All Aboard Andi's Dream Ch. 05

Andi kissed his inner thigh and whispered, "I could use some protein, too."

"I heard that," Yi said.

"We could arrange some protein for your menu too," said Paul softly as Andi pulled herself up and sat on his lap.

"I can hear everything you say," Yi said again.

"I wish the flames were slower," said Andi.

"Slower?" asked Yi.

"Yeah, at the cabin the flames are slow, like in slow motion. It's real dreamy looking."

"We could do that here," said Paul. "We could put a fireplace insert in, but you would lose the scent and most of the sound of the fire."

Andi thought back to the fire they had for Christmas. He was burning white birch, which smelled so sweet, it was like an exotic perfume. And those white logs looked so good in the white parlor fireplace. "I don't know if a big old iron stove would look good in this fireplace," said Andi with a frown.

"I'll get some measurements of this fireplace in the morning, and we'll swing by the Stove & Spa store and see what is available," said Paul as he added this to his To Do list. "Thank goodness it's not as big as the fireplace in the library."

"Library? The town library?" asked Yi, who falling asleep.

"Our library," said Andi, "or as Gus calls it, the Polka Parlor." In response, Yi yawned and wordlessly got up and headed upstairs to her room. Andi watched her climb the stairs, then she snuggled into her husband's lap and they kissed gently. "Did we christen this room yet?"

"Yes, we did, on Christmas night with a house full of guests," grinned Paul.

"Oh yeah, how are we going to top that?" she pondered.

After a quick, warm shower, the newlyweds retired to their bed. The queen size bed that Paul had been sleeping on for over 10 years was replaced by a "California King" just before they headed to Florida, and it, like the walk-in closets and bathtub, remains unchristened. Andi wanted to correct that oversight, but she was asleep by the time Paul carried her in his arms from the shower to the bed.

-=-=-=-=-

Captain Paul L. Jarecki, newly minted flight surgeon of the 429th Electronic Combat Squadron, kissed his wife Andi and their 6 month old twin girls Sandy and Madeline goodbye, then stepped off the porch, fired up his pickup truck and headed off to base. Andi had seen him in a flight suit in the past, but today he was wearing it "for real", and that had her worried.

It was hot and dry already. The sun was just barely above the horizon and Andi could tell that the heat was going to be brutal. The concrete porch was still warm against her feet from yesterday's scorcher, and today was supposed to be hotter. It was going to be another day of clinging to the swamp-cooler in the kitchen. "Might as well enjoy the morning while I still can," she said to herself, and she eased herself into the rocking chair on the porch and watched the tiny city of Clovis NM wake up to another oven-hot day.

The girls didn't even wake when their daddy kissed them goodbye. They just cooed a little and returned to their slumber and continued to sleep in her arms as she rocked and watched the shadows start to shorten. Not a breath of wind stirred the wilting leaves in the trees, which was both a curse and a blessing. A curse because there was no cooling breeze, but a blessing because the city of Clovis is ringed by six huge cattle feed lots and a puff of wind from any direction brings that aroma into town. Paul once told her that it was the smell of money, but you can call it what you want. It's still the stench of cow shit.

"Hey neighbor!" It was their landlady, Nadia, who had just sent her own husband off to work, to his job as the manager of the local branch of the Wells Fargo bank. Because of a shortage of housing on base, Paul and Andi rented a tiny two-bedroom house from Mark and Nadia Lemke. The house was next to Mark and Nadia's house and the two couples became fast friends. Ever since the birth of the girls, Nadia had become almost a permanent fixture in the Jarecki household. Her own children had grown and moved away, but Nadia insisted she "needs to stay in practice for the eventual grandchildren". "Why don't you hand me one of those babies while you get me a cup of coffee?" smiled Nadia.

And Andi did just that. Sandy didn't even notice that she was shifted to the arms of "Grandma Nadia" while her mom got up and prepared the coffee. Once the two women were settled in their rockers with their coffee and babies, Nadia turned to Andi. "You seem pretty wound up this morning. Something wrong?"

"Paul is flying this morning," she said with a frown.

"Isn't he supposed to fly?"

