"We're in shock," Annie said vacantly, a sheaf of papers in her hand.
Tommy nodded somberly. "In shock," he echoed.
Jamie came up and placed her hand on Ryan's back. "What's up?"
"They're in shock, near as I can tell," Ryan said, glancing up quickly at her partner. "I just can't figure out why."
Annie looked up at Jamie with a stunned, wide-eyed expression and said, "Your mom."
"What? What happened?" Jamie was getting a little anxious since the couple looked like they had seen several ghosts all at once.
"She gave us a present…for Caitlin."
"Darn it," Jamie said. "We told her no presents. What did she give her?"
"Four years at Stanford," Tommy said, as Annie extended the papers in Jamie's direction.
"WHAT? She gave her a college degree?" Ryan was nearly speechless, but she had just enough air left to get out, "Holy crap!"
Jamie shook her head, knowing full well what her mother had done. "She's done this for a number of kids."
Ryan looked at her with such a blank expression that Jamie had to laugh. "It's okay, Love. Breathe."
"What in the hell is this, Jamie?" she asked.
"Okay," she sighed. "It's a program that some private schools have started. You pay for the child's education in today's dollars. There are all sorts of formulas based on the kid's age for how much you owe, but that's not important for this discussion. The money earns interest--not a lot--but a decent amount. No matter how much tuition is at the time the kid is enrolled, his tuition and fees are covered. It's kinda like an insurance policy for the donor, and Stanford gets the money early…17 years early, in Caitlin's case."
"That's remarkable," Ryan gaped.
"Now, it's not guaranteed that she'll be admitted-she'll still have to qualify, but this guarantees her a free education if she wants to go there." Jamie shrugged her shoulders, secretly pleased that her mother thought so highly of Caitlin and Tommy and Annie.
"Did you accept the gift?" Ryan asked, amazed that her proud, headstrong cousin would do so.
"Uhh…I think I did," Tommy said dully.
"He did, he really did," Annie vouched for him, looking equally stunned.
"She just talks you into stuff," Tommy said, feeling like a truck had hit him.
Annie was coming around now that they were talking about it, and she said, "Catherine said that if we didn't want the gift in 17 years, we could give it back. Since she'll earn interest on it, it's not really ours until Caitlin enrolls. Cait might not want to go there, and she might not have the grades or the scores to get in…"
"Not to worry," Ryan said, seeing some of her own talents already blossoming in her young cousin. "She'll be admitted anywhere she wants to go. So you're okay with this?" Ryan asked again.
"I guess so," Tommy said. "I mean, it's going to be impossible for us to save enough to send her to a private school. Catherine promised that if, for some reason, we don't feel comfortable when the time comes, we can just refuse it-no hard feelings. So it's almost not even real, ya know?"
"Your mom does this for other kids, too, Jamie?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah. She's awarded two scholarships a year to low-income kids who go to the school attached to my grandfather's church. She pays for tutors to help the kids get the grades to get admitted to Stanford, too." She shot Ryan a wide grin and said, "She's a pretty cool mom, isn't she?"
"The coolest," Ryan agreed, her sentiments echoed enthusiastically by her cousins.
The party was winding down, but the baby was becoming more and more frazzled as the guests began to leave. Annie approached Ryan and asked for a favor. "Any chance you two would take her for a walk in her stroller to tire her out a little? We can get the place cleaned up so we can give her a little attention by the time you get back."
"And the alternative is staying to clean up?" Ryan asked, smiling brightly. "Duh…I think I'd prefer the walk." She scooped Caitlin up and got her settled in her jogger, mostly ignoring the outraged squawks from the baby, who believed that her newfound ability to walk had rendered the stroller a thing of the past.
The threesome took off, deciding to go on a long walk down to Castro for some of Ryan's favorite Double Rainbow ice cream.
They crested the hill and rolled down into Castro, the street fairly crowded on a warm Sunday evening. As they drew near the ice cream shop Ryan's face grew darker, her expression morphing from outrage to desolation. Finally, her nose was pressed up against the now-empty store window. "They can't close it!" she cried, looking completely bereft.
