Mari & Ilna: What can I say? I'm enjoying this adventure every bit as much as I was on day one. Maybe more.
REAL Worlders-thanks for all the enthusiastic support. You guys are the best.
Planning Stages (1/1)
Grace consulted the papers spread out in front of her on the coffee table in Steve and Catherine's living room. "There are fourteen people on your list of work friends to invite. If each one of them brings a guest that's twenty-eight."
She looked up from her seat on the floor at Catherine and Carrie who were seated opposite her on the couch. They both smiled fondly at the teenager who was taking the job of organizing Carrie's promotion party very seriously.
"Then there's Danno and Gabby and me, Uncle Steve, Auntie Catherine and Angie, Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Joseph, Grandma Ang, the Allens, Uncle Chin and Leilani, Auntie Kono and Adam, Esther and Kamekona. That's … twenty-one more. So about fifty people."
"Wow, that's a lot." Carrie grimaced slightly. "Maybe I should trim the work list a little."
"Don't be silly," Catherine scoffed. "We can do fifty people easily as long as it doesn't rain."
Grace opened up the e-vite template they'd agreed on earlier and began filling in the time, date and details. Then she began to carefully copy the email addresses Carrie had provided for her work friends.
"I don't think everyone on the work list will bring a guest anyway," Carrie added. "A couple people haven't moved their families here yet and then of course … Commander Davidson."
Catherine scowled. "Why is he on your list?"
"Well for one thing he's supervising my team's new project, so we see each other every day on base," Carrie explained. "And for another he went out of his way to organize a congratulatory lunch for me right after the news broke, so how would it look if I don't invite him?"
"Who cares how it looks if he makes you uncomfortable?" Catherine argued.
"Like I told you, he hasn't done anything that crosses the line." Carrie picked up a bottle of water from the coffee table and took a sip. "I'm think he's just awkward and lonely. Some off-duty socializing might be the best thing for him. Maybe he'll make some new friends."
Catherine looked skeptical.
"Come on," Carrie said. "It's worth a try at least."
"If you say so," Catherine sighed.
"Even Steve said his background check didn't turn up anything to worry about," Carrie reminded her best friend.
"What Steve said was that he has no civilian record or complaints," Catherine corrected. "He put out feelers to some friends who worked with Davidson in the past and he's still waiting to hear back from them."
"Which I'm sure he will have by next week's party," Carrie said confidently. "So, let's get back to the fun stuff."
"Why do I have a feeling this isn't going to be a simple little barbecue?" John chuckled.
"Because you saw the gleam in my teenage daughter's eyes when she started talking about invitations and decorations," Danny replied. "This is going to be a party with a capital P."
The two men sat with their feet up, facing the ocean. In front of them Steve sat on a large blanket spread across the center of the deck, shaded by an umbrella. Angie lay on her stomach babbling happily and reaching for her much-loved plastic keys as Cammie watched warily from several feet away.
Ever since she realized that she could get any number of things she wanted by scooting across the floor Angie had been virtually unstoppable.
Steve placed several of her other toys on the blanket a foot or so in front of her and waited.
The deck created a slightly different scooting surface than the living room and Angie grunted in momentary frustration. Cammie rose immediately and approached the blanket. She nosed the toys closer to Angie who smiled happily as her hand found one of her stacking cups.
"She needs to do it herself." Steve smiled as he scratched Cammie behind the ear. "That's how she learns."
"Those two are gonna be quite a team," Danny grinned.
Steve nodded. "Tell me about it. Cammie already lets us know if she thinks we aren't responding to the baby monitor quickly enough. Which is to say immediately."
Steve straightened out a few wrinkles in the blanket and Angie immediately motored forward to the rest of her toys. He gave her a few minutes to savor her triumph.
"Not to change the subject away from your adorable daughter but have you heard back from anyone about Commander Davidson?" John asked. "I know Carrie has him on her invitation list."
Steve shook his head. "Not really. Cuzzi said he never worked with the guy directly but knew a few people who did. They say he's very odd but as far as they know harmless."