Andi took a sip of coffee; her hand was visibly shaking. Finally, she swallowed the hot brew. "He's a doctor. They're supposed to bring the patients to him. He's not supposed to become a patient."

"Then why is he flying?"

"So, he can identify with what his patients are going through."

Nadia thought for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong with that concept?"

"I'm a doctor too. You don't see me stuffing cotton balls in my nose and mouth to see what my asthma patients go through."

Nadia shrugged. She wanted to say, "Maybe it wouldn't hurt," but Andi was clearly agitated and didn't need a push. Instead, she asked, "When is he supposed to go up?"

The distraught wife looked at her watch. "Pretty soon, he said it was the 'first go,' whatever that is." Even though the base was miles away, Andi was sure she could hear the screaming and shrieking of the aircraft engines as they cranked up to fly.

-=-=-=-=-

The F-111 was a massive, slab sided bird whose sheer size and complexity made it a marvel to look at even when it was standing still. Andi hated it; it was loud and fast and had more moving parts than an entire factory. Paul had told her it could fly at Mach 2 at 50 feet off the ground. When it had its wings spread wide, it could haul more bombs than three WWII vintage B-24 bombers and drop them with pinpoint accuracy. With its wings swept back, it became a rocket. A high-speed missile with men inside, blasting its way to target at 1,400 mph while dodging between hillsides by computer control.

Paul's squadron flew the EF-111A, a specially modified version of the F-111. Its weapons systems were gone, and the bomb bay was filled with radar jamming devices that could jam radar guided anti-aircraft missiles. But it also was the oldest 111 flying. It had older engines, and they had problems with tailpipe fires and flame outs when the USAF started using JP-8. Andi hated that thing, and like many of the maintenance people she called the One Eleven the "Wonder Lemon".

Andi had been out to the flight line several times before the twins were born to see the facilities and, like many airmen, Andi "fell in loathe" with Canon AFB. Hot, dry, dusty, the housing was the worst in the military, she almost felt blessed when they were told there wasn't room for them on base. Paul hated it because, mostly, it was a training base. They had started their careers with the Strategic Air Command in actual combat units, but after SAC was gone, Paul said the fight went out of the Air Force. Finally came the day they got orders to Canon AFB in the middle of nowhere. North Dakota was so much better than this hole! There's a purity and cleanliness at 40 degrees below zero that Canon AFB could use.

After being there at Canon AFB for a few months, Andi and Paul had a quick discussion, and both decided that the best course of action would be for Paul to volunteer for an isolated remote assignment. As an officer, he was going to have to go on at least one isolated remote, but if he volunteered for one, he was guaranteed a base of preference after that. They decided he would go to Kunsan Air Base in Korea with a follow-on assignment to Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs. Andi would be near home and the twins could spend time with their grandmother. After that, maybe some place nice, like a long tour in Italy or Germany. They could relax and travel and when their overseas requirements were fulfilled, they could return stateside in time for the girls to start elementary school.

He just has to survive this year...

As Andi and Nadia talked on the front porch, it started getting hot and the twins woke up fussy. The sounds from the base were getting louder, so Andi imagined the planes were taking off. The EF-111 has a deep throaty roar when it kicks in afterburners that can be heard over a dozen miles away. As they stood to go inside, Nadia looked up to the western sky and said, "Ain't that odd... I ain't never seen them do that before."

Andi looked up to where Nadia was looking and saw a long white line of vapor in the sky, almost like a contrail or sky-writing, but thicker, and much lower. A Raven was dumping fuel, a sure sign of an in-flight emergency. The white line became a line of flame which ended in a large black cloud that was rapidly expanding and suddenly she knew...

-=-=-=-=-

Paul was jarred from his sleep by Andi's cries of "No! No! No!" She was huddled up in the fetal position, her hands balled into fists covering her eyes, and her entire body shook with her sobs.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He tried to pull her hands away from her face, but she fought back hard, so instead he held her close and cuddled her shuddering little body.

Soon she woke up and simply said, "You're here!" Her hands explored his face and shoulders as she sobbed. "You're ok! It wasn't you!" Paul turned on his bedside light and Andi blinked and looked around. "Oh God! It was so real!"