Jamie rubbed a soothing hand on her back, confirming the obvious. "They already have, Honey. We're gonna have to settle for something else."
Ryan turned to her with a pout affixed to her face. "This was one of
our
places," she insisted. "I thought we could come here for years and years, and tell our kids about how we came here when Mommy didn't know she was dating Mama."
Jamie's eyes fluttered closed at the adorable sentiment. She tossed her arms around Ryan's waist and hugged her tight, murmuring, "You are the sweetest woman on earth, Ryan O'Flaherty. You capture my heart anew nearly every day."
"Nearly?" Bright blue eyes peeked out of long bangs, making Jamie's heart skip a beat.
"Every day," she corrected. "You make me fall in love with you all over-every day."
"That's pretty nice, isn't it?" Ryan asked, returning the hug with fervor. "Falling in love feels so good-it's a shame to only do it once."
Caitlin didn't care for the unexpected stop, and she displayed her displeasure vocally. Jamie stooped to check her diaper, finding it in need of an immediate change. She volunteered to take her into A Different Light to ask if she could change her on the floor in the rear of the bookstore, since there was no other horizontal surface in the immediate vicinity. Ryan stayed out on the street to keep her eye on the jogger, even though she thought it was safe to leave it. She leaned against the building and people-watched for a while, finally walking down the street just a few yards to look in the windows of the neighboring shops just as Jamie came out and began to put the baby back in her jogger.
Out of the corner of her eye Jamie saw a woman approach Ryan from behind. Ryan's arms were crossed over her chest, and the woman threw her arms around Ryan's crossed ones, lifted her off the ground, and began to spin her around in a very enthusiastic greeting. Jamie started to call out but she could tell from Ryan's body language that she knew the person who was tossing her around like a toy.
My God, how strong do you have to be to pick her up that easily? I know she's lost weight, but that is ridiculous!
As Jamie struggled to get Caitlin settled, she intently watched the interplay between Ryan and the stranger. It seemed like the woman was intentionally showing off, still holding Ryan's body a good half a foot off the ground. The captive was giggling as her feet dangled off the ground, looking like she was well used to this game.
Jamie's eyes raked over the powerful woman who held her lover so effortlessly, starting at the soft-looking sandy brown hair that fell forward into her eyes. The cut was much like the one Brendan sported--a few inches long on the top, tapering to less than a quarter-inch on the sides and back.
Her face was attractive, though quite androgynous, with a strong jaw line, a broad forehead, and surprising gentle eyes that were nearly hidden when she smiled, which she was currently doing. She was tall…very tall…at least two inches taller than Ryan, and given that Jamie rarely met a woman who approached Ryan's height, she assumed that this woman must attract more attention than she wished for her notable size. She was muscular, too, in a way that was very different from Ryan. This woman looked like she had earned her muscles the hard way, through manual labor. She was far too bulky for Jamie's tastes, but she could understand the attraction that Ryan obviously held for her.
It was clear that this woman was not just a casual acquaintance. The sparks flashing between her and Ryan were almost visible, and only Jamie's iron-clad belief in her partner's fidelity prevented her from marching down the street, grabbing Ryan by the ear, and dragging her back home and away from this temptation.
When the woman finally set Ryan back on her feet, Jamie's eyes almost popped out as the tall stranger bent over and placed a very, very familiar kiss on Ryan's lips. The kiss continued much longer than Jamie was comfortable with, but in reality it was probably just a couple of seconds. Ryan pulled away before the other woman did, but the automatic gesture that followed was actually less preferable to Jamie's eyes than the kiss. As the taller woman stood, Ryan laced her hands behind her friend's neck and leaned back in a gesture that looked well practiced and very familiar. There was something almost girlish about Ryan's body language, and Jamie marveled that she had never seen this softer, almost shy side of her lover. But the woman who gently held Ryan had obviously seen it, and seen it often.
