Previous Disclaimers Apply

Chapter 3

The next day seemed to drag on before the agents were ready to move the ladies. Over the next two weeks, they stayed in a different hotel each night as they slowly made their way across the country. Alex and Olivia purposely did not talk about their relationship. Each night they would crawl in bed holding each other tight. They wanted to wait until they were settled and did not have a continued audience with them before they discussed anything related to their relationship. They spent most of their time learning and memorizing their new identities and their histories.

Olivia's new name is Jo Ann Whitely-Garrett and Alex's is Cameron Whitely-Garrett. They previously lived in Atlanta, GA where Jo was a police officer and Cam a college professor. Jo was seriously injured in the line of duty and she decided to take early retirement from the force. At the same time, Cam got a great opportunity at to teach Law & Ethics at the University of Texas at Austin. Jo, now completely healed (on paper anyway), took a position as a Sergeant with the University of Texas Police Department. The Feds hoped that Olivia would be healed enough by the time they would start their new jobs so she would meet the physical requirements as required by the university.

It was the first of November when the black Suburban SUV they were in crossed the city limits into Austin, TX. It was also just after 3am. The Feds planned on sneaking them in under the cover of night. Neither was expected to start their new jobs until mid-January so this would give the ladies roughly 8 - 10 weeks to get settled in and familiarize themselves with not only their neighborhood, the campus, but their new identities and themselves as a married couple. The Feds had already been to their house in a small upscale neighborhood a few miles from the campus and got all the furniture in place. Along the way, across roughly 8 states, they stopped at various places taking numerous photographs that would document the ladies recent history together. They Feds also took an opportunity to alter the ladies' looks a bit. Jo's hair which was wavy short and a chestnut brown color was dyed darker and cut very short to give her a very butch look. For Cam's hair, a few inches were cut off and it was restyled a bit. Again more photos were taken with the different hair styles. Should anyone ask about not having any other family photos, a few years ago, Jo and Cam lost everything when their condo was destroyed in a fire; faulty wiring by the contractor was the blame.

The Feds had bought them a week's worth of clothes and not necessarily to their tastes, but it would do for now; they would give the ladies enough money to get them through until they start drawing their salaries. The two months time would also give them a chance to do some shopping and start rebuilding the wardrobes. The ladies were none to please with the Feds' cars of choice for them and Hammond agreed they could trade them in if they could keep the price under $30,000. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the agents were leaving them alone in their new home. Only Agent Hammond remained.

He spent the last hour just before sunrise going over with the ladies emergency procedures and contact info should they suspect that their location has been compromised and what to do. He also gave Jo a metal lockbox. He slid it across the table along with the key. She took the key and unlocked the box. Inside was a standard issue Glock G17, three clips and 100 rounds of ammo. In an envelope taped to the inside lid of the metal box was the legal permit and all the necessary paperwork in Jo Ann Whitley-Garrett's name along with a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Agent Hammond took his leave. It was now time to leave the ladies on their own, for the most part. A detail will be with them for the next few weeks until the Feds are confident that they have successfully hidden the ladies in plain sight.

They saw the agent to their front door; he turned back to them as he stepped out onto the front porch.

"Ladies, I'm sorry you are in this position. Please know that we will do everything possible to rectify the situation so that you can return home to your family and love ones."

"Thank you for accommodating our request." Said Olivia/Jo.

"Yes, and please, keep my mother safe?" Added Alex/Cam.

"Will do, Mrs. Whitley-Garrett. Good bye ladies." Replied Agent Hammond as he stepped off the porch heading to his waiting black Suburban.

"Come on, Cam. Let's get some sleep." Said Jo.

"Definitely, Jo." Replied Cam.

They ladies got changed into their pajamas. Neither one liked the PJs that the agents bought for them, so they've been sleeping in their panties and a t-shirt. They settled in bed next to each other as they have every night since the shooting and soon they were both asleep.

Jo woke up first; she really had not been sleeping very well since all this happened, not just because of the shoulder injury, but sleeping in a different bed every night. She was hopeful that now that they were settled, that they both could really get some rest and heal from this whole ordeal. She took a few moments in the bathroom washing her face and brushing her teeth. As she walked back into their bedroom she stopped for a moment to take in the sleeping beauty in their bed. Emotionally things between her and Cam went from zero to 60 in a nanosecond. Here they are just barely starting a relationship and now they are married. In the back of her mind, she is wondering if Alex and Olivia can catch up to Cam and Jo.

Even though it was near 1pm in the afternoon she was hungry for breakfast. Jo knew the agents had stocked the kitchen with the essentials. If they didn't do anything else today, they needed to get groceries. She found eggs, cheese and bacon. So she decided to make omelets for her and her wife. She stopped as that thought went through her head. Barely a moment later, she resumed her task and went to start the coffee in the coffee maker. She was moving very slow because of the limited movement of her left arm. They both had appointments the next day to meet their new doctor and physical therapist. Luckily, Jo knew how to crack an egg one handed. She got the eggs ready and then started on the bacon. She had pulled the bread out of the cabinet for toast and set the butter out to soften. Luckily, whoever was buying the groceries thought enough to get pre-shredded cheese. She had just finished the first omelet when her wife came into the kitchen.

"Morning, what's this?" Asked Cam.

"This dear wife, is breakfast." Replied Jo.

"Very funny, thank you." Said Cam as she went to kiss her wife good morning.