"That's what Carrie's starting to think too." John took a sip of his beer. "She's worried she might have overreacted to the fact that she keeps bumping into him when she's off base."
Danny shook his head. "No such thing as an overreaction. He made her feel uncomfortable so it's better safe than sorry."
"She thinks he needs to make some new friends and everything will be fine," John said.
Steve looked up. "Is that what you think?"
John shrugged. "I don't know. Left to my own devices I'd probably deliver the message to stay away a little more forcefully. But I trust my wife's instincts. She's smart and savvy and when she tells me she can handle it I need to just back off and let her handle it."
"For now," Danny added.
John raised his bottle to his lips. "Exactly."
"I was talking to Uncle Steve earlier and he agrees that chicken and ribs are a better choice for a promotion party than hamburgers and hot dogs," Grace said as she found the piece of paper that held her proposed menu. "Then I was thinking potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, a fruit salad and some kind of vegetable."
"Sounds perfect." Carrie smiled. "My mouth is watering already."
"Plus, we can't forget something for Kaitlyn." Grace made herself a note. "I'll ask her if she wants a veggie burger or if she has something else in mind."
Catherine smiled softly. "That's very thoughtful of you."
"Kaitlyn and Aunt Elizabeth want to make cupcakes," the teenager continued. "They also said they have a new cornbread recipe they want to try."
"I LOVE cornbread!" Carrie squealed excitedly.
"Me too!" Grace reached for her tablet. "So that's the menu but I also bookmarked a few decorations I think would be good."
"Oh, you don't have to go to the trouble of decorating," Carrie insisted.
Grace stopped. "Is it too much? Am I going too far?"
"Don't listen to her," Catherine scoffed. "She's worked hard for this promotion. She'd like fireworks and a skywriter if we could make it happen."
Grace chuckled.
"I didn't say I don't want decorations," Carrie admitted unashamedly. "I just said I don't want you to go to too much trouble."
"It's not too much trouble," Grace bubbled as she turned her attention back to her tablet. "I like doing it. And you deserve it."
"She's right," Catherine nodded decisively. "You do."
A hint of sadness crept across Carrie's features. "I wish my parents were gonna be able to make it for the ceremony, but everything was such short notice they can't get away."
"I'll make sure to tape every second of it," Catherine promised as she used every ounce of self-control she had to keep her face neutral.
There was absolutely no way Bill and Kathy Stagler were going to miss Carrie's promotion ceremony. They were flying in to surprise her the day before. They'd been coordinating with Steve and Catherine ever since the news of the promotion was made official.
"What do you think of these centerpieces?" Grace turned her tablet towards Carrie.
"Ooooh sparkly." Carrie clapped her hands together. "I love them."
"All I can tell you is that Grace showed me the decorations she has in mind last night and you should be prepared for a lot of mylar and sparkles." Danny chuckled. "Luckily no glitter though. Ever since she found out it's bad for the environment it's been banned from our house."
Steve kept a watchful eye on Angie as she moved closer to the edge of the blanket. "Can't say I'm sorry to hear that."
"Of course, it'll take another year or so to completely clear the house of that menace," Danny grumbled. "No matter how many times I vacuum new pieces appear out of nowhere. I'd like ten minutes alone with whoever invented it."
As Angie inched forward an ever-vigilant Cammie looked at her, then at Steve, then back at Angie, then plopped down right on the edge of the blanket effectively blocking the baby's path.
"I wasn't going to let her go off the blanket," Steve assured the protective dog. "I was gonna turn her around."
One more scoot forward and Angle reached out and patted Cammie's soft fur. Cammie reacted by thumping her tail and licking the tiny human's head softly.
"Bah aah eeeee!" Angie squealed.
"You better watch out," John said. "Cammie might rival you in the protectiveness department."
"That's ok." Steve lifted Angie into his lap and kissed the top of her head. "There's no such thing as too much backup."
THE END
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