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 S?o Paolo nearly seven months pregnant, but there’d been no stopping her.