"What was so real, honey?"

"My dream! It was so awful! I dreamed that you were on active duty when we married, and you were stationed at Canon Air Force Base..."

"That place is the thing of nightmares, that is for sure and for certain."

"No, honey listen," and Andi told him the details of her dream before they faded away; of kissing him goodbye in the morning, of talking to Nadia of their plans, of watching the white line of vapor streaking across the sky, and finally the explosion which jarred her awake.

When she was finished relating her dream, he hugged her tight, kissed her worries away, and assured her that there were thousands of young women scattered across the planet, married to fliers, who all had the same type of dream. "I'm out now. I've been retired for a decade. They can't call me back ever again..."

Soon she was asleep, his protective arms around her. But sleep came slowly to Paul, except for the fact that they were married to each other, let alone knew each other. She had it right. She would have been in pre-med on the morning of his first flight as a flight surgeon in an EF-111, but she had all the details right, the little house he rented downtown, the hot dry dusty morning of his first flight, the inflight emergency, how they dumped fuel causing a long white line in the sky, and then the fire. How Andi knew all of this worried him...

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Yi woke up to what she thought was bright and early, but a quick inventory of the rooms showed she was the last one up. The twins' bedroom door was wide open, and the beds were empty. Since no one was battering her door down requesting breakfast, she went to the bathing area of her suite and experimented with the shower. Then, refreshed from one of the most interesting showers she had ever taken (alone), she dressed and wandered downstairs and found no one in the parlor or kitchen.

However, she heard music coming from the basement, so she headed down there to find the twins rocking out with Wonka to an old music video on one of the largest TVs she had ever seen. The girls were strutting back and forth to ZZ Top's "Legs" with their nighties hiked up to show their tiny legs as they pranced and awkwardly danced in time with the hard driving rhythms. They didn't seem to notice Yi as she searched for a remote control to turn down the noise on the gigantic screen TV, and when she turned down the volume, the twins suddenly realized she was there. They crossed their arms and pouted, "Hey!"

"It too loud! You damage your ears!" Too late, Yi realized she was parroting exactly what her mother had told her in her youth. She even said it with her mom's Korean accent.

"Momma and poppa don't mind if we play music loud," insisted Sandy.

"Yeah, and they won't let us in the steamy shower either!" pouted Madeline.

"It's mommy and daddy time!" they both sneered.

"Mommy and daddy time is very important," said Yi, "if you let them have their mommy and daddy time, they will be less grouchy."

"We're hungry," Sandy continued to pout. "That makes me grouchy."

"Come on, you two, let's go upstairs and have some French toast. I'll try to make it look like a frog." Yi started back up the stairs, but she noticed too late that she was leading no one. The twins whipped off their nighties and ran giggling through a door Yi hadn't noticed near the rear of the media room. She dashed back down and into the room the twins had ducked into. There she found a pair of treadmills, a pair of exercise bikes, and a bunch of free weights. This was obviously the gym that had been mentioned in the past. Beyond the exercise equipment was a doorway covered by a curtain that was still swinging from the passing of a small child.

Yi ducked through the curtain and found herself in a shower room changing area, a long narrow room with a wooden bench and clothes hooks on the left wall, the back wall had shelves with towels and various soaps and shampoos, and on the other wall were windows and a glass door looking into a spacious steam room/shower. Andi and Paul were in the dressing area. They were just finishing pulling on their clothes.

"Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to barge in," apologized Yi. "I was looking for the twins."

Paul smiled and gestured to the shower room. "You just missed them; they're dancing in the rain."

Sure enough, looking through the windows, Yi could see the girls, still in their panties, dancing in a gentle rain shower of the fanciest shower she had ever seen. She opened the glass door and looked in; the water was coming down from the nearly solid looking ceiling. She saw the panels on the wall that would allow water to spray out horizontally if desired, and there were panels on the floor that would spray up if desired. The two station shower also had wooden benches along the wall beneath the glass windows.

The twins noticed Yi looking at them and started calling "Come on in!" then Madeline ran over to a control panel and pushed a button. "It's steamy too!"

