” She pulled back and gave him a sharp look. “But if anyone throws up, breaks the furniture, or gives birth on the good rug, I’ll kick your ass.”

“Language in front of the baby.”

Janet grinned and covered their son’s eyes while she kissed him.

~~ - ~~

By 1 a.m., the party had wound down. The class would spend the weekend in the New York area, so they had plenty of fun times ahead. Families with kids headed to hotels for the night, sleeping children on their shoulders. The singletons camped out in the den and in tents in the backyard. Carter shuddered to think what those tents would do to the grass, but that was the gardener’s problem, not his.

Michael and Sophie came in, hand in hand. “We’re heading to bed,” she said.

“Sure you wouldn’t like to have an argument first?” Carter asked with a grin. Michael huffed with annoyance, and Sophie blushed. “C’mon then.” He led them upstairs.

“Here, I put your stuff in this room.” He opened one of the guest rooms. “There’s a bathroom attached, right through that door. Try to keep the noise down, okay? Mike’s sleeping right above you, and I don’t want him traumatized.”

“Shut your mouth.” Sophie glared at him. But her face softened, and she threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you. This is the best surprise of my life. I love you so much.”

“Thank
you
,” he whispered back. “You brought him home to us.”

Michael and Carter embraced. Michael didn’t say anything, but the look on his face was enough. Carter smiled, and went upstairs to his family.

~~ - ~~

Sophie was already curled up in bed when Michael joined her. She held her arms out to him invitingly, and he smiled.

He could tell by her face that she wanted it sweet that night. After the day they’d had, he couldn’t imagine any other kind of love. His mouth came down on hers, and the easy pleasure of their lovemaking began.

“Remember what Carter said,” he teased. “Do not wake the baby.” Sophie laughed, reminding Michael once again what a joy it was to make love laughing.

His hair hung over his forehead as he moved above her, and she reached up to dig her fingers into his black curls. She loved his hair, loved having it in her fists when they made love. She tugged on it, making him grunt with pleasure. It was sweet, as slow as they could make it, but never entirely without urgency. They’d yet to leave behind the terror that had come with nearly losing one another.

Michael moved more purposefully, and Sophie matched his tempo. Mindful of the family above them, she cried out his name softly as she climaxed. He followed, gritting his teeth and gasping.

“I do not think we woke anyone up,” he finally said, flashing his dimples.

“We can try again, if you’d like.”

“Give me a few minutes, please. I am not as young as I used to be.” She laughed, and they lay in silence for a bit.

“Today was so good,” she sighed. “I’m glad he decided to do this now, before I leave.” He said nothing, but she felt the tremor that ran through him. “I know. I don’t know how I’m going to stand it either.”

In six weeks, Sophie, Anjali, and several other members of Refugee Crisis International would go to Kenya to work at a refugee camp at the country’s southern tip. Thousands of Somali people had settled there, fleeing the civil war in their country. The political situation there was very unsettled, and western aid workers were frequently the target of violence. She couldn’t have picked a worse place to go, in Michael’s mind. But that’s where she was needed most.