SUMMER
Prologue
It was unseasonably warm, even for the first day of Summer, but a slight breeze playing over the hillside cooled them off just enough and made the lightly waving blades of grass seem to sparkle. It was Steve's first day out of the hospital and his first day free of the hated wheelchair Rudy had insisted he use since his return from West Germany. Jenn had prepared a picnic lunch and as Steve gazed at her across the checkered blanket, he didn't think life could get any more perfect than it was at that very moment...and then Jenn proved him wrong.
''You're...what?'' he asked, not quite able to process what she'd just told him.
''Pregnant,'' Jenn repeated. ''As in baby. Yours and mine. In seven more months.''
Steve lifted Jenn into his arms and joyfully whirled her around. Now he knew with absolute certainty that life could never be more perfect.
Jaime was pretty darned pleased with her life that day, as well. She hummed, whistled and sang as she flitted around the apartment, finally decorating it as she saw fit, with the (happy) understanding that she'd be staying in DC for awhile.
Oscar had stopped by that morning on his way to work (as he did almost every morning) and she'd served homemade muffins alongside scrambled eggs and sausage.
''You're in an especially good mood this morning,'' he noted, helping himself to a second muffin and slathering it with butter.
''I made a decision.''
''Oh?''
''I'm ready for this, Oscar. I'm ready for us. I called Helen and let her know I won't be back to the carriage house anytime soon. I'm staying in DC.''
Oscar put down his muffin, leaned across the table and kissed her. ''Babe, that's the best news I've heard in a very long time.''
Their kiss when he was leaving was longer and sweeter than usual, filled with the passionate promise of even more good things soon to come. Now, as Jaime replaced the standard-issue curtains with ones of her own choosing, she, too, thought that life couldn't possibly get any better.
Oscar and Russ were silent as they left the office of the Secretary of Defense. They were simply too stunned to speak, all the way to the car and even on the drive back to OSI Headquarters. There would be another meeting in three days, to discuss implementation of new plans and restrictions and while Russ was wordlessly kicking himself for his decisions and for not speaking up in the meeting, Oscar was wondering to himself just how in the hell he'd explain this to Jaime.