Cam went to fix the toast, then her coffee. Jo had finished fixing her omelet when the toaster dinged. They both fixed their plate and sat down at the breakfast nook table.

"So what do we want to try to do today?" Asked Cam.

"Well, I was thinking at least groceries, so we can get what we want. Do you feel up to doing any shopping for clothes?"

"Honestly, these last few weeks have me worn out. I think if we can take a few days down time, I'll have more energy to do some shopping. You?"

"Yeah, same here. We do have our PT and doctors' appointments tomorrow. Other than that we have nothing pressing."

"Alright, probably would be best if we go ahead and go to the store now. Maybe when we get back we can talk?"

"Sounds good."

"You shower first, I'll clean up the kitchen."

"OK, thanks Babe." Replied Jo stealing another quick kiss from her wife.

Several hours later the ladies were settling on the sofa, tired from their excursion out for groceries. They did spend a little time driving around to start getting themselves familiar with the area.

"So, we're married?" Said Cam.

"Yep."

"Li…Jo, I know we never would have fathomed that we would be where we are right now, I mean just a few weeks ago we had been on a couple of dates. We've barely gotten passed kissing and I…"

"Cam, how about we just pick up where we left off? Only difference is we live together now."

"If you don't want to share a bed, I can move into the guest room for…" Started Cam.

"No! I'm sorry, I mean, no. I don't want to be separated from you at night. I still want to protect you and to tell you the truth, I sleep better when you are next to me. And I can't wait until this shoulder is healed enough that I can truly hold you in my arms all night, every night. Everything else will happen when it does. There's no rush." Replied Jo.

"OK, I'd like to keep sharing a room. I like falling asleep next to you too."

Jo shifted on the sofa to be facing Cam more; she leaned forward capturing her wife's lips. The kiss continued and was becoming very heated very quickly.

"L…Jo, slow down. We've got time." Said Cam.

"I know, I can't help it. You're just so damn sexy."

"Why thank you, Sergeant. How about we go upstairs to our bedroom and lay down. I don't think my body would object to a late afternoon nap next to my wife."

"Hmm… I like how you think, Professor."

That evening after they got up from their afternoon nap, the ladies were finally taking some time to get to know their new home. When they were in the living room; they rearranged some the photos of them that were taken along their journey. Jo was on the sofa now watching TV and Cam had gone to take a long hot bath. Afterwards, they were going to cook dinner together. Jo had landed on the University's TV station. It was used mostly for the students in the media field to gain real life experience. When they did not have programming scheduled, they would rebroadcast Longhorn football, basketball games and other Longhorn Athletics. Currently on was the most recent Longhorn football game. She figured she might as well start brushing up on everything Longhorn.

The game was in the third quarter when Cam came into the living room and sat down on the sofa beside her wife.

"Look what I found?" Said Cam as she opened her fisted hand to her wife to reveal two engagement rings and two wedding bands.

Jo saw that there was a tag on each one. The rings were exactly the same, one was tagged Jo Ann and the other Cameron. Jo pick up the one for her and slid them on her ring finger.

"Wow! Where did you find these?

"In the jewelry box on our dresser."

"I'm not sure I want to know how they knew my ring size, because these fit perfectly. How about yours?" Jo asked her wife as Cam slid hers on as well.

"I tried mine on upstairs. Perfect fit." She replied holding her left hand up wriggling her fingers at her wife.

"Here, let me have your rings." Asked Jo as she slid her rings off.

Not sure what her wife was thinking, Cam took her rings off and gave them to her wife. She watched as Jo slide off the sofa and onto one knee. Jo took Cam's hand in hers.

"This isn't a real proposal, but I feel it's something I should do. Cam, we were thrust into an impossible situation. We don't know when or if we will ever get to go home. I want you to know, there is no one else I would rather be here than you. So Cameron Whitley-Garrett will you spend the next undetermined amount of time with me, be there for me as I will you; to provide support to each other, to hold each other and comfort each other? Be here with me to see where this can go? I think we are well on our way to this no longer being make believe but until such time that I am ready, that we are ready for me to ask the question that normally comes when one is in this position will you be my pretend wife?"

Cam couldn't help it. She was crying a few real tears. Yes, by all appearances this was "make believe", but she knew better. She knew with each passing day, each passing hour, she was falling more and more for the beautiful brown-eyed beauty kneeling in front of her. She knew without a doubt that she would be hearing a real proposal. So for now, pretend will do just fine.

"Yes, Jo, yes! I'll be your pretend wife."

Cam held her hand down and Jo slid both the rings onto her finger; Jo then kissed her wife's ring finger. Cam pulled Jo back up onto the sofa and she took Jo's rings that Jo still held in her hand. Cam motioned for Jo to present her left hand to her, then Cam slid Jo's rings onto her left ring finger as well. Both ladies moved in for a kiss. Jo slowly leaned backward on the sofa bringing Cam with her. They stopped kissing long enough for Jo to get comfortable on the sofa, Jo's injured shoulder was to the sofa's edge. Cam slid in between Jo and the back of the sofa to lay on her left side. They each took a moment to position their injured arms comfortably before they resumed kissing and making out. This was the most affection they had shown each other, even at night the two weeks they were traveling they did not kiss like this. They felt too exposed. Now finally all alone the ladies can try to move forward with the life, together.

TBC…