Caitlin was secured by now and Jamie steered her quickly over to the twosome, unable to control her proprietary streak another moment. Turning to the very tall, very buff woman, she stuck her hand out and said clearly, "Hi, I'm Jamie Evans, Ryan's lover," her emphasis on "lover."
The tall woman smiled widely and said with a slight Southern accent, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Jamie," as she grasped her hand with both of her large ones. "I'm Ally Webster."
Jamie found herself a little tongue-tied at this revelation, but Ally rescued her when she added, "I have got to tell you that I think you've captured the most precious woman in the whole Bay Area. I really wish you both the best," she said with a beaming smile that Jamie could not help but return.
Just then Caitlin decided that the focus of attention had been elsewhere for too long. She cried to be picked up, and Ryan lifted her from the jogger immediately.
"Is this your little cousin?" Ally asked with delight. "Can I hold her?" Ryan immediately relinquished control, and the baby happily went to the large woman and snuggled up in her massive arms. "She's adorable, Ryan!" She grinned as she bounced the baby on her hip, but Caitlin wanted a better view, so Ally shifted her until she was nose to nose with the giggling baby. Caitlin grabbed each part of her face, to Ally's delight, but the baby was truly in heaven when she reached Ally's soft hair. She had never experienced a woman who kept her hair that short, and after a moment she leaned over and rubbed her little face on Ally's head. Looking up at Ryan's blush, Ally just raised an eyebrow to her friend's embarrassed nod. "I can certainly see the family resemblance," she said dryly, obviously sharing a private joke.
"Yeah, she's already showing evidence of the family charm," Jamie admitted.
"Well, she's got a long way to go to catch up with her talented cousin," Ally said as she patted Ryan's cheek fondly.
She's blushing like a schoolgirl!
Jamie marveled.
I have honestly never seen this side of her. I've got to know more about this woman-as soon as possible!
Almost without thinking Jamie said, "I'd love to let you two catch up. Why don't you come over for dinner, Ally?"
It was hard to tell who was more surprised by the invitation, but Ally paused for a moment and looked at Ryan carefully. "Would
you
like that, Ryan?" she asked.
Ryan paused for just a second, then made her decision. "Yes, very much," she nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay, when do you want me?" Ally asked Jamie.
"Are Sundays good?"
"Yeah, Sundays are fine."
"Well, how about next Sunday? It's the only weekend date that Ryan has available for a few weeks."
"You're on," Ally said firmly. "Will my future girlfriend be there?" she teased as she pulled Caitlin up for a kiss on the cheek.
"No, her parents won't let her date for a while," Jamie said. "But you can bring a date if you want," she said, hoping that Ally had someone to replace Ryan.
"I might," she replied noncommittally. "Can I let you know?"
"Sure," Ryan said. "We usually have one or two joining us for dinner, so we always have extra."
"Great. Pager still 555-2345 Ryan?"
Jesus, she has her pager memorized!
"Call her on her cell or at our house," Jamie said as she pulled out a slip of paper and wrote both numbers on it, hoping to remove the other number from Ally's memory bank.
"Will do," she promised as she leaned in for another kiss from Ryan. This one was shorter and much more chaste, to Jamie's satisfaction. Ally stuck her hand out and shook Jamie's once more. "I look forward to seeing you both," she said politely as she returned Caitlin to Ryan's grasp. "Bye-bye Junebug," she said as she mussed Caitlin's hair.
As Ally strolled away, her determined gait almost mesmerizing to watch, Jamie switched her gaze from Ally to her lover, trying to imagine Ryan with this woman. She shook her head slowly as she muttered, "If I had to guess what she looked like, that would have been my last guess. I couldn't have been more surprised if she had a big penis!"
Ryan leaned over and whispered, "She's got a whole box full of 'em!"
There was no acceptable substitute for Double Rainbow in Castro, so they started the long climb home. "Are you okay with me asking Ally over?" Jamie asked.