Andi pushed past Yi and forcefully said, "What did we tell you? No Steam!"

"But mom!"

"No, you're too little! It can really and truly cook you. Remember the lobsters Yi cooked for us on the boat? Just like that. You can only do steam if Poppa or I set it up for you. Now... OUT!"

Defeated, the twins slowly marched out of the shower room, where Paul and Andi waited with towels to dry them off. As he dried off Madeline, Paul looked up to Yi and said, "might as well enjoy the steam. It's going to run for another 10 minutes."

"I think I'll do that," she answered, and as soon as Paul left the changing room, she stripped and entered the steam bath.

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After a quick breakfast, Andi and the twins took Wonka to the cabin while Paul took Yi to the Johnson's Feed Mill to get the high protein winter feed for the chickens and other supplies. For her part, Yi was fascinated with the quaint, old time layout of the store. There was even a pot belly stove surrounded by a few wooden chairs where the locals could meet and stay warm during the winter squalls. Almost everything Yi had experienced in her life was new and modern, even Paul's century and a half year old house was filled with modern devices and brought up to date in his years of updates and remodeling. But this beautiful old store was Yi's first exposure to life of 100 years ago.

As the pretty Asian slowly walked through the store, an old fellow came up behind her. "Can I help you find anything, ma'am?"

"Huh? Oh no, it's just I've never been here before and it's like a museum!"

"I hope not," he said with a grin. "we aim to sell these works of art. Museums kind of frown on that."

Yi smiled, "I was thinking of a history museum. It's like this stuff has been stored here for ages, like this," she held up a washboard.

"That's brand new," he said, "they still make 'em and we still sell 'em. Just not as many as we used to, but folk use them for crafting a lot now. Just because it's an old design, it doesn't mean it doesn't have a use."

"And what's this?" she asked, pointing to what she thought was the world's weirdest wheelbarrow. The wheel was a huge, spoked affair with no rubber tire, and the bowl was tiny and high sided.

"That's a seed planter. You put the seeds in the hopper and as you push it along your furrow the seeds drop out of the hopper on to the wheel, and the wheel pushes them into the dirt," he showed her how the little blades behind the wheel close the furrow over the seeds.

"That will work on things like corn and radishes?"

"It works on everything but potatoes."

She almost asked why when she remembered potatoes are not started from seed, they're started from the eye of a cut up potato. A large chunk of potato would clearly not go through this machine. "You almost got me," she grinned and wagged a finger at him. As she chatted with the old man, she discovered he was Archie Johnson and had run the store for 65 years. He was retired now. His son and his grandson, who recently got out of the Army, were running the store, but he comes in to "help the young folk out."

All the while they were talking, Yi noticed a young man who wouldn't take his eyes off of her, and the more he stared, the more uncomfortable she got, and she never realized that she was staring at him too. She thanked Archie for the tour and decided she was going to give that young man a piece of her mind. A haughty "Take a picture, it will last longer!" should do it. She was used to horny men staring at her in Florida, stares brought on by her tiny bikini and her well-tuned, well-tanned body. Here she was in a parka that was clearly too big for her, so what was he staring at? "Probably never seen an Asian before," she muttered to herself.

That question ate at her as she got closer. She soon lost her resolve and walked past him, staring down at the floor ahead of her, her stomach tied up in knots. She probably would have kept walking right to the back wall of the store where she would have had to pretend to be interested in rat traps, but Paul found her in time. "There you are," he caught her arm, "let's get our feed and head out." He had a small box of what looked like machine parts under his arm.

"'k," she mumbled and, keeping her eyes on the floor, they headed toward the front of the store and that young man.

"Hey Kenny!" Paul called out, "can you get that sack of feed for me?"

"I sure can, doc," said the young man.

Yi felt it coming, but before she could bolt for the door, Paul's grip on her arm tightened and he said, "Kenny Johnson, this is Yi-jin Carlson. She's our twin's new governess." Both mumbled a quick hi, but not satisfied, Paul tried to egg them on a bit. "Imagine that! You both have Norwegian names."

"Yeah, but my mom is Irish," muttered Kenny.

"My mom is Korean," said Yi, not looking up.