A/N: Sorry this update wasn't as quick as the others. We're getting an entirely new data entry system at work—which means that someone has to come up with all the information that needs to go in it. Namely me. I have to have everything submitted by the end of next week. I promise I'm trying to juggle both!

As always, thank you for all the fabulous comments and alerts/favorites. Oh and be sure to thank nadiaBliss who informed me that they work four on/four off. That means we get an extra day of Sam roughing it!

Sam Takes the Plunge

Sam was waiting for Andy when she came out of the bathroom a while later.

"Did I really hear you running a hairdryer?" he asked in disbelief. She pointed at her perfectly dry hair and rolled her eyes.

"Duh."

"Hey, be nice. I just didn't know hairdryers were part of 'roughing it'," he teased, hooking his fingers.

"You chose the campground, not me," she pointed out with a shrug. "I'm just taking advantage of the amenities."

"And taking your sweet time too."

"Hey, man, you got something better to do?"

"I can make a few suggestions," he said, slanting a look at her.

"I'll just bet you can." His stomach rumbled loudly and they both laughed.

"I was talking about food. I don't know what you're implying."

"Riiiiight," she said as he took her hand and squeezed it. Shaking her head, she lifted their joined hands in front of them. "Is this what we do now?"

"I think so," he replied. "You got a problem with that?"

"Nope," she said, popping the p. She tucked her body behind his arm and ran her free hand up his forearm above their clasped hands. She loved the feel of his wide, warm palm engulfing hers and the smell of his soap coming from his slightly damp hair. At that particular moment everything was right in her world and she'd never known more contentment.

"The natives wake," Sam said as they neared camp, dropping each other's hands as if by some tacit agreement to keep whatever 'this' was quiet.

"Well, aren't you two up early," Gail said with some venom.

"Wow, somebody's not a morning person," Andy singsonged, earning her a snarl and death glare. She just laughed, unable to have her morning tainted. She stoked the fire that was still smoldering and had it roaring back to life in no time.

"Impressive," Jerry said. "What's for breakfast?"

"I dunno. Who packed the food?" Andy asked.

"Oh, me! I brought stuff to make omelets," Traci said with excitement. Everyone stopped mid-task and looked at her. "What?"

"Omelets? Traci, we're in the middle of nowhere."

"But we have a pan!" she said holding up a dutch oven.

"And a campfire. They don't exactly cook evenly," Andy said with a laugh, digging through the cooler. "I think I can improvise though."

She got busy pulling out vegetables, eggs, cheese, and breakfast meat while the girls went up to wash and the boys started breaking down tents. She watched with amusement as Sam wrestled with their tent having only slightly better luck on the disassembly. Humming to herself she diced and cracked and chopped, throwing everything into the heavy pan.

"That looks like cat blow," Sam informed her, stretching his neck to look over her shoulder. She elbowed him in the gut, earning her a satisfactory grunt.

"I thought you hate cats."

"I do. That's why," he retorted, pointing at her admittedly disgusting looking concoction.

"Okay, it looks gross but in a few minutes it will start to resemble scrambled eggs and then we'll have a poor man's omelets. Trust me. I've seen the crap you eat for breakfast. You'll like."

"Any chance of getting coffee?"

"From a campfire? Not the kind you like. I bet that store over by the rangers' station has some though."

By the time they had camp broken down and the girls had returned from their morning showers, Andy had breakfast finished. She had to admit that cooking for eight people was much more complicated than cooking for herself and her dad. She'd cracked an astonishing number of eggs. She just hoped it was enough to fill her growing boys. She heaped her scrambled omelets on plates, pleased that the cheese was pleasantly brown, the eggs fluffy, and the veggies appetizing.

"This smells like heaven, Andy," Chris said generously, sitting cross-legged across from her at the campfire. She didn't miss Gail rolling her eyes. Again. Sometimes Andy had to wonder how Chris and Gail stayed a couple. They were polar opposites and Gail was just…not nice.

"See, this was a fantastic idea," Traci said enthusiastically. "This is great."

Andy nudged Sam who was shoveling down his food like a starved man.

"Yeah, yeah, it tastes better than it looked," he said, his mouth full.

"Gross, Sam. Chew," Noelle complained. He opened his mouth wide, giving her full view of his half masticated eggs—drawing gagging noises from the girls and belly laughs from the boys—before shooting her his charm smile.

"God, it's good to see boys never grow up," Traci said.

"Makes Leo's future look grim, huh?" Andy teased. "Maybe Sam should get a time out."

"I don't do time out. But I'll let you spank me if you promise to make it sting," he quipped, deadpan. Andy choked on her food and got a bone jarring back slap from Jerry to help her clear her airway. Sam went back to eating as if he hadn't just propositioned her in front of the entire group.

After they were done eating, they made quick work of cleaning up their dishes and storing them. They piled into Sam's truck, Chris, Dov, and Jerry in the bed this time, and drove up the road to the rangers' station. The girls dashed across the street to the small store while the boys went to check in and load up their canoes.

The girls shopped for food that would get them through the next four days. Andy was grateful that the grocery catered to campers so they were able to load up on practical items that should be easy enough to cook away from civilized amenities. By the time they were done, Sam had pulled up out front, a trailer attached to his truck.

"Sammy in a canoe?" Noelle said with a smirk. "I gotta see this shit." They loaded the bags in the back and went back to their site. The girls giggled over the guys trying to unload the boats. The cursing and yelling was just too funny to ignore, although they wisely hid their reactions from the disgruntled men. Even Gail's eyes were shining with laughter and tears of mirth.

After the girls had loaded the food and the boys had distributed the equipment and food evenly among the four canoes, they loaded themselves into the boats, launching each other off the shoreline.

"Sam, are you sure you don't want me to launch us," Andy asked, crawling to the nose of the boat that was in the water. He gave her a look.

"I got this, McNally. Watch and learn." He gave the boat a hearty push, nearly capsizing it. Andy yelped and scrambled to distribute her weight and cling like a monkey at the same time. Sam was thrown off balance and landed face first in the water with a resounding splash. He could hear the shouts of laughter as the water cleared his ears. He swiped water out of his eyes to see Andy staring at him, eyes wide, hand clapped over her mouth floating serenely away. He swore and scrambled after her best he could in the water, trying to heave himself over the side and nearly dumping them both in the water.

After some struggling he managed to get in and get situated. He glared at Andy who was valiantly biting the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing. He looked like a drowned rat, his hair flat on his skull, his clothes heavy and dripping with water, but the look on his face proved too much for Andy. First her chin began to tremble then her shoulders began to shake. Before she could help it, she was doubled over, laughing so hard she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Andy?" Sam said, his voice so low she almost didn't hear it over her laughter."

"S-sam?" she managed.

"Shut the hell up before I throw you in," he growled setting off a whole new fit of